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EMERGENCY UPDATE- BE ON THE LOOK OUT- WHITE VAN TEXAS LP KPX- 0578- CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS- LAST SEEN PARKED ILLEGALY ON CROSSBILL ST.- FLOUR BLUFF
6-30-18 Be on the lookout- White van- Tx. LP Kpx-0578 https://youtu.be/ivy-n5VzEJY https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204517620258720/ White van- 2 https://youtu.be/QR6EmOYop78 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204517721421249/ You san see te pictures of this higly suspicious van on my facebook page- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello Link sharing sites- Other https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com https://getpocket.com/a/queue/list/ https://www.google.com/bookmarks/lookup?month=6&day=28&yr=2018&hl=en http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWXKfaFDZrfNUzloSqg8Kg?view_as=subscriber beta https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlLmUkKiB6VoWE9CB1UQew?view_as=subscriber ccoutreach87 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber classic https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/ I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John
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EPHESIANS 5
Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ephesians 5 https://youtu.be/R9hmfExkpwU ON VIDEO- Ephesians 5] .The glove test .Partake of the table too- like David .A type of the priest from Judah- the Lord of the Sabbath .Walk in love .1 Spirit in a corporate community .The same Spirit of Christ 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. .Not just a symbol .Gnostic/Docetist heresy refuted http://www.dictionary.com/browse/docetism .We are vitally connected to him .What is the great mystery? .The Body of Christ OTHER VIDEOS- [These are the videos I make during the week- as well as past videos I post every night on my various sites] 2-7-18 Update- judge busted- caller times https://youtu.be/l1OfF20xWr8 2-6-18 News update https://youtu.be/IE6jrn0JFLI 2-6-18 Update- Tim at the end https://youtu.be/D746UC6j-Rw 2-6-18 Island girl? https://youtu.be/26HcgG-aMJs Times Square- NYC https://youtu.be/Zzz8rjM4G8I Samuel 12-13 https://vimeo.com/254234967 Sunday sermon https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMcX_RR1U1bfeROjo Hebrews 4-6 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z7LmpMCMwv8d-rAWvIEPFMpLbacVz9wN/view?usp=sharing St. Patrick’s cathedral- NYC https://youtu.be/_awHe0MTO0c John 11 [filmed close to Mexico] https://vimeo.com/254597044 On the road- Hebrews 4 https://vimeo.com/254773370 Apologetics- Philosophy- Prophets https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMcqT0iKU_ZT_0qsM Hebrews 7-9 https://drive.google.com/file/d/19pXxmPw7J3PlBlWkxkyWgziR5nEsO6mg/view?usp=sharing Mark 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations NEW- [Past posts- verses below] The apostle now gives practical living truth- As believers- we do not walk after the flesh- we are instead to be filled with the Spirit- and walk as new creatures in Christ- Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Ephesians 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: Once again- a theme I have hit on the past 2 weeks- we see the death of Christ for us as an example of the love of God- Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Then Paul talks about the marriage union- the same instructions he gave in his other letters- Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Most of us are familiar with it- Husbands love your wives- wives- submit- not in a negative way- but as examples of Christ and the church. The church is lead by Christ- the head- so the family unit- when functioning properly- is lead by the husband- if he is loving his wife properly. Now- the verse I wanted to emphasize the most- Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. When I read it the other day- it seemed to ‘say more’ than what we usually ‘see’. The church as the Body of Christ is an ‘image’ that most of us are familiar with. But here it seems to go further. The apostle says we are bone of his bone- flesh of his flesh- and he says this is a great mystery- Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. We as humans were made alive when God gave us life- spirit- identity- Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit Human beings live- because we have spirits- souls- life given to us as a gift from the creator. This is not a symbol- this is reality. Now- when we as believers are born again- our spirits come back to life- we were dead in sin- and have now been made alive again. We also have the Holy Spirit indwelling us- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 [Full Chapter] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. This is not simply a symbol- but a reality. Jesus actually rose- physically from the dead- and ascended bodily into heaven- 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. He lives today in a resurrected body- and is seated in a position of authority [right hand of God] So he too- physically has the Spirit of God in him. We- as people still on the earth- have that same Spirit residing in us- Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. God has done a new thing in the redemption of man- God has created a community of people- in whom the same Spirit- One Spirit- now actually resides in all of us. When I saw it this way- I didn’t take the verse as being only a symbol- but a reality. Yes- we do retain our individuality as believers- we still have our own regenerated spirits in us- But we also have intimacy with the resurrected Christ- and one another- because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is now living in us too. See? Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations NOTE- I also shared from these 2 portions of scripture on the video- Ecclesiastes 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: Ecclesiastes 6:2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. Luke 6:3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; Luke 6:4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? Luke 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. I read them the other night- and felt they had a special meaning for those in ministry- as well as all of us- I’ll try and add my past teaching below on Luke 6- this portion is actually a great truth about Jesus and the New Covenant- I taught it on the video [Ephesians 5] PAST POSTS- [My past teachings that relate in some way to this post- Ephesians 5] EPHESIANS- LINKS https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/30/ephesians-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/13/ephesians-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/01/09/ephesians-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/01/25/ephesians-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/02/04/sunday-sermon-it-is-finished/ https://ccoutreach87.com/acts-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ [I mentioned chapters 1 and 3 on today’s post- Eph. 5] https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ [See chapter 12] https://ccoutreach87.com/christian-recovery-from-addiction-long-version/ https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ Samuel 21 POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ OCTOBER 9, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT SAMUEL 21- As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. Isaiah https://youtu.be/psCMQgX_7v4 Samuel 21 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-6-16-samuel-21.zip ON VIDEO- [Yes- I ‘Backslid’. I promised no more political stuff- but for the first 20 minutes of the video- I get into it. The last 10 minutes I do teach- and have some new notes below on that. I made this video a few days ago- before the latest ‘controversies’- the Hillary WikiLeaks and the Trump video. It really makes no difference- I’m simply dealing with media bias. Trying to show how the media decides what to focus on. Yet- the real important issues of our time are put on the back burner- and we do politics like a sport]. .Debates .Media bias .Clinton Foundation .Why no taxes? .Clintons health is a real issue .Why is she off the trail? .How did the Clintons get rich? .What about the server? .Why did CNN fire the doctor? .Google even manipulated the search results .Russia .Abortion .The sword came back NEW- David is on the run from King Saul. He shows up at the house of God and asks the priest for food. The priest is nervous- David is alone [not a full military back up] and something just doesn’t seem right. David assures the priest ‘look- I’m on a special mission for the king- it’s so secret I left quickly- didn’t even have time to take food or weapons’. Wow- this must be some mission? How about some lie. Yes- David is good at lots of stuff- and he lied great here. So- the priest gives David and his few men the Holy bread- which is only for the priests. Now- David is not from the priestly tribe- Levi- but from Judah. Ok- David takes the food and asks ‘do you have any weapons’? The priest says ‘only the sword- I mean it’s wrapped up in the back- we treat the thing like it’s holy’. Yes- the sword David used to cut the giants head off. I think David must have felt a little remorse here. The whole nation had that sword as a memento of David’s great victory over Goliath. He used the sword only one time- the day he cut the giants head off. After all- it was the giant’s sword. Now- he’s on the run from Saul- already made up some great lies- and the priest gives him the weapon he used in the past. When he trusted in the living God- against all odds- and was a righteous warrior. David takes the sword- goes to the Philistines- Huh? Yes- he flees to the enemy camp- and the king of Gath says ‘why did you bring this guy to me- isn’t he David the great warrior who killed us in the past’. Now- David seems to have been trying to get a job- you know- as a mercenary. He couldn’t fight for Saul-and that’s his greatest paying skill. But when the philistines recognize him- Well- what do you think David did? Maybe yelled out ‘yes- I’m the one who took the giants head off- and I still come to you in the name of the living God- and…’ Yeah- did he do that John? Well actually not. Instead- he started drooling at the mouth- and scribbling on the doors- you know- like he was nuts. ‘John- you shouldn’t joke about stuff like that’. I’m not! Go read it [below]. Yes- the great man after ‘God’s own heart’ was so afraid- he pretended he was nuts- and yes- the scheme worked- The king says ‘this guy’s not David- that great man of honor- he’s a nut’! Ahh- we see what fear can do to a man- even a great man. Yes- David is in a tough spot- His own king- Saul- is out to get him. His only option was to go work for the enemy- At least that’s what he thought. And then he not only acted like a nut- He lied to the priest too. He ate the bread that Jesus himself said was only for the priests 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? Jesus. And he schemed his way into a corner. Does anything good come out of this at all? Yes- Jesus used this story- when defending himself and his disciples when they were accused of violating the law. 23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. And Jesus- who too was from the tribe of Judah- Superseded the Old Covenant law- He never broke it- but he ushered in a better covenant. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews So David- on his bad day- actually glorified Jesus on his good day. And even in his failure- gave Jesus one of the greatest stories he could use to show his superiority over the Levitical priests. Yes- that Jesus and his men- just like David and his- did indeed have the right to do what they did. Because they were from a better tribe- The one that our Lord ‘sprang from’. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. Heb. 7:14 Amen. PAST POSTS [verses below] https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/the-mexican-judge-and-benghazi/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/russia-u-s-world-events/ 1st- 2nd Samuel- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/1st-2nd-samuel/ %5BOld commentary I wrote years ago] VIDEO/POST LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/every-cop-a-criminal/ %5B1-2 Samuel] https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/when-the-saints-go-marching-in-sam-3-john-2-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/just-a-box-samuel-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/would-you-be-isis/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/samuel-5-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/samuel-7-8/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/samuel-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/23/samuel-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/the-chapel/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/samuel-11-kings-n-priests/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/samuel-12-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/samuel-14/ https://youtu.be/iImxoD3cRfQ Samuel preview https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/samuel-15/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/samuel-16/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/samuel-17/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/samuel-18/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/samuel-19/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/john-17/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/samuel-20/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/28/james-then-it-rained/ SAMUEL REVIEW I’ve been commenting on the book of Samuel- brief overview. Samuel is born at a time in Israel’s history where ‘the word of the Lord was rare- no open vision’. God had stopped communicating to his people- because they were lukewarm- not serious about God. God was looking for at least one passionate person- to cry out to him with all their heart. He found that person in Hannah. She was barren- could not get pregnant- and one day her desperate plea came to God. ‘Give me a child- and I’ll dedicate him to you’. This might have ‘surprised’ God [I know- not really] because that type of desperation was missing from his people. So- she has a son- Samuel- and she drops him off at the church one day [the tabernacle] and leaves him for good. He’s raised under the leadership of Eli- and his 2 sons- who were priests. These sons were using ‘their religion’ for personal benefit- they were wicked and sleeping around- and Eli knew this was going on- and didn’t stop it. Yet- Eli has this woman [Hannah] who left her son- so he could ‘live for God’. I’m sure Eli must have felt guilty ‘geez- this lady is living in the past- when people really did sell out to God’ And his own boys- were using religion as a scam. One day [Samuel chapter 3] the young boy hears someone calling him. Samuel gets up and thinks it’s Eli- he goes to Eli ‘what do you want- I heard you call my name’. Eli has no idea what Samuel is saying- and tells him to go to bed. It happens 2 more times- and Eli realizes ‘Maybe God is calling the boy’. He gives Samuel instructions to go lay down- and when he hears the voice again- to say ‘Speak God- I’m hear’. Sure enough it does happen again- and God gives Samuel a message. He tells Eli what God said- and the news was not good. God will judge the wicked priests- Eli’s 2 sons- and God will clean house. Ok- that’s it in brief. I mention on the video how God revealed himself to Samuel thru his voice- and I have been teaching about the Logos recently. God’s word comes first- then the ‘flesh’ the actual outworking of what he wants to do- Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Samuel is an important figure in the nation at this time- because he will be the one to anoint the first 2 kings that Israel has- Saul and David. God was willing to start speaking to his people again- but there would be a cleansing first. The prophet Amos said ‘woe to you who ae looking for God’s day- asking ‘why is God not speaking anymore’. Because there’s usually a reason his communication is cut off from his people- and that’s because his people are not hearing [hearing in the bible is not simply ‘hearing’ but it means you obey what is said] him anymore. Yet- if we want to hear his prophets again- see his miracles- then that entails repentance on our part. For many years Eli’s wicked sons were ‘doing ministry’ and the things they were getting away with seemed a common practice. All the people knew it was wrong- they despised ‘the church’ because bad stuff was going on. Yet- that’s just the way things were. But then God had a vessel for his voice- a prophet- dedicated by a passionate mother- who kept her vow. Much like the Virgin Mary- when the angel appeared to her- she said ‘so be it’. God needs willing people- then he too will speak again. Yes- we too can hear his voice- and the word of the Lord won’t be ‘scarce’. VERSES- 1Samuel 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 1Samuel 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 1Samuel 21:3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 1Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 1Samuel 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 1Samuel 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 1Samuel 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. 1Samuel 21:8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. 1Samuel 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. 1Samuel 21:10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 1Samuel 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 1Samuel 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 1Samuel 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 1Samuel 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 1Samuel 21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, Is. 62:6 http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg I talked about the Gnostics/Docetists on today’s post- Ephesians 5- here are my past teachings on it- (739)ACTS 20- Paul travels with some brothers on the journey. This mode of visiting different regions and bringing brothers with him is exciting! They are truly seeing the Kingdom of God becoming established in the earth. Scripture says ‘they broke bread on the first day of the week’ we read later in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that when they met on the ‘first day of the week’ he asked them to take up a collection before he arrived [so he could take the money and meet the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem]. Do we see here some type of Sunday Sabbath, that is the ‘church day to pay tithes’ so you don’t get cursed? Of course not. You are seeing the simple practical outworking of a people who are becoming the people of God. It’s fine to meet on a Sunday and to ‘break bread’. Hey, the group needs to know when to meet for the meal! But don’t develop liturgical/sacramental ideas out of this. You say ‘hooray for John [me], he is really giving it to those Catholics’ well, don’t say hooray yet. Now he calls for the Elders at Ephesus to come to Miletus so he can give them some instructions and a farewell. This address from Paul is one of the best in the New Testament. He covers the basics for leadership and church growth. Now, he tells them ‘all the time I was with you guys I was upright. I taught you publicly and from house to house. I showed you repentance toward God and faith towards Jesus Christ. I worked and did not covet your money. I did this to prove I was not there to gain financially from you. To give you an example as Elders yourselves, so you would not see the responsibility of oversight thru a covetous mindset. Beware! After I leave you there will be an attempt by the enemy to undo the work of the Cross. Some men, even from your own group will rise up and speak twisted doctrines. They will try to become preeminent in the group, drawing away disciples after themselves. Don’t become sidetracked and become followers of men! Guard the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Feed them Gods good word’. Paul lays down strong guidelines here. He actually teaches the elders that he worked when he was among them to leave this example of leaders not seeing ministry as a means to get gain. In one of his future letters [Timothy or Thessalonians?] he actually says this ‘working’ that he did was a tradition for them to keep. He said this in context of those who refused to work. Very strong indeed. Peter also will teach the Elders to take oversight of Gods flock ‘not for money, but out of a pure motive’. In the wars that rage over ‘simple church’ versus the modern 501c3 model, both sides have shot at each other wrongfully at times. There are very intelligent brothers who will take this chapter and teach that the modern Pastor has fallen into the trap of ‘making disciples after themselves’. They see the development of the role of Pastor as becoming the fulfillment of this. Now, I do see some merit to this, but I see most pastors [all the ones I know and have known personally over the years] as Elders who are striving to help Gods People. I see a real need for all leadership to see that ministry is not a fulltime clergy type office that has developed over the centuries! Paul is simply addressing the Elders [more mature ones- in the gospel, not necessarily old!] and showing them that their purpose is to help the people of God grow in grace and make it to a place of self sufficiency in Christ. Paul is pretty much laying down the gauntlet that leadership is not some ticket of ‘now that I am in ministry, my income comes from the God ordained tithe’. This is never taught as a means of support for New testament ministers. These ideas have developed out of the Old Testament idea of the tithe supporting the Levitical Priests. In the New Covenant all are Priests and we don’t practice this type of thing. But Paul does teach that it’s good to support materially [financially] those who are feeding you spiritual food. He does teach ‘don’t muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn’ [he called us ox’s!] seriously, he lays down the biblical guideline of supporting those who minister the word. But it is important to see he was not establishing some type of clergy system, the fact that he was working while with these Ephesians and actually used this as an example for OTHER ELDERS as well as the believers shows you this. All in all the main point Paul is getting across is he wants the basic truth of the gospel to prevail and he does not want top heavy leadership to come in and draw away disciples after them. That is for strong gifted leaders to become the main focus of these Ephesian believers. So this chapter is important because we see Paul address these elders that he has been ‘ordaining’ in the churches [groups of believers]. We see the basic character and function of these men. We see the warning that cults will arise. In Paul’s day groups did come forth from the basic Christian communities [Gnostics and Docetists] that had a basic understanding of certain Christian things, but would deny the reality of Jesus. Paul bids them Farwell as they all embrace on the shoreline. The Elders were heartbroken over Paul’s words that he will probably see them no more. He wanted to keep the upcoming feast at Jerusalem and eventually preach at Rome. He was on this obsession to carry this gospel to the seat of the empire, even if it means his life. Here’s a link- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/20/acts-20/ https://ccoutreach87.com/mark-links/ Here’s my past teaching from Mark 12 that relates to the Matt. 23 reading- https://youtu.be/7dfLhO2HBf8 anti- Christ [2nd, 3rd John] https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-23-16-anti-christ-2nd-3rd-jn.zip ON VIDEO [past posts below] .See my Hillary drawing [sorry] .Who is anti-christ? .Some thought Hitler .Apostles relate to the bride .Soteriology .Was John a theological liberal? Mosul .Iraq- Libya .ISIS .Sunni- Shia division .Execution- or human shields- or just murder? .Abortion .Docetism refuted [parts] OBADIAH- Obadiah 1:7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; that they eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. https://youtu.be/LaG8b0etYK8 Obadiah ON VIDEO- .Peace treaty? .Leaked emails .How to skew the polls .Do I like to lynch Black people? .The 1 dollar cheese story .Homeless stuff .Iran- Yemen- Libya- Syria .The shores of Tripoli .ISIS .Turkey .Britannia ruled the seas- and lost [overblog- see here- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/15/tuesday-5/ ] .Mosul GW BRIDGE- https://youtu.be/70CVdZxFIMg GW bridge ON VIDEO- .Foundation stones .Why Bishops? .Gnostics and Docetism .Dads boat .GOV Christie and hot dogs .Restore the paths .Isaiah and John .Memories of a kid- train tunnel .Robert Moses to blame? .Mayor LaGuardia .The argument for Rome .Church fathers .Mystics .Suicide signs .Apostolic succession .What church is the ‘true church’? .Most amazing intellectual discourse ever? Only if you don’t hear [have to watch to get it- sorry] .Bedrock .I am homeless- can you spare a 5? NOTE- I made the video- and typed the notes sitting in my car at Hudson County Park [in the rain] Ill upload tomorrow at Dunkin Donuts [or somewhere else]. What big financial budget was needed for this? None. One of the things I want my minister friends to see- is it’s not about money. Sure- it would be easier to be at my home office- or even a home. But you don’t need it- you can use the things that you have. This has been one of my ‘pet peeves’ for many years. I want you to see how simple all of this is- the friends you see [both in Texas and here] are just friends I made along the way. The kingdom is about relationships- and sharing with one another- even Marie quoted Jesus- and as far as I know she’s not a Christian. So- maybe this whole unplanned experience was God’s will. To be honest- I never know- at least at the start. Be spontaneous- I left Texas on Sunday- because I heard the song ‘Head East’ [or group?] So yes- we all have limited time on the planet. Don’t live ‘too safe’ or you won’t live- at all. FRIDAY NIGHT- PARKING LOT- https://youtu.be/UYOvIw6jhiI Friday night- parking lot Just finished the GW bridge walk a few hours ago- and being it might be the last night sleeping in the car, I figured I’d do a video for a few minutes. This will probably be the last time you’ll be able to see- real time- me living in the car like this. But- like they say ‘you never know’. [parts] In both the gospel and his 3 little letters [1st, 2nd and 3rd John] he uses this term to describe Jesus. ‘In the beginning was THE WORD and the word was with God…’ That’s the Greek word- Logos. It should be noted that the early Greek philosophers had a concept much like this. All the way back to the time of Plato- Socrates and Aristotle [around 500 years before Christ] the Greeks were speaking about a universal principle- some type of ‘unifying theory’ that would be the basis of all knowledge. They spoke about this principle as THE LOGOS. So- some of the critics of Christianity did use this as a criticism of the church- they say ‘see- the disciples were just making stuff up- borrowing themes that were already there’. Do they have a point? A point- maybe- but that’s all. In the letters of John we also read him refuting a cult of the day- called Gnosticism [Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. They believed that they had secret knowledge that the others did not have. A modern twist on this is sometimes referred to as Revelation Knowledge- it’s a form of this ‘special knowledge’ idea that existed in the early days of the church.] An off shoot of this group were called the Docetists. These guys were pseudo Christians- they held to some form of Christian belief- but denied the true faith of the church. They taught that Jesus was ‘a phantom spirit’ that is- they denied what we refer to as the incarnation. That God became man in the person of Christ. John was one of the youngest disciples- and he also outlived the others. His writings are probably the oldest in the N.T. [Revelation] So- he was around long enough to refute the growing philosophical challenges to the church. So- putting all this together- when John said Jesus was the Divine Logos- he was not ‘stealing’ that idea from the earlier Greek philosophers who were indeed looking for a Logos principle. No- he was saying ‘look- we- the followers of Christ- have found the thing you were looking for all the time- he is the Wisdom- the Logos of God’. See? Okay- I haven’t read John in a long time- nor have I ever studied Greek. But- I do have a Greek lexicon [a book that gives you the Greek word before it was translated into English]. And back ‘in the day’ when we were young believers- seeking to learn the faith- these were the basic tools of the trade. But today- well- the tools are motivation- success stuff. Learning how to invest- make a buck [or 2] – how to ‘create your world’. Yeah- we really don’t have time for all that silly stuff like the Logos. After all- it’s all Greek to me. Yeah- I know. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] – I have posted lots. Mark 2 [North Bergen] POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ MARCH 2, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT WEDNESDAY 3-1-17 Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. https://youtu.be/_SRevM8Tcs4 MARK 2 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-1-17-mark-2-north-bergen.zip https://youtu.be/4S5YHb2hea8 BURGER KING [Glenn] https://youtu.be/mij6WkuCllE MONKEY WITH 3 TAILS [Rick] ON VIDEO [Mark 2]- .91st. st. to park [Fairview- North Bergen] .Who can forgive sins but God? .Man healed .Why was Jesus with sinners? .Culture shock .New Wine [and skins] .Don’t pick the corn .Don’t you remember what David did? .The Sabbath was made for man- not the other way around .David and his men a type of Jesus and his men NEW- I taught on the first video [Mark 2] and spent a few hours with some of my friends. Glenn is homeless- and we have had some good talks. I share a little of his story on the short videos. On the teaching video I’ll try and add my past teaching on this chapter. I haven’t done a commentary on Mark’s gospel- and when I get back to Texas I might pick up on where I left off and make a complete study out of it. When I left the guys I thought of possibly doing a NYC video at midnight type of a thing- I’ve done those before- and you can see how the streets are always crowded in the ‘city that never sleeps’. But I’ll put that off for now. On today’s post/video I walked past the spot where I made some of my first teaching videos- in 2014- below are those videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwvNQlFyuY %5BNorth Bergen- 2014] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SxYy2p1OX4 %5BNorth Bergen- 2014] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4VF0gOYw_k %5BNorth Bergen- 2015] PAST TEACHING- [verses below] Jesus talks about the story of king David found in Samuel- I taught that chapter before- 1st Samuel 21- here’s the link to my study [below I’ll paste the text to my commentary on the chapter] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel/ I mentioned these bible books on today’s video [Mark 2]- here are my studies on them- https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ (905)SAMUEL 21- David is fleeing from Saul and he goes to the priest at Nob. The priest wonders what’s up. David tells him he is on a special assignment from the king and he and his men need food. The priest tells him the only food available is the consecrated bread that is only for God and the priesthood. David convinces the priest to let them eat and David asks ‘do you have any weapons here’. The priest says ‘I have the sword you used to kill the giant’ David says ‘great, that will work just fine’. Jesus used this story to describe himself and the disciples [Mark 2]. One day Jesus and the disciples were going thru the grain fields and the disciples picked the grain and ate it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said ‘your disciples are breaking Gods law by picking it on the Sabbath’. Now, to be honest they were breaking the over extended ideas that the religious Pharisees came up with thru their legalism. But Jesus still used this example as a defense. He says ‘have you not read what David and his men did? They ate the ceremonial showbread that was not lawful, only the priests could eat it’. David and his men are a symbol of Jesus and his men. While it is true that the bread was only lawful for the priests, David is a king/priest who gets away with doing ‘priestly things’ because of his picture of Christ. Scripture says he put on an ephod [priestly garment] which only priests could do. David functioned before the open Ark in Jerusalem. He did things that other kings were punished for [Saul, Uzziah]. Jesus in essence was saying to the Pharisees ‘I am the new priest/king from which all future law and worship will be measured by. Me and my followers are not under the law, the law serves us’! In Christ we are free from the guilt of the law, we live above legalism and follow the master. David and his men were acting like priests and kings contrary to the economy of their day. David was a type of Jesus whose future priestly ministry would ‘out trump’ the law. [parts] https://youtu.be/psCMQgX_7v4 Samuel 21 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-6-16-samuel-21.zip ON VIDEO- [Yes- I ‘Backslid’. I promised no more political stuff- but for the first 20 minutes of the video- I get into it. The last 10 minutes I do teach- and have some new notes below on that. I made this video a few days ago- before the latest ‘controversies’- the Hillary WikiLeaks and the Trump video. It really makes no difference- I’m simply dealing with media bias. Trying to show how the media decides what to focus on. Yet- the real important issues of our time are put on the back burner- and we do politics like a sport]. .Debates .Media bias .Clinton Foundation .Why no taxes? .Clintons health is a real issue .Why is she off the trail? .How did the Clintons get rich? .What about the server? .Why did CNN fire the doctor? .Google even manipulated the search results .Russia .Abortion .The sword came back NEW- David is on the run from King Saul. He shows up at the house of God and asks the priest for food. The priest is nervous- David is alone [not a full military back up] and something just doesn’t seem right. David assures the priest ‘look- I’m on a special mission for the king- it’s so secret I left quickly- didn’t even have time to take food or weapons’. Wow- this must be some mission? How about some lie. Yes- David is good at lots of stuff- and he lied great here. So- the priest gives David and his few men the Holy bread- which is only for the priests. Now- David is not from the priestly tribe- Levi- but from Judah. Ok- David takes the food and asks ‘do you have any weapons’? The priest says ‘only the sword- I mean it’s wrapped up in the back- we treat the thing like it’s holy’. Yes- the sword David used to cut the giants head off. I think David must have felt a little remorse here. The whole nation had that sword as a memento of David’s great victory over Goliath. He used the sword only one time- the day he cut the giants head off. After all- it was the giant’s sword. Now- he’s on the run from Saul- already made up some great lies- and the priest gives him the weapon he used in the past. When he trusted in the living God- against all odds- and was a righteous warrior. David takes the sword- goes to the Philistines- Huh? Yes- he flees to the enemy camp- and the king of Gath says ‘why did you bring this guy to me- isn’t he David the great warrior who killed us in the past’. Now- David seems to have been trying to get a job- you know- as a mercenary. He couldn’t fight for Saul-and that’s his greatest paying skill. But when the philistines recognize him- Well- what do you think David did? Maybe yelled out ‘yes- I’m the one who took the giants head off- and I still come to you in the name of the living God- and…’ Yeah- did he do that John? Well actually not. Instead- he started drooling at the mouth- and scribbling on the doors- you know- like he was nuts. ‘John- you shouldn’t joke about stuff like that’. I’m not! Go read it [below]. Yes- the great man after ‘God’s own heart’ was so afraid- he pretended he was nuts- and yes- the scheme worked- The king says ‘this guy’s not David- that great man of honor- he’s a nut’! Ahh- we see what fear can do to a man- even a great man. Yes- David is in a tough spot- His own king- Saul- is out to get him. His only option was to go work for the enemy- At least that’s what he thought. And then he not only acted like a nut- He lied to the priest too. He ate the bread that Jesus himself said was only for the priests 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? Jesus. And he schemed his way into a corner. Does anything good come out of this at all? Yes- Jesus used this story- when defending himself and his disciples when they were accused of violating the law. 23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. And Jesus- who too was from the tribe of Judah- Superseded the Old Covenant law- He never broke it- but he ushered in a better covenant. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews So David- on his bad day- actually glorified Jesus on his good day. And even in his failure- gave Jesus one of the greatest stories he could use to show his superiority over the Levitical priests. Yes- that Jesus and his men- just like David and his- did indeed have the right to do what they did. Because they were from a better tribe- The one that our Lord ‘sprang from’. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. Heb. 7:14 Amen. [this is a chapter from one of my little books- talked about wineskins] CHAPTER 8 ARE CHURCH BUILDINGS EVIL? [OR THE GUY WHO WANTED TO CAST DEMONS OUT OF ME!] Many years ago before I really understood the truths of ecclesia and the communal aspect of the church, I was introduced to the belief that the ‘church building’ itself was wrong. I don’t personally adhere to this belief, but let me share the story. While ministering as a new believer in Christ and learning ‘the ropes’ of ministry, I remember driving past a brother who was a street minister from Mexico. It was unusual in the way he was conducting his street meetings. He would get permission to use an empty lot and then set up actual church pews in the lot without walls or any type of cover over it [even if it rained!]. Well one day on my daily rounds of visiting people and witnessing for Jesus [because this is what ministers are supposed to do, right?] I stopped by this brother’s lot and figured I would bless him with some lunch and listen to him preach [I felt sorry for the brother because no one else was attending his meetings]. After he spoke I had a chance to fellowship with him. After hearing his thoughts I realized it was on purpose for him to have no walls or cover over the pews [these were actual church pews that were out there in the open!]. He shared with me the verse in Hebrews [13:10] where it says that those who worship at the sanctuary have no right to partake of the altar of Christ [the cross]. He saw this as meaning that all Christians who meet in buildings [the sanctuary] were lost! Well, even as a young believer in the lord I was smart enough to know that this verse had nothing to do with ‘church buildings’. I showed the brother that in context the verse simply meant that those Jews [remember who the book of Hebrews was written to] who were not willing to leave the old covenant system [the sanctuary] could not move on with the new covenant truth of Christ and his cross. The sanctuary represented the whole concept of law and Judaism. This verse had nothing to do about the inherent nature of church buildings! Buildings themselves are neutral ground; it’s the style of one person functioning [the pastor] at the expense of the rest of the body that I see as less than ideal. Well after seeing the obvious error of the way this brother was reading this verse, I began to ‘expound unto him the way of God more perfectly’. When he finally understood what I was saying [you could tell by the look in his eyes that he saw the truth] instead of repenting of his distorted view, he became irate and began to cast demons out of me [hey, I didn’t think there were any in me!]. The reason I share this example is because there are those in the house church movement, while not as extreme, seem to view the church building itself as an evil thing. My personal view is the church building can become a hindrance when we view it as part of a system that makes up ‘church’. We seem to see the whole concept of the church building and the pastor as the weekly speaker and all the other things associated around this structure [like tithing to the storehouse] as ‘the system’ that God instituted to carry out his work in the earth. Remember Gods inherent authority resides in no human system or mode of religious worship. His authority resides in the church, the actual people of God in any given community on earth. So if there are believers carrying out Gods purpose, whether they have the whole system that we deem ‘local church’ or not, is irrelevant. Remember what we said about Jesus and the 1st century religious mind? They were finding fault with Jesus and his disciples because they were not following the religious protocol of the day. When we embrace certain mindsets that see ‘local church’ as the limited system of Sunday worship and all the other usual things associated with it, what we’re unconsciously doing is vesting authority in a style, or form of religious worship while by-passing the true legitimacy of Gods people. Its not to say that Gods people who function in the whole system of Sunday church are illegitimate [that would be making the same mistake as the brother who wanted to cast the demons out of me!] but this shows us how we unconsciously make the same mistake as the 1st century Pharisee by seeing as illegitimate those who don’t follow certain protocols. It was a common thing during the 90’s to speak about the ‘changing of the wineskin’ in order to receive the new wine [the new move of God]. Many of theses thoughts were helpful in causing us to re-think the way we ‘do’ church. I also remember a common theme being ‘God wants to pour out his Spirit, but the wineskins are not ready’ in some of these examples the ministers actually meant that we don’t have big enough buildings to put all these new converts so God is ‘withholding the new wine until the new buildings go up’. At this point you should begin seeing how once again this is confusing the reality of Christian community with ‘the church building’. I find it interesting that the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost was not delayed because of the lack of facilities to put all the new converts in. Also the great missionary journeys of Paul were not delayed ‘until the new wineskins were in place’. This shows us how we’ve come to view the people of God as being dependent on the present system. Could it be that God withholds His Spirit because the ‘new wineskin’ could refer more to believers seeing themselves as the actual church that God wants to fill? If we are not rightly discerning Christ’s community as a self-sustaining society of people then the church really isn’t able to contain the new wine. If we are so limited in our thinking to view the new wineskin as larger facilities, as opposed to a rethinking of what it means to truly be Christ’s body, then maybe the holdup has more to do with a change in the way we view ‘church’ then it has to do with bigger church buildings! CHAPTER 9 WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ‘THE LOCAL CHURCH’? Growing up as a catholic boy [though not a good one] I remember when I came to know the lord I started reading through the bible and found how the bible contradicted many of the religious beliefs I held to as a boy [this is not to say Catholics are not Christian]. Later while attending a good Baptist church I naively believed that good Baptists must have it right because they do read the bible![parts] Here’s the whole book- https://ccoutreach87.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ [parts] There were Jews at the time of the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of Christ]. These are referred to as Herodian’s in the bible. Some wanted a revolution to rid Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this group]. Some thought if they returned to a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees. And some took more of a political compromise- these were the Sadducees. Eventually a war with Rome would be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are very valuable to scholars]. NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement]. Frankly- there is a lot of confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church had some type of plot to keep certain books out]. Or stories about how the Church taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her. Actually- we read in the gospels that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of life- And Jesus had a ministry to the down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women- And if true- it would not demean her in any way- That’s how this tradition more than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure. So a few years back the Church officially said ‘we don’t know’. Ok- Plot? [parts] Ok- the ruling empire at the time of Christ was Rome- just prior to the appearance of Jesus- the Roman Emperor- Caesar Augustus- consolidated the Roman Empire under his rule- Rome was ruled by a senate- some famous names from history were in it- Cicero being one. Caesar Augustus was the nephew of Julius Caesar- his real name was Octavian [Octavius]. After the death of Julius Caesar- there were some power struggles that took place- between some other famous people. Marc Antony being one of them [Cleopatra too- he was in love with the girl for sure]. Now- we read about Augustus in the New Testament- and we read in the book of Revelation about the Mark of the Beast- and that those who don’t worship- give homage to the Beast- they will be killed. So- Many Christians would be killed because they would refuse to give homage to Caesar Augustus [meaning son of the Divine]. ‘Wow- how did he get a name like that’ [there was more than one Caesar by the way- as well as more than one Herod- who did play a part in these power struggles- it can get confusing- even to me]. When Octavian defeated Marc Antony at Actium [32 BC]. Herod [The Great] had a problem- he had previously sided with Antony and found himself on the losing side. Yet he was smart- did some ‘brown nosing’ as we say-and patched things up. Herod had 3 sons- who would eventually take positions of authority in the Roman government at the time of Christ. Herod Antipas was over the region that we read about in the New Testament where Jesus did most of his ministry- Galilee. Ok- Octavian claimed deity because of a heavenly sign associated with his rise to power- and this is how he became called ‘Caesar Augustus’. He sort of saw himself as a ‘re-incarnate’- of his great uncle Julius Caesar. ‘John- what in the heck does this have to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls’. Ok- good question. The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times. Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered. They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule. Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community. This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century. A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls. The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes- Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along. I did read up this week- and basically had it right. The earliest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D. These manuscripts went back about 1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the Old testament- and some complete books. The only book missing was Esther. So- this was indeed a very significant find for scholars. But the Scrolls also contain some of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so this too was significant. There were Jews at the time of the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of Christ]. These are referred to as Herodian’s in the bible. Some wanted a revolution to rid Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this group]. Some thought if they returned to a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees. And some took more of a political compromise- these were the Sadducees. Eventually a war with Rome would be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are very valuable to scholars]. NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement]. Frankly- there is a lot of confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church had some type of plot to keep certain books out]. Or stories about how the Church taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her. Actually- we read in the gospels that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of life- And Jesus had a ministry to the down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women- And if true- it would not demean her in any way- That’s how this tradition more than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure. So a few years back the Church officially said ‘we don’t know’. Ok- Plot? No- just being careful. So there are other misguided beliefs like this- that sincere people have- and over time I hope to get to them. I’ll do one more in keeping with this post. I mentioned above that Caesar Augustus did indeed take the title of ‘son of God’. And some critics of the Church say ‘see- there were all types of religions that had Sons of God’. I watched one show a few years back- and it stated that these religions had ’12 disciples- a leader named Lord and Savior- and he healed and claimed to be God’s Son- and rose from the dead’. Ok- that show was ‘fibbing’ to put it lightly- they went too far [historically speaking] in trying to diminish the Christians claim of Christ by doing this. Now- is there some truth to this at all? Yes- like I just mentioned above- Octavian did indeed claim deity- a ‘son of god’. So- how do we explain this? In the book of Galatians the bible says ‘in the FULLNESS of times God sent forth his Son’. Jesus came at a set time in history- in fulfilment of the Jewish Prophets- to be who he was- and to do what he did. Now- this is not special pleading here- but I find it a masterpiece that God’s Son came at a time when the Roman Empire had one sitting on the throne- who too claimed deity. Yet Jesus was in a region of the lower class- his men were not highly educated- and his followers were people under oppression. Augustus lived in the wealthy and influential capital of ‘the world’- he had all you could ever ask for- he was worshiped as a god. Yet in 3 short centuries- one of the heirs of the empire- Constantine- would have an experience – not with a former Caesar- but with a vison of a Cross- He would convert to Christianity- and declare Christianity to be the religion of the realm. VERSES- Mark 2:1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. Mark 2:2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. Mark 2:3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. Mark 2:4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Mark 2:6 But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? Mark 2:8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Mark 2:9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? Mark 2:10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) Mark 2:11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. Mark 2:12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Mark 2:13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. Mark 2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. Mark 2:15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. Mark 2:16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Mark 2:18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? Mark 2:19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. Mark 2:20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Mark 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. Mark 2:22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. Mark 2:23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. Mark 2:24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? Mark 2:25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? Mark 2:26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Mark 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. NOTE- Why all these ‘past posts’? On today’s post- Ephesians 5- I quoted a verse from this bible chapter [Hebrews 4] so I added my past teaching on this whole chapter- that’s why you see these sections on the posts- I also add the verses at the bottom of the entire post- the ones I either quoted or taught on the videos for each post. To some- this might be too much for one post- that’s why I add the recent teaching in the NEW section at the top- HEBREWS 4-6 [Just made the video- so today you get ‘real time’- P.S.- to my kids- the carnival looks good- maybe we will go today? Text me- dad.] CHAPTER 4: NEW NOTES BELOW- .SABBATH REST ‘Let us therefore fear [Jews in the first century, not Christians in the 21st century! At least in this context] lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest [now defined as the New Covenant rest. Paul is telling Israel God has left you a promise of rest in Messiah, where you will cease from your own works [law], beware Israel, our forefathers missed out on the promise because of unbelief, don’t do the same!] any of you should come short of it, for unto us was the gospel preached [1st century Israel] as well as unto them [Israel at the edge of entering the promised land had the gospel [good news] preached to them by Joshua and Caleb, they gave the ‘good report’ that the land was great and it was there for the taking, of course they didn’t believe and therefore couldn’t take it] but the word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For WE WHICH HAVE BELEIVED [the remnant of Jews who were believing in the first century were entering into the rest of the New Covenant of grace, they left off trying to be made righteous by the law, they ceased from their own works] do enter into rest…for he spake in a certain place of the 7th day on this wise, and God did rest the 7th day from all his works, and again, if they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it still remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again he limits a certain day in David [Psalms] today if you will HEAR HIS VOICE [as opposed to the voice of the law/Moses] harden not your hearts. For if Joshua [my king James says ‘Jesus’ this is because the translation is the same] had given them rest then he would not have spoken of another day, there remaineth therefore a rest TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD! [Jewish people ‘of God’ not gentile converts!]. Well, we covered a lot here. Paul takes the creation account, the verses that will later speak of a future rest for Gods people, and then a verse from Psalms where David prophesies that there still remains a future rest. He puts them all together to show Israel that God has ordained a future ‘7th day’ for his people to enter into. He uses the 7th day as a symbol of Gods ‘day of Grace and rest’. He then shows Israel that it really wasn’t speaking of the rest of the Promised Land after all, because eventually Israel did inherit it, but yet David still spoke of it in the future tense. So Paul concludes that the future rest of the 7th day that ‘Gods people’ [Jews] still must enter is the offer of grace to the 1st century Jew. Wow! This is why some theologians feel Paul was a little too loose with the scriptures. I think this stuff is great! Paul basically was using all of his understanding as a first century theologian [Pharisee] and was absolutely proving Christ to Israel in a way that none of the other Apostles could do. He was the only Pharisee out of all the Apostles, one born out of due time. This is obviously why Jesus chose him. It is so important to see the connections that Paul is making here. If Israel were following the timeline that Paul is giving, they will see that their own Old Testament scriptures testify that there was a future ‘place of rest’ that would be offered to them as a nation. And Paul also shows that in history, Israel had a pattern of not entering into ‘this rest’ because of unbelief. And then he says ‘but the rest that Joshua finally did give them [the promised land] wasn’t really the true rest after all, because David still spoke of it in a future tense’ then he says ‘see, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God’. Seeing this in context clears up many wrong interpretations of these passages. You can still read Hebrews as a Christian and get wonderful principles, but you must see it in context to truly understand what its saying. ‘For he that hath entered into rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his’ amazing, Paul says just like God ceased from creative activity on the ‘7th day’ so likewise when we enter into the covenant of grace, we too will cease from the works of the law. This is so significant to the Jewish community whom Paul is addressing. He is showing them, in their language [Old Testament] the same things he writes to the gentiles in Galatians and Romans. He is using the story of Genesis to show the truth of grace. Out of all the Apostles, Paul is unique in his ability to see Jesus in all of these Old Testament stories. No one could have made a better apologetic for the Christian faith than Paul. ‘Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall into the same example of unbelief’ Now, I have heard it taught that this is telling Christians to ‘work for your rest’. This would be a complete contradiction to this entire letter. But if you see this in context, that the recipients of this letter are 1st century Jews who are already under the bondage of the law, then you read this as ‘those of you Jews who are always working to try and make yourselves righteous, you need to stop working for this, but instead let all your labors and struggles end up at the Cross’ in essence ‘labor [struggle] to see these things I am showing you, and if you do you will find rest’ in the New Covenant of grace! ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ This of course applies to all of us. Paul and other New Testament writers saw redemption in a way that naturally included everybody. It was only those who rejected it thru unbelief that were missing out. This is why you will see statements made like ‘Jesus is the savior of all men, specially of those that believe’ there was a real sense in the early church that Jesus really redeemed everybody. They were not preaching universal salvation in the sense that everybody will be saved. But the gospel was presented in a way that simply included everybody. So here Paul says ‘we have a high priest’ he is including Israel in the ‘we’. I also like to apply these verses to all of us. How many times do we feel intimidated to come before Gods throne? We feel unworthy and God seems unapproachable. Sort of like Saint John of the Cross who experienced the ‘dark night of the soul’ as well as Mother Theresa. There are times where believers feel separated from God’s real presence. It is during these times when God says ‘come boldly, I too have experienced weakness and separation thru the incarnation. I know what it is like. Come to me, I can see what you feel like, I can feel your feelings of weakness and inadequacy, come to me for help my child’. In the next chapter we will read this in depth. Jesus and all the high priests of the law were able to identify with man because they were at one time in mans shoes. This is one of the great realities of the incarnation. NEW NOTES- .SABBATH REST Remember context- in this chapter the writer is appealing to his Jewish brothers. And he reminds them of their own history- he says ‘just like our forefathers died in the wilderness- because they did not BELIEVE’- So beware- if you now reject this new offer of REST- it will be because of UNBELIEF. The writer is making an argument for Justification by Faith here. He spiritualizes the promise of the Promised Land- and the story of Creation and Sabbath Day. He says ‘ok- God RESTED himself on the 7th Day of Creation’. This REST [a type of rest found in Christ and the New Covenant- based on Faith/Grace- NOT WORKS -The law]. Was not the Rest promised to Israel when they entered the Promised Land. Why? Because King David says many years later- in Psalms 95- that a Rest is still in the future. What Rest? The 1st century offer of Grace- thru Faith- not works. See how important context is? So- when he says ‘there still remains a REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD’- He is not talking to Christians- as this verse is often seen. No- in the letter of Hebrews- the People of God are the Jewish nation- who now must ‘labor- work- strive’ to believe the Promise of Messiah- and enter into rest. These verses only make sense in this context. Preachers often teach the verse ‘strive to enter into rest- people of God’. And apply that to Christians- who are already ‘in rest’. No- that’s the wrong setting for these verses. But- to the 1st century Jew- under the law- then it makes sense. They were at a transition stage- they were still under the law [works] and they had to beware- because this present promise of grace- just like the Old Testament Promise of entering into the Promised Land- is based on faith. So- when the writer says ‘if you strive- and hear this Gospel of Grace- you can enter into the Sabbath Day Rest’ [a symbol of the covenant of Grace]. And have Rest. See? NOTE- It’s not an ‘accident’ that the writer quotes from Psalms 95- written by Kind David. Jesus is identified as ‘The Son of David’ so it’s thru the Davidic line that the promise of Rest would ultimately be fulfilled. In a sense the writer is saying ‘The Joshua that lead our Fathers into the Promised Land was not the Real One- but the Joshua of the New Testament [Jesus and Joshua are the same word in the Hebrew/Greek English translation] has now come thru the Line of David- and he will lead us into the True Rest- if you Believe’ Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Psalm 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Psalm 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: Psalm 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Psalm 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Psalm 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Genesis 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. Hebrews 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Hebrews 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Hebrews 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Hebrews 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Hebrews 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. . VERSES- Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Ephesians 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: Ephesians 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Ephesians 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Ephesians 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. Ephesians 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: Ephesians 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ephesians 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. New International Version The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Matt. 11:19 Luke 7:36-49 Contemporary English Version (CEV) Simon the Pharisee 36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee’s home and got ready to eat.[a] 37 When a sinful woman in that town found out that Jesus was there, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume. 38 Then she came and stood behind Jesus. She cried and started washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them. 39 The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him! He would know that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher, what is it?” Simon replied. 41 Jesus told him, “Two people were in debt to a moneylender. One of them owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 Since neither of them could pay him back, the moneylender said that they didn’t have to pay him anything. Which one of them will like him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose it would be the one who had owed more and didn’t have to pay it back.” “You are right,” Jesus said. 44 He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Have you noticed this woman? When I came into your home, you didn’t give me any water so I could wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You didn’t even pour olive oil on my head,[b] but she has poured expensive perfume on my feet. 47 So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love. But anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Some other guests started saying to one another, “Who is this who dares to forgive sins?” Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 1Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 1Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 1Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 1Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Isaiah 32:20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. 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We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Thanks- John. Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans. UPGRADE NOW DISMISS MESSAGE Share this: Ephesians 4 Tuesday 6-26-18
NEW- Today I’m posting chapter 4 of my Ephesians study- and plan on finishing it up in 2 more posts. On the video I made yesterday [Friends] it was interesting how I ran into my friends- I actually parked down the block and was walking to see Rick- under the overpass- and sure enough I ran into Andy and Charlie- I have made lots of videos with them before- and after I shut the video off they wanted to do some praying [which they did- and led in] and were really doing a sort of bible study when I rolled up on them. It was no joke- or just ‘doing it for the video’. Later on some stuff happened- not between me and any of them- but things that happen on the street. Some would think ‘hey- those guys were just praying- was it fake’? No- it wasn't fake- and yes- many of my friends who struggle with addiction- they do stuff- that they actually don't;t 'want' to do. Many of us have done the same [Read Romans 7] So- for this short update- I think that's the story I should share. There are many news stories going on right now- some locally and of course nationally. If you- or I- or any of us- speak to the issues- I think it is a good thing. I also think we should be informed- really informed. I see people seeing stuff for the first time- because the media has decided to shine the light on it- for the 1st time- And then they get mad- as in if it is a ‘new crisis’- when in reality it is not- to be honest about it. Many people have become engaged- which I think is a good thing- but I think we should also become ‘engaged’ when there are things being done- real atrocities- even if the media covers up for them- which is what I have spoken on recently on some of the videos I have made. Ok- please pray for our nation- our leaders- and all leaders- we are citizens of a particular country- all of us [some who I speak to now are not Americans by the way]. Yet- we are a global community as well- and especially those of us who are of the household of faith- regardless of skin color or ethnicity- we are a brotherhood in Christ. John.- PS- This was the reason I didn’t want to write on the ‘re-posts’- Because I’m busy uploading the nightly videos- and I’m thinking I need to explain some of the stuff I just wrote above. I realize some will get mad when I say ‘not a new crisis’- and some will disagree. We have a ‘new’ problem with the way our country has handled immigration- because in the past our congress has passed laws- that actually enforce [supposed to] immigration laws- then- when the present president began enforcing them- it caused more children to be separated from their parents as they entered into the u.S. I am pro immigrant by the way- but because of the laws that have been passed- and the recent stricter enforcement of them- then yes- this has created a ‘crisis’. Many are upset because they see it played out on U.S. media- the same media that refused to show you the pictures of Black people being sold on the open slave market in Libya- because they did not want you to see or know of that ‘crisis’- it was for purely political reasons that they covered that up- I spoke about that on the videos. I could go on and give case after case- so many are truly upset with the immigration situation in our country- but many voted for representatives who did indeed pass laws that caused this to happen. And many of those same lawmakers are outraged that the laws they passed- are being enforced- to me- this is hypocrisy. So yes- I too am mad about the crisis- but I was also mad about the Black kids being sold as slaves in Libya- this happened when another president of the U.S. removed the leader of Libya. And the American media did not want to reveal it- because it went against their agenda. So lets shine light on all atrocities in the world- not just the ones the corporate media want you to see- Ok- see why I didn’t want to write on these? OTHER VIDEOS- These are the videos I post every night to my various sites- all my sites are linked to the bottom of each post 6-24-18 Glenn Beck- News update- world events https://youtu.be/rCEZaW9U18I 6-25-18 Homeless friends talk about their experiences on the streets https://youtu.be/1NUt5229fRg Teaching at the Lexington https://youtu.be/mfKdSHcMURo Acts 1 https://youtu.be/znfh0pBAssA Isaiah 61 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgWJw00k7aUChiKp3 Word to the ministers of Corpus Christi https://flic.kr/p/28qvL7h EPHESIANS 4 Testing links below- all should be Ephesians 4- https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMa9oOLIoJHhLVQi8 https://hubic.com/home/browser/stream/?uri=default/1-18-18%20Ephesians%204.mp4&X_TOKEN=9873aa7dd9c974f15fe5c9760e0ddfc2 Psalm 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. ON VIDEO .Austin [Texas] The Ark .5 [4] fold ministry .Lectio Devina http://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina .Didache http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html . ‘That bird has my wings’- prison poem .Unity among reconciled people groups .Gifts for the sinner too [rebellious also] .Restoration churches .Church history .The purpose of the gifts- to build you up- for the work of ministry .What does the N.T. teach about giving? .The nature of local church .The intent of seeing ‘new truth’ .What is ‘apostolic’ doctrine? .Jesus- the Christ of God Psalm 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. Psalm 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. OTHER VIDEOS Bob- White Castle [North Bergen- NYC area] https://youtu.be/wt2P8yESN04 John 8 https://vimeo.com/252085857 Rest in peace https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZaPnH7ZifplvvcxOI47y6sc46vefBuKlFBy Romans 8-10 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uEOXe1ummR3SO8GSBvqj0w-OUKrByua3/view?usp=sharing Lexington https://vimeo.com/252258518 Hudson County Park- New Jersey https://youtu.be/ilToGO65Ivk Boys of Sudan https://vimeo.com/252434055 Bringing in the sheaves https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZXvlH7Zji1kJcwm6Eb5VcQ4ArLw2kmKApyV Free among the dead https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jmAC8HuaEyvOWvMzFgtIOKkmvXZihgzg/view?usp=sharing News- Ruth Bader Ginsburg- media- they do it for cash https://youtu.be/UlTs6ciSAEI 50,000 missing FBI texts and the corporate cash media https://youtu.be/wMQztoNU5Tk Update- 1-24-18 https://youtu.be/i3Y9BI-t1K0 The problem [news- Trump- FBI- JFK] https://youtu.be/CWfoixcGZwA Here are some links about stuff I mentioned in recent news talks- https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/23/congress-fbi-russia-republicans-escalate-probes-364616 http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01/trey-gowdy-strzok-page-fbi-texts-today-say-text-not-keeping-texts-video/ http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/370204-sessions-says-he-will-leave-no-stone-unturned-to-find-why-fbi-text http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/23/fbis-strzok-and-page-spoke-secret-society-after-trump-election-lawmakers-say.html http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/24/fox-news-first-new-info-on-alleged-secret-society-anti-trumpers-samsung-blamed-for-missing-fbi-texts.html https://nypost.com/2018/01/23/evidence-suggests-a-massive-scandal-is-brewing-at-the-fbi/ [NEW TEACHING BELOW- NEWS NOTE BELOW THAT] Psalm 90:16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Psalm 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. NEW- Paul teaches us about the primary purpose of the gifts that God has deposited in the church- Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: Some refer to these gifts [Apostles- prophets- etc.] as the 5 fold ministry- others see the last 2 offices as one calling [the pastor/teacher] Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Meaning it would be the ‘4-fold’ ministry gifts. Much has been written the last few years about these various gifted ones- and in some movements of the church they believed that the restoration of these gifts were the answer to the problems in the church. When we read about apostles in the New Testament- and how they functioned [Like my recent study on the book of Acts]- We do not see the emphasis on the people themselves- meaning the apostles in the bible [or prophets] did not focus on their callings- Or view their callings as the primary thing. But the purpose of their callings was to bring the people of God to maturity- and the people of God would do the actual ‘work of the ministry’- Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: If the teachings on the gifts- or any other subject we find in the bible- is used to divide Christians- Then the main purpose of the gifts themselves has been subverted. If the focus on the gifts exalts the personalities of people- Then it is the wrong focus. In the last few chapters I have already taught- we saw the reconciliation of man- with each other- as well as being reconciled [brought back] to God thru Christ. When we read about the unity of the people of God- in this context it is a broader concept than simply the people ‘in my church’- or the people of God in your particular denomination. But the unity we strive for is a unity among all the people that God has redeemed. God’s ultimate Salvation looks forward to the redeeming of all things- in heaven and upon earth. As the apostle stated in this chapter- we are one body- with one God ruling over us- as well as being in us- Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. The development of the church over the centuries has expressed itself in many different church expressions. Some see this as ok- others see it as being divided. Many of these good expressions of the church do see themselves as the only true church. The apostle does speak to this issue here- Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to KEEP the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. All the people of God already are united in unity- the outward expression of it is not always seen. But truly there is one God- and one Spirit that unites as the church. God has placed gifted leaders in the church- and when the gifts function properly- they bring the people to maturity in Christ- Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: They do not draw people after their particular gift- no matter how noble the gift might be. It is important that we see that these gifts [5- 4 fold] do indeed exist in the church today. Paul teaches us that these ministers were made after the ascension of Jesus- Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Meaning these were not Old testament prophets he was speaking about- Or even the 12 apostles of the Lamb- But these apostles and prophets and pastors were ‘made’ after Jesus ascended to the right hand of God. So yes- these gifts still function in our day. And when they function the right way- the people of God become mature functioning members of the Body of Christ. That was [is] the purpose of these gifts. NEWS NOTE- Right before I post this- I want to just make a few points about the news videos I did this week. This past year I heard/read some media figures call for treason charges against Trump- and his family. This same person said it was possible that Trump- and some his his family members should be executed [no joke] if they were found guilty of treason. While I realize all do not hold this position- some do. Where they also speaking about his 12 year old son? Now- these last few weeks we have seen evidence of FBI officials using language like ‘secret society- putting Andy’s plan in place’- Language that more than likely is talking about the removal of a U.S. president- by illegal manipulation of their powers. These 2 people- Peter Strzok and Carter Page https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/24/sara_carter_fbi_agents_want_to_know_why_strzok_and_page_are_still_there.html were having possible criminal conversations about the removal of a U.S. president- were also having an ongoing sexual affair- and used their authority to sway political charges- on both sides of the aisle. Just the texts alone- of which it seems like the FBI has now illegally deleted about 50,000 of them- Samsung is denying the texts were missing because of a ‘glitch’- but the messages we do have- could at least merit the firing of the agents. Then possible criminal charges [this would be a sort of treason charge] then to possible jail time. I know of no one who is actively calling for their executions [like some in the media spoke about while talking about Trumps family]. So- we- [or me?] the American people call for the immediate firing of Strzok and Page- for them to still be within the department with their ability to continue to obstruct justice- have ‘secret society’ meetings- and to possibly put ‘Andy’s plan’ in place- well- that would be a crime indeed. Last note- By the way- the local paper of our small town has played the media manipulation game for many years now- these last few years they had to merge with the USA today network because they are possibly on the verge of bankruptcy- which is a good thing in my view. They are part of the paid corporate media- and are not to be trusted to ever speak truth to you. So- I would call for a boycott of the Caller Times [I will read it still- just so I can critique them] and I would recommend reading the San Antonio paper [which I also read] they do a much better job at covering south Texas issues- more in depth coverage. PAST POSTS I either quoted or taught from these bible books on today’s video- Ephesians 4- below are my past studies on those books- https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ I mentioned the Didache on the video- I talked about it in this book I wrote years ago- https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ Mentioned Pentecost- here’s my link to the chapter- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ Here’s my complete study on Acts https://ccoutreach87.com/acts-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ I talked about the nature of the church and the 5 fold ministry- here’s a book I wrote on the subject- https://ccoutreach87.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ EPHESIANS- LINKS https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/30/ephesians-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/13/ephesians-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/01/09/ephesians-3/ Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ JULY 14, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT MARK 12 Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. https://youtu.be/VJBAPuroAUY Mark 12 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/7-6-17-mark-12.zip https://ccoutreach87.com/7-6-17-mark-12/ ON VIDEO- .Sandia .Storehouse wisdom .Kingdom to the gentiles [church] .Vineyard- wisdom- tower .Song of the vineyard .Apostles .Leadership .7 dead brothers .Married in heaven? .We are the bride- he is the groom .Burning bush- I AM .Great commandment .Beware of the religious leaders .Jesus has a question too .The common people liked it NEW- Jesus teaches the parable of the vineyard [or tenants]- it comes from the song of Isaiah chapter 5. The parable speaks about the Jewish people- and their rejection of Jesus as the promised Messiah. A landowner plants a vineyard- puts a hedge around it- places a wine-press in it- and sets up a tower. He then leases it out to tenants. The Lord of the vineyard leaves- and over time he sends his men back to collect the fruit. The people who have leased the land refuse to give the fruit. They beat and stone those who are sent. And finally the landowner sends his son- and they kill him. The meaning is clear- God sent his prophets to speak to his people [Israel] they rejected them over time- and finally kill the Son. Remember- Jesus is teaching this- before he is crucified. He predicts his own death in the parable. Yet- at the end- he quotes Psalm 118- Psalm 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Mark 12:11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? He predicts his Resurrection as well. The Son who was rejected and killed- becomes the head of the corner. In this chapter Jesus will also quote Psalm 110- Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. He questions the religious leaders- He asks them Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? Yes- Jesus did indeed come from the line of David- but as the eternal logos- he was before David- John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The chapter ends with 2 stories- about widows. It’s important that we see them both. Jesus rebukes the religious teachers for taking advantage of widows- for financial gain Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the market places, Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, Then he commends the poor widow for giving into the offering- Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: Mark 12:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Over the years there have been many examples of religious leaders taking advantage of the poor- many have enriched themselves by abusing their office as teachers of the bible. Jesus strongly condemns those who do this. Yet- he commends the poor widow for giving to God. The rich were giving out of an abundance- it seems as if they actually learned the principle of abundance in their giving to God. Yet- he sees the woman giving out of her poverty- understand- she is still poor at the time she is commended. Yet the others were rich- and giving. Many in today’s church would look at the rich- who had an abundance- and say they prospered because they were giving- and had a lot. And some would condemn the poor widow- because she obviously must be doing something wrong- because she gives- and is yet poor. But Jesus did not see it that way. The woman gave sacrificially because of her love for God. The rich gave- yet they did it out of their wealth. Jesus honors the poor widow- not because she learned some secret of giving to get a harvest- because she had no harvest. But she loved God- she gave for the work of God- as she understood it. Her giving was not based on the return she would get- because as of now- she has not received a return [poor widow]. Yet in the eyes of Jesus- she indeed gave more. There are a few other things in this chapter that I taught on the video. The challenge of the Sadducees- who do not believe in the resurrection. And Jesus rebuke- Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? I have taught this before- and will try and find those past posts and add them below. Jesus also gives us the great commandment in this chapter- Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. When the common people saw Jesus put the religious leaders to silence- the bible says they loved it- Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. The downtrodden of society were rejected by the religious leaders of the day. Their outward religion caused them to neglect true justice- true love of fellow man. The same things that the song of Isaiah- which Jesus used in the parable- were being rebuked for- Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. The fruit the land owner wanted- was not simply religious works- It was what the other man in this chapter saw- Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. The animal sacrifices and outward religion were the things that Jesus rebuked them for. Those who seemed to use religion in order to have an abundant wealthy life- were not seen in a good light by Jesus. The tenants wanted an inheritance and their lust for the wealth of the vineyard [financial harvest] caused them to reject the actual Son of God himself- Mark 12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. Mark 12:7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our’s. Yes- many in the modern church have tried to seize on some material inheritance and given out of an abundance and implemented many of the principles of the bible in order to prosper. But in doing this- they have had to reject many of the plain things Jesus taught- New International Version “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matt. 6:24 Yes- in a way- they have killed the Son- and seized the wealth. But Jesus saw the widow- the poor widow- the woman who seemed to have never gotten a hold of the wealth building principles of those who gave out of their abundance. Yes Jesus saw her- And in the wisdom of God- She gave more than all the others combined- And thus the chapter ends. PAST POSTS- http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/john-complete-links-added.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-2015-video-links-included-romans.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/2015-video-linksincluded-hebrews-1-3.html https://ccoutreach87.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ MARK- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/28/jersey-city-ride-mark-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/02/mark-2-north-bergen/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/04/mark-3-isaiah-61/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/14/mark-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/27/mark-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/05/mark-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/16/mark-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/30/mark-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/14/mark-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/07/mark-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/22/mark-11/ I mentioned Bultmann and the Herodians on today’s video- below are some past teachings I did on them- During the time of Jesus you had a divided people. In 1st century Palestine the Jewish people split into 4 basic sects. 2 of them are pretty well known- the Pharisees and Sadducees- they are mentioned often in scripture. The other 2 are less well known- the Zealots and the Essenes. The Zealots are named in the bible- but only in passing. We have no references to the Essenes. The Pharisees were sticklers for the Torah [Jewish bible] and the Sadducees centered their life around the Temple- they were more of a political/religious type group. They stuck to the Torah alone. That is they only received the actual first 5 books of the Old Testament- which is the Torah [also the term is used to speak of the entire Old Testament] and that’s why the Sadducees rejected miracles and angels and stuff. Most of those stories are found in the other O.T. books. The Zealots were a group of people who hated compromise- they were actually a 1st century ‘terrorist’ group- who carried out assassinations. Not on Rome- but on their own people! The zealots hated those who compromised with Rome- and if they felt a leader was too chummy- they killed him. The Essenes were a separatist group who lived in ‘the hills’ [Qumran community] they simply gave up completely on any political solutions for the day- and went and lived in the hills. These are the ones responsible for hiding the Dead Sea scrolls [old bible books found in the last century] in a cave. It’s interesting to note that Jesus had both a Zealot on his team [Simon- not Peter who also went by that name] and Matthew- a Tax collector. Tax collectors were considered the biggest sell outs of all- they actually worked for Rome and scammed their own people- it must have been hard for Jesus to lead this group [the 12 disciples] who came from such opposite ends of the political spectrum. Yet Jesus did lead them- he was even offered earthly rule a few times [once from satan- and once from the people who heard him] he rejected it both times. His kingdom was not ‘of this world’. In the New Testament book of Philippians- the bible says that though Jesus was in the form of God [deity] yet he became a man and humbled himself to the death of the Cross- a shameful way to die. We have one letter written in the N.T. by a ‘family’ member of Jesus- that’s the epistle of James. Protestants believe that Mary had other kids after Jesus was born- our Catholic friends teach that she remained a Virgin her whole life. My purpose right now is not to get into that. James was considered the ‘half brother’ of Jesus [Mary was the mom of both boys- Joseph was the dad of James- Jesus’ father was God]. Okay- James was slow to believe in his brother- but over time as Jesus was declaring himself to be the Messiah- I’m sure James had to wonder- you know- think back ‘gee- come to think of it- I can’t’ remember a time where my brother got in trouble’. Wait- now I remember- yeah- that time when Jesus was 12- we all went to Jerusalem for the big feast- and Jesus stayed behind while we started the trip home. Yeah- we went 3 days before we realized he was gone. Boy was mom mad that day. So we went all the way back to get him- and when we found him- he was sitting in the temple- asking these questions- I mean questions that only theologians knew- Jesus was still a kid. Mom said to him ‘son- why did you stay behind- we were worried’! Yeah- she was mad- if there was ever a time my brother came close to getting in trouble- this was it. But Jesus said ‘why were you worried- didn’t you know I would be doing my Fathers business’ yeah- he sure seemed different- but the Messiah- come on. So as the ministry years of Jesus role by- there are all these reports of miracles and healings- blind people seeing- dead people coming back from the grave. Yeah- James has got to be wondering now- but no- he could not accept that his own brother was the promised Son of God- no- too much. Then the day came- that terrible day where mom had to watch Jesus die on that rugged Cross- on Golgotha- man the hill looked like a skull. Yeah- it was a strange site- I mean the sky got dark- an earthquake shook the place- and even the Roman soldier who witnessed my brother die said ‘surely this was the son of God’. Wow- too much- my bother has carried this thing too far- even in his death he won’t let this obsession go. Then James hears some disturbing reports- his friends are saying that Jesus has come back- that he pulled it off- the greatest miracle ever- the one Houdini himself couldn’t do. But are the reports true? I mean if anyone could tell if this guy walking around is really Jesus- James would know. We don’t read of the account- but all we know is James became a believer- a believer that his brother was indeed the Messiah- the Son of God. I guess it went something like this- Jesus sitting there with his men- James shows up and sees his brother- the perfect one- not a spot on his record. Maybe Jesus looked up- maybe he said ‘brother- do you now see’ and yeah- he saw. James would go on to be one of the leaders/Pastors of the church at Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. Most scholars believe this was the same James who penned the short letter we find in the N.T. that bears his name. One thing James hits on a lot in his letter- is he defends the poor- the downtrodden- and he rips into the rich- the elite of the day. He warns us not to be biased- not to use ‘uneven scales’ when dealing with people. James hit on social justice issues- he picked them up from his brother. We need to be concerned about the world- if a raped woman is forced to marry her rapist- then we ought not say ‘she was pardoned’. When we critique one person for past failures- then we must do that to all. But at the end of the day- Jesus never took the earthly crown- he did not see the solution to be a political one- he brought Simon and Matthew together on the same team- and he showed them what it means to lay your life down for others- to live without the praise of men- the earthly standard of success- he chose another way- and he left that path for us. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [1622] ARE THE JAPANESE DISPROVING FREUD? One of the narratives coming from the Japan disaster is the response of the Japanese people. In contrast to our Katrina tragedy the Japanese are very self reliant. Jack Cafferty [CNN] read an email from some elderly lady who contrasted the 2 responses. She called the Louisiana residents who looted, killed, complained and wined- she said ‘those scumbags’ [ouch!] What are we seeing in the Japanese people? The media are referring to them as Stoic’s- the philosophy [ancient Greek- one of only 2 philosophies mentioned by name in the bible- Acts chapter 17 mentions the Stoic’s and Epicureanism] that said the secret to life is living on an even plane. Don’t get too ‘up’ or too down- just ride the wave of life as moderately as you can. The other side of the coin is Hedonism- the philosophy of men like Freud- who taught that the problem with man is that he is taught to restrain himself [by religion] and that this restraint is itself a product of neurosis. Freud was a strange fellow, the father of modern Psychoanalysis; his ideas were actually quite weird. As a Jew [non practicing] he embraced the higher criticism of his day [a way of interpreting the bible as not being actually true- just good stories] and he sought to come up with an explanation for mans religious bent. So he came up with the idea of the Oedipal Complex- a strange view of man that said the real problems of man are they have this view of love and hate for the father figure- and the ‘real’ story of Moses and the children of Israel was the Jews killed Moses in the wilderness [hatred for the father figure] they then felt guilty about it- and out of this guilt they would eventually develop a ‘religion of the Son’ [Christianity] and Walla- that’s the real story. You would be surprised how many people hear silly stuff like this in life [or college!] and they never give it a second thought. Like Pope Benedict says in ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ [1st book of a trilogy on the life of Christ] he mentions the theories of the critics [men like Bultmann] and he then responds ‘and how do you know this’? Bultmann [one of the famous liberal theologians of the day] would come up with ideas like this- and he would just espouse them. The funny thing about these critics was they were trying to challenge the historical accuracy of the bible- are the gospels true- stuff like that. And in their challenge they would ‘make up’ their own stuff [Oedipal complex] and simply expect everyone to believe it. So Freud taught that we need to free man from this neurosis of religion- this thing in society that says ‘restrain yourself’ and if we teach man to do and be all that he feels like doing- then we will have healed him of this destructive religious belief that developed out of a secret love/hate relationship of father. Wow. I can think of no greater philosophy to not live your life by than that. How did the Freudian experiment turn out? It was/is a disaster- I’m not just saying this as a Christian who rejects Freud’s atheism- but many of his ideas have also been roundly rejected by the psychologists of the modern day. Freud actually taught that when you counsel a person [yes- he was the originator of the idea of the patient lying on the couch while the counselor listens] that the patient is ‘transmitting’ psychic energy from himself to the doctor- and that’s what makes him better. Freud wrote Moses and Monotheism [his fictional account of the origins of Judaism/Christianity] Totem and Taboo- the fictional idea of the primitive religion of man- and Civilization and it’s Discontents, his explanation of the conflict between mans psychic life and the demands of society. The basic view of Freud [Hedonism] is a failed system that does not work in the real world. To live your life based on the philosophy of ‘if it feels good- do it’ does not work in any area of life- for the long term. In food, shopping, family life, marriage, sexual expression- the basic principle of self restraint and discipline [the Japanese response] is in great contrast to the ‘unrestrained’ view of life [as seen in some of the Katrina response- many of the looters and rioters were raised with a welfare mentality- they were dependant on the state/govt. to do things for them. When things went bad- they blamed the govt. for it]. In the end of the day- the society that practices self discipline- that teaches their children to be self reliant- those are the ones who have the most successful lives. Those who practice Hedonism blame stuff on everyone else. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com VERSES- New International Version As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. John 8:40 10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Heb. 13 KJ21 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which being interpreted is, “God with us”). Matt. 1:23 Proverbs 21:20 There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. Heb. 6 Mark 12:1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. Mark 12:2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. Mark 12:3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. Mark 12:4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. Mark 12:5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Mark 12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. Mark 12:7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our’s. Mark 12:8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. Mark 12:9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. Mark 12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: Mark 12:11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Mark 12:12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. Mark 12:13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. Mark 12:14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Mark 12:15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. Mark 12:16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. Mark 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him. Mark 12:18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Mark 12:19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Mark 12:20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. Mark 12:21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. Mark 12:22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. Mark 12:23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. Mark 12:41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. Mark 12:42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. Mark 12:43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: Mark 12:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. Isaiah 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: Isaiah 5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Isaiah 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. Isaiah 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Isaiah 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: Isaiah 5:6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg 1010)CORINTHIANS 15:1-19 Paul will deal with the greatest threat yet to the Corinthian church, their doubt over the physical resurrection of the body. Various ‘Christian’ groups over the years have doubted the physical resurrection. Now, some have done this out of a sincere attempt at trying to defend the faith! [their view of it] In the 1900’s you had one of the most popular theologians by the name of Rudolf Bultman [most of his career was spent at the University of Marburg, Germany. Much of the higher criticism of the day originated from Germany] He wrote a book called ‘Kerygma and Myth’. What he tried to say was that any modern man living in the 20th century, with all the breakthroughs in science and knowledge, could not ‘literally’ believe the miraculous stories in scripture. Or even the way scripture spoke of heaven and hell and used limited terms to describe spiritual truths. He used the bibles terminology on Cosmology as an example. How could man believe in a Cosmos where ‘heaven is up there, with the stars and all’ and he felt that enlightened man needed to ‘re-tool’ the bible and cleanse it from all these mythical images, but yet keep the spiritual aspects of it. The moral teachings of Christ and stuff like that. So you have had sincere men doubt the truth claims of scripture. The problem with this attempt [higher criticism] is it throws out the baby with the bathwater. The resurrection of Jesus is presented by the apostles as a real event. The fact of this resurrection can also be attested to by examining the historical events of the day. Simply put, there is a ton of proof for the real resurrection of Christ. Bultman and others meant well, but some of the ‘facts’ that they were using were later proven to be false. Bultman used a model of cosmology that would later be rejected by science. Yet the testimony from scripture would remain sure. Paul told the Corinthian’s that they needed to reject any attempts at spiritualizing the resurrection of Christ. Sometimes believers grasp hold of limited proof’s for certain doctrines. For instance, the New Testament does speak of a spiritual resurrection. In Ephesians Paul says we are presently raised with Christ. In Romans chapter 6 we have all ready been raised with Jesus. This reality does not mean there will be no future resurrection of the saints. In Johns gospel Jesus speaks of the resurrection as being a future real event, as well as a present reality. Those in the graves will hear his voice and be raised from the dead. And those who were presently ‘dead in sins’ would ‘come alive’ [spiritually] when they heard and believed the testimony of Jesus. It is important for the believer to be familiar with the various theories and ideas that theologians and believers have grasped over the years. It is a mistake to simply see all higher learning as ‘liberalism’. There are some very important things that we have learned thru the great intellectuals of the church. But we also need to stick with the ancient traditions as seen in the creeds, as well as the plain testimony of scripture. If Christ ‘be not raised from the dead, then we are of all men most miserable’. (1011)CORINTHIANS 15:20-28 here we see the guarantee of mans resurrection based on Christ’s resurrection. ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall ALL be made alive’. Is Paul teaching a form of universalism [all being saved]? He is showing us that all men will someday be raised from the dead. Now, does Paul leave room here for a type of Pre-millennial resurrection? A ‘raising’ of the dead prior to a thousand year literal reign of Jesus. Then another resurrection at the end? Yes he does. If you read Revelation you will see this type of scenario play out. Also Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Historically the church has held 3 basic views on this. Pre-millennialism says Jesus returns first [pre] before the literal thousand year rule occurs. ‘Post’ says the thousand year rule is literal, and after that Jesus comes back. Those who held to this view were excited at the turn of the first millennium [1000 ad] they thought it possible for Jesus to have returned after the first thousand years since his death and resurrection. And then you have A-millennial, they spiritualize the thousand year reign spoken of in the book of Revelation as being a symbol of Christ’s present rule and kingdom. Now, today’s most popular form of Pre-millennialism is not historic, it dates back to the 19th century. Today’s form is called ‘Pre-tribulational, Pre-millennial’ this teaching [dispensationalism] says Jesus comes back 2 more times. One is called ‘the rapture’ the other is the second coming [revealing]. The proponents of this form find little [or no] early Christians who believed this. There is one early writing by a Syrian brother who speaks very clearly about a rapture type event. Some think he speaks a little too clearly! The writing is believed to have been a fake. Either way we do have Paul teaching stages involved with the coming of the Lord and the kingdom. It is possible to have 2 future resurrections, this would not mean you need two future ‘second comings’. The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return. He rules a literal thousand years and ‘the dead are raised again’ at the end of the literal rule on earth [ a literal reading of Revelation]. Also Paul does use the language of Jesus submitting to the Father at the end so ‘God will be all in all’. I feel believers have been confused and at times contradictory while trying to explain the nature of God and the Trinity. I recently read a teaching on the Trinity that tried to compare the Trinity to the nature of the organic church. It seemed confusing to me, they tried to say that just like in the Trinity you have no one ‘being’ having authority over the other, but instead you see all three persons equally submitting to one another [Father, Son and Spirit] so in the church you have equality. Now, I do believe that there is equality in the church, but I felt the example was way off. The New Testament clearly teaches the willful ‘submission’ of the Son to the Father. God [the father] is clearly the one ‘in charge’. Now, I admit it’s difficult and brothers have spent years trying to explain all the ins and outs of this. Here Paul shows us that the Son has willingly submitted to the Father so the father can put all things under him. Then once again at the culmination of the kingdom the Son submits to the father and God receives the glory. We will praise and worship Jesus thru out all eternity, it is his willful submission to the father’s plan that makes this happen. NOTE- Some believers spiritualize the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation, they relate it to those who have been ‘born again’ spiritually. Modern ‘Preterism’ holds to this view. (1013)CORINTHIANS 15:29-49 the resurrection body is a real ‘spiritual’ body. Paul describes the natural body [us now] as fleshly and like Adams body. He then describes the promised resurrection body as being like Jesus in his raised state. These verses can be a little confusing. When Paul says the resurrection body is ‘spiritual’ as compared to earthy, is he saying it is not real? No. But you can see how some early sects could use these verses and teach a ‘phantom’ type resurrection [Gnostic, Docetist type groups]. I was once asked by a Catholic believer if the church taught the physical resurrection. I assured the person that both Catholic and Protestant [and Orthodox] expressions of Christianity embrace the real future resurrection of the body. Now, is it the same body? Well, the way Paul describes it is by comparing the planting of seeds. When you plant a seed you don’t simply get a bigger seed! But you get various types of growth, whether it’s a tree or plant or whatever. So Paul says our future bodies will be new and glorious in this way, but if it weren’t really you, then it wouldn’t be a resurrection! So you will come back, but it will be a ‘new you’. Over the years I have studied various theologians [Christian ones] and I have seen the penchant for various groups to focus in on a certain doctrine and to stray somewhat from the faith. Now, they aren’t always cults, some of them are highly knowledgeable Christians who seem to be testing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I like N.T. Wright, the famous Bishop of Durham [Church of England] but you need to be grounded in what you believe before you can really read him. I feel at times he is helpful in bringing new perspectives to things, I have seen some of the things he teaches myself. But there is also a danger of ‘re-thinking’ stuff a little too much. By the way Wright has written on the resurrection and has done a great job at defending the historic churches position. He’s in somewhat of a theological controversy at the moment, some of the strong reformed brothers have come out and challenged his view on Justification. Wright teaches that the historic reformers kind of missed what Paul was saying. Wright ‘extends’ the doctrine to mean ‘a sign/badge of those who are already in Gods covenant community’. The historic reformers taught a more forensic meaning of the doctrine. That justification is primarily saying that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. That Jesus took our sins, and we get his righteousness. Now, I feel there is some truth to Wrights view. But I would be careful to throw out the reformed view all together. There certainly is much truth to the reformed view. John Piper [a reformed Baptist] just released a book on the reformed view, Wright has one coming out pretty soon [Wrights is already published overseas, but the states wont get it for a few months]. So, the point is I believe the historic church and the ancient creeds ‘got it right’ on the resurrection. It is real, it will happen to all people some day. Those who have ‘done good’ [wow- these are Jesus actual words when describing the final judgment!] will be ‘raised to life’. Those who have done evil will be raised to face judgment. We can all escape the coming judgment, Jesus died for us. If we believe and accept his death, burial and resurrection, then we will be raised to a new life some day. 378- (I stuck this entry in here because it deals with the ‘baptism for the dead’, I didn’t want you to think that I just skipped over the verse) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1stcentury cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification]. (1014)CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 Okay, let’s wrap up this chapter. ‘Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom’ Paul speaks a little on the nature of the resurrected body. It is real, but not mortal [flesh and blood] without getting lost in the technical aspects of the actual body, Paul does make a distinction between the natural life of man [blood gives life to the mortal man] and the supernatural life of the resurrected body [spiritual life]. Then Paul shows us a mystery [something that was hidden up until the time God reveals it- here thru Paul!] that ‘we shall not all experience death, but we shall all get new bodies’. Paul teaches that some believers will not face natural death, they will be the generation that is alive at Christ’s coming. Paul says this happens at the ‘last trumpet’. For those of you not familiar with some of the silly stuff that passes under the heading of ‘theology’, let me explain some stuff. In the world of ‘dispensationalism’ there is an entire body of teaching that deals with the trumpets in scripture. Basically if Paul is teaching that this event, getting raised from the dead and being transformed, if this takes place at ‘the last trump’ then it is pretty clear that this event is not some type of rapture that takes place 7 years prior to Gods ‘last trump’ [last day, when God wraps things up]. But if you read the portions of scripture that speak about Christ’s return and the resurrection [Thessalonians 4, John 14, Matthew 25] you will see that all these scriptures teach that the resurrection takes place at the end, when Christ returns. So anyway a whole lotta time is spent by the rapture guys to explain that when you are in school, you might say ‘hey, that’s the last bell [trump] before class starts’ and that ‘last bell’ doesn’t mean ‘last bell’, but it means the ‘last bell for now’. It’s kind of silly stuff that preachers do in order to back up their theories. If scriptures ‘last trump’ isn’t really the ‘last trump’ then you can fit the rapture in as a separate event from the second coming. I think doing doctrine like this is silly and hairsplitting. The first century believers who were reading these letters [not all at once, but as they were slowly being penned and sent] simply saw all of the references on the second coming as one event. It’s silly to try and make two separate lists of the New testament verses on Christ’s coming and then place some verses under a rapture heading, and others under a ‘second coming’ heading, especially when the rapture brothers themselves cant agree on which ones belong to which list! Well any way we have a glorious promise of a future resurrection body, the last enemy that Jesus destroys is death. Revelation says ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire’ Jesus has power over death, hell and the grave. He will totally eradicate all death some day, Jesus tasted death for every man [Hebrews] so that man does not have to be in bondage under its fear any more. (1019)CORINTHIANS 16:1-4 ‘When you come together on the first day of the week, let every one of you put some money aside as God has provided for you. So when I come we won’t have to waste any time taking offerings. And we will use this money for the purpose of meeting the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem. Whoever you approve to take the money to Jerusalem can do it, I might also go with them if the Lord permits. I gave this same order to all the churches in the Galatian province’ [my own paraphrase]. These verses are usually used to justify the Sunday morning offering. They are also used to teach ‘Sunday as the Lords special day’. Let’s talk a little. Paul gave these instructions to at least this church and all the churches of Galatia. We have no idea if all the first century churches actually did this. But let’s say they did. What exactly are they doing? They are taking a Sunday offering and using it 100 percent for charitable purposes. Remember how I have taught in the past that the main teaching from Jesus on giving dealt with the poor? So if we want to use this text to command believers to give on Sunday, then we need to use ALL THE MONEY for helping poor people. Paul also says ‘do it before I arrive, I don’t want to have to spend time messing around with collections’. I find it interesting that it is common today to spend a good portion of the Sunday service [any church U.S.A.] to kind of do a celebratory offering thing. Lots of time to stop and emphasize the importance of worshiping God with our money. The point I would make is Paul did none of this. He actually said he did not want to have to set aside time for the collecting of money when he arrived, and for this very reason he said take up the offering on Sunday! One more thing; it is obvious that the early believers began a tradition of meeting on Sunday. Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection on 2 consecutive Sundays. Acts 20 has believers meeting on Sunday. Jesus of course rose from the dead on Sunday. But there is no indication from scripture that believers are under some type of New Testament Sabbath law. Sort of like Sunday is now the ‘special day’ just like Saturday for Judaism. Various groups argue over this issue, I have taught on it before. In the New Covenant we have tremendous freedom to meet or not meet on Sunday. Or to meet or not meet on Saturday for that matter! But doctrinally we are free from the law and all of its observances. I appreciate the work that has been done by various scholars [Especially some catholic ones] on showing how Sunday became the special day of observance for believers. But we need to be careful when we read what the believers did in the New Testament and then proclaim it as law. I believe its fine to meet on Sunday, to take offerings and to do all of these types of things. But when we grasp hold of limited ideas, and then exalt them to a place of law, we err. Paul was simply telling this church to collect some money on the first day of the week for the sole purpose of charity. If modern day believers want to apply these scriptures literally, then we should use all of the Sunday offering for charity. If we apply them literally, then there is absolutely no sense of a tithe system to pay for salaries, building upkeep, insurance, on and on. For modern day believers to engage in such things is fine. If these expenses seem needed for the overall purpose of Gods work, then fine. But to use these verses and actually tell believers they are robbing God if they don’t tithe on Sunday is absolutely not true. I have written a lot about these things over the years [you can find stuff on my ‘statement of faith’ section and ‘what in the world is the church’ section] I do not condemn all the churches who practice these things, it’s just we need to be careful when we take examples from scripture, lift them out of context, add a few verses from Malachi and then teach some air tight system that if not obeyed brings the curse of God on someone. Do all things in grace, remember THE POOR, and you will do well. I talked about unity in the church- here’s my past teaching on the prayer of Jesus in John 17- John 17 POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ SEPTEMBER 24, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT JOHN 17 John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. https://youtu.be/nbUgpSNo7nE John 17 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/9-15-16john-17.zip ON VIDEO- .Hooch grows .Stop draining the lake .Lord’s prayer .Deity of Christ .You see me- you see the Father .Trinity is not Tritheism .Oikos .Pastors .Unity is vital NEW- Jesus prays for his core community ‘that they would be one’- then- he prays for those who will later believe thru ‘their word’. John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. The church is a light in the world- just like Jesus. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matt 5:14 Paul calls us the ‘Body of Christ’. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 1st Cor. 12:27 We often think that when the church is powerful- she will reach the world. If we have the gifts functioning – that will do it. Or how about when ‘we all become rich and grasp the prosperity promises’. Surely that will get the work done. But Jesus says when we are one- unified- then the world will know he has sent us. John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. I apply [on video] some practical application to the verse I posted at the top- ‘Glorify me with the glory we had- before the world was’. Now- to God be the glory- forever. Yet we share in the glory of Christ. John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I like the way John’s gospel says Jesus ‘knew he came from God- all things were given to him from God- and he was going back to God’. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians that we too ‘came from God’ he planned us before he made the world- yes- the bible teaches that. Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: So- before any of us were involved in the things we are doing- Pastors- your church Preachers- you’re calling Whatever ‘world’ God has allowed you to play a part in- your sphere of influence. Before ‘that world’ ever existed- you had this this aloneness with God. Where he revealed his purpose for your life- and you took hold of it- despite what others said. You prevailed by faith to see this ‘world’ come to pass. Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. You learned that ‘all things were given to you by God’. Now- after these things are built- after you saw God use you to build the church- or ministry. Then there comes a time where you say ‘Father- let me not forget the way all this started- it was just me and you- and let me now return to the ‘glory’ that we had- before these things were’. All of us need to know what it’s like to simply walk with God. These last few years I learned to spend whole days- just with God. No ministry- no outreach- no human contact for that day. And it was not easy to learn this. But at the start of the Christian walk- there was indeed this sense that it was just me and him. Then we get involved in all types of kingdom things- good things- ‘world’ things. And we have to come back to the start again- we have to pray ‘Father- let me experience once again- that one on one relationship that we had at the beginning- before all these things were’. And trust that the word that you have deposited in the people you have had influence with- that it will continue- even after you are gone. When you learn to be alone with God again- you will realize you are not alone- but the Father is with you in a very real way- Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Jn. 16:32 See? PAST POSTS [verses below] JOHNS GOSPEL LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/amos-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/jesus-christ/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/father-abraham/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/the-flood/ John 3 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/the-well-john-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/john-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/john-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/john-7/ https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/8-10-15-john-14.zip https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/john-8/ https://youtu.be/f8VpxlYM_kU John 8- ‘who the Son sets free’ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/john-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/john-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/john-11-the-8th-sign/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/i-found-a-verse/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/john-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/john-14/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/john-15/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/john-16/ . [1486] ARIUS- a priest from Egypt who would challenge the deity of Jesus in the 4th century. Arius taught that Jesus was the Son of God, but not eternally the Son. He said Jesus was a created being whom the father ‘bestowed’ son ship upon. He taught that Jesus was ‘like God’ but not God. The emperor Constantine would call the famous council of Nicaea in 325 a.d. and the council would agree with Athanasius and say that the Son and the Father were of ‘the same substance’ [homoousios] and Arius’s belief would be rejected. The debate would still rage on thru out the century as Constantine would die and the new emperor from the east would hold to ‘Arian’ views. Eventually Orthodoxy would win out and Arianism would be rejected by the majority of believers. I should note that many of the oriental churches would go the way of Arianism till this day; some of these churches are not like the modern cults that we would automatically reject, but they do hold to beliefs that Orthodox Christianity has rejected. As I have written about before, it’s easy to see how various believers have struggled with these issues over the years, some of the ways people express things can be deemed heresy a little too quickly in my view. There are believers who express the deity of Jesus in ways that some Arians express it, and they are not full Arians! The point being, yes- Arian went too far in his belief that Jesus was a created being, Johns gospel refutes this belief strongly [as well as many other portions of scripture] but too say that Jesus was/is the full expression of the father, because he ‘came out from God’ is also in keeping with scripture. Today we should be familiar with the issues and also use much grace when labeling different groups of believers; and we should strive for a unity in the Spirit as much as possible. As believers we accept the full deity of Christ, one who is of the ‘same substance’ of the father- true God from true God. He who has seen the Son has seen the father- Jesus said to Phillip ‘I have been with you a long time, if you see and know me, you have seen and known my father’ Jesus is God come down in the flesh to dwell among men, the true Immanuel, God with us. [1484] ‘This is why I Paul am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so called. I take it that you are familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody… none of our ancestors understood this, only in our time has it been made clear thru God’s Spirit… this is my life work, helping people understand and respond to God’s message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details’ Ephesians 3, message bible. As I said earlier in this study, the ‘mystery’ that God revealed to Paul was the reality that thru Christ all ethnic groups would be on the same footing with God. This specifically related to the religious belief of the day that the ethnic nation of Israel were the only ones with special access to God. For Paul to have been preaching this message in his day would be like us teaching that God’s plan for all people today- Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Iranians, etc., it would be like saying Gods purpose for our day is to accept all of these ethnic groups as one group thru Christ. To be frank about it, I believe many evangelicals today are not fully seeing the reality of the Cross when they exalt the natural heritage of Israel as Gods special people. Though I realize many of these teachings mean well [end time scenarios and stuff] yet in practice they deny the equal footing that all people have in Christ. Paul was preaching the great news that your ethnic/cultural background no longer made any difference- thru Christ we are all Gods special people. This does not mean that we are all accepted whether or not we believe in Christ, a sort of religious syncretism, but it does mean that the offer of Jesus is available to all. [parts] (1226) 2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that. (1227) 2ND CORITNHIANS 5- Paul speaks of the Christian hope- resurrection! This chapter can be confusing if not taken in context. You could think that Paul is saying when we die we have a house/room in heaven ‘waiting for us’ and this seems true enough. But he is really saying something more along the lines of ‘in heaven [Gods realm] we have a promise of a new body. The Spirit in us is the down payment, but full redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead’ the hope is a new body, not our souls living some type of disembodied existence in a heavenly [parts] JAMES 1 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-28-15-james-intro-chapter-1.zip Try and watch this video- I cover lots of stuff that place this letter in context for this study. [ Read acts 10,11,15, Galatians 1-2] Intro- This letter was written by James- the brother of Jesus. He was one of the main church leaders at the church in Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. This [Acts 15] was the first church council in the history of Christianity. I already taught the book of Romans written by the apostle Paul. And as we read the New Testament in context- we can see the reason why James penned this letter- and addressed it to Jewish believers. Paul was the most influential missionary in the early church- he established most of the gentile churches we read about in the bible [Rome being the exception]. He also wrote most of the letters that make up our New Testament. His main teaching was Justification by faith. There was a division we read about in the bible- between some of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem- and the churches Paul was planting [the church council mentioned above- was convened over this issue]. This division was based on the teaching of Paul- and some Jewish believers in Jerusalem accused Paul of rejecting the Mosaic Law. Paul defended himself in the letters of the New Testament [Romans/Galatians] and even talks about his visits to the leaders at the church in Jerusalem. Now- in this context- it seems fitting for James- the main church leader of the Jewish brothers- to ‘set the record straight’. And to write his own letter- showing the importance of GOOD WORKS- and even saying ‘see how a man is justified/saved by works- and not by faith alone’. The higher critics of Christianity [who you have heard me talk about in recent videos] will teach that James and Paul ‘taught different theologies’. I do not agree with them. But- our bibles are an early collection of the Real Time things that were taking place in the early church. At the time these men were writing these letters- they were not writing them as a complete canon [book] – but were writing them as you or I would write a letter to another person. In the wisdom of God- I think it is possible for these men to have seen different aspects of the manifold wisdom of God- and maybe they were not fully seeing the other writer’s point of view. To me- this would not be a criticism of the canon of scripture- but it would show us that God used these men- thru their experiences- and yes- even disagreements- to write the letters that make up our bibles- And in time- they would indeed become the official teaching of the church- Embracing a broad range of Divine Revelation- that in the end- does NOT CONTRADICT itself- but instead makes a complete work- which we call the bible. This letter is short- and packed with short verses of great wisdom. It is the only New Testament letter that falls into the category of Wisdom Literature- Meaning a particular genre’ of writing- like Proverbs in the Old Testament. Because of this- I am going to post each chapter of the letter during this teaching- for those of you who have never read the bible all the way thru- I want to challenge you to read these short chapters over the next few weeks. I will comment and add historical stuff in this teaching- like I did in the other recent studies. But most of all- read each chapter for yourself- ask God to give you wisdom- and apply the instruction of this letter to your life. It is a very practical- straight forward teaching that comes to us from the brother of Jesus himself. As I have been commenting on the other writings that did not make it into our bibles- like the Gnostic gospels- One of the reasons these extra biblical writings have so much appeal- Is because they claim to have other teachings- from/about Jesus- that are not in the bible. For those of us who reject these other writings- as canon- The letter of James kind of fills the void of ‘we want to know more about what Jesus taught’. This would be the letter to read- because James grew up with Jesus- in the same home. He was the oldest sibling of the Holy Family- And he was not a follower of Jesus until after the resurrection of Christ. He was one of the witnesses Jesus appeared to after his resurrection [Paul told us this in Corinthians]. So- if anyone has any ‘secret insight’ into the other stuff Jesus taught- it would be James. James 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass [parts] END NOTES OF POST- WHAT ARE THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS? OCTAVIAN- A GOD? CICERO- MARK ANTONY [or Anthony if you like]. WHO WERE THE ESSENES? DID THE CHURCH ENGAGE IN A GRAND CONSPIRACY? END NOTES [I posted the video for this portion a few days ago- it goes along with Hebrews 7-9 video/post] The past few weeks I had a few friends ask me about the Dead Sea Scrolls- and a few other questions about the ‘lost books of the bible’ and some other common- and mistaken ideas [like the original sin being Eve had sex with the serpent]. So- I figured I would cover a little Jewish history- which would help in this study of Hebrews- And also hit on a few of these subjects. As we read Hebrews- it helps to also understand some of the history that we don’t have in our bibles [though the Catholic bibles do have some of it in the Apocrypha]. Ok- the ruling empire at the time of Christ was Rome- just prior to the appearance of Jesus- the Roman Emperor- Caesar Augustus- consolidated the Roman Empire under his rule- Rome was ruled by a senate- some famous names from history were in it- Cicero being one. Caesar Augustus was the nephew of Julius Caesar- his real name was Octavian [Octavius]. After the death of Julius Caesar- there were some power struggles that took place- between some other famous people. Marc Antony being one of them [Cleopatra too- he was in love with the girl for sure]. Now- we read about Augustus in the New Testament- and we read in the book of Revelation about the Mark of the Beast- and that those who don’t worship- give homage to the Beast- they will be killed. So- Many Christians would be killed because they would refuse to give homage to Caesar Augustus [meaning son of the Divine]. ‘Wow- how did he get a name like that’ [there was more than one Caesar by the way- as well as more than one Herod- who did play a part in these power struggles- it can get confusing- even to me]. When Octavian defeated Marc Antony at Actium [32 BC]. Herod [The Great] had a problem- he had previously sided with Antony and found himself on the losing side. Yet he was smart- did some ‘brown nosing’ as we say-and patched things up. Herod had 3 sons- who would eventually take positions of authority in the Roman government at the time of Christ. Herod Antipas was over the region that we read about in the New Testament where Jesus did most of his ministry- Galilee. Ok- Octavian claimed deity because of a heavenly sign associated with his rise to power- and this is how he became called ‘Caesar Augustus’. He sort of saw himself as a ‘re-incarnate’- of his great uncle Julius Caesar. ‘John- what in the heck does this have to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls’. Ok- good question. The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times. Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered. They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule. Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community. This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century. A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls. The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes- Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along. I did read up this week- and basically had it right. The earliest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D. These manuscripts went back about 1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the Old testament- and some complete books. The only book missing was Esther. So- this was indeed a very significant find for scholars. But the Scrolls also contain some of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so this too was significant. There were Jews at the time of the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of Christ]. These are referred to as Herodian’s in the bible. Some wanted a revolution to rid Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this group]. Some thought if they returned to a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees. And some took more of a political compromise- these were the Sadducees. Eventually a war with Rome would be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are very valuable to scholars]. NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement]. Frankly- there is a lot of confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church had some type of plot to keep certain books out]. Or stories about how the Church taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her. Actually- we read in the gospels that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of life- And Jesus had a ministry to the down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women- And if true- it would not demean her in any way- That’s how this tradition more than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure. So a few years back the Church officially said ‘we don’t know’. Ok- Plot? No- just being careful. So there are other misguided beliefs like this- that sincere people have- and over time I hope to get to them. I’ll do one more in keeping with this post. I mentioned above that Caesar Augustus did indeed take the title of ‘son of God’. And some critics of the Church say ‘see- there were all types of religions that had Sons of God’. I watched one show a few years back- and it stated that these religions had ’12 disciples- a leader named Lord and Savior- and he healed and claimed to be God’s Son- and rose from the dead’. Ok- that show was ‘fibbing’ to put it lightly- they went too far [historically speaking] in trying to diminish the Christians claim of Christ by doing this. Now- is there some truth to this at all? Yes- like I just mentioned above- Octavian did indeed claim deity- a ‘son of god’. So- how do we explain this? In the book of Galatians the bible says ‘in the FULLNESS of times God sent forth his Son’. Jesus came at a set time in history- in fulfilment of the Jewish Prophets- to be who he was- and to do what he did. Now- this is not special pleading here- but I find it a masterpiece that God’s Son came at a time when the Roman Empire had one sitting on the throne- who too claimed deity. Yet Jesus was in a region of the lower class- his men were not highly educated- and his followers were people under oppression. Augustus lived in the wealthy and influential capital of ‘the world’- he had all you could ever ask for- he was worshiped as a god. Yet in 3 short centuries- one of the heirs of the empire- Constantine- would have an experience – not with a former Caesar- but with a vison of a Cross- He would convert to Christianity- and declare Christianity to be the religion of the realm. He would then ‘convert’ the pagan temples- into churches for these followers of Christ. So I don’t see the fact that Augustus claimed to be a son of god right before Christ- as some type of discredit to the claims of Christ. No- I see it as God’s way of pulling the rug out from the oppressor- see? [Oh- by the way- only one of them rose from the dead- can you guess?] [parts] [1740] THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING- PLATO. I caught a show the other night on Link TV. It was a spin off from this famous Platonic quote- it was called ‘The examined life’. They interviewed some of the most prominent philosophers of our day. Cornell West, Peter Singer- a few others [I think the name is Singer?] I found it interesting that Singer- who specializes in Ethics- tried to make the case that you really don’t need religion/God in order to do ethics- all you need is to work from the basic principle that says ‘try to treat others like you too want to be treated- and then you will have a foundation for morals’. Now- I caught the contradiction right away- do you see it? Who is he quoting? This is the great moral principle- given to us by Jesus himself- called the Golden Rule. This actual principle- in Theology [the study of God] we call Natural/Moral law. The Argument is based on the reality that all people [not animals- Singer- get to it in a moment] have within them this moral compass [Romans 1] and that this in itself is proof that there must be a higher moral being- a transcendent being- who has put it in man. I just found it funny that Singer- who is supposed to be a prominent atheist/agnostic thinker- would fall flat on his face like this. Singer advocates for legal Rights for animals- and has also argued that viability of the new born baby should determine its personhood- he says that we should be able to abort babies up until around the age of 1- because they can’t really survive on their own until that age. Sad. Okay- why do Philosophy- or Physics- or any other of a number of schools of thought? Because too often Christians abandon these fields- and then when someone from that field says ‘this is why we don’t need God’ we usually have no answer. When we think about philosophy- most of us think about the 3 great big shots- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. While it is true that these guys were the major guys at right around the 5th century B.C.- yet we actually date the beginning point to the early 6TH Century B.C. to a man by the name of Thales. Thales accurately predicted a solar eclipse in the year 585 B.C. and he gained notoriety because of this. Thales was the first Greek thinker to grapple with the idea that there must be one reality that makes up all things. He would argue that Water was this element- that contained being and Motion and life. Many of these pre Socratic thinkers were obsessed with the idea of motion- where did it come from? Thales observed that streams and rivers- and all types of water sources flow- so to him this was a logical source of motion. This idea- that only one element makes up all reality- is called Monism. Monism is not be confused with Monotheism- the belief in one God- Monism actually leads to another religious view- called Pantheism- the belief that God is everything- and everything is God. This is not the historic Christian view. Now- the pre Socratic guys- Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus- these guys would challenge Thales view that water was the main thing. Some said ‘maybe it’s Air’ another said ‘Earth’ and some Fire. These 4 elements [Earth, Air [wind] Fire and Water- are the 4 basic elements of the early Greek philosophers. We see these things in the naming of musical groups [Earth Wind and Fire] as well as the themes in movies [fantastic 4- based on 4 basic elements- powers]. Now- one of the thinkers said ‘wait- maybe the reality behind all things is not any one of these elements- maybe there is a 5th dimension [another musical name- and also the famous Bruce Willis flick- called the 5th Element] a Boundless being- outside of time and matter- maybe this 5ht element is the foundation for all things. Of course this view would lead to the more developed view of God that Socrates and his followers would embrace- an early view of God- much like the later Christian view [absent the Trinity]. By the way- the view that 2 or more elements make up all reality is called Pluralism- not to be confused with religious Pluralism [that all religions lead to the same God]. The most common form of Pluralism is Dualism [2 realities equally true] but all non Monists who embrace more than one reality are Pluralists. Okay- maybe a bit much with the 10 dollar words- but it might spark the interest of some. The church has debated for centuries on whether or not Philosophy should be taught to Christians. One of the early church fathers- Tertullian- said no- his famous quote is ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’. Meaning what does Philosophy have in common with Christianity [Athens- Greece was the seat of philosophy in Jesus’ day]. For the most part- the early church fathers would embrace the study of philosophy- and try to make arguments for the Christian faith by presenting Christianity as ‘thee’ philosophy that best answers the questions of man. These early Christian thinkers are called Apologists- men like Justin Martyr are in this class. Apologist is a word we use to describe those who defend the faith- it comes from the Apostle Peter’s letter in the N.T. where Peter says ‘give an answer to those who ask you about the faith’. In the Greek language- the original language the N.T. was written in- this phrase is talking about a defense- an ‘apology’ in the sense of ‘making the case’ not in the common sense of apologizing. In the book of Acts- chapter 17- we read the famous sermon of the apostle Paul- given at Mars Hill. He was in Athens at the time- and he was debating with all the philosophers of the day. He tells them ‘as I was looking around town- I saw that one of your altars is addressed to The Unknown God’. He would go on and declare unto them that this Jesus is the true God- the one raised from the dead. Paul also said ‘in Him we live and MOVE and have our being’. Kind of a popular verse quoted by preacher’s today- but we often overlook the significance of the MOVE part. I mean- why say we MOVE in him too? Paul was a smart guy- he knew these children of Socrates questioned where motion came from [Remember Thales?] So he was basically saying ‘I am declaring to you the one true reality- the true 5th Element- the missing God particle from your system’ and he went on and preached Christ- being raised from the dead. Paul knew that you can’t really do true philosophy- to grapple with the questions of life and being and ‘motion’ without realizing that God is indeed the ultimate answer to all things. Even Peter Singer- who claimed that you don’t need God or religion in order to do Ethics- even he unknowingly quoted Jesus in attempting to give a basis for his Philosophy- yes- he quoted a God- one unknown to him- just like the altar at Athens- but a God never the less. An inescapable 5th element- the missing part to the whole puzzle. VERSES- John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. John 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. John 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. John 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. John 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Tim. 3:16 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg VERSES- These are the verses I either quoted or taught on the video- Ephesians 4 Hebrews 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Acts 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Hebrews 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 15:13 [Full Chapter] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 3:16 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. Mark 12:13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. Mark 12:14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Mark 12:15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. Mark 12:16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. Mark 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him. Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? Mark 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Mark 12:37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. Mark 12:38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, Mark 12:39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Ephesians 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Ephesians 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. Ephesians 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; Ephesians 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Ephesians 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. MY SITES Active sites- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello Link sharing sites- https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com https://getpocket.com/a/queue/list/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress https://ccoutreach87.joomla.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWXKfaFDZrfNUzloSqg8Kg?view_as=subscriber beta https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlLmUkKiB6VoWE9CB1UQew?view_as=subscriber ccoutreach87 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber classic https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/ I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John SUNDAY SERMON
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.John 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. NOTE- I post this today- Sunday 6-24-18- as a new post. Eventually you might see these Sunday posts as ‘re-posts’- like the other teachings I have been posting weekly. At the bottom of every post I have links to all my sites. Later today I will probably post the video I make today- 6-24-18. I’ll try and post it to my 1st Youtube channel- see here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber [I now have 3 channels] as well as to my first blog [see here- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com ]So for those who want to keep up with the daily- Real Time posts- videos- this blog gets both the daily videos- as well as the posts- I know it can get confusing for people who read the posts on the other sites- that’s why I added this update- John Sunday Sermon videos- https://youtu.be/g7ytYR1qpHs https://drive.google.com/file/d/1arVsN-xEli9uEUEdqZomMnPzitmH3mpG/view?usp=sharing https://flic.kr/p/Lk8qPh [Note- I added Flickr back into the video lineup- [above] they were an old site- I stopped using them because they only play the 1st 3 minutes- and then you can download [for free with me]. But- as I have been updating you on ‘reputable sites’- meaning they don’t delete your site- even if you go away for a while. Sure enough- I logged back in after a long time- and all my videos were still there. Good example of what I have been talking about the last week or 2] ON VIDEO [Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post] .Parable of the tree- Ezekiel .A high- tender branch comes down .It is planted [in death] and becomes a great tree .A type of Jesus- came down from a high place- laid aside his glory- born of a virgin [dry branch] rose again- and ascended inot heaven .This Branch spreads into the whole earth- the Kingdom come .Kenosis .Parables .The message of the Cross is seed too .What is the missing ingredient? I teach it at the end of the video- Sunday sermon- link above] NEW [Other videos below] This Sunday I taught on the verses from the Mass [added below in the verses section as well] From the prophet Ezekiel we read- Ezekiel 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: Ezekiel 17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Ezekiel 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it. We call this a Messianic prophecy- God will take a ‘high’ branch- a tender one- in verse 24 we read that this ‘dry tree’ will grow. In Isaiah Jesus is the Root that springs forth from a dry ground- Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Speaking of his virgin birth. In Philippians we read that Jesus left his high position of glory- and humbled himself and became obedient unto death- even the humiliating death by crucifixion- Philipians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Philipians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philipians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So in this short passage from Ezekiel- we see Jesus coming down from heaven [the branch from the high cedar] we see him as being planted in the earth [his death] and then becoming the firstborn of the Kingdom- that branches into all the earth- Which Jesus himself taught- in the next reading from the Mass- Mark 4:30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? Mark 4:31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: Mark 4:32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. We know about the ‘mustard seed Faith’ but Jesus himself was the seed that was the ‘least’- Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. His humiliation brought him from the top of the cedar- down to being planted in the earth- the seed that was the least. He was the ‘seed’ that had to die- be planted- John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Yet- he sprouted forth from death- instituted the new kingdom of God- and as the prophet said- this kingdom has expanded into all the earth- and ‘all birds’ of many kinds [a reference that both Jew and Gentile would be ONE NEW MAN- no more ethnic divisions based on race or nationality] find refuge under its branches today. The Psalm from the Mass was psalms 92- I did quote a few verses from it on the video- But ended with what I felt was a better psalm that fit the image of a tree- Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Psalm 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. We too- as children of God- have the promise that we can become fruitful- our lives can bear the wonderful fruit of the Spirit. We too can play a role in this ‘kingdom tree’- But first- we too must be planted in the earth as the seed. Die to ourselves- our own agendas of what we think the kingdom of God is all about. Jesus set aside his glory- his privileged position of being equal with God- Philipians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:Philipians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And died on the Cross- was planted in the earth- and then rose again. We must first embrace the Cross- follow the true seed principle- bear our Cross. Then after that- we can be like the tree the Psalmist spoke of- a tree- branch- connected vitally to the True Vine- and have an impact for the kingdom of God. Like Jesus said- without him- WE CAN DO NOTHING- John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- PAST POSTS below] 6-21-18 Bias in web sites and stats- stuff I learned https://youtu.be/GC8DBOJAM00 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204487499985732/ Real time teaching with homeless friends- Church in the Wilderness https://youtu.be/uhAXH6OCTqE https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204487707830928/ 6-22-18 real Time word to the Pastors of Corpus Christi https://youtu.be/zu0UPM8eMm8 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204490509300963/ It was the Daily Show- update too https://youtu.be/MfI5jHUqTyA https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204492057939678/ 6-23-18 Word of the Lord to those who profit from the Name CORPUS CHRISTI https://youtu.be/uYnttMZjN7Q https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgWEM3cbKTLrpOMXW https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W0fMlx5eUeQ95L02AHzmf3Z3lXwp_9Wt/view?usp=sharing This is the Daily Show!- update too https://youtu.be/Q6PtsDtAGQk Sunday sermon https://youtu.be/n4lSVZsHkxw Restored fan https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x18QI_3wzqydikhlravK3y93h3bH0flr/view?usp=sharing Glenn- North Bergen https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgV45h94zudS0kUtt Mark 3- North Bergen- N.J. https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgV9HfGooGyaF-i8R Apologetics- Philosophy- Prophets https://youtu.be/ByHJ1u7n2tE Andy n Sweet Pea https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fDOC5ZCqAp12pF4tjyHoEJTMxaW-1VDQ/view?usp=sharing Galatians 4 https://youtu.be/VF41EUh6BiU This IS the day https://drive.google.com/file/d/17AwGak9lFYIUzjEGnFp8UcF8w2BGz58j/view?usp=sharing Nick- North Bergen https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgWAnTaXFay5-of5M Teaching at NeWay [a halfway house I helped start with a friend] https://youtu.be/DvzW72GvGuM Pops n Bear n the Pope https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xxscDWo03A1kcWK5gY-f1V0clkcc2l1c/view?usp=sharing Kings 17 https://youtu.be/NnaLjgwMW3w You too will go to hell https://flic.kr/p/28p4tPq PAST POSTS [These are links and parts of my past teachings that relate in some way to today’s post- Verses below] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.com/mark-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ (871)ROMANS 15:1-7 ‘we then that are strong [more mature] ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves’. In Philippians we have the ‘KENOSIS’ the act of Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not something to be used for his own advantage. He did not see his purpose in the kingdom as one of ‘let’s find out our rights in the covenant and posses what’s rightfully ours’. A few years back it was common to hear ‘God told me his people don’t have a problem with giving [oh really?] but they need to learn how to receive’. While there might be a ‘speck’ of truth in this, the overall ethos of the kingdom [according to Jesus and Paul] is ‘we are not here to please ourselves, but give up our rights and blessings for the purpose of pleasing others’ [building them up, edifying them]. Paul makes this statement right after the chapter on Christian convictions. He shows us that even if we are right on a particular issue, it is ‘more right’ to not offend or put a stumbling block in our brother’s path. It is possible to ‘be right’ in a particular doctrine or truth, and yet ‘be wrong’ in that we might have used it in a way that destroyed the purpose of God in building others up. Many in the church [at large!] have unwittingly ‘tore down’ the poor and oppressed by seeking ‘their own pleasure’. Many overseas countries have been hurt by the amount of pleasure seeking doctrines that went into their countries. Many 3rd world Pastors gave sacrificially out of their extreme poverty to rich American ‘pleasure seekers’ and their poor people suffered greatly when they did not get a literal 100 fold return as was promised. Paul said ‘we that are strong ought to help the weak, and not please ourselves’. CORINTHIANS 15:1-19 Paul will deal with the greatest threat yet to the Corinthian church, their doubt over the physical resurrection of the body. Various ‘Christian’ groups over the years have doubted the physical resurrection. Now, some have done this out of a sincere attempt at trying to defend the faith! [their view of it] In the 1900’s you had one of the most popular theologians by the name of Rudolf Bultman [most of his career was spent at the University of Marburg, Germany. Much of the higher criticism of the day originated from Germany] He wrote a book called ‘Kerygma and Myth’. What he tried to say was that any modern man living in the 20th century, with all the breakthroughs in science and knowledge, could not ‘literally’ believe the miraculous stories in scripture. Or even the way scripture spoke of heaven and hell and used limited terms to describe spiritual truths. He used the bibles terminology on Cosmology as an example. How could man believe in a Cosmos where ‘heaven is up there, with the stars and all’ and he felt that enlightened man needed to ‘re-tool’ the bible and cleanse it from all these mythical images, but yet keep the spiritual aspects of it. The moral teachings of Christ and stuff like that. So you have had sincere men doubt the truth claims of scripture. The problem with this attempt [higher criticism] is it throws out the baby with the bathwater. The resurrection of Jesus is presented by the apostles as a real event. The fact of this resurrection can also be attested to by examining the historical events of the day. Simply put, there is a ton of proof for the real resurrection of Christ. Bultman and others meant well, but some of the ‘facts’ that they were using were later proven to be false. Bultman used a model of cosmology that would later be rejected by science. Yet the testimony from scripture would remain sure. Paul told the Corinthian’s that they needed to reject any attempts at spiritualizing the resurrection of Christ. Sometimes believers grasp hold of limited proof’s for certain doctrines. For instance, the New Testament does speak of a spiritual resurrection. In Ephesians Paul says we are presently raised with Christ. In Romans chapter 6 we have all ready been raised with Jesus. This reality does not mean there will be no future resurrection of the saints. In Johns gospel Jesus speaks of the resurrection as being a future real event, as well as a present reality. Those in the graves will hear his voice and be raised from the dead. And those who were presently ‘dead in sins’ would ‘come alive’ [spiritually] when they heard and believed the testimony of Jesus. It is important for the believer to be familiar with the various theories and ideas that theologians and believers have grasped over the years. It is a mistake to simply see all higher learning as ‘liberalism’. There are some very important things that we have learned thru the great intellectuals of the church. But we also need to stick with the ancient traditions as seen in the creeds, as well as the plain testimony of scripture. If Christ ‘be not raised from the dead, then we are of all men most miserable’. (1011)CORINTHIANS 15:20-28 here we see the guarantee of mans resurrection based on Christ’s resurrection. ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall ALL be made alive’. Is Paul teaching a form of universalism [all being saved]? He is showing us that all men will someday be raised from the dead. Now, does Paul leave room here for a type of Pre-millennial resurrection? A ‘raising’ of the dead prior to a thousand year literal reign of Jesus. Then another resurrection at the end? Yes he does. If you read Revelation you will see this type of scenario play out. Also Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Historically the church has held 3 basic views on this. Pre-millennialism says Jesus returns first [pre] before the literal thousand year rule occurs. ‘Post’ says the thousand year rule is literal, and after that Jesus comes back. Those who held to this view were excited at the turn of the first millennium [1000 ad] they thought it possible for Jesus to have returned after the first thousand years since his death and resurrection. And then you have A-millennial, they spiritualize the thousand year reign spoken of in the book of Revelation as being a symbol of Christ’s present rule and kingdom. Now, today’s most popular form of Pre-millennialism is not historic, it dates back to the 19th century. Today’s form is called ‘Pre-tribulational, Pre-millennial’ this teaching [dispensationalism] says Jesus comes back 2 more times. One is called ‘the rapture’ the other is the second coming [revealing]. The proponents of this form find little [or no] early Christians who believed this. There is one early writing by a Syrian brother who speaks very clearly about a rapture type event. Some think he speaks a little too clearly! The writing is believed to have been a fake. Either way we do have Paul teaching stages involved with the coming of the Lord and the kingdom. It is possible to have 2 future resurrections, this would not mean you need two future ‘second comings’. The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return. He rules a literal thousand years and ‘the dead are raised again’ at the end of the literal rule on earth [ a literal reading of Revelation]. Also Paul does use the language of Jesus submitting to the Father at the end so ‘God will be all in all’. I feel believers have been confused and at times contradictory while trying to explain the nature of God and the Trinity. I recently read a teaching on the Trinity that tried to compare the Trinity to the nature of the organic church. It seemed confusing to me, they tried to say that just like in the Trinity you have no one ‘being’ having authority over the other, but instead you see all three persons equally submitting to one another [Father, Son and Spirit] so in the church you have equality. Now, I do believe that there is equality in the church, but I felt the example was way off. The New Testament clearly teaches the willful ‘submission’ of the Son to the Father. God [the father] is clearly the one ‘in charge’. Now, I admit it’s difficult and brothers have spent years trying to explain all the ins and outs of this. Here Paul shows us that the Son has willingly submitted to the Father so the father can put all things under him. Then once again at the culmination of the kingdom the Son submits to the father and God receives the glory. We will praise and worship Jesus thru out all eternity, it is his willful submission to the father’s plan that makes this happen. NOTE- Some believers spiritualize the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation, they relate it to those who have been ‘born again’ spiritually. Modern ‘Preterism’ holds to this view. (1013)CORINTHIANS 15:29-49 the resurrection body is a real ‘spiritual’ body. Paul describes the natural body [us now] as fleshly and like Adams body. He then describes the promised resurrection body as being like Jesus in his raised state. These verses can be a little confusing. When Paul says the resurrection body is ‘spiritual’ as compared to earthy, is he saying it is not real? No. But you can see how some early sects could use these verses and teach a ‘phantom’ type resurrection [Gnostic, Docetist type groups]. I was once asked by a Catholic believer if the church taught the physical resurrection. I assured the person that both Catholic and Protestant [and Orthodox] expressions of Christianity embrace the real future resurrection of the body. Now, is it the same body? Well, the way Paul describes it is by comparing the planting of seeds. When you plant a seed you don’t simply get a bigger seed! But you get various types of growth, whether it’s a tree or plant or whatever. So Paul says our future bodies will be new and glorious in this way, but if it weren’t really you, then it wouldn’t be a resurrection! So you will come back, but it will be a ‘new you’. Over the years I have studied various theologians [Christian ones] and I have seen the penchant for various groups to focus in on a certain doctrine and to stray somewhat from the faith. Now, they aren’t always cults, some of them are highly knowledgeable Christians who seem to be testing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I like N.T. Wright, the famous Bishop of Durham [Church of England] but you need to be grounded in what you believe before you can really read him. I feel at times he is helpful in bringing new perspectives to things, I have seen some of the things he teaches myself. But there is also a danger of ‘re-thinking’ stuff a little too much. By the way Wright has written on the resurrection and has done a great job at defending the historic churches position. He’s in somewhat of a theological controversy at the moment, some of the strong reformed brothers have come out and challenged his view on Justification. Wright teaches that the historic reformers kind of missed what Paul was saying. Wright ‘extends’ the doctrine to mean ‘a sign/badge of those who are already in Gods covenant community’. The historic reformers taught a more forensic meaning of the doctrine. That justification is primarily saying that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. That Jesus took our sins, and we get his righteousness. Now, I feel there is some truth to Wrights view. But I would be careful to throw out the reformed view all together. There certainly is much truth to the reformed view. John Piper [a reformed Baptist] just released a book on the reformed view, Wright has one coming out pretty soon [Wrights is already published overseas, but the states wont get it for a few months]. So, the point is I believe the historic church and the ancient creeds ‘got it right’ on the resurrection. It is real, it will happen to all people some day. Those who have ‘done good’ [wow- these are Jesus actual words when describing the final judgment!] will be ‘raised to life’. Those who have done evil will be raised to face judgment. We can all escape the coming judgment, Jesus died for us. If we believe and accept his death, burial and resurrection, then we will be raised to a new life some day. 378- (I stuck this entry in here because it deals with the ‘baptism for the dead’, I didn’t want you to think that I just skipped over the verse) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1stcentury cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification]. (1014)CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 Okay, let’s wrap up this chapter. ‘Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom’ Paul speaks a little on the nature of the resurrected body. It is real, but not mortal [flesh and blood] without getting lost in the technical aspects of the actual body, Paul does make a distinction between the natural life of man [blood gives life to the mortal man] and the supernatural life of the resurrected body [spiritual life]. Then Paul shows us a mystery [something that was hidden up until the time God reveals it- here thru Paul!] that ‘we shall not all experience death, but we shall all get new bodies’. Paul teaches that some believers will not face natural death, they will be the generation that is alive at Christ’s coming. Paul says this happens at the ‘last trumpet’. For those of you not familiar with some of the silly stuff that passes under the heading of ‘theology’, let me explain some stuff. In the world of ‘dispensationalism’ there is an entire body of teaching that deals with the trumpets in scripture. Basically if Paul is teaching that this event, getting raised from the dead and being transformed, if this takes place at ‘the last trump’ then it is pretty clear that this event is not some type of rapture that takes place 7 years prior to Gods ‘last trump’ [last day, when God wraps things up]. But if you read the portions of scripture that speak about Christ’s return and the resurrection [Thessalonians 4, John 14, Matthew 25] you will see that all these scriptures teach that the resurrection takes place at the end, when Christ returns. So anyway a whole lotta time is spent by the rapture guys to explain that when you are in school, you might say ‘hey, that’s the last bell [trump] before class starts’ and that ‘last bell’ doesn’t mean ‘last bell’, but it means the ‘last bell for now’. It’s kind of silly stuff that preachers do in order to back up their theories. If scriptures ‘last trump’ isn’t really the ‘last trump’ then you can fit the rapture in as a separate event from the second coming. I think doing doctrine like this is silly and hairsplitting. The first century believers who were reading these letters [not all at once, but as they were slowly being penned and sent] simply saw all of the references on the second coming as one event. It’s silly to try and make two separate lists of the New testament verses on Christ’s coming and then place some verses under a rapture heading, and others under a ‘second coming’ heading, especially when the rapture brothers themselves cant agree on which ones belong to which list! Well any way we have a glorious promise of a future resurrection body, the last enemy that Jesus destroys is death. Revelation says ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire’ Jesus has power over death, hell and the grave. He will totally eradicate all death some day, Jesus tasted death for every man [Hebrews] so that man does not have to be in bondage under its fear any more. POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT JOHN 15 John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. https://youtu.be/fYld3Wm4elE John 15 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/8-30-16-john-15.zip ON VIDEO- You tube songs below- https://youtu.be/vBecM3CQVD8 I mention this song on the video https://youtu.be/H3By4DZyTNM I like this one too [sound of silence] .Longest last supper discourse .True Vine .Branches cut- pruned .Sympathy for the devil? .Cards in a deck .Most high .Suicides in the bible .King Ranch .What is a valuable legacy? NEW- [links- verses below] Jesus teaches us that he is the TRUE VINE- God is the gardener- and we are the branches. Warning- Branches that do not bear fruit get cut off. The ones that produce fruit get pruned. Ok- in the history of the church- some Christians believe that ‘believers’ can get cut off [lose their salvation]. Others don’t. My purpose in covering this chapter is to show you that good Christians do disagree on this- and they are all Christians. Now- what does it mean? I’ll give you my view. Remember- John’s gospel is unique in many ways. One way is he gives us the longest discourse of Jesus which seems to have taken place at the last Supper. We read about the meal in chapter 13- and if you read the beginning of chapter 18- it seems as if all this instruction was in the upper room. Even the great prayer of Jesus recorded in Chapter 17. So- here’s context. Judas was no longer at the table- he went out already. As far as we know- the only disciple that knew Judas was getting ‘cut off’ was John. But they all knew that one OF THEM was going to betray Jesus. This was tough stuff. Jesus might have been giving them some ‘reasons’ for this. Meaning ‘ok- Judas was part of the group [branch] and some tough stuff is still to come- remember- those who do not produce fruit [as Judas] will get cut off’. ‘What about us Jesus- the good guys’? Ok- you guys get pruned- because that’s the process. See? Now- this obviously extends to all of us- Jesus was teaching the church- but maybe this will help us see a little better. We have a peculiar insight from John’s gospel- because out of the other 3 gospel writers- only John wrote 3 teaching epistles [1-2-3 John]. Peter wrote 2 letters [1-2 Peter]. But he didn’t write a gospel [there is a gnostic one- but most say it was a fake]. So- John talks about abiding in Christ in his letters- and also about sins that lead to death 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. 1st Jn. He says we should not pray for those who ‘sin unto death’. Sounds harsh- but remember- John was at the table that day. And Jesus taught his men that this betrayal was meant to be. Peter also tells us there were some who were false preachers- yet- when they fall away- It would have been better for them not to have known the way of truth- then after knowing it [like Judas] to then fall away. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 2nd Peter Both Peter and John seem to say that these were never really true believers They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 1st Jn. 2:19 And Judas did have a special place- yet we know he was not sincere from the start. John also teaches us much about abiding [resting] in Christ- and warns us that if we don’t learn how to abide- then we will face shame. The overall theme in the New Testament is there are indeed judgments for those who turn away. Some might die psychically 1Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 1Corinthians 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 1Corinthians 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 1Corinthians 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Others might face a harsher sentence. The reality of apostasy is indeed in the bible- And whatever side you fall on [Arminian -From the preacher Jacob Arminius – Calvinist- Comes from John Calvin’s name] that warning remains clear. Hold fast to the doctrine of Christ- walk in the Spirit- do not justify a sinful life. And in the end- all will go well. PAST LINKS- [verses below] JOHNS GOSPEL LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/amos-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/jesus-christ/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/father-abraham/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/the-flood/ John 3 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/the-well-john-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/john-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/john-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/john-7/ https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/8-10-15-john-14.zip https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/john-8/ https://youtu.be/f8VpxlYM_kU John 8- ‘who the Son sets free’ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/john-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/john-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/john-11-the-8th-sign/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/i-found-a-verse/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/john-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/john-14/ I mention Corinthians on today’s video- here’s my study- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ The 6th session of Trent was the one where the church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight]. Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that justifies. Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the ‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a state of Grace. This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance [confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference between Mortal and Venial sin. Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin. If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat drunk- mortal. This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up. Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the Mortal/Venial sins. Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin. I just threw this in to show you the debates that take place. The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine. The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide- severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the Saints. But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this. Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as much- if not more- than John Calvin. But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear every so often. Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject. Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one]. Why is it important that we study this? In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are commonly misunderstood on both sides. It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’. The original Reformers did not have a problem with confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion. And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than Paul [who the protestants focus on]. So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the day God does desire unity for all his people. The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK. In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in the church. He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids. I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin- and Jesus. Amen. [parts] 1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith? Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!] both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works. Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest- named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to obey Gods law and become saved that way. He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the Grace of God. The official Catholic position was to reject Pelagius and accept Augustine. Okay- then where’s the difference? The church council that spells it out is the Council of Trent [named after the Italian city where the council took place in the 1500’s- Trento]. This council is often referred to as the Counter Reformation. The church rejected the Protestant line- but also acknowledged the need for reform and made some changes. This is the council where the church rejects Pelagianism- and also says the position of Luther [Justification by Faith ALONE] was flawed. The church appealed to the New Testament letter of Saint James- where James uses an example from the life of Abraham [found in Genesis 22] where Abraham obeys God and is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar. Of course this never happens- God was simply testing Abraham- but James says this act of obedience justified him in Gods sight. James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not by faith ALONE’. The argument from Rome was Faith played THE major role in justification- but was not sufficient by itself- there had to be righteous works eventually associated with it in order for God to say ‘you are just’ [saved]. Luther disagreed and said God justified Abraham before he had good works- we find this in Genesis 15. God says to Abraham ‘look- count all the stars- so shall your offspring be’ and Walla- the bible also says Abraham was justified in God’s eyes the moment he believed the promise. Who’s right? Actually they both are. I have taught this a few times over the years- and it would take too much time to re-do right now. But I believe James and Paul [the 2 who debate this in the bible] are simply looking at different aspects of salvation/justification. Paul emphasized faith- and James showed us how true faith always has works with it. When you read the statements that came out from the council of Trent- some of them do seem to indicate that both sides might have been talking past each other at some points. In the heat of the day they were too quick to condemn the other side- without really trying hard to achieve unity [like politics!]. The 6th session of Trent was the one where the church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight]. Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that justifies. Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the ‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a state of Grace. This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance [confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference between Mortal and Venial sin. Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin. If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat drunk- mortal. This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up. Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the Mortal/Venial sins. Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin. I just threw this in to show you the debates that take place. The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine. The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide- severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the Saints. But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this. Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as much- if not more- than John Calvin. But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear every so often. Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject. Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one]. Why is it important that we study this? In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are commonly misunderstood on both sides. It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’. The original Reformers did not have a problem with confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion. And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than Paul [who the protestants focus on]. So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the day God does desire unity for all his people. The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK. In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in the church. He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids. I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin- and Jesus. Amen. [parts] NOTE 3- Augustine. I personally am a fan of Saint Augustine. He is one of the famous church fathers of the early centuries. In my view he holds a distinct place- he is admired by both staunch Protestants [Reformed Theologians]- and Catholics. Why? The original Protestant Reformation of the 16th century had 3 key figures. Martin Luther [Germany]- Ulrich Zwingli [Swiss] and John Calvin [studied for the priesthood in Paris- later took a key role in Geneva Switzerland]. One of the key beliefs- of at least 2 of these 3- was the doctrine mentioned above- Predestination. It is a common mistake in our day to see historical documentaries [I have seen some] that refer to Calvin as someone who believed in Predestination [true] and that Luther disagreed with him. That’s wrong [but you have to study theology to find this out- a brief reading of church history does not show you this- that’s why some of the well meaning documentaries you might see on the History channel get this wrong]. Okay- Martin Luther was a Catholic Monk- under an order called the Augustinian order- named after St. Augustine. See? Even though he would break away from the church- and the Lutheran church would form- yet he held to the original belief that the founder/namesake of his order taught. Now- you do indeed find many verses in the bible that speak about God choosing us- and not us ‘choosing him’. Or chapters [Romans 9] that say Gods choice of us has nothing to do with our own goodness- but he chose us because he loved us. So- this teaching does indeed have scriptural backing. But- you also have scripture to back up the opposing view- which is referred to as Arminianism. Named after another church leader- Jacob Arminius. He held to the Calvinist view at first- but as he began studying- to defend this view- he came to the belief that this view [at least among its more radical adherents] was wrong. These 2 groups- Calvinists- Armenians- became enemies as the Protestant Reformation grew. The followers of men like John Wesley [founder of the Methodist church] disagreed strongly with those who held to the Calvinist view. In our day- you still have adherents of both views- seeing the ‘other side’ as non Christian. It’s sad- but this is just one- of thousands of teachings- that have had this effect. The Catholic leaders warned of this at the time of the breakaway- which took place in the 16th century. They feared that once you made a clean break from the historic church- that the ‘breaking’ would never stop. As you look at the scene over the past 500 years- it’s hard to say they were wrong. One last note- many modern Protestants do not hold Augustine- or any of the men mentioned above- in high regard at all. Some hold to a belief [another popular one in groups that are Restorationist- as opposed to Reformist] that all of the early Christian expressions got off course [apostatized] and that the only ‘true’ church- just happens to be the group they are in. Once again- this type of belief simply increases the division in the church- in my view. Many reject men like Augustine- because of his influence by the Greek philosophers- they charge that some of the early church leaders were too much into philosophy. For instance- one of the first Christian schools ever founded was in Alexandria- Egypt. In the 2nd/3rd century Origen- an early church father- would take over the school and teach Christian theology. But- the school was basically a school that first taught Greek philosophy. Origen is respected by many [like me] but officially the church does not recognize him as a legitimate Church farther. Why? Because he did indeed hold to some views that were not Christian based- like the pre- existence of the soul. This belief comes straight from Greek philosophy- not Christianity. He also believed in what we refer to as Universalism- that at the end- everyone gets saved- even the Devil! So- this debate has gone on for centuries- the debate over how ‘Platonic’ so and so is- or did men like Thomas Aquinas [ 13th century- another favorite of mine] simply mix Aristotelian thought [Aristotle] in with Christian teaching- and thus water down the true faith. This is also the reason many [most] Protestants do not teach Philosophy- as a basic plank- in their seminaries. I think this is a big mistake. Philosophy- as a field- deals with the basic issues of life. Why are we hear- what’s the purpose of mans existence- etc. For the Protestant church to have basically abandoned this field- this left the secular world to shape it as they wish. But- the Catholic Church has indeed engaged in this field- and in my view- has presented a better world view- than the secular philosophers. Okay- now this post is becoming an entire study! That’s it for now- I have lots of posts like this on the blog- if you want- just look them up there. [The above comes from my study on the Protestant Reformation- here’s the complete study- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ ] [parts] GW BRIDGE- https://youtu.be/70CVdZxFIMg GW bridge ON VIDEO- .Foundation stones .Why Bishops? .Gnostics and Docetism .Dads boat .GOV Christie and hot dogs .Restore the paths .Isaiah and John .Memories of a kid- train tunnel .Robert Moses to blame? .Mayor LaGuardia .The argument for Rome .Church fathers .Mystics .Suicide signs .Apostolic succession .What church is the ‘true church’? .Most amazing intellectual discourse ever? Only if you don’t hear [have to watch to get it- sorry] .Bedrock .I am homeless- can you spare a 5? NOTE- I made the video- and typed the notes sitting in my car at Hudson County Park [in the rain] Ill upload tomorrow at Dunkin Donuts [or somewhere else]. What big financial budget was needed for this? None. One of the things I want my minister friends to see- is it’s not about money. Sure- it would be easier to be at my home office- or even a home. But you don’t need it- you can use the things that you have. This has been one of my ‘pet peeves’ for many years. I want you to see how simple all of this is- the friends you see [both in Texas and here] are just friends I made along the way. The kingdom is about relationships- and sharing with one another- even Marie quoted Jesus- and as far as I know she’s not a Christian. So- maybe this whole unplanned experience was God’s will. To be honest- I never know- at least at the start. Be spontaneous- I left Texas on Sunday- because I heard the song ‘Head East’ [or group?] So yes- we all have limited time on the planet. Don’t live ‘too safe’ or you won’t live- at all. FRIDAY NIGHT- PARKING LOT- https://youtu.be/UYOvIw6jhiI Friday night- parking lot Just finished the GW bridge walk a few hours ago- and being it might be the last night sleeping in the car, I figured I’d do a video for a few minutes. This will probably be the last time you’ll be able to see- real time- me living in the car like this. But- like they say ‘you never know’. [parts] VERSES- 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Acts 19 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 2nd Peter 2 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Lk:11 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Rev. 14:15 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Ps.103:20 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 1st Jn. 2:22 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1st Jn. 4:3 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Jn. 20 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. Lk. 4:23 http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the past. Thanks- John.# THE SCEPTER OF THE KINGDOM- https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/4-3-16-the-sceptre-of-the-kingdom.zip https://youtu.be/9mWfbwDW-F4 The Scepter of the kingdom ON VIDEO- .Austin .Reeds n Rods .Mystery fan? .The dream .Carnival .G.I. Joe .Morning Glory .See me throw the rod VERSES- Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Ps. 45:6 11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. [parts] VERSES- John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. John 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. John 15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. John 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: Notice all the ‘abide’ verses in John’s letter- He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. 1st Jn They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 1stJn 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 2nd Peter Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Jude. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the past. Thanks- John.# Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans. UPGRADE NOW DISMISS MESSAGE Share this:[parts] MARK 4 Mark 4:14 The sower soweth the word. https://youtu.be/CjaHcrS4nak Mark 4 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-10-17-mark-4.zip ON VIDEO- .Back at St. Patrick’s .Media .What is true? .Self-help program? .Jesus is the sower .Wasted seed is part of the process .Crop failure too .Cabbie wants to give me a ride! .Trump- Obama- ‘Wires tapped’? [Read below] .Fisa warrants .Rome and the Tiber .Vatican 2 NEW [past teaching- verses below] In the parable of the seed planter- Jesus teaches us about how people respond to the truth. When some hear about the Kingdom- right away they lose the truth they heard. Others hear the message- and get excited about it- but after trials and difficulty- they too ‘fall away’. Some believe the truth- but because of the many struggles in life- they never produce the desired result [fruit]. And some hear- persevere- and bear fruit. The message of the kingdom brings with it difficulty- and those who are willing to bear their Cross- will make it to the final stage. Jesus also teaches us that the kingdom is like a seed- it starts small- but eventually becomes a huge tree and provides shelter for ‘the birds’. In the 1st century Jesus appeared- he proclaimed the truth to men- he prophesied of his own death- and resurrection. This indeed did happen- not just because the ‘bible says so’ but because it is an attested to historical fact. In as much as any other historical fact has been attested to. The Christian faith is founded upon historical truth- not simply faith in something that we have no idea ever happened. In our day- truth- or facts- are not simply actual things that happened. Many believe things simply because they have been persuaded to believe them. I hesitated to talk about our current political situation- because it divides people. But I simply gave one example how we- the populace- are easily persuaded by the way things are reported- or told to us. While I was in New Jersey the news broke -Trump tweeted that ‘Obama had my wires tapped’. Here’s the actual tweet- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! 5:35 AM – 4 Mar 2017 Ok- before I heard any reporting on it- as a news watcher- I figured that Trump found out that a warrant was issued by the Fisa court- to investigate his campaigns ‘possible’ collusion with Russia. If this were indeed true- then what Trump said would be fairly accurate. But as the days passed- the media came out and said what Trump tweeted was absolutely false- and groundless. Ok- the same media that reported that there was no evidence that the Trump campaign was ‘tapped’- or meaning there was never a Fisa warrant put out. Also reported that a Fisa warrant was actually sought- under the Obama administration- and was initially turned down. The same media also reported that they went back to the court- and finally did indeed obtain a Fisa warrant to investigate any connections of the Trump campaign to the Russians [links below]. So- the media denied something- that they previously admitted- themselves. I brought up this one example- not to defend Trump- or accuse Obama. But to show what we mean when we say ‘fake news’. How easily people will believe a lie- if they are told it long enough [by either side]. Jesus gave us the truth- regardless of the political side of the aisle you are on- his truth can be trusted. When we embrace the truth about him- then there will indeed be struggles as you follow the path. It’s important for believers to know that this is part of the cost of discipleship. The foundation of the Christian faith is the reality that Jesus died for us- was buried- and rose again. We do indeed read about this event in our bibles- as well as the historians who wrote at the time of Christ. Many witnesses of this event have passed the message along to following generations. This movement has grown over the centuries- and has become a ‘kingdom’ that covers all the earth. The testimony of man has its ups and downs. But the testimony of God stands sure- and this is the testimony that God himself gave to us- about his Son. 1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. News links- http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-04/obama-advisor-rhodes-wrong-president-can-order-wiretap-and-why-trump-may-have-last-l http://fortune.com/2017/03/04/trump-wiretapping-fbi-warrent/ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427 These links- by reputable news outlets [BBC] report that Fisa warrants were sought- and that the warrants were no doubt ‘about Trump’. If these reports are true- then it’s very possible that what Trump tweeted was no so far fetched. The reason I talked about it on today’s video- was to simply show you how we are persuaded by constant media coverage- of any issue- and we rarely form our views based on actual evidence. In the end- it’s still possible that no ‘wiretapping’ occurred- but the warrants were sought- twice- to do this very thing ‘wiretapping’. The media simply made it sound like there was never even the possibility that a Fisa warrant was ever even sought- yet the same media has reported that one was sought- twice. And that the 2nd time they were granted the warrant. If true- then this is indeed ‘wiretapping’. Not so hard to see. The source for the BBC article said Trump was not named in the order- but 3 Trump associates were targeted for the inquiry- meaning it was indeed about Trump. For those who don’t like to read entire news articles- here is an excerpt from the BBC report- Last April, the CIA director was shown intelligence that worried him. It was – allegedly – a tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going into the US presidential campaign. It was passed to the US by an intelligence agency of one of the Baltic States. The CIA cannot act domestically against American citizens so a joint counter-intelligence taskforce was created. The taskforce included six agencies or departments of government. Dealing with the domestic, US, side of the inquiry, were the FBI, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Justice. For the foreign and intelligence aspects of the investigation, there were another three agencies: the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Agency, responsible for electronic spying. Lawyers from the National Security Division in the Department of Justice then drew up an application. They took it to the secret US court that deals with intelligence, the Fisa court, named after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They wanted permission to intercept the electronic records from two Russian banks. Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day. Neither Mr Trump nor his associates are named in the Fisa order, which would only cover foreign citizens or foreign entities – in this case the Russian banks. But ultimately, the investigation is looking for transfers of money from Russia to the United States, each one, if proved, a felony offence. A lawyer- outside the Department of Justice but familiar with the case – told me that three of Mr Trump’s associates were the subject of the inquiry. “But it’s clear this is about Trump,” he said.- BBC PAST TEACHING [verses below] MARK- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/28/jersey-city-ride-mark-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/02/mark-2-north-bergen/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/04/mark-3-isaiah-61/ . I quoted from these bible books on Today’s video [Mark 4] here are my past studies- https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ I wrote this little book years ago- it fits- https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ I mentioned Vatican 2 on today’s video- Mark 4- below are some of my past teachings where I also taught on Vatican 2- . [1770] TREASURY OF MERIT Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation. In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine. In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him. The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role. It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes. If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region. Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church. At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church. Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too. [overblog- see the rest here- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/24/galatians-5/ ] It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them. So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time. So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments. Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time. So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences. What’s an Indulgence? Okay- this is where it gets tricky. The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years. You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time. The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one. The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession]. When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance. One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught. In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope. So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful. Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of. It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing. But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account]. The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole. It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them. But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement. As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine. There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change. Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process. Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God. The idea- applied to Christ- is good. But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster. [parts] (739) ACTS 3- Peter and John go up to the temple and heal the lame man. This stirs up a commotion and gives opportunity for Peter to preach Christ. I want you to see something here. The miracles of healing thru out this book testify of something specific. They do not simply prove the existence of God. These first century people were not ‘post moderns’ they had no pre enlightenment era that affected their minds. For the most part they were highly religious! Paul will tell them this later in Acts ‘you are too superstitious’ [religious]. The miracles are testifying to the fact that Jesus is alive, he really rose from the grave! Peter’s sermons are centered around the reality of Christ being the fulfillment of all that the prophets have spoken about! The church must not be ashamed of the gospel. Recently the ‘church world’ was up in arms over the Popes recent reinstating of the Tridentine Mass [the Latin Mass]. After Vatican 2 the Mass was done solely in the language of the hearers. Many old time Catholics were wanting the Latin too. So Pope Benedict said fine, you have the option to practice it either way. Now, this ancient Mass had a prayer that simply prayed for the Jewish people to come to know Jesus. Well, this upset the Jewish groups and they demanded a change in the prayer. At first the Pope re wrote it but it still asked for prayer for the Jews to come to Jesus. This still offended them. So finally the church produced some prayer less offensive. We should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and his resurrection! Peter was preaching the reality of the resurrection and was in their face about it! Jesus has proven himself to be alive, we are not just witnesses of the existence of God, we are witnesses that Jesus is the way to him. The only way! Now Peter ends this chapter in a unique way. He invokes the ‘blessing of Abraham’ and says it means ‘the blessing of Jesus in turning you away from sin’. We just finished a study in Genesis. I emphasized how the New testament apostles viewed the Abrahamic blessing thru the lens of redemption. They did not teach it in a materialistic way. Peter also quotes Moses [as well as David] and says ‘Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like myself, whoever doesn’t hear him will be destroyed’. Peter sees the fulfillment of ‘the Moses type prophet’ in Christ. Peter has a great gift of taking the old testament prophets and proving Christ from them. There is a young hearer in this early church. He will eventually become one of the first Deacons. His name is Stephen, boy he must be drinking everything in. He is seeing and hearing the testimony of Jesus straight from those who walked with him. He hears Peter’s teachings on Christ. He becomes familiar with the way Peter associates the ‘Moses prophet’ with Jesus. This young man will testify in Acts 7 of the reality of Jesus being the fulfillment of the Moses prophecy. He will give the longest recorded sermon in scripture. He will brilliantly trace the roots of Israel and show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets. He will be accused of going against the law and the temple. He has the first grasp of ‘Pauline theology’ [actually Paul got it from him!] and does such a convincing job of proving Jesus to be Messiah that they stone him to death. He becomes the first martyr in the book of Acts. At his death he says ‘forgive them; don’t hold this sin against them’. A witness named Saul is sitting by. God answers Stephens’s prayer and Saul will become one of the greatest fire starters known to man. [parts] I talked about Rom and the Tiber river- here is some of my previous teaching- Actually reading thru the bible- in context- is one of the best habits you can develop. Rome was the city of influence at the time of Paul- located just east of the bend of the Tiber river- about 18 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. The letter to the Romans- would be read orally to both Christians and Jews in the city- in the days of the writing of these letters [which now make up our bible] they were living in an ‘oral’ culture- and the letters were intended to be read aloud to those in the early Christian communities [remember- you didn’t have books back then- like we have today- and the mass production of writing/publishing did not yet exist]. So- Paul was a strategic thinker- and he penned this letter hoping it would be a ‘shot in the dark’- that is the darkness of sinful man- The letter to the Romans is the closest thing to a systematic theology found in the New Testament. Its impact in church history is great- John Chrysostom- the great 5ht century preacher- had it read aloud to him- once a week. Saint Augustine attributes it to his radical conversion- the story goes he heard some kids singing ‘take up and read’. He picked up a copy of the letter to the Romans- and history was changed. Luther- the great 16th century reformer- was teaching this letter- as a Catholic priest/scholar- out of Germany- when he read ‘The just shall live by faith- therein is the righteousness of God revealed’- It lead to what we call today ‘The Protestant Reformation’. A few hundred years later- the Great Methodist founder- John Wesley- would say his heart was ‘strangely warmed’ while hearing a message at Aldersgate- and it lead to his conversion- sure enough- the message was from the letter to the church at Rome. So- when the great Apostle sat down and penned this ‘arrow’- hoping it to go forth and have great impact for the Kingdom of God- his hopes were indeed realized. Enjoy- [parts] Some of my past stuff on the Roman Empire- Because our bibles were written in Greek [which shows you how strong the Greek influence effected the early church- our first New Testaments were written in Greek- though the Roman Empire was the world Empire of the day. But Alexander the Great- the famed Greek conqueror who came a few centuries before Christ- he instituted what we refer to as Helenization. A form of conquering where you let the people you conquer keep their culture- but you also use parts of your culture [in this case the Greek language] to permeate the vanquished. So- the Roman Empire of Jesus day [who at one time were under the rule of the Greek Empire] continued to write in Greek. It wasn’t until around a few centuries after the time of Christ that the first Latin bible was written [by Saint Jerome]. But even his bible [the Latin Vulgate] used the Greek Old Testament [called the Septuagint] instead of the Hebrew- for his Latin translation. Ok- the point being- the Greek world did indeed have a strong influence on the early church. And the church had to refute the belief that all matter was evil. The Christian doctrine of creation [developed under saint Augustine- the 4th-5th century bishop of Hippo- North Africa]. Was the teaching that matter was good- that God created the material realm- so it is not inherently evil. But- after the fall of man [Genesis 1-3] a curse did indeed come upon the earth [some times when the bible says ‘the world’ it is speaking of the earth- but other times it is speaking of the fallen order- the sinful realm of man. That’s why there is some confusion- till this day- among Christians. They might read verses like this- and think the bible is saying the earth itself- the planet- is wicked. Actually in those verses it is speaking about the fallen order of sinful men. See? ‘For all that is in THE WORLD- the lust of the flesh- the lust of the eyes and the pride of life- is not of the father- but is of the WORLD- and the WORLD is passing away’- this is one example from the epistle of John- here the World is not saying the planet- but the world of sinful man- a fallen ‘world’ order.] So- in conclusion [if I ever get there!] we- as believers- reject the belief that all matter is evil. No- man was created in the image of God- and God is the creator of all things- both visible [earth- man- etc] and invisible [mentioned in the above chapter]. The evil we see in the ‘world’ today is simply a result of mans sin- mans choice to live in rebellion against God. We can’t escape ‘this world of sin’ by simply denying ourselves [though that is one aspect of the Christian life]. But God sent his Son into the world to redeem man- Christ died for all men- and this is the Divine act of Salvation. When we as humans partake of this Salvation- we are then free- free to enjoy this life- that God gave us- and we don’t have to have the mindset of a Socrates- who saw this natural life as evil. The apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans; ‘Present your bodies as a living sacrifice- HOLY and acceptable to God’. See? Our bodies- the actual flesh we live in- can be Holy- sanctified- when submitted to the will of God. This is from my Romans teaching I did a few years ago- ROMANS 11-13 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/3-12-15-romans-11-13.zip [note- there’s much more on the video than the post] .ROMANS 11 .ROMANS 12 .ROMANS 13 [parts] St. Thomas and Augustine. I mean these are 2 of my favorite Catholic scholars. Augustine- the 4/5th century Bishop of North Africa- and Thomas- the great 13th century Doctor Angelicas [Angelic Doctor]. Yes- these are some big players in Theology and Philosophy. [overblog- see the rest here- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ ] So why have the media reported that the pres used them in his war strategy? They are also famous for the development of the Just war Theory. Yeah- people for centuries have appealed to these great thinkers in their justification for war. But Obama- how does he find the time to read these guys? I mean- unless their names are on the golf balls [he just played his 100th round!] I don’t see him having time to read them. [parts] VERSES- Mark 4:1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. Mark 4:2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Mark 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: Mark 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. Mark 4:5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: Mark 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Mark 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Mark 4:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. Mark 4:9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 4:10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. Mark 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. Mark 4:13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? Mark 4:14 The sower soweth the word. Mark 4:15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. Mark 4:16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; Mark 4:17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. Mark 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. Mark 4:21 And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? Mark 4:22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. Mark 4:23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. Mark 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. Mark 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; Mark 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. Mark 4:28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. Mark 4:30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? Mark 4:31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: Mark 4:32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. Mark 4:33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. Mark 4:34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. Mark 4:35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Mark 4:36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. Mark 4:37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. Mark 4:38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Mark 4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? Mark 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? 2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 2 Samuel 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 Corinthians 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://johnchiarello.thoughts.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.# Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans. UPGRADE NOW DISMISS MESSAGE Share this:[parts] 1st, 2nd CORINTHIANS (942)1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot. (943)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:1-17 Paul greets them as an apostle called by God, he affirms his authority and ‘fathering ability’ as coming from God. He tells them he thanks God all the time for the fruit that he sees in their lives, the thing that made Paul rejoice was the work God was doing in the communities he was establishing as an apostle. Today ministers have a tendency to ‘rejoice’ over the Christian enterprise that we oversee. Whether its’ how well the budget went this year and stuff like that. Paul’s joy wasn’t in the fact that God called him to some great personal ministry where he would find self fulfillment. His joy was in the actual growth and freedom that ‘his churches’ [communities of people] were experiencing. He also defines them as ‘those that call upon the name of the Lord like all the others’. Remember what we said when studying Romans chapter 10? One of the signs of the believer is ‘they call upon Jesus name’. They are believing communities of ‘Christ callers’. Not so much a one time evangelical altar call, but a lifestyle. Jesus said we are ‘a house of prayer’. A spiritual community/house who intercedes for all nations. It’s in our very DNA! Paul also commends them as being enriched by God in all ‘knowledge and utterance’ [speech]. It seems funny that he would say they were blessed and enriched in speech. Paul will give some of his strongest rebukes over speaking gifts [tongues, prophesy] to this community. Yet he does not approach it from the strong anti charismatic view. He doesn’t say ‘your speech is demonic’ he says it is enriched by God! We will deal with the gifts later on. Now for the first real rebuke. Paul says he has heard reports that there are divisions and strivings among them. They are already dividing up into various sects. Some follow Paul, others follow Cephas, some say ‘we are the true Christ followers’. Paul rebukes them sharply over these divisions, he does not want the early church to identify with individual personalities and gifts at the expense of true unity. Was this the early development of denominationalism? To a degree yes. But I also don’t think we should view the various Christian denominations as deceived or ‘lost’. The modern church has become what we are thru many struggles and difficulties over a 2 thousand year history. My personal view is we should strive for unity, not by trying to dissolve all the various ‘tribes’ that exist in Christ’s church, but by growing into a more mature view of all who name the name of Christ as being fellow believers who partake of a common grace. I applaud all the efforts being made by various Christian churches today to come to a greater outward unity [for example the Catholic and Orthodox dialogue] but I also believe as we see each other as fellow believers and learn to appreciate our different emphasis, that this approach can also lead to greater unity among believers today. Paul saw the beginnings of division in the early Corinthian community, he did his best to quell the coming storm. (944)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 Paul declares the actual preaching of the Cross to be the power of God. The Jews sought for a sign [remember the sign of Jonas?] and the Greeks prided themselves in wisdom. Paul declares that Jesus IS the wisdom and power of God. In Christ is contained all the wisdom and power [signs] in the universe! Paul says God destroyed the wisdom of unregenerate man and that Gods foolishness is wiser than men’s greatest achievements apart from God. Wow, what an indictment on enlightenment philosophy. Man goes thru stages of learning and knowledge [renaissance, enlightenment. Industrial, scientific revolution] these are not bad achievements in and of themselves. Many of the greatest scientists and scientific discoveries were made by men of faith [Newton, Pascal, Faraday, etc] the problem arises when men think that sheer humanistic reasoning, apart from God, is the answer. Right now there is a movement [11-08] going on where some atheists bought ad space on the sides of buses that say ‘why believe in a god? Do good for goodness sake’. So they had both sides [Christian /Atheist] debate it. The simple fact is, sheer humanism cannot even define ‘what good is’. ‘Good’ becomes a matter of what serves me best at the time of my decision. Without God and special revelation [scripture-10 commandments] good can be defined by Hitler’s regime as exterminating one class of society for the benefit of the whole. Only Christian [or Deist, Jewish, Muslim] beliefs place special value and dignity on human life. It is a common misconception to think that all the enlightenment philosophers were atheists; this was not the case at all. Locke, Hume and others simply believed that thru human logic and reason people could arrive at a sort of naturalistic belief in God. This would form the basis of Deism, the system of belief in God but a rejection of classic Christian theology. Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers of our country were influenced by this style of belief. Now, getting back to the Greeks. Paul says ‘God destroyed the wisdom of this world’. What wisdom is Paul talking about? The enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century had nothing on the Greek philosophers going all the way back to a few centuries B.C. Plato, the Greek wrestler turned philosopher, had one of the most famous schools of Greek philosophy. At the entrance of the school the words were written ‘let none but geometers enter here’. Kind of strange. Geometry simply meant ‘form’ in this use. Most of the great theoretical physicists were also great mathematicians [Einstein]. The Greek philosophers were seeking a sort of ‘unified theory’ that would explain all other theories and bring all learning together under one intellectual ‘roof’. Sort of like Einstein’s last great obsession. The Greeks actually referred to this great unknown future ‘unifier’ as ‘the Logos’. Now, some atheists will use this truth to undercut the New Testament. They will take the common use of these words ‘The Logos’ and say that Johns writings [Gospel, letters] were simply stolen ideas from Greek philosophy. This is why believers need to have a better understanding of the inspiration of scripture. John’s writings were no doubt inspired, he of course calls Jesus the ‘Logos’ [word] of God. But he was simply saying to the Greek/Gnostic mind ‘look, you guys have been waiting for centuries for the one special ‘Word/Logos’ that would be the answer to all learning, I declare unto you that Jesus is this Logos’! So eventually you would have ‘the wisdom of the world’ [both Greek and enlightenment and all other types] falling short of the ultimate answer. They could only go so far in their journey for truth, and ultimately they either wind up at the foot of the Cross [the wisdom of God] or the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. God said this ‘tree’ [sources of wisdom and knowledge apart from God] would ultimately lead to death if not submitted to ‘the tree of life’ [the Cross]. You would have some of the enlightenment philosophers eat from this tree all the way to the ‘death of God’ movement. Man in his wisdom would come to the conclusion that ‘God is dead’. If this is true, then the slaughter of millions of Jews is no moral dilemma. If God is dead then man is not created in his image, he is just this piece of flesh that you can dispose of at will. To all you intellectual types, it’s Okay to have a mind, but you must love God with it. If all your doing is feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die. (945)1 CORINTHIANS 2- Paul tells them that when he came to them to declare Gods wisdom, that he did not do it with excellency of speech or with enticing words of men’s wisdom. What is he saying here? Remember, Corinth had the background of traveling philosophers of rhetoric who could ‘dazzle the average folk’. Sort of like the role science would come to play with modern man. All science is good, it’s when man in his arrogance begins to espouse or ‘twist’ things to his advantage that the problem arises. That’s when the arrogance of mans wisdom simply says to the average Joe ‘who do you think you are to question me! I am a man of wisdom’ Phooey! [I know it’s corny]. The fact is that natural man has always had the ability to deceive or come up with ‘evidence’ just in the nick of time. Did you know there was/is an entire cottage industry in ‘finding’ fossils to prove evolution is true? Do you really think men were above deception in the 1800’s? That they were above the temptation to come up with findings so their funding would not be cut off? Darwin wrote his famous book ‘the Origin of Species’ in 1851. Right after the book became popular there was a race among the archeologists to find the missing link. It just so happened that within a few short years they found it! [or something they thought fit]. It was also a ‘coincidence’ that some of the findings were discovered right before the grant/funding would run our for the researcher. Now, don’t you think the poor brother was tempted to fudge? Do you think that some of these findings, which later fell into the category of various bones simply being found in one location, were simply hyped for the benefit of the researchers to continue their work? You bet stuff like this happened. Some of the discoveries of skeletons that looked a little different were determined to be modern humans that simply suffered from various growth deficiencies. Scientists said this publicly! But this finding didn’t ‘fit’ all the excitement that was happening around the ‘new knowledge’ of Darwin. And the fact is that some of these early findings, with all of these obvious opportunities for fraud, stand today as the best evidence for evolution. After 150 years, these guys just happened to come up with the best evidence under these highly suspicious circumstances. But the average man, like the brothers living in Corinth, were simply dazzled by all the technical jargon. ‘Neanderthal man’ wow, that’s scientific brother! The name comes from a Christian whose name was ‘Neander’ and the famous discovery of the bones were in a field where he lived. Now that’s what I call the wisdom of man! So Paul lets the Corinthians know that his gospel isn’t some fabricated wisdom that has no basis in reality, he was preaching the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! [chapter 15]. He does say this wisdom and truth of Jesus is ‘hidden wisdom that the princes of this world can’t grasp’. He teaches that only God himself can teach a person this true wisdom of the gospel. But when Paul says ‘hidden wisdom’ he is not talking about the Gnostic belief [early cult of Christianity] of ‘special wisdom that only an elite few have’. Paul is saying mans unregenerate nature cannot grasp the great riches of the gospel. God regenerates us and gives us freely of his Spirit so we can ‘know the things of the Spirit of God’. Make no mistake about it, in Christ there are tremendous sources of riches and wisdom. This wisdom is sound and sure, not like the wisdom of the philosophers. Their wisdom often times was based on sheer fantasy. (946)1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-10 Paul tells them that because of their immaturity he has ‘fed them milk, not meat’. He continues to correct them on their penchant for ‘men worship’. He says ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase’. He even says ‘we are nothing, its Gods Spirit that counts!’ I guess poor Paul wasn’t up on the contemporary self esteem movement in the church? Paul says ‘as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and others have built upon it’ also ‘ye are Gods building, Gods garden’. I have studied this concept of the ‘wise masterbuilder’ a lot over the years. The Apostle is known for his wisdom. Jesus said ‘I have sent you [Jerusalem] wise men and prophets’. The Apostles are the ‘wise men’. If I remember I will try and paste some entries on the reality of the apostolic ministry today. That is the teaching from scripture on the ongoing apostolic ministry. Don’t mistake it for the original ‘apostles of the Lamb’. They were special eyewitnesses of the resurrection. The ongoing gift which is spoken about in the New Testament plays a different role, yet we can glean things from Paul and others on this ministry gift. Paul was primarily a ‘foundation layer’ he spent no time building ‘buildings’ or human institutions, but he knew the reality of foundation laying. His proclamation of the gospel had the inherent ability to change a region for Christ and his kingdom. He had the wisdom to build into the communities a self sustaining mentality. A few months to a few years was the amount of time Paul spent in these communities. When he left them they were for all practical purposes self sustaining communities of Christ followers. How in the world did he do this on such a shoestring budget? The reality of Jesus and his resurrection was tremendously good news. Paul started them right. In today’s church world we seem to lay all sorts of other ‘foundations’. Faith, prosperity, healing, the ‘house church’; all good things in their proper place, but the reality of Christ seems to take second place. Also, Paul did not institute the pastoral office that we have come to depend on in the modern church. He did establish Elders, but he did not leave a ‘professional minister’ as the primary functioning ‘elder’ in their midst. Why is this important to see? Because when people are given ‘crutches’ they will use them! If momma eagle never kicks baby eagle out of the nest, then baby eagle will wind up on food stamps [Don’t feel bad if you are on them, I am just using this as an example]. In essence Paul built into the first century churches a self sustaining mindset. They were the church and they had the responsibility to represent Christ in their locals. They couldn’t pawn it off on ‘the pastor’. Paul would also do some writing. These letters would circulate throughout the communities and were regularly read by a literate believer in these churches. I know it’s common to think that the early believers ‘had bibles’ but this wasn’t the case. Paul’s letters were part of the early ‘canon’ but you wouldn’t have total agreement on the canon until around the 4th century. But these letters played a major role in ‘foundation laying’. The modern believer is primarily educated thru the sermon. Sermons are okay, but without literature, the job won’t get done. Say if your doctor, or mechanic or tax man told you ‘I have never been educated in school, but every Sunday I attended a lecture at the local lecture hall. I did this for 50 years. So let’s get on with the operation.’ Ouch! But we approach Christianity with this mindset. Paul wrote letters, short booklets if you will. These letters could be looked to as a stable source of doctrine for the early church. They would eventually be canonized and would be passed down to us 2 millennia later. We are reading from one right now. [These 2 entries simply give scriptural evidence for the ongoing function of Apostles/Prophets today] (739) ACTS 1- Luke, the writer of this book, feels the need to document the ongoing work of Jesus and his revolution. He already wrote a gospel and believes this to be the beginning of the story. In essence, the reality of Jesus and his resurrection are just the start, we have much more to do and become on this journey. Most writers jump to chapter 2. We have churches and music groups called ‘Acts chapter 2’. Why does Luke seem to wait till chapter 2 before getting to ‘the good stuff’? Chapter one records the 40 days of Jesus showing himself alive after his death. Luke feels this singular truth to be important enough to simply stand alone [I do realize the early letters did not have chapter and verse divisions like today]. The real physical fact of Jesus bodily resurrection is without a doubt the foundational truth of the gospel. The outpouring of the Spirit and the whole future of the church depends on the reality of the resurrected Christ. Paul will write the Corinthians and tell them if the resurrection were not true then they are the most miserable of all people. Luke tells us Jesus gave instructions for the Apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the Spirit. Thy will be witnesses of him to all the surrounding nations after the Spirit empowers them. We also see Peter emerge as the key spokesman for the group. He quotes freely from the Psalms and reads their own history into the book. He sees the prophetic verse from David on ‘let another take his office’ as referring to Judas betrayal and death. They cast lots and choose Matthias as the one to replace Judas. Peter shows the importance of Judas replacement to come from one that was with them thru out the earthly time of Jesus. Someone who saw and witnessed Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars have confused this with the ‘ascension gift Apostles’. Some scholars have taken the truth of the early Apostles having the criteria of being actual witnesses of Jesus, and have said ‘therefore, you have no Apostles today’. Paul will teach in Ephesians that after Jesus ascension on high he gave gifts unto men ‘some Apostles, others Prophets, etc.’ The New Testament clearly speaks of Apostles as an ongoing gift in the church. Barnabas will later be called an Apostles [Acts 14:14] as well as many other references in the original Greek using the same Greek word for Apostle. But here we find Peter seeing the need to replace Judas. Other scholars think Peter might have jumped the gun. They see Paul’s apostleship as the possible person the Lord picked out as the replacement. You do find Paul referring time and again to his Apostolic authority as one ‘born out of due time’ who saw Jesus on the Damascus road. If Paul was simply an ascension gift Apostle, why would he refer time and again to his authority based on being a witness who also saw Jesus? It’s possible that Paul was in this group of ‘Apostles of the Lamb’ who had extra authority based upon their testimony of being eyewitnesses. So in chapter one we see that Jesus appeared for 40 days giving instructions to the early leadership and told them to wait at Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the incarnational purpose of God, Jesus was and continues to be the express image of God to man. He was not some ‘phantom’ like the Docetists will claim, but a very real physical resurrected Lord. Luke begins the early history of the church with this reality being important enough to stand on its own. HEBREWS commentary copyright 2007 John Chiarello www.copruschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com P.O. box 181256 C.C. Tx. 78480 Feel free to copy this booklet as well as all my other books on my blog site! KCTA RADIO [1030 on the AM Dial] every Sunday at 9:45 am. CHAPTER 1: ‘God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds’ Many years ago when I was going to a fundamental Baptist Church, they would interpret this passage in a ‘cessationist’ way. They would say because God says in the past he spoke by prophets, but now by his Son. That this means he doesn’t speak thru Prophets any more. The Prophets here are Old Testament voices. In Ephesians it says after Jesus ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men, some Apostles, some Prophets, etc. The fact that Jesus made Prophets after the ascension teaches us that there were to be a whole new class of New Testament Prophets that were different from the old. I find it strange to believe that Jesus would create a whole new class of gifts, and then take them away as soon as the Bible is complete. Why would Paul give instruction in the New Testament on how Prophets would operate [Corinthians] and then to say ‘as soon as this letter is canonized with the others, all this instruction will be useless’ it just doesn’t seem right. The reason Paul is saying in the past God used Prophets, but today his Son. Paul is showing that the Jewish Old testament was a real communication from God to man. But in this dispensation of Grace, God is speaking the realities that the Prophets were looking to. Paul is saying ‘thank God for the Old Jewish books and law, they point to something, his name is Jesus’! The Prophets [Old Testament] served a purpose; they brought us from the shadows to the present time [1st century] now lets move on into the reality. Now you must see and hear the Son in these last days. ‘Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person…when he by himself purged our sins SAT DOWN on the right hand of the majesty on high’ here we are at the beginning stages of themes that we will see later in the letter. The significance of Jesus ‘sitting down’ will be contrasted with the Old testament priests ‘standing up’. Paul [for the record I think Paul wrote this letter, from here on I will probably just refer to the writer as Paul] will teach that the ‘standing up’ of the Levitical Priests represented an ‘incomplete priesthood’ the reason Jesus sat down was because there would be no more sacrifice, and no more priesthood made up of many priests who would die year after year. This doesn’t mean there would be no more New Testament priests as believers, but that there would be no more Old Testament system. Paul will find spiritual truths like this all thru out the Old Testament. Some theologians feel that Paul is a little too loose with these free comparisons that he seems to ‘pull out of the hat’, for the believer who holds to the canon of scripture, it is the Word of God. ‘Being made so much better than the angels…but unto the Son he saith “thy throne O God is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy Kingdom”. Here Paul introduces another theme that will be seen thru out this letter. The superiority of Jesus over angels. Why is this important? Most believers know that Jesus is greater than angels, don’t they? Here we see why context is important to understand this letter. In Jewish tradition it is believed that the law was given to Moses by God thru the mediation of angels. Some say ‘well, we don’t use Jewish tradition, we use scripture’. First, Paul used anything he could to win the argument. Second, if we believe Hebrews is an inspired book, then when we read later on that the law given thru angels received a recompense if broken, then right here you have scripture [Hebrews] testifying that God did use angels to ‘transmit’ the law to some degree. Now, why is it important for gentiles to see this? Well it really isn’t! But it is vital for a first century Jew to see it. If Paul can show that Jesus is greater than the angels, then he is beginning to make the argument that the New Covenant is greater than the Old. Here is the context. Moses law is highly revered in the first century Jewish community, so here Paul says ‘how much better is the law/word given to us from Gods Son’. Since Jesus is much better than the angels, therefore pay closer attention to the words spoken thru Gods Son, he is greater than the angels! ‘But to which of the angels said he “sit at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool” we end chapter one with the theme of Jesus being better than the angels, yet in chapter 2 something funny happens, Paul will make the argument of Jesus being “a little lower than the angels” lets see what this means. (947) 1ST CORINTHIANS 3:11-23 Paul teaches that once the foundation of Jesus is laid, that no other foundation can come in and replace it. Remember, Paul is speaking about a spiritual foundation. He is not building ‘a literal building’! I know we know this, but for some reason modern church planters can’t seem to break the mindset of having a building ‘to do church’. Now we begin to get into some doctrine. I believe Paul begins a New Testament doctrine here that could be called ‘the sin unto natural death’ or the judgment of a believer when he falls into open sin and rebellion and refuses to repent. Now, I have looked at this doctrine from different views over the years. I try not to allow my own leaning towards reformed theology to effect me. But I have come down on the side of ‘eternal security’ in viewing these verses. Paul teaches that even though the foundation of Jesus is laid, it’s still possible to build a life of worthless things upon it. He says ‘if any man defiles Gods temple, him will God destroy’. This same language will be used in chapter 5 ‘deliver the sinning brother to satan for the destruction of the flesh so the spirit may be saved’. Paul also uses the term again here in chapter 3 ‘yet he will be saved as by fire’. Also in chapter 11 ‘for this cause many sleep [physical death] and are sick among you’ he uses this as a judgment that came upon them for their abuse of the Lords table. So reading this in context it sure seems that Paul is saying ‘if you, as a believer, allow yourself to fall into sin in such a way that you are doing permanent harm to the temple [which he describes as their bodies, both individually and corporately] then God will destroy you’. This seems to fit all these other verses. The apostle John also speaks on the ‘sin unto death’ [which I see as physical death] in his letter. He says ‘if any one sees his brother sin a sin unto death, I do not say you should pray for them’. Now, the Arminian brothers [those who do not believe in eternal security] obviously see these a different way. They would apply some of these verses as meaning the loss of salvation. Though I personally do not see it this way, yet they have some of their own scriptures to back up their belief. They are certainly not out of line with historic Christian belief to hold to this view. So Paul introduces [in my mind] the concept of the possibility of the rebellious believer falling into such a sin that he can ‘be destroyed’ [lose his life] while at the same time saying ‘yet his spirit will be saved’. This ‘in house’ instruction [in house meaning Paul’s dealing with them as believers who fall into sin] should not taint the overriding view of Paul in his entire corpus of teaching. His main teaching on ‘those who live in constant sin’ is they will not inherit the kingdom of God. John also teaches this doctrine in his epistle. So we begin to see the ‘minefield’ we can get into as we tread thru the New Testament. It will be important to make these distinctions with much grace as we continue our journey thru the New Testament. Many well meaning believers view the ‘other camps’ as heretics over these issues. I see it more as a matter of believers being influenced to see these verses from a sincere standpoint of their upbringing. If you were raised Baptist, you more than likely view them from a Calvinistic lens. If you were raised Pentecostal [or Methodist], from an Arminian lens. Both good camps, with their own ‘slant’ affecting their view. I don’t think we should call each other heretics over stuff like this.
(952)1ST CORINTHIANS 5:1-7 Okay, now we get into some tough stuff. Paul tells them that he has heard about a situation where one of the brothers is sleeping with his step-mom [fathers wife, though probably not his mother]. And the rebuke is they are not repenting over it, but instead are kind of proud of the whole thing! Paul says to ‘deliver him to satan for the destruction of the flesh so the spirit may be saved’. Now I already showed you the way I view this verse. I tried to follow the other times where Paul speaks this way in this letter and when using this type of language I see him speaking of physical death [chapter 11- sleep-death as judgment to a believer who sins]. I often ‘day dream’ how bout you? I’m not sure if it’s the lord at times trying to tell me stuff. One of my noble fantasies is I can picture myself as the sole Christian preacher who has survived some nuclear holocaust and I am responsible to train the survivors. In this scenario [I am kinda ad libbing here, I don’t day dream this much!] I have both Catholic and Protestant believers. Although I am tempted to raise this new generation of people as Protestants, I instead teach the Catholics true Catholic doctrine [though I don’t fully agree with it all] and I teach the Protestants their stuff. Now, I think this little day dream in some way speaks to what I need to do at times on this blog. I need to honestly tell both sides! In this verse ‘commit to satan for the destruction of the flesh’ some do see it a little differently. You can read ‘flesh’ as meaning ‘fleshly nature’. Paul does use the word this way at times. You can’t really make the distinction by going to the Greek. Instead you have to simply look at the context. So this view would be saying ‘deliver this believer to the enemy, don’t allow him to remain ‘in the camp’ and continue to receive the benefits of the believing community. As you ostracize him he will feel the effect of not being with you, he will come to his senses and leave his sin’ [which in this scenario is ‘his fleshly nature’] so the ‘destruction of the flesh’ in this interpretation would fit in well with Arminians. Now, do I believe it this way? No, but I sure feel noble, sort of like the Protestant preacher in my ‘day dream’. [p.s. if you tell anybody about this day dream, I will deny it!] (953)Yesterday I managed to catch a few TV shows that were good. National geographic did a special called ‘the first Christians’. It was excellent. They covered more historic truth in one hour than you would get from years of sermons. They basically taught the New Testament word for ‘church’ [Ecclesia] and showed how because the early Christians did not believe the ‘church’ was a building, that therefore they spread rapidly without lots of money. They then covered the historic development of the ‘church building’ and the effect this had on them. They also got into the ‘end times’ scenarios that are played out over and over again by today’s prophecy teachers. They interviewed true theologians who put Johns Revelation in historical context. Just an excellent job overall. I also caught the show ‘Journey Home’ on E.W.T.N. [the Catholic channel]. I do like the show, it often gives good historical stuff. Last night they were a little ‘too Catholic’ [I know, what should I expect]. They had a good brother on who left ‘non-denominational Christianity’ and became Catholic. Now, most of these brothers are very intelligent believers who make this choice out of sincerity. They usually study the early church fathers and realize the ‘Catholic tone’ of these early believers. I simply felt the brother who spoke last night was a little too critical of his former church experience [Willow Creek]. I then caught Scott Hahn [an excellent Catholic scholar and apologist], he always has stuff that interests me. He brought up an argument I have heard before on how the early church saw the ‘real presence of Christ’ as being in the Eucharist. Others have made this argument before from the Catholic perspective of Jesus being with us, as opposed to the detractors arguments that he misled the early followers to think that he would soon return and set up a literal earthly kingdom. I have heard and do understand this reasoning. In essence it defends Jesus and his followers by saying ‘Jesus didn’t let down the early church by not returning and ‘being with them’ he was with them all along thru the Eucharist’ good intentions. I would prefer to argue the same point thru the fulfilling of the Fathers promise and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus says in John’s gospel ‘I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you’ it is understood by most theologians [Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant] that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit. Jesus actually refers to the Spirit as ‘One just like unto myself’. The new testament very Cleary speaks of the Holy Spirit as Gods presence tabernacling among us in a real way. So in my thinking I would prefer to argue the real presence of Christ as being among the early believers as fulfilled thru the Comforter. Overall it was a good night of viewing some good teachers. I also couldn’t help but notice how I have been skipping over the ‘more popular’ preaching shows of the day. I did click on one of the prophecy guys, he was defending ‘the rapture’ and I couldn’t help but notice the difference between the good theological discussions from the earlier shows, and the ‘silliness’ of what this brother was teaching. I don’t want to demean you if you hold to the rapture theory, it was just such an obvious ‘step down’ from the level of theologian to the level of popular prophecy preaching. In our current study of Corinthians we just went thru the verse ‘though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have only one father’ [Paul referring to himself]. I couldn’t help but get this sense of the modern seen. You could flip thru all the religious broadcasting of our day and get every possible conceivable viewpoint on some subject, ten thousand of them! But there is a consistent voice of truth and wisdom that comes to us from both scripture and church history/tradition. I think we would be better off sticking with ‘the father[s]’. (954)NOW IT’S A PARALLEL/BUBBLE UNIVERSE! I watched the first TV special I ever saw on the multi-verse theory. I think it’s the first one of its kind by the history channel. It was very eye opening. It seems as if its defenders have been told ‘your initial argument is nonsensical’ and they have made some adjustments. As you read down thru the Evolution section you will see that one of the arguments against a multi-verse is that it is a ‘non physical’ argument. It is metaphysical. This meaning that you could never truly prove the existence of another universe thru the science of Physics. Why? Because the original definition of ‘the universe’ was every thing that exists in the time/space continuum. If by definition, all that can be seen or detected is ‘part of our universe’ then how in the world can you detect something outside of it? [they have some ideas on this, but its pure speculation as of right now] Once you detect it, it, by definition is in our universe! Well the brothers now realize that they fell into this obvious contradiction, so they seem to be moving the goal posts a little. In the special I just saw, they now seem to be saying that our universe is simply one ‘bubble of universes’ that’s floating around in space [before, space and the universe were synonymous!] so they seem to be simply shrinking down the definition of universe and making it mean ‘our closed existing time space continuum, which is simply one of many’ Ahh, you guys are cheating with his one! But hey, how many viewers realized this? That’s the problem with these theories, they come up with them for the purpose of having another explanation for existence, but they then get into more trouble trying to keep their theory alive. Remember, the reason this theory started in the first place was to come up with some type of explanation, apart from God, to explain the fine tuning of the Cosmos [read my sections on fine tuning under Evolution]. The unbelievable fine measurements that have been found to be exactly right to support life have no other real explanation apart from a creator. The multi-verse theory simply says ‘well, if you have millions and billions of unseen universes [pure speculation!] then the odds on one of them getting it right just went up’. So this theory was originally floated for this reason. Now, even if this theory were ever proved [according to the new definition of the universe!] it would simply mean that instead of trying to figure out how ‘our universe got here’ [the original question] now we have to figure out how they all got here! It really proves nothing. But I thought it interesting to see how these giants of Academia now realize that they were violating the basic laws of logic by espousing the theory in its original form! [In essence, all these so called floating, bubble like universes would have originally fallen under the heading of ‘the universe’. You wouldn’t have seen them as a bunch of separate universes. But they had to change the definition in order to keep their argument in the boundaries of logic and common sense]. They also borrowed from Einstein’s theory on worm holes. But Einstein surmised that worm holes might be these tunnels in space/time that one could travel thru and exit at another dimension, a different location of the universe. He did not use this idea as traveling from one ‘bubble universe’ into another, like the proponents of the multi-verse were doing. The show then got too silly to even give it a speck of serious thought. They then theorized that there are possible duplicates of us, and duplicates of other sports teams and presidents and all types of stuff. They thought it possible for the Giants to have won the super bowl in one universe, though losing it in ours [and you call this science!] they even said that this theory has moral implications. How did they come up with this? One of them explained that you could be ‘good’ in one universe, but if you realize that this holy altar image of yourself is doing good somewhere else, then this might effect your choice of being righteous in ‘this universe’ WOW! As we continue our study thru the book of Corinthians, keep in mind Paul’s teaching on the foolishness of men’s wisdom, I think we just saw a good example of it. There is this stature that we give in our modern day to any ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’ that comes down the pike with any nonsensical idea. We see them as a special class, the Academics can’t be wrong! After all it sounds intellectual. A few centuries before Christ you had the great philosopher ‘Philo- Betto’ [O wait, that was Clint Eastwood’s character in ‘every which way but lose!’] I mean Plato. Truly Plato and Aristotle and Socrates have had tremendous influence on Western thought. You would be hard pressed to find other later philosophers who have had the same influence [maybe Immanuel Kant]. Plato built this great school of learning in ancient Greece. He bought the land from a man by the name of ‘Academe’. Eventually we would call this pursuit of knowledge ‘the Academic world’ or Academia. Hey, don’t be intimidated by these guys. (955)1st CORINTHIANS 5:6-8 Okay, lets get back to Corinthians. ‘Your glorying is not good, get rid of the old leaven. Don’t you know that a little yeast can affect the whole lump? Get rid of it, you are all unleavened, Christ is our new Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’ [my own paraphrasing]. A few things. I want you to see something here, over the years I have read and studied lots of great theologians. It is common for these brothers to go back to the reality of the early church fathers belief in the ‘Real Presence’ of Christ in the Eucharist [Lords supper]. It is also becoming less common [in theological circles!] to defend the symbolic view of the Lords Supper. I believe Paul is presenting the idea of all believers spiritually sitting at the ‘table of life’ on a daily basis and receiving from Christ’s new life in a spiritual/symbolic way. He clearly says ‘let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’ [clearly symbolic!] Peter writes of the new sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus speaks in an interesting way about this in John chapter 6. The Jews ask him ‘show us a sign, Moses gave us bread to eat from heaven. If you’re from God then prove it like Moses’. I find it interesting that in the key chapter of Jesus being the bread that comes down from heaven, the conversation turns to Moses. The beginning of the chapter does say the Passover feast was getting close, but the imagery is Moses and Manna. Moses represented the Old system of law and works, John’s gospel tells us that ‘the law came from Moses, but grace and truth from Jesus’. Jesus contrasts himself with Moses. He says ‘I am the real bread that has come down from heaven, if men eat my flesh and drink my blood they will live’. Now we must understand the tremendous offence this statement caused. The Jewish people had Levitical laws [commands in their law] that forbid the drinking of any type of blood, never mind the blood of a person! But yet Jesus would speak this way to them. In the conversation the hearers acknowledge the difficulty of the saying, Jesus will say ‘the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives you life. The words I am speaking to you are Spirit and life’. At the last supper [which was the symbolic end of the Passover and the beginning of a new celebratory meal centered on the final sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God] Jesus seems to be saying ‘from now on, as long as you do this, you are showing my death until I come again’ [we get this from Paul later on in Corinthians]. As you put all of this imagery together, you get the sense of the New Covenant being one of an ongoing continual New Covenant meal from which all believers daily eat from and ‘keep the feast with the new leaven of truth and sincerity, not the old leaven of sin and wickedness’. You clearly see a symbolic element in this language. Now, I do not discount the importance of the actual ordinance of the Lords Table. I recently defended the Catholic idea to an ex Catholic who is now Protestant. They said ‘how can people believe something so silly’ I had to say that many serious intellectual believers accept the Real Presence doctrine by faith in the literal reading of Jesus words. Luther himself believed it, he made no bones about it when he slammed his fist on the table in his dispute with Zwingli and said ‘this IS MY BODY!’ [I think he slammed his fist, he might have carved it in the table?] Standing for the literal interpretation of the sacrament. John Wesley, the founder of the great Methodist movement, wrote many hymns speaking of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. So make no mistake about it, many good believers hold to the literal belief. I just wanted you to see that it is also in keeping with the scripture to see the entire Christian walk as one huge ongoing ‘feast’ that is kept with spiritual sacrifices and symbolic language. Jesus is the bead that came down from heaven, those who would stay with ‘Moses bread’ [law] would die, those who would eat from this new table would live forever. (957)1ST CORINTHIANS 5:9-13 Now Paul clarifies what he meant when he said ‘don’t associate with those who sin sexually’. He wants to be clear that his instructions on ‘not being with sinners’ is not misunderstood. After all we are called salt and light, Jesus himself was accused of spending too much time with the lost. So Paul says ‘what I meant was don’t keep ongoing fellowship with a brother who is practicing unrepentant sin’. He also says ‘if you thought I meant all sinners in general, then heck you wouldn’t be able to live in society this way’. Some believers have taken a stand on ‘separation from the world’ in such a way that they have no unbelieving friends. Others seem to view the unbeliever as the enemy. Sort of like we are in this culture war and the enemy is YOU! I can’t even watch the O’Reilly factor [Fox news] too long, he says he’s fighting this culture war and then in the ads for upcoming shows he shows the raciest pictures on any news show. What’s up with that? I feel we need to make the distinction between separating from a sinning brother [for his own good] and having friendships with unbelievers. People you can influence down the road. Paul also says if we judge our own [by shunning them for their own good] that this is a type of ‘present chastening’ that believers do experience. But those who are ‘outside the camp’ [unbelievers] are left to be judged by God. We see this same theme in chapter 11 ‘when we are judged we are disciplined by the Lord so we will not be condemned with the world’ [at the final judgment]. I believe that this idea is one of the best arguments for eternal security [once saved, always saved. Though I don’t like this language, you get the hint]. The concept of believers being presently dealt with for sin, even to the possible point of physical death, seems to indicate that they will not face a future judgment like the lost [eternal damnation]. When we recently did one of our Old Testament studies, I overlooked a verse that said to King David ‘I will raise up one of your sons [Solomon/Jesus- dual Messianic prophecy] and he will build this new temple/people. The way I will deal with the people under this new covenant is, if they commit sins, I will chasten them, but I will not utterly take my mercy from them’ [my paraphrasing- it is said to the actual son, Solomon/Jesus, but in the New Covenant revelation of the church actually being part of the Body of Christ, this is how you could apply it]. You can also read this idea in a few other places. I think Jeremiah uses it ‘I will give them a new heart and I will put my Spirit in them’ and he also speaks about not being totally rejected if they commit sin under this new covenant. So the point is, if there is a mechanism under this new covenant whereby sin is dealt with in the present time, and if this is compared to the other choice which is ‘judgment at a later time’. This would seem to indicate a type of ‘in house discipline’ that says ‘if you openly sin now, God will judge you now. He does this for your own good, so you won’t face the judgment of the unbeliever at the end’. So the fact that some were sinning, even pretty badly! Did not mean that they were expelled completely from the benefits of the covenant. As a matter of fact, temporal excommunication itself was one of the benefits! I don’t want to be too dogmatic on this, I just want you to see a repeated theme in scripture that says God will deal with his kids in the here and now [no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous- Hebrews] but this in itself is a blessing that is designed to ‘produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby’ Hebrews. (958)1ST CORINTHIANS 6: 1-7 Paul rebukes them for taking each other to court. He tells them ‘don’t you have any wise people among you who could handle this? Why go before unbelievers!’ he also tells them ‘plus, why even fight for your rights, if you think you have been wronged in some way by your brother, then simply see it as part of the cost of carrying your cross’. Paul contradicts the prevalent mindset in much of Christianity today. He doesn’t teach ‘get what’s yours, know your rights!’ he teaches the ethos of self denial, of living with the expectation of giving up your rights and dreams. Of taking loss, if it glorifies the Father. Now we get into some ‘stuff’. Paul appeals to them by saying ‘don’t you realize that we shall judge angels some day, we shall judge the world’. A few years back there was a debate going on in theological circles. Some theologians popularized a new way to look at God’s sovereignty. This new system was called ‘Open Theism’. Scholars like Clark Pinnock and others held out the possibility that God doesn’t foreordain all future events, they actually went further and said ‘he doesn’t know all future events’. Well of course this sparked off a firestorm among the Calvinists. Does scripture teach that God is sovereign and does know all that will happen? To be honest about it, yes. But the idea of open theism was saying ‘because God has chosen to give man free will, he, by his own design, has chosen to limit his knowledge in the area of knowing all of mans future choices’. In essence that God purposely ‘does not know’ the future outcomes of decisions that have not been made by humans. If free will is real [of course the Calvinists say no] then God must limit himself to knowledge in these areas. I personally do not believe this, but I think I needed to share it to explain this section of scripture. Paul does tell them they will judge the world and angels. In second Peter 2, the apostle says the fallen angels are being held for a future day of judgment. In Matthew [19-?] Jesus says those who follow him will play a part in a future ruling over human government. These scriptures do indicate that believers will play a role in future judgment scenarios. So if we ‘judge angels and the world’ we should be able to arbitrate between ourselves! Now, in the world of theology you have sincere questions on ‘is it fair for God to judge people who have never heard the gospel’ or ‘if God is truly sovereign in all things, even in predestinating certain people to salvation, then this is unfair’. Many have turned to universalism, or a belief in ‘no hell’ in order to quell these questions. I want to simply float a scenario to you. Jesus says ‘whosoever sins you remit [forgive] they are forgiven. Those you retain [not forgive] will be retained’ while there are differing views on these verses, I want you to see how these scriptures, in keeping with all that I just showed you, might leave us room for another possible way out of all the so called questions on Gods ‘fairness’. Say if at the judgment, we are all gathered [Calvinists, Arminians, Catholics,…] and say if we are all waiting to see who’s right ‘I’ll show that Arminian…I’ll show that Catholic…’ and we are at the day where the future destinies of millions are at stake. What will God do? It’s possible that much of the final decision will rest in the hands of the church. I know it sounds heretical, but keep in mind all the verses I just quoted to you. Say if all of our pompous pontificating [wow!] amongst varying theories of the atonement and universalism and all the other stuff. Say if Jesus turns to us and says ‘You are now going to make the most important judgment of your lives, you shall judge the world and angels’ and all of a sudden all of our scrutiny of God’s fairness turns on us. We see in the crowd of masses, faces of people who we hate. People who have been demonized by history [Darwin, Hitler]. Those we always wondered about [eastern religions] and now much of their final destiny rides on us. Even the possibility of fallen angels being forgiven! [Hey, maybe Origen was right?] The whole point of this scenario is to simply say we might have been asking the wrong questions all along. Now for sure, no one gets in without Jesus and his blood! But there are also a few other verses [Peter] that seem to indicate a second hearing [or first!] of the gospel before the final day. The point being how willing are you to really carry out something like this? Are you really ready for the great responsibility of having someone’s destiny depend on how forgiving you are? I really don’t believe 100 % in this scenario I just floated. But Jesus does put us in positions of responsibility all thru out our lives. He does say ‘whoever’s sins we don’t forgive, these sins will be held against them by your own choice’ we keep people in ‘chains of bondage’ today! Never mind the future. God has committed to us great responsibility as believers, if we are still fighting each other over insignificant things [taking our brothers to court, if you will] then we are truly not ready to ‘Judge the world’. (959)1ST CORINTHIANS 6: 8-20 Paul paints a ‘canvas’ of those who will not inherit the Kingdom. The list not only includes the big ones, but also the ‘average Joe’. Homosexuals, covetous, straight people who commit sexual sin; just the whole gambit. I do want to stress that Paul is not politically correct, he does categorize homosexuality as sin. He is not simply saying ‘non monogamous homosexuality’ but all types. I know there is an honest effort being made to try as much as possible to be more inclusive of other people’s views and lifestyles. I am for this approach as much as possible, but we also need to be honest about sin, all sin. Now covetous is that strong desire to amass wealth, it is the daily longing and confessing and believing for more material abundance. Yes folks, it’s what many of us have been duped into thru wrong teaching. I had a homeless friend who used to tell me how his dad, who was retired, used to wake up every day and simply consume his day with the stock market and how his retirement was going, he didn’t realize that he made the funding of his retirement [an okay goal] the main thought pattern of his life. I also just saw a story similar to this on some business channel. We need to be ‘ware’ of covetousness. Now Paul makes special mention of the destructive nature of sexual sin, he says ‘it destroys you’. I have been reading Proverbs the last month or so and there are many warnings about sexual sin. It says ‘he that does this destroys his own soul’. A few years back I watched [or read?] a local story of a professor who came down with a disease called Dementia. As they shared his story they described the progressive nature of him slowly losing his mind, and how his family eventually brought him back home [he was not married, his parents took him in] as they shared the sad story, they kinda tactfully said ‘one of the possible signs of this disease is obsessive compulsive sexual behavior’. They basically were saying part of this mans history included obsessive sexual sin. I wonder if the dementia in some way is a result of the behavior, as opposed to a symptom. There was also a study done years ago that showed the difference in the brain scans of Homosexuals and Heterosexuals, they seemed to have found some real physical brain distinctions. But once again, is it possible that sexually engaging in certain sinful behaviors is actually ‘destroying the soul’, or causing a change in the brain? Paul singled out this sin [not just Homosexual behavior, but all sexual sin!] as causing actual damage to a person’s physical make up in a way that was more damaging than other sins. I think we all need to heed his warning. [note- sexual sin is a common struggle in life. Many believers do struggle and have fallen into this sin. Paul actually is addressing these sins because of the prevalence of the problem. I don’t want to condemn any one who reads this site and struggles this way, Paul is offering hope and forgiveness thru out this letter. He seems to be extra harsh with the Corinthians because of their lax attitude towards this sin]. (961)1ST CORINTHIANS 7:1-15 Paul addresses divorce. It is interesting that Jesus himself actually raised the bar from the Old Covenant practice to the New. In most other areas he emphasized grace as opposed to law ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ but in this area Jesus said ‘Moses made an exception under the law for divorce, but from the beginning this was not Gods plan’ and Jesus restricted divorce to the cause of adultery [fornication- actually the word for pornography] only. Here Paul gives some direction. First, you shouldn’t divorce. You also shouldn’t be married to an unbeliever. Well, what should happen to those who were unbelievers when they married, but now one is a believer? Paul says if the unbeliever is ‘pleased’ to stay in the union, then that’s fine. Well what does ‘pleased’ mean? If the unbeliever is physically abusing his spouse, then that doesn’t seem ‘pleasing’ to me. Paul will say if the unbeliever departs, let them go. The believer should not feel condemned by this. He/she had no control in this case. But if there is a divorce, let the one who left remain unmarried. So what happens if you were forced into it, can you re marry? Paul does not specifically say. He does say to the one who left the marriage, they should not remarry. Divorce is a tricky issue. When attending the fundamental Baptist church they taught that if one were divorced they could never be ‘a Pastor’ [even though no one was ‘a pastor’ in this way in the first century church!]. Many teach that Paul’s instructions on Bishops/Elders said a divorced person should not be an overseer. Paul actually said ‘they should be the husband of one wife’. This most certainly could simply be saying they shouldn’t be in a plural marriage. This was common in the first century, so you could take it this way. Overall I find it strange that someone could have been a murderer [Paul] or any other type of sinner, but the divorcee’ seems to be the only sinner that is excluded. The other problem is how much of ‘a believer’ were you at the time of your divorce. There have been well known preachers who initiated the divorce from their wives, they remarried and later wanted this to be treated as any other sin, just forgive and forget. The problem is if you were wise enough in the lord to have known better, then true repentance would entail making things right. Whether that’s reconciliation or simply remaining single, but it sure seems like these types of brothers who went into the whole remarriage thing with their eyes wide open, they should be held to a higher standard. Overall, we should not be in bondage to things that were out of our control. Those who were victimized and the partner left you, you should not be condemned for something that was out of your control. Believers who initiate the divorce from someone who was willing to stay in the marriage, they should not remarry. There have been too many cases where believers divorce other believers, without biblical grounds, and then remarry someone from the church. These situations are not permitted. If the believing spouse was simply ‘difficult to live with’ then that doesn’t cut it. In situations where there was actual physical abuse, well I don’t believe the Lord wants you to stay in the house under these circumstances. But the only biblical excuse for divorce, according to Jesus, is adultery. In all of these gray areas, wisdom must be applied. The high profile ministers who have initiated their divorces and remarried, without the proper biblical grounds, should not be simply ‘forgiven’ and permitted to continue in their public role in ministry. True forgiveness and restoration would entail some sort of repentance and a public change in the situation. Like Paul says ‘to the rest speak I, not the Lord’. I am giving you my opinion on some of this stuff, but I too think I have the Spirit of Christ. (962)1ST CORINTHIANS 7:16-24 ‘Were you circumcised when you were called into the Christian life? Then don’t become uncircumcised’ [that would be quite a feat!] ‘Were you uncircumcised when called? Don’t get circumcised’. What’s Paul saying? Basically he is keeping the decrees that were made at the Jerusalem council [Acts 15]. He is stressing the importance of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. To the Jew, he is not saying ‘keep trying to become justified by the law and sacrifices’ but he is saying ‘I am not trying to wipe out your culture and heritage, I am trying to bring you into the fullness of what the Prophets have foretold’. This is Paul’s ongoing defense in the book of Acts ‘I stand condemned because I believe that what the prophets said would happen, did!’. Paul says the thing that matters is ‘the doing of Gods commandments’. When we studied Romans I showed how Paul did say ‘the hearers of the law are not justified, but the doers shall be’. Here again Paul stresses the importance of the Christian life being one of true conversion. Those who believe are changed and become doers of Gods law by nature. The mechanism of conversion is Faith, the outworking of that conversion is obedience. So even though Paul is not putting the law on the gentile converts, yet he does teach that they will by nature keep the law [Romans again]. Now he says ‘were you a slave when called? Seek not to become free. Were you free? Don’t become a slave’ and ‘be not the servants/slaves of men’. We actually have hit on this a few times in recent months. Once again Paul says ‘don’t see this new faith as an opportunity to mount a civil disobedience campaign’ but at the same time he makes it clear ‘don’t put yourself under servitude either!’ The New Testament does not justify the institution of slavery or racism! The basic ethos of this new kingdom is freedom from bondage, it was only a matter of time before this new movement would shake the foundations of society and uproot this evil. Make no mistake about it, the anti-slavery movement was instigated by the people of God [William Wilberforce, Charles Finney and many others]. (963)1ST CORINTHIANS 7: 25-40 let’s be a little unconventional today. This passage deals with Paul’s counsel on celibacy and marriage. The historic church has had a bad rap on this issue. It is common today to say the church devalued marriage [and sex] and therefore we should exalt it. Sometimes this attempt at trying to correct the perceived imbalance puts a stumbling block in the way of those who are truly called to live the single life. Though marriage is an honorable thing, a true gift from God, yet living the celibate life can also be considered a very noble thing. It is rare in contemporary evangelicalism to leave this option open. Paul does say this option is not only available, but a noteworthy calling! He also makes it clear that only those who are called to this single lifestyle should attempt it. The church should not force celibacy on people. Now, do our catholic brothers force it upon the Priests? In a way, yes. But don’t forget that no one is ‘forced’ into the priesthood. Some feel like the scandals of catholic priests who abused children can be blamed on forced celibacy. The problem with this idea is many protestant ministers have also fallen sexually, and they were not celibate! The point being we need to be careful when we brand any Christian denomination with an accusation. Now, Paul also makes an interesting statement that we need to look at. He says ‘for the present distress I give these guidelines’. Is it possible that Paul’s seeming harshness on marriage was due to the fact of some type of distress that he saw coming? Possibly the Neronic persecutions? If so, Paul could be saying ‘because of the upcoming severe persecution I recommend everyone just laying low for the time, if married, seek not to be single and vice a versa’. This is possible, we need to keep this in mind when reading this section of scripture. But most of all I think the modern evangelical church needs to retool her message in this area. Marriage and sex are good, God ordained these things in their proper place. But living single and celibate is also considered a very noble calling, we do not normally reflect this balance in the present atmosphere. Also as an aside, a few years back it was common to teach ‘the world/public schools have taken sex and taught it to our kids. They have usurped the job of the family/church’ while there is some truth to this, the problem was some well known TV evangelists began to discuss sex in the Sunday morning setting that was improper in a way [If you local Pastors who read this have done this, be assured I am not talking about you!]. I remember watching a national minister speak openly, with grandma’s and children in the service, and say ‘now speaking about sexual climax’ Yikes!! Just because the family/church dropped the ball on these issues, this doesn’t mean there are no barriers at all while dealing with these issues. Those who do this type of stuff seem to be saying ‘sex is not a dirty thing, therefore we need to bring it out into the open’ while this is true to a degree, there are also age appropriate subjects that should be taught in a private setting. If the church feels the need to delve into these subjects, we need to be careful that we are not crossing boundaries when doing it.
(965)1st CORINTHIANS 8- Once again Paul will deal with the issue of what’s clean or unclean, the Christians convictions. Corinth not only had low sexual standards, but also much idolatry. This led to a problem of whether or not believers should purchase the meat sold in the market that was used for idol worship. After the sacrifice was made, whatever good meat was left could be sold on the streets. Now, Paul says the believer knows there is only one true God, so with this knowledge you are not sinning because you know the meat really wasn’t used to worship other gods, because there are no other Gods! But he also says that every man does not have this knowledge. So just like he taught the Romans, he teaches the Corinthians that in all of your freedom, the highest standard is whether you are building others up or tearing them down. If you have a free conscience to eat the meat, then fine, it is no sin to you. But if this liberty is offending the minds of those who are weaker in the faith, then your freedom just became a stumbling block and worked against the main goal of building others up. So the real question isn’t ‘can I do this with a clean conscience’ but ‘does my practice offend or build others up’? Many years ago I had a friend who smoked cigars, he was a believer and simply saw nothing wrong with it. We had a mutual friend who found out about it and bought some cigars and gagged on them. His conscience was emboldened to ‘eat the meat’ and by doing it he sinned. Why was cigar smoking sin to the weaker brother? Because he really wasn’t doing it out of a pure heart with a clean motive. Though the cigar smoker felt he had the freedom to smoke [it wasn’t an every day thing] yet his freedom caused another to fall. So Paul consistently takes this position in his letters. Some day we will get to other verses like ‘the things the gentiles offer to idols are being offered to demons, so don’t partake with them at the same table’ this is dealing with a different thing, I’ll explain it at another time. Paul also says ‘knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up’. One of the side trails believers can easily fall into is thinking the Christian life is simply an exercise is learning things. That is knowledge for knowledge’s sake. While Paul was not advocating ignorance, he was dealing with carnal believers who walked in pride. He was showing them that those who think they stand should be careful lest they fall. Paul was calling them to a higher purpose than just learning scripture and applying it for personal satisfaction, he was calling them to live sacrificially, to take the wrong done to you [legally in court stuff]. To give up the freedom to ‘smoke cigars’ if you will, for the sake of others. Paul was teaching them that it was possible to be right and have the answers to back up your position, but if you are truly not dieing to self, you are simply getting ‘puffed up’. (966)1ST CORINTHIANS 9:1-14 Paul defends his apostleship and gives a strong defense for the New Testament doctrine of financially supporting Christian leaders. Now, I never want to be one of those types of teachers who skews or bypasses scriptures that seem to contradict previous teachings. It’s common for good men to do this, all leaders need to avoid doing it. Recently I added my comments to a debate that raged in the blogasphere. You had Frank Viola put out the book ‘Pagan Christianity’ [good book, I read and do recommend it] and another good theologian, Ben Witherington, gave a good critique [I also recommend Bens site, you can find both Frank and Ben’s sites on my blog roll]. Part of the debate hinged on the financial support of elders/ministers. I must admit I fell on Ben’s side in this argument, though I probably would agree with Frank around 90 % of the time on all the other stuff. Ben argued for the biblical mandate to support elders, frank seems to teach the support of apostles [itinerant workers] is okay, but does not leave room for the support of elders who live in the community. Now, you really need to read all I have written under the ‘what in the world is the church’ section of this blog to get my full view on all of this stuff, but this section of Corinthians makes this stuff pretty clear. Paul says ‘I have the right not to work and only live off of the offerings of the people’. So Paul defends this practice, but he also says ‘I choose not to use it’. He also uses two interesting examples from ‘the law’ [Old Testament] to defend the financial support of leaders. ‘The Ox who is treading out the corn shouldn’t be muzzled’ and ‘the priests who serve at the altar get to eat the meat from the sacrifices’. What is the most obvious example that he does not use? The tithe! I would say this is one of the best proofs for the tithe not being a normative practice of the early church. But Paul does use the other examples to say its right to financially support those who labor among you. But Paul has also given examples to elders [read my Acts 20 commentary] to show them that they are not in this for the money! Paul will actually defend the practice of working and not taking money from the believers. So we see a wide range of freedom in this area. I feel the biblical example is it is fine to financially support Christian leadership who are dedicating their lives to teaching and ministering the word. It is also fine to not use these ‘rights’ as a Christian leader. But nowhere are we taught a type of Levitical tithe system for the support of Christian leaders. Why? Paul’s main message was one of grace and coming out from the requirements of the law. To have used the tithe as an example to give financially would have been counterproductive to his whole message. Eventually believers would come to view ‘the church’ and ‘the priest/pastor’ as the single head of ‘the church building’ who would be supported like a Levite who served as a priest under the old covenant [bring all the tithes into the storehouse type concept]. This legalistic view of ‘the church’ is prevalent today in much of Christendom, both Catholics and Protestants seem to cling to this limited view of the church. The modern house church movement is giving the old view quite a run for its money! But let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Paul said its okay to financially support Christian leadership among you, just don’t see it as a tithe that is supporting some type of Christian New Testament Levitical priest! (969)1ST CORINTHIANS 9:15-27 I have a letter sitting here from some northern radio station. I guess these guys hear us some how? It’s a great offer to be on 140 stations for next to nothing [$140.00 a month]. I have had radio stations write us before. I choose to stay small so I can be consistent in not taking offerings. I am sure if I took offerings I could easily expand like this, but I think I need to set the example for others. This fits in with the following. Now Paul will say ‘I would rather die than take money from you’ [and you guys think I’m an over reactor!] and also ‘I don’t take money from you because I want to make the gospel free of charge’. Remember, this is in the same chapter where he says it’s okay to support leaders financially. But yet he also makes these strong statements. Does Paul contradict himself? Some have tried to harmonize these statements by either saying Paul wasn’t really teaching the financial support of elders, or by saying Paul only restricted taking money from the Corinthians. Both of these are not true [Read my Acts 20 study]. Paul was hard on whatever group he was addressing. If he is speaking directly to the local saints, he says ‘you should make sacrifice and support those who labor among you’ but to the elders/leaders he says ‘I worked with my own hands while among you [elders!] to give you an example not to expect the people to support you’ [Acts 20]. He appeals to both sides to lay down their rights and give themselves away freely! He also says he adapts to every type of situation, he ‘becomes all things to all men, that he might save them’. He also brings his body under discipline so that after preaching to others, he himself will not be ‘cast away’. In my Proverbs reading I just came across ‘he that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls’. God wants you to succeed and accomplish things, the enemy wants to sidetrack you. Allow God to have the upper hand, let the fruit of ‘self control’ [one of the fruits of the Spirit] abide in you. Now remember, Paul says ‘they do it to obtain a corruptible crown’ [material, temporary stuff. Money included] but we do it [discipline ourselves] for an ‘incorruptible crown’. The scripture is filled with examples that contrast money [material rewards] with true spiritual riches. In these examples the scripture teaches us to expend our time and efforts in building a spiritual heritage as opposed to a financial one. Yet some will even use this scripture ‘running the race’ and apply it to stuff! Ahh, when we do stuff like this we are ‘reading/quoting scripture’ without truly knowing it. Jesus told the religious leaders ‘you search the scriptures because by doing this you think you have eternal life, but you will not come to me that you might have life’. It’s possible to spend your whole life searching scripture [for what you want] and still miss the chief cornerstone! [the main point] (970) CORINTHIANS ‘woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel’ ‘they which preach the gospel should live by the gospel’. Let me do a quick review before we jump into chapter 10. Over the years of re-learning the style and function of the New Testament church, it took time to read these scriptures without superimposing my preconceived ideas upon the text. For instance, you could easily read these verses and simply fit them into the ‘church building’ [as the church!] mindset. I know of, and have partaken of, the excitement that preachers experience when they ‘preach the gospel’. It’s a fulfilling thing. But the problem is much of the present day church follows a program where one main person becomes the attraction of the community. We live and hear and vicariously learn thru the growth experiences of a single individual. Now, we don’t realize that this is not the main intent of meeting together as a community. God originally intended for his people to share as a community of grace. There are specific warnings in the New Testament to avoid the Christian community’s penchant to identify around an individuals giftings [we actually just covered some of these in this study]. But when we simply read ‘they which preach the gospel should live of it’ we think this is justifying the present day context. It really simply meant that those in the community with the ability to read and teach should be taken care of while they are giving themselves for the benefit of others. The first century believer’s could not all read, the majority probably were illiterate. This created a need for those who were literate to actually read Paul’s letters out loud in the assembly. These sincere men were not modern day full time Pastors! This is why it’s important to read the scripture with historical context in mind. When I meet with the brothers, or travel to another town. I usually simply ask the guys ‘what’s the Lord been saying, do you have a word to share’? And sure enough, by the time our fellowship is over most everyone feels edified because they gave of themselves for others. One of my homeless friends is an excellent teacher. Believe me, he knows more scripture than many Pastors. He excels in this environment. There is really no need for one person [like myself!] to dominate the conversation, or to think that my calling entails me being the primary voice of the community. Sometimes when I find myself at some Christian function, I can tell that when people find out that you speak on the radio, that they kinda want you to preach. I always [yes always!] avoid it. Not because it would be wrong to teach, but the modern church has made such a profession out of it, that the average saint never really expresses himself on a regular basis. God never intended the church to be a place where people learn and grow and experience most of their Christian lives thru the experiences and gifts of one person. I just wanted to challenge you today with these few verses. When you just read them did you see them thru the old mindset? Don’t feel bad about it, just allow the Lord to ‘re-wire’ your brain as we continue to teach thru the New Testament. We find stuff like this all the way thru. (971) THE PLAYPIPE AND THE ‘RED LINE’- Well it’s been a while since I gave an example from the fire Dept. I was thinking of this the other day and still get a laugh out of them. On our rookie tests at the fire dept. the captains and chief would make up questions to test the guys. One question would ask ‘how many parts are there to a playpipe’ [a type of nozzle for the fire hose]. The answer would say something like ‘5’. One of the expected ‘parts’ was ‘the playpipe itself’. Well that’s like asking ‘how many parts to a car’ and the answer being ‘the wheels, motor, windshield, and the car itself’. The ‘car itself’ cant be a part of ‘the car’. What you could say is ‘the body/chassis’. So the poor rookies who would get the question wrong were actually right. The funny part was trying to explain this to the captain. In his mind he couldn’t see what he was trying to say was ‘the shaft’ [the actual pipe part of the nozzle]. The other funny thing was on one of the fire trucks we had what was called a ‘booster line’ [or red line]. Most of the modern trucks had red hose for this line. So it was common to call it ‘the red line’. The problem was one of the old trucks had a black hose for the ‘booster line’. So the question would ask ‘what color is the red line on unit 104’. So the poor rookie, who wasn’t really around long enough to memorize all the hose colors, what put ‘red’. You simply would think this was a gimme question, a trick question. It would be like asking ‘what color is the red truck’. The problem was the poor rookies would answer ‘red’ and to their dismay they would get it wrong. The ‘red line is black’! Once again, trying to explain this to the test makers was like trying to convert the Pope to Protestantism! The captain would insist ‘the red line is black’! Not realizing what they should have said was ‘what color is the booster line’. (972)1ST CORINTHIANS 10:1-4 it’s actually Christmas morning, 2008, as I write. Paul says ‘all of our forefathers were under the cloud, they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and sea’. Note- 2 baptisms ‘Cloud’ [Spirit] ‘Sea’ [water]. Let’s do a little thinking here. How can Paul refer to the Jewish fathers as the Corinthians forefathers? Is he expecting a large Jewish group to read this letter? [Like Romans- both Jews and Gentiles were in mind]. Is he addressing them like the author of Hebrews, who is speaking directly to a nation in transition? While it’s possible for a few Jewish believers to have read/heard the reading of this letter. Yet I think Paul is simply being consistent with his letters to the Galatians and Romans, where he taught that all who would believe were the ‘children of Abraham by faith’ Abraham is ‘the father of many nations’. Now, I like the way Paul ‘spiritualizes’ here. Moses was the prophet who typified Jesus. The people were baptized [joined] to him both thru the good times and the bad. There was quite a rough history between Moses and the rebels! Times where they wanted to change leadership. Times where God even said ‘I have had it with this bunch, let’s just wipe them out and start over’. They had history. Also Paul says ‘they all ate of the same spiritual meat and drank from the same spiritual rock. Christ’. Again, Paul seems to teach the symbolic, as opposed to literal, view of ‘eating/drinking Christ’. Israel did have some physical ordinances in the wilderness. The Passover and the bread from heaven [Manna] already happened. But Jesus himself [John 6] would say ‘Moses didn’t give you the real bread, I am the real bread!’. So Paul’s use of the ‘Rock’ is purely symbolic. The story relates to the time where God gave the children of Israel water from an actual rock in the wilderness. Moses spoke to/struck the rock and water came out. Paul sees this as a symbolic picture. He is saying ‘this foreshadowed Christ, the true rock who would be the ‘Rock of ages’ who would be struck on the Cross and water would flow from his side’. Once again, this leaves us some context to interpret the Lords supper in a symbolic way. Was Paul teaching the Corinthians to go out in the fields and actually drink real water from a rock? No. He was simply saying these physical symbols would be fulfilled at a future time, and that time was now! All who believe in Christ are partaking [spiritually] of the water of life, the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow we will get into the examples that were left to us from these stories. I just want to mention that the Apostle Paul freely uses the Old Testament [his only bible at the time!] and applies these stories to both Gentile believers and 1st century Israel. The writer of Hebrews [who I think was Paul] says ‘just like the forefathers missed out on the promise by unbelief- entering the promised land- so too there is a danger that you, 1st century Israel, might miss out on eternal life by not receiving the Messiah by faith’. In this context, Israel of the Old Testament represents Israel in the first century. But when addressing a gentile church [Corinth] it is also okay for Paul to say ‘just like Israel faced physical death by being disobedient, so you too have had premature physical deaths in your community by rebelling against God’. In this comparison Israel [Old Testament] is simply being used as an example of God judging his covenant people for their disobedience. I feel these distinctions are important, they help us to keep the New Testament in context. (973)1ST CORINTHIANS 10:5-13 Paul warns the Corinthians not to fall for the same temptations that Israel committed in the wilderness. ‘Don’t sin sexually, don’t complain about stuff [ouch!] don’t be idolaters [lovers of your cash flow!]’ basic sins that effect us all. He also says something interesting ‘you are now those upon whom the end of the world [age] has come’. Not the ‘end of existence’ but the time period where Gods fullness has come [Galatians 4]. I find this interesting. The first century Apostles saw the breaking in of the Kingdom of God, thru Christ, as the event and ‘moment’ that all human history hinged upon. There was a real sense of ‘this is the special kairos season that all men have been waiting for’. The New Testament teaches that even the angels were waiting to see this day. One of the errors of dispensationalism was the idea that the important, main event was still some future happening [the second coming]. While it is true that this event will happen, and it will be glorious. Yet there was a sense in scripture that said the time of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection was the act of reconciliation that turned the destiny of man. Paul in essence was saying to the Corinthians ‘you don’t understand the full import of all that the Father has called you to. You are part of the most important movement in human history, all humanity has been waiting for this season, the ‘ends of the ages’ have come to this point. Don’t blow it for heavens sake’! Got it? Let’s grasp the fact that we too are part of this ‘time period’ [the new covenant kingdom age] and realize that our forefathers are watching from the stands [Hebrews]. Let’s not blow it [I was going to say ‘like the Cowboys’ but this gets too many locals mad]. (974)1ST CORINTHIANS 10: 5 ‘But with many of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness’. As I just sat down and was debating on how much to cover, I felt the Lord wanted me to stop with this one verse. Let’s review a little. Does this experience of being ‘scattered in the wilderness’ define past experiences for you? [Or present!] Historically the church has always had to deal with wilderness times. St. John of the Cross called this ‘the dark night of the soul’. After Mother Theresa’s death we found out that she struggled with doubt many times thru out her life. The historic church has been ‘scattered in the wilderness’ over truly insignificant stuff. I find it ridiculous that one of the main reasons the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] churches split in 1054 a.d. was over the silly distinction of whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father [the historic creed] or the ‘father and the Son’. This is considered the official cause of the split, though there were many other factors as well. In a day or so we will cover a verse that says ‘God is the head of Christ’. I had a friend that used to point out the fact that many Baptists would refer to ‘God and Jesus and the Spirit’ he would think this was in error because they would leave out ‘the Father’. To be honest he was consistent with Trinitarian thinking [I am one by the way!] If the ‘sole’ definition of God in the New testament were ‘3 separate persons who equally posses the Divine attributes’. Then the phrase ‘God is the head of Jesus’ would not make sense. It would be like saying ‘God [Father, Jesus and Holy spirit] are all the head of Jesus’. What am I saying here? Basically the historic church came to certain ways of framing the argument that were limited in their application. Does the New testament teach the Trinity? Yes. Does the word ‘God’ primarily refer to ‘the father’ in its language? To be honest, it does. Though the reality of the Trinity is there, yet the normative language of ‘God’ is referring to ‘the Father’. So my Baptist buddy was right in seeing a contradiction when Baptists said ‘God, Jesus and the Spirit’. If they were true to all the historic language, then they should have said ‘the father’ not ‘God’. Because ‘God’ would be the all encompassing language of ‘3 distinct persons who all posses the divine attributes’. But in fact, my friend was wrong. Why? Because the language of scripture mostly means ‘God the Father’ when simply saying ‘God’. Now why go into all this? Because the historic church has been divided over the language used. Arian, the Catholic Bishop/Priest, said that Jesus is ‘not God’. That ‘God the Father is God’. He was rightfully condemned, and the Trinitarian language would prevail. The problem is some of the language of the creeds and councils that would follow were not totally accurate. Some of the Creeds would say ‘Jesus was eternally begotten [always begotten]’ this statement was for the purpose of refuting those who said ‘Jesus had a beginning’ [Arianism]. Now, did Jesus ‘have a beginning’? John’s gospel says Jesus was with the father from the beginning, and that ‘the Word was with God, and was God’. Jesus had no beginning! But, does this mean he was ‘eternally begotten’? No. He was begotten by Mary 2 thousand years ago. Begotten refers to the incarnation, not the preexisting Son who was with the father from all eternity. So the well intended phrase ‘eternally begotten’ was wrong. Why even discuss this? Because most of Christian Orthodoxy would still condemn certain aspects of the Syrian and Ethiopian churches over this. We at times are ‘scattered in the wilderness’ and our ‘bodies’ [denominations, divisions in Christendom] are a sad representation to the world. [NOTE- I want to restate what I have said in the past. I believe in the Trinity. But I also want you to see how other Christian perspectives have viewed these things in the past. There are large groups of ‘historic churches’ [not Gnostics and stuff like that, the so called ‘lost Christianities’] who lean towards Arianism. Most of the invading barbarians who sacked the Western Roman empire were converted to this ‘brand’ of Christianity. So while I hold to the historic orthodox view, I wanted you to see that we too have been inconsistent at times]. (977)1ST CORINTHIANS 10:15-17 ‘The cup that we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of Christ’s Body? We are all one bread, we all partake equally of Christ’s Body and Blood. We exist as a community because of him’ [my paraphrase]. Here in my study I have various volumes on church history. I own catholic volumes, protestant ones, and even some from ‘the out of the institutional church’ perspective. Over the years I have learned that most believers tell their story from their perspective. This is not a wrong thing, nor is it a purposeful act to distort history. It’s just natural to see ‘your world’ thru your lens of past experiences. Around the 17th century the Jesuit priests were some of the first Christians to write systematic church histories. Though you had many scholars who were informed on the subject, the Jesuits were the first to try and bring all the previous centuries together and present them in an orderly way that could be understood and read by the average student. There is some debate on how accurate some of these first ‘tellings’ of history were. For instance, some classic church histories [both catholic and protestant] show an early 2nd century development of belief in the Eucharist as being the literal Body and Blood of Jesus. Also most volumes focus on church figures such as Iraneus , Tertullian, Augustine [4th– 5th centuries] and many other good men [I know I spelled these names wrong!]. There seems to have been a basic belief that this history is the only ‘history’ of the first few centuries. The problem with this approach is we now have archealogical evidence from the first few centuries that would support the idea that the early church might not have been as ‘institutional’ as previously thought. For instance, most histories say the development of the monarchial episcopacy [single bishop over ‘a church/region’] was early. But the evidence discovered shows that as late as the 2nd, possibly early 3rd centuries you had bishops who were simply elders/overseers in the early church. Burial places were uncovered that showed multiple ‘bishops’ all buried in one spot. The evidence seems to indicate that these were all men who served at the same time. Not one bishop dieing off while others took his place. This would mean that some practicing Christians never fully accepted the institutional idea of the single bishop. But you really couldn’t find this out from a wide reading of all the different church histories. Why? Were the Jesuits who put together the first cohesive history trying to deceive people? Of course not! They were seeing church history thru ‘their lens’. Now, what in the world does this have to do with the verse on communion? The word for communion here is a translation from the Greek word ‘koinonia’, which simply means ‘fellowship’. The church at Corinth practiced ‘communion’ as a love feast. The early believers had their ‘communion service’ as a type of buffet type fellowship where they all shared and came together in real friendship. Now in the next chapter we will deal with some of the problems that arose out of this practice, but the point today is I want you to see that when Paul says ‘we are all one bread who are partaking from one loaf’ he is simply saying ‘just like when we all get together and share in the communal meal, this is the same way we all spiritually live off of the Body and Blood of Christ. We are ‘one bread’ [people/communion] because we all derive our life from Jesus, the true bread that came down from heaven’ [John 6]. I simply want to give you the flavor of what Paul is saying. It’s easy to read these verse’s from the sacramental perspective. To see the focus being on the actual bread and wine of the meal. I think it’s better understood from the broader communal idea that I just espoused. Our entire New Testament is the most verifiable collection of first century documents ever to be found. Though we as believers take them as Gods word, they also show us the most accurate historical picture of what the early church believed and practiced. I think the reformers of the 16th century were right in stating that the final authority should be the word of God. They did not reject church tradition, but they said the final arbiter in controversial issues was Gods word. Even the great Catholic humanist, Erasmus, was known for his desire to ‘get back to the original sources’. He was helpful in urging the Catholic Church towards reform by going back to the Greek New Testament [most scholars were using the vulgate version, which was the Latin translation. The Latin did not do justice to the Greek!] Well today’s point is our New Testaments are accurate first century documents on early church belief and practice. I think Erasmus cry to ‘get back to the sources’ would do us all some good. (978)1ST CORINTHIANS 10: 18-33 Paul ‘re-uses’ a previous analogy of the priests partaking of the meat from the altar. Here he uses it to describe the reality of fellowship and being joined to that which you worship. Now he deals with the idea of the meat from the idol worship that was sold ‘in the shambles’ [market place]. He already said this meat was fine. But here he says ‘the things the gentiles offer are being offered to demons, so I don’t want you joining in with this type of demonic worship’. It’s not a matter of the meat, or the idol! It’s a matter of being unequally ‘yoked together with unbelievers’. This is a theme that Paul discusses in this letter. It not only applies to marriage, but also to any type of intimate fellowship with an unbeliever. Here’s where a distinction should be made. Yesterday one of my homeless buddies stopped by. His name is Tim [carpenter Tim]. I mentioned him before. Tim’s a great friend who I have known for many years. He just stopped by to say hi, he told me he caught my radio show on Sunday and really enjoyed it. They get a kick out of being real friends with some so called ‘radio preacher’. I think it’s hard at times to connect the ‘radio guy’ with the simple brother who takes them out to eat and stuff. Tim is a believer who works regularly [thus the name carpenter Tim!] He does not take the free handouts and stuff that are offered to the local homeless population. But I have helped Tim as a friend and brother in the Lord for many years. I asked if he has heard anything about Bill ‘painter Bill’. I have known Bill just as long as Tim. These are the original homeless guys I met in the early 1990’s. Bill is in his 70’s, Tim is around my age [I am 46 years old as I write]. Bill was a bitter homeless person. Just too many years of going thru stuff. Over the years we had become real good friends. I think he sees me as one of his best friends. A few weeks back I heard he was on a respirator and they though he wasn’t going to make it. It sounded pretty bad. As of right now I don’t know if he’s alive or not. A few months back I was giving Bill a ride home. He had a temporary place to live at the time. He did ask if I had a few dollars to spare. I don’t remember if I did or not to be honest. But I told Bill I don’t make the same amount of money since I retired. Just to let him know that’s why we haven’t gone to eat recently. He also asked me if I wanted to get the free eye checkup from the mission. They had some locals donate their time and they would get the guys free glasses. I told him that’s all right, I don’t want to take stuff that’s meant for the homeless [I also don’t eat the free meals]. They get upset that I don’t use the system. So as we arrive at Bills trailer he asks if I could come in for a minute. I told him sure. He handed me the free glasses he recently got, he asks me to try them on. I did. He then offers them to me. I told him no thanks, though I appreciated the offer. Bill was willing to give me his glasses. When Paul the apostle deals with having fellowship with unbelievers, he is not telling us to have no contact with the lost world. He is showing the Corinthians that they were not to be partakers of evil things along with the world. We are here to reach out to the world, not to have fellowship with evil things, but to be like Jesus. He was accused of being ‘a friend of sinners’. Do you have any ‘sinner friends’? (980)1ST CORINTHIANS 11: 1-16 at first I was just going to skip this section and say ‘I know you didn’t get your moneys worth, but wait, you guys didn’t give me any money!’ But this would be a cheap shot. So what do we do with portions of scripture that are difficult? I have heard this taught in a way that says ‘Christ is the head of the church [both men and women- true] and any distinction between a man being ‘the head’ of the woman only applies to natural families’. The problem is Paul mixes the analogies ‘Christ is the head of a man, a man [husband] is the head of the woman [wife], and God is the head of Christ’. To dissect these verses into a ‘secular/religious’ division is next to impossible! So what do they mean? I believe the New Testament does teach a type of functional difference between men and woman. Now, Paul teaches that women ‘can prophesy’ in ‘the church’. He says so in these verses! In Romans 16 Paul refers to Junia as an apostle and Phoebe as a deaconess. In the Old Testament Deborah was a mighty judge. Peter says that both sons and daughters will prophesy [Acts 2, quoting Joel]. I could go on. Then why make a distinction? Paul gives his rationale in this section. Believers show the order and submission of the Godhead when they willingly take their God ordained positions in society. When husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church, God is glorified. When wives submit [oh no, I can’t believe I said it!] to their ‘loving’ husbands they show the role of Christ’s willful submission to the Father. And yes, Paul also teaches we all submit to each other in love as well. Those who see all of Paul’s teaching on women as a cultural thing will have a problem with the inspiration of scripture. But on the other hand the strong fundamentalist/literalist also has a problem here. Should we mandate the wearing of ‘coverings’ [hats] when women prophesy? I don’t think so [some do think so!]. But most fundamentalists have no problem chalking up the ‘hat wearing’ portion to culture. Also in this debate, one of the obvious questions is ‘can a woman be a Pastor over a church’? Or Bishop or whatever. Remember, no one was a ‘Pastor over a church’ like we think until around the 4th century. So before we judge whether or not it is fair to restrict women from certain roles ‘in the church’ we need to understand what roles there are ‘in the church’. Did you ever wonder who was marrying and burying the people for the first few hundred years of Christian history? It is quite obvious that Paul and the first century Apostles/Elders were not doing it. So when did the ‘clergy’ pick the practice up? During Constantine’s legalization of Christianity in the 4th century, the church took over the rites and ceremonies from Rome. The Roman ‘philosopher/speakers’ could be hired to speak a eulogy when someone died, they could conduct wedding ceremonies. They for the most part were ‘the Pastors’ of the day! Now we simply took the job from them. Does this mean all Pastors are pagan funeral directors? No. It simply shows us that when we ask the question ‘why can’t women be pastors like men’. Maybe the question should be ‘were men ever supposed to be pastors either?’ [in the contemporary use of the term] So in this little excursion into history I think we all have some lessons to learn. The people of God are made up of men and women and Jew and Gentile, scripture says in Christ there are no more distinctions like this. We are all considered the Body of Christ equally. Yet this does not mean [in my view] that everyone does the same job as everyone else. The New Testament clearly says ‘are all Apostles, all Prophets’. God has distinctions in this Body. Do these distinctions carry over to the woman/man issue in functionality? It seems so to me to a degree. Those who are striving for more equality in function for women, I think the best way to approach it is not to by- pass all these difficult portions of scripture. But to take the approach that as the church grows she allows the greater overriding truths of scripture to over shadow any personal advice given by Paul to a specific church in the first century. Now I don’t fully take this approach myself, but to a degree many of us do accept this approach when dealing with the ‘hat/covering issue’. So instead of just showing you my view, I wanted to paint a little broader picture. Ultimately how you come down on this is between you and God. Women most certainly can and do function in Christ’s church today, they always have and always will. (983)1ST CORINTHIANS 11:16-34 ‘When you come together IN THE CHURCH’ [king James version] ‘when you come together AS THE CHURCH’ [new king James version]. In this section of scripture we see a real good definition of ‘church’ and also a bad one. The word for church is found over 100 times in the New Testament [114? – if I remember right] in every occasion, bar none, it refers to the people of God. Sometimes it refers to them as ‘coming together’ or simply as ‘the called out people of God’ [that is they are all spiritually gathered as a community in Christ]. The word never refers to a ‘church building’ [there is one reference in James that can seem to indicate a place to meet. James is speaking to Jews, the synagogue [or Jerusalem temple] as a building is different from the term for church in Paul’s letters!]. In the example I just gave you from the king James versions, it shows you how Gods people viewed this term for church [Ecclesia/Ekklesia] as time rolled along. The original translators of the King James saw it as ‘a place you meet in’ the new version saw it ‘as when Gods people come together’. You say ‘what’s the big difference’? Well I am sure the original translators meant well, but in actuality there is a big difference between ‘being an organic family’ or ‘being a building’! As Paul addresses the Corinthians he says ‘your coming together is not for the better, but for the worse’. They were using the gathering as a means of self gratification. ‘What can I get out of this’ type thing. I do see a parallel in much of today’s ‘church meeting’. Do we see Christianity thru the lens of ‘what am I going to hear this Sunday that I can implement in my own personal life for self improvement’? This mindset prevails in today’s church environment. The ethos of Jesus was contrary to this. He challenged his followers to lay down their rights and desires and seek another kingdom, one that was not measured by the standards of this world. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for seeking ‘their own wealth [benefit] and not the other’s’. He also told them to examine their hearts before coming together so they would not be judged. I have heard the new generation of church thinkers [which I am one myself!] kind of mock the old time churches by saying ‘Oh they tell you communion is some dangerous thing that you must approach with a holier than thou attitude’. Most mean well when they level this charge, but the ‘old time churches’ are not without scriptural support for this approach. Paul did say ‘you guys are too flippant in your attitude towards the Lords table, you need to straighten up and take more seriously your corporate call to those around you’. Understand, the celebration of this ‘love feast’ was to ‘show the Lords death till he come’. Who were they ‘showing it to’? The entire ‘unchurched’ community around them! Their selfless lives of being the community of God, loving and sharing of themselves as a spiritual family, was for the intent of having an effective community wide witness. They reminded not only themselves, but those around them ‘of the Lords death’. It was truly a corporate witness! Our Catholic brothers might not be as wrong as most Protestants seem to think. The Catholic Church sees the Eucharist as the central witness and part of their meetings. The Protestants see the preaching of the word from the pulpit. Though the Protestants are sincere in their efforts to teach the word of God, there is a tendency to become ‘pastor/pulpit’ centered, as opposed to being ‘Christ centered’. All in all Paul rebukes and corrects them based on their self centered actions when meeting together. He also sees ‘the gathering’ as ‘the church’. Not the place their meeting at! It’s easy to confuse this when reading ‘when you come together in the church- in one place’ it sure seems like he can be referring to a church building. Take my word for it, he’s not. (984)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:1-6 ‘There are different gifts, ministries and out workings of the Spirit’ [my paraphrase]. In this section we see an idea that I feel gets lost in the current paradigm of ‘doing church’. When Paul addresses a church [community of believers] he is speaking to all the believers in the city. When we think ‘church’ we assume it means ‘church’ as ‘going to the church [building] on Sunday’. Therefore we tend to read these types of verses as ‘there are different gifts and functions in ‘the church’- the Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, door greeter’ well you get it. The better reading would be ‘there are various expressions and ways the Spirit works and administers thru/in the community’. For instance, those who labor in ‘Para-church’ ministries are often considered noble, but not ‘a church’. But according to this passage, they would be just as much ‘church’, a legitimate part of the local body, as the home meeting [of course we know in Paul’s day there were no church buildings]. So the broader view of church as community would see these verses saying ‘where you live there are a variety of gifted ones whom the Spirit of God lives and operates thru. These saints all express the community of the Spirit in various ways. All these expressions are just as legitimate as the other, it is one Spirit manifesting himself in diverse ways for the overall benefit of all the believers in your city’. When we label what the Spirit is doing thru other ‘administrations’ as ‘Para-church’ we violate this passage of scripture. When we limit the various expressions and gifts to ‘the Sunday church meeting’ we actually are violating the intent of these verses. In your city you have doctors, lawyers, and all types of trades. While it is fine for them to operate out of a building and to keep regular business hours. Yet you wouldn’t describe them as separate, individual little ‘cities’ who all operate out of your town. You would see all of them as various gifted people who ‘operate out of your city’. So this is the broader view of what I think Paul is saying. Now he will also give directions on how these various gifts work in the meeting, this of course is part of it. But we need to see the broader view of what the Spirit is saying. Jesus expected his disciples to go out into the highways and hedges and ‘compel them to come in’ [not into the church building for heavens sake! But into the Kingdom] Paul taught that the Spirit accomplishes this in many different ways thru ‘the church’ [people of God]. (985)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:7 ‘But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to EVERY MAN to profit EVERY BODY’. I want to share a criticism that sometimes gets made against me. I know ‘the critics’ mean well, and are actually sincere men. It’s just they have been ‘shaped’ by the present system of ‘church’. The criticism goes like this ‘sure John has an effective teaching ministry [blog/radio] but if you need someone to come pray for you, lets see if he will come’. The idea is that the true legitimate ‘elders’ are those you can ‘call for’. James says ‘if any one is sick among you, let him call for the elders of ‘the church’. They see ‘the church’ as the actual 501c3, building, Sunday meeting [storehouse] type thing – they are simply seeing thru their ‘lens’. What James is simply saying is ‘if someone is sick in your community/local body of believers, call for the elders [more spiritually mature ones] and let them pray for you and anoint you with oil’. Now, I have personally spent many thousands [yes thousands!] of actual man hours on the streets helping people. I have helped and given to some of the local homeless population who attend some of these ‘churches’, out of my own pocket. Yet these same homeless brothers are encouraged to give ten percent of their money to ‘their church’. What am I saying here? I know the men who level this type of accusation are often intimidated by peer pressure and stuff. But the verse above says ‘the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every believer to profit every one around them’. The biblical view of ‘church’ would simply require all believers to ‘administer the gift’ in a way that would profit all those around them. There is no need to make these types of distinctions between ‘the elders of our church’ or ‘the spiritual leaders in our region’. They mean the same thing. So see your gift as a freely received charism that should be used unselfishly for the benefit of others. Also some Pastors do seem to come around to ‘my view’ after many years of hearing us. They might then try and do some city wide ministry, open to all the body. Then if the results are not good, they can become discouraged also. Understand, many of these men took many years before they could really see what we were saying, don’t expect a majority of local believers to see things that took you years to see! The paradigms don’t come down that easily. (986)CORINTHIANS 12: 8-10 this section deals with the various gifts of the Spirit. The list is not exhaustive, Paul speaks in Romans and Ephesians about other ones as well. Instead of diving into a definition for each gift, lets look a little at the various ‘modes’ and characteristics of the Spirit of God. In revelation we have a scripture that many seem to stumble over, it says ‘the 7 spirits of God that are before his throne’. Some associate Isaiah 11 with this. In Isaiah 11 you can find 6 distinct characteristics of the Spirit of God, some see 7. Or you could say ‘God has 7 actual Spirits’. Does God have 7 spirits? Or 25 or 10,000? God is the creator of all spirits. He is the Father of lights! In revelation you have Jesus holding the ‘7 stars’ in his hand, which are said to be angels. Then you have the ‘7 angels of the 7 churches’. I showed you before why these angels are not ‘Pastors’ they are angels! [You can find the post somewhere under END TIMES STUFF]. Revelation has 7 seals, bowls, candlesticks. The book is a prophetic book that has angels revealing and operating and functioning. The 7 spirits before God’s throne are probably the 7 angels spoken about in the book. Hebrews says the angels are ‘ministering spirits’. Well let’s get off the rabbit trail. In Isaiah 61 we have the famous verses that Jesus read and applied to himself in the New Testament [Luke 4]. Jesus opens the scroll and reads about the Spirit of God upon him, the eyes of everyone in that place were fixated on him. Notice how both in Isaiah 11 and 61, one of the main purposes of the anointing was to administer justice to the poor and oppressed. Much of Evangelicalism has opted out of this responsibility. There was an overreaction to the social gospel of the late 19th, early 20th century. The social gospel had a tendency to overemphasize good deeds, without focusing on conversion. But the Fundamentalist movement of the 20th century neglected the social justice aspect of the kingdom, thank God for the Catholics who picked up the torch. The point today is the purpose of the gifts, which we will get into tomorrow, is not simply for self glory and edification. Or should I say the purpose of the anointing. Jesus made it very clear that his mission involved justice for the poor and oppressed, he did not limit his ministry to ‘the church’. (991)1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 8-11 Instead of giving you my definition for each one of the gifts of the Spirit, let me just give you a sense of where I’m coming from. Over the years I have learned the normal Pentecostal understanding of these gifts. I also have learned the ‘anti-Pentecostal’ view. I take a little from each camp. The strong Pentecostal view usually sees all the gifts as ‘supernatural’ I do too! But to them this means the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge can’t be ‘regular wisdom or knowledge’. Okay, so what are they? Some teach that the ‘word of wisdom’ is simply a prophetic word about future stuff. The ‘word of knowledge’ is simply prophetic insight into ‘past stuff’. To be honest I have no idea how people come up with stuff like this [well, actually I do have an idea]. I see Paul as operating in a strong gift of knowledge, though Paul was trained and had a good education, the Spirit took all of his ‘head knowledge’ and quickened it. I see James as having a strong gift of wisdom, his epistle is the only New Testament work considered to be part of the corpus of wisdom literature. Of course the gifts of healing[s] and prophecy are supernatural, but wisdom and knowledge can be ‘supernatural’ without having to fall into some prophetic type category. If it’s wisdom and knowledge from God, then it is supernatural! I have known Pastors who had the gift of wisdom, sometimes they would come to the same conclusions as me, but they took a different route to get there! They might not have ‘seen’ all the knowledge portions of scripture that I saw, but the wisdom they operated in caused them to arrive at the same place. Some teach that after the Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost [Acts 2] that you no loner had miracles, dreams and visions or angelic visitations. Why is this wrong? The book that records more miracles and angels and visions than any other book [except for the gospels] is the book of Acts. In essence, one of the major New Testament books on these manifestations shows them to be a result of the Spirits outpouring! The point being these things didn’t end after Pentecost. I realize both camps [Pentecostal- non Pentecostal] have had their wars over this stuff. I find that both sides can be just as legalistic and judgmental in their views. I think one of the major ‘signs’ of being ‘Spirit filled’ is a life based on free grace. When people grasp the gospel and are filled with the Spirit, they should be free from living their lives out of a state of condemnation and guilt. Many ‘Spirit filled’ churches operate in the gifts [their view of them] but are just as legalistic as the non Pentecostals. To me this is not what it means to be ‘Spirit filled’. Overall we should be open to the working of the Spirit in supernatural ways. We should avoid making this the goal or identity of our Christian walk, but we should not reject or despise prophetic/supernatural things. They are available and necessary at times for completion of the mission. (994)1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 12-26 Paul uses the analogy of a body to describe the church. Keep in mind that the ‘church’ in Paul’s writings mean ‘all Gods people in the region/city’. Not just the gathered assembly! It’s important to make this distinction because much of the talk on the restoration of the organic church versus the institutional church focuses too much on the way believers meet. Here Paul is saying ‘you are all individual distinct members in the local community, you express Christ in various ways, though you have unique gifts you also are part of one corporate expression of Christ in your city’. The distinct gifts function in your community, not just in the meeting! [Whether it be the Sunday building type thing or the living room!] Paul also tells them to be on the guard for the ‘one member dominating the group’ expression of church. If everyone is centered on one particular gift then the corporate expression of the Body of Christ is diminished. Or if everyone saw ‘full time ministry’ as being a modern Pastor then you would have too many sincere believers all seeking to serve God in a limited way ‘if all were an eye, ear, mouth [speaking gift]’ then where would the Body be? I find this chapter to be a key chapter in the current reformation of modern church practices. As Gods people strive for a more scriptural expression of ‘being the church’ we need to keep this chapter in mind. Now, a word for the strong organic church brothers. The fact that Paul encourages a corporate expression in the church does not mean the gatherings of Gods people must be leaderless. Paul includes the concept of Elders in his writings. To be sure these men were not to dominate the meetings, or be the weekly speaker on an ongoing basis. But some hold to a type of idea that the way the church is supposed to testify of the ‘headship of Christ’ is by demonstrating a human leaderless church. That is God ordained the local bodies of believers to have no functioning human leaders in order to show forth Christ’s headship. To be honest I don’t see this in scripture. I see leaders in plurality [never a one man show] and Paul was not afraid to tell Titus and Timothy to ‘ordain’ [recognize!] Elders in the church. But the overall instruction in this chapter is God wants all of his people to function on a regular basis in the Body of Christ. This of course includes the gatherings, but it is not limited to them. The primary way we ‘show’ the world the Lordship of Jesus is by the selfless love we have one for another. When we daily live charitable, sacrificial lives, this demonstrates the ‘headship of Jesus’ over the church. The way believers meet has some effect on this, but most of Jesus instructions to the disciples was on how they would go out into the world and bring the great message of the kingdom to society. The primary ‘battlefield’ of the church militant is the world, not the meeting place! (996)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:27-31 Lets talk about ‘the fivefold ministry’ [some say four]. In the 90’s there was a real interest in this subject. It comes from this portion of scripture [and Ephesians 4]. The basic teaching is/was that God was restoring all these ministries [Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers- some see this as one combined gift] and that this restoration was one of the final things to happen before Christ’s return. I read and bought lots of books on church planting and how Apostles are gifted to ‘plant churches’. This teaching really wasn’t a new thing. Back in the 1800’s you had Edward Irving head up an apostolic movement called ‘the apostolic catholic church’ [Irvingites]. You had interesting folk like John Alexander Dowie who would start a modern city of God called ‘Zion’ in Illinois. Brother Dowie saw himself as an apostle and felt the Lord led him to start an apostolic city. You can still visit the city today. It was also common for many ‘up and coming’ preachers to begin seeing themselves as ‘apostles/prophets’ and actually advertise their callings in this way. Well of course the old time brothers who reject the gifts all together, saw this as another sign of the end time apostasy. You also had a strange phenomenon take place. It was common for ‘apostolic/prophetic’ people to be taught ‘the missing ingredient is covering and authority’- the churches are weak because they are under pastoral authority, they don’t have apostles ‘covering them’ [ouch!]. So it was not uncommon to have respected men kind of stepping over the normal boundaries of relating to churches and to say things like ‘you need to do this’ ‘you over there, be quiet. I don’t give you permission to speak’ and stuff like this. These sincere men thought it their responsibility to act this way. They felt this was a part of the restoration of apostles. Now, do apostles exist today [and prophets]? To be honest with you, yes. If you read this section along with Ephesians chapter 4, it is next to impossible to teach that they passed away in the first century. These scriptures make it clear that after Jesus ascended he gave ‘some apostles, others prophets’ they are included in the list of evangelists, pastors and teachers. If you lose one gift, then you lose them all. Also the timing of their ministries is given ‘till we all come to the unity of the faith unto a perfect man’. These gifts are all given to build Gods people up until we come to fall maturity. We aint there yet! So it’s pretty obvious that these gifts exist. Those who believe they don’t exist usually refer to the fact that the apostles of the Lamb [a category unto itself] did pass away. They will show you the truth of these apostles having to have been witnesses of Jesus actual resurrection. But these are a different category of apostles. The ones in this chapter were not even ‘made’ until after Jesus ascended on high. The same for the prophets. So, what do these strange fellows do? In all the books and stuff I have read on these movements, I feel some have been too limited in their definitions. Some taught that they were primarily itinerant men [traveling church planters]. Of course Paul was the master at this. But you find James as a stable pillar of the church at Jerusalem. Peter did travel, but he was no Gentile church planter like Paul! And Timothy in the New Testament had an apostolic type gifting, yet he was a protégée under Paul. So for the most part apostles do carry a special ability to ground Gods people in truth. Those who are called to ‘plant churches’ need to be more in tune with the example of Paul. Many modern day ‘apostles’ see church planting as going to a region and organizing Christians to meet in certain ways. I have heard it said ‘I have planted an organic church’ ‘I have planted a home group’ or of course the standard ‘I have planted a building based church’. The main ‘church planting’ of Paul was bringing the gospel to UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS and evangelizing those groups. Now of course he did give instructions to them on ‘how to meet’ [like in this book we are reading!] But don’t confuse ‘church planting’ with organizing believers around a new way to meet. All in all God gave us these gifts to build each other up and bring us to maturity, a place where we are no longer dependent on these gifts to function. I feel one of the greatest dangers was the strong authoritarian mindset that some of the apostolic brothers had, they meant well, but they stepped over their boundaries at times. (998)CORINTHIANS ‘DO ALL SPEAK WITH TONGUES’? – Before we leave chapter 12, let me overview a little. Paul mentions ‘do all speak with tongues’ and the presumed answer is ‘no’. I love my Pentecostal brothers, but some have developed an interesting doctrine that says ‘God wants all to speak with tongues’ though here it is obvious that all don’t! I am familiar with the classic defense of this. It says that in the beginning of the chapter the gifts are individual gifts that all believers can have [true enough] but that later in the chapter the ‘tongues’ that all don’t operate in is speaking of some sort of ministry gift of tongues. That Paul is basically saying ‘you can all prophesy, speak with tongues, etc..’ but you are not all going to have public ‘ministry gifts’ in these things. Okay, I got it. What’s the problem with this defense? Simply that when your done making the case, the brothers usually wind up saying ‘therefore, we should all speak with tongues’! Any argument [case] made from scripture, needs to use the plain language/thought flow to interpret that which is not plain. I believe all the gifts are for today [though I would disagree on certain Pentecostal definitions of them] but I also believe we violate the New Testament when we teach that certain gifts are supposed to operate in every person. Sure, you can find tongues and other gifts as signs in the book of Acts that believers were filled with the Spirit. But this doesn’t mean that those who don’t speak in tongues are not filled with the Spirit. Paul’s teaching here is that we are all baptized into Christ by the Spirit and we are all ‘drinking in the one Spirit’ but yet he empathically says ‘you all will not have the same gifts operating’. I think it is a violation of scripture to develop a doctrine that says ‘unless you function in a certain gift, you are not Spirit filled’. I do not see the classic Pentecostal division between ‘public tongues’ [that everyone doesn’t do] and ‘private tongues’ that you must have in order to have proof of being baptized in the Spirit. I do see the division to a degree, but I feel the Pentecostal brothers are being legalistic when they make this case. (999)1ST CORINTHIANS 13:1 ‘THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AND HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS OR A TINKLING SYMBOL’ Over the years I have seen how the church can ‘have a voice-make noise’ without actually effecting change. Last night I watched some Martin Luther King stuff. Without ‘sucking up for political purposes’ I must admit that Martin is at the top of my list of personal heroes. Martin spoke with a revolutionary purpose in mind, he was not ‘delivering sermons’. One time I spoke at a friends church, I only spoke for around 15 minutes [much like my radio show] and the pastor said ‘no wonder John doesn’t have a church/ preach regularly, you have to at least speak for 45 minutes’ [something like that]. Though after the message I had good comments from the people, the sincere pastor felt like we didn’t ‘put the time in’ in order to fulfill the Sunday morning practice of ‘church’. Were did we get our modern sermon from? [The actual format]. If you go to Bible College you can take a course called ‘homiletics’ this course will teach you the structure of speaking and putting a message together. If you study Greek rhetoric you will find that this science existed in the Greek intellectual world before Christians embraced it [the actual format and structure taught in homiletics comes right out of the Greek system of rhetoric, to the tee!]. I find it funny how many modern pastors seem to measure a persons degree of ‘being scriptural’ by this measuring rod. ‘Well brother, didn’t they preach in scripture’ you bet they did. We see Jesus reading from the scroll in the synagogue. Paul and Peter were master ‘preachers’ if you will [though Paul himself was no ‘golden tongue’] basically the biblical concept of preaching/teaching was more of a spontaneous thing. It’s certainly not wrong to borrow the sermon from the Greeks [which we did do] but we don’t want to fall into some mindset that sees modern ministry [pastoral] as being a professional speaker. Here Paul says there is a danger of believers becoming like ‘sounding brass and tinkling symbols’ we can lose the reality of simple communication. We also can lose the prophetic edge of speaking into society over issues of justice. If we become too mundane and ‘professional’ then the world simply views us as another program to simply pass over when clicking the remote. Both Martin Luther King and Charles Finney were known for their social activism. One of the charges [actually true] made against them was that they held to liberal theological positions. Finney was effected by the higher criticism of his day [the trend in the universities to deny the supernatural elements of scripture] he embraced certain doctrines that could be viewed as heretical [things on the atonement and mans sinful nature]. King’s critics make note of the fact that he also accepted certain types of bible interpretation that viewed some of the miraculous stories as ‘myth’ [not fake, but simple allegorical stories that were not literal but simply meant to convey a spiritual theme]. Things like Jonah and the whale, or Ballams talking donkey [or the talking snake in the garden!] Some intellectual brothers view these stories this way. Is there any validity to these views? Actually yes. I personally hold the ‘literal’ view with stuff like this, but ‘literal’ does not mean the bible does not contain different styles of writing. You do have poetry, allegory, symbol and other types or forms of grammar in scripture. Even the strong literal brothers will contradict themselves when they fully accept the ‘Lamb on the throne’ as not being a literal Lamb! [or when they interpret the scorpion like demons in Revelation as Black Hawk helicopters] So scripture does use allegory and symbol. But why did Luther and Finney associate with the more liberal trends in theology? I feel it was because of the strong anti social gospel that the fundamentalists embraced. The more conservative thinkers who rejected the liberal trends in teaching, would also reject social activism. Luther and Finney simply gravitated towards those who were like minded in their concern to speak into society. Basically they didn’t just want to be theologically correct [though they might have been in some of there views] but they wanted to be able to effect change in society. They wanted to be more than just a tinkling symbol that could tickle your ears. (1002)1ST CORINTHIANS 13: 2-3 ‘and though I have the gift of prophecy [Pentecostal, prophetic expressions] and understand all mysteries and all knowledge [Orthodox, Reformed, intellectual creedal churches] and though I have all faith that I could remove mountains [the Faith camp] and have not charity [Agape- love] I am nothing’. Whew! Thank God us mission/outreach type guys are not in there. ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor [ouch] and have not love it profits nothing’. I love the various expressions of the church, I feed from the Reformed brothers teaching, Love reading and studying Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I of course favor the outreach/hands on type ministries, but according to this text we can have all these things and still be missing the mark. Our intellectual type brothers are engaging the culture and defending the faith, but without love we don’t even put a dent in the culture. The apologists are great at refuting the new atheists, to be honest about it the Christian intellectuals are head and shoulders above the atheists [Craig Lane and men like him] but I have noticed that we don’t really change that many minds even when all the proof is on our side. And I cant tell you how many well meaning missions and soup kitchens I have been too, but often times there is a disconnect between the people being served and the ‘servers’. You get the feeling sometimes that the well meaning helpers are simply punching a time card. We all need to reevaluate our motives. People can tell when we are in ‘ministry’ for the love of the business. Or for the self glory and adulation that comes with our service. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they truly were in it for the recognition of men. They wanted others to see that they were ‘successful in the ministry’ so they could receive recognition in public. Paul tells the Romans ‘he that shows mercy, let him do it with love [cheerfully]’. It’s easy to fall into a rut and simply be functioning out of a sense of duty. Now duty can be a good thing, there are times where we just need people to report for duty! [The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few] but we need to examine ourselves and make sure we are functioning out of the Love of God. Often times the various ministries and expressions of the church are simply God ordained ‘places’ where we can connect with people. As we interact with the lost world, lets do our best to win the arguments, give proof for the legitimacy of Christianity. Combat false ideas and mindsets that are imbedded in our culture, but lets leave room for the other side to get in with us. Understand that they have a ‘missing piece’ [Augustine’s hole in the heart] and we are the only ones that can show them how to fill it. (1003)CORINTHIANS 13:4-10 Okay, what exactly is this love that we need? Paul has told us that all religious activity apart from it is vain. Paul here simply gives us a picture of the way it acts. You can read this section and substitute your name for the word love ‘love puts up with stuff and is kind’ ‘John puts up with stuff and is kind’ [ouch] ‘It does not boast or show off’. ‘It does not seek its own benefit’ a ‘what’s in it for me’ type mentality. Love is being just like Jesus. James tells us ‘if you fulfill the royal law of scripture, you do well’. The law is to love thy neighbor as yourself. Paul also shows us why love outshines the other gifts of tongues and prophesy and knowledge. He says ‘we know in part, prophesy in part. But when we are made perfect and mature at the appearing of Christ the partial gifts will no longer be distinguishable. Only love will rule’ [my paraphrase] I find it interesting that Paul says knowledge itself will cease. Will actual knowledge cease? What exactly is ‘knowledge’? When we use this term in society what we usually mean is the degree of ones learning/education compared to someone else. If you have a masters and I have a high school diploma, we see a difference. We measure knowledge by the amount we have as compared to others. Now, at Christ’s appearing when we all ‘shall know, even as we are known’ this fine distinction will ‘pass away’. We still will have knowledge, but as a tool that we use to measure one another, it will cease. It wont make a difference how much of the ‘knowledge pie’ [know in part] you possess, at that time everyone one will have ‘all pie’. Knowledge is a funny thing, our understanding of it has developed thru the centuries. During the enlightenment era the concept of ‘what does it even mean to know’ was tackled. One of the famous sayings was ‘I know/think, therefore I am’ [Descartes? Hey, I forget sometimes] the study of ‘how we learn/know things’ is called epistemology. The enlightenment produced a way to approach knowledge that can be called ‘modernism’ mans modern way of knowing stuff. In essence, there exists real truth that a person can know and learn. There is/was a challenge to this mode of thought. Many in the Emergent church movement would grasp on to another theory of ‘knowing’ loosely defined as being in the category of ‘post modernism’. Some challenged the actual ability to know a thing. The emphasis is on who is actually viewing/learning the thing. The terms ‘metta- narrative’ are sometimes used to describe this dynamic. There is some truth to the fact that our context, who we are and where we are coming from, can shape the actual stuff learned. But the question is ‘does our perspective actually change the thing, make it real or not’. Some in the field of Cosmology have grasped on to this post modern theory and have surmised that the very act of human beings studying and examining a thing can in and of itself cause the thing ‘to be’. You can see how this theory would be helpful to the atheist. ‘Where did every thing come from?’ ‘it is a result of human kind’s thoughts and inquiry’ [Ouch]. This sounds a lot like the metaphysical cults that espouse that reality is a product of what you think, confess. That man has the power to create reality simply by the act of studying a thing. Well this is of course a challenge to the truth of God. Jesus and the Cross aren’t ‘real’ because men ‘put their mind to them’. They are real whether or not man ever thought about them. ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar’ Romans. Paul tells us that all these varying degrees of knowledge will some day ‘pass away’. We will all stand before a self existent God and give an account of our lives. This day is coming whether you ‘think about it or not’. (1004)CORINTHIANS 13:11-13 WHEN I WAS A CHILD I UNDERSTOOD AND THOUGHT AND SPOKE LIKE A CHILD, BUT WHEN I GREW UP I PUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND ME- Paul shows us that we presently see and understand things thru ‘a glass’. God gives us insight and glimpses into Divine truth, but we need mercy because we all have limited sight. Over the years I know I have ruffled some feathers. Whether it be our teaching on what the church is, tithing, end times stuff. How New Testament believers should view the nationalistic promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant. I have found that the problem usually isn’t solved by simply proving something from scripture. For instance someone might become convinced by an ‘avalanche’ of information, they might actually see what I am saying. They can even articulate it to a degree [sometimes better than me!] but at the end of the day the answer to the problem is we all need to ‘grow up’. We need an overall change in the way we view things thru a legalistic lens. For instance, the tithe issue. Over the years I have taught the concept that believers are not under this law. Those of you who have read this site for any length of time know this. But I have also taught that it is fine to put 10% of your money into the offering on Sunday. It’s okay to support those who ‘labor among us’. But there are also many examples in the New Testament warning Gods leaders to not be in it for the money. Now, if we took seriously the mandate in Malachi to tithe. If we want to actually bind the believer’s conscience in this way ‘how are you robbing God? By not bringing in the tithes!’ Then we need to also look at the context. Israel as a nation was mandated to ‘tithe’ of their goods [not money] in three ways. They gave to support the Levites, also for the poor, and then they gave a tithe for religious feasts. In essence this ‘tithe’ was a total of around 30 % of their annual income, not 10%! [This by the way is right around what I spend on a monthly basis for the ministry stuff I do]. So, if we were telling people ‘you are going to be cursed if you don’t pay 10%’ we are actually misreading this verse. Also, how many believers think they are going to be cursed if they don’t ‘tithe to the poor’? Most modern preaching on the tithe simply puts it in the category of the Sunday offering. Most of this type of giving goes to support salaries, building upkeep, light bills, insurance for staff. I could go on and on. A very minute portion of this money [in general] goes to the poor. Certainly not a third! Also the portion that went to the Levites could not be used to purchase anything that would be owned by the Levite. They were forbidden to own any type of personal inheritance as Levitical priests. How often does the modern concept of tithing include this? The whole point is if we are going to bind peoples consciences in this way [which we shouldn’t] then we need to make sure we are at least teaching it right! Why bring this up? This is simply a good example of what Paul is saying. ‘When I understood in a limited way, I spoke and acted in a limited way’. The answer to the problem is simply ‘becoming mature in our thinking and speaking’. Recently I read an article from a U.S. congressman, he was speaking about the situation between Israel and Palestine. He sided with a military interpretation of the Old Testament promise to Abraham to ‘posses the land’ and used that to influence his political activism for war. How ‘mature’ is this type of thinking? Did any of the JEWISH apostles do this? No. So instead of trying to ‘crisis manage’ every single doctrinal problem, we really need to mature on an overall basis and view these doctrines thru the paradigm of Jesus and his life and work. Are we imitating his ethos when we do these things? Was this the primary message and life of Jesus when he walked the earth? How did he respond to Roman oppression and unjust govt.? Did he advocate military action in defense of the promises of God made to the nation of Israel? If we as the 21st century church do not ‘rightly divide’ these things, then we are of all men ‘most miserable’ [1st Corinthians 15]. (1006)CORINTHIANS 14:1-20 Lets deal a little with ‘Tongues’. I have written before on the various ways believers view this gift. Much has been taught over the years that can be seen as extreme from both camps [the Pentecostals and the non charismatics]. Is Paul speaking about the same gift as seen in Acts 2? If not, then does that mean the only legitimate ‘tongues’ are the Acts 2 expression? If a distinction is made, then Paul obviously put his stamp of approval on the second type of tongues by actually writing about it here! Ecstatic utterance was not exclusive to the early church. Paul earlier taught that the pagans engaged in this type of speech when worshipping false idols. This does not mean that true spiritual worship has no ecstatic type elements to it. The gifts themselves are seen as divinely inspired speech [the speaking ones]. Isaiah 8:1 says ‘TAKE A LARGE SCROLL AND WRITE ON IT WITH THE PEN OF A MAN’. God was telling Isaiah that he would use his actual writings as inspired instruments from him. Scripture also speaks of ‘the tongue of a ready writer’ we are called ‘living letters’ by Paul himself. Paul doesn’t challenge the legitimacy of this type of gift, but he does stress the importance of approaching all the gifts from a standpoint of unselfishness. If when the believers are gathered, they are all functioning in self edifying gifts, then they are making the same mistake that Paul rebuked earlier with the Lords table. The purpose of the gathering and gifts are for the building up of others and not for self gain. So Paul warns them of the selfish use of the gifts. He says it’s better to use Prophecy or Teaching because others can learn and grow. Some Pentecostal groups make a distinction between the prayer time and the ministry time. They practice tongues during corporate prayer and then treat ‘a tongue uttered’ during the service as something that needs interpretation. I see some merit to his, but it should be noted that here Paul does say ‘when you bless with the Spirit’ [prayer over a meal or something like it] that your prayer is fine, but still the other person doesn’t benefit. So Paul actually includes both ‘prayer tongues’ and ‘a word in tongues’ as needing to be tamped down during the public gathering. Of course we will see the teaching on private tongues as being fine, the point I am making is Paul includes ‘prayer tongues’ along with the other type. The main thrust of Paul’s teaching on Tongues is that the gift itself is legitimate [definitions of the gift vary!] but that all the gifts of the Spirit should be used unselfishly. ‘Well brother, Paul himself says it’s fine to pray in tongues to build yourself up! Got you now!’ well actually you don’t! ‘Building ones self up’ in a private setting can be considered beneficial to the overall corporate group. I just prayed/mediated for around an hour before writing, this was personal ‘self building’ for the purpose of corporate teaching. No matter where you personally come down on the various gifts of the Spirit, it is important to do all things with the benefit of others in mind. I hate to stick this example in here, but heck I just came up with it! Last night I was watching the news. I channel surf from CNN, MSNBC, FOX and even hit the PBS station every now and again [plus the big 3 networks]. Its still the first week of President Obama’s presidency and I couldn’t help but notice the unbelievable amount of ‘slobbering’ [yes, I borrowed it from Bernie Goldberg] that was taking place. I actually clicked the channel from Hannity to CNN. Hannity just finished talking about the embarrassing amount of gushing that the media were doing over Obama. As I clicked to Anderson Cooper, they were showing clips from the first media interview that Obama has given since being in office. It was a very good interview to an Arab language station. As Cooper was asking the reporters on their first thoughts of the interview, one actually said ‘it is so unbelievably outstanding that I am actually ‘giddy’. Now, I don’t subscribe to the Hannity/Limbaugh stuff 100%, but this really was too much. The media are putting such a high expectation on the poor man that no human being could possibly fulfill their image of the man. It was also reported that George [Stephanopoulos-?] actually cried during the inauguration. Of course Chris Matthews will go down in history for describing a ‘feeling going up his leg’ during coverage of an Obama speech. What’s wrong with this picture? I understand that the average white man feels self affirmed when he engages in public displays of support for Black advancement. I too like our President and do pray regularly for him. Not too long ago I met a black homeless friend, he actually has a little apartment but he was at the free mission so I sometimes refer to all these brothers as homeless. He was under the impression that I ran some type of ministry that took in money [I never take any offerings, for radio or anything else] so as I offered to by him some groceries and stuff, he kinda went a little overboard. I really didn’t have any ‘extra money’ but I bought it any way. I didn’t get mad or feel bad about it. I still see the brother every now and then and am still willing to help him. Now, is it better to show your love for the black man by publicly crying and gushing and describing sexual type feelings when listening to the new president speak, or to actually go out and find some black person in need and meet the need? I don’t want to get into the whole political scene at all, sometimes it gets me mad. I have actually ‘cussed’ [yes, I admit it] at the screen at times. [Little curse words, not the big ones!] The point being we all need to heed the admonition in scripture to show our love by our deeds and actions. To simply put on a public display for the world means very little. (1007)CORINTHIANS 14:20-33 Paul instructs the church that when they are gathered together they should do things ‘decently and in order’. God is not the author of confusion. Notice the ‘order’ of the early church meeting. It is participatory in nature, those who give a word should take turns, those who give ‘a tongue’ need to let someone interpret. But there is no sense of ‘a pastoral speaking gift’ in this mix. Some teach that here Paul was giving directions to ‘the home group’ but they still had a regular ‘church service at the building’. This of course has no support at all from scripture or 1st century church history. Paul was simply telling ‘the church’ how to act when they met. I don’t see any hard and fast rules in which Paul is dictating some type of mandatory liturgy to the people. He is giving them some basic guidelines that are in keeping with the idea that God’s people are ‘a body’. He encourages open participation in the group. He shows how someone could be sharing and another who is ‘sitting by’ can also have a revelation. The idea is people grow and mature when they function. People become co-dependant when they simply observe. The modern church service for the most part has believers as spectators while one person speaks. While there are times where one person speaking/teaching is fine, what we have done is exalted this very limited format of ‘church’ and made it the criteria of what church is supposed to be. Note how Paul does allow for the gift of tongues to be used in the gathering, but only when there is an interpreter. He even ‘lifts’ an obscure verse from Isaiah that says God used ‘the languages of foreigners’ as a sign of judgment against unbelief. This verse has been used by the strong anti charismatic crowd to kind of say that the whole tongues thing is ‘of the devil’. Basically Paul was applying this Old Testament verse to show that when languages are spoken that people don’t understand, then unbelievers and judgment can be present. In Acts 2 there were those who said ‘what is this strange thing [tongues] are they drunk or what’. Yet others heard the ‘wonderful works of God’ in their native tongue. The lack of spiritual discernment among those who thought they were drunk was a sign showing their ignorance of Gods Spirit at work. Grant it, you could hardly blame them for thinking this, but the point Paul is making is that unknown languages being used in a setting where unbelievers can walk in does act as a sign of judgment. Paul wasn’t teaching that the gift of tongues was itself a false gift. I think this chapter is important for the present day because very few places in scripture actually deal with the way believers should meet. This chapter gives some of the basic guidelines of what our meetings should look like. I think we could all learn from the Corinthian experience. (1008)CORINTHIANS 14:34-40 ‘Let your women keep silent in the gathering, for it is not permitted for them to speak. If they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home’. As a practical matter, when me and my wife attend church, I bring one of those little note pads with me. You never know when your wife has a question! [This is a Joke! But now you can see why I don’t take offerings]. What is Paul saying here? In chapter 11, verse 5, he also told the women not to ‘prophesy’ with uncovered heads. Some think Paul is forbidding women to operate in the speaking gifts, specifically tongues. Here he seems to be addressing a specific issue at Corinth. He says ‘if they have questions let them ask their husbands’. It’s possible that the wives were interrupting the meetings, or taking an authoritative role that was beyond their calling. I already discussed how Corinth had a form of idolatry that incorporated ‘temple prostitution’. Paul did not want the churches to go the way of the culture at Corinth! Paul is not forbidding women in general to never ‘talk in church’. He closes this chapter with the admonition to do all things decently and in order. Paul has a special relationship with these believers. He spent quite a long time in their city [18 months] he launched another very effective ministry while at Corinth. Do you know what that was? He began his ‘writing ministry’ while at Corinth. He wrote his first 2 letters to the Thessalonians from the city. Paul was very hard on this church, but he did not yet challenge their basic identity as believers because of all their misgivings, he still treated them as Gods holy people. In the next chapter he will question whether or not ‘they are in the faith’. He will challenge them on their unbelief in the resurrection of Christ. (1010)CORINTHIANS 15:1-19 Paul will deal with the greatest threat yet to the Corinthian church, their doubt over the physical resurrection of the body. Various ‘Christian’ groups over the years have doubted the physical resurrection. Now, some have done this out of a sincere attempt at trying to defend the faith! [their view of it] In the 1900’s you had one of the most popular theologians by the name of Rudolf Bultman [most of his career was spent at the University of Marburg, Germany. Much of the higher criticism of the day originated from Germany] He wrote a book called ‘Kerygma and Myth’. What he tried to say was that any modern man living in the 20th century, with all the breakthroughs in science and knowledge, could not ‘literally’ believe the miraculous stories in scripture. Or even the way scripture spoke of heaven and hell and used limited terms to describe spiritual truths. He used the bibles terminology on Cosmology as an example. How could man believe in a Cosmos where ‘heaven is up there, with the stars and all’ and he felt that enlightened man needed to ‘re-tool’ the bible and cleanse it from all these mythical images, but yet keep the spiritual aspects of it. The moral teachings of Christ and stuff like that. So you have had sincere men doubt the truth claims of scripture. The problem with this attempt [higher criticism] is it throws out the baby with the bathwater. The resurrection of Jesus is presented by the apostles as a real event. The fact of this resurrection can also be attested to by examining the historical events of the day. Simply put, there is a ton of proof for the real resurrection of Christ. Bultman and others meant well, but some of the ‘facts’ that they were using were later proven to be false. Bultman used a model of cosmology that would later be rejected by science. Yet the testimony from scripture would remain sure. Paul told the Corinthian’s that they needed to reject any attempts at spiritualizing the resurrection of Christ. Sometimes believers grasp hold of limited proof’s for certain doctrines. For instance, the New Testament does speak of a spiritual resurrection. In Ephesians Paul says we are presently raised with Christ. In Romans chapter 6 we have all ready been raised with Jesus. This reality does not mean there will be no future resurrection of the saints. In Johns gospel Jesus speaks of the resurrection as being a future real event, as well as a present reality. Those in the graves will hear his voice and be raised from the dead. And those who were presently ‘dead in sins’ would ‘come alive’ [spiritually] when they heard and believed the testimony of Jesus. It is important for the believer to be familiar with the various theories and ideas that theologians and believers have grasped over the years. It is a mistake to simply see all higher learning as ‘liberalism’. There are some very important things that we have learned thru the great intellectuals of the church. But we also need to stick with the ancient traditions as seen in the creeds, as well as the plain testimony of scripture. If Christ ‘be not raised from the dead, then we are of all men most miserable’. (1011)CORINTHIANS 15:20-28 here we see the guarantee of mans resurrection based on Christ’s resurrection. ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall ALL be made alive’. Is Paul teaching a form of universalism [all being saved]? He is showing us that all men will someday be raised from the dead. Now, does Paul leave room here for a type of Pre-millennial resurrection? A ‘raising’ of the dead prior to a thousand year literal reign of Jesus. Then another resurrection at the end? Yes he does. If you read Revelation you will see this type of scenario play out. Also Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Historically the church has held 3 basic views on this. Pre-millennialism says Jesus returns first [pre] before the literal thousand year rule occurs. ‘Post’ says the thousand year rule is literal, and after that Jesus comes back. Those who held to this view were excited at the turn of the first millennium [1000 ad] they thought it possible for Jesus to have returned after the first thousand years since his death and resurrection. And then you have A-millennial, they spiritualize the thousand year reign spoken of in the book of Revelation as being a symbol of Christ’s present rule and kingdom. Now, today’s most popular form of Pre-millennialism is not historic, it dates back to the 19th century. Today’s form is called ‘Pre-tribulational, Pre-millennial’ this teaching [dispensationalism] says Jesus comes back 2 more times. One is called ‘the rapture’ the other is the second coming [revealing]. The proponents of this form find little [or no] early Christians who believed this. There is one early writing by a Syrian brother who speaks very clearly about a rapture type event. Some think he speaks a little too clearly! The writing is believed to have been a fake. Either way we do have Paul teaching stages involved with the coming of the Lord and the kingdom. It is possible to have 2 future resurrections, this would not mean you need two future ‘second comings’. The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return. He rules a literal thousand years and ‘the dead are raised again’ at the end of the literal rule on earth [ a literal reading of Revelation]. Also Paul does use the language of Jesus submitting to the Father at the end so ‘God will be all in all’. I feel believers have been confused and at times contradictory while trying to explain the nature of God and the Trinity. I recently read a teaching on the Trinity that tried to compare the Trinity to the nature of the organic church. It seemed confusing to me, they tried to say that just like in the Trinity you have no one ‘being’ having authority over the other, but instead you see all three persons equally submitting to one another [Father, Son and Spirit] so in the church you have equality. Now, I do believe that there is equality in the church, but I felt the example was way off. The New Testament clearly teaches the willful ‘submission’ of the Son to the Father. God [the father] is clearly the one ‘in charge’. Now, I admit it’s difficult and brothers have spent years trying to explain all the ins and outs of this. Here Paul shows us that the Son has willingly submitted to the Father so the father can put all things under him. Then once again at the culmination of the kingdom the Son submits to the father and God receives the glory. We will praise and worship Jesus thru out all eternity, it is his willful submission to the father’s plan that makes this happen. NOTE- Some believers spiritualize the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation, they relate it to those who have been ‘born again’ spiritually. Modern ‘Preterism’ holds to this view. (1013)CORINTHIANS 15:29-49 the resurrection body is a real ‘spiritual’ body. Paul describes the natural body [us now] as fleshly and like Adams body. He then describes the promised resurrection body as being like Jesus in his raised state. These verses can be a little confusing. When Paul says the resurrection body is ‘spiritual’ as compared to earthy, is he saying it is not real? No. But you can see how some early sects could use these verses and teach a ‘phantom’ type resurrection [Gnostic, Docetist type groups]. I was once asked by a Catholic believer if the church taught the physical resurrection. I assured the person that both Catholic and Protestant [and Orthodox] expressions of Christianity embrace the real future resurrection of the body. Now, is it the same body? Well, the way Paul describes it is by comparing the planting of seeds. When you plant a seed you don’t simply get a bigger seed! But you get various types of growth, whether it’s a tree or plant or whatever. So Paul says our future bodies will be new and glorious in this way, but if it weren’t really you, then it wouldn’t be a resurrection! So you will come back, but it will be a ‘new you’. Over the years I have studied various theologians [Christian ones] and I have seen the penchant for various groups to focus in on a certain doctrine and to stray somewhat from the faith. Now, they aren’t always cults, some of them are highly knowledgeable Christians who seem to be testing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I like N.T. Wright, the famous Bishop of Durham [Church of England] but you need to be grounded in what you believe before you can really read him. I feel at times he is helpful in bringing new perspectives to things, I have seen some of the things he teaches myself. But there is also a danger of ‘re-thinking’ stuff a little too much. By the way Wright has written on the resurrection and has done a great job at defending the historic churches position. He’s in somewhat of a theological controversy at the moment, some of the strong reformed brothers have come out and challenged his view on Justification. Wright teaches that the historic reformers kind of missed what Paul was saying. Wright ‘extends’ the doctrine to mean ‘a sign/badge of those who are already in Gods covenant community’. The historic reformers taught a more forensic meaning of the doctrine. That justification is primarily saying that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. That Jesus took our sins, and we get his righteousness. Now, I feel there is some truth to Wrights view. But I would be careful to throw out the reformed view all together. There certainly is much truth to the reformed view. John Piper [a reformed Baptist] just released a book on the reformed view, Wright has one coming out pretty soon [Wrights is already published overseas, but the states wont get it for a few months]. So, the point is I believe the historic church and the ancient creeds ‘got it right’ on the resurrection. It is real, it will happen to all people some day. Those who have ‘done good’ [wow- these are Jesus actual words when describing the final judgment!] will be ‘raised to life’. Those who have done evil will be raised to face judgment. We can all escape the coming judgment, Jesus died for us. If we believe and accept his death, burial and resurrection, then we will be raised to a new life some day. 378- (I stuck this entry in here because it deals with the ‘baptism for the dead’, I didn’t want you to think that I just skipped over the verse) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1stcentury cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification]. (1014)CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 Okay, let’s wrap up this chapter. ‘Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom’ Paul speaks a little on the nature of the resurrected body. It is real, but not mortal [flesh and blood] without getting lost in the technical aspects of the actual body, Paul does make a distinction between the natural life of man [blood gives life to the mortal man] and the supernatural life of the resurrected body [spiritual life]. Then Paul shows us a mystery [something that was hidden up until the time God reveals it- here thru Paul!] that ‘we shall not all experience death, but we shall all get new bodies’. Paul teaches that some believers will not face natural death, they will be the generation that is alive at Christ’s coming. Paul says this happens at the ‘last trumpet’. For those of you not familiar with some of the silly stuff that passes under the heading of ‘theology’, let me explain some stuff. In the world of ‘dispensationalism’ there is an entire body of teaching that deals with the trumpets in scripture. Basically if Paul is teaching that this event, getting raised from the dead and being transformed, if this takes place at ‘the last trump’ then it is pretty clear that this event is not some type of rapture that takes place 7 years prior to Gods ‘last trump’ [last day, when God wraps things up]. But if you read the portions of scripture that speak about Christ’s return and the resurrection [Thessalonians 4, John 14, Matthew 25] you will see that all these scriptures teach that the resurrection takes place at the end, when Christ returns. So anyway a whole lotta time is spent by the rapture guys to explain that when you are in school, you might say ‘hey, that’s the last bell [trump] before class starts’ and that ‘last bell’ doesn’t mean ‘last bell’, but it means the ‘last bell for now’. It’s kind of silly stuff that preachers do in order to back up their theories. If scriptures ‘last trump’ isn’t really the ‘last trump’ then you can fit the rapture in as a separate event from the second coming. I think doing doctrine like this is silly and hairsplitting. The first century believers who were reading these letters [not all at once, but as they were slowly being penned and sent] simply saw all of the references on the second coming as one event. It’s silly to try and make two separate lists of the New testament verses on Christ’s coming and then place some verses under a rapture heading, and others under a ‘second coming’ heading, especially when the rapture brothers themselves cant agree on which ones belong to which list! Well any way we have a glorious promise of a future resurrection body, the last enemy that Jesus destroys is death. Revelation says ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire’ Jesus has power over death, hell and the grave. He will totally eradicate all death some day, Jesus tasted death for every man [Hebrews] so that man does not have to be in bondage under its fear any more. (1019)CORINTHIANS 16:1-4 ‘When you come together on the first day of the week, let every one of you put some money aside as God has provided for you. So when I come we won’t have to waste any time taking offerings. And we will use this money for the purpose of meeting the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem. Whoever you approve to take the money to Jerusalem can do it, I might also go with them if the Lord permits. I gave this same order to all the churches in the Galatian province’ [my own paraphrase]. These verses are usually used to justify the Sunday morning offering. They are also used to teach ‘Sunday as the Lords special day’. Let’s talk a little. Paul gave these instructions to at least this church and all the churches of Galatia. We have no idea if all the first century churches actually did this. But let’s say they did. What exactly are they doing? They are taking a Sunday offering and using it 100 percent for charitable purposes. Remember how I have taught in the past that the main teaching from Jesus on giving dealt with the poor? So if we want to use this text to command believers to give on Sunday, then we need to use ALL THE MONEY for helping poor people. Paul also says ‘do it before I arrive, I don’t want to have to spend time messing around with collections’. I find it interesting that it is common today to spend a good portion of the Sunday service [any church U.S.A.] to kind of do a celebratory offering thing. Lots of time to stop and emphasize the importance of worshiping God with our money. The point I would make is Paul did none of this. He actually said he did not want to have to set aside time for the collecting of money when he arrived, and for this very reason he said take up the offering on Sunday! One more thing; it is obvious that the early believers began a tradition of meeting on Sunday. Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection on 2 consecutive Sundays. Acts 20 has believers meeting on Sunday. Jesus of course rose from the dead on Sunday. But there is no indication from scripture that believers are under some type of New Testament Sabbath law. Sort of like Sunday is now the ‘special day’ just like Saturday for Judaism. Various groups argue over this issue, I have taught on it before. In the New Covenant we have tremendous freedom to meet or not meet on Sunday. Or to meet or not meet on Saturday for that matter! But doctrinally we are free from the law and all of its observances. I appreciate the work that has been done by various scholars [Especially some catholic ones] on showing how Sunday became the special day of observance for believers. But we need to be careful when we read what the believers did in the New Testament and then proclaim it as law. I believe its fine to meet on Sunday, to take offerings and to do all of these types of things. But when we grasp hold of limited ideas, and then exalt them to a place of law, we err. Paul was simply telling this church to collect some money on the first day of the week for the sole purpose of charity. If modern day believers want to apply these scriptures literally, then we should use all of the Sunday offering for charity. If we apply them literally, then there is absolutely no sense of a tithe system to pay for salaries, building upkeep, insurance, on and on. For modern day believers to engage in such things is fine. If these expenses seem needed for the overall purpose of Gods work, then fine. But to use these verses and actually tell believers they are robbing God if they don’t tithe on Sunday is absolutely not true. I have written a lot about these things over the years [you can find stuff on my ‘statement of faith’ section and ‘what in the world is the church’ section] I do not condemn all the churches who practice these things, it’s just we need to be careful when we take examples from scripture, lift them out of context, add a few verses from Malachi and then teach some air tight system that if not obeyed brings the curse of God on someone. Do all things in grace, remember THE POOR, and you will do well. (1020)CORINTHIANS CONCLUSION- Paul concludes this long letter with a bunch of personal notes. He tells them that the Lord has opened up a great effective door for him at Ephesus and there are many adversaries. He wanted Apollos to make a visit but he did not want to at this time. He told them to go easy on Timothy because he was a fellow worker in the Lord. Overall Paul’s message to this church was one of true grace. I want to emphasize again [like we did when studying Romans and the other epistles so far] that one of the main themes of the first century apostles was belief in the gospel. Paul told these believers that it was believing in the message of the Cross that saves them. He defined the gospel as Jesus death, burial and resurrection. He encouraged them to live free as Gods community and to help each other out. Paul did not lay on them some type of guilt trip to become some high powered institution in order to ‘change their world’. He believed that the simple lifestyle of love and purity would be able to do the job. I see a contrast from the first century church and its simple gospel and today’s idea of church. Also notice how Paul was ‘planting’ these churches. He visited them, spent time with them, LEFT THEM, and continued corresponding with them thru letters and friends. In essence, first century church planting was simply establishing groups of people on the foundation of Christ. They were not organizing under some type of 501c3 model [I do realize they didn’t have this back then!] they didn’t see ‘church’ as some type of social group that you joined [Elks lodge type thing]. They actually were the church! I want to stress this theme as we continue teaching thru out the New Testament. Many times believers hold on to and embrace ideas that seem to be biblical [you can find a verse here and there type thing- proof texting] but when you see the whole story you get a better picture of what’s going on. Well I hope you guys got something out of this brief study, try and keep in mind the things that challenged you as we read thru this book. Did you see some things differently than before? Did some stuff get you mad? Did we challenge your belief system in some way? My goal is to encourage reformation in the church, not disorder! Take the new things you might have seen and implement them in Gods time. Those of your starting from scratch [first time church planters] can start with a clean slate and implement many of these ideas from day one, others who are already in ministry will have to take a more measured approach. Do all things as God leads and in his time. To all you ‘church members’ don’t take the stuff that you learned and use it to come against your ‘church’. Let God lead you on your journey and reform as God directs. It’s easy for some young rebels [or old!] to take the stuff on tithing and use it against your current church, that’s not our goal. Be patient with your pastors and leaders and allow God to use you as a force for change, not destruction. Well that’s it for now; I am not sure what study we will jump into next. Recently got some good emails and phone calls from some of our friends laboring in other towns, people I did not even know of, but who follow the ministry. Those of you out there who are following along, send me an email every now and then so I can see what type of growth we are having, the different regions we are impacting. Those of you who have launched home groups, let me know how things are going. God bless till next time, John. (1192) ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE DUMMIES? Still in Luke 18, the disciples forbid the young children from coming to Jesus; Jesus rebukes the disciples and tells them that the Kingdom of God is made up of little children. There is a theme in the New Testament that goes like this ‘become childlike in your faith and trust in me, but be mature in your thinking and understanding’. Often times these two things are confused. Why? In the letter to the Corinthians Paul will rebuke the wisdom of the world, he states that when he was among them he did not use men’s wisdom to convince them of the message of the Cross. Paul also encourages believers to be ‘child like’ as well. Many confuse Paul’s teaching with an idea that says Christians should not be engaged in the development of the mind. Paul was not rebuking all wisdom and forms of knowledge, but a specific kind of wisdom. In Acts 17 we read of Paul at Athens, the Greek intellectual city of his day [Alexandria was the philosophical center in Egypt]. As Paul disputes with the philosophers of his day he actually quotes their own poets/philosophers in his sermon, he does not quote from the Old Testament, but uses the sources that they are familiar with. Right after Athens Paul goes to Corinth, the cites are very close geographically. There was a form of philosophy at Corinth that was very popular, you had the Sophists and the professional speakers [Rhetoric] operating out of Corinth. The Sophists were the philosophers that came right before Socrates in the Greek cultural world, around 6 centuries or so before Christ. Their form of philosophy was what you would describe as the first Relativists [or post modern thinkers who appeal to subjective knowledge as opposed to objective] they taught that philosophy and arguing were simply things you do ‘just for the heck of it’. Sort of like a hobby of simply disputing things while never being able to arrive at truth, something Paul will rebuke in the New Testament by saying some people were ‘always learning and never being able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ Paul himself tells the Corinthians ‘where is the disputer of this world’. So the Sophists were famous for this type of thing. Now the great philosopher Socrates disagreed with the Sophists, Socrates taught that thru the practice of thorough debate and the art of constantly asking questions, that you could arrive at truth [seek and ye shall find type of a system]. He believed real knowledge could be found thru seeking after it. Socrates stirred the waters too much, he was put to death by being made to drink the famous hemlock, the city where this happened was Athens. So Paul more than likely is disputing the system of thought that said you could not arrive at objective truth. It’s no secret that his letter to the Corinthians has one of the strongest statements of factual [objective] belief found in the New Testament. The great chapter 15 reads like an early creed to the church ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…’ It’s very probable that this chapter was used as a sort of creed in the early Pauline churches. So, what exactly was Paul saying [and Jesus] when they taught us to be like children, to reject the wisdom of the world for the wisdom of Christ? Simply that our approach to God and the things of God should be done in a humble manner, being childlike and open to God all throughout our lives. Paul was not teaching us that the following ages of great Christian thinkers was wrong; men like Anselm, Aquinas, C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. It is perfectly acceptable for the believer to become well versed in the field of philosophy, to argue the Christian worldview from a biblical perspective. While it is true that no church was founded by Paul after his Athens visit, and some feel he abandoned his use of ‘worldly wisdom’ at Corinth because of this failure, but I think Paul continued to appeal to the intellectual world thru his great wisdom [God given] thru out his life [read Galatians and Romans!]. Ultimately it is the wisdom of the Cross that saves people, a wisdom that Paul said he communicated not in the words of mans intellect, but in the direct ability of the Spirit to speak. Sometimes that ability came thru a sermon that quoted the philosophers of old [Athens] sometimes thru the simple sharing of the message of Christ. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature with God and man, he knew the ideas of his day, so did Paul. Do you? 2ND CORINTHIANS- (1223) INTRO, CHAPTER 1- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is the most autobiographical. This is Paul’s 3rd letter [some think 4th] to the Church at Corinth. There is a missing letter that we don’t have. Some scholars feel parts of the missing letter are in this letter [chapters 6, 10-13] either way, we know the letter is inspired and part of the canon of scripture. In chapter one Paul recounts the difficulties he went thru [and continues to go thru] for the sake of the gospel. Paul sees both his sufferings AND his deliverance as beneficial for the communities [churches] he is relating to. He says ‘God establishes/strengthens us and anoints us together with you’. Paul’s view of the church [his ecclesiology] is that God works with corporate groups of believers. His view on discipline is seen from this angle. In 1st Corinthians he says because we do not live to ourselves, therefore if one is in open, unrepentant sin, then commit him to judgment. Why? Because everything that one member does affects the others. I would not go so far and say that Paul taught ‘no salvation outside of the church’ but he sees salvation and Gods working with humans as a corporate experience. The Catholic Church for the first time in her history accepted other Protestant churches who confess Christ and his deity as ‘separated brethren’. This happened at Vatican 2 [1962-65]. The council explicitly taught the other churches were actually ‘churches’. They specifically used the word ‘subsists’ when describing their view of the church. They said the church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church in it’s fullness. They still believe that the fullest expression of Christ’s church on earth is contained within her, but they rejected the hard line doctrine that the church exclusively resides within her. They realized that God was working with all Christian groups/churches, not just one. I recently saw an ad in my local paper from one of the traditional Latin churches, these are the old ‘tridentine’ churches who observe the mass in Latin. The ad said that salvation is only in the Catholic expression of the church. I hate to correct my Catholic brothers [being I am a Protestant] but this language is not in keeping with the spirit of Vatican 2. Paul understood that God was working with him along with the corporate groups of people that he was relating to as an apostle. He will even teach that this dynamic can take place when they are physically separated, i.e.; he did not have to be in the same room/city for God to be working with them as a community. This is very important to see, it comes against certain expressions of local church. It also opens the door for other expressions of church, like ‘on-line’ communities. There are passages of scripture where Paul does say that whether he is with them in body or not, yet he is present in spirit joying and beholding their growth in Christ. Or he says word got back to him about their growth and he rejoiced in it. While believers should physically meet together as a testimony of their faith, yet the fact that there are occasions where this might not be possible does not mean that they can’t be joined together in spirit and truth. Peter says ‘you who were not a people are now the people of God. You who did not obtain mercy have now obtained it’. God ‘birthed’ churches [communities of believers] thru the apostolic ministry of Paul, these groups were both birthed and received mercy as a corporate event, they understood that they were brothers and sisters in Christ. (1224) 2nd CORINTHIANS 2- Paul instructs the church to forgive the brother who was excommunicated earlier on [1st Corinthians] he tells them just as they were zealous to carry out the previous judgment, so now they should be willing to forgive. He says it’s possible for people to be overcome with too much sorrow. The other day I wrote a post on Obama’s green jobs czar, I felt [and still feel!] that he needed to resign, he resigned 2 days after I wrote the post. I have also seen some conservatives say good things about the man [Van Jones] that in essence he has also done some good things. But they feared that he will be tagged as this nut case who signed the 911 ‘truthers’ petition [well, he really should not have signed the thing]. The point was it’s possible to over do an attack on an individual like this, to not stop until all the czars fall type of a thing. Paul reminds us that there are times of being hard with people, but the purpose for it is too bring them to their senses. Here Paul warns against being unforgiving. He also says that when he shared Gods word with them he did not do it like others; he said they were ‘peddling/corrupting’ Gods word. This carries with it the idea that certain people/ministers were preaching for profit. Paul is not saying ‘too much profit’ he is simply saying those who were sharing the word and taking money in return. We already know that Paul’s mode of operation was to support himself when with the churches [see Acts 20] and at times he even paid the way for his fellow workers. Paul carried out the greatest apostolic ministry known to man [apart from Christ] and he did it free of charge at his own expense. Paul tells them that when he wrote to them he did it thru much affliction and difficulty. He previously spoke about God opening up great opportunities for him, but along with the gift came a great price. Let me share a little personal stuff with you guys. My wife went to the E.R. the other day with some serious problems; she has been admitted into the hospital. We do not have health care insurance. When I retired I couldn’t afford to keep it. I managed to get my kids insurance, but me and my wife are on our own. Out of the 2 of us I have a few more serious health problems than she does. Some have been self inflicted [past mistakes] others just happened. The way I ‘self-treat’ is I go on line and do ‘home cures’- this my friends is not good. Some have helped, others I am not sure of. But this past year I had some things that needed to be checked [like bleeding from places where you shouldn’t be] and frankly, I haven’t done it. But I needed my wife to stay healthy, so this has been pretty awful for me. At the same time we had some serious problems with one of our daughters, and we were/are in a real bind over this. During this whole time I started this new bible study [2nd Corinthians] and whenever I start a study I just do a chapter a day and it doesn’t take long at all to finish. But I wonder how many I’ll be able to do over the course of my life. I would like to do the whole bible, but I realize that it’s thru ‘much affliction and suffering’ that I have written to many of you. Paul said he had the ‘sentence of death within himself’ so he would learn not to trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead. As we read thru these letters, see the real problems and difficulties they were facing; hear Paul when he says ‘I am not peddling Gods word’ he was not taking offerings or collecting money for his own well being. He collected only for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Watch the give and take, the beliefs of the early church. We need an overhaul in our thinking and acting, ‘ministry/preaching/church’ all need to be re looked at, we need to teach/train the upcoming ‘crop’ of pastors in a new way. Don’t see these things as jobs, or opportunities for self advancement, see these things as opportunities to lay your life down for others, to cling to the death experiences and not run from them. Paul said we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to the nations; in both them who are dieing and those who are being saved. God reveals his knowledge thru us to all people groups, we die daily so this fragrance can go forth. (1225) 2ND CORINTHIANS 3- Paul defends his apostleship, he states he needs no letters of approval for them or from them. They are his ‘letter of proof’ written on their hearts. Paul puts more weight on the work of the Spirit in them as a church, than on written letters. I find this interesting; the historic church has been divided over the issue of how much weight should be placed on tradition versus scripture. There is some confusion on the matter; lets clear it up. First, the Catholic Church does not teach that there are 2 words from God, sort of like tradition is one word and the bible is the other. They believe Gods word comes to us in two forms/ways- both scripture and tradition. The Protestant reformers did not totally reject tradition, they are creedal churches! They simply taught that Gods word was the final arbiter in issues of faith and morals. I do find it interesting that Paul put more weight on the ‘fleshly letters’ [the church] than written ones. He also contrasts the Law of Moses [10 commandments] with the New Covenant in Jesus Blood. He says if the glory of the old law, which was fading away, was so strong that Moses had to put a veil on his face. Then how much more glorious is the New Law in Christ! Some feel that Paul was saying that Moses veil was covering up the glory on his face that was fading away. When Moses went to get the law, on his return from the mountain his face shown, some feel this glory/shining was beginning to fade and Moses put the veil on so the people wouldn’t see it fading. In context I don’t think this is what Paul was saying. The thing that was fading [passing away] was the law itself [see Hebrews]. Moses was not a vain man; I don’t think he was hiding the fact that the glory was leaving his face. All in all Paul says this New Covenant of Gods grace is much greater than the Old Covenant of condemnation. That in this New Covenant we behold Gods face openly, by the ministry of the Spirit. No more veil, we are changed by the Spirit of God and the work of Jesus. Paul says these two covenants are like comparing apples and oranges; they are in a whole different class. (1226) 2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that. (1227) 2ND CORITNHIANS 5- Paul speaks of the Christian hope- resurrection! This chapter can be confusing if not taken in context. You could think that Paul is saying when we die we have a house/room in heaven ‘waiting for us’ and this seems true enough. But he is really saying something more along the lines of ‘in heaven [Gods realm] we have a promise of a new body. The Spirit in us is the down payment, but full redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead’ the hope is a new body, not our souls living some type of disembodied existence in a heavenly mansion. Now, Paul teaches us that this new covenant [last chapter] is one of reconciliation, not condemnation. That because of the work of the Cross, all men have been reconciled to God! It is therefore our job to tell them. In the field of Christian thought there have been thinkers [Origen, Carlton Pearson, etc.] who have dabbled with the doctrine of universalism. They believe that ultimately all people will be saved. I do not believe in this doctrine myself [though I wished it were true- I mean wouldn’t you want everyone forgiven and with God?] but those who embrace it find there reasoning in these types of verses. The New Testament teaches a theme of redemption that says ‘all men have been reconciled to God; Jesus has died for all men. God wills for all to be saved’ and it is because of this theme that some have held to universalism. The point I do want to make to all my orthodox friends is the New Testament message is one of total acceptance based on Christ’s death for us. Sometimes Christians ‘make it hard’ for people to ‘get saved’. The bible doesn’t make it hard, it says it’s a free gift that anyone can have [I know my Calvinist friends are upset right now, but heck I cant please all the people all of the time]. We want the world to know that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself’. These major themes need to be engrained into the mind of the church and the world. I am not talking ‘easy believism’ in the sense that God requires no repentance, but I am talking the reality of the free gift based upon what Jesus has done. There are so many people struggling with so many things, many have prayed and pleaded with God for change. Many have given up; they see God as a demanding judge whom they could never please. The message of the Cross is ‘you can’t please God, make up for your own sins. God placed those sins on Jesus, that’s why you can be accepted’. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Once you see this truth, God will set you free. You will change, you will become ‘righteous’ but it’s a result of the Cross, not your own efforts. VERSES [These are the verses I either quoted or taught from on today’s post] Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Psalm 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Philipians 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Philipians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philipians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philipians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Philipians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Philipians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Philipians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philipians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philipians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Philipians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; Philipians 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philipians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philipians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philipians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: Philipians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Philipians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Philipians 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. Philipians 2:18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me. Philipians 2:19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. Philipians 2:20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. Philipians 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Philipians 2:22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Philipians 2:23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. Philipians 2:24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Philipians 2:25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. Philipians 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. Philipians 2:27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Philipians 2:28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Philipians 2:29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: Philipians 2:30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. John 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Mark 4:31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations June 17, 2018 « June 16 | June 18 » Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 92Reading 1EZ 17:22-24 Thus says the Lord GOD: I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain; on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom. As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do. Responsorial PsalmPS 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 R. (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praise to your name, Most High, To proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night. R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. They that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be, Declaring how just is the LORD, my rock, in whom there is no wrong. R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. Reading 2 2 COR 5:6-10 Brothers and sisters: We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil. Alleluia R. Alleluia, alleluia. The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower. All who come to him will live forever. R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelMK 4:26-34 Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.” He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. Matt. 13 [I talked about this on the video for this post] 36 Then he left the crowds and went into ithe house. And his disciples came to him, saying, j“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is kthe sons of the kingdom. The weeds are lthe sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. mThe harvest is nthe end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds oare gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at nthe end of the age. 41 pThe Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all qcauses of sin and rall law-breakers, 42 sand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place tthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then uthe righteous will shine like the sun vin the kingdom of their Father. wHe who has ears, let him hear. 1 John 3 King James Version (KJV)3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 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We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John EPHESIANS 3- EARLY
Why am I posting this now? Ahh- the wonder-full world of the internet. I added 3 [or 4?] new sharing sites last week- they all worked fine- until today. Google Chrome- which I prefer- has now blocked those sites. Not because of me I’m sure- but because of ‘the competition’. Most people use Google chrome- many of us have said ‘Google it’. Yet in reality the proper term would be ‘search for it on the search engine of your choice’. So- as I shared some stuff earlier [or last night?] those 3 new sites- which worked fine- stopped working thru Google chrome. Of course they gave a reason for it- and maybe it has do do with the recent deregulation of the internet that just went into effect- either way- I had to connect all my links and stuff to Microsoft edge [yes- that's a real search engine- like Firefox- and others] and in the process I figured I wouldn't;t waste a post while testing the links- So yes- here is the post I would normally post next Tuesday- Thanks- John Here a few of the sites that stopped working on Chrome- https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com https://getpocket.com/a/queue/list/ EPHESIANS 3 Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; Ephesians 3- [testing new links here- not sure if they work] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xHmh-qUKpTJgxvSu0-mGQOj1H0n4Lkjy/view?usp=sharing https://www.dropbox.com/s/qoiuds4q1sok5vm/1-2-18%20Ephesians%203.mp4?dl=0 ON VIDEOS- .One star only .Paul the prisoner .What mystery? .Abraham and the stars .Did the prophets know [fully] what they were saying? .What does all this mean for our day? .Not an ethnic gospel .Apostles and Prophets .The gift of prophecy .Silence- the movie .Nagasaki .Syncretism .Church history .Franciscans and Dominicans .The Logos .Redemption history .Higher critics got it wrong .Mysteries still revealed thru the body of Christ- Incarnation principle .God has done this .The Divine romance OTHER VIDEOS- Matt 23- 2nd Sam. 13-14 https://youtu.be/R2EldYeZljo John 5 https://vimeo.com/249456959 Ephesians 3 http://dai.ly/x6cnglf Christian/Muslim dialogue https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CUJMwGkRQqJEVRIIEMc2se6yeIjaUuL3/view?usp=sharing Acts 13 http://www.ustream.tv/channel/23498909 The Cross https://flic.kr/p/23caQYP Galatians 6 https://youtu.be/sBr1XDStkOo John 6 https://vimeo.com/249880215 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/111691298 Mark 10 Plato n Church history https://drive.google.com/file/d/1waTxuKkP8guXVAdrpTfn332h1XX5KDUL/view?usp=sharing Moses https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/39566848581/in/dateposted-public/ Acts 4 https://youtu.be/JoqX5RLJmpI Samuel 5-6 https://vimeo.com/250202146 News and Politics- Live update- https://youtu.be/8sJ9c6xFEck Update 2- https://youtu.be/eebkOwZ-j4Y Update 3- https://youtu.be/FmHdd2q5EYA Yes- I gave in to the temptation and talked about the American Media- AKA FAKE NEWS. It’s a tough temptation to resist for sure. So- instead of wasting precious blog space- I figured I would tag them here- for those not interested you can skip these videos- sorry- John http://www.climatedepot.com/2018/01/04/al-gore-bitter-cold-is-exactly-what-we-should-expect-from-the-climate-crisis/ I did mention this on one of my many ‘roll out’ videos- honestly I did not read this article before I talked about it- but just came across it now as I write [1-6-18] NEW- Paul speaks about the gift of grace given to him- how God revealed the ‘mystery’ to him about both Jews and Gentiles being part of one Body [community] in Christ- Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: Ephesians 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Ephesians 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) How how it is thru this body- the church- that God’s wisdom is being revealed- even to the angels and powers in the heavens- Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, The principle is the incarnation- how we as living members of the Church are continuing to walk on the earth- as redeemed humans- and because the Spirit of revelation- the Spirit of God chose to reside in us- then we are the instrument where God’s wisdom and truth are being revealed. Even the prophets of old see in into this church- they are indeed ‘living’ with God right now- they await the day when we will all be physically raised from the dead- But as of now- they too look into the wisdom of God being revealed thru the church- Ephesians 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; [note- on the video I explained how here Paul is talking about New testament Apostles and Prophets- but I also spoke on how even the Old Testament prophets have now seen the unfolding of the mystery- thru the church] The great mystery of both Jew and Gentile being brought together in Christ might not seem as ‘big of a deal’ to us living in the 21st century- But to the first century mind- it was a big deal. For us today- we see how in order for God to truly reveal himself to others- it requires a community of people joined together in Christ- who have broken down the racial and ethnic barriers that we see in the world. The fact that God joined groups who were opposed to one another [Jew and Gentile] and thru this reconciling of man he than revealed his wisdom to others- was an offence to the natural mind. Remember- the mysteries Paul is speaking about were indeed contained in the writings of the prophets. Yet the religious mind of the 1st century simply could not see them. The truths contained in scripture are only revealed thru a unified community of people. Paul himself was a trained teacher of the law- yet it took a Divine intervention to reveal the mystery of Christ to him [Acts 9]. And as he embarked on his great purpose- to reveal the love of God to those who felt rejected- he too began to experience the same rejection from his former community. Yet it was the calling of God upon him- God’s grace that was doing it thru him- Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. He learned how to embrace the calling- and all that went along with it. Though an educated man- he would come to see that the love of Christ went beyond an intellectual pursuit of truth- Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. It is in the Divine romance of Christ and the bride that enables the unfolding of the mysteries of God. The wisdom of God is a product of God being with man- God living and communing inside of this people- the church. We live in a day where many well meaning teachers- who have the skills to communicate truth- often do not see the need for the truth of God to come from a Body of people who display what reconciliation actually is. The 1st century church consisted of people who were once divided- people who held strong religious convictions. Their beliefs came from the sincere study of the Old Testament scriptures- It was from their dedication to these Scriptures that they felt it their duty to oppress the ‘other’- Paul’s own experience shows us this. But after his experience with Jesus himself on the road to Damascus- he began to see how it was thru these Old Testament Scriptures that God had already spoken about the redemption of all people- Paul himself began to see that what he thought was right [the persecuting of the church] was actually opposed to the pre planned purpose of God from the start. And this indeed was a great mystery- something hidden from the beginning of time- 1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations We as the people of God- who come from all different backgrounds and ethnicities, we reveal the manifold wisdom of God to others- because we show how people who were separated from one another have not come together to form a unified community. The walls have not only been broken down between us and God- but between us and our fellow man. Yes- Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law- he took away the barrier that separated man from his brother- Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations And he brought peace on earth- good will to men- 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Yes- the powers in the heavens- the angels themselves began seeing it at the time of the incarnation- And it is in this Divine romance between unified men- and God himself- that the angels still desire to learn from- New International Version It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Peter 1:12 PAST POSTS- In the past posts section- there are also verses from my past teaching. At the end- bottom- of each post I add the verses from the recent video- Ephesians 3. EPHESIANS- LINKS https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/30/ephesians-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/13/ephesians-2/ More- https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/acts-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-johns-gospel/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ [Accidentally posted more here- but the section I wanted is right below] ·1ST, 2ND CORINTHIANS ·1ST- 2ND SAMUEL ·1ST- 2ND SAMUEL [LINKS- UPDATED 3-17] ·1ST-2ND KINGS ·ABOUT ·ACTS ·ACTS [LINKS] ·ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [LINKS ADDED] ·CHRISTIAN RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION [LONG VERSION] ·CLASSICS OF WESTERN LITERATURE ·DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA ·EPHESIANS [HIGHLIGHTS] ·FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY ·GALATIANS [LINKS] ·GALATIANS- JOHN’S GOSPEL ·GENESIS ·HAGGAI ·HEBREWS- UPDATED 2015 ·HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM CHURCH HISTORY ·HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES ·HURRICANE HARVEY ·INSIGHTS FROM A REVOLUTION ·ISLAM ·JAMES- 2015 ·JOHN [COMPLETE- LINKS ADDED] ·JONAH [LINKS] ·JUDGES- RUTH [VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED] ·JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ·LINK TO PAST POSTS- UP TO 12-2017 ·LINKS TO STUDIES ·MARK [LINKS] ·MY BIBLE COMMENTARIES [OTHER LINKS] ·MY OTHER SITES ·N.J./NYC- 2017 ·NEHEMIAH, ISAIAH ·NYC-NEW JERSEY TRIP- 2015 ·ONE LINK ·OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY ·OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE ·PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER ·QM ·RADIO CATALOG ·RAPTURE- 2ND COMING- 2 EVENTS? ·ROMANS-UPDATED 2015 ·RUSSIA- U.S.- WORLD EVENTS ·THE GREAT BUILDING OF GOD ·WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION // galatians- john’s gospel [STUDY] GALATIANS/JOHNS GOSPEL (1327) GALATIANS; INTRO- Okay, finally made it, been wanting to teach this letter for a while. Let me overview some church history that I feel would be helpful in understanding the book. During the 16th century Reformation you had an explosion take place within Christianity, though the official ‘schism’ dates back to the year 1054 between the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] expressions of the church, yet in reality it was the 16th century upheaval that really split the church. A few centuries before [14-15th century] you had rumblings within the church that had well taught Catholic men challenging many of the institutional concepts of the church; men like John Huss, Wycliffe and others. These men were extremely influential and had an effect on the church. Then in the 16th century you had Catholic writers who remained within the Catholic Church, but they too challenged the status quoi. Men like Erasmus of Rotterdam, these intellectuals would call for the idea of going back to the original sources of study [Greek New Testament and also other renaissance ideas] and this too would lead to the historic Reformation. But without a doubt Martin Luther [the Catholic monk out of Wittenberg, Germany] would be the firebrand of the movement. Martin was a well trained Augustinian monk who struggled with the guilt of sin for many years. Not normal guilt, but extreme. A fellow Catholic leader would encourage Luther to trust in the grace of God for his forgiveness. While reading the book of Romans [whose themes relate strongly to Galatians] he would come along the famous passage ‘the just shall live by faith’ and in Luther’s mind this was a total release from the bondage of trying to appease God thru all the religious works that he was going thru. In essence Luther discovered the historic gospel of grace thru the reading of Romans and was set free. Now Luther had no intention of leaving the Catholic Church, but as a very influential teacher/scholar out of the university city in Germany, he had lots of influence. The Catholic church at the time was worldwide and you had differing views of the church in various states. Many saw the state of the church in Rome as having given in to materialism and become too worldly. Rome was at the time trying to raise money for the restoring of the religious buildings at Rome and one of the priests going around selling indulgences was named Tetzel. The abuse of selling these ‘get out of purgatory early’ things was offensive to many Catholics, and Luther had ‘no small stir’ when Tetzel reached his area. These things would lead to the famous nailing of the 95 questions on the door of Catholic academia and would be the beginnings of the historic split. While it would take way too much time to go into all the theological differences between the Protestants and the Catholics, one of the main issues deals with how we as Christians view ‘being saved’. The historic Protestant position is called ‘justification by faith alone’ [Sola Fide] the Catholics counter with ‘the only time ‘faith alone’ is mentioned is in the book of James, where it says a man is not saved/justified by ‘faith alone’. Ouch! The main point I want to make is this letter deals with the early church’s belief that man is accepted with God based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Paul will challenge the ‘Judaisers’ [those who believed you needed to keep the law in order to be saved] and will argue that the law itself [Old Testament books] teaches that men are justified/accepted with God based on believing in the free gift of God thru Christ. Make no mistake about it, the New Testament clearly teaches this doctrine. Catholic and Protestant theologians BOTH agree that man is freely saved by the grace of God in Christ. But at the time of Luther’s day these glorious truths were lost in the morass of religious tradition and works. As we read thru this letter in the next few days, I want all of our readers to see the argument Paul is making from this basic theological view point. Is man saved by works [keeping Gods law] or grace? The bible teaches grace. Now I don’t have the time to also introduce the modern controversy between the ‘new view’ of Paul between Protestants [called new perspective]. There is an ongoing debate over whether or not the historic Reformation view of Paul is correct [men like N.T. Wright and John Piper are hashing it out] and I do think there are some merits to this discussion, but before we can delve into that aspect, we first need to see the historic question of works versus faith, and this letter is one of the best to deal with the issue. (1328) GALATIANS 1- Mark Twain said ‘the classics are books that everyone loves to praise, but nobody wants to read’. As we begin this study I can’t emphasize enough the need for Christians to read the bible! Many of the current problems in Christianity would be solved if we simply got back to reading the bible in context. Okay, in chapter one Paul defends his authority as being one who was sent by God, not man. He explains how after his conversion he spent years receiving direct revelation from God; he was not taught the gospel of grace by consulting with man. Paul was in a unique situation compared to the other apostles, Paul was the first apostle to have had a strong intellectual background in both Judaism and philosophy; he knew his stuff. This ‘allowed’ God to reveal things to Paul FROM THE SCRIPTURES that revealed Gods grace and the reality of how men are justified by faith and not thru the law. In essence Paul wasn’t out in left field receiving Divine revelations about things that nobody ever heard about. They were new things in the sense that they were hidden in God until the time that God chose to reveal them [Ephesians 3]. Paul rebukes them for forsaking the true gospel and being drawn to another gospel ‘which is not another’. Okay, what’s the true gospel Paul is speaking about? It’s not only the definition given by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 [the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus] but it includes being justified by faith and not by the law. The Judaisers did believe in Jesus, but they were rejecting justification by faith alone. The false gospel that Paul is refuting is the gospel that said the Gentiles must ‘keep the law in order to be saved’ [see Acts 13 and 15]. In no uncertain terms Paul condemns this message; there was no compromising the reality of Gods free grace given to the elect. The actual faith itself that is deposited in the elect is a divine act of God [Ephesians 2] the unbeliever is dead in sins with no ability to ‘resurrect himself’ and the new birth is Gods sovereign act of raising a person from the dead [spiritually] and giving them faith. This is the gospel of grace. Paul was adamant about rejecting false gospels! In our day there are so many ‘gospels’ going around it’s not funny. I caught a few minutes of a TV evangelist the other day quoting verses from all over the bible in order to entice people to vow money to him; yes he used these words in no uncertain terms. He told the people they must quickly pick up the phone and dedicate the money to him, because it was this act of faith that would release the harvest. Now I don’t know how much longer God is going to allow stuff like this to go on, how much longer networks will continue to air this stuff, but we as believers/preachers need to condemn these false gospels in no uncertain terms. Paul will use strong language when defending the gospel; we need to get back to defending it too. (1329) GALATIANS 2- Paul recounts his meeting with the apostles at Jerusalem; some feel he is talking about his first visit [Acts 11- before AD 50] others think he is discussing his Acts 15 meeting [right at around AD 50] I’m in the latter camp. Paul is basically telling the churches of Galatia that he already went thru this whole discussion with the main apostles at Jerusalem [Peter, James and John] and that they had already agreed that the Gentile believers did not need to get circumcised and come under the law in order to be saved. I do find it interesting that out of the 4 decrees that were made [read Acts 15] that the only one Paul recounts here is ‘to remember the poor’. The only decree worthy enough for Paul to recount is the one on charitable giving; those of you who have followed this blog for a while know how much I emphasize this point. If the early church was teaching tithing to the Gentile churches, surely it would have come up at the Jerusalem meeting, but it didn’t. This chapter has some important verses that all believers should commit to memory ‘if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain’ ‘the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ etc. I really want all my Catholic/Protestant readers to pay attention to the verse’s that I just quoted; the bible clearly teaches that if men could ‘be saved’ by keeping Gods law, then Christ died in vain. Paul will go on to teach [chapter 3] that if there had been a law given that could have given men eternal life, then ‘being saved’ would come that way; but he then goes on to say that there never was a law given that men could keep in order to be saved. Paul always gives the caveat ‘does this mean we go out and break the 10 commandments’? And his answer is always a big NO! The point of this chapter is we as believers are saved because Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin; the proof that the penalty was completely paid is in the fact that Jesus rose again [Romans 5]. All who believe in this reality are now the children of God, indeed ‘we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ’. (1330) GALATIANS 3- The main point of this chapter is God made a promise to Abraham that he would ‘bless’ all nations thru one of his kids someday [Genesis 12). This promise was given to Abraham 430 years before God gave the 10 commandments to Moses. Therefore the promise that men would be justified/saved by faith cannot be ‘undone’ by a later act of giving the law to Moses. The point being that Paul is arguing with the Galatians that their new view that they need to keep the law in order to ‘be saved’ [the blessing of Abraham IN CONTEXT!] is false because God already told Abraham it would be by faith in the coming Messiah. Paul then asks ‘is the law then against Gods promise’? No, it was given to man [Israel] until the time came for the promised child to be born [1st century], but now that the promised child is here we are no longer under the ‘schoolmaster’. The schoolmaster term can be confusing; the word in Greek means the person who walked the kids to school [truth] and then dropped them off AND LEFT. Paul is saying the law period served its purpose; it revealed mans sinful nature to him and then ‘dropped him off at the Cross’. Paul is saying the law fulfilled its purpose and we are now under grace. As new creatures in Christ we walk in love and fulfill the righteousness of the law by our new nature, it’s not a legalistic thing. There is some confusion today on this chapter; some were taught that ‘the blessing of Abraham’ was speaking of the promises in Deuteronomy on financial blessings. And that the curse is speaking about the curse of ‘poverty’. Though it is true that the bible does speak about this in the Old Testament, in context Paul is not saying this here. Paul explains what he means about the ‘curse of the law’. He says it’s the curse of never being able to do enough to appease God, the man that is under the law puts himself under this mindset of perfectionism and lives under this constant feeling of never being able to do enough. This was Paul’s previous experience as a Pharisee. When Paul teaches that we are delivered from ‘the curse’ so the ‘blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles, that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT BY FAITH’ he is not saying Jesus died to make us financially rich, he is saying Jesus delivered us from the old law mindset of legalism and we now have forgiveness and acceptance as a free gift- ‘being now justified by faith we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’ [Romans 5]. This post deals with the faulty understanding expounded by many Evangelical/Protestant ministers [end times scenarios, Tim Lahaye type books] that exalt ethnic/racial elements into the gospel, and contribute to the many present tensions between Muslims/Jews/Christians. (1331) GALATIANS 4- Paul says there was a time period before the promise would be fulfilled thru Christ; that time has come to an end [the law] and we are now in ‘the fullness of times’. When we were under the law we were no different than servants, but now in grace we are mature sons, people able to inherit the promise. Paul says why do you desire to go back under the ‘restraint’ phase, the time of discipline and legalism, we are now in a fullness stage thru the New Covenant and we don’t need the old mentality anymore. Once again Paul really ‘spiritualizes’ the Old Testament in his teaching, he says that the law [Old Testament] taught this difference between law and grace. He uses the story of Abraham having 2 sons [Ishmael, Isaac] and he says ‘cant you hear what the law is saying’? One son was born by promise [Isaac] the other thru the works of the flesh [law]. And just like it was back then, the one born after the flesh persecuted the one born after the Spirit, so today [1st century] those after the flesh/law are persecuting those born after the Spirit. It’s important to see that Paul DOES NOT use this analogy to describe Jewish/Muslim [Arab] relations; he actually refers to natural Israel as ‘Ishmael’! He says the Judaisers [Jews zealous of the law] were fulfilling the type/symbol by persecuting Gentile believers. We need to keep these distinctions in our minds, because when we don’t rightfully discern the truth we do damage to the non ethnic testimony of the gospel. Paul says the law relates to natural Israel/Jerusalem who is under bondage with her children, but the ‘New Jerusalem’ which is above is the mother of us all, and this Jerusalem relates to the church. The New Jerusalem is not referring to a physical city that will ‘hover over the earth during the millennium rule’ [EEK!] But it refers to the new community people of God, the church. I have written on this before and these references in the New Testament [Revelation, Hebrews- us being the new Zion, etc.] are speaking of the church, the people of God. Paul once again speaks of ‘natural Jerusalem’ in a negative light, in the sense that he teaches those who are under the law are not walking in the fullness of the promises of God as come in the Messiah. The New Testament spends no time engaging in the glorying of any ethnic group [whether it be Israel, Gentile, etc.] It’s not that the apostles were being anti Semitic, it’s just the emphasis is on the new kingdom of God and the new people of God [the church made up of both Jew and Gentile]. Its striking to compare the writings of the first Jewish believers to the current trends amongst many evangelical preachers, the two don’t mesh well. ROMANS 4-7 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2-11-15-romans-4-7.zip Video https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/700-galatians.wav?_=1 This is an old radio show I made years ago- thought it fit well with what I’m teaching now- you’ll need to use Internet Explorer browser to hear it. The apostle Paul quotes a lot of Old Testament scriptures in this letter- I hope to cover some of them on the video- but as you read these chapters- it would be helpful to read Genesis 12- 13- 15-and 17- these are the main chapters Paul uses in the life of Abraham to show Abrahams faith- and how he was justified by faith- before he was circumcised [Gen 15]. He will describe the faith of Abraham by using the story of Abraham and Sarah having a son in their old age [Gen. 17] – and talk about how the heirs of the promise- that Abraham would be ‘heir of the world’ was made to ALL THE SEED- meaning not just to his Jewish brothers who would believe- but also to the Gentiles- who were never granted the ‘right of the covenant’ [circumcision]. Paul explains that Abraham was justified BEFORE he was circumcised- so- he is the father of all the kids- even the Gentile believers who were never circumcised- but had the faith of Abraham. Now- there’s’ a lot I am trying to cover in this Romans study- for those who watch the videos- you will see that I’m also covering the divisions within Christianity- primarily those that arose out of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. I quote the book of James- and show how James says ‘was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar’. It’s important to see- that these words JUSTIFIED BY WORKS- are indeed used in our New Testament- in the videos I’m explaining this- but the point I’m making is James uses the account of Abraham- in Genesis 22- and shows us that the progressive work of ‘Justification’ can- and is- applied to the act of Abrahams obedience- and when God saw Abraham DO A JUST THING [a work] James says ‘he was then justified’- the same word used in the initial act of our Justification- seen in Genesis 15- ok- this might be a bit much to take in now- but over time when we get a better grasp on this- I believe it will help to foster unity in the Body of Christ. James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. NOTE- As I do this study- I’m copying/pasting an old commentary I wrote years ago- I guess I should read the commentary first- after I penned the above- I read it- I basically covered the same thing- at least I’m consistent! ROMANS 4: 1-12 Now, Paul will use one of his most frequent arguments to prove that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, need to be justified by faith and not ‘by works’. The most famous singular figure that natural Israel looked to as the ‘identifier’ of them being a special people was ‘Father Abraham’. Paul does a masterful job at showing how Abraham was indeed justified by faith and not by works. The ‘work’ of circumcision came before the law. It would later become synonymous with law keeping [Ten Commandments] and Paul can certainly use it here as implying ‘the whole law’. But to be accurate this work of circumcision was a national identifying factor that Israel looked to as saying ‘we are better than you [Gentiles]’. Paul is showing Israel that God in fact ‘made Abraham righteous’ before he circumcised him! [Gen. 15] And the sign of this righteousness was circumcision. This meaning that Abrahams faith in Gods promise [a purely ‘passive’ act! This is very important to see. Later on as we deal with the famous ‘conversion texts’ we need to keep this in mind] justified him without respect to the law. God simply took Abraham outside and said ‘look at the stars, your children will be this abundant’ and Abraham simply believed this promise to be true. Much like the passive belief of Cornelius house at their conversion [Acts 10]. The simple belief in the promise of Jesus justifies the sinner! Now this fact of Abraham believing and being made righteous, before being circumcised, is proof [according to Paul] that Abraham is the father of ‘many nations’ not just natural Israel. All ethnic groups who HAVE THE SAME FAITH AS ABRAHAM are qualified to be ‘sons of Abraham/ heirs of God’. The fact that Abraham carried this justification along with him as he became circumcised, shows that all Jewish people as well can partake of this ‘righteousness by faith’ if they have the same faith as Abraham had. Jesus did say ‘Abraham rejoiced to see my day’[ John’s gospel]. In Gods promise to Abraham of a future dynasty of children, this included the promised Messiah. So indirectly Abraham’s belief in the promise of being the father of ‘many nations’ included belief in the coming Messiah. So according to Paul, all ethnic groups who have faith in Jesus are justified/made righteous. The very example Israel used to justify ‘ethnic/national pride’ [Father Abraham] was taught in a way that showed the truth of the gospel and how God is no respecter of persons. (820)ROMANS 4:13-14 ‘Now the promise that Abraham would become the inheritor of the world was not going to be fulfilled thru the law [natural Israel] but thru faith [all who believe, both Jew and Gentile]’. I have spoken on this before [see note at bottom] and will hit on it a little now. The historic church can be defined for the most part as ‘a-millennial’, that is they interpreted the parables on the Kingdom of God and the promise of ‘inheriting the world [which includes the Promised Land]’ as being fulfilled thru the church. That Jesus established Gods kingdom and the church basically fulfills these promises by expanding Christ’s ‘rule’ thru the earth. Some historians saw the 4th century ‘marriage’ of Rome and Christianity as a fulfillment of this. During the 19th and 20th century you had the rise of Dispensationalism, a ‘new/different’ way of interpreting these land promises. Many good men showed the reality of Christ’s literal coming and pointed to a future time where Jesus literally sits on a throne in Jerusalem and rules all nations. These brothers are called ‘Pre-millennial’, they believe that Jesus comes back first [pre] and then establishes his ‘millennial rule’ on earth. The Premillennialists would see the Amillennialists as ‘replacement theologians’. They said that these brothers were taking the actual promises that God made to Israel and ‘replacing’ Israel with the church. In essence they accused the Amillennialists of spiritualizing the promises to Israel and saying the church would be the recipients of the promises. Now, both sides have truth to them, I personally believe the Amillennialists have a lot more truth! But I do see some of the good points that the Premillenialists made. I want you to simply read these verses [Romans 4:13-14, Galatians 3:18] and see for yourself how Paul does teach the reality that the promises to Abraham are to be fulfilled thru the church [spiritual Israel]. This does not mean that there is no future physical return of Jesus. But the body of scripture leans heavily on the Amillinnialists side. [see entry 703] NOTE- To be fair, some historic thinkers held to the Premillennial position. The majority were Amillennial. (821)ROMANS 4:15-25 ‘For the law worketh wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression’. I simply want to touch on the concept of ‘wrath’ being a very real part of judgment. One of the ways the gospel ‘saves us’ is by promising a future [and present!] deliverance from wrath. While death ‘reigned’ before the law was given, it wasn’t until the law where you had a clear picture of transgression and atonement. We will deal with this later in Romans. Now Paul once again hits on the theme of Abraham being the ‘spiritual father’ of many nations [all who believe] and how the promises of God to Abraham were to be fulfilled thru this ‘new race of people’ [the church]. Paul is careful to not demean Israel; he couches his terms in a way that says ‘God will fulfill these things thru the circumcision who believes [Jews] and the un-circumcision who believe’ [Gentiles]. I want to stress the very plain language Paul uses to show us that we should not be seeing Gods ‘covenant promises’ thru a natural lens. Christians need to be careful when they support [exalt!] natural Israel in a way that the New Testament doesn’t do. ‘To the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is the faith of Abraham’. Now Paul tells us that when God made promises to Abraham that Abraham believed against hope. When all things looked really bad, he still believed. When he was 100 years old and Sarah around 90, he held to the promise [read my commentaries on Genesis 15-18 and Hebrews 11] and therefore God imputed righteousness to him. How closely are you paying attention to Paul’s free use of Abraham and Genesis? If you carefully read this chapter you see Paul ‘intermingle’ the story of Abraham being ‘made righteous upon initial belief’ [Gen. 15] and the later story of Sarah having Isaac [Gen. 17]. I think Paul was simply using the description of Abrahams faith, as seen in the Gen. 17 [and 22!] accounts of his life, to show the type of faith he initially ‘exercised’ [I don’t like using this term to be honest. God actually imputes faith to the believer at the initial act of regeneration]. The important chapters from Genesis that we all need to have a ‘working knowledge’ of are Chapters 12 [the initial promise], 15 [the oft mentioned ‘imputed righteousness’ verse], 17 [the receiving of the promised seed- Isaac], and 22 [the ultimate act of obedience that Abraham showed in offering up Isaac. This will be described in James epistle as ‘righteousness being fulfilled’. James, who is concerned about ‘works’, will say that when Abraham offered Isaac he was fulfilling the ‘imputed righteousness’ that God gave him earlier. James actually describes this as ‘being justified by works’{James 2:21} and James says ‘the scripture was fulfilled that saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness’… ‘see how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only’. The classic view taken by many confuses the ‘justified’ part with the initial act of justification that Paul centers on. James uses ‘see how he was justified by works’ in a future ‘judicial decree’ sense; that is God having the ongoing ‘freedom’ to continually say ‘good job son, you did well’. The word justification is used in a fluid sense much like salvation. Christians need to be more ‘secure’ in their own assurance to be able to see these truths. When we approach all these seemingly ‘difficult passages’ in a defensive mode, then we never arrive at the actual meaning]. When we see the overall work of God in Abraham’s life we see the purpose of God in ‘declaring people just’ [initially ‘getting saved’]. The purpose is for them to eventually ‘act just’ [obey!] ‘Jesus was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification’ thank God that this process is dependant on the work of the Cross! [see # 758] (822)Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits ‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’ for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading it]. Those who grasped onto this false idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys preaching’? If you by pass the difficult road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us, that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans? The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together in the same verse, it is not saying ‘saved’ in the sense of some sinner’s prayer. It is speaking of the ongoing, promised deliverance [from many things, not just wrath!] to the ‘justified caller’. We have access ‘by faith into this grace wherein we stand’. Wow! That’s some good stuff, Jesus ever lives so that those who come to him are ‘being saved’ to the uttermost. This grace we are in is available to us all of the time, are we availing ourselves of it? (823)ROMANS 5:10-21 ‘For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son… much more we shall be saved by his life’. Now, some have ‘divided’ the role of Jesus death and resurrection in salvation. I heard a radio preacher teach that all the people who think they are ‘saved’ because Jesus died for them were deceived. He used this verse to say they need to believe in his ‘life’ [resurrection] to ‘be saved by his life’. Well I get the point, but he was missing the meaning of the verse. Why? Because once again we see ‘saved’ as initially ‘getting saved’ while here it is in a continual sense. Paul is saying ‘if God reconciled us [justification] while we were deadly enemies, how much more shall the actual ministry and life of Jesus at Gods right hand do for us!’ The New Testament teachers that we have actually entered into an eternal covenant with God thru his Son. Jesus ‘ever lives’ to make intercession for us [Hebrews]. Therefore he is able to ‘save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’. The bible teaches an ongoing ‘saving’ relationship that believers have with the Messiah. This ‘relationship’ would not be possible if he were dead. Now we ‘joy in God thru Jesus Christ from whom we have received the atonement’ good stuff! Isaiah says God will meet with those who ‘rejoice and do what is right’. We have both of these ‘abilities’ because of the atonement. The rest of the chapter teaches the Pauline doctrine of original sin. That because Adam sinned, death and sin passed to all men. So likewise the ‘righteousness’ of one man [Jesus- the last Adam] has passed upon all men [those who receive of the abundance of grace and the gift of life]. This is an interesting angle that Paul uses to teach redemption. He shows the reality that there are only 2 ‘federal heads’ of mankind. You are either in the first or last Adam. The ‘righteous act’ is speaking of the Cross [Philippians says Jesus was ‘obedient unto death’. The singular act of obedience that allows this righteousness to pass to all who believe is the Cross. Some have misunderstood this chapter to teach that the obedient life of Christ, his sinless life, saves us. I feel this is a wrong reading of the chapter. The sinless life of Jesus, pre Cross, made him the true candidate to be the substitute for man. He was able to die in our place [obedience unto death] because he was the sinless Son of God. We are now ‘saved by his life’ because he ever lives to make intercession for us]. All who believe in Jesus can now trace their lineage to the ‘last Adam’ [Jesus] and be free from ‘original sin’. (824)ROMANS 6- Lets talk about baptism. To start off I believe that the baptism spoken about in this chapter is primarily referring to ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, that is the work of the Holy Spirit placing a believer in the Body of Christ. The Catholic and Orthodox [and Reformed!] brothers believe that Paul is speaking about water baptism. The MAJORITY VIEW of Christians today believe this chapter is referring to water baptism. Why? First, the text itself does not indicate either way. You could take this baptism and see it either way! You are not a heretic if you believe in it referring to Spirit or water. You are not a heretic if you believe in Paedo baptism [infant baptism]. ‘What are you saying? Now you lost me.’ Infant baptism developed as a Christian rite over the course of church history. The church struggled with how to ‘dedicate’ new babies to Christ. Though the scriptures give no examples of infant baptism, some felt that the reason was because the scriptures primarily show us the conversion of the first century believers. There really aren’t a whole lot of stories of ‘generations’ of believers passing on the faith to other generations. So some felt that the idea of dedicating babies to the Lord through infant baptism was all right. The examples they used were the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament. Infants were circumcised [a rite that placed you under the terms of the Old Covenant] though they weren’t old enough to really understand what they were doing! This example was carried over into the Christian church and applied to infant baptism. Now, I do not believe in infant baptism. But I can certainly understand this line of reasoning. As Christian theology developed thru the early centuries, particularly thru the patristic period, you had very intellectual scholars grapple with many different themes and ideas. Some that we just studied in chapter 5. Some theologians came to see infant baptism as dealing with original sin. They applied the concept of infant baptism as a rite that washes away original sin. The church did not teach that this meant you did not have to later believe and follow Christ. They simply developed a way of seeing baptism as ‘sanctifying’ the new members of Christian households. This basic belief made it all the way to the Reformation. The Reformers themselves still practiced infant baptism. It was the Anabaptists [re-baptizers] who saw the truth of adult baptism and suffered for it, at the hands of the reformers! Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, would have them drowned for their belief. Some Protestants stuck with the infant rite, while others [the Restorationists] would reject it. Today most Evangelicals do not practice infant baptism, the majority of Christians world wide do. Now, the reason I did a little history is because Evangelicals [of which I am one] have a tendency to simply look at other believers who practice this rite as ‘deceived’. Many are unaware of the history I just showed you. The reasons the historic church developed this doctrine are not heretical! They used scripture and tradition to pass it down to future generations. I do not believe or practice infant baptism, many good believers do. (825)ROMANS 6: 1-11 ‘shall we continue to sin, so grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?’ Now begins the ‘actual part’ the result, if you will, of being ‘made righteous by faith’. One of the main accusations against Paul, by the Jewish believers, was that he taught ‘sin a lot, because you are no longer under the law’. Paul spends time defending himself against this accusation thru out the New Testament. Here Paul teaches that the believer has been joined unto Christ [baptized, immersed into him] and this ‘joining’ identifies him with Christ’s death. So how can ‘we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in sin’? Paul’s argument for righteous living comes from the fact that we have died with Christ unto sin. ‘We have died with him, and we have also been raised with him to new life’. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul says we who were dead in sins have been made alive in Christ. Now, we live a new life, free from sin [practically speaking- not absolute sinless-ness!] because we are identified with Jesus in his new life, we are ‘alive with and in him’. ‘Since we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection’! Jesus died once, and now he lives forever unto God ‘likewise count yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God thru Jesus Christ our Lord’. Paul’s basis for the transformed life is Grace and being ‘in him’. Paul does not appeal to the law to try and effect holiness in the believer, he appeals to Christ ‘in him you have died to legalistic practices, trying to earn salvation and acceptance; and now because of this new position [placement] you too have died to the old man [lifestyle] and are alive unto God’. Paul obviously did not teach ‘sin hardily’ to the contrary he taught ‘live unto God’. (834)Romans 6:12-23 ‘Let not sin therefore rule in your mortal body’ if we have died with Jesus, we are ‘dead with him to sin’. If we are risen with Jesus ‘we are alive unto God thru him’ for this reason don’t sin! Paul makes sure his readers understand him, he in no way was teaching a sinful gospel. He encourages the believers to renew their minds to this truth. ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace’ Paul clearly saw the dangers of legalism [living under strict ‘do this, don’t do this’ guidelines] he saw that the law actually quickens the fleshly nature and brings to the surface mans sin. Now, because we are under grace, does this mean we get to keep on sinning? ‘God forbid!’ Paul launches into the explanation of sin and bondage. Remember, sin was in the world before the law. Men were dying ever since Adam sinned. So for Paul, this means even though we are not under the restraints of law, yet the reality of sin, bondage and punishment still exist. Paul says ‘if you yield to sin and allow it to rule you, you will become its slave’. There will be a penalty and price to pay ‘the wages of sin is death’. But because you are identified with Jesus ‘sin shall not have dominion over you… you have been made free from sin’. Paul teaches the victorious Christian life. He does not deny the struggle [next chapter!] but he shows the reality of redemption. He obviously never taught the concept of ‘sin more, so grace can abound’. He understood the dangers of preaching ‘we are not under the law’ but he also understood the reality of ‘being under grace’ he figured it was worth the risk of being misunderstood if he could truly imbed the gospel into the believing community. (739)ACTS 2- The Apostles are gathered together in the upper room. As they continue in unity and prayer the Spirit of God comes upon them like a rushing wind. There appear ‘cloven tongues’ like fire above each of them. Why this image? Why not ‘ears’ or some other sanctified body part? God is going to give supernatural power to the words that they will speak. In a few chapters we will read how an angel will supernaturally deliver Peter from prison and say ‘go, speak the words of this life’. These tongues are a precursor to the tremendous fire that will be loosed from their lips. James says the tongue is a little member but boasteth great things, it has the ability to start fires. Jesus said he came to earth to ‘start a fire’ and how he wished it were already burning. Here he gets his wish! Now the Apostles and early believers experience the gift of tongues. They begin speaking and prophesying in the unknown languages of all those who are gathered together to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. God ordained this event to be strategically done at this time. All the surrounding regions heard the believers speak the ‘wondrous works of God’ in their native tongue. Peter stands up and delivers a scathing message! He basically tells Israel ‘this is that which the prophet Joel spoke about’ he goes on and says this outpouring is part of Gods predetermined plan to pour out his Spirit on all flesh in the last days. He speaks of divine manifestations [dreams, visions] and carries the prophecy right to the end of the age. He then speaks the gospel of Christ and tells Israel ‘this is the Jesus you killed’. Wow, these guys are bold. Peter leads them to faith in Christ, their public baptism is the immediate sign of their willingness to be identified with Jesus and 3 thousand Jews become believers this day. Now, what is the church? This corporate group of first time followers do 4 basic things. They ‘continue in the Apostles doctrine and breaking of bread and prayers and share their goods with all in need’[true fellowship]. This early community was a brotherhood who actually gave priority to the teachings of Jesus passed on to them from the Apostles. Don’t miss this! Many will develop all sorts of practices and beliefs that ‘make up church’. Some will justify extra biblical beliefs under the guise of ‘the Apostles doctrine’ as in if it were something totally contrary or not known thru the gospels or the writing of scripture. Paul will tell Timothy to stay true to the traditions he passed on to him. But I want to focus on the fact that the Apostles doctrine was not something different then the basic instructions Jesus left us in the gospels. Paul will add to this basic body of Christian doctrine thru his letters to the churches, as well as the whole New Testament. But we do not see a bunch of strange or unknown doctrines that come from this time period. The basics are mentioned above. I do want to stress the fact that this early expression of church life had no ‘Pastor’ in the sense of their gatherings being a time where a singular authority figure had oversight of the entire community. They had strong leaders to be sure, but would avoid the Protestant idea of Pastor. They had no church building or belief in a strong liturgy. The ‘breaking of bread’ was a common meal where they all shared together in a real life setting. And of course their giving was radical, it was not ‘a tithe’ and it was done to meet the real needs of the community around them. All these elements are basic to what the New Testament church is. A functioning society of people in whom Christ Spirit dwells and who see themselves as a real spiritual community of people. As we progress thru out the history of the church as seen in Acts we will never lose this basic mindset. It will be carried into the epistles of the New Testament and remain the best idea of ‘local church’ as found in the first century. There is a trend going on right now in Evangelicalism that says ‘lets return to the ancient practices of the church and see what we can find’. As an avid reader of church history I am not totally against this movement, but I do see a danger in thinking ‘the ancient practices’ are the 2nd or 3rd century development of liturgy and Eucharist and other early ideas, and by passing the ‘real ancient’ story in the book of Acts. To put it simply, some of the Protestant and Evangelical ‘practices and beliefs’ that have developed since the reformation are ‘ancient’. I believe we all have a long way to go, but the ‘low view’ of the Lords Table [low as opposed to ‘high church view’. Though I personally believe in the Lords table as a memorial, not as the actual Body and Blood of Jesus. Yet I personally don’t like referring to such an important practice as low!] seems to be the true ancient practice as seen in Acts. The absence of the Priest officiating over the altar is no where to be seen in the actual ‘church’ setting. This ancient church is really a simple brotherhood of believers having all things common and having the resurrection of the Son of God as the central organizing principle of their lives. (740)ACTS 3- Peter and John go up to the temple and heal the lame man. This stirs up a commotion and gives opportunity for Peter to preach Christ. I want you to see something here. The miracles of healing thru out this book testify of something specific. They do not simply prove the existence of God. These first century people were not ‘post moderns’ they had no pre enlightenment era that affected their minds. For the most part they were highly religious! Paul will tell them this later in Acts ‘you are too superstitious’ [religious]. The miracles are testifying to the fact that Jesus is alive, he really rose from the grave! Peter’s sermons are centered around the reality of Christ being the fulfillment of all that the prophets have spoken about! The church must not be ashamed of the gospel. Recently the ‘church world’ was up in arms over the Popes recent reinstating of the Tridentine Mass [the Latin Mass]. After Vatican 2 the Mass was done solely in the language of the hearers. Many old time Catholics were wanting the Latin too. So Pope Benedict said fine, you have the option to practice it either way. Now, this ancient Mass had a prayer that simply prayed for the Jewish people to come to know Jesus. Well, this upset the Jewish groups and they demanded a change in the prayer. At first the Pope re wrote it but it still asked for prayer for the Jews to come to Jesus. This still offended them. So finally the church produced some prayer less offensive. We should not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and his resurrection! Peter was preaching the reality of the resurrection and was in their face about it! Jesus has proven himself to be alive, we are not just witnesses of the existence of God, we are witnesses that Jesus is the way to him. The only way! Now Peter ends this chapter in a unique way. He invokes the ‘blessing of Abraham’ and says it means ‘the blessing of Jesus in turning you away from sin’. We just finished a study in Genesis. I emphasized how the New testament apostles viewed the Abrahamic blessing thru the lens of redemption. They did not teach it in a materialistic way. Peter also quotes Moses [as well as David] and says ‘Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like myself, whoever doesn’t hear him will be destroyed’. Peter sees the fulfillment of ‘the Moses type prophet’ in Christ. Peter has a great gift of taking the old testament prophets and proving Christ from them. There is a young hearer in this early church. He will eventually become one of the first Deacons. His name is Stephen, boy he must be drinking everything in. He is seeing and hearing the testimony of Jesus straight from those who walked with him. He hears Peter’s teachings on Christ. He becomes familiar with the way Peter associates the ‘Moses prophet’ with Jesus. This young man will testify in Acts 7 of the reality of Jesus being the fulfillment of the Moses prophecy. He will give the longest recorded sermon in scripture. He will brilliantly trace the roots of Israel and show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets. He will be accused of going against the law and the temple. He has the first grasp of ‘Pauline theology’ [actually Paul got it from him!] and does such a convincing job of proving Jesus to be Messiah that they stone him to death. He becomes the first martyr in the book of Acts. At his death he says ‘forgive them; don’t hold this sin against them’. A witness named Saul is sitting by. God answers Stephens’s prayer and Saul will become one of the greatest fire starters known to man. (741)ACTS 9- Paul gets permission from the high priest to go to Damascus and arrest the believers. On his way the Lord appears to him and Paul is told to go to Damascus and wait for instructions. He is blind for 3 days. God gives a vision to Ananias and tells him to go to Paul in Judas house, because he too had a vision of a man coming to him and laying hands on him. Ananias is afraid but does it at the Lords insistence. I want you to see the role of visions and divine guidance in this event. The purpose of the visions and supernatural events has nothing to do with the canon of scripture. Some teach that the only reason you had supernatural guidance in the early days was because the canon was not complete. But after its completion you no longer had these types of things. First, no where is this doctrine taught in scripture. Second, you did not have total agreement on ‘the canon’ [all the books that make up our bibles] until the 4th century! Now you did have a basic group of letters and writings that were accepted as authoritative, but there was not total agreement. Many early believers had the epistles of Barnabas and a few other letters that were accepted. Some did not include Revelation at all. Others questioned Hebrews and James. You also did not have a workable, readable ‘bible’ in actual book form until the 12th-13th century! That’s right, the actual form of our modern books was not invented until that late date. Plus the availability of books on a mass scale did not appear until the Guttenberg printing press of the 16th century. Just in time for Luther’s Reformation! The first book printed on his press was the Guttenberg bible. So the point is, the idea that somehow right after the early Apostles died off you had all believers going to ‘their bibles for direction’ as opposed to having dreams or visions or other divine guidance, really isn’t a workable solution. In this chapter God needed to get orders to his people, he gave them visions! Now Paul immediately preaches Christ as the Son of God and Messiah. He stirs up the waters and they sneak him out of town and send him to Jerusalem. The church at Jerusalem are leery of him, Barnabas vouches for him and he is received. He starts preaching there and once again they want to kill him. He eventually is sent back to his area of Tarsus. Now Peter is still on the road preaching Christ. He heals a man at Lydda and many come to the Lord. A woman named Tabitha dies at Joppa, a town close to Lydda. They call for Peter to come and he does and raises her from the dead. What are we seeing here? An early church [community of believers] preaching the gospel and doing miracles and affecting large regions without lots of money. Without hardly any organization. Without setting up ‘local churches’ in the sense that each area has separate ‘places’ they see as ‘local churches’ with salaried pastors running the ‘churches’. You are seeing a radical movement of Christ followers who are sacrificially giving there lives away for the gospel. No prayer meetings on ‘how in the world are we going to reach the region for the Lord. We need tons of cash’! They believed the simple instructions Jesus gave to them on going into all the world and preaching the gospel. Sure there will be times where support is sent to help them make it to the next location. But the whole concept of needing tons of cash and to build huge ‘church buildings/organizations’ and to set up salaried ministers is not seen in this story. I do not think the development of these things over the centuries means ‘all the churches are deceived’ type of a thing. All ‘the churches’ [groups of believers who are presently identifying themselves this way] are great people of God. They are doing the works of Jesus and functioning to a degree in the paradigm that they were given [either thru their upbringing or training]. But today we are seeing a rethinking of the ‘wineskin’ [that which contains the new wine] on a mass scale. As we read this story in Acts I want to challenge your mindset. Don’t fit the story into your present understanding of ‘local church’. But let your understanding of ‘Local Church’ be formed thru scripture. This chapter said ‘the churches had rest and were edified and were walking in the fear of the Lord’. The ‘churches’ are defined as all the communities of believers living in these various locations! I talked about Nagasaki on the video- Eph. 3- below are my past posts where the word popped up- I think some are from New York/New jersey? THURSDAY 2-16-17 Matthew 26:56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. https://youtu.be/kH6QifEBXsw Scriptures fulfilled https://youtu.be/ypFQT-R_tcM Trump press conference ON VIDEOS- Video 1 .This happened so God’s purpose would come to pass Video 2- .Ukraine .Crimea .NATO .Syria .Fake news .Media frenzy .Trump ‘took the words right out of my mouth’ NEW- [past links- verses below] SCRIPTUTE FULFILLED When they came to take Jesus- he asked them ‘why didn’t you get me when I was teaching daily in the temple’? ‘You come out and get me- like a common criminal’? The bible says they took Jesus so the scriptures might be fulfilled. Specifically the scripture that said all his men would forsake him. Jesus was arrested in a remote place- so his men would fear- and run away. In the broader context- things happen in our lives- so the ‘scriptures might be fulfilled’. The bible says God had plans for us- before we were even born. Yet- in time- thru various processes- God brings us to a place- where ‘the scriptures- promises- purposes of God for your life- might be fulfilled’. So- I talked a bit about this principle on the video ‘scriptures fulfilled’ and got some video from my hometown. Hope you enjoy. TRUMP [News conference] I commented on the press conference. The present state of the media- and the poison they have created in the political environment. One note- the last few days I thought ‘I bet Putin is looking at the fake media story of Trump and his team having illegal contacts with Russia- and he [Putin] might be thinking there is no way we will ever be able to have any cooperation with the U.S. now’. Then I heard Trump say the exact same thing. So- I talked a bit about it on the 2nd video- And why it is actually dangerous. I hate to add this link [below]- or at least I did not get any of my info. From this site. But I googled ‘Obama immigration’ and this link has video of Obama and Clinton saying things that Trump says. So- you can hear it for yourself. The purpose here is NOT to defend Trump- but to show how many people are outraged about things that Obama and Clinton [Bill] also said. It simply is video of them speaking about immigrants- how they are ‘stealing our jobs’ Obama even says his executive order- against immigrants- should never be challenged. I mean the words they use- are the same words Trump has used- which have caused outrage among many Democrats. It shows us how we are so divided. I personally am ‘pro-immigrant’- and do not want to deport kids who came over when they were younger- have lived in the country- went to school- etc. I am not for deporting mothers who have lived here for years. I am against the words Obama spoke on the video- Clinton spoke- and also not for Trumps hard stand against Mexican immigrants. But I don’t ‘pick and choose’- I’m against- or for- a policy- not because they happen to be Democrat or Republican. But because of policy- that’s how it should me- at least in my mind. http://www.infowars.com/watch-barack-obama-and-bill-clinton-call-for-muslim-ban/ PAST LINKS [my past teaching- more below] https://ccoutreach87.com/russia-u-s-world-events/ I did not form my views from these news links below- I actually read them after I made the post. But I thought they fit- so I linked them. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/demonization_of_putin_as_personally_behind_clinton_hack_20161216/ http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/whats_going_on_in_aleppo_isnt_as_black_white_political_masters_20161214/ On today’s video I talked about ‘power’ authority- kingdoms- mindsets. I mentioned our current situation in the U.S.- not to take sides [politically] but to see how the things we allow for ourselves [the West] we disallow for others. The situation over Russian hacking in the U.S. election- what’s it about? Hackers- more than likely from Russia- hacked into the DNC [political democratic arm] and released true information [emails- texts- etc.] that made Hillary Clinton look bad. There is some evidence that they also had hacked into the Republican side- yet did not release that. This would show that the Russians involved themselves in our election. Ok- is this bad? A few points- the U.S. also does the same- president Obama actively campaigned against Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel- because he felt it was in the best interest of the U.S. to do so. The U.S. also engages in hacking- cyber warfare- and all of the things we are accusing Russia of doing. The U.S. has actively backed up armed overthrows of other leaders [Gadhafi of Libya being one]. We do these things for our own interests- even if that interest goes against the will of other nations. We accuse Russia of illegally taking Crimea- the people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. The vote was more than 90%- yet because it was not in the U.S. best interest- we still accuse them of illegally annexing Crimea [they broke away from Ukraine]. The will of the people was to do that- yet the U.S. did not want the will of the people- so we accuse Russia today of an illegal act. In Syria- rebels- and terrorists- have been fighting Assad. Trying to overthrow him. Assad- with Russian help- has been fighting back. The rebels- and some who are indeed terrorists- have been armed by the U.S. – and we use our resources to back them. Yet- when Assad fights to take back a city- Aleppo- we accuse him and Russia of war crimes. Why? Because sadly innocents have been killed- by both Syrian forces- and U.S. backed rebels. Russia has not targeted women and children- yet I heard a U.S. representative say they were purposely executing kids and women. Russia and Syria gave notice to the civilian population in Aleppo- and also have done various cease fires- for civilians to leave. In reality- all civilians never leave their home town- even when warned. Yet- we have said the civilians who have died- were executed- on purpose by Russia. When the U.S. dropped pamphlets over Hiroshima and Nagasaki- warning the women and children to leave- many stayed. But- because we warned them- we do not deem it the execution of women and kids. Yet- we killed [numbers vary] around 150 thousand people initially- and possibly up to a million over the years by radiation sickness. Did we execute them? We knew they were there. Many historians believe the bombing of the Japanese cities did not have to happen. At that point in the war [WW2] the Russians under Stalin agreed to turn their massive army against Japan. The Japanese were ready to surrender- but Harry Truman was in negotiations with Russia and other allies on how to divide up the area after the war. Truman felt if the bombs were dropped [even though the war was almost over- without the bombs] that would give us more leverage against Russia- once they actually saw the potential that we had. So- for political reasons that we in the West don’t always see- we killed many innocent women and kids- and never refer to it as the purposeful execution of innocents. Yet I heard 2 U.S. representatives accuse Russia of doing this- which is a lie. We involve ourselves in other nations- not just elections- but in the actual armed overthrow of their leaders- yet we deem this interference ok. But the West is outraged that Russia too has a political motive. And what might that be? Putin and others- believe the U.S. has gone down a road that is leading to war. Our buildup of NATO troops on Russia’s border is a provocative act- which we said would never do. Yet- we are doing it. In the 2011 Russian election- we called Putin’s election illegitimate. Maybe it was- or maybe it wasn’t. Yet when protesters marched- we made statements that maybe it was time for a Revolution. That’s sends a message to any in the country or region- even ISIS- that wow- the U.S. might back up another armed overthrow of a nation. These messages have disastrous results. Libya- Iraq [our war with them] our involvement in nations that lead to the instability of the entire region. Yet- we do not see why a Putin might want a leader who sends signals he might work with him. Yes- Putin obviously would want to work with a president that he feels is not a threat. This is not necessarily wrong- we do the exact same thing around the world. Yet we are using language- referring to other world leaders as executioners of women and kids- because they have done the same exact things as us- and on a much smaller scale. I am not defending Putin- or Assad. I am trying to show you how we in the West do the things- that when others do them- we are outraged. I want peace in Syria- and Russia- all over the world. And when more than 90 percent of the people in Crimea vote to go back to Russia- we should not be referring to it as an illegal act- it’s not- that’s Democracy. And if the innocent civilians in Aleppo did not leave- after Assad and Putin gave them notice- and we call it the purposeful execution of women and kids. Then just what would you call the 500 thousand to a million dead Japanese? NOTE- as I just watched the world news-[ 12-18-16- ABC news]- ‘MILITANTS BURNED 5 BUSES TO PREVENT THE EVACUATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM ALEPPO’- These ‘militants’ are the U.S. supported rebels. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/cowardly-attack-in-syria-targets-buses-sent-to-evacuate-government-held-villages/2016/12/18/ba7671bc-c525-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?utm_term=.59340fbcf1e7 NOTE- PBS news- 12-19-16 ‘militants going door to door in Aleppo- executing women and civilians’- These ‘militants’ are the ‘rebels’ we armed. They are also referred too as ‘Syrian militants’- these are not Syrian troops. If the Russians and Syrian troops were doing this- it would be headlines in the U.S. media- but because these atrocities are being carried out by U.S. backed rebels- they refuse to identify them as such. This is media bias. The situation over Russian hacking in the U.S. election- what’s it about? Hackers- more than likely from Russia- hacked into the DNC [political democratic arm] and released true information [emails- texts- etc.] that made Hillary Clinton look bad. There is some evidence that they also had hacked into the Republican side- yet did not release that. This would show that the Russians involved themselves in our election. Ok- is this bad? A few points- the U.S. also does the same- president Obama actively campaigned against Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel- because he felt it was in the best interest of the U.S. to do so. The U.S. also engages in hacking- cyber warfare- and all of the things we are accusing Russia of doing. The U.S. has actively backed up armed overthrows of other leaders [Gadhafi of Libya being one]. We do these things for our own interests- even if that interest goes against the will of other nations. We accuse Russia of illegally taking Crimea- the people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. The vote was more than 90%- yet because it was not in the U.S. best interest- we still accuse them of illegally annexing Crimea [they broke away from Ukraine]. The will of the people was to do that- yet the U.S. did not want the will of the people- so we accuse Russia today of an illegal act. In Syria- rebels- and terrorists- have been fighting Assad. Trying to overthrow him. Assad- with Russian help- has been fighting back. The rebels- and some who are indeed terrorists- have been armed by the U.S. – and we use our resources to back them. Yet- when Assad fights to take back a city- Aleppo- we accuse him and Russia of war crimes. Why? Because sadly innocents have been killed- by both Syrian forces- and U.S. backed rebels. Russia has not targeted women and children- yet I heard a U.S. representative say they were purposely executing kids and women. Russia and Syria gave notice to the civilian population in Aleppo- and also have done various cease fires- for civilians to leave. In reality- all civilians never leave their home town- even when warned. Yet- we have said the civilians who have died- were executed- on purpose by Russia. When the U.S. dropped pamphlets over Hiroshima and Nagasaki- warning the women and children to leave- many stayed. But- because we warned them- we do not deem it the execution of women and kids. Yet- we killed [numbers vary] around 150 thousand people initially- and possibly up to a million over the years by radiation sickness. Did we execute them? We knew they were there. Many historians believe the bombing of the Japanese cities did not have to happen. At that point in the war [WW2] the Russians under Stalin agreed to turn their massive army against Japan. The Japanese were ready to surrender- but Harry Truman was in negotiations with Russia and other allies on how to divide up the area after the war. Truman felt if the bombs were dropped [even though the war was almost over- without the bombs] that would give us more leverage against Russia- once they actually saw the potential that we had. So- for political reasons that we in the West don’t always see- we killed many innocent women and kids- and never refer to it as the purposeful execution of innocents. Yet I heard 2 U.S. representatives accuse Russia of doing this- which is a lie. We involve ourselves in other nations- not just elections- but in the actual armed overthrow of their leaders- yet we deem this interference ok. But the West is outraged that Russia too has a political motive. And what might that be? Putin and others- believe the U.S. has gone down a road that is leading to war. Our buildup of NATO troops on Russia’s border is a provocative act- which we said would never do. Yet- we are doing it. In the 2011 Russian election- we called Putin’s election illegitimate. Maybe it was- or maybe it wasn’t. Yet when protesters marched- we made statements that maybe it was time for a Revolution. That’s sends a message to any in the country or region- even ISIS- that wow- the U.S. might back up another armed overthrow of a nation. These messages have disastrous results. Libya- Iraq [our war with them] our involvement in nations that lead to the instability of the entire region. Yet- we do not see why a Putin might want a leader who sends signals he might work with him. Yes- Putin obviously would want to work with a president that he feels is not a threat. This is not necessarily wrong- we do the exact same thing around the world. Yet we are using language- referring to other world leaders as executioners of women and kids- because they have done the same exact things as us- and on a much smaller scale. I am not defending Putin- or Assad. I am trying to show you how we in the West do the things- that when others do them- we are outraged. I want peace in Syria- and Russia- all over the world. And when more than 90 percent of the people in Crimea vote to go back to Russia- we should not be referring to it as an illegal act- it’s not- that’s Democracy. And if the innocent civilians in Aleppo did not leave- after Assad and Putin gave them notice- and we call it the purposeful execution of women and kids. Then just what would you call the 500 thousand to a million dead Japanese? NOTE- as I just watched the world news-[ 12-18-16- ABC news]- ‘MILITANTS BURNED 5 BUSES TO PREVENT THE EVACUATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM ALEPPO’- These ‘militants’ are the U.S. supported rebels. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/cowardly-attack-in-syria-targets-buses-sent-to-evacuate-government-held-villages/2016/12/18/ba7671bc-c525-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?utm_term=.59340fbcf1e7 NOTE- PBS news- 12-19-16 ‘militants going door to door in Aleppo- executing women and civilians’- These ‘militants’ are the ‘rebels’ we armed. They are also referred too as ‘Syrian militants’- these are not Syrian troops. If the Russians and Syrian troops were doing this- it would be headlines in the U.S. media- but because these atrocities are being carried out by U.S. backed rebels- they refuse to identify them as such. This is media bias. Corpus Christi- https://youtu.be/LvhRHhbV1cE Corpus Figured I would end- like I started 2 weeks ago. Bad weather and lots of wrecks- right at the end. These are the links [for download] on the videos I made in N.J./NYC that I thought had teaching value- enjoy. https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-23-15-st-patricks.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-24-15-christmas-eve-incarnation.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-24-15-danny-me-teaching.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-24-15-work-of-art.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-25-15-christmas-morning.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-25-15-gary.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-25-15-gw-bridge.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-27-15-fatima-9-am.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-27-15-the-rocks-the-keys-from-smith-ave.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-29-15-kennedy-blvd-north-bergen-high-hudson-county-pk.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-29-15-lifes-a-journey.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-30-15-91st-nyc-skyline-davids-son.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/12-31-15-last-one.zip https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/1-2-16-dallas.zip I WILL GIVE YOU THE PAINTINGS OF- THE ATHEIST? https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/1-5-16-i-will-give-you-the-paintings-of-the-atheist.zip https://youtu.be/sEsBnAIUxZs I will give you the paintings of the atheist ON VIDEO- https://youtu.be/5jwMW85eUl8 [Work of art] This is the video where Danny gave me the paintings. .Saved $800 a month .Show- bread? .Remember him .Frances Xavier .unity .Flying scroll- a UFO? One memory- only .God’s box .God’s mobile community [past posts- verses- new stuff, below] Psalm 108:10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? [I wrote North Bergen/NYC a few years back- for the word Edom. I found it interesting because this was the first chapter I read when I arrived in New Jersey]. Psalm 110:7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. [I read this Psalm on the morning I left- I took it as ‘seek me- even stop [rest stop overnight] and do your normal reading of scripture- and watch a video from the previous week’. The Psalms always seem to have meaning- direction- in a different way than when I read the ‘regular’ bible chapters at night. I did teach on Manna [bread/word from God] on this trip- and yes- I felt I ‘heard’ God thru the Psalms on a daily basis. Psalm 111:6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. [Ok- I read this when I got back to Texas. I hope to talk about it on the video and show you the paintings Danny gave me. Danny- who is an atheist- gives me stuff. The verse above can be translated ‘he gives you the property- of the heathen’ [unbeliever]. I didn’t get a chance to even see what the paintings were. As I hung them up- yes- they were significant. They were done by an 86 year old man- Danny bought them because he too is an artist- and has taught artists ‘how to paint’. He told me these were from a man who never had training- yet he said this man had a special gift. Danny was going to sell them for a few hundred dollars- but actually wanted me to have them. So- the 2 paintings are- A man- with a backpack- walking up a mountain. This is one of the actual ‘images’ I scribble/write- when I feel like I should take the annual trip to the NYC area. So- it was a sort of confirmation. The second painting was a bird- flying by the coast. This is the other image I use- when ‘heading out’- I even spoke about it on some videos before I left [my eagle ring- I talked about it with Crow and Andy]. So- the significance was these paintings were given to me by an ‘unbeliever’ and that’s the first Psalm I read when I got back [you get the property of the heathen]. And both of these paintings came from an 86 year old man- from North Bergen- at the end of his journey in life. Getting ready to ‘fly away’. I also found it interesting that right before I left Texas- I started quoting ‘I will give thee the heathen for your inheritance- and the ends of the earth for your possession’- but I never connected it with the Psalm above. NEW STUFF- On the video I taught some about Francis Xavier [1506-1552] – one of the founding members of the Jesuit order [Society of Jesus] along with Ignatius Loyola. He met Ignatius at the University of Paris- while pursuing an intellectual career. Over time Ignatius example [and prodding] convinced him to abandon his own plans to live a comfortable life and serve as a scholar- and become a very effective missionary to the Far East. Much like the story of John Calvin- who too was persuaded to abandon his own plans to simply be a scholar- and to serve in forming the community in Geneva. Xavier arrived in Goa [India] and eventually went to Japan. The king of Portugal- John the 3rd- requested missionaries for the areas Portugal was colonizing in India. This century [16th] was one of exploration and colonization. In Japan Xavier had great success- the city of Nagasaki was started to simply provide a place for all the Japanese converts! There were reported miracles of healing under the ministry of Xavier- and he became one of the most successful missionaries from the Jesuit order. Xavier came into some controversy- initially in his missionary efforts he was ‘more conservative’ in that he tried to get new converts to abandon all former cultural ties- in order to embrace the faith. Over time- he sort of ‘mixed’ [called syncretism] the eastern religious practices with the faith. When the Dominicans and Franciscans saw what was happening- they reported it to the church. This became such a controversy among the Japanese- eventually the priests were martyred along the road to Nagasaki. A sad event indeed. The Protestants neglected the Far East in their missionary efforts- they were primarily trying to reform the church in Europe. Yet Ignatius and his society were spreading the gospel- in areas that never heard either the Catholic or Protestant message. All in all- Xavier did a very effective job- and is well respected by both Catholics and Protestants for the work he did. VERSES- VERSES- Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: Ephesians 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Ephesians 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Ephesians 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, Ephesians 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Ephesians 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Ephesians 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15:2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twentyseats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 2 Timothy 2:9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. 5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Ps. 122 1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations MY SITES http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html http://www.dailymotion.com/ccoutreach87 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/ https://www.ustream.tv/channel/WPxcs6kMdjN Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links [Wordpress- Vimeo] make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Thanks- John. MY SITES Active sites- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello Link sharing sites- https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com https://getpocket.com/a/queue/list/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress https://ccoutreach87.joomla.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWXKfaFDZrfNUzloSqg8Kg?view_as=subscriber beta https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlLmUkKiB6VoWE9CB1UQew?view_as=subscriber ccoutreach87 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber classic https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John Thursday 6- 21- 18 Ephesians 2
NEW- Why the date? as I re-post studies- I realized I get many views from some of the sites- even though these studies are already on my sites. I found out [researched] that when bloggers re-blog- even ‘old’ posts- that's what happens. I’m not just doing it for more hits- but I do want people to learn and read the posts. But I also want people to know when I’m speaking ‘real time’- that's why I write the NEW section. Ok- this week I have had many interesting experiences with my homeless friends- When I made the video yesterday [Teaching with Henry- below] it was interesting that though I have not seen Henry in a long time- even after I shut the video off- he was talking about the many scriptures I taught recently. I also saw Roger [obviously not Roger who died last year] but ‘Mexican Roger’. He was sitting in front of Wal mart the other day- He’s from ‘in town’ but makes it to the Bluff every so often. I gave Roger the dollar and a smoke- it was interesting as I sat with him in front of the store. You can tell he is obviously homeless- and yes- people kind of walk past him [and me] fast. As I sat and talked- he told me how the other day he was sitting outside of Landrys- a famous seafood restaurant in Corpus. And there is an outside eating area- where people could see Roger [or other homeless] sitting by the water. Roger told me as the family looked at him- from a distance- that he didn't say anything- but heard how the son was complaining about the heat. And Roger thought to himself that he lives outside- and it was strange to hear a young man complain about eating at a high class restaurant- outside. Then Roger told me after a few minutes- the mother herself said that to her son. She used Roger [not knowing his name] and said ‘see- he’s out side and not complaining’. I listen to the stories my friends tell me- of course I have no way of verifying each and every one of them- but I felt that would be the one to tell this day. Below are the videos I uploaded the last few days- and my Ephesians 2 study as well. Thanks- John Oh- I almost forgot- here is part of the upcoming Sunday post- [part] This Sunday I taught on the verses from the Mass [added below in the verses section as well] From the prophet Ezekiel we read- Ezekiel 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: Ezekiel 17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. Ezekiel 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it. We call this a Messianic prophecy- God will take a ‘high’ branch- a tender one- in verse 24 we read that this ‘dry tree’ will grow. In Isaiah Jesus is the Root that springs forth from a dry ground- Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Speaking of his virgin birth. In Philippians we read that Jesus left his high position of glory- and humbled himself and became obedient unto death- even the humiliating death by crucifixion- Philipians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Philipians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philipians 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So in this short passage from Ezekiel- we see Jesus coming down from heaven [the branch from the high cedar] we see him as being planted in the earth [his death] and then becoming the firstborn of the Kingdom- that branches into all the earth- Which Jesus himself taught- in the next reading from the Mass- Mark 4:30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? Mark 4:31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: Mark 4:32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. We know about the ‘mustard seed Faith’ but Jesus himself was the seed that was the ‘least’- Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. His humiliation brought him from the top of the cedar- down to being planted in the earth- the seed that was the least. He was the ‘seed’ that had to die- be planted- [I’ll post the rest Sunday- God willing] Other videos- Ephesians below- 6-18-18 News- Comey- Trump- Sheriff Deputy busted for sex assault 4 year old girl https://youtu.be/Ys7zAoeruBM 6-20-18 CNN shows hurricane Harvey video- then reports on Flash Flooding happening right now in South Texas- why? Also- see my ceiling fall in while I video https://youtu.be/zCZp2fANHCc 6-20-18 Teaching with Henry- would you believe he was homeless? https://youtu.be/3B2pqMHTwPg Isaiah 60- North Bergen https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVwuldeoRhiFqnpo Let another take his office https://youtu.be/1YrZLtkSnqM Ephesians 3 https://youtu.be/r-jPIbiA4qI Galatians 3 https://youtu.be/J1sdX19vWWc Whataburger https://drive.google.com/file/d/129qr-pDmYdEdfpbJT_bQHLH9lgIfU8f0/view?usp=sharing Rose garden- Pops has since died- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zrw6STSiJWC_jnEULN9nfL4_HL4YVrw_/view?usp=sharing Dino- North Bergen [N.J.] https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgV27c3OqnxZM5sDr The seed https://youtu.be/_UfHSTEJcSQ [Updated links to all my sites at the bottom of this post] Ephesians 2POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ DECEMBER 13, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT EPHESIANS 2 Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2 https://youtu.be/nILDsbbHiok Friends- https://youtu.be/yn-q0HwTPhM Andy- GPL- https://youtu.be/9NqGwEClF3g I made these videos yesterday and needed a post to tag them to- I felt this day was meant to hang out with some of the guys- to be honest- I was cold but it was meant to be. You only catch a small glimpse of the day- I have known these guys for many years. Many of the friends I have met the last few years are really new friends- not part of the community that have been around for years. When I spent about 4 hours with Andy and Art- we did talk about the old days- but to be honest- Art shared in a way I have never heard him open up before- you don’t catch this on video- but after knowing him for around 20 years- it was one of the first times we had some real honest discussion. The whole day was indeed ministry- honest evaluation of our lives- some of the guys told me they never thought they would wind up where they ‘wound up’. Many of the guys have skills- education- and are very talented- and they have had to deal with the reality of the choices they have made- they were telling me this during our talks- And how they took responsibility for being where they are. To be honest- they were the ones actually ‘doing ministry’ this day- I was just there as a friend. Zechariah 8:6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. ON VIDEO- [Ephesian 2] .Phone school .The course .True spiritual warfare .Our time .The snow came- 12-8-17 .We are his work .Created for good works .Troy barks .Men reconciled to one another .Seated with him .Not a culture- But God’s promise .There is one God .Objective truth .My talk with a Muslim at the Kingsville Fire Department .Texas A and I [now A and M] university .God will bless all the children of Abraham NEW- The ultimate victory over satan- is seen in the first few verses- Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. God made us alive- we have been raised with Christ- and it is in this act of redemption that delivers us from the ‘course of this world’- the course that unbelievers walk- and give expression to the ‘prince of the air’- Satan deceives lost man- and when man walks in the flesh- this is the primary way satan manifests himself in the world- Later in this study we will look at spiritual warfare- but for now- we see it is thru the Resurrection that satan has been dealt a death blow. Now the ‘famous’ passage- Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Yes- we are indeed saved by faith- not by works- We were dead in sin- unable to save ourselves- but because of God’s choice- his mercy and love- he raised us up from the dead and we are now positionally seated with Christ in heavenly places. Yet- there are works that are involved here- works that God himself predestined for us- Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. That’s the new course- we have left the old one and the Spirit of God himself lives in us- and these good works of the Spirit were the plan of God for us before time- ahead of time- pre-planned if you will- our purpose and destiny in God. The work of Christ not only reconciles us to God- but also to each other Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Yes- the law in the first century [10 commandments and the law and the prophets] also played a role in division between Jew and Gentile- The law is good- yet in the hands of the first century religious leadership- it devolved into a sort of barrier- We see this in the interaction of Jesus and the religious leaders in the gospels. It created a class of people- who looked down on ‘the other’- Yet now in Christ- he took this out of the way by nailing it to his Cross- Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And not only brought man back to God- But man back to a right relationship with his fellow man. We are now ONE NEW MAN and the middle wall of partition is broken down- and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; The separation is gone- And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And it is this redeemed community that God dwells- we are the people of God- The Church of God- a temple of people that God dwells in- It is no longer about natural land and temple- or holy sites in the middle east- No- it’s about us- you and me- all who have embraced the love that God has shown to us- Yes- we are that spiritual community representing God to our fellow man- And this reconciliation to each other thru Christ- has enabled a people to become the actual dwelling of the living God- Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. The answers to the problems we see in the world today will never be found in any political leader- in any human agenda- though well meaning- these do not have the ability to truly reconcile man with his neighbor. But God has accomplished this thru his Son- as we have been redeemed thru the Cross- We are now the Holy dwelling place where God dwells- This spiritual temple has no earthly boundaries- it is found all over the earth right now- Africans sing the praises of our God- Europeans are worshiping the king as I type- Asians are meeting as brothers in Christ at this moment- Some in Muslim lands are embracing this great God and fully comprehending Jesus as the Prophet sent from God- As the Son of God- Yes- all nations are being brought together because this was the plan of God from the start- And this is the only plan that will ever work. PAST POSTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/30/ephesians-1/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-2015-video-links-included-romans.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-study.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/galatians-links.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/study-galatiansjohns-gospel.html https://ccoutreach87.com/justification-by-faith/ https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/islam/ VERSES- Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. MY SITES http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach.yolasite.com/ https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ https://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jchiarello http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links [Wordpress- Vimeo] make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Thanks- John. Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans. UPGRADE NOW DISMISS MESSAGE Share this: MY SITES Active sites- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello Link sharing sites- https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com https://getpocket.com/a/queue/list/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress https://ccoutreach87.joomla.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWXKfaFDZrfNUzloSqg8Kg?view_as=subscriber beta https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlLmUkKiB6VoWE9CB1UQew?view_as=subscriber ccoutreach87 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber classic https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John EPHESIANS 1
Today- Tuesday 6-19-18- I’ll start posting my Ephesians study on a weekly basis. Of course I still have the regular Sunday posts- as well as the nightly videos [all links to all my sites at the bottom of this post]. Some of the video links don’t work- thanks to Vimeo- but all of my videos are on YouTube, some on Wordpress- eventually they will all be on my new video sites as well. I hope you guys have a good Tuesday today- and if anything important comes up- well- you will see more ‘spur of the moment’ videos/ Just one note. In society in general- often times leaders- officials- do things- at times the things they do are indeed criminal. Now- in some cases they will tell you ‘oh- I didn’t mean what I said- even on a radio show’. The law actually does not go by ‘what you mean’- and if in the words you spoke- you did indeed intimidate a witness- sitting in your jail- to drop a criminal case- then that is indeed a crime. But we- the public- have to shine the light- because regardless of what side of the aisle you are on- those in power rarely shine the light o themselves- John 6-17-18 Corpus Christi in freefall https://youtu.be/63fBApticWg Disabled boy sodomized in a Corpus Christi jail https://youtu.be/pY3sEcbtGXI https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TnHO2fU8R6ODv66g2njp9jBBpwxA5Yrw/view?usp=sharing https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVpfoFJZCVYZeVTJ https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204474804548354/ 6-18-18 Sheriff Jim Kaelin of Nueces county committing a crime on the Jim Lago radio show https://youtu.be/4htCgD7x54U https://drive.google.com/file/d/10uNtB2M9otXbZvhsXHcNnB6488exNiJ6/view?usp=sharing https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVvZpKceQgR8Ak1J https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204476582792809/ EPHESIANS- INTRO- CHAPTER 1 Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: Ephesians 1- Intro. https://ccoutreach87.com/11-21-17-ephesians-intro-chapter-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/11-21-17-ephesians-intro-chapter-1-2/ ON VIDEO- .Butterfly .Background on the city of Ephesus .Sovereignty .Paul’s prayer .Plymouth Rock .Mayflower .Jamestown .Puritans .Reformation .Church of England .Some history of the Puritans and their rejection of the Church of England [Anglican] keeping some of the High Church practices of the Catholic Church NEW- [Notes- corrections? Below] Intro- Ephesus was the capitol city of the Roman province of Asia- it was one of the top cities of the day [Like Rome- Corinth- Alexandria- etc]. It was a major commercial center because of a port to the Aegean sea- [Now silted up] And if you remember my Acts study- the famous temple of Diana was located there- which was considered to be one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/09/acts-19/ Paul spent more than 2 years there and he probably penned this letter while sitting in jail at Rome [House arrest] I actually just covered the history of this in my study on the book of Acts- so I thought it fitting to now start a new study on the letter the apostle wrote to this Christian community. Chapter 1- Paul begins the letter acknowledging God’s sovereignty in his own calling- Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: His own conversion was an example of God’s choice- God converted Paul that day on the Damascus road- when Paul was on the way to persecute Christians- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/ So his own experience is seeing God picking him- not based on his [Paul’s] own choice- And Paul reminds the believers that is the same choice of God that picked them as well- Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, The doctrine of predestination is clearly taught in this passage- It has been a hotly debated doctrine thru out the history of the church- But it is simply stated in the above passage- God chose us to become his children- before the world was made. Yet- the purpose of God is greater than us- people in time- who have believed- God’s greater purpose is reconciling all creation to himself thru Christ- who was/is the eternal Logos who himself made all things- Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one ALL THINGS in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: Paul also speaks of this redemption of creation in his letter to the Romans- https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ [see chapter 8] The scope of what God has done in Christ is difficult to grasp at the start- and the apostle prays that their spiritual eyes might be able to see the bigger picture- Ephesians 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, The raising of Jesus from the dead and his ascension to the right hand of the throne of God shows us that ultimate rule and authority are now exercised in the kingdom of God- A kingdom that is above all others- Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: This authority given to Jesus Christ has also been delegated to us- the body of Christ- We are the community of people where the Spirit of God resides- Jesus being the head of the church- we being the Body- and all things having been put under his feet- speaks of all authorities being subjected to the Body as well- who we are- Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. All of these great mysteries have come to pass- because these things are planned by the counsel of God himself- Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: The power given to the church is an enormous responsibility- the gift of the wisdom of God to enter into these realities also comes with a balance- a discretion- Ephesians 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; All of these things were made possible only thru the obedient act of the Son who went to the Cross to redeem us- 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Phil 2- Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; The death of Christ for the sins of man positions those who believe to stand blameless before the throne- Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: As we walk before him in love- seeing the grace and peace that has come to us as a free gift- we then can become change agents in the world- A world that is destined to be redeemed as well- a creation that looks forward to the final day of the redemption of all things- 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. NOTES [corrections?]- On this video I talked ‘off the cuff’ about the Puritans- the Mayflower- etc. Then a day or so later I watched a history special on PBS- Sure enough- I figured I better make a few corrections- They said the date for the Mayflower was 1630- but I just checked- I was right- I said the date was 1620- here’s a link http://www.history.com/topics/mayflower The PBS documentary also seemed to say William Bradford was not the governor of Plymouth colony [actually- they did not mention Bradford at all- but spoke of the whole story of the founding of Plymouth colony]- So- I thought I was wrong on Bradford too- because I mentioned him as one of the original founders- and the governor- But as I just checked- I got that right too- http://www.history.com/topics/william-bradford I have written on Plymouth rock in the past- and will try and find those notes and add them below. I don’t mean to say ‘see- I was right’ – I actually was upset when I watched the PBS show- because I thought I was wrong on a lot of stuff- and that’s why I started ‘correcting’ the post right now. Then found the above links. It simply shows us to fact check stuff- use more than one source. It is also frustrating because when I added one of the above links- I had to delete it and add it again- and it deleted all the notes I just wrote! And you are now re-reading the 2nd version. So yes- doing this takes time- takes checking- and sometimes it’s nice to see you did get it right- the first time around. To be fair- PBS is usually a reliable source- and I didn’t watch the whole documentary- I fell asleep while watching it- thinking ‘Geez- I will have to correct my post’- We live in a day where we talk about ‘fake news’ we see bias in all the media- whether they mean to do it or not. On the video I talked about the Puritans to show how their faith in God was THEE determining factor to sail the Mayflower and come to the new world. It’s also possible that some documentaries want to down play the whole aspect of God and the founding of the country. William Bradford was brought up in a Puritan home- his faith was the key reason he- and the others- sailed to America. If you read the founding documents [Mayflower Compact and others] you clearly see this- https://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/mayflower-and-mayflower-compact But the whole debate about the so called ‘separation of Church and state’- the establishment clause- comes into question when you see the actual writings of the founding fathers. And these might be reasons that good news outlets shy away from certain facts- Not that they are ‘wrong’ on their coverage [though they are at times] but that they might simply overlook the importance that certain people played in the actual stories of history. PAST POSTS- Did a quick search of my past posts- here are a few where Plymouth Rock showed up in the text- https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/04/27/stuff-2016/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/05/17/gideon/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/06/26/history-of-everything-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2016/12/28/samuel-revelation-kingdoms/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/18/kings-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/22/acts-28/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/09/acts-19/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/23/wednesday-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ You might find some past teaching on the Puritans in these- I obviously do not re- read my past posts- I just try and copy the ones I think are relevant to each teaching post- [past stuff I taught] I mentioned our Revolutionary war- below are my past teachings that relate- I have taught in the past how some of our Founding Fathers were influenced- heavily- by Enlightenment thinking. Thomas Jefferson is the best example. Why is this important? On my previous post [Plymouth Rock] I tried to show the role that religion played in the founding of our country. Yet- at the time of the Continental congress [The first meeting was in 1774- the 2nd was in 75. The Declaration was approved in 1776] some of our founding fathers were leaning towards Deism [Ben Franklin- etc.] and the wording of the Declaration of Independence [below] was written more along the lines of Enlightenment thinking [also strong influence from the writing of John Locke]. The phrase ‘we hold these truths to be SELF EVIDENT’ was indeed a contrast from the traditional view of the church. Believers do indeed believe in ‘self-evident’ truths [Romans1-2] but in context- this term challenged the historic thinkers of the church. I add this to simply show that Thomas Jefferson [who wrote the Declaration- at the young age of 33] added language that was in a sense- a ‘compromise’. John Adams- Jefferson’s colleague in the congress- would later be challenged in a presidential run by Jefferson. The accusations flew- and Adams supporters said the beliefs of Jefferson would be the downfall of Christianity in America! Why did they make this accusation? Because the Enlightenment thinkers were indeed challenging some of the core beliefs of Christianity in the 18th century. Jefferson spent 5 years in France- right at the time of French Revolution [remember the post I did recently on it?]. The French Revolution was indeed a ‘revolution’ against the church in a way. Many Americans in the colonies were shocked by the bloodshed of the French Revolution. Yet Jefferson sided with it- and even wrote in support of some American merchants who were rebelling against paying their debts here in America. This outraged John Adams. Eventually Jefferson would serve on the cabinet under President Washington- and he would conflict with Alexander Hamilton over the direction of our New Republic. Jefferson felt that Hamilton wanted to give too much power to the Federal govt. [Federalism] Eventually Adams and Jefferson would be on opposing sides- of just about everything! Adams was a good friend of Jefferson during the continental congress in Philadelphia. Jefferson was the representative from Virginia- he was not an eloquent speaker- but he gained the respect of the other representatives. He was seen to be a hard worker- When the drafting of the Declaration came up- Benjamin Franklin turned down the job- and it was given to Adams and Jefferson. Jefferson wanted Adams to do it- yet Adams [Jefferson’s senior] recognized the great skills of his younger colleague- And Jefferson went to work. Yet their friendship was strained over the years- and at the end of their lives they became friends again. Jefferson would become the 3rd president of the U.S. And his legacy remains with us today. It has been said that our country is founded upon a Creed- We- as Americans- give our assent to a creed. And that creed- was penned By Thomas Jefferson. A preacher stopped at a tavern [Inn] In Virginia for the night. The story goes that he spoke with a stranger while there- they talked about mechanics- and the minister thought the man was an engineer. They then spoke on various subjects- and the preacher saw the stranger was knowledgeable in many fields. They finally spoke about religion- and the minister thought ‘he must be a preacher too’. The next day he asked who the man was- it was Thomas Jefferson. How did Jefferson gain all this knowledge? At the age of 6- he was reading the books from his father’s library. He learned Latin and Greek- on his own. His dad died when Jefferson was 14. He eventually went to the college of William and Mary- and became a dedicated student. It was said that 15 hours out of every 24- he was reading/studying. Jefferson kept this up throughout his life. He had a large library at Monticello- his home on a mountain in Virginia. One of his slaves [yes- slaves] said whenever someone had some question- Jefferson was well able to answer the question- and refer to one of his many books. Jefferson was the 2nd largest slave holder in his county- owning more than 200 hundred slaves at one time. Yet- he tried to enact legislation to outlaw slavery. He even added some language at the continental congress about it. The other representatives from the 13 colonies rejected it. He also tried to pass laws in Virginia against slavery. Yet he himself had them- how could this be? It even violated his own words in the Declaration ‘All men are created equal’. Many historians differ on why/how this could be. In the end- Jefferson was like all of us- he was able to articulate noble ideas- yet he himself struggled to fully live up to them. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson- Declaration of Independence. [PARTS] PLYMOUTH ROCK https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/1-9-16-plymouth-rock.zip https://youtu.be/DyDv5n6U-3o Plymouth Rock ON VIDEO- .God’s choice .Mayflower .John Robinson .Scrooby believers .William Bradford .Objections .All creation waits .John Locke .King James [bible] .Puritans .Geneva bible 1st .Virginia colony- 1607 .Plymouth- 1620 .Cape Cod [Past posts- verses below] NEW STUFF- As I cover some history from the 16th/17th centuries- a significant event came from the religious controversy over the Puritans [separatists] disagreement with the Church of England. After the death of queen Elizabeth of England- she had no direct heir to the throne- and the son of Mary- queen of Scots- became the new king of England. James the 1st took the crown- and the Puritans had hoped that he would compromise with them. They disagreed with the role of Bishops in the church and other ‘Catholic’ beliefs. Though England broke from Rome- it was mainly in the area of the papacy- they were in reality a ‘Catholic’ church- with no pope [or the King of England replaced the Pope]. So- the Puritans wanted more reform- sort of like what was taking place in Germany under Martin Luther. But James rejected the appeals of the Puritans- and gave them only one request- a new English version of the bible. The King James Version [1611] became the favorite bible for Protestants for many years [even till this day]. Yet- it was actually not the ‘original’ Protestant bible. The first one was the Geneva bible- put together by the reformers. So- some of the Puritans who had already started their own churches [one in Scrooby England] fled England- and went to Holland. The pastor of the Scrooby church- John Robinson- stayed in the Netherlands for a few years, but then decided to go back to England. In 1620- they agreed to leave England once again- and sail to the ‘new world’. The English already established a colony in Virginia in 1607- and their goal was to arrive in Virginia and hopefully have the freedom to worship God according to their conscience. They left on the Mayflower- with some other merchants and adventurers. It was a daring journey to say the least. And instead of landing in Virginia- because of bad weather- they hit Cape Cod instead. Before coming ashore- they made a ‘deal’- called the Mayflower Compact. It was a sort of Democratic agreement that would govern the new colony. The new colony was founded in what is now called Plymouth Massachusetts. William Bradford became the governor of the new colony- and was only a teen when he first left England with the Scrooby believers. The area in England where they left from- was called Plymouth [Devon- North England]. So the new colony was named Plymouth. PAST POSTS- . JOHN LOCKE- Locke taught that each man has individual rights- and he empowers government- an elected designated body- to have rule- [parts] AN UNJUST LAW https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/4-20-16-an-unjust-law-is-no-law-at-all.zip https://youtu.be/oQMmaWERTYk An unjust law is no law at all ON VIDEO- .MLK .Kennedy .Andrew Snowden .USSR .Saudi Arabia .911 hijackers- who were they? .Release the 28 pages .Dow 18,000- sell! [remember- the video was made last week] .Iran- Yemen- Libya- Ukraine- Russia .How did we bail out the banks again? .NATO .Cuban Missile crisis .Did Russia have the right to fly over our ship in Baltic Sea? .War Games .Water Gate- Nixon POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ NOVEMBER 22, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT ACTS 28- [Conclusion of the Act’s study] Isaiah 25:7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Acts 28- https://youtu.be/JNtaYP1cqEs https://ccoutreach87.com/11-14-17-acts-28-concl/ https://ccoutreach87.com/11-14-17-acts-28-concl-2/ ON VIDEO- .Stranded on the island .Melita [Malta] founded by the Phoenicians around 1000 BC .Paul gets bitten by a snake .The ‘natives’ think he is being judged .Then when he doesn’t fall down sick and die- .They think he is a ‘god’ [Fickle] .Where did these ‘natives’ get the concept of justice? [natural law theory is true] .Paul functions in the gift of healing .The ship he takes to Rome has the names ‘Castor and Pollux’- who were they? .The mythical sons of Zeus .Paul at Rome .He makes his case to the Jews .Some believe- some don’t Note- when we study church history we realize there was already a church [believers] at Rome before Paul got there .So we often teach that Paul was not responsible for the church at Rome .Yet here we see he did introduce some Roman Jews to Jesus- so he certainly played a role .Paul quotes from Isaiah 6- which in a way sums up the last half of the book of Acts [see my teaching below] .Nero After thoughts- .Would you go to hell to save the world? .A talk I had with a homeless friend .Do we live with a self preservation mentality? .Are our churches centered around this mentality? .Your purpose is to fulfil the mission- even if it does not ‘save’ you [The Cross] .A polarized nation- our times .Yet- their is a redeemer- Jesus God’s own Son NEW- As we end the Acts study- I’ll add my past teaching below- and just mention a few things. The last few chapters was the lead up to the climax- Paul was going to Rome to appeal his case to Nero- His accusers have been on his trail the whole time- And as he arrives in Rome- he calls together the Jews to present his case first to them. He figured they heard all the rumors about him- and wanted to make a defense. As it turned out- they were not aware of all the stuff he was going thru. So he presents the gospel to them- some believe- others do not- Then he quotes one passage out of Isaiah 6- Acts 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. It’s interesting- because the whole chapter of Isaiah 6 [posted below in the verses section] sort of sums up Paul’s whole experience in the last half of the book of Acts. He has been going from city to city- desperately trying to persuade his fellow Jews that Jesus is indeed the Christ- the anointed one- the promise that they have been waiting for. And in this excitement of the reality that they were living in the time when the promise made to their father’s thru the prophets- has now been fulfilled- Yet- he is dumbfounded that his fellow Jewish brothers refuse to believe it! And that sums up the chapter of Isaiah 6- God called the prophet to go and preach to his fellow Jews- Yet it was thru this preaching of Isaiah that their hearts would be hardened- and they would not believe- Isaiah even asks God how long will this go on- God says until he makes a full end. Isaiah 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, Yet- there is still the promise of the remnant- which Paul himself speaks about in his letter to the Romans- Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Paul even quotes out of Isaiah again- Romans 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations And God also speaks about the remnant to Isaiah- Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Meaning there would be a period of time in the history of God’s dealings with the Jewish people- and during this period of time- there will always be a small group of Jews who believe. And in the fullness of time- they will embrace Jesus as their messiah as a whole nation of people. There are many verses on this- but that is indeed what the bible teaches. So the process- in the frustration of a Paul- or Isaiah- or any one carrying the message to people who initially do not receive it- Is the promise that there are indeed some who are listening- some who are seeing what’s going on- and this remnant will have an impact on others as well. The preaching of the gospel- the setting forth of the message of Christ- in the day we live in- it’s not always embraced at the start. Sure- some have turned the message into a self help type thing- others have focused the message on material gain- https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ These messages do gain a following- because they appeal to the base nature of man- But the message of the Gospel- and the teachings of Jesus- are not about popularity- The message of the Cross is about sacrificing the temporary things of this life- to fulfill a greater purpose in God. Paul will go on to preach the gospel- the chapter [Acts 28] ends with Paul still waiting to appear before Nero. Yet later on in the letters of Paul we see that he more than likely was released from jail- and possibly even made it all the way to Spain [There is a tradition that says this- from the writings of Clement] Paul sat in Rome from ad 60 to 62- Then was released- did some more missionary work- then probably rearrested and executed around ad 67. Nero set fire to Rome in ad 64- he blamed it on the Christians- and a great persecution of the saints took place. Paul finished his mission- he preached the gospel of Jesus and went thru much difficulty in his life- We continue to study his letters today- and the message he spoke- and wrote about- is still going strong. Yes- I guess you could say the small remnant has now become a multitude of people- too many to number- Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Revelation 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. PAST POSTS- [Verses below] ACTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/15/tuesday-5/ %5BI made this post the same day of the Acts 28 video] https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/19/sunday-sermon-15/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/06/acts-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/acts-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/07/acts-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/16/acts-11/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/22/acts-12/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/01/acts-13/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/14/acts-14/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/03/acts-15/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/07/acts-16/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/27/acts-17/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/2017/08/acts-18-acts-1828-for-he-mightily.html https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/09/acts-19/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/20/acts-20/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/04/acts-21/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/20/acts-22-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/04/redo-acts-23-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/08/acts-24-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/14/acts-25-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/29/acts-26-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/06/acts-27/ (766)ACTS 28- After the shipwreck they wind up on an island called Melita. Paul meets the barbarous people and they welcome him. During a bon fire type thing, Paul is collecting wood and a poisonous snake bites him. The people think ‘surely this man is a murderer and ‘vengeance’ got him!’ Notice the fact that moral/natural law was imbedded in the consciences of these savage like people. Where in the world did they come up with such an idea of right and wrong and justice? The atheists say ‘well, all people simply come up with some type of code to live by. This is really not proof for moral law’. The Christian answers ‘so how come you never find some isolated tribe who rewards murder and punishes goodness’! Now, I realize there are distant tribes who practice violent stuff. The point is in all of these societies, there is a basic right and wrong that is honored. If the tribe is violent, they still don’t reward the cowardly killing of one of their own kids! These savages had the built in conscience of moral law that Paul teaches in Romans. Now after Paul doesn’t get sick or die from the bite, they ‘change their minds’ and say he is a god! People are fickle. Paul heals the father of the chief of the island, a small healing revival breaks out. Paul demonstrates the power of the gospel in word and deed. Even today, in many 3rd world countries you see healings and miraculous signs along with the preaching of the gospel. They launch off and land in a few more spots and finally make it to Rome! Paul calls the Jewish leaders and makes his familiar defense. He lists the accusations against him and defends himself. He thought the whole Jewish world knew about the gossip! The leaders tell him ‘we haven’t heard any stuff about you, but tell us more about this sect’. Leaders, don’t make the mistake of defending yourself over personal stuff from the pulpit! Often time’s people don’t know what you are talking about. Paul does set up a day and teaches the Jews in Rome from morning till evening showing them all the scriptures that testify of Jesus in the Law of Moses and the prophets. He ‘testified of the Kingdom of God and Christ’ [they go hand in hand!] Some Jews believe, others don’t. Paul then quotes the most quoted verse from the Old Testament in the New Testament ‘Isaiah was right about you! Having eyes you can’t see, ears you can’t hear…’ Luke ends the chapter [and book] with Paul living 2 years in a rented room and preaching the kingdom of God to all who will listen. Paul finished his days infecting the capitol city of the empire with the gospel! Church history tells us that Paul [and Peter] were martyred under Nero’s persecution. John [the apostle] writes about the beast making war against the saints and killing them. No wonder why the early church called Nero ‘the beast’. Paul writes one of his best letters to the Roman saints and the church will forever have an ‘eternal witness’ in the city of Rome. Paul got his wish. (767)ACTS CONCLUSION- As we finish our study in Acts, I want to review a few things. The ‘church’ [ecclesia] as seen in Acts are without a doubt ‘organic’ this term describes the community of people in the various locations who believed the message of the Messiah. These people were not establishing ‘church meetings at the church on Sunday’ to compete with the Jewish meetings at the synagogues on Saturday. The transition from the old law into the new covenant was not only one of a change in message [law versus grace] but also a transition from shadows to reality. All the ways of worship and ‘liturgical’ form were part of the old law. The temple and priest and altar were important types and symbols of what was to come. But in the New Testament communities these ideas of physical worship changed. The actual praise of Gods people and doing good deeds will become the sacrifices that God is well pleased with [New Testament]. The Lords meal was actually a meal! The gathering on the first day of the week became a good tradition in memory of Christ’s resurrection. But as time went on many well meaning believers would return to the symbols and incorporate them into their worship. The church would be seen as the ‘church house’ the altar would be seen as a real place upon which the ‘bloodless sacrifice’ [Eucharist] would be re offered again for the sins of the world. The priest would be seen as having special powers given to him by Jesus, that during the mass the host becomes Jesus flesh and blood and as the people ‘eat’ him they are partaking, literally, of Jesus flesh and blood. Now, are all these believers wrong? Should we see the development of sacramental theology as pagan? I personally don’t think so. I prefer to view the changes that took place in the church as part of a process of Gods people grappling with doctrines and beliefs while at the same time struggling to maintain unity as the centuries progressed [I am not making excuses for wrong doctrine, I think well meaning church fathers grasped wrong ideas out of a fear of loosing their identity. The idea of a strong magesterium [teaching authority] gave room for wrong doctrines to become firmly entrenched in the collective mind of the early church]. For the first 1000 years of Christianity the people of God were primarily seen as Catholic. In 1054 the official split between eastern and western Christianity will take place. Another 500 years until the Catholic Church split again [1517]. The host of churches that came out of the Protestant Reformation are too innumerable to mention. Should we view all of these groups as deceived religionists? Of course not. Do we find a pattern in Acts that would allow us to trace ‘the true group’ and lay claim to being the most authentic? I don’t believe so. But as all the people of God strive for the unity that we actually posses in Christ, we have the great resource of the church fathers, the wisdom and insights of the reformers. The heritage of the outgrowth of the restorationist movements. The excitement of the Puritans as they launched out to found a new world free from religious persecution. If it weren’t for the strong institutional church we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have even had a Luther [Wittenberg] Calvin [first Paris then Geneva] or Zwingli [Zurich]! Or the ‘pre reformers’ Wycliffe, Huss and Knox. These men were products of Catholic higher learning! It was the reality of Catholic institutional Christianity that allowed for these men to be trumpets of truth in their day! The university cities that they taught in as Catholic priests allowed for their influence to spread far and wide. In each generation of believers you have had Gods people progress so far and leave us with great treasures that were intended to be passed on to future generations If we severe ourselves from historic Christianity, then we lose the great gains that have been made in the centuries gone by! The book of Acts shows us the freedom of the people of God. ‘Where 2 or more are together in my name, I am in the midst’ isn’t some description of ‘local church’. As in if we copy the formulas of what happened in Acts [break bread, prayer, etc.] then you ‘have a church’. Jesus promise to be with us when we are together is the act of brotherhood. Surely we saw Jesus going along with the people of God all thru out Acts. The Spirit of God that indwelt them in chapter 2 was the promise that he would be with them. He legitimized them! Not some institution [‘local church’] that they were to start! So today all the people of God are striving to find a closer identity with each other as fellow believers in the Lord. I believe the book of Acts gives us a beautiful picture of the church in her infancy stage. I also believe the growth seen as we read Paul’s letters to these churches indicates the heart of God for his people to remain in grace. Paul warns the churches to not fall into the legalism of observing days and regulations and legalistic requirements. He wants them to live simply, free from sin and to be the people of God in society. Some branches of Christianity took hold of the strong ‘we are pilgrims’ view [which is true to a degree] and would separate from society. Not realizing we are pilgrims and strangers to the worlds system, but our Father is God of heaven and earth! We are here to impact this planet! So let’s run with the exciting message and revolutionary mindset that the early church possessed. They weren’t in this thing for what they could get out of it, they were really laying their lives down for the gospel. They were sharing their stuff with each other. They were loving God and their fellow man in ways that were uncommon for their time. It wasn’t only what they said that allowed them to ‘turn their world upside down’ it was who they were, the People of God. VERSES- Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Acts 28:1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. Acts 28:2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. Acts 28:3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. Acts 28:4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. Acts 28:5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Acts 28:6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. Acts 28:7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. Acts 28:8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. Acts 28:9 So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: Acts 28:10 Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. Acts 28:11 And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. Acts 28:12 And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. Acts 28:13 And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli: Acts 28:14 Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome. Acts 28:15 And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. Acts 28:16 And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. Acts 28:17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Acts 28:18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. Acts 28:19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. Acts 28:20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. Acts 28:21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. Acts 28:22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. Acts 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. Acts 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. Acts 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. Acts 28:29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. Acts 28:30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Acts 28:31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Isaiah 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: Isaiah 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. MY SITES http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com %5BMain site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg Acts 9 POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ APRIL 18, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT ACTS 9 [Zechariah 1] https://youtu.be/VBw6tOxifc4 Acts 9 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/4-13-17-acts-9-zech-1.zip https://ccoutreach87.com/4-13-17-acts-9-zech-1/ 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. Zech. 8 ON VIDEO- .Carnival .Paul’s conversion .Prophecy .Spirit of poverty? .Where do the gifts function? .And why? .Let’s kill Paul now! .Solomon’s porch .Peter heals .And raises the dead .Tabitha .Resurrection .Kingsville Record . ‘Child says he saw the Lord’ NEW- Today I spoke on Acts 9- and at the end Zechariah chapter 1. I’ll just copy my commentary on Acts 9 below and make a few brief notes on Zechariah. I was reading about the 4 horns Zechariah saw in a vision- and he also saw 4 carpenters- Zechariah 1:18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. Zechariah 1:20 And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. The 4 horns- not horns you blow- but animal horns- represent kingdoms- earthly dominions that oppress the people of God. The 4 carpenters were ‘builders’ of the kingdom- sent from God. In the vision- these carpenters terrify the horns- Zechariah 1:21 Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray [Terrify] them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. In the letter to the Ephesians we read about the ‘5-fold’ ministry- Ephesians 4:11 [Full Chapter] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Some see a 4-fold ministry- connecting the Pastor/Teacher as one office. In short- the ministers of the Lord- they not only build up the people of God- Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; But they also have a prophetic aspect- that speaks truth to power. In the Acts study- we actually see this play out. If you go back and watch/read the posts on Act’s- you will see how the Apostles and believers were not only preaching Jesus- but they were telling those who crucified him ‘you are guilty of his murder’! It seems strange for us in this day to see why they were doing this. But the unjust death of Christ- thru the manipulation of the ‘horn’ of Rome by the Jews- was indeed an oppression carried out thru corrupt government. And the early apostles were playing their ‘carpenter’ role as part of the 4- fold ministry. I also noticed a dynamic I ‘accidentally’ spoke about a few weeks ago [Permanent Record post- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/26/i-did-this-one-for-your-benefit/ ] I said there will be a day when we are dead- meaning both the messenger- and the one he is sent to give the message to- We will all be dead someday- yet the words themselves will go on forever. Sure enough that’s what God told the prophet- Zechariah 1:5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? Zechariah 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. The Word of the Lord endures forever. We still have the words of Peter- and Paul- and all the others who spoke the word of the Lord- who spoke truth to power. Yet-Peter and Paul are not on the earth anymore- nor are the corrupt ‘horns’ they spoke to. But the Words remain. Yeah- just like Zechariah was told. PAST POSTS [verses below] https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/moabdominions/ https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ ACTS LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/06/acts-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/acts-8/ VERSES- 1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Gal. 1 Acts 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, Zechariah 1:2 The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Zechariah 1:3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. Zechariah 1:5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? Zechariah 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. Zechariah 1:7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, Zechariah 1:8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Zechariah 1:9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. Zechariah 1:10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. Zechariah 1:11 And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. Zechariah 1:12 Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? Zechariah 1:13 And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. Zechariah 1:14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. Zechariah 1:15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Zechariah 1:16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Zechariah 1:17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Zechariah 1:18 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. Zechariah 1:19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. Zechariah 1:20 And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. Zechariah 1:21 Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it. Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg ·1ST, 2ND CORINTHIANS ·1ST- 2ND SAMUEL ·1ST- 2ND SAMUEL [LINKS- UPDATED 3-17] ·1ST-2ND KINGS ·ABOUT ·ACTS ·ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [LINKS ADDED] ·CHRISTIAN RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION [LONG VERSION] ·CLASSICS OF WESTERN LITERATURE ·DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA ·EPHESIANS [HIGHLIGHTS] ·FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY ·GALATIANS [LINKS] ·GALATIANS- JOHN’S GOSPEL ·GENESIS ·HAGGAI ·HEBREWS- UPDATED 2015 ·HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM CHURCH HISTORY ·HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES ·HURRICANE HARVEY ·INSIGHTS FROM A REVOLUTION ·ISLAM ·JAMES- 2015 ·JOHN [COMPLETE- LINKS ADDED] ·JONAH [LINKS] ·JUDGES- RUTH [VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED] ·JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ·MARK [LINKS] ·MY BIBLE COMMENTARIES [OTHER LINKS] ·MY OTHER SITES ·N.J./NYC- 2017 ·NEHEMIAH, ISAIAH ·NYC-NEW JERSEY TRIP- 2015 ·OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY ·OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE ·PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER ·QM ·RADIO CATALOG ·RAPTURE- 2ND COMING- 2 EVENTS? ·ROMANS-UPDATED 2015 ·RUSSIA- U.S.- WORLD EVENTS ·THE GREAT BUILDING OF GOD ·WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION // romans-updated 2015 ROMANS- 2015- VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED ROMANS 1-3 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2-3-15-romans-1-3.zip .CHAPTER 8- FEW POINTS; ·Did God choose us to believe- or did we choose him? ·When Paul says ‘he makes our bodies alive’ is he only speaking about resurrection? ·Does God use difficulty- or is it to be rebuked? ·Was Paul a ‘hyper- Calvinist’? (839)ROMAN 8:1-4 ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh [sinful nature] but after the Spirit [new nature]’. Now, having proved the reality of sin and guilt [chapter 7] Paul teaches that those who ‘are in Christ’ are free from condemnation. Why? Because they ‘walk according to the Spirit’ the ‘righteousness of the law is being fulfilled in them’. Having no condemnation isn’t simply a ‘legal function’ of declared righteousness, and Paul didn’t teach it that way! Paul is saying ‘all those who have believed in Jesus and have been legally justified [earlier arguments in chapters 3-4] are now walking [actually acting out] this new nature. Therefore [because you no longer walk according to the flesh] there is no condemnation’! This argument helps bridge the gap between Catholic and Protestant theology, part of the reason for the ongoing schism is over this understanding. After the Reformation the Catholic Church had a Counter Reformation council, the council of Trent. They dealt with a lot of the abuses of the Catholic Church, things that many Catholic leaders were complaining about before the Reformation. They did deal with some issues and reformed somewhat. To the dismay of the more ‘reform minded’ Catholics [with Protestant leanings] they still came down strong on most pre reform doctrines. This made it next to impossible for the schism to be healed. But one area of disagreement was over ‘legal’ versus ‘actual/experiential’ justification. The Catholic position was ‘God can’t declare/say a person is justified until they actually are’ [experientially]. The Protestant side [Luther] said ‘God does justify [legal declaration] a person by faith alone’. Like I taught before, both of these are true. The Catholic view of ‘justification’ is looking ahead towards a future reality [The same way James speaks of justification in a future sense- He uses the example from Genesis 22, when Abraham does a righteous act] while the Protestant view is focusing on the initial legal act of justification [Genesis 15]. Here Paul agrees with both views, he says ‘those who walk after the Spirit [actually living the changed life] have no condemnation’. (840)ROMANS 8:5-13 Paul will teach the impossibility of the ‘carnal minds’ ability to submit to Gods law. Those who are ‘in the flesh’ [the unregenerate nature- not simply ‘in the body’. We will get into these distinctions in a minute] can’t submit to God. Society spends so much time and effort trying to get the ‘lost man’ to do what’s right. The prohibition movement [outlawing liquor], the increase in the severity of punishment for crimes dealing with drugs. Making the child kidnappers crime punishable by death. While all these laws are necessary and good [though some debate the wisdom of the kidnapper one, they think the kidnapper might just go ahead and kill the victim if the same punishment applies to both crimes] they have little effect on getting ‘the carnal man to submit’. Paul also says ‘if the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead dwells in you, then he that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you’. Let’s do a little teaching here. Most commentators see this as speaking of the promise of the resurrection ‘your mortal bodies’. I see this more in line with the context of chapter 7. The discussion of ‘mortal bodies’ [your actual body, the flesh- which is different than ‘the fleshly nature’ which refers to the sinful nature] speaks of your actual life now ‘let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies’. Also in verse 13 of this chapter the same theme is seen ‘if ye thru the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live’. I believe Paul is primarily saying ‘if you are in the Spirit [born of God] the Spirit of life will make alive your physical life in such a way that you will glorify God in your body and spirit, which are Gods’ [Corinthians]. Chapter 12 says your bodies are living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Now later on in this chapter [8] we do see the resurrection, which is called ‘the redemption of the body’ [verse 23] so these two concepts work together. The fact that the believer is ‘training his mortal body’ for God [thru obedience] is sort of a precursor to the resurrection! Now, some believers confuse the resurrection of the body and the work of regeneration in ‘making you alive’ [Ephesians 2]. The work of regeneration brings your dead spirit back to life [born again] when you believe [which is a Divine imputation of faith at the moment of conversion, a sovereign act]. This ‘coming alive’ is purely spiritual. This qualifies you for the future physical resurrection of the body [Ephesians calls this the ‘down payment’, the ‘earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession’. The word ‘earnest’ here is used in the same way as ‘earnest money’ in a real estate transaction. The fact that we have been ‘sealed’ with the Holy Spirit is our ‘guarantee of future bodily resurrection’]. Bishop N.T. Wright, the bishop of Durham [the church of England- Durham is the 3rd most influential post in the Church of England. Canterbury is at the top] has recently written on the truths of the resurrection of the body. He is an excellent scholar, way way above my league. He has been instrumental in ‘re introducing’ the reality of Christ’s resurrection as well as our future resurrection as a very real Christian belief [and historic truth as well]. I have read some of Wrights stuff and am a little surprised at some of the ideas on ‘soul sleep’ and the immortality of the soul. Bishop Wright seems to side with some of the ideas that certain restorationist groups [7th day Adventists] espouse, that the Catholic Church kind of corrupted the ideas of heaven and the soul by being overly influenced by Greek thought. While it is possible for Bishop Wright to have come to his understanding entirely thru scripture and history, yet I felt it a little strange to see him make these arguments. For the most part I like brother Wright and totally agree with his stance on the future ‘new heavens and new earth’ as the final place of rest [as opposed to dying and going to heaven now, which is a temporary place] but there is the biblical reality of a present ‘heaven’ and this doesn’t only come from Greek thought. I have often used the Christian doctrine of the new heavens and new earth while speaking with the Jehovah’s witnesses, I always agree on the reality of a future kingdom on earth. I simply steer the conversation back to ‘who qualifies for it’ and get straight to the gospel. Well anyway we have a promise of a future resurrection, and also a ‘quickening of the body now’ [God actually using our physical life to glorify him]. These are both great truths! (841)ROMANS 8: 14-18 ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God’. Many of us are familiar with this verse [I hope!]. We often see it as saying ‘Gods direction in our lives is proof that we are Christians’ true enough. But in context ‘being led by Gods Spirit’ means living the new life thru Christ. The putting to death of the old man and being ‘made alive’ thru Christ is what this is saying. Paul agrees with John [1st John] ‘those that do what is right [led by the Spirit] are of God’. Paul says ‘we have received the Spirit and a natural result of this is crying “Abba, Father”. I don’t want to do too much here, but Paul sees the ‘confession’ and heart cry of the believer as proof, a result of being ‘a habitation of the Spirit’. A sign, if you will, of being born of God is confessing/ praying to the Father. Paul quoted David in chapter 4 ‘for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found’ [Psalms 32- actually Paul quotes a different section from the Psalm, but this theme is consistent with Paul’s view]. Paul knew the reality of ‘the godly calling upon God’ they have an inner cry of ‘Abba, father’. ‘We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ’. For many years this has been a popular verse among many believers, often times it is used to say ‘God owns the cattle on a thousand hills’ [which he does] therefore if we are heirs ‘give me some cattle’! [stuff]. Here Paul uses this term in speaking of our identification with Christ’s sufferings. ‘If we suffer with him, we too shall share [joint heir!] in his glory’ [future glorification at the resurrection- we shall see him and be changed in a moment, at the twinkling of an eye. This mortal shall put on immortality]. It’s a symptom of modern American Christianity to view all these scriptures thru a materialistic lens, Paul held to the promise of a future reward [at the resurrection] that enabled him to go thru great difficulty and suffering in this present life. He counted the suffering as a privilege that he shared with Christ. (843)ROMANS 8: 19-25 ‘the sufferings of this present time [are you ‘presently’ suffering?] are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us’. Paul compares the difficulty to the reward. The reward here is the future resurrection. Paul did not see suffering as ‘from the devil’ or the reward as something material [monetary stuff! The resurrection body will be ‘material’ – real]. Paul teaches that the whole creation is waiting for this day. Not only will we get a ‘makeover’ but there will be a new heaven and a new earth! The creation itself longs for this [almost as much as Al Gore!] This resurrection is called ‘the redemption of our body’. The next verse says ‘we are saved by hope’. John also says [1st John] that the future reality of the resurrection ‘causes us to be pure in this life’ [every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure]. Why? Because we know God has a purpose for our bodies as well as our spirits! The ‘getting saved by hope’ simply means the future hope of the resurrection ‘encourages’ us to live clean now. Once again ‘saved’ is a neutral term. In can apply to all sorts of things. I always found it funny how when you read certain commentaries, that you see the difficulty Christians have when coming across these types of verses. There’s a verse that says ‘the woman will be saved thru childbearing’ geez, you wouldn’t believe the difficulty some writers have when they come across this stuff. Some teach ‘she will be ‘saved’ thru the birth of a child [Jesus]’ and all sorts of stuff. I think if we simply changed the word ‘saved’ for ‘delivered’ [which are basically the same thing] that maybe this would help. But thank God that we have a future resurrection to look forward to, let this truth ‘deliver’ you from the temptation to think ‘what’s all this suffering worth, why even go thru it?’ Because we have a great promise at the other end! (845)ROMANS 8:26-28 ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities’ why does Paul say ‘likewise’? He is saying ‘not only does the future hope of the resurrection sustain us, but also Gods Spirit helps us’! He knows how to make intercession for us in ways that we cannot. I just finished an hour prayer time, not an ‘official’ intercession time [which I do a few times a week now]. But an ‘unofficial’ time where I try and hear what the Spirit is speaking. When you are ‘praying in the Spirit’ [which can include the charismatic expression of tongues] you are depending upon the Spirit to transcend your limited ability to articulate what needs to be said. ‘All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are ‘the called’ according to his purpose’. A very famous verse indeed. What does it mean? It means what it says! Over the years I have heard so many excuses for trying to get around difficult things. Why do the righteous suffer? Some taught it was because of their ignorance of scripture. Why did the things that happened to Job happen? Some said it was because he ‘feared’ that the things would happen [this group seems to miss the whole underlying reason for the book. Job’s friends are continually looking for a reason thru out the book. The point is, sometimes there is no reasonable explanation. I realize you can pick apart certain statements from Job and come up with ‘reasons’, but the meaning of the book is God is sovereign and we shouldn’t always think we can figure him out or ‘work the system’]. Here Paul says ‘whatever is happening to you right now [even very bad stuff!] will eventually work out for you benefit’. What about Hitler? Did he love God? I don’t believe so. This scripture says ‘to them that love God’. Your only responsibility thru the difficulty is to ‘love God’. (846)ROMANS 8:29-30 ‘for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: whom he justified, them he also glorified’. Let’s talk a little. When I first became a Christian I began a lifelong study of scripture, where I continually read a certain amount of scripture every day for many years. Over the years I have varied on how fast I should read [that is how many chapters per day and so forth]. But during the early stages I always took these verses to teach predestination in the classical sense. Simply put, that God ‘pre chose’ me [and all whom come to him] before we ‘chose him’. The Fundamental Baptist church I began to attend [a great church with great people!] taught that ‘classic Calvinism’ [predestination] was false doctrine, and they labeled it ‘Hyper Calvinism’. I simply accepted this as fact. But I never forgot the early understanding that I first gleaned thru my own study. I also was very limited in my other readings outside of the scripture. I did study the Great awakenings and Charles Finney. I read some biographies on John Wesley and other great men of God. These men were not Calvinistic in their doctrine [which is fine], as a matter of fact Wesley would eventually disassociate from George Whitefield over this issue. Whitefield was a staunch Calvinist! Over time I came to believe the doctrine again, simply as I focused on the scriptures that teach it. Eventually I picked up some books on church history and realized that Calvinism was [and is] a mainstream belief among many great believers. I personally believe that most of the great theologians in history have accepted this doctrine. Now, for those who reject it, they honestly struggle with these portions of scripture. Just like there are portions of scripture that Calvinists struggle with. To deny this is to be less than honest. The Arminians [Those who deny classic predestination- the term comes from Jacob Arminias, a Calvinist who was writing and studying on the ‘errors’ of ‘arminianism’ and came to embrace the doctrine of free will/choice] usually approach the verses that say ‘he predestined us’ by teaching that Gods predestination speaks only of his foreknowledge of those who would choose him. This is an honest effort to come to terms with the doctrine. To be ‘more honest’ I think this doesn’t adequately deal with the issue. In the above text, as well as many other places in scripture, the idea of ‘Gods foreknowledge and pre choosing’ speak specifically about Gods choice to save us, as opposed to him simply knowing that we would ‘choose right’. The texts that teach predestination teach it in this context. Now the passage above does say ‘those whom he foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of Christ’ here this passage actually does say ‘God predestinated us to be like his Son’. If you left the ‘foreknowledge’ part out, you could read this passage in an Arminian way. But we do have the ‘foreknowledge’ part. So I believe Paul is saying ‘God chose us before we were born, he ‘knew’ ahead of time that he would bring us into his Kingdom. Those whom he foreknew he also predestinated to become like his Son.’ Why? So his Son would be the firstborn among many. God wanted a whole new race of ‘children of God’. Those he predestinated he ‘called’. He drew them to himself. Jesus said ‘all that the Father give to me will come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no way cast out’. Those who ‘come’ are justified, those who are justified are [present tense] glorified. Gods design and sovereignty speak of it as a ‘finished task’ like it already happened. God lives outside of the dimension of time. I believe in the doctrine of predestination. Many others do as well. You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to, but I believe scripture teaches it. (847)ROMANS 8: 31-39 ‘What shall we say then to these things? [what things? The fact that God predestined us and has guaranteed completion of the purpose he has designed us for!] If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Paul teaches that Christ is the only one with the ‘right’ or authority to pass judgment. If the only person in existence who can ‘officially’ condemn and pass legal judgment has actually died for us for the purpose of ‘freeing us from a state of condemnation’, then who ‘gives a rip’ about others opinions and views of us? Most of us struggle with how others view us. Paul did teach that Elders should have good character and a fine reputation in the community. But there is another type of ‘persona’ that preachers can fall into. A sort of ‘concern’ about what the critics are saying. In this context Paul says ‘If the opinion of the only person in existence whose opinion really matters, is one of “I accept you unconditionally, I declare you free from what others think, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Ever since I have known you, you have been pleasing in my sight” [all true scriptures by the way] Then who cares what others think! Paul also teaches that nothing can separate us from Christ’s love ‘not tribulation or distress or famine or persecution’ IN all these things we are more than conquerors thru him who loved us. Most times we view this passage from a ‘Calvinistic’ lens. I want you to see the impact of this statement thru a different lens. In the American church we have taught people ‘would a good father not pay the bills of his kids? Would a good father allow his kids to suffer? If you were really partaking of the New Covenant you would have it made’. While I do realize that many well meaning ministers have taught these viewpoints with honest and sincere hearts, I also have seen how this mindset accuses the saints. It basically tells the struggling believer ‘what kind of father do you have? If he really loved you would you be going thru these things’? In essence we are saying ‘tribulation and distress and persecution’ are all signs that ‘you have been separated from Gods love’! Paul blows this false [materialistic] mindset out of the water. He says it is thru these things that we are more than conquerors. It is the ability to look into the face of Pontius Pilate and say ‘you have no power over me, my father has permitted these things to take place. I am here to lay my life down for his glory’. Paul said all these things we are suffering are opportunities to glorify our father. To look into the face of society and say ‘nay, we are more than conqueror’s thru him that loved us’. The early church set the world on fire when they were laying their lives down for the cause, refusing to deny their Lord even at the point of death. They were ‘more than conquerors’. ROMANS 9- .PAUL- SPURGEON- AND DAVE HUNT- DID THEY BELIEVE IN PREDESTINATION? .HOW DOES PAUL DEFEND AGAINST THE SEEMING ‘UNFAIRNESS’ OF IT? .WHAT DID THAT RUSSIAN ATHIEST SAY? ACTS 5 Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: Acts 5:39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. https://youtu.be/e3_HgRrIVis Acts 5 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-16-17-acts-5.zip ON VIDEO- .Mark Scott . Carolyn Vaughn .Sandusky- Innocent? .Church as community .Some sold all .Solomon’s porch .Why Deacons? .Why lie? .CNN special- on Jesus- yeah- ‘fake news’ .Gift of miracles break forth- again .Stop preaching Jesus! .No way! .Angels on assignment .2nd Mile? [I think] .Trump tweet .Nixon- Watergate .Media .4ht estate . ‘Judges can do no wrong’! .Really? .They once ruled Black people are ‘less than’ White people NEW [past links- verses below. I also added a note at the end of the entire post- about Trump] Just a few notes- I’ll add my commentary on this chapter below. By this time in the early Christian movement- we have seen how Peter and the apostles have already been warned not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus. And Peter continues to practice ‘civil disobedience’ and obeys God- rather than men. The council throws Peter into jail- and the angel of the Lord sets him free- Acts 5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, Acts 5:18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, He is told to go ‘preach the words of this life’. Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And sure enough- Peter goes back to the temple and preaches Christ- Acts 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. When the religious leaders get word- they go and bring Peter- gently- before their court- Acts 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Peter once again preaches strongly ‘Jesus has been ordained of God- he is the Messiah- and you killed him’- Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Yes- Peter’s pattern is rough. But in previous experiences- the people ask ‘what shall we do’? This time they want to kill him- Acts 5:33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. Why the difference now? They also say ‘are you trying to hold us accountable for this man’s Blood’- Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. The Sadducees were the ruling sect at this time- the high priest was a Sadducee- Acts 5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, Despite the miracles and wonders still being done in the name of Jesus- they are now worried about the actual injustice itself- done in the criminal proceeding- that executed Christ. We must remember that from the simple standpoint of the law- there was corruption and criminality in the execution of Christ on the Cross. We read in the gospels how they had false witnesses- and even Pilate himself said Jesus was an innocent man- 59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, Matt. 26 Now- imagine the pressure on those who were a part of this. The Sadducees are actually worried about this preacher- this simple fisherman- going around in the power of the Spirt- healing the sick- raising the dead [later on in Acts] and then telling everyone ‘you killed an innocent man’. Yes- we as believers understand why this happened- he died for us. But from the religious leaders standpoint- they are thinking ‘yeah- we killed an innocent man- unjustly- and we hoped it would fade from the scene- but if Peter keeps bringing it up- we too might be held accountable’. I think that might be why these ‘hearers’ wanted to kill Peter. As the chapter closes- Gamaliel- a respected teacher of the law- and having a famous student under him by the name of Saul- stands up and saves the lives of Peter and his men. The Pharisees did believe in the supernatural elements of God. The Sadducees did not. And in the midst of this whole debate- they are not too willing to side with the Sadducees- in the attack against this new sect- Especially being this ‘new sect’ seems to be operating in all of these supernatural gifts- which the Pharisees themselves believe in. So yes- just like in our day- there are bias’s involved. So Gamaliel tells the council ‘wait- before we do something to these men that we might later regret- remember- there have been other movements- and followers of those men. Yet- they came to nothing in the end’- Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; Acts 5:35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. Acts 5:36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. Acts 5:37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. ‘Therefore- if we simply leave this new movement alone- if it’s not of God- it too will fail. But if it is of God- well we don’t want to find ourselves fighting against God- do we’? Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: Acts 5:39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Wise advice indeed. At the end of the chapter- they beat them- and let them go- Acts 5:40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And the apostles praise God that they were found ‘worthy to suffer shame for his name’- Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Ok- Those are some of the high points I hit on in today’s video. My old commentary on this chapter will cover the rest [Below] I encourage you to read thru the book of Acts- as well as the other studies I’m currently doing. And mediate on the Word of God. Try and enter into the context of the time- see how there were real dynamics going on- things that people today also deal with. There were many things at play- that caused people to not want to admit that Jesus was alive- and his disciples were going around proving it by the miraculous signs that were being done. Do we too have ulterior motives for why we- in our day- also look for reasons to deny the message of Christ? Are all atheists sincere in their unbelief? Or are there other reasons why the deniers of Jesus- actually deny him? Is it because they also do want to give an account for their actions? [sins] Yes- for the Sadducees- if this Jesus was really alive- then indeed- Peter was ‘bringing upon them the Blood of this innocent man’- In more ways than one. PAST LINKS [verses below] Here are my past teachings that relate to today’s video ‘Acts 5’. https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/14/mark-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/acts/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ News link [stuff I mentioned about local politics] http://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2017/02/28/council-votes-disqualify-scott-mayoral-candidate/98479374/ (739) ACTS 5 – As the word spreads rapidly, all the surrounding towns bring the sick and vexed to lie in the streets. Even the possibility of Peters shadow passing over them for healing is hoped for. Notice the charismatic reality of this early church. I do realize the many reasoning’s that intelligent people use to explain the miracles as limited to the Apostolic period, but for the most part we see a supernatural church in Acts as well as thru out the epistles and well into the first few centuries of Christianity. The 20th century story of Pentecostalism and the awakenings just prior, seem to show the reality of a supernatural church existing alongside a theological one! There is much proof to the orthodoxy and giftings of the church all thru out scripture and church history. Peters shadow healed people, how can we explain this away? [p.s. Phillip, who is not an Apostle, will also perform miracles. Just thru this in for those who teach the Apostles were the only miracle workers!] Now, the immediate response of the high priest and religious leaders was ‘if we don’t do something about this, their movement will gain momentum’. They imprison Peter and the Apostles. An angel appears and frees them and tells them ‘go back to the temple and speak the words of this life’. When the authorities realize what has happened they once again warn them about using Jesus name in their ministry. They even say ‘do you intend to bring this mans blood upon us’. Basically Peter says ‘yes’. Peter has been ‘putting it in their face’ ever since Pentecost. He has blamed BOTH the nation of Israel and her leadership for the death of Christ. He does not worry about offending them! During this time some priests become believers. The majority of them do not. Why? What has happened is common among movements. When an initial movement starts up, there is always the question of ‘is it from God or not’? A few years back the church went thru a renewal movement. Some referred to it as ‘the Toronto blessing’ ‘the laughing revival’ and other names. You had those who were 100 % against it and those 100 % for it. Who was right? Well, to a degree both of them! The point is there were some things that were needing rebuke, but to throw it all out was wrong. The defenders appealed to Jonathan Edwards’s writings and how during the first great awakening he experienced many of the same manifestations as the Toronto movement. Edwards left quite a bit of room for God being present in the religious emotions of the people. The critics were offended that the revival guys were appealing to Edwards and they would appeal to other stuff Edwards wrote in concern over the religious affections. You also had the same manifestations a century later under the second great awakening. The revivals in Kentucky had laughter and ‘strange barking’ and other weird stuff. The point is you always have a response to a religious movement. Once the battle lines are drawn, it is very hard to switch sides. In this chapter we see Gamaliel, a very respected Pharisee, stand up for the Apostles and say ‘lets give them some room, others before them rose up and gained a following, they all passed on. If this work is of God you can’t stop it, if it’s of men it will fail’. There was some breaking thru to the religious mind that was taking place in the elite religious thinkers of the day. After all, Peter has been quoting Psalms and Joel in ways that were confounding the religious thinkers. Don’t forget, Peter is an uneducated fisherman. Jesus deposited some stuff in his men that was way beyond the basic understanding of the day. Some ‘thinkers’ and intellectuals were humble enough to listen, most were not! [parts] SUNDAY- 2-19-17 Fatima [2nd mile] https://youtu.be/YcfnxpqOOo4 Fatima [2nd mile] https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/2-19-17-fatima-2nd-mile.zip NOTE- I’m not sure if I will keep doing a daily journal type post. As of today I hit most of the spots I wanted to catch on video. I hope to do at least one more post walking over the G.W. bridge. But I did journal every day for one week- and I’ll see how it goes from here. ON VIDEO- .Herodians .2nd mile .Sin unto death I went to the Mass at Our Lady of Fatima- The church I went to as a kid. Turned the camera on right at the end- then walked down Kennedy Blvd. – a walk I did many times as a kid. I talked about some of the verses that the Priest shared- and elaborated a bit on ‘the 2nd mile’. I always liked that scripture- and compared it to the law versus grace. I also mentioned the passage from Corinthians about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit. All stuff I taught before- but felt it was good to mention them again [past teaching- verses below] PAST TEACHING [Stuff I taught before that relates- verses below] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ . The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times. Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered. They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule. Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community. This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century. A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls. The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes- Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along. I did read up this week- and basically had it right. The earliest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D. These manuscripts went back about 1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the Old testament- and some complete books. The only book missing was Esther. So- this was indeed a very significant find for scholars. But the Scrolls also contain some of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so this too was significant. There were Jews at the time of the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of Christ]. These are referred to as Herodian’s in the bible. Some wanted a revolution to rid Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this group]. Some thought if they returned to a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees. And some took more of a political compromise- these were the Sadducees. Eventually a war with Rome would be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are very valuable to scholars]. NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement]. Frankly- there is a lot of confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church had some type of plot to keep certain books out]. Or stories about how the Church taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her. Actually- we read in the gospels that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of life- And Jesus had a ministry to the down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women- And if true- it would not demean her in any way- That’s how this tradition more than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure. So a few years back the Church officially said ‘we don’t know’. Ok- Plot? [parts] VERSES- Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, Acts 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Acts 5:4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Acts 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. Acts 5:6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. Acts 5:7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. Acts 5:8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Acts 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Acts 5:10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. Acts 5:11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. Acts 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. Acts 5:13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. Acts 5:14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Acts 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. Acts 5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. Acts 5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, Acts 5:18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. Acts 5:21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. Acts 5:22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, Acts 5:23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. Acts 5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Acts 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Acts 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Acts 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Acts 5:33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; Acts 5:35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. Acts 5:36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. Acts 5:37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: Acts 5:39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Acts 5:40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Acts 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations LATE NOTE- I made the video- post- the other day. As I type this- the news broke that there were indeed trump associates [campaign folk] who were ‘tapped’. Now- to some this is a surprise- even in the media [though they are now saying ‘But Obama did not do it’!]. Why should it no be a surprise? Because the media already ‘leaked’ this fact. How? The reason General Flynn stepped down- was because the media reported on an actual fact- that he had contact with the Russians- and they knew this because our intelligence agencies leaked the fact that they had actual surveillance on it. Which is simply the fact they did it- at least with Flynn. It’s also possible that they actually ‘surveilled’ Trump. Ok- if this is true [which today some reports in the media say it is] then Trump was partiality right. I only get into this issue to simply show how we are manipulated. For instance- if the congressional committee now has actual evidence that Trump- an/or- his team were ‘surveilled’ then that’s the opposite of what the media has been reporting. When director Comey [FBI] says ‘I have not seen any evidence’ that’s actually political speak- meaning- it might be there- but I personally have not ‘seen it’. Now- I actually do not care about it- but this is a classic example of media manipulation. Months ago- the media told us themselves- that Trump associates were picked up thru surveillance [Flynn]. Probably thru FISA warrants on Russians. But the head of the committee looking at it [Nunes] said today that some of what he has now seen seems to show that some of the surveillance had nothing to do with Russia- and it ‘puzzles’ him. Why should it ‘puzzle’ anyone to think that intelligence people [CIA- FBI] could ‘do wrong’? Why should it puzzle anyone that judges could do ‘wrong things’? Why should anyone that reads/watches the news be surprised that Trump associates were possibly ‘wire tapped’? Because the media themselves broke the story- when they reported the leaks from the intelligence agencies months ago- that told us this. The New York Times ran an article a few weeks ago that said people who work for the intelligence agencies gathered- and purposefully leaked information about this. Yes- the New York Times reported this. The main story is this- if in fact former intelligence people both gathered- and leaked information on American citizens- info they obtained- even if it was ‘incidental’- that is a crime. There are now questions about ‘incidental’- meaning- did people basically target Trump and his campaign – because they had the power to do so? It’s possible that they did. Do our intelligence people ever lie about this? Yes- James Clapper lied to congress- in public about NSA data collection. Yes- he lied- to congress- under oath. How do we know this? Because he later admitted it. Part of ‘intelligence’ involves the collecting of data- secretly. And part of those who collect it- lie. Because that’s part of so called ‘intelligence’ [I’m referring to our agencies]. We find corruption in all humans- whether they be presidents- media- Republicans- Democrats- it’s in ‘their nature’. I see the ‘spin’- I just heard Susan Rice say ‘to my knowledge no ORDERS were ever given to do this’ [ break the law]. Of course- no ORDERS are ever given [officially]. In the end- there probably were indeed former ‘Obama’ people- working for the agencies- that did wrong- illegal stuff. That’s what trump said at the start. Politics is brutal- and to think that intelligence officials would never lie about it- Well just ask James Clapper- he was the ‘head’- and he lied- to congress. As I watch the evening news [3-22-17] The ‘new spin’ is ‘How dare the chairman [Nunes] reveal this to Trump’- Huh? Yes- the story is not ‘wow- we found out that Trump- and his people were surveilled’. No- the story is ‘Trump is in collusion with the republican chairman of the committee- yes- because the chairman told Trump about the surveillance that was collected on him- incidentally’. The spin never stops. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/22/trump-team-communications-captured-by-intelligence-community-surveillance-nunes-says.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/politics/devin-nunes-trump-communications/ http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/devin-nunes-donald-trump-surveillance-obama-236366 http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://johnchiarello.thoughts.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.# Share this: ·Press This ·LinkedIn1 ·Tumblr ·Facebook1 · Related Acts 28 Acts 26 Redo- Acts 23 Edit About ccoutreach87 my sites- http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com- ccoutreach87.wordpress.com- facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 View all posts by ccoutreach87 » « Some friends ·Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits ‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’ for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading it]. Those who grasped onto this false idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys preaching’? If you by pass the difficult road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us, that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans? The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together in the same verse, it is not saying ‘saved’ in the sense of some sinner’s prayer. It is speaking of the ongoing, promised deliverance [from many things, not just wrath!] to the ‘justified caller’. We have access ‘by faith into this grace wherein we stand’. Wow! That’s some good stuff, Jesus ever lives so that those who come to him are ‘being saved’ to the uttermost. This grace we are in is available to us all of the time, are we availing ourselves of it? ·ROMANS 5:10-21 ‘For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son… much more we shall be saved by his life’. Now, some have ‘divided’ the role of Jesus death and resurrection in salvation. I heard a radio preacher teach that all the people who think they are ‘saved’ because Jesus died for them were deceived. He used this verse to say they need to believe in his ‘life’ [resurrection] to ‘be saved by his life’. Well I get the point, but he was missing the meaning of the verse. Why? Because once again we see ‘saved’ as initially ‘getting saved’ while here it is in a continual sense. Paul is saying ‘if God reconciled us [justification] while we were deadly enemies, how much more shall the actual ministry and life of Jesus at Gods right hand do for us!’ The New Testament teachers that we have actually entered into an eternal covenant with God thru his Son. Jesus ‘ever lives’ to make intercession for us [Hebrews]. Therefore he is able to ‘save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him’. The bible teaches an ongoing ‘saving’ relationship that believers have with the Messiah. This ‘relationship’ would not be possible if he were dead. Now we ‘joy in God thru Jesus Christ from whom we have received the atonement’ good stuff! Isaiah says God will meet with those who ‘rejoice and do what is right’. We have both of these ‘abilities’ because of the atonement. The rest of the chapter teaches the Pauline doctrine of original sin. That because Adam sinned, death and sin passed to all men. So likewise the ‘righteousness’ of one man [Jesus- the last Adam] has passed upon all men [those who receive of the abundance of grace and the gift of life]. This is an interesting angle that Paul uses to teach redemption. He shows the reality that there are only 2 ‘federal heads’ of mankind. You are either in the first or last Adam. The ‘righteous act’ is speaking of the Cross [Philippians says Jesus was ‘obedient unto death’. The singular act of obedience that allows this righteousness to pass to all who believe is the Cross. Some have misunderstood this chapter to teach that the obedient life of Christ, his sinless life, saves us. I feel this is a wrong reading of the chapter. The sinless life of Jesus, pre Cross, made him the true candidate to be the substitute for man. He was able to die in our place [obedience unto death] because he was the sinless Son of God. We are now ‘saved by his life’ because he ever lives to make intercession for us]. All who believe in Jesus can now trace their lineage to the ‘last Adam’ [Jesus] and be free from ‘original sin’. ·ROMANS 6- Lets talk about baptism. To start off I believe that the baptism spoken about in this chapter is primarily referring to ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, that is the work of the Holy Spirit placing a believer in the Body of Christ. The Catholic and Orthodox [and Reformed!] brothers believe that Paul is speaking about water baptism. The MAJORITY VIEW of Christians today believe this chapter is referring to water baptism. Why? First, the text itself does not indicate either way. You could take this baptism and see it either way! You are not a heretic if you believe in it referring to Spirit or water. You are not a heretic if you believe in Paedo baptism [infant baptism]. ‘What are you saying? Now you lost me.’ Infant baptism developed as a Christian rite over the course of church history. The church struggled with how to ‘dedicate’ new babies to Christ. Though the scriptures give no examples of infant baptism, some felt that the reason was because the scriptures primarily show us the conversion of the first century believers. There really aren’t a whole lot of stories of ‘generations’ of believers passing on the faith to other generations. So some felt that the idea of dedicating babies to the Lord through infant baptism was all right. The examples they used were the circumcision of babies in the Old Testament. Infants were circumcised [a rite that placed you under the terms of the Old Covenant] though they weren’t old enough to really understand what they were doing! This example was carried over into the Christian church and applied to infant baptism. Now, I do not believe in infant baptism. But I can certainly understand this line of reasoning. As Christian theology developed thru the early centuries, particularly thru the patristic period, you had very intellectual scholars grapple with many different themes and ideas. Some that we just studied in chapter 5. Some theologians came to see infant baptism as dealing with original sin. They applied the concept of infant baptism as a rite that washes away original sin. The church did not teach that this meant you did not have to later believe and follow Christ. They simply developed a way of seeing baptism as ‘sanctifying’ the new members of Christian households. This basic belief made it all the way to the Reformation. The Reformers themselves still practiced infant baptism. It was the Anabaptists [re-baptizers] who saw the truth of adult baptism and suffered for it, at the hands of the reformers! Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, would have them drowned for their belief. Some Protestants stuck with the infant rite, while others [the Restorationists] would reject it. Today most Evangelicals do not practice infant baptism, the majority of Christians world wide do. Now, the reason I did a little history is because Evangelicals [of which I am one] have a tendency to simply look at other believers who practice this rite as ‘deceived’. Many are unaware of the history I just showed you. The reasons the historic church developed this doctrine are not heretical! They used scripture and tradition to pass it down to future generations. I do not believe or practice infant baptism, many good believers do. ·ROMANS 6: 1-11 ‘shall we continue to sin, so grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?’ Now begins the ‘actual part’ the result, if you will, of being ‘made righteous by faith’. One of the main accusations against Paul, by the Jewish believers, was that he taught ‘sin a lot, because you are no longer under the law’. Paul spends time defending himself against this accusation thru out the New Testament. Here Paul teaches that the believer has been joined unto Christ [baptized, immersed into him] and this ‘joining’ identifies him with Christ’s death. So how can ‘we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in sin’? Paul’s argument for righteous living comes from the fact that we have died with Christ unto sin. ‘We have died with him, and we have also been raised with him to new life’. In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul says we who were dead in sins have been made alive in Christ. Now, we live a new life, free from sin [practically speaking- not absolute sinless-ness!] because we are identified with Jesus in his new life, we are ‘alive with and in him’. ‘Since we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection’! Jesus died once, and now he lives forever unto God ‘likewise count yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God thru Jesus Christ our Lord’. Paul’s basis for the transformed life is Grace and being ‘in him’. Paul does not appeal to the law to try and effect holiness in the believer, he appeals to Christ ‘in him you have died to legalistic practices, trying to earn salvation and acceptance; and now because of this new position [placement] you too have died to the old man [lifestyle] and are alive unto God’. Paul obviously did not teach ‘sin hardily’ to the contrary he taught ‘live unto God’. (834)Romans 6:12-23 ‘Let not sin therefore rule in your mortal body’ if we have died with Jesus, we are ‘dead with him to sin’. If we are risen with Jesus ‘we are alive unto God thru him’ for this reason don’t sin! Paul makes sure his readers understand him, he in no way was teaching a sinful gospel. He encourages the believers to renew their minds to this truth. ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace’ Paul clearly saw the dangers of legalism [living under strict ‘do this, don’t do this’ guidelines] he saw that the law actually quickens the fleshly nature and brings to the surface mans sin. Now, because we are under grace, does this mean we get to keep on sinning? ‘God forbid!’ Paul launches into the explanation of sin and bondage. Remember, sin was in the world before the law. Men were dying ever since Adam sinned. So for Paul, this means even though we are not under the restraints of law, yet the reality of sin, bondage and punishment still exist. Paul says ‘if you yield to sin and allow it to rule you, you will become its slave’. There will be a penalty and price to pay ‘the wages of sin is death’. But because you are identified with Jesus ‘sin shall not have dominion over you… you have been made free from sin’. Paul teaches the victorious Christian life. He does not deny the struggle [next chapter!] but he shows the reality of redemption. He obviously never taught the concept of ‘sin more, so grace can abound’. He understood the dangers of preaching ‘we are not under the law’ but he also understood the reality of ‘being under grace’ he figured it was worth the risk of being misunderstood if he could truly imbed the gospel into the believing community. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. Romans 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Romans 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Romans 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. Romans 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [1768] LUTHER- THE TOWER EXPERIENCE Let’s start with some church history. In the last post I covered the early years of Martin Luther- probably the most significant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Luther studied for the priesthood in Erfurt, Germany. He would eventually wind up in Wittenberg- one of the major university cities of the Reformation. Wittenberg was actually a small insignificant town- but the political leader over the region- Frederick the Wise- sought to put it on the map. He wanted to turn Wittenberg into a German ‘Rome’. He wanted it to become a major Pilgrimage city where Christians would see Wittenberg as a destination- just like they saw Rome. So Frederick embarked on this plan and he searched thru all the Catholic learning centers of the time and finally recruited 3 top scholars to teach out of the university at Wittenberg- Luther was one of the 3. Just as a side note- Frederick would succeed at making Wittenberg a major catholic center. He would eventually obtain over 19,000 Relics for the Cathedral church there [Relics were used in the ancient system of buying indulgences and making special pilgrimage trips to important Churches. If the church/city that your making the Pilgrimage to has a lot of Relics- bones or other famous material objects from church history- then the value of the Pilgrimage was high. In theory Frederick collected so many that if you added up all the ‘time off’ from Purgatory- you would get 1 million, 900 thousand years off! Some of the famous relics at Wittenberg were a hair from the beard of Jesus- straw from the manger Jesus was born in- and even a branch from the famous burning bush of Moses! As you can see- there was a lot of commercializing going on- even back then]. When Luther arrived in Wittenberg- he made a name for himself as a top scholar. Many protestants- who revere Luther- usually are not aware that he was a master Linguist [sort of like Rick Perry!] Yes Luther mastered language- and he showed it in his teaching on the book of Psalms. In 1515 he began his famous study on the book of Romans and as he went thru the very first chapter- something shook him. He came across the passage that says the Just shall live by faith. This verse first appears in the O.T. book of Habakkuk- and is quoted 3 more times in the N.T. Luther was very aware of the concept of the righteousness of God- he struggled for many years trying to reconcile his own sinful nature with Gods holiness- but he never really ‘saw’ the biblical concept of righteousness as a free gift that God ‘imputes’ to the sinner. Yes- for the 1st time in Luther’s life- after his years training for the priesthood- the pilgrimage he made to Rome- the thousands of hours he spent confessing his sins while a monk in Erfurt- he never really understood that the righteousness of God was a free gift given to those who have faith. It was a giant weight lifted from his shoulders- Luther did not need to try any more to live up to the standards of God- in a way that would earn for him forgiveness- but he would simply believe- and the righteousness of God would be counted to him as a gift. Luther would go on to call this an Alien Righteousness- that is it is not found within the person who tries to do all the church works he can- or buying all the indulgences- or any other of the many religious actions he was practicing- but this free gift of being right with God- it came to those who had faith- the Just shall live by Faith- this was indeed good news for the scholar. As time went on- Germany would get embroiled in the political machinations of the day- Luther’s top political cover was Frederick the Wise- hardly a Protestant Reformer! He spent lots of time trying to make Wittenberg the major Catholic center in Germany. But at the time there was a political fight raging between Rome and some of the other nation/states. There was a figure head office called the Holy Roman Emperor. This office was really in name only- but it rose up during the first Millennium of Christian history and sought to replace the influence that Rome was losing. So you had France, Spain and England all vying for the title. Eventually it would go to King Charles of Spain- but the Pope- who played a major role in nominating the person- he did not want any of these top 3 to get the position. Henry the Eighth was the king of England at the time- and these ‘3 kings’ were sort of in competition with Rome- so the Pope tried to get Fredrick the Wise to throw his hat into the ring. Frederick just happened to be one of the Electors of this position. His actual title was The Elector of Saxony. So Fredrick had lots of influence- and as Rome would eventually but heads with the stubborn bull of Wittenberg [Luther] Frederick would become the major protector of Luther. Okay- I think we’ll stop here for today. The experience that Luther had- the enlightenment that came to him while teaching the book of Romans- this is often called The Tower experience of Luther- it took place in the year 1515. http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John VERSES- Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Ephesians 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Proverbs 3:21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Jeremiah 10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations MY SITES Active sites- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello Link sharing sites- https://buffer.com/app/profile/5b1be0280852690407c54007/analytics/posts https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress https://ccoutreach87.joomla.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWXKfaFDZrfNUzloSqg8Kg?view_as=subscriber beta https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlLmUkKiB6VoWE9CB1UQew?view_as=subscriber ccoutreach87 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber classic https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John FACEBOOK NOTE- I will probably still post today’s Sunday sermon video later- Real Time- I’ll upload to my other video sites and post them to the site below. That would be the best site to go to- all my sites are active except facebook [as for now] so my Blogger site will have both the latest Text posts- as well as the most up to date videos- the other sites have either one or the other- until I post the weekly post- Thanks- John
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com I better post these links now- 6-16-18 Caller Times FAKE NEWS cover up for corruption! https://youtu.be/tjMm8E-_LJ8 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVZS1eLIcRoNlCHW https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oI-Flsj_wyVHdOf6R36HVJmJiKjLkrf7/view?usp=sharing https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204468697475681/ 6-6-18 caller times cover up for criminal corruption in Corpus Christi Texas https://youtu.be/FRQsIpcTQWM https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204469503535832/ Update- friends https://youtu.be/YgS6GZIeUEc 2nd Samuel 6-7 https://youtu.be/WV8V56xZIzY Don’t fear the Reaper https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fTNMuvMPC-aLikQ9DwZIBLXO9in7w3Ui/view?usp=sharing Monkey with 3 tails?- North Bergen- N.J. https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVfzFfoLPdBlBymy SUNDAY- 6-17-18 CCPD https://youtu.be/cETo69jwmjI https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVgmSs25JzfFJPRU https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ow7FRbVnnMqfKaikDUSiuiSBYHWcjx-i/view?usp=sharing CORRUPTION IN SEX DOCTOR CASE REVEALED- https://youtu.be/KEHQ4Oj0F4g https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XtXZfkr9IKFmhdnrqCRZHAUf7btw9sPa/view?usp=sharing https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVn5QMov4x0n4DYj Sunday sermon [video made 6-10-18- Post new]
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Sunday sermon video- https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204449990208011/ https://youtu.be/eNY6VoNIujw https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mbJrlAJbNXNvEPUwR9F-J8Wt5_B40YJR/view?usp=sharing https://youtu.be/YAc7eOYHrmQ [New youtube site] Worship- Church Unlimited [I made the above video right before the service- I caught some good worship inside] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204449826203911/ ON VIDEO [Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post] .The creation of man .He forms him and puts him in a garden .There are many trees in the garden .Yet there is only 1 tree that God places a restriction on .The serpent comes- and tempts the woman .Eve- and then Adam- eat from that tree .What does all this mean? .Adam- Eve- a type of Christ and his bride .The sin that can’t be forgiven .The Protevangelium https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protevangelium Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. NEW [Other videos below] This Sunday I made the video right before going into Church Unlimited https://churchunlimited.com/ - I also linked about a minute video of part of the worship service. I taught on the verses from the mass and will link my past teaching below on Kings 18- which Pastor Bil spoke on. The Mass verses [added below in the Verses section] were from Genesis 3 and Mark 3. I spent a little more time teaching Genesis 2 and 3- and will also add my commentary on Mark 3 below. In Genesis 2-3 we read the account of the creation of man- and his fall into sin. In Genesis 2:8 we read And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. God forms man- he prepares him- and then places him into a ‘garden’- In the New testament we read about the church- the people of God- as a garden. There are ministry gifts- offices if you will- Apostles- Pastors- Teachers- and these leaders are placed into God’s garden- after God ‘forms’ them- he brings them thru Cross experiences and then they are ‘able’ to work in the vineyard of God. See? I also spoke about Adam and Jesus- and how the bible teaches us that Jesus is the ‘Last Adam’- In Timothy 2 we read- 1Timothy 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. How does this relate to Christ? You will have to watch the video [Sunday sermon- 6-10-18] to get it. But I’ll give you a hint- Adam was not tricked into eating the forbidden fruit- he ate willingly- he did it so he could be with his bride. He knew he would be separated from the presence of God if he ate- yet he ate anyway. Jesus- he acted in obedience and went to the Cross- knowing he too would be separated from God because he was paying the price for the sins of man. Why did Jesus do it? So he too could be with his Bride- the church. Get it? If not- then watch the video. Ok- that's it for the ‘new’ section- I will add the rest below. John Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- PAST POSTS below] 6-14-18 Update on ‘tweekin Lance’- he’s doing much better- https://youtu.be/NNcd04qjciM https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204462221193778/ 6-14-18 Furman- Real time teaching https://youtu.be/_E-21Se5W-Y https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204462897490685/ 6-14-18 Daily show invite? https://youtu.be/WaFmP4lXQr0 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204463374222603/ 6-15-18 Child porn and man with no face https://youtu.be/hxzoTietbjQ https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204465583757840/ 6-15-18 Trump tweets my book! Can you go to prison for simply HAVING a Facebook account? https://youtu.be/SxCgrKuuFZ8 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204465803483333/ 6-15-18 the news the media does not want you to hear https://youtu.be/zAb2RfdDPkM https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204466379017721/ The Cross https://youtu.be/EHMgEiK7EIE Secret Place https://drive.google.com/file/d/1acBOwL-vZ_n26EQpyAuRLVOWUkaWKisp/view?usp=sharing Drive thru New Jersey [hometown] https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVPCL6B80t5Y8miQ Pops was an older man I helped a few years ago- he has since died- yet he sings now both here- and in heaven- enjoy https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UDNmNgEZR2F3oRmgv67Y-VU0nd_S9Wii/view?usp=sharing North Bergen- New Jersey- my home town https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVRKqCheK1DBEpDs Devil went in https://youtu.be/9YvjK7dGJVM I cut the cable https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w2lpKAu1Zre6T6C6RwOD4njSzqrXvbmx/view?usp=sharing Mark 2 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVUXX1UMJDz9ziRD PAST POSTS [These are links and parts of my past teachings that relate in some way to today’s post- Verses below- Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-kings/ https://ccoutreach87.com/mark-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/genesis/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ 1ST KINGS 18- After three years in hiding the Lord tells Elijah to show himself to Ahab, rain is on the way! He appears once again on the scene and Ahab says ‘here he is, the one causing all the trouble’. Elijah says ‘you got it wrong buddy, it’s your wickedness and turning away from proper paths that has caused this trouble’. Elijah sets up a contest ‘go, get all the false prophets of Baal and let them come and set up an altar. Let them place a bull on it and pray and see if Baal will come and show himself alive’. So Elijah has them crying and cutting themselves [pagan ritual] and pleading all day for Baal to come and consume [by fire] the sacrifice. He even mocks them ‘where is Baal? Maybe he went on a trip? Maybe he’s sleeping’? One translation says ‘maybe he’s on the pot’ [toilet] Elijah was not above scathing sarcasm! So after Baal doesn’t ‘act’ Elijah sets up his own altar, puts a bull on it, soaks the whole thing with water and prays for God to reveal himself. Sure enough fire falls from heaven, burns the bull, stones and everything else! Elijah takes the false prophets and puts them out of their misery. These brothers had a bad day, the same day they find out that their religion is false, they meet Jehovah face to face! And then Elijah tells Ahab ‘get ready, the rain is coming’. God ‘showed’ himself thru a great act; he let it be known that the true God made a real difference. I recently read a story about an atheist. He is an intellectual and lives in Africa. Over the years he observed these ‘silly Christians’ coming to his nation and spreading their ‘ignorant beliefs’. He also noticed something else, they were the only real ongoing group of people who regularly gave their time and lives for the betterment of his fellow Africans. Sure, his intellectually arrogant friends would look at the whole thing as a charade, watching these missions groups spending time trying to teach silly stuff like the Trinity, declaring that this Jesus was ‘Gods son, God in the flesh’ but the atheists never organized a community that would actually help his fellow Africans, there was almost a built in bigotry that said ‘why even help these poor blobs of flesh, after all, we all came from nothing. When we die we simply cease to have feelings and pleasure, our lives basically consist of enjoying pleasures and being happy, what eternal significance is there in caring for the poor ignorant masses’. The observant atheist realized that thru out his life, his closet friends, the people who shared his own beliefs. They were the ones who didn’t ‘give a damn’ about his fellow black countrymen, but the Christians whom he and his friends spent their who lives mocking and resisting and verbally abusing, these Christians were the ones who gave of their lives for the betterment of his fellow man. God revealed himself thru Elijah’s ministry on this day, he showed the people that the God [system] you believe in really does matter. In all of our talking and debating between various religions and belief/unbelief systems, at the end of the day look at the results, Christianity has had her faults to be sure, but she has done a lot better than the prophets of Baal! POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ MARCH 4, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT FRIDAY- SATURDAY 3-3, 3-4 2017 Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. FRIDAY- 3-3-17 [all teaching links- verses at end of post] On the first video I did some teaching. Then ran into a few friends- and was grateful I was able to spend some time with the guys. I did some short videos- but hopefully you get to see a little more of how the homeless deal with things in this area. And sure enough I ran into my old friend Nick as I was walking out of burger king. MARK 3 https://youtu.be/eA0wzuH8kO4 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-3-17-mark-3.zip GLENN https://youtu.be/93W1oxlmSHM – finally got Glenn to talk a bit on video- as you can see- I’m not the best video ‘taker’- but you see him on the next one as well. DINO https://youtu.be/nhkr0m9cL-E – I met Dino today- have seen him a few times- but today I finally spoke with him. Actually I bought a meal for Glenn. He told me thanks- but didn’t need one [he eats croissants that he brings with him]. But I realize the manager doesn’t ‘appreciate’ the homeless guys sitting at Burger King for hours on end. It’s much like some of the guys I have met over the years. They are on the streets and they use the bathroom and charge their phones and stuff at stores- restaurants- etc.- So I bought the meal just to ‘pay the tab’ if you will. It sat in front of Glenn for an hour- he thanked me- but didn’t eat. So I asked Dino if he wanted it [he was actually sleeping at the table] and he said sure. As we talked- we realized we were both born in the same town- Hoboken. I talked with him some more after I turned off the video. NICK https://youtu.be/aha-5QTHWtE as I walked out of Burger King- I ran into Nick. He’s one of the first friends I met when I started coming back 5 years ago. I took a walk down Bergenline Avenue and was grateful I ran into him. Nick really is a talented musician- on some of the first videos I ever made Nick plays the guitar and sings. Ok- that’s it for today- maybe I’ll do a little more on Saturday- before I fly out of Newark on Sunday morning. ON VIDEO [Mark 3] .Healing the hand .Ordaining the 12 .Sons of Thunder .Unpardonable sin .Beelzebub .Gospel of the kingdom .Who said it again? .Lincoln or Jesus? .Fake news? .Media bias .Our President’S [notes below] SATURDAY 3-4-17 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke- ISAIAH 61 https://youtu.be/cwI088OD9MU https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-4-17-isaiah-61.zip RICK https://youtu.be/K2GIiKEDyag Rick https://vimeo.com/206740432 [As I reviewed the video I realized it picked up the radio playing in Burger King- Youtube usually mutes those- so I made a Vimeo one just in case] I taught some on the first video- and ran into Rick after. I’ll add the notes and verses for the teaching video [Isaiah 61] at the end of this post. ON VIDEO- .Dreams .Rooms .The set time .Why didn’t Jesus quote the entire verse? .The scroll .It’s more than you think PAST POSTS [ For the Mark 3 video- verses below] I quoted- talked about these on the teaching video- Mark 3- Here are my past teachings- https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ VERSES- Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Mark 3:1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. Mark 3:2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. Mark 3:3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. Mark 3:4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Mark 3:5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mark 3:6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. Mark 3:7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, Mark 3:8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. Mark 3:9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. Mark 3:10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. Mark 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. Mark 3:12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known. Mark 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. Mark 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, Mark 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: Mark 3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; Mark 3:17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: Mark 3:18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, Mark 3:19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house. Mark 3:20 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. Mark 3:21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. Mark 3:22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. Mark 3:23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? Mark 3:24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Mark 3:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. Mark 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Mark 3:28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: Mark 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Mark 3:30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. Mark 3:31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. Mark 3:32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. Mark 3:33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? Mark 3:34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! Mark 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matt. 16 Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. Matt. 8 Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations PAST POSTS [For Isaiah 61 teaching- verses below] I quoted from these bible books on the video [Isaiah 61]- here are my past teachings on those books- https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ https://ccoutreach87.com/nehemiah-isaiah/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ VERSES- 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Isaiah 61:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. Isaiah 61:7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. Isaiah 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Isaiah 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. 2 Corinthians 5:18 [Full Chapter] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Gal. 4 1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations That’s it for this New Jersey trip- see you when I get back to Texas- God bless all of you. John http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://johnchiarello.thoughts.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.# Advertisements Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here, as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page. You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans. UPGRADE NOW DISMISS MESSAGE Share this: 2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that. (1227) 2ND CORITNHIANS 5- Paul speaks of the Christian hope- resurrection! This chapter can be confusing if not taken in context. You could think that Paul is saying when we die we have a house/room in heaven ‘waiting for us’ and this seems true enough. But he is really saying something more along the lines of ‘in heaven [Gods realm] we have a promise of a new body. The Spirit in us is the down payment, but full redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead’ the hope is a new body, not our souls living some type of disembodied existence in a heavenly mansion. Now, Paul teaches us that this new covenant [last chapter] is one of reconciliation, not condemnation. That because of the work of the Cross, all men have been reconciled to God! It is therefore our job to tell them. In the field of Christian thought there have been thinkers [Origen, Carlton Pearson, etc.] who have dabbled with the doctrine of universalism. They believe that ultimately all people will be saved. I do not believe in this doctrine myself [though I wished it were true- I mean wouldn’t you want everyone forgiven and with God?] but those who embrace it find there reasoning in these types of verses. The New Testament teaches a theme of redemption that says ‘all men have been reconciled to God; Jesus has died for all men. God wills for all to be saved’ and it is because of this theme that some have held to universalism. The point I do want to make to all my orthodox friends is the New Testament message is one of total acceptance based on Christ’s death for us. Sometimes Christians ‘make it hard’ for people to ‘get saved’. The bible doesn’t make it hard, it says it’s a free gift that anyone can have [I know my Calvinist friends are upset right now, but heck I cant please all the people all of the time]. We want the world to know that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself’. These major themes need to be engrained into the mind of the church and the world. I am not talking ‘easy believism’ in the sense that God requires no repentance, but I am talking the reality of the free gift based upon what Jesus has done. There are so many people struggling with so many things, many have prayed and pleaded with God for change. Many have given up; they see God as a demanding judge whom they could never please. The message of the Cross is ‘you can’t please God, make up for your own sins. God placed those sins on Jesus, that’s why you can be accepted’. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Once you see this truth, God will set you free. You will change, you will become ‘righteous’ but it’s a result of the Cross, not your own efforts.
(1010)CORINTHIANS 15:1-19 Paul will deal with the greatest threat yet to the Corinthian church, their doubt over the physical resurrection of the body. Various ‘Christian’ groups over the years have doubted the physical resurrection. Now, some have done this out of a sincere attempt at trying to defend the faith! [their view of it] In the 1900’s you had one of the most popular theologians by the name of Rudolf Bultman [most of his career was spent at the University of Marburg, Germany. Much of the higher criticism of the day originated from Germany] He wrote a book called ‘Kerygma and Myth’. What he tried to say was that any modern man living in the 20th century, with all the breakthroughs in science and knowledge, could not ‘literally’ believe the miraculous stories in scripture. Or even the way scripture spoke of heaven and hell and used limited terms to describe spiritual truths. He used the bibles terminology on Cosmology as an example. How could man believe in a Cosmos where ‘heaven is up there, with the stars and all’ and he felt that enlightened man needed to ‘re-tool’ the bible and cleanse it from all these mythical images, but yet keep the spiritual aspects of it. The moral teachings of Christ and stuff like that. So you have had sincere men doubt the truth claims of scripture. The problem with this attempt [higher criticism] is it throws out the baby with the bathwater. The resurrection of Jesus is presented by the apostles as a real event. The fact of this resurrection can also be attested to by examining the historical events of the day. Simply put, there is a ton of proof for the real resurrection of Christ. Bultman and others meant well, but some of the ‘facts’ that they were using were later proven to be false. Bultman used a model of cosmology that would later be rejected by science. Yet the testimony from scripture would remain sure. Paul told the Corinthian’s that they needed to reject any attempts at spiritualizing the resurrection of Christ. Sometimes believers grasp hold of limited proof’s for certain doctrines. For instance, the New Testament does speak of a spiritual resurrection. In Ephesians Paul says we are presently raised with Christ. In Romans chapter 6 we have all ready been raised with Jesus. This reality does not mean there will be no future resurrection of the saints. In Johns gospel Jesus speaks of the resurrection as being a future real event, as well as a present reality. Those in the graves will hear his voice and be raised from the dead. And those who were presently ‘dead in sins’ would ‘come alive’ [spiritually] when they heard and believed the testimony of Jesus. It is important for the believer to be familiar with the various theories and ideas that theologians and believers have grasped over the years. It is a mistake to simply see all higher learning as ‘liberalism’. There are some very important things that we have learned thru the great intellectuals of the church. But we also need to stick with the ancient traditions as seen in the creeds, as well as the plain testimony of scripture. If Christ ‘be not raised from the dead, then we are of all men most miserable’. (1011)CORINTHIANS 15:20-28 here we see the guarantee of mans resurrection based on Christ’s resurrection. ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall ALL be made alive’. Is Paul teaching a form of universalism [all being saved]? He is showing us that all men will someday be raised from the dead. Now, does Paul leave room here for a type of Pre-millennial resurrection? A ‘raising’ of the dead prior to a thousand year literal reign of Jesus. Then another resurrection at the end? Yes he does. If you read Revelation you will see this type of scenario play out. Also Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Historically the church has held 3 basic views on this. Pre-millennialism says Jesus returns first [pre] before the literal thousand year rule occurs. ‘Post’ says the thousand year rule is literal, and after that Jesus comes back. Those who held to this view were excited at the turn of the first millennium [1000 ad] they thought it possible for Jesus to have returned after the first thousand years since his death and resurrection. And then you have A-millennial, they spiritualize the thousand year reign spoken of in the book of Revelation as being a symbol of Christ’s present rule and kingdom. Now, today’s most popular form of Pre-millennialism is not historic, it dates back to the 19th century. Today’s form is called ‘Pre-tribulational, Pre-millennial’ this teaching [dispensationalism] says Jesus comes back 2 more times. One is called ‘the rapture’ the other is the second coming [revealing]. The proponents of this form find little [or no] early Christians who believed this. There is one early writing by a Syrian brother who speaks very clearly about a rapture type event. Some think he speaks a little too clearly! The writing is believed to have been a fake. Either way we do have Paul teaching stages involved with the coming of the Lord and the kingdom. It is possible to have 2 future resurrections, this would not mean you need two future ‘second comings’. The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return. He rules a literal thousand years and ‘the dead are raised again’ at the end of the literal rule on earth [ a literal reading of Revelation]. Also Paul does use the language of Jesus submitting to the Father at the end so ‘God will be all in all’. I feel believers have been confused and at times contradictory while trying to explain the nature of God and the Trinity. I recently read a teaching on the Trinity that tried to compare the Trinity to the nature of the organic church. It seemed confusing to me, they tried to say that just like in the Trinity you have no one ‘being’ having authority over the other, but instead you see all three persons equally submitting to one another [Father, Son and Spirit] so in the church you have equality. Now, I do believe that there is equality in the church, but I felt the example was way off. The New Testament clearly teaches the willful ‘submission’ of the Son to the Father. God [the father] is clearly the one ‘in charge’. Now, I admit it’s difficult and brothers have spent years trying to explain all the ins and outs of this. Here Paul shows us that the Son has willingly submitted to the Father so the father can put all things under him. Then once again at the culmination of the kingdom the Son submits to the father and God receives the glory. We will praise and worship Jesus thru out all eternity, it is his willful submission to the father’s plan that makes this happen. NOTE- Some believers spiritualize the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation, they relate it to those who have been ‘born again’ spiritually. Modern ‘Preterism’ holds to this view. (1013)CORINTHIANS 15:29-49 the resurrection body is a real ‘spiritual’ body. Paul describes the natural body [us now] as fleshly and like Adams body. He then describes the promised resurrection body as being like Jesus in his raised state. These verses can be a little confusing. When Paul says the resurrection body is ‘spiritual’ as compared to earthy, is he saying it is not real? No. But you can see how some early sects could use these verses and teach a ‘phantom’ type resurrection [Gnostic, Docetist type groups]. I was once asked by a Catholic believer if the church taught the physical resurrection. I assured the person that both Catholic and Protestant [and Orthodox] expressions of Christianity embrace the real future resurrection of the body. Now, is it the same body? Well, the way Paul describes it is by comparing the planting of seeds. When you plant a seed you don’t simply get a bigger seed! But you get various types of growth, whether it’s a tree or plant or whatever. So Paul says our future bodies will be new and glorious in this way, but if it weren’t really you, then it wouldn’t be a resurrection! So you will come back, but it will be a ‘new you’. Over the years I have studied various theologians [Christian ones] and I have seen the penchant for various groups to focus in on a certain doctrine and to stray somewhat from the faith. Now, they aren’t always cults, some of them are highly knowledgeable Christians who seem to be testing the boundaries of orthodoxy. I like N.T. Wright, the famous Bishop of Durham [Church of England] but you need to be grounded in what you believe before you can really read him. I feel at times he is helpful in bringing new perspectives to things, I have seen some of the things he teaches myself. But there is also a danger of ‘re-thinking’ stuff a little too much. By the way Wright has written on the resurrection and has done a great job at defending the historic churches position. He’s in somewhat of a theological controversy at the moment, some of the strong reformed brothers have come out and challenged his view on Justification. Wright teaches that the historic reformers kind of missed what Paul was saying. Wright ‘extends’ the doctrine to mean ‘a sign/badge of those who are already in Gods covenant community’. The historic reformers taught a more forensic meaning of the doctrine. That justification is primarily saying that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. That Jesus took our sins, and we get his righteousness. Now, I feel there is some truth to Wrights view. But I would be careful to throw out the reformed view all together. There certainly is much truth to the reformed view. John Piper [a reformed Baptist] just released a book on the reformed view, Wright has one coming out pretty soon [Wrights is already published overseas, but the states wont get it for a few months]. So, the point is I believe the historic church and the ancient creeds ‘got it right’ on the resurrection. It is real, it will happen to all people some day. Those who have ‘done good’ [wow- these are Jesus actual words when describing the final judgment!] will be ‘raised to life’. Those who have done evil will be raised to face judgment. We can all escape the coming judgment, Jesus died for us. If we believe and accept his death, burial and resurrection, then we will be raised to a new life some day. 378- (I stuck this entry in here because it deals with the ‘baptism for the dead’, I didn’t want you to think that I just skipped over the verse) Let me give a little example of the ‘overriding act of redemption’ trumping any little verse or experience. Paul actually tells the Corinthians ‘if the dead are not raised, then why are you baptizing people in ‘proxy’ for the dead?’ This is tough stuff. Let me give you one way to see this. The ‘baptism for the dead’ seems to have been a real cultural thing that took place in a specific time and setting [like the slavery verses I mentioned earlier]. There seems to have been a concern specifically to the 1st century church that said ‘this new doctrine of Jesus is great, but being its only been around a few years, and you are telling us [Paul] that you must embrace it to be saved. Then we have a problem. A lot of our loved ones never got a chance to hear. How do you expect us to quell these concerns?’ And it’s possible that the ‘baptism’ by proxy [like a father or son getting baptized in the place of the loved one who died] was a 1stcentury cultural thing that grew out of this. The fact that they were doing this does not mean that Paul the Apostle was condoning it. Paul was simply saying ‘if you guys really don’t believe in life after death, then why are you bothering with this rite?’ Its like Paul was using their own cultural thing to show them the inconsistency of their thinking. He wasn’t really teaching the baptism for the dead. [This is my view, Mormons believe different. They do practice this today and they use this verse as justification]. (1014)CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 Okay, let’s wrap up this chapter. ‘Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom’ Paul speaks a little on the nature of the resurrected body. It is real, but not mortal [flesh and blood] without getting lost in the technical aspects of the actual body, Paul does make a distinction between the natural life of man [blood gives life to the mortal man] and the supernatural life of the resurrected body [spiritual life]. Then Paul shows us a mystery [something that was hidden up until the time God reveals it- here thru Paul!] that ‘we shall not all experience death, but we shall all get new bodies’. Paul teaches that some believers will not face natural death, they will be the generation that is alive at Christ’s coming. Paul says this happens at the ‘last trumpet’. For those of you not familiar with some of the silly stuff that passes under the heading of ‘theology’, let me explain some stuff. In the world of ‘dispensationalism’ there is an entire body of teaching that deals with the trumpets in scripture. Basically if Paul is teaching that this event, getting raised from the dead and being transformed, if this takes place at ‘the last trump’ then it is pretty clear that this event is not some type of rapture that takes place 7 years prior to Gods ‘last trump’ [last day, when God wraps things up]. But if you read the portions of scripture that speak about Christ’s return and the resurrection [Thessalonians 4, John 14, Matthew 25] you will see that all these scriptures teach that the resurrection takes place at the end, when Christ returns. So anyway a whole lotta time is spent by the rapture guys to explain that when you are in school, you might say ‘hey, that’s the last bell [trump] before class starts’ and that ‘last bell’ doesn’t mean ‘last bell’, but it means the ‘last bell for now’. It’s kind of silly stuff that preachers do in order to back up their theories. If scriptures ‘last trump’ isn’t really the ‘last trump’ then you can fit the rapture in as a separate event from the second coming. I think doing doctrine like this is silly and hairsplitting. The first century believers who were reading these letters [not all at once, but as they were slowly being penned and sent] simply saw all of the references on the second coming as one event. It’s silly to try and make two separate lists of the New testament verses on Christ’s coming and then place some verses under a rapture heading, and others under a ‘second coming’ heading, especially when the rapture brothers themselves cant agree on which ones belong to which list! Well any way we have a glorious promise of a future resurrection body, the last enemy that Jesus destroys is death. Revelation says ‘death and hell are cast into the lake of fire’ Jesus has power over death, hell and the grave. He will totally eradicate all death some day, Jesus tasted death for every man [Hebrews] so that man does not have to be in bondage under its fear any more. VERSES [These are the verses I either quoted or taught from on today’s post] 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations 1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Genesis 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Genesis 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. Genesis 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. Genesis 2:11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; Genesis 2:12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. Genesis 2:13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Genesis 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Genesis 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; Genesis 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Chapter ThreeGenesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Genesis 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Genesis 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. June 10, 2018 « June 9 | June 11 » Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 89Reading 1GN 3:9-15 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me-- she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it." The LORD God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Responsorial PsalmPS 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 R. (7bc) With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. R. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. R. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD. R. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption and he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. R. With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. Reading 22 COR 4:13—5:1 Brothers and sisters: Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we too believe and therefore we speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. AlleluiaJN 12:31B-32 R. Alleluia, alleluia. Now the ruler of the world will be driven out, says the Lord; and when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself. R. Alleluia, alleluia. GospelMK 3:20-35 Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder the house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." 窗体顶端 窗体底端 Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Romans 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations MY SITES Active sites- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87 https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/ https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/ https://medium.com/@johnchiarello http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching] Inactive- work in progress https://ccoutreach87.joomla.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home Video sites [Can download my videos free of charge] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive https://onedrive.live.com/?id=root&cid=8C01100DF9D82987 Youtube- Beta https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U I no longer upload videos to this site- but there are many links to download here as well- https://ccoutreach87.com/ Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot. I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John REFORMATION I’ll post this today [Thursday- 6-14-18] and Hopefully post the Sunday sermon in a few days- I added links to the videos I uploaded the last few nights- and I have started a few new ‘share’ sites and am not sure how they work. So I think some of them ‘re-share’ to my other sites- which is fine. But you might be seeing stuff more than once- and my intent is not to ‘spam’ you guys. Maybe I’ll add a part of the Sunday post below- It’s basically finished already- but I have a few more verses to copy and paste. I have seen my homeless friends the last few days and there are always interesting stories to share- but for now I’ll just focus a bit more on teaching- and encourage you to read thru the studies- engage in the text- check the references and all- read the bible passages I teach and see what the Lord shows you. All of us just have a little glimpse of the wisdom of God- when everyone has a voice- a collective ‘say so’ it benefits us all.. Ok- here's a part of the next Sunday post- [part] This Sunday I made the video right before going into Church Unlimited https://churchunlimited.com/ - I also linked about a minute video of part of the worship service. I taught on the verses from the mass and will link my past teaching below on Kings 18- which Pastor Bil spoke on. The Mass verses [added below in the Verses section] were from Genesis 3 and Mark 3. I spent a little more time teaching Genesis 2 and 3- and will also add my commentary on Mark 3 below. In Genesis 2-3 we read the account of the creation of man- and his fall into sin. In Genesis 2:8 we read And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. God forms man- he prepares him- and then places him into a ‘garden’- In the New testament we read about the church- the people of God- as a garden. There are ministry gifts- offices if you will- Apostles- Pastors- teachers- and these leaders are placed into God’s garden- after God ‘forms’ them- he brings them thru Cross experiences and then they are ‘able’ to work in the vineyard of God. See? I also spoke about Adam and Jesus- and how the bible teaches us that Jesus is the ‘Last Adam’- In Timothy 2 we read- 1Timothy 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. How does this relate to Christ? You will have to watch the video [Sunday sermon- 6-10-18] to get it. But I’ll give you a hint- [I’ll post it all on Sunday- God willing] Here are the videos I uploaded the last few nights- the teaching for today is below- 6-11-18 Troy’s [my dog] 1st swim- short teaching [windy] https://youtu.be/Xb6j0rn6ANQ https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204452715076131/ Teaching- Real time https://youtu.be/V3_WxPWXh-0 https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10204453870225009/ [I talked about 1st cor. 9-10 on the above video- here’s a link to my study] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/ Kingdom come https://youtu.be/WUezNtwPeug The flood https://drive.google.com/file/d/13idFBgZPAPlG0LBDEYH9Hh-7XtNaIKo1/view?usp=sharing Jesus and Tolstoy [filmed this while walking out of Our Lady of Fatima church in my hometown of North Bergen- New Jersey https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVBAAWWPyAQ7KCX9 The roof https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M-m4c7kKS9zFjBeD4kHDoG5RbhR0GfVq/view?usp=sharing Jersey city [Teaching on the road in New Jersey] https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVF0io0XFSNIzRdo Your wrong https://youtu.be/AZtJ4lDh09o The boys https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J4Qp1_M0Lt6KuRRsafMZB3eNOHrq4Bb_/view?usp=sharing Hackensack New Jersey- https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgVJEgrLGwdYY9fgs My teaching on the Protestant Reformation- Okay- let’s start a brief overview of some church history. Over the next few weeks I want to hit on the 16th century Protestant reformation and try and cover some of the key figures of the movement. Martin Luther- the German reformer who had the most influence in the movement was born and raised in Germany. As a boy his parents were peasant farmers and eventually his dad became a miner and became a very successful businessman- he would go on and eventually own 6 foundries. He sent his son to law school- and young Luther excelled. At the age of 21 he accomplished more than many of his peers. One day on his way home from the university a thunderstorm broke out and Luther was almost struck by a bolt of lightning. In fear he cried out to Saint Ann [the mother of Mary] and said ‘Saint Ann- if you save me I will become a monk’ [Ann was the patron Saint for miners- thus Luther was familiar with her]. He was spared and off to the monastery he went. Luther eventually became an ordained priest and even though his dad initially was upset that his son became a priest- yet he was proud of his boy later on. Luther would eventually make a Pilgrimage to Rome- on foot [a few month walk from Germany to Rome!] and what he saw devastated him. Rome- and the Vatican- were in bad shape. Many of the priests lived in open sin- and the city that he saw as his headquarters for the faith- well it was a mess. Luther made the famous penitent walk/crawl up the stairs of the Lateran church [this church was the most famous church before the construction of St. Peters. The actual stairs of the church are the same stairs that Christ walked up during his trial under Pontius Pilate. Yes- you hear many ‘stories’ while studying church history- things like the relics or left over pieces of the Cross- well these stories are usually fake. But the stairs of the Lateran church are indeed the same stairs that Christ walked on- the early ‘church’ builders dismantled the stairs at Pilate’s court in Jerusalem and installed them at this church building in Rome]. When Luther got to the top of the stairs- it is reported that he questioned the faith- he had a crisis of faith and thought that maybe the whole thing was a sham. Okay- as we do a few more posts over the coming weeks- I want you guys to see that the main players of the Reformation were sincere Catholic men who had many questions about what they saw as corrupt in their own church. These men did not want to start a breakaway church- they simply wanted to reform the church they loved. Keep in mind that Luther excelled during his legal studies- he had a keen legal mind- this will be important later on when we see the debates he has with Rome over the doctrine of Justification by faith- the letters of the apostle Paul [Romans- Galatians] use lots of legal language- and his early education will help him in these debates. Okay- that’s it for today. Maybe do a Google search on Luther and familiarize yourself a little with the history. The ‘readings’ for this week are 2nd Samuel 6-7 and Psalms 89. See what they have in common. [1768] LUTHER- THE TOWER EXPERIENCE Let’s start with some church history. In the last post I covered the early years of Martin Luther- probably the most significant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Luther studied for the priesthood in Erfurt, Germany. He would eventually wind up in Wittenberg- one of the major university cities of the Reformation. Wittenberg was actually a small insignificant town- but the political leader over the region- Frederick the Wise- sought to put it on the map. He wanted to turn Wittenberg into a German ‘Rome’. He wanted it to become a major Pilgrimage city where Christians would see Wittenberg as a destination- just like they saw Rome. So Frederick embarked on this plan and he searched thru all the Catholic learning centers of the time and finally recruited 3 top scholars to teach out of the university at Wittenberg- Luther was one of the 3. Just as a side note- Frederick would succeed at making Wittenberg a major catholic center. He would eventually obtain over 19,000 Relics for the Cathedral church there [Relics were used in the ancient system of buying indulgences and making special pilgrimage trips to important Churches. If the church/city that your making the Pilgrimage to has a lot of Relics- bones or other famous material objects from church history- then the value of the Pilgrimage was high. In theory Frederick collected so many that if you added up all the ‘time off’ from Purgatory- you would get 1 million, 900 thousand years off! Some of the famous relics at Wittenberg were a hair from the beard of Jesus- straw from the manger Jesus was born in- and even a branch from the famous burning bush of Moses! As you can see- there was a lot of commercializing going on- even back then]. When Luther arrived in Wittenberg- he made a name for himself as a top scholar. Many protestants- who revere Luther- usually are not aware that he was a master Linguist [sort of like Rick Perry!] Yes Luther mastered language- and he showed it in his teaching on the book of Psalms. In 1515 he began his famous study on the book of Romans and as he went thru the very first chapter- something shook him. He came across the passage that says the Just shall live by faith. This verse first appears in the O.T. book of Habakkuk- and is quoted 3 more times in the N.T. Luther was very aware of the concept of the righteousness of God- he struggled for many years trying to reconcile his own sinful nature with Gods holiness- but he never really ‘saw’ the biblical concept of righteousness as a free gift that God ‘imputes’ to the sinner. Yes- for the 1st time in Luther’s life- after his years training for the priesthood- the pilgrimage he made to Rome- the thousands of hours he spent confessing his sins while a monk in Erfurt- he never really understood that the righteousness of God was a free gift given to those who have faith. It was a giant weight lifted from his shoulders- Luther did not need to try any more to live up to the standards of God- in a way that would earn for him forgiveness- but he would simply believe- and the righteousness of God would be counted to him as a gift. Luther would go on to call this an Alien Righteousness- that is it is not found within the person who tries to do all the church works he can- or buying all the indulgences- or any other of the many religious actions he was practicing- but this free gift of being right with God- it came to those who had faith- the Just shall live by Faith- this was indeed good news for the scholar. As time went on- Germany would get embroiled in the political machinations of the day- Luther’s top political cover was Frederick the Wise- hardly a Protestant Reformer! He spent lots of time trying to make Wittenberg the major Catholic center in Germany. But at the time there was a political fight raging between Rome and some of the other nation/states. There was a figure head office called the Holy Roman Emperor. This office was really in name only- but it rose up during the first Millennium of Christian history and sought to replace the influence that Rome was losing. So you had France, Spain and England all vying for the title. Eventually it would go to King Charles of Spain- but the Pope- who played a major role in nominating the person- he did not want any of these top 3 to get the position. Henry the Eighth was the king of England at the time- and these ‘3 kings’ were sort of in competition with Rome- so the Pope tried to get Fredrick the Wise to throw his hat into the ring. Frederick just happened to be one of the Electors of this position. His actual title was The Elector of Saxony. So Fredrick had lots of influence- and as Rome would eventually but heads with the stubborn bull of Wittenberg [Luther] Frederick would become the major protector of Luther. Okay- I think we’ll stop here for today. The experience that Luther had- the enlightenment that came to him while teaching the book of Romans- this is often called The Tower experience of Luther- it took place in the year 1515. [1770] TREASURY OF MERIT Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation. In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine. In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him. The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role. It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes. If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region. Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church. At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church. Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too. It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them. So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time. So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments. Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time. So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences. What’s an Indulgence? Okay- this is where it gets tricky. The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years. You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time. The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one. The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession]. When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance. One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught. In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope. So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful. Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of. It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing. But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account]. The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole. It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them. But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement. As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine. There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change. Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process. Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God. The idea- applied to Christ- is good. But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster. www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John [1773] LUTHER CLASHES WITH ROME Let’s do another post on the Protestant Reformation. I’ll probably only do a few more before I transition into another study. By the way- all the studies I do thru out the year are posted in the February posts of the following year. Okay- last we left off Luther was just beginning to butt heads with the church [Tetzel] over the abuse of the sale of indulgences that was going on in Germany. In a previous post I mentioned how the priest- Tetzel- was selling these ‘get out of Purgatory’ type coupons in the area where Luther operated out- Saxony. Actually- Tetzel never entered Saxony itself- but was selling these out of a bordering city- and many of Luther’s students/parishioners were being hoodwinked into spending their money to rescue a loved one out of Purgatory. Tetzel is known for a jingle he started in connection with the sale of the indulgence- it goes ‘as soon as a coin in the coffer rings- a soul in Purgatory springs’- ouch! Like I said before- the church never taught this- they did teach the Treasury of Merit [previous post] but the way Tetzel used it was a real abuse of the teaching of the church at the time. Now- Luther responds to the abuse by writing the famous 95 thesis. This is the act that is often associated with the launching of the Reformation- the act that got the ball rolling. The 95 thesis were simply 95 questions challenging the whole practice of the sale of indulgences- there was no mention of the doctrine of Justification by Faith- which will become the trumpet sound that springs out of the Protestant Reformation. Luther takes these questions- written in Latin- and nails them to the university church door at Wittenberg. Sometimes while reading church history this ‘nailing to the door’ is seen as a sort of vandalism – you know- ‘he nailed them to the door!’ In actuality Luther was simply using the system of the day that one scholar would use in order to bring up an official point of contention with the church- Luther wrote the Thesis in Latin- which was the scholars language- not the language of the common man. But Luther’s students quickly translated the Thesis into the vernacular [German] and it was said that in 2 weeks the paper made it into every village of Germany. The challenge was a spark in the lives of many Christians who also believed the church was off track and that someone needed to rebuke her- and they picked Luther as the man for the job. Now- the Catholic church wanted Luther to go to Rome and discuss the situation there- Luther’s friends warned him not to go- so they agreed to meet- a few times- in Germany. The first meeting was in 1518 at Heidelberg- Luther actually gave a great defense of his argument and convinced some other top Catholic scholars that he was right [as a side note- the church had already scheduled this meeting because of a controversy that rose up between the Augustinian order of monks and the Dominicans. They were debating over which philosophy was more consistent with church teaching- Nominalism or Realism- for those of you who have read the posts this past year- I taught this when doing our posts on philosophy]. One man- Martin Bucer- wrote a stirring account of Luther- Bucer would later influence another young Swiss priest with Reformation teachings- his name is John Calvin. As a side not Calvin will become one of the 3 big heavy hitters of the 16th century Reformation [Ulrich Zwingli is the 3rd]. Luther will meet again in Augsburg- and debate the leading Catholic scholar of the day- Cardinal Cajetan. Then he goes to the city of Leipzig- and debates the leading German scholar- Johann Eck. And his last meeting with the church will be at the famous Diet of Worms [pronounced- Vurmtz] and it will be here that Luther makes his last stand and officially will break with the church and launch the Protestant Reformation. It should be noted that Luther held what we call a High Church position for most of this time- he still saw the church at Rome- and the Pope- as a legitimate expression of true Christianity- his beef was what he saw as an abuse of the system- by the priest Tetzel. As time progressed- the other beliefs of Luther- founded upon the bible- did come into contention with Rome. The main disagreement eventually became the teaching in the bible called Justification by faith. I have written a study on the topic on the blog- I have also written a bible study on the book of Romans and Galatians. For those of you who can- try and read Romans chapters 2-4 and Galatians 2-3- these are the key chapters that cover the teaching. Down the road I will cover the official teaching of both the Protestants and the Catholics on the doctrine of justification- the Catholic Council of Trent- referred to as the Counter Reformation- spells out the official teaching of Rome- and there are a few papers put out by the Reformers that explain their belief. Since the 16th century Reformation there have been efforts made by Protestants and Catholics to bridge the gap as much as possible- to try to come to some common language since the historic split. I like some of the efforts that have been made- and recently both groups put out a statement that jointly said we all believe that we are saved by Gods grace thru Christ- that’s good. But as we get into some of the actual discussion- you will see the points at which the 2 sides disagreed- and the main one was on the act- the actual thing that happens- when a person is declared just- the Reformers said it takes place when a person has faith- believes- the Catholic church said it takes place at baptism- water baptism. This- as well as a few other things- will be a defining distinction between the 2. www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John 1775- WHAT DID HE SAY? Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying church history. But I have found over the years that a lot of independent type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good church folk back on the balanced course. A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt God wanted. At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using. After a while I realized that some of the stuff was so off course- that if they didn’t make some major course corrections at the time- that they were going to end up spending their entire Pastorate teaching stuff that is out right false. I have talked a lot about this over the years- and the examples are too numerous to cover them all- but a good example is the ‘Camel going thru the eye of a Needle’ verse. One time Jesus and his men were going thru town and a young rich guy asks Jesus what he must do to be saved. A pretty straight forward question- right to the point. Jesus tells the guy to keep the law- the guy asks which ones. Ah- now you’re digging yourself in brother. So Jesus says to love God and his neighbor- these are the top ones. He asks ‘and who is my neighbor’? Jesus goes on and gives an explanation- and he also tells the guy to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor- and follow him. The guy goes away sad because he was rich. Then Jesus says ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a Camel to go thru the Eye of a Needle’. What? The disciples [I think Peter?] say ‘then who can be saved’? Jesus says with men it is impossible- but not with God- with God all things are possible. [just a quick side note- I haven’t read all these stories in a while- trust me- they are all in the bible- but I might have mixed a few together- but the main point stays the same] Okay- in context- what could Jesus be saying about the camel and the needle? It sure seems like he’s using a figure of speech that would mean ‘look- the guy is too attached to his money to fully give himself over to being a follower of me- maybe down the road he will change- but he’s not ready yet’. Seems reasonable to me- don’t you think? But wait- in the group of pastors/teachers that were popular at the time- one of the main teachings was how to get rich- and they saw financial increase as the main thing- I mean that’s what they focused on all the time. So what do you do with verses like these? You simply change them- you make them say what you want. So the ‘true’ explanation for the Camel and the Needle became ‘the Eye of the Needle is the name of a low passage way thru the wall into the city- and the merchants- if they have lots of stuff- well the Camel has to stoop low to get thru’. Aha- so what seems to mean ‘rich folk will have a hard time making the kingdom’ really means something else- as a matter of fact- it means the opposite- because the Camels that have to ‘scooch’ belong to the owners who have a lot of goods- thus the Camel has to get low. Okay- maybe as rank amateurs this stuff was not the unpardonable sin- but many of these men are still teaching this type of stuff- and this one example is the tip of the iceberg- I could go on for a long time quoting all them but that’s not the point for now. The main point is- if Christians separate themselves from the broader church- not just talking about ‘going to church’ but talking about the broad understanding that the people of God have- the books and teachings of those who have gone before us- not just one small group- but the whole community- then we will avoid these kinds of pitfalls. As we do a few more posts in the coming weeks on church history- we will see this was one of the things restored by the Protestants Reformers during the 16th century. Luther restored what’s referred to as the Literal Sense- that when you read the bible- you should be able to take it at face value- as much as possible. Sure- you also want to ‘hear God’ speak in a personal way- but if what your hearing is the exact opposite of what the text is saying- well then we do have a problem. www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John 1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith? Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!] both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works. Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as |