Monthly Archives: March 2010
Understanding Spiritual Laws in the Bible
(Ver 1.3) This is Part 1 in a lesson series about Bible Spiritual Laws created by God. I use to like to study natural and physical laws found in science when I went to school. We are surrounded by these natural laws, dominated by these laws and are completely dependent upon them for our continuing existence on this planet. After studying the Bible for many years, I have realized that God created natural things as patterns for things that are found in the spiritual realm. Every day we get up and get out of bed and never think about most of these natural laws that rule our lives. Yet they are affecting what we do and the results that we have regardless of whether we are thinking of them or not. The laws of motion, the laws of gravity, the laws of thermodynamics and the laws of aerodynamics are just a few of these scientific systems that we depend upon. God created these natural systems so that we could depend upon and have confidence in them every day by faith. You may or may not understand how these laws that I just gave you work, but yet you can believe in them and use them to your advantage or your harm depending on what you desire to happen. For example, if you want to go to California from New York, the law of aerodynamics can help your pilot override the laws of gravity and help you to get you there in a matter of a couple of hours or so by plane. This is just a small example of how natural laws help us in our everyday lives.
Introduction to Spiritual Laws
Just as there are natural and physical laws that rule and control our outcomes, there are also spiritual laws that control our eternal destiny. God is a highly organized being of supreme intelligence. Any organization in order to be organized requires structure and laws and so it is in God’s spiritual Kingdom. God operates under a set of strict spiritual laws that I would say most Christians do not understand. Religious minded people like to think that God is omnipotent and that means He can do whatever He wants to, whenever He wants to, to whoever He wants to. I have no doubt that God is powerful enough and has the capability to do exactly that, however, by reading God’s Word we can discover that God has imposed limitations and constraints upon himself by His own design. God has transferred spiritual ability, freewill, decision making capabilities, reasoning, thought processes and even authority to the human race.
Spiritual Law 1: The Law of Faith
In order to understand spiritual laws, you must first start by recognizing that there are spiritual laws. You cannot start to learn about what you do not know, until you learn that these laws exist and then how these spiritual laws govern the things that occur in our world. Here is a Bible verse that gives us just one spiritual law found in the Bible:
Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
God informs us of many of the spiritual laws found in the Bible, but you have to look for them. This verse tells us that “faith” is a spiritual law. We can understand that faith is the ability of man to believe something that cannot be confirmed with our natural senses. For example, to have “faith” in an unseen God. You have never seen God, but yet believe that He exists. That is Bible faith! Faith is the belief of something that cannot be proven in the natural realm. If you could prove this thing existed, it wouldn’t be faith. The world likes to say “seeing is believing” but that is not Bible faith and that is not a true statement. If you can see something you know it exists and you do not have to believe anything. To know something is true is much different than to believe something is true. If someone came to me and told me that they saw a man walk on the lake barefooted. I would have to either choose to believe what they said or you would have to reject what they said, since I did not see it with my own two eyes. If I chose to believe it, that is putting faith in that person and what they said.
So faith is a spiritual law designed by God to teach us a principle that God thought was very important for us to know. When Jesus walked the face of the earth, if you were one of those that knew Him, you could see that He appeared to be no different than any other man. He ate, he slept and he did all of the things that you and I do. So how did Peter when asked by Jesus “who am I”, know that He was the Son of God? It had to be by faith. Sure Peter could see everything that He did and how that Jesus healed the sick and even raised the dead, but that still did not prove that He was God. Did you ever think about the fact that Judas saw the same things that Peter did and yet turned Jesus into the soldiers to be killed. How could both men see things so differently, who had witnessed everything that they did? One chose to believe and the other did not! Therefore, the law of faith worked for Peter but, Judas chose not to use it.
Spiritual Law 2: Sin and Death vs. Spirit and Life
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Here is another verse found in the Bible that speaks of two spiritual laws that are diametrically opposed to each other. You might think of these like the laws of aerodynamics vs. the laws of gravity. The laws of aerodynamics overrule the laws of gravity and thus allows men to fly in airplanes. Well according to this verse, the spiritual law of Life in Christ Jesus has super ceded the law of sin and death. These are two scientific principles based upon the natural law of cause and effect. The result of natural sin is natural death. We can see this from Genesis 2 where God told Adam don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you do you will surely die. The Bible tells us that death entered into the world through the sin of one man, Adam (Rom 5:12). But, it also tells us that by the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ all those who received it, would be made alive again. These are two spiritual laws that have different results. By embracing the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus we have overcome the law of sin and death that was passed upon us by our father Adam. Our spiritual father Jesus took upon Himself death that we might be a partaker of His life. That is an awesome trade for us.
Spiritual Law 3: Plant a Seed and Get a Harvest
There are many spiritual laws in the Bible and I cannot go into all of them. For the sake of understanding I will give you one more example of a spiritual law found in the Bible. This law governs men and women and their physical destiny almost more than any other that I can think of. Because, people do not understand spiritual laws, they do not know how they have arrived at and are faced with all of the predicaments that they are presently confronted with. People tend to believe in luck, either good luck or bad luck has dealt them what they have in their lives. Other people believe, in the Doris Day religious philosophy “Ka Sa Ra, Whatever will be Will Be!. Meaning no matter what happens to them it was not caused by anything that they did. However, God has revealed something else in the Bible that is much more relevant to know than to think that everything that happens to us hass just been our bad luck.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
You see God gives us some very specific instructions in this verse. Because, He does not want us to be deceived by what happens to us, He tells us clearly a spiritual law that governs our lives. Sowing and Reaping is a spiritual law found in the Bible from cover to cover. Just as the Law of Faith occurs in the Bible as a predominate theme and pattern, you can find every spiritual law revealed in every story of the Bible, if you look closely to discover them. Sowing and reaping is a spiritual law implemented by God and it affects everyone equally, whether they realize it or not. If you do not understand this spiritual law you need to study about farming concepts. Farmers understand the law of sowing and reaping. They plant specific seeds to get specific crops and harvests. They do not plant corn seed to get cabbage. They understand that whatever they sow, is exactly what they reap. This is a spiritual law as well as a natural physical law.
Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
Written in the Law of God, in this verse in Genesis God is giving us some valuable information. Many times, God speaks both in natural and spiritual terms in a verse and gives us a law found in creation. God informs us as long as the earth is here, we will see a cycle of continuous nights and days and repeated seasons of warmth and cold. But, along with this information is another repeated cycle of planting seeds and reaping harvests. You can understand that God is speaking of how people will physically eat on this planet, but you can also apply this principle to the spiritual life of people. God is informing us how things work and we need to understand it, to be successful. If you walk around planting seeds of discontent, seeds of discouragement, seeds of gloom, seeds of despair, seeds of evil, hurt, harm, guess what you will reap? God said he would not be mocked, that a man or a woman would reap exactly what they have sown. There are just as many ways to sow seed in the spiritual realm, as there are in the natural realm. So every day you are planting seeds for your tomorrows. Today you are reaping the harvests of your seeds of yesterdays and the cycle goes on and on. If you don’t like what you are getting today in life, change what you are planting for your tomorrows.
So I talked about a small number of spiritual laws found in the Bible. These laws govern and control what you get out of life. God gives us great information about these laws in the Bible so that we can learn to use them to help us to live life to the fullest. God gives us a number of great examples in the Bible of people utilizing these laws to achieve great things. God also gives us examples of people who did not follow these spiritual laws and how they came to a less than admirable ending. By cooperating with the spiritual laws we are far less likely to fall into something that someone could call just your random bad luck! God Bless!
If you would like to continue readin about spiritual laws found in the Bible you can continue with “Part 2“.
Understanding God’s Spiritual Family Structure!
(Ver 2.0) This is “Part 1” in a series of very important advanced spiritual Bible lessons that will change your life and outlook on God and His Holy Word if you permit Him to do so. Do you know what a family is? How do we define a family in the modern world? Satan is diligently attempting to pervert the family definition and corrupt God’s original design but these lies still do not take away from God’s truth. Reading the Bible we can very clearly see that God created a specific family unit system and a very specific designed family structure here on the earth. Was this family design something brand new or was it patterned after something in heaven that already existed? Please let me give you a verse of great importance as a foundation to this entire series. It is found in the Book of Luke and is understood to have been spoken directly by Jesus quoting from an obscure minor prophet name Micah:
Luk 12:53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Ok, this is the mystery verse that initiated this Bible study series. I have given it to you first to help you anticipate where God is taking us. When I read this verse a tremendous curiosity to what God was speaking of filled my heart. I just had a great desire to go and search the Bible to find out the answer to the mystery being spoken of by the Lord Jesus was. I prayed and asked God to help me to understand and step by step over several years He taught me so very much about His Spiritual Family. After this study. a lot more of the Bible came into focus and was so much more understandable than before.
God created the first family of our current world system and this event is described to us in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Take a moment and read these verses again. You should be able to observe that this created first family unit only consisted of one man called the husband and one woman called his wife. It is also important to note where the woman came from. The woman came from the body of her husband and was not created or formed separately or independently from her husband. This truth will become more important as you learn what this represents in the family of God. This earthly created family grew and expanded into numerous children and eventually became very large in numbers. In the terms of the current estimated human population on the earth today, the family of Adam has now grown to and exceeded nearly 7 billion people. We must therefore conclude from this very solid scriptural information that a real family by God’s definition and design is comprised of a single man, a solitary woman and at least some children. Does God have a spiritual family like this? Did God ever have a spiritual family that was the pattern for this created family of Adam? Here is a new question to also consider, what will the family of God look like at the end? Will the ending spiritual family of God in Revelation 22 be the same pattern of what has already come before? If you did not know it yet, God had a family exactly like this in heaven prior to creation and this is exactly how it will end up in the final chapter of Revelation. Therefore the original design of God’s family in the spiritual realm will be how the final family of God will also be patterned in the eternal spiritual realm after this world that we live within is completed.
God in the Bible is defined to be an eternal Spirit being but, the natural universe that we are now a part of, it had a created starting origination point also called a beginning (Genesis 1:1, John 1:1). Therefore, I believe that whatever God created here in the natural realm must have originated from the pre-existing spiritual realm. I believe from years of Bible study that whatever was made manifest here in the natural realm had to be patterned from that which already existed in the eternal spiritual world. I know that you may not yet understand patterns and I will give you a good introduction to pattern concepts before I continue this lesson on the spiritual family of God. Can we at least begin by agreeing that the spiritual realm existed prior to the physical/natural realm? Surely we can understand the concept of patterns by reading Genesis 1. 
Lets talk about light in Genesis 1 and where it came from! God is defined to us in the Bible as “light” where no darkness exists (1 Jn 1:5). Using this information we can go and look at Genesis 1:2 and see that there was no light found to be present on the earth and darkness covered the face of the deep. However, remember that the Creator God was called a spiritual light and He definitely pre-existed in heaven before creation took place. In Genesis 1:3 God said “Light Be” and light then came into existence within the natural realm. What was this natural light patterned from? If God was the spiritual light found in heaven, then it must have been patterned after God. How do I know that? Well if you read the end of the book you will see in Revelation 22:5 that we will have no need for the sun, moon or stars or even candles because God will be our source for eternal light again. What I have tried to demonstrate is how light had to exist in the spiritual realm first, and was then made manifest in the natural realm from a pattern of the spiritual dimension and then will again finally be transferred back into the completed spiritual realm of light in the end with no need for the natural anymore. Did you understand that? It is so important that you fully grasp these cycles of repeated pattern concepts.
What we are trying to do in this introduction of the subject is to establish that patterns were created by God for us to learn about hidden new spiritual things from the Heavenly. Spiritual Light had to eternally exist in heaven originating from God prior to the creation of the natural light here in this dimension. God in heaven had to be their only source for light because that is how it will end up in the end. Do remember what Jesus said? Jesus said “I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev 1:8). Jesus was saying that how it was in the beginning is how it will end up at the end because the Lord changes not (Mal 3:6). We also learn from reading in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that God says “the thing that has been is that which will be again…” In this verse God claims there are repeated patterns. Therefore what pre-existed in heaven has now come into existence on the temporary earth in natural terms and after this age is completed the spiritual light of God will again be our only source for light.
I pray that we all understand these essential concepts. We have just learned based upon the verse in Revelation 1:8, Malachi 3:6 and Ecclesiastes 1:9 that how it was in heaven before the earth’s existence is at the least potentially how it is designed by God to be in the end and if not, then God has changed and must have lied to us in His word. So let me ask you this “Which came first, the spiritual or the natural”? If you answered the spiritual you would be correct. Then let me ask you “How will it end up”? Do you understand what I am trying to teach here today in this introduction? It is very much like the old human question which came first the chicken or the egg? In this classic human debate, people ask how can a chicken arrive on the earth without coming through an egg? Then the argument goes into a circular debate, how then did the egg get here without a chicken to lay it? What people fail to understand is that there was a more intelligent God than they are that was also involved in the entire process. That is a key point to remember in reading the rest of this lesson series. This more intelligent Creator God has some pretty amazing things hidden in the Bible that reveal many of the answers to the questions that we have all had at one time about things in the Bible and in the world around us.
I hope that you are beginning to see some new patterns revealed in the Bible how God teaches us that certain specific things existed in heaven before they ever existed here on the earth. Perhaps I should regress and speak briefly about what humans use patterns for in our natural world. A seamstress will use patterns to create new dresses, shirts, pants, or other pieces of clothing. Each usage of the pattern replicates the original design using whatever fabric or customizations that are desired to produce the final product. To the untrained eye it is often difficult to recognize several products that come from the same pattern. However to the expert it is usually obvious. This is exactly how the Bible is also, what I see as an obvious pattern will often be overlooked by a novice Bible student. Where do you think man learned the use of design patterned concepts in what they create in the natural? Since man was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26) it is clear to me that what man does that is successful and beneficial here in the natural must have originated from what God has previously done in the spiritual. People use patterns in almost every manufacturing and building process. It is a dominant business working model and best practice for success. Therefore, learn the lesson of patterns because I will be talking about them a lot in this lesson series.
I could give you many other verses to help establish the pattern truth in the Bible, but I am going to skip most of these verses to keep this lesson manageable and give you a couple of examples that are directly related to what I am trying to teach about this subject on the spiritual family of God. Begin today in this lesson by understanding that God created the natural things found in this world to give us insight into the unseen pre-existing spiritual things. What God created and how God created it reveal things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world. Another way to say this is that God created natural things as a vision, or view or a window into the unseen spiritual dimension. Here is a verse that might help you to better follow what I am saying:
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
This is an amazing verse of truth being presented to us from God. It speaks clearly and directly about the things that God created in the beginning. God said that the hidden qualities of God can be clearly observed within the views of our current natural creation. This would include the design, the components, the systems, the laws, the organization and the structure of our planet, the world and the universe around us. That is some highly informative information. God says that you can look around you and find the hidden characteristics of God in the things that surround you everywhere. This of course does not mean that we worship creation and ignore the Creator and that is what many in the government, Hollywood and TV do. What God is telling us in this verse is that the most isolated men in the darkest, deepest parts of the world who have never heard the Gospel preached are without excuse. Meaning they could easily find God, if they only looked closely around them and saw Him. This is technically only possible if the natural realm contains patterns from the spiritual realm. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, God speaks to us about Enoch who walked with God and was taken because of his extreme close relationship with God. Let’s read this verse and then consider what it teaches us:
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Did you ever think and consider that there were no preachers, no churches, no Bibles, no witnesses to the truth and nobody to talk with to confirm that there was a God when Enoch was alive? If you do the calculations from the dates and times of birth you will find that even Adam had died when Enoch was taken up to be with God. Thereofre, even Adam who talked with God in the garden was no longer avaliable to consult on the existence of God. In fact in John 6:46 Jesus teaches us that no man including Adam and Enoch had ever seen God directly. How then did Enoch find this God and know Him so very well? I think that is a really good question to consider. Is this type of relationship with God still possible today for men to know God in this level of intimacy that God still takes us up? If you did not know it, it will happen very soon again and you could be possibly left behind like those in Enoch’s day. I believe it is possible for you to know God exactly like Enoch knew God and even greater! So let’s get back on the subject of God’s Spiritual Family Structure and prove this concept using the Bible that God had one of these in heaven.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
Here in this verse in Matthew, Jesus is speaking to the disciples. This verse has great information within it, as long as you do not overlook what it says. Jesus is calling himself the Master and the Lord. He then tells the disciples that if the Jews said that the Master of the House is “Satan”, how much more will the servants and the members of the household be also called “Satan”. There are two very important key words found in this verse of scripture. First, is the word “master of the house” and this Greek word means the “Head of the Family”. Jesus is the Head of a New Family of God. The next key word is “household”. This Greek word means “relatives” and those that live in the same “house”. It implies a close relationship between the “Head of the House” and those who are part of His family.
So apparently God does have a spiritual family, with family members, relatives if you please that live in the same house. These relatives are us, the church now and here is another important verse that confirms this statement of truth:
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
We can clearly see two contrasting groups of people being spoken of in this verse. One group of people are called “strangers” and “foreigners”. Have you ever been to a family reunion and not known some of the people there? Usually you know everyone that is present at the family reunion. However, if you come from a really big family you might sometimes not know every new child that is born since the last time you have gotten together. Then other family members marry new spouses and the family continues to grows and it can be challenging to keep track of everyone all the time. Nevertheless, what would you call someone who just shows up at your family party that no one there knows? They would be called a stranger to everyone. This was the exact way of God’s spiritual family when we were not saved, we were once foreign strangers to God’s spiritual family. Until we were saved, we were not members of that spiritual family, so something must have occured for us to be known by God’s family. This verse in Ephesians ends with a statement that we (the church) are now in the “household” of God. Again this Greek word, means that we are now a member of the family and even a close relative of the same family or household. Something changed or happened to put you into this family of God. Do you remember what that was? If you do not you are in trouble. If you have not been saved, you are not a member of this spiritual family. These verses imply that not everyone will be saved, so those that teach Universal Salvation have a major theological problem that they must just ignore.
Now I am going to introduce you to a verse in the Bible that I have already alluded to. Maybe you did not realize it, but Jesus has establish a New family of God. Why do I say that? Because the Bible seems to imply that the Old family of God had some significant problems with it.
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Here we have another important verse that has great revelation if we choose to see it. Jesus Christ the risen Son of God is said to be the head or master of a new spiritual house (family). Did you know the Hebrew word for Son (H1121) is “ben” and it literally means a builder of the family name? Therefore, Jesus being a Hebrew walked the face of the planet and called Himself both the Son of God and the Son of Man. What we discover from this new information is that Jesus is a unique product combination and the manifestation of a son from two separate and distinct dimensions. One dimension was spiritual (Son of God) and the other dimension was physical (Son of Man) and Jesus embodies both of these realms simultaneously as a qualified Family Builder and name extender. Wow, I do not really know if you heard what I said but it was important. Therefore, only Jesus was capable of rebuilding a new family and restoring the natural family of Adam after he sinned and the spiritual family of God to create a brand new family that consists of chosen select members of each of these previous dimensions, while omitting and leaving out those that God does not desire in. That is very tricky and extremely intelligent, if you ask me.
Did God have a pre-existing spiritual family before the creation of Adam and Eve? Did this family have a wife? Was God her husband? Who were the spiritual children in the previous Family of God before the creation of Adam? What we must do is look at Revelation 20, 21, and 22 and see that if God has a bride and children there then He must have had those also before our world began or God has changed and we know that is not possible. There are so many questions to consider and answer. The Bible reveals a lot of information on this subject and I will continue it in another future lesson. Thanks for taking the time to read and study the Bible with me and I pray that I helped you to see a new spiritual perspective of an old familiar subject. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading this series, please click here “Part 2“.
A Modern Example of Deception to Avoid – Part 5 Does God Need Your Militia?
(Ver 1.2) This is now “Part 5” in a series of commonsense Christian Bible lessons teaching us examples of modern deception that we should avoid at all cost. If you have not read this series from the beginning, you may desire to go and begin with “Part 1” first. But please understand that this lesson is not dependent upon any previous lesson for it to be understood and applied. Today’s lesson is about deception taking place that creates a worldly attitude that Christians are extremist crazy people that need to be imprisoned or killed. This is exactly the direction that Satan is trying to steer the unsaved world into believing about Christians. It is very much like what Satan did in the nation of Germany in the 1930’s when Jewish people were characterized as evil so that they could be exterminated. That is what is happening again today for Jewish people and for Christians.
MODERN DAY MILITIA
I was watching the news a while back when a concerning news story came across the television. Here was another example of extreme deception that we should avoid in the Body of Christ. I have said this before, but it is good to repeat it. If the news media puts a story on their valuable network time about Christians it is there for a purpose to drive Satan’s planned narrative. Therefore, take these stories and use wisdom to understand they are not there to make Christians look good.
In one state in the US, there appeared a group of people who call themselves Christians, who have armed themselves for a coming battle with the anti-Christ or so the news said. I don’t believe everything that the news always says, but if this is true these people are deceived into believing that their guns and military training is going to make a difference at the battle of Armageddon. How childish and ignorant this appears! The news story seemed to indicate that these people believed that we were living at the end of the age (which is the truth). They also believed that Jesus would be coming back to the earth very soon (which is more truth). They believed that the anti-Christ could be here already and that the end time battle for Jerusalem and the earth was soon to occur (this is also base upon Bible truth). So while they have all this truth mostly correct, they ignore the rest of the Bible and have bought into selective theology to justify their actions. In other words they have been deceived into believing a lie. They must not understand who Jesus is and how powerful that He is.
These Christians are thinking naturally and carnally and according to my Bible that is enmity against God. These people hopefully are saved Christians but they are lacking in a lot of spiritual knowledge, understanding and wisdom to know the POWER OF GOD. Not every person on the earth that calls them self a Christian is a Christian. I can call myself a car and go sit in my garage, but that does not make me a car.
Let us examine this carnal belief using the Bible. Let us start with Moses and the children of Israel leaving Egypt. What does God do? He parts the Red Sea and drowns all of the army of Pharaoh. Did God need anyone of the Israelites to do this? Were the Israelites armed with weapons of war that God required to fight this Egyptian enemy? Did you know that Egypt is a type of the world that we live in right now? That Pharaoh was a type of the anti-Christ and Satan. Did you know that the Bible says that what has been is the thing that shall be again (Ecc 1:9)? Will God need anyone to defeat the armies of the world led by the anti-Christ? I don’t think so! If God did need someone to defeat the anti-Christ , why choose a human? Why not some angels? God has millions or billions of angels that can kill everybody on the planet in a matter of seconds. God sent out one angel in 2 Kings 19:35 and he alone killed 185,000 human soldiers of Assyria. The current population of the earth is approximately 7 billion people. That would only take 38 angels to wipe them all out using the 2 Kings math. Let us read another Bible story about angels and there being no need for human weapons and fighting in a battle on the earth:
2Ki 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
In this story in 2 Kings, the prophet of God is confronted by his servant who asked “what are we going to do?” You see the enemies of God’s people had surrounded the hill side where they were and there were a whole bunch of them. In the natural they were vastly outnumbered, but Elisha did not panic, and even said “Fear Not”. He then exclaimed this, “There are more with us than there are with them”. At this point in time the servant could count, One + One = Two, against thousands and say what are you talking about? Then Elisha prays!
2Ki 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Did you notice Elisha did not pray for God to help, or to send help or ask God to do anything, but rather the prayer was to open the eyes of his young servant? This is what these militia people need. They need a word from God’s prophet from His written Word and to pray for God to open their eyes. God did answer this prayer! When God opened the eyes of the young man, he saw the hills covered with the army of God in chariots of fire. Now the servant could see that there were more with them than there were that were against them. Did God need anybody else? Did God tell Elisha to get his sword and fight? You see people who do not understand the Bible think that God is incapable of repeating anything that He has demonstrated before. You have to understand that any spiritual army of God is no match for any natural army of the earth. You do understand that, don’t you? Angels are bigger and stronger than us and we do not want to mess with one of them, much less thousands of them.
These confused, deceived Christians need a revelation from God to understand the power of God. God does not need any gun to defeat the anti-Christ or his armies. If you think He does need you then you are deceived. If we would just read the rest of our Bible and believe that God is God, we will be far better off. Let us stop giving spiritually mature Christians a bad reputation just because some carnal thinking baby Christians have not seen the truth yet. But, the world lumps Christians all together in the same crazy boat. Whenever, some deceived person bombs an abortion clinic, thinking they are doing God’s work they make every Christian come across looking like the same type of foolishness. I know this is actually a plan of Satan to do this. discount and discredit true Christianity, by deceiving a few people to look like crazy evil people.
So how does God defeat Satan and the anti-Christ and those that are arrayed against Him? Like I said if you would only need to read your Bible to find out that Jesus uses only one weapon to defeat every enemy. And this weapon is not your gun or your muscle. So what is this weapon that Jesus uses?
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
What part of this verse in Revelation sounds like God needs our gun or our whatever! The ONLY weapon that Jesus uses to defeat all of the nations of people arrayed against Him is His mouth. The Word of God is spoken and opponents fall down dead. Out of the mouth of the “Almighty God” will proceed a sharp sword and that is the only weapon that Jesus will need to defeat anybody that comes against Him. If we still do not understand that, I feel very sad for you, you have been deceived.
A PERSONAL APPLICATION
To believe that the Creator of heaven and earth requires human assistance to help defeat Satan, I believe is deception. I believe that this belief would be like little kids playing army. To a real soldier the kids would be amusing. Sometimes I believe God sometimes, sits in heaven and laughs at our childish behavior. So to the militia members and Christians that think that God needs your guns to defeat His enemy, here is our prayer for you!
Dear LORD, please forgive us for being so ignorant. Please give to us your Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Help us to better understand His Power, His Position and His Plan for every human. LORD open the eyes of our spirit that we might perceive the truth as you have given it and intended it. Give us a hunger to read your Word and the vision of how you see your Words and their meanings. We are looking forward to your soon return to catch us up and away from the coming judgments upon the earth dwellers. Thank you, and we are looking forward to returning back to the earth with You riding on a White Horse to rule and reign for 1000 years. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
God bless you and please pray for us. Your prayers are priceless and we value them immensely. Have a blessed time preparing for His soon coming, but if He has not return before our next lesson is available, live in peace and be led by His Spirit.
Understanding God’s Spiritual Encryption System in the Bible!
(Ver 2.0) Is the Word of God encoded with hidden mysteries and meanings? Has the Word of God been spiritually encrypted so that we cannot see it naturally or understand it with our unsaved minds? I often times observe other bloggers and other websites just to see what they are writing about. It is amazing what many people think is important to write about and what they have determined to be the truth. It obviously causes me to ask God a very direct question. Why don’t people see what you have written in the Bible the same way? How is it that we can have so many differing opinions to what it all means? Some see one thing in a verse and others see the complete opposite from the exact same verse. The words didn’t change, they read the same for both readers. It looks like to me it was just a matter of what they wanted to see that determined what they got out of the verse. It must be that someone or both of the readers were just wrong. Every opinion cannot be RIGHT! It just doesn’t make any sense does it? Why can’t God get over His message so that we can all agree on at least some or most of what it says? Do you think this is beyond God’s capability to do something like this? Or is it just man’s inability to see and understand? Could it be that God has purposefully encrypted the information to make it unreadable until the appointed time for Him to reveal it? This is actually what I believe! God has encoded information in plain sight using many very tricky techniques. I have already blogged on many of these techniques giving you the basic concepts of how God implemented them. If you have not read any of these blog I would suggest that you go an familiarize yourself with some of these techniques. By understanding the concepts I believe you will better be able to understand the word of God. However, today I want to explore Biblical evidence for this spiritual encryption system of God. Does the Bible indicate that there are hidden truths in it? Concealed information? Of course there are many verses that lead us to believe this, if you are looking for them:
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king….
This verse in Daniel reveals to us the nature of God’s character. It speaks to God’s methods of operation and to God’s ways of doing what He does. If God is a revealer of secrets, like this verse says, then it would demand that secrets existed. This is just basic logic and reasoning. To understand that God has encoded secrets within the Bible allows Him to reveal them to the kings of earth. That is you and I if you did not know it! This is what the king in Daniel said as a reply to the information that was revealed to him:
Dan 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
All it took was for God to reveal a truth and this king saw that Daniel’s God was the True Living God. Do you realize that God can do that again if He wants to? I believe that God is revealing the Bible in these last days to show us that He is God. But how did God do this in Daniel’s day? God used a man to present the information and nobody saw God, nobody could prove it came from God, nobody could verify the accuracy, nobody could go to a Bible expert to confirm it. Isn’t that an interesting concept? It sounds like the people that God was speaking to had to take some things by faith. They had to believe in a God that they had never seen or experienced. God simply used one man to reveal a secret and that changed the heart of the king. I pray that you are understanding this concept.
Pro 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Here we have a critical confirming verse that God has hidden or concealed information for the kings of the earth to search out. Anything that is hidden means that it is not clearly visible, it could be camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings or it could be completely covered by something else. To hide your money in the backyard would be an example of someone who did not want it taken or stolen until they wanted to use it. So God has a purpose in hiding information for us, the kings of the earth to find. To search out a matter implies work, an effort of either digging into or studying the Bible with some level of physical work or mental effort. If you just read the Bible with a shallow surface understanding of the words, you are missing the good stuff that God wanted you to find.
Not everything in the Bible is hidden, however not everything in the Bible is clearly understandable either. We have a challenge presented to us from God to determine what is what and what it all means. If you think it is easy, you are mistaken. The words are very complex and intricately embedded with meaning that is not clearly seen.
Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Here in this verse God says what I just said is not hidden from you. It also implies that there could be other things that are hidden from us. The verse ends in the statement that it is also not far off. This is a relation to distance and time. If something is a far off, it could take time to reach it. Since this verse is not a far off, we might could conclude that there are other verses that are potentially a far off, meaning they will be revealed only at the proper time whenever we reach that point. God has designed specific appointed times for certain events to occur. The coming of Christ into the world was at the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4). This means that after the completion of the time period allotted, Christ came. Then there is Daniel 12:4 that tells us in the time of the end that knowledge shall increase dramatically. We can clearly see this can be taken of natural knowledge, but I firmly believe it also applies to the Knowledge of God’s Word!
Isa 48:6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
This verse in Isaiah speaks about a point in time and how God had showed them “new things”. These “new things” were said to be hidden secrets and yet even after God showed them to the people it says they still did not understand them. Did you know that is my greatest challenge I face on my blog. How do I speak about new things that I found in the Bible and get anyone to understand them? It is much harder than you might think. People have a natural tendency to reject anything new or different, even if it came from God. Why do you think Paul and the other apostles were in prison and beaten and persecuted to the extent that they were? It was because they were teaching something totally new. Even though it came from the same source as what the Jewish leaders read daily in their temples, the message was new and different, so they concluded that it must have been wrong. Isn’t that what they thought? The Jewish leaders of their day were clearly right in their minds, but completely wrong in their hearts. That is a dangerous position to take and many Christians do it every day. To think that God cannot send you another man with a new message from the Bible is clearly a rejection of God and His message. You cannot reject one without rejecting the other.
Mat 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
This verse has vast implications written all over it. Being that this is God speaking, I take this statement very seriously. To me it would seem to indicate that God will reveal the things that He has hidden to us before He returns for us. However, you can take it to mean that God will also reveal them after He has returned and taken us up to heaven. That is one of the tricky methods that God has used to make things not easily understandable. To not reveal all of the information in one location that you need to know to make the determination of exactly when this will occur. We can be assured that it will occur, but when is something we will have to find in the Bible.
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Using this verse it would seem to indicate that Jesus was speaking about a time that is before His impending return. This verse in Colossians you can see that there is a term that relates to “now” as being the proper time. Now would not be later, would it? God seems to tell us that they mysteries which have been hidden for a very long time is now been given to the “saints” to understand. Did you know if you are a Christian, that you are one of these saints? Some churches like to vote to make people “saints” and if they satisfy their definition of a “saint” then you become one by their transformation of a title. However, God’s system is quite different than man’s system. If you are born again and saved, you qualify to be a saint. Therefore, you are the one that this hidden information is to be revealed to.
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our7 glory:
Here again in the verse in 1 Corinthians, we can clearly see that these hidden things are now being revealed to the church. God had a hidden plan from before the world began and this plan is now being revealed in the time of the church. This plan is called the hidden wisdom of God. This sounds like some very important stuff to know. If we could understand the wisdom of God, we would not make as many mistakes and could potentially derive great benefit from this information. It starts with gaining knowledge, but then it hinges on understanding these facts that you learn. Finally, wisdom is the ability to correctly apply what you have learned so that you make right choices and decisions.
2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
So the Gospel is still hidden to those who refuse to believe the truth. This implies that the spiritual encryption system that God has implemented is still in effect until we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This also could mean this is why there are so many denominations in the world today. The church is in varying stages of spiritual growth and development and not everyone sees these hidden things at the same time.
Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Jesus again speaking in a prayer to His Father, informs us of some other factors of who this information is still hidden from. Jesus clearly says that those in the world that exalt themselves and their wisdom will never know the secrets of the Kingdom of God. These are two distinct words that you should go lookup the definitions to. These are key factors why many people in the earth do not understand the Bible. The word “prudent”, means to “act piously” and to be wise in your own eyes. That sounds like they put on a show of how great they are. This can apply to Christians as well as to unsaved people in the world. Jesus did not qualify the statement, He only said that they would be revealed to those that have become like little children. Children are not usually arrogant are they? Children are usually hungry for knowledge and want to learn. Children are usually those that look to their parents for everything that they need. They are not self-sufficient, or able to care for themselves. So the opposite to small children would be those that think they know everything. Those who think they can take care of themselves. Those who think they need no advice or guidance. These are those that are wise in their own minds and thus are unable to comprehend the wisdom of God. I would suggest that you figure out where you fit in these verses that I have given you today. Since I am not your judge, I cannot judge you. I do not know where you are at. Only you can judge yourself or wait until God passes judgment. I hope you enjoyed this lesson on God’s spiritual encryption of the Bible. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading about the methods that God has used to encode information into the Bible, please go to “Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight Part 1“.
I Said Ye Are gods! Understanding Hard Sayings to Accept In the Bible!
(Ver 1.3) This is “Part 1” of a series of lessons that I am doing on “Understanding Hard Sayings” found in the Bible. The Bible is full of many difficult and hard things that we wrestle to wrap our limited human minds around. God says some things in the Bible that are extremely hard to accept by a lot of people. Most of the time, Christians read a difficult saying in the Bible and just ignore it, because they do not know how to explain it. Heaven forbid that we just read a Bible verse and accept it for what it says! Hardly ever do you hear a preacher teach on any of these hard things found in the Bible and when they do they usually attempt to excuse them or explain them away as something that they do not say. I do not know if they are afraid of these verses or just do not want to take the chance of offending anyone so they just steer away from all of the controversy. I could give you many examples of this in the Bible, but I’m going to go into one that is extremely controversial in most religious circles and one that is hardly ever mentioned in any church. Human reasoning has attempted to say that man is a nobody and a worm of a being. Many think that man is a being of very low order and importance in the spiritual chain of command or you might call it symbolically, the spiritual food chain. I have heard many ministers get up and teach how unworthy we are and how we are nothing and that we can do nothing. Yet the Bible does not seem to indicate this at all. I would say from what I read that it actually says the opposite.
Let me start by asking you a question that I have thought of and maybe you have also. If man was so unimportant and low in the spiritual food chain, why did God have to come to the earth in person to pay for our sins with His own blood and life? I mean that is an amazing question to consider. Couldn’t God come up with some other way or plan to fix the sin problem of the human race? God of course is the “Most High” in the spiritual food chain. There was and still is no one higher than God and yet He chose to come to the earth in the flesh. Were there not anyother sinless beings in heaven? Couldn’t God have sent someone else? Let me ask you was there anyone else that could have accomplished what God wanted and needed to accomplish with Jesus Christ? I do not think there was anyone else, but I can’t tell you all of the reasons why in this lesson.
Here is today’s key controversial Bible verse and it is Jesus speaking to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Let me tell you what is happening within the context of this verse so that you will understand it a little better. In this chapter of John, the Jews are speaking with Jesus and they are very upset and angry with Him. They ask Jesus to tell them plainly if He is the Messiah or not. Jesus tells them they do not believe the works that He does in his Father’s name so they would not believe if He told them anything else. They claim that Jesus has just blasphemed against God because He has called Himself the Son of God and they begin to pick up stones to kill Him and this is what Jesus says to them in this chapter 10 of John:
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods?
What do you do with a statement like that? It is truly a difficult saying to accept. You can clearly see why it has been so vastly ignored, like it is not in the Bible. I think most people just think Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about or Jesus must have lied. Surely He didn’t mean exactly what He said? How can men be gods? To hear people preach you would think that we were the lowest of the low. It would be impossible for most religious people to think of themselves in these terms. Do you think Jesus would say that again if He was standing in front of you in the flesh and you asked Him to? I have to admit that I struggled with accepting that statement. After all Jesus did not say it to me personally, or did He? You see once I realized that the Bible was written to me personally as a love letter and a guide or handbook for every human, then I looked at this Bible verse a lot differently. This is probably the greatest challenge most Christians are faced with. To read a Bible verse and claim it to be true for Me and You! As long as you read the Bible in an impersonal and indirect way like it was written for someone else and not you, you will never accept what it really says.
Let me briefly focus on the Greek word translated as “gods” in this verse. Because it is a very important word to understand. This Greek word G2316 is “theos” and it means “supreme deity”. It is used in the N.T. over 1000 times and mostly for the name for our “God”. Why would God use the exact same word to describe us as He uses to describe Himself? I find that a fascinating question to ponder. I believe it reveals more than we can possibly imagine. It is beginning to change my perspective considerably on where man was created on the spiritual food chain, but we will need to research and study in order to find the truth.
Did you know that Jesus only taught things that He learned in the Old Testament Bible? Jesus would walk around and teach things that He found from reading the Hebrew books of the Law. These books were given to them by God and they contained the laws of God. So once you realize that Jesus only spoke things that He learned in the Old Testament you begin to realize the significance of the Word of God. Jesus placed a very high priority on what was written in God’s Word. In this verse in John, Jesus was speaking to the Jewish leaders who knew the law. Jesus asked them a very simple question and one that could easily be verified. Jesus asked them “Is it not written in your law?” You see in this chapter the Jews were accusing Jesus of calling himself the Son of God and they called it blasphemy. But, Jesus responded to their accusation with a simple verifiable question. Doesn’t your Law say that you are gods? In other words God had called them gods a long time before Jesus said He was the Son of God and they ignored it like religious people still do today. Do you see the parallels found in our churches today? Do you see the religious patterns still prevalent in the minds of religious people today? Here is one of the verses that Jesus heard read from their law and Jesus learned this verse in their temple so they could not deny that it was written there:
Psa 82:6 I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
In this verse in Psalms Jesus was taught that the Most High God called men gods. If Jesus could read and see this verse in the Bible, how is it that the religious leaders of the day did not understand what they had read in their own law? Did God blaspheme when He called men gods? This verse further goes on to call all men and women the children of the Most High. That means they were all called the sons and daughters of God before Jesus said He was the Son of God! If Adam was created a son of the most High God what does that make Adam? You see now we are getting into the problem that religious people have with all of these types of verses in the Bible. If Adam was a son of God that would make Adam an older brother of Jesus in the natural realm. That causes many people to choke when they hear me say that. You see I did not say Adam was God or “the Son of God”. Adam was just a child of the Most High like this verse tells us clearly. I certainly know how difficult the Bible is to understand and how complex it can get. I have had people say to me that I am giving you my opinion on what the Bible says. When someone says that to me, I know they do not know how to read or either they read it, but don’t want to see what it says. I rarely give you my opinion about anything. My opinion is not worth a dime to anyone, including to me. I could care less about my opinion. I am really only interested in what God’s opinion is and if you are not doing the same, you need to go to some other book and study it. If you are not interested in learning what the Bible says, you should be reading someone else’s blog.
I also want to speak of the Hebrew word translated as “gods” in this verse in Psalms. This word is again a very importan word found in the Bible. The Hebrew word H430 is the word “elohiym” and it is used over 2000 times in the O.T. for the name of God. Again we have the same confirmation that God is calling us gods by direct name association. That places such vast importance upon this subject that I cannot even describe it fully or begin to fully comprehend it all. Let’s briefly consider some more scripture from the book of Psalms:
Psa 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Here is an interesting question that many people are asking today. Who am I and why am I here? This verse asks why is man on this planet? And why did God have to come in person to visit us in the flesh, by the man called Jesus Christ. So here is God’s answer to the question of why we are here:
Psa 8:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Wow, more words religious people choke on. You see in this verse it has a grossly mistranslated Hebrew word. The translators were clearly choking on what it said in their minds and changed it to something else they thought was safer. The Hebrew word translated as “angels” is the same word “‘ĕlôhı̂ym” that is normally translated as a name of God. This verse in the original Hebrew is calling Adam a little bit lower than the Most High God. A little bit means a very small peck down the ladder and not a vast expanse of difference. Man was made a little lower than God and he fell down below the angels when Adam sinned. This verse says that “Man” was crowned. To be crowned means to be given “royal authority” and “sovereign authorization” or “power”. The term to be crowned with glory and honor is very significant and implies many good things were given to man by God.
Psa 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
These verses are an outstanding conformation for what God said to man in Genesis 1. Man was given “dominion” over the works of God’s hands. What were the works of God’s hands? It was everything that we can see or touch that is around us. To have “dominion” means to rule over, have authority over, to be in control of and to make decisions for. It implies that man was to take care of what God had given to us. It means that we were responsible to guard it and to keep those out that were not suppose to be here. It means a lot of things. It is like the United States government has “dominion” over the 50 state country. It is responsible to take care of it, protect it and defend it.
Psa 136:2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Here we have another verse that is often ignored. Who is the God of gods? We can easily recognize this to be our Most High God! However then who are the gods that He is God of? That becomes a mystery to many people. To make us those individuals would never cross the minds of the religious thinkers. However, I believe God is saying that we are those people called gods. Again God calls us gods in a remote verse of the Bible that is widely overlooked.
So YOU and I are NOT the Most High God, but yet we were made in His image and likeness and we have His nature. We do not have His Power or His ability, but yet for our lives we do have control of our own destiny. You see we do have some power, we have the power to choose right or wrong, we have the power to choose life or death, we have the power to choose between heaven or hell and that is a lot of responsibility that many are taking too lightly.
So if God and Jesus called men and women gods, who am I to argue? Who are you to say you are not? I think some day people will stand before God and find out they had more responsibility than they realized to what happened to them. I believe that God expects more out of us than you can imagine right now. I don’t know if this will happen before Jesus returns or not for I do know the time we have left on this earth is very short.
It bothers me when people blog and at the end of their blog they ask people a question like what do you think? When bloggers do this, they imply that what others think matters. I think that many times people are just trying to encourage comments and I guess that is OK. However, just as I am not interested in my own opinion, I am not interested in your opinion either. If you know a Bible verse that would directly contradict anything that I just said, I would be very interested in hearing about it. I am NOT God and I DO NOT know everything. So I like to learn new things if they are legit things from the Bible. If you just struggle with accepting the Words of Jesus, I suggest that you take up your questions and comments with Him and not me, because I was not the one that said it. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading in this series about Hard Sayings Explained in the Bible, please continue with “Part 2“.
Understanding the Bible is the Word of God!
(Ver 1.3) If you are reading the Bible like it was just a book of fiction or a history book or a text book, or even a reference book or an encyclopedia, you are probably missing the most important thing that you need to know about the Bible. Hopefully, you are already a Christian and already know God and understand that this book called the Bible was God’s handbook and personal letter written for you and to you. The Bible is by far the most unique book that you will every encounter. It is written in a complex and unique style like no other book that you can imagine. This book written over a vast amount of time by numerous men who were given the task of recording it, is unique in quality and content. One of the most important things to remember when reading the book, is who the author is. If you are not a Christian, this will not matter, but if you are God is the author of the entire book. Just because God is not here physically, does not mean God is not here spiritually and that He has chosen to use people to give us His message of hope.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
You can clearly see that this scripture in 2 Timothy claims that the Bible comes directly from God. This verse informs us that God inspired the writers what to write. The Greek word for inspiration actually means “divinely breathed or spoken”. That means the words came out of God’s mouth before they went recorded into the book. If you do not understand the significance of that statement you should read it a couple of hundred times until you do get it on the inside of you.
Jer 30:2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Here in this verse in Jeremiah we can again see a verse of scripture that claims the words that Jeremiah wrote were the sayings of the Lord God. God tells Jeremiah directly what to say and then Jeremiah takes God’s words and writes them down for the nation of Israel to read and hear. This is a spiritual message delivery system that God created and utilized extensively. It is a mediator concept where a man is selected by God to be His messenger. God anoints this man for the job and then speaks to him to give him the message that He wants spoken to the people. We can clearly see that these words came out of the mouth of God before they ever were written down. God spoke them, men heard them and then finally wrote them down for us to read. God is a Spirit (John 4:24)! God is invisible to the natural eyes of man! God’s face has never been seen by any man in His spiritual form. So how would a spirit being talk with natural beings? I suppose he could just talk to men from the clouds like a giant loud speaker. It seems that when God did this when Jesus was baptized that some men heard it and others thought it thundered (John 12:29). So this does not seem to be the most effective way of communication. God could go around to everyone individually and give each one a dream and then everyone would have to figure out if it was the pizza they ate last night or if God was trying to talk to them. God could do any number of things, including writing on the side of a mountain using giant letters like a God sized bill board. However, whatever God does to try to get your attention, it would have be something that could possibly be interpreted as being something else also. If God did not do this He would violate your right of choice, if He presented you with any overwhelming evidence to His existence. So God gave His Words to a single man at a time. They were each given specific message pieces and specific words to write down. These words were then supposed to be distributed to the rest of the human race. This was God’s divine system of delivery. Hire a messenger, give them the message and we are supposed to do the rest.
While the Bible has multiple scribes or men that were given the task to record the words of God in book form, we must realize that all of the words were given and inspired by God. This book says nothing that God would not want you to know and to understand right here and right now. It doesn’t say anything that God wouldn’t say to you if you could stand before His throne in heaven and ask Him questions directly. This book contains the commandments, laws, thoughts, warnings, feelings, ideas, knowledge, understanding and wisdom of God in word form. It is a direct and personal letter full of valuable spiritual information that is designed to help you to know the author and to know who you are and your importance to the author. You should approach the Bible with this attitude of reverence and read it with the expectation that you will be hearing something directly from the mouth of God. When you approach the Bible in the right way with humility, God will not let you down and He will speak to you. I know this for a fact and you can also! God Bless!
Bible Significance of Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom!
(Ver 1.2) This is Part 2 in a series of lessons on the subject of Bible Knowledge. If you would like to start reading with “Part 1” please do that. What is true Bible knowledge? How do we this get correct Bible knowledge? How does knowlege differ from understanding? Is wisdom the same as knowledge? These are basic Bible concepts that are probably better covered by the teachings of other ministers of God. But, I thought I would include a synopsis in order to help those who are not aware of the differences between these three related subjects. They are certainly related and they each overlap with the other, but yet they are still unique in what they represent to God. I think many times people look at Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom and just lump them all together as being different words for the same thing. Nothing could really be further from the truth than to say they are the same thing. So let’s explore the subject briefly in the Bible and see what we can learn. The book of Proverbs actually has a lot to say on this subject and I will start with a great example:
Pro 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
Pro 2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Pro 2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
Pro 2:4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Pro 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
You see if God thought all three of these were the same thing He wouldn’t have included each of them in these verses as different and separate qualities. What we can clearly see is an interrelated set of dependencies called knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Each of these three elements are mentioned separately and yet joined together in a common set of themes. Instead of going through these verses individually, let’s take each word and analyze what they are and see what God says to us.
So let’s start with Knowledge! Knowledge is the basis for the other two, understanding and wisdom. Without knowledge you can not have or obtain to the other two. So if we used an analogy of a ladder, knowledge would represent the first rung on the ladder. Some might want to jump to the top of the ladder, but in order to get to the top safely and correctly you must start with stepping on the first rung, knowledge. So what is knowledge? In the most basic form you could say that knowledge is the accumulation and familiarization of facts. A fact represents a statement of truth. You can learn from fiction, but the Bible is not fiction and that is not what I am talking about. A fact is a true event, a true person, a true concept, a true law, a true whatever. For example, when you learned the multiplication table in grade school as a child you accumulated mathematical facts of numbers. One times One is One. One times Two is Two. Two times Two is Four. These are all mathematical facts or truths. If you memorized them, you gained knowledge of these mathematical truths. At the same time you learned the fact that 2 x 3 = 6, you also gained implied knowledge of the mathematical concept of multiplication. Learning the Bible is the exact same applied logic as learning the multiplication table. I should probably expound on the meaning and application of logic in Bible interpretation, but I think that would go over the head of a lot of my readers. Since I was a computer programmer for many years, I used logic in the application of my everyday tasks at work. If you’ve never tried to write a complex computer application, I don’t know how to tell you something that you could possibly relate to easily. Correct Bible interpretation is a logical operation or task. As you read the Bible verse by verse and chapter by chapter you begin to accumulate knowledge. Bible facts such as people, places, things, concepts, laws and such. By gaining the knowledge of facts you are experiencing the accumulated process of learning.
So knowledge is the accumulation of both explicit and implicit facts. However, knowledge is also much deeper and has many other implied Biblical meanings. In the book of Hosea the 4th chapter and the 6th verse says:
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Here we have God speaking directly through his prophet saying “My People are destroyed (brought to nothing, rendered harmless, ineffective, defeated, perish, to be cut down, there voice is silenced) for a lack of knowledge (knowing). Wow, that is about as strong of a statement as you can get. While this is stated directly to Israel, the implication is given to us that we (the church), His New Covenant people can be brought down the same way. The world says what you don’t know can’t hurt you and that is certainly a lie from the devil. God says what you don’t know will kill you and cause you to fail. This Hebrew word H1847 translated as knowledge comes from another Hebrew root word H3045. This word also has huge implications that I think you should know about. This word is used many times in the Old Testament in a form that says “And Adam “Knew” his wife and they had a son.” To know your wife is a sexual act between a husband and wife. This is often times referred to as carnal knowledge. So gaining knowledge is akin to sex between a husband and a wife. This is obviously what the Bible says and not something I just made up, you can go study if for yourself. The implications are huge here again. God wants you to “know” Him spiritually. He wants you to “know” His word. If you know God’s word you know God. So reading and studying the Bible ought to be a time of spiritual intimacy between you and God. Knowing this, it should change a lot of your attitudes toward reading the Bible. In this verse in Hosea it also shows us a concept that is called “forget”. To “forget” something means that you once knew it, but now you have let it slip. To forget something means it has become unimportant to you. This is a very important part of knowledge and knowing something to keep and maintain a high and important place in your mind and in your spirit. If it was important enough to learn, it is important enough to hold on to.
We have not fully covered the subject of knowledge, but let’s progress up another rung of the ladder to understanding. In the book of Proverbs God tells us this:
Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
This verse starts by stating that wisdom is the highest rung on the ladder, the principal thing that we are all hoping to gain from studying God’s Word is said to be wisdom. But,, it then declares with all your getting make sure that you also get understanding. Generally speaking, “understanding” is the correct organization and ordering of associated facts and truths. It is very much like putting a complex Jig Saw Puzzle together. When the pieces of the puzzle fit together correctly you can see the big picture correctly and when they are forced together incorrectly you have nothing, but a big mess that does not make any sense to anyone. What we can see in this verse is the reference to all three key subjects. God is telling us all to “Get Something” and that something is His knowledge. God still tells us that Wisdom is the ultimate goal of all of our getting, however to get to wisdom, we first need to achieve understanding by first gaining accumulating facts.
To see an example of how Jesus applied these three elements during His ministry on the earth, we can look at Jesus teaching his disciples reading the story of the parable of the sower in Mark 4:1. Jesus goes through the parable in a public setting giving to everyone the same basic knowledgeable facts, but in private he tells the 12 the meaning of all of the symbolic objects in the parable (Mk 4:10). The soil was the heart of man, the seeds were the Words of God, the birds of the air was Satan, etc. By explaining the parable to them he correctly put together the associated truths and facts so that they could have a clear understanding of how the Kingdom of God operates. We can begin to see why understanding is so critical, without understanding all you have is a religion and religious people with a bunch of random religious facts. This was an example of the Jewish leadership of Jesus’ day. These men knew a lot of facts written in their law, but understood practically none of them. Too many so called Christian are just people with some knowledge of some random facts. They do not understand how they fit together, or how they work, or why they are in the Bible, how they relate to God, how they relate to them, why they are important to know and on and on I could go. The Bible is so much more complex than you just reading a verse and you thinking that you got it and know everything you need to know. So getting understanding is a critical piece of the bigger puzzle. But it is still just one step in the ladder’s wrung. Start by learning the facts and then grow to understand what each of them mean and how they relate together. Continue to grow and understand how they apply to you specifically. Only by understanding who you are in Christ, why Jesus died on the cross, who Jesus was, and all of the other important subjects in the Bible will you ever be able to achieve to know a level of the wisdom of God. So let’s move on up the ladder.
So the final rung on the ladder is wisdom. As we learned earlier it is the principal thing that we are trying to gain from studying the Bible. What exactly is wisdom? I would say wisdom in it’s simplest terms is the practical application of correct knowledge and understanding. Knowing what to do, when to do it and with who to do it, that is the revealed ability to make wise choices. Wisdom certainly involves other aspects and there are men of God who teach very in depth on the subject of wisdom so I will not venture to repeat what they can teach you more efficiently and effectively. But, by correctly knowing God’s word and understanding it, God will give you the wisdom to make right choices in your life. Wisdom is a gift from God and it comes from knowing God personally. In James 1:5, God says if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to every man liberally. This verse teaches us that not every man has wisdom but then informs us where true wisdom can come from if we desire to have it. So making the right choices in life is possible with God as your source and your guide. Knowing who to marry. Knowing what job to take. Knowing what city to live in. Knowing what house to buy. Knowing what roads to drive on. These are all things that God can show you. By His Spirit, God guides His people to make wise choices. However, all of these wise choices start by knowing God’s Word first. By knowing God’s Word, it builds your character, and guides your moral convictions. By making wise decisions morally you are better able to make wise choices socially and financially. The wisdom of God allows you to put together good choices in life and allows you to be a better and a more successful human being.
Can you see how knowledge, understanding and wisdom fit into correct Bible interpretation and why they are so important? The correct interpretation of the Bible so hinges upon these three qualities that it is imperative that you have a full grasp of the concepts and methods of learning and studying the Bible correctly. Your knowledge and understanding of God and His Word will always affect your decision making. That is why God said my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Thank you for reading and studying the Bible and my God bless you as you grown in the knowledge of Him.
The Biblical Evidence for the Existence of Hell!
(Ver 1.3) This is Part 1 in a series of lessons on the subject of “What Does the Bible Teach Us About Hell”. I’ve have heard more than one person say that hell does not exist. Many like to say that hell is a figurative or symbolic place that really doesn’t exist. They have even tried to tell me that nothing in the Bible says there is a hell. In fact they have gone so far as to try to explain that the word “hell” is not even in the Bible, if you read the original text. There is no end to the deception that Satan has promoted on the earth to give people the assurance that they do not need to do anything to prepare for eternity. What I will attempt to do is show you Bible verses that talk about this place called hell. I will show you that the Bible tells us where it is and what it is. I will demonstrate that the Bible also tells us who will be going there. I believe if you do the research that Jesus while present on the earth actually talked more about hell than He did about heaven. I easily found over 30 different verses in the Gospels with the words in red ink that spoke about hell directly. I believe we should try to pay attention to what the creator God taught us about why He created this place and who it was designed for. Let’s start reading in the Old Testament:
Psa 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.
The Hebrew word translated in the KJV Bible as hell is the Hebrew word “sheol” or H7585. Obviously, reading this verse and the Strong’s definition of this word it would appear that this word would seem to indicate a place that has been reserved for those who qualify as being “wicked”. The wicked would include all those who were labeled as unrighteous. The word translated as “wicked” in the Hebrew means “morally wrong” and that is probably everybody at some point in their lives. The word also means a bad person or a guilty person. So far I believe everyone in the human race would qualify at one time as one of these definitions. The Hebrew word for “hell” has the following definition from the Strong’s:
H7585
From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: – grave, hell, pit.
We can clearly see from the definition that it refers to a place known as “hades”, called the place of the dead. It is also given to us to be a subterranean location. Subterranean means, beneath the surface of the earth. Scientist and most every human alive has at least heard of or seen volcanoes in action. These geological phenomena’s are the external proof of the extreme heat within the earth’s core. We know that these eruptions come from cracks in the earth’s layers that allow this molten material to leak out. I feel like this is God’s way of trying to warn people that hell actually exists. I do not believe that God causes volcanoes, but I do know that they do exist. There are numerous scriptures in the Old Testament that refer to this place of the dead and even give us the location of this place. Here are some of these:
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
We can see clearly in this verse that heaven and hell are described as two separate and distinctive places. Meaning they are not the same place or even in the same location of space. In fact the two could be called opposites. Heaven is described as being a place that is UP! A place that is high above us. Hell on the other hand is described as a place that is DOWN! A place that is beneath our feet. Interesting, isn’t it?
Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
This verse is of course somewhat controversial. You see in some Christian circles it is taught that Jesus did not go to hell. However, this verse would seem to indicate the complete opposite. I personally believe if Jesus did not go to hell, then you and I will have to go. If Jesus did not take the full punishment for our sin, then we still owe a debt that we cannot pay. It was either paid in full or not paid at all. Jesus said before He was crucified that even as Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the whale, that the He was going to be 3 days in the belly of the earth (Mat 12:40). You cannot take that very many ways that would not seem to say, He was going to hell. If you still do not believe that Jesus went to hell for you, so that you do not have to go, I guess that will be your problem and not mine.
Psa 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
We can again see a verse of scripture that clearly locates the position of hell and also confirms who it was made for. God tells us clearly that the “wicked” will “go down”. I guess anyone that reads this and still doesn’t believe me must think that they do not qualify as one of these wicked. Maybe people think that my sin is not as bad as the sin of others so I must be OK! However, the Bible says that if you even violate any single one part of God’s law, you are now guilty of sinning against ALL of the law (James 2:10)! According to God’s written Holy Word no matter what sin you did, big or small, the consequences are just the same.
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
There are so many verses in the Bible like these that I have shown you. They all indicate that “heaven” is UP! and that hell is DOWN! This verse speaks about the “omnipresence” of God and says no matter where you go, God is everywhere. Yet it clearly tells us that some will go up and some will go down.
Pro 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
If you continue to read the many verses like these that I have been presenting to you and still refuse to acknowledgeme the existence of hell, you have been greatly deceived in your midnd not wanting to see the truth. This verse in Proverbs clearly says a wise man is one who acknowledges the ways of life and departs from the way that leads him into hell, below. Again we see two places mentioned, one is implied to be good and the other is definitely not a good place to go to. If a wise man goes Up, then that implies that a “foolish” man or a fool goes “down” by their own choices that they have made.
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Sadly this verse seems to indicate that hell will not be an empty place. The indication is given to us that it will be full of fools and idiots who thought they knew better. I’m sorry I do not know what else to call people who have refused the free gift of salvation. In this verse in Isaiah the path to hell is again said to be down. To descend means to go beneath the surface of the earth. Jesus said “Wide is the gate and broad is path that leads unto destruction and many are those that choose this path” (Mat 7:13). But, then Jesus tells us “that straight is the gate and narrow is the way to life and few are they that find this path” (Mat 7:14). You can see that Jesus is describing two separate groups of people. You can clearly understand that Jesus says one group will live and the other group will die. This of course is a spiritual reality and not a physical one. A spiritual death would be a separation from God who is the author of life. Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). What was Jesus telling us in this verse in John? Jesus was saying He was the only way to achieve true life. Meaning that every other way that people think they are going is the wrong way. It is a very simple yet profound truth that many still refuse to accept. I can’t make you believe it, I can’t make you see it, even though I wish I could.
There are so many verses in the Bible that speak about hell that I just can’t go over every one. I would strongly suggest that you get your Bible search program and look for them and read everyone carefully. Study to show yourself approved, a workman unto God! I will leave this blog with this profound story given to us by Jesus himself. In the book of Luke Jesus tells us a real story of two real actual men who lived on the earth in the past. In this story we are told the direct name of one man who was named “Lazarus”. We know from the story that Jesus says that the man Lazarus was not well physically and was called a beggar who sat at the door of a rich man who had things very nice and lived very well. Lazarus wanted just some crumbs from the rich man’s table to quench his hunger, but it appears the rich man did not give him any or much at all. Jesus tells us that both men died physically and were buried. It also tells us something else that is very profound:
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
You see in this verse we can see two men who died. We know from when Jesus was telling us this story that He was still ministering physically to the nation of Israel. Therefore, we know that Jesus was not yet crucified and that the payment for sin was yet to be accomplished on the cross. Jesus told us in John 3:13 that no man had ever gone to heaven where God was up until this point in time that He spoke that statement. This means after people on the earth died before the shed blood on the cross, they must have gone somewhere else. We can clearly see that the beggar is said to be carried by the angels to this temporary place and it was called “Abraham’s bosom”. We can also clearly learn that this was not the beggar’s body that was taken to this place, but that it was his spirit that was relocated to this temporary location with Abraham. In this verse we are informed that the rich man also died and his body was buried. Where then did the rich man’s spirit go? We can read the next verse and find the answer:
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
We can clearly see that the rich man goes to hell, a place that is intentionally described as a place of torment. Torment is not a good or a positive word is it? Torment implies torture, pain and suffering. Before Jesus was crucified we can see that the beggar was somewhere, not heaven but yet not hell either. It is a place that is described to be a far off from hell, yet the rich man could still see it. Did you also notice that these verses said that the rich man’s body was buried, yet the rich man went to hell? If you do not understand that you are spirit that lives in a body you need to get a hold of that fact fast. After your spirit leaves your body you can see from this story, you still exist, you still have feelings, you still can see, you still can talk, you still can do many of the things that you can do today physically, except get saved. It is now too late to get saved.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
So the rich man hasn’t really changed has he? Even being in hell he thinks he is better than the beggar Lazarus. He asks for mercy from Abraham, his natural father, but yet ask for Abraham to send his brother Lazarus to hell to cool his tongue with water. In this verse we can again clearly see that hell is a place that is described as very, very hot. It is described as being surrounded by flames of fire. So what was Abraham’s response to the rich man?
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
So we can learn some valuable lessons if you want to see them. Jesus told us, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Mat 19:24). Why is that? Because they think that they do not need God or salvation. They are consumed with a life of luxury and want and need nothing. They make themselves out to be better than others who have nothing and most of the time do nothing to help them. We can clearly see in this story that the lives of these two men of example on earth are in stark contrast and opposition to each other. When one cried out for mercy on the earth, the other refused to give it. Then now that the tables are turned, the other cries out for mercy and yet nothing can be done to help him, even if they wanted to.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Jesus tells us that Abraham told the rich man that nobody could cross the vast expanse that was between them now. It sounds like this area represents a spiritual barrier or even a prison wall like structure. Nobody can get in and nobody can get out. Once you are there you are there, at least until judgment day. You see there is a day when the Bible says that “every knee will bow and call Jesus the Lord God”. When presented with the truth, I assume many will still not believe it, but yet they will still be forced to bow their knee. It would be much wiser to bow your knee voluntarily right now, than to wait until later and be forced into this position.
Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
The rich man is not through asking for stuff and trying to negotiate a better outcome. Now the rich man asks for Abraham to send Lazarus back to the earth to his father’s house. Funny how rich men like to ask other people to do stuff for them all the time, isn’t it? Did you notice that in verse 25, Abraham said to the rich man “remember”? Do you know that the rich man in hell, without his body could still do this? Do you understand the significance to that revelation? People in hell can still remember and reflect back on everything that they had and the things that they did and still know everyone that they had met here on the earth. What is more astounding is the fact that the rich man knew who Abraham was and He had never met him before. Abraham lived many hundreds of years before this man and yet he still knew him.
Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Now the rich man in the middle of hell realizes that the time of decision making was on the earth. Since he has found that nothing can be done to help his situation, he wants Abraham to send Lazarus as a witness to his brothers on the earth so they will not come to the same place. No doubt his brothers were also wealthy men who were raised to disregard others.
Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Now we have some more amazing information. Here we have Abraham speaking about a future son named Moses. How did Abraham know Moses? Apparently Moses was there in the same place as he was and had heard the stories that Moses spoke of. Moses and the prophets wrote God’s word down hundreds of years after Abraham lived and Abraham knew what they had done. I find that absolutely fascinating. Here we have a spiritual law of sorts being revealed to us. We can see who ever lives and dies later will meet those and speak with those that went before. An exchange of information is assumed and everyone will know everyone else who is there also. But, did you notice that Abraham is not going to respond to what the rich man said, the way the rich man wanted him to. Abraham tells him that God’s Word is where it was at, that was the only way to know God and to be saved. Abraham never said anything about Buddha did he? Abraham never said anything about any other way or religion did he?
Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
The rich man is very persistent and continues to ask for someone from the dead to be sent to his brothers so that they will hear first hand testimony of this awful place of torment. Then if they hear someone personally say look I died and saw hell and it is not good place, they would repent. Did you know that would really not help most people. You see if people do not believe the Bible, how would they believe someone who came up to them and said “I’ve seen hell and it is a really bad place”. Do you think they would believe it then? I do not think it would make any difference. Let’s see what Abraham thought about it:
Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
You see Abraham had the same opinion that I did, he tells the rich man that if they do not believe the Word of God, they will not believe someone who was raised from the dead. That is such a strong Word of Truth to consider. You see there are not many ways to God, Abraham never said anything about Islam or any other religion. Abraham said the key was the Bible. This is what salvation is based upon.
We are not told very many things in the Bible about people who are directly said to have went to heaven or to hell. Very few times are we actually given the names of specific individuals. In fact I cannot think of anyone’s name that is said to have gone to hell. We are told that Abraham and Lazarus was in a place not associated with hell and it implies that Moses and the prophets were also there. From other stories in the Bible we can assume that Elijah was a specific individual that qualified as a prophet, but was someone who was caught up in a chariot by God. We know from New Testament scriptures that Enoch was also said to have been taken by God. Other than these few named individuals the Bible is purposely vague on the subject. For example, I have heard Sunday School teachers teach about Adam and Eve and how someday we will see them in heaven. However, I have not seen a Bible verse that says that they made it. Just because your name is in the Bible doesn’t guarantee that you were saved. There are a lot of names in the Bible that would appear to indicate that they were in hell right now. How about Goliath, the giant?
So according to the Bible, hell is a very real place! Jesus himself confirmed to us the existence of hell. Jesus said, hell exists because it was created for Satan and his demons calling it eternal fire (Mat 25:41). However, from the evidence in the Bible we can also clearly see that that there will be men and women that will also be in hell. I could give you many more scriptures, but if you do not want to see it, it will do no good. I knew a preacher, a man of God that I would call the greatest man of God that I have ever seen on this planet in the last 50 years. This man’s testimony goes something like this. As a teenager he was sick because he was born with a malformed heart condition. This man lived to be a teenager and died, left his body and went down to hell just like the story of the rich man in Luke 16. He could see the flames of fire and the large gate into this place of torment. He said he saw a creature that was about to escort him into hell and suddenly something happened. He said that before he went in, that he heard a voice saying something that was not English and he started going back up to the earth passing through the darkness. He then came back to his bed in his bedroom and entered back into his body. I can’t tell this as good as he could, but he is no longer with us, so I choose to tell it for him. This story was an example of someone who died and came back to tell us personally, like Abraham said you would not beleive. This man was saved and became a preacher of the gospel trying to get you not to go to this place. I do not know how many, have heard this story of his experience, but God allowed him to come back and try to tell us the truth. I believed his story, but I also believed the Bible before I heard this story. I saw the fruit of his ministry and the effort that he would go through to help people to see the truth. You of course can be like many others who have chosen not to believe and as a result have taken the wide gate and broad path to their own destruction. People will either be saved or will perish based upon what they do right here right now here on this planet.
I wish I could say that I believed that everyone on the planet would be presented the opportunity to make the correct decision and have a chance of a fair opportunity to make this decision for God to go to heaven. However, too many things in the world have proved otherwise. Vast numbers of people have died not having heard the gospel and good news of salvation. Children, babies and those that are too young to choose have been killed unfairly and in an untimely fashion. I do not recall reading in the Bible that God said life is fair or just and that you will be given any such chance to make an informed decision. I do not recall anywhere in the Bible that says God will allow you the opportunity to explore every religion to determine which is the best one and the one that is true. If you think that you have a lot of time to figure it all out, it might already be too late for you. Evil in the world is escalating. Satan is feverously working to try to save himself from hell’s flames. As a result, terrorism is on the increase, murder, suicide and other crimes against humanity are being perpetrated at increasing and alarming rates around the world. If you think it is bad now just wait until the Christian are taken out of the world and then you try to figure out what is happening. There will be a lot less informative blogs on the internet when that happens.
If you you like to continue reading in this series about the subject of hell you may go to “Part 2“.
Universal Salvation, Is Everybody Going to Be Saved? Pt 2
(Ver 1.2) Today is Part 2 in the lesson series about the subject of Unieveral Salvation. I really just introduced this subject in my last lesson. If you did not read this series from the beginning, I would recommend that you go back and start with “Part 1“. In the first lesson, I alluded to the fact that I have heard several people try to teach this and they have attempted to convince me repeatedly that they were absolutely correct and that I was the one that was absolutely wrong. They would give me Bible verses and I would just have to say Yes, I know that, but…” DId you know that no deceived person knows they are deceived? The greatest danger of being deceived is the individual’s acceptance of the lies to be the truth. Rather than reviewing all of the Bible verses they were giving to me, let’s talk about some other Bible verses that they have obviously ignored or refused to look at and study. Whenever one group of people preach something that is wrong, it is usually a result of not knowing what else the Bible says on the subject. Selective theology is a predominate fallacy of deception that people fall into sometimes way too easily. But, it is also very difficult to get these types of people to see the truth, since they do not want to know what is truth. In fact it is almost impossible to get anyone to see what they do not want to look at. You could be attempting to show them one of the greatest revelations of all time from God’s Word that God himself has taught you personally and just because it is something new or different, people automatically reject it and refuse to see it. Believe me I know this for a personal fact, it can be very discouraging if you let it get to you. I guess it is just a basic human characteristic to not accept something new that is presented to you, after all we are bombarded by false teachings every day.
Most proponents of Universal Salvation ignore Bible verses about the existence of hell. I guess they read them and because they do not want to see them they just ignore them or attempt to explain them away like people usually like to do. Do you understand how easy it is to explain away God’s Word using human reasoning, people do it every day. Instead of talking about hell first let me start with a couple of things that Jesus said about the end of the world:
Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
In this verse from Matthew, Jesus is clearly talking about the end of the world. A time that we are living very near to and within our sight, right now. Jesus clearly says that the angels will be given the task and assignment to separate the wicked from the just. The Greek word for “sever” in this verse is a word that means to divide. To divide literally means to make two separate groups. If you recall from my last blog I told you about these two groups. Those of the Day and those of the Night. God will send His angels to separate those who live in the Light from those who live in the darkness. There will be a division of those who have accepted His salvation from those who have rejected His salvation. Those who are said to be wicked from those who are called the righteous. You know I did not write the Bible, God did and people easily just discount these words as being not important or that they simply think that they do not apply to them. Nevertheless that does not change what God said.
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Here is another very clear verse that speaks about a prophetic event soon to occur. Again we can clearly see another reference to a “division” that is occurring. This verse says that God will gather every nation to stand before Him. It then does not say that everyone will be saved, does it? No it actually says the complete opposite. Let’s start by acknowledging that this verse is referring to every possible group of people on the earth that currently exists, every people that existed in the past and every group that could possibly exist in the future. In other words Jesus did not leave out any nation of people on the earth, it is an all-inclusive statement Why would you divide your sheep from your goats? Who do the sheep represent and who do the goats represent? These are clearly symbolic references to something that will soon occur in the spiritual realm, whether you choose to believe it or not. Did you realize that it doesn’t matter if you believe something will happen, for it to actually happen to you. Things happen to you every day that you did not believe would happen. I wonder how many people in the World Trade Center would have believed that an airplane would intentionally fly into them on 9/11/01? Even though I am not a gambling man, I would be willing to bet you that none of them expected that to happen and yet it did. I know I was at home watching it live on TV and I know I still couldn’t believe what was going on. These terrorist certainly pulled off a major unexpected attack on American soil. I would be shocked if it doesn’t happen again. But that is my opinion and I normally don’t give you my opinion on anything.
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Again continuing in this chapter you can see that the nations are being divided into two separate and distinctive groups of people that are completely different from each other. One group is placed upon His right hand and the other His left hand. If you understand this is a Biblical principle and a law given to us in the Old Testament. A son would receive the right hand of blessing from their father and this would be a sign of their inheritance. Once this blessing was imparted it could not be reversed. You can read about it in the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis. Now see what the chapter continues to inform us of these words from Jesus:
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords so we easily know who is doing the talking in this verse 34. Those sheep on the right of God are said to be blessed of the Father like I just mentioned about the story of Jacob and Esau in the book of Genesis. We are clearly told that these people on God’s right hand are the ones that will inherit the Kingdom of God that was prepared for them since the foundation of the world. Meaning that there is somewhere else prepared for the other people on the left hand of the King. This is so strong that it is obviously just ignored by those who do not want to see it. Continuing down the chapter we finally see what happens to the other people Jesus is speaking of:
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Finally, in this verse we can see that to the goats on His left hand He clearly says for them to “depart from me”. Where did these goats come from? They came from the same nations of people that were divided on the right hand of God. That does not sound like Universal Salvation to me, does it to you? Did you also notice that God is not talking to Satan and his demons? If you carefully read this verse correctly, you will see that there is a place that was called “an everlasting fire” that was prepared or created originally for Satan and his angels. But, yet God is not talking to Satan when he tells these goats to depart from him. We can clearly see that hell exists in this verse and it describes it as a place of eternal torment and punishment. No you are right it does not call it “hell”, but what else would you call it from this clear description. A place that is not good, a place that will not be an eternal party or a place to have fun. Have you ever been near a raging fire on the earth, now imagine having to be in that fire and not just standing near it.
So, why do people go to hell, if hell was created for Satan and his angels as this verse in Matthew says? In order to answer that question you have to understand Bible covenants. 
You have to understand how God operates using covenants and laws. You have to understand the Bible and how it was written and why it was written. If Satan committed the first sin, why didn’t God just solve the sin problem and throw Satan into hell? Why if God was God and Satan was not, why did God not just get rid of the source of all evil so that none of us would ever have to see it or to understand what it was. Did you know that God could not legally throw Satan into hell. Now God can, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ when the end of the world comes, but I’m talking about before Adam and Eve came along. Before, the Old Covenant came into existence, God had no legal grounds to stand on. God’s law in the Old Testament gives God the legal right to throw Satan into hell, if God can get Satan under the law. Did Satan ever get under the law? I guess I’ll need to leave that to another blog.
If you did not realize it, God created a perfect world without any sin with Lucifer in charge of all of the angels in the beginning. Maybe you have never studied the Bible and have not seen how that the Bible says that there was a world that existed prior to our world. In this world, Lucifer ruled it and walked among the other angelic beings. In this world existed the Garden of God, a place called Eden. In this world Satan rebelled and this world fell into ruin and was destroyed. There are many people and good Bible teachers who refuse to buy into these Bible verses, but yet they have a hard time of explaining them away. Why was the world covered with water in state of destruction in Genesis 1:2? Why does God describe the world as formless and void in Genesis and then in Isaiah 45:18 tells us that He never created anything that was formless? In Isaiah 45:18 it clearly says that God when He created the earth, it was created to be inhabitable. God uses the same Hebrew word to inform us that the world became formless and void and that was not this way when it was originally created. Scientist through astronomical calculations of light refraction and phase shifts have measured the duration of time for light to reach the earth in terms of billions of years. When we look at stars shinning in our night sky we are looking at light that took billions of years to reach us. Yet we have numerous Bible teachers who want to try to convince you that the world is only few thousand years old. Any intelligent person can simply see that the earth is not that young. If you believe that it is you are promoting a lie and a deception to the people of God and to those who are in the world that are obviously more informed than you are. God is not the deceiver nor is He a party to deception. I guess I got off of the main subject, I’m sorry about that. Maybe I’ll blog on the age of the earth from a Bible perspective later on.
There are many complex reasons for the existence of Satan and evil. But, most of these reasons boil down to God giving us a choice. If you see that God is good, that God is Love and still choose not to follow Him and His Word, then you by default belong in the group of goats on God’s left hand. Why is this? It goes back to covenants again. Because people do not understand Bible covenants and what they are and how important they are to God and what He does, people lose sight of why God had to allow evil in our world and could not throw Satan directly into hell.
In the Bible a covenant is a marriage contract between two parties. We who have been saved called His sheep are in a brand New Covenant that never existed before to a risen Savior that was never in a covenant with anyone else before. Therefore we are in a spiritual marriage contract with the raised from the dead Jesus Christ (Rom 7:4). If you do not understand Bible covenants, please read my series on “Understanding Bible Covenants“. This new covenant relationship puts us into the category of the sheep and the spiritual realm of the Day and Light. Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior remain in the night and the spiritual realm of darkness controlled and ruled by Satan. There are many reasons for this and I have alluded to Night and Day multiple times. If you need more understanding about these spiritual states or dimensions please refer to my blogs on “Night and Day, Understanding the Spiritual Heart of Man“.
Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Here is a verse of scripture that speaks about a marriage covenant contract that contains grave consequences. In a Bible marriage covenant contract, what one party possesses the other party also possesses. This law of marriage works for the positive aspects of marriage as well as for all of the negative possessions that each party owns. For example, if you marry someone in the world today who is on the verge of bankruptcy with in massive amounts of financial debt, after you are married their debt becomes your debt. This is just a basic Bible law. Hopefully, you understand this and can see the cause and effect that this verse in Isaiah 28 contains. Clearly these people in this verse are in a covenant that a God to get them out of.
If you go into this chapter and check the context of this verse, you can see who God is speaking to directly in verse 14 of Isaiah 28. This verse is written directly to the rulers of Jerusalem. To be in agreement with and to be in covenant with are synonymous terms for someone who is married to the realms of “death” and “hell”. In this marriage covenant contract, these people now possess a destiny that is very dark and gloomy. They actually have no good future or optimistic outcome or anything to look forward to. Furthermore, there is actually nothing they can do to get out of this contract. It can only be broken or disannulled by God himself. A Bible covenant cannot be easily broken, unlike people’s marriages in our world today. You cannot just go to court and get a divorce from “death” and “hell”. Do you understand what I just said? There are many songs, movies and books that relate to stories of people making a deal with the devil. They usually sell their soul for a few years of pleasurable wealth, fame or other natural earthly gain. These fictional stories mask, mock and make fun of a spiritual reality and most Christian do not even know it is actually a real reality.
Isa 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
So God declares that our previous agreement with “hell” will not stand and our previous covenant with “death” will be disannulled. So how did God accomplish this great task? There are actually several verses in the New Testament that give us insight into how God did this for us. You may be familiar with some of these so I’ll just give you one to think about:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
This is an outstanding verse of scripture that has a vast amount of very important and relevant information for us to understand. It is speaking of how God became a human in the body of a male child named Jesus of Nazareth. We are now informed how God broke the covenant with death that had previously dominated every human on the planet. This verse informs us that God used death to undo the consequences of death. Because God died in the body of Jesus our covenant with death was broken. That of course is not the complete story or results of what happened, but it is an important part of what happened. This verse actually speaks about Satan, the devil directly as the one that God targeted with His death on the cross. You see this verse actually tells us directly that Satan controlled the “power” of death, but that God came to “destroy” him. The Greek word for “Power” means dominion over, strength or might. However, the Greek word translated as “destroyed” does not mean the same thing in the spiritual realm as what we think of when we say it in the natural realm. Most of the time we think of something that is destroyed as something that has been obliterated or reduced to a pile of ashes or something like that. But, obviously Satan is still alive and doing everything he can to kill, steal and destroy from everybody that will let him today. It is important to realize that you cannot destroy a spiritual being! A spiritual being is an eternal being. So to destroy Satan in the spiritual realm means that God came to undo the consequences of Satan’s deception and our sin. By God experiencing death and participating in it, there are many things that transpired that were of severe consequences to Satan. If you remember in Genesis, God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and if he did, he would die! So we can see how death entered into the world and we can now understand who controlled or held the power of death and this was Satan. So therefore, we can conclude that Adam entered into a covenant relationship with Satan. This covenant allowed Satan to live on this planet as long as Adam time to rule the planet was in effect. In fact Adam’s rulership was transferred to Satan after Adam died. Now Satan was given complete dominion over the earth (Luke 4:6). In a covenant relationship we know that what each party possesses the other also owns jointly. So now Satan was free to rule our planet and Adam and all of his children were now destined for hell. Thank God for giving us a way out.
So how was man’s covenant with death and hell rendered harmless? It was through Jesus dying on the cross that loosed us from the consequences of our sins. We know the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Rom 6:23). That verse is another one that the Universal Salvation teachers like to quote. It implies that everyone is saved according to their interpretation of what a gift is. But, they do err in their conclusion that a gift is automatically accepted by everyone that it was given to. Most people today do not know how to receive a spiritual gift from God? Do you know that it requires you doing something to open a present that has been given to you? How would you open a present that you cannot even see, cannot hold on to, or cannot even verify exists? That is a very tricky question and one that you should figure out the answer to if you haven’t already. Some think that it is just a matter of joining a church. Some think that it is just a matter of saying you are a Christian. Some think that you can be baptized as an adult or as a baby and that saves you. Some think that it is just doing good works and good deeds for others. Some think that it is an automatic free gift to everyone and they have it magically. But, none of these are the correct answer. There are not many ways to God. There are not many ways to be saved. There are not many religions that will work for you. There is only one Absolute Way to God and Salvation and His name is Jesus Christ. He died for your sins and was raised from the dead and now waits for those who will believe in Him. I would be a fool not to tell you the truth. You would be a bigger fool not to believe it. If you haven’t figured it out by now, not everything that you think is always 100% correct and guess what that includes me. I do not know everything and I am still learning new stuff about God and the Bible almost every day. The things that I do know I will tell you boldly with confidence. So you have now read this entire lesson and if you still want to place all of your hopes on the possibility of an universal salvation theory thinking that you have no responsibility or saying in the matter, I guess you have the right to be wrong and go to hell. I know if I just read this and still believed in universal salvation, I would do some more research to make sure I was right. How can you place all of your eggs in one basket and know with the same confidence that I have, that you have not made a fatal mistake? Thanks for taking the time to study the Bible with me and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them for me. God Bless.
Universal Salvation, Is Everybody Going to Be Saved?
(Ver 1.3) The is Part 1 of a series of important Bible lessons countering the lies of the enemy being taught in churches called the doctrine of “Universal Salvation”. I know it takes all kinds of different people to come up with some of the stuff that I have heard being taught from the Bible. They probably have a lot of help from Satan to invent these concepts, but that is just how Satan works. One of the most obscure and ridiculous things that I have heard being taught from certain nameless individuals is that everyone on the earth will be saved eventually. This would include mass murders, terrorists, rapists, and everybody else that you can think of. People base their beliefs upon a limited number of scriptures that seem to indicate the possibility of this occurring, but they also ignore many other scriptures that directly contradict and conflict with their beliefs. This is a classic example of how some people read the Bible and have taken “A TRUTH” and have exalted it to become “THE TRUTH”. People make this mistake all the time in many Christian denominations. It is a very dangerous practice, but yet one that is found widespread in almost every church. This type of teaching is what I call extremism. They will take a truth to an extreme while excluding all conflicting verses they do not agree with. However, the only correct way to interpret the Bible is to review all truths and all scriptures on a subject and then balance them all together.
People who teach this philosophy of Universal Salvation, start with believing in the complete saving power of the shed blood of Jesus, the stated love and mercy of God and the divine sovereignty of God and these are actually all very good truths to believe in. They claim that the Bible says Jesus has paid for everybody’s sin by His death on the cross and by His shed blood He has purchased or redeemed us all from any future eternal torment. They are at least partially right in those beliefs, but yet still mostly wrong misapplying them that everyone is now saved. They embrace sover very basic Bible truths and then jump to some incorrect outrageous conclusions. You see there is more than “One Truth” in the Bible! If you only take a few of the truths and ignore all of the other truths in the Bible you are only partially right, meaning you are mostly wrong. No lie from Satan is based upon completely false teachings no found in the Bible. Every very good lie is based upon a lot of Bible truths with mixed in human reasoning and lies making them much more difficult to see. Here is another popular verse that these teachers like to use to promote their idea of Universal Salvation:
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God being an omnipotent God says that He is not willing that any should perish. Omnipotent means of course “all powerful”. Since God holds all power, whatever He desires is what happens, according to these religious people. These types of teachers have concluded that God’s will, will prevail over all others. They can even claim that everything that happens in the world is always the will of God and therefore they justify all of the evil in the world as being something from God also. So in their minds that have determined or reasoned that if a man like an Adolf Hitler has killed over a million Jews it was the direct will of God that this occurred. So the universal salvation peddler says that Adolf Hitler will eventually be saved like all the rest of us. It is really a crazy belief system and one that makes no logical sense to me. However, I do understand how they logically arrived at their state of deception. I believe many people have wanted to believe this teaching because of their close relatives or friends that they knew who have died without knowing Jesus and they do not know what happened to them and they do not want to think of them being tormented eternally. Therefore, they embrace a false sense of hope in order to believe this person made it into God’s family.
People who believe things like this usually do not believe in an enemy or an unseen opposing evil spiritual force like demons. They purposefully close their eyes so that they do not understand that there are two different spiritual forces at work in our world today. These two spiritual forces are in direct competition and opposition to each other for the souls of the people in the world. One spiritual group is called those of the “Day” and the other spiritual group is called those of the “Night”. The Bible says that those who are in or of the “Day” have the light of Jesus Christ shinning in their hearts or spirits (2 Peter 1:19). Then those in the “Night” are those without the light of Jesus and are they that dwell in the darkness controlled by Satan. Two separate spiritual divisions. one of Light and the other of Darkness (Acts 26:18)! Here is a scripture that has great significance to our subject:
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Universal Salvation teachers like to think that God is an all loving God and a God who is full of mercy to everyone. After all, what loving, all powerful God would allow any of his innocent creation to go to a place of eternal punishment? It is so amazing that the Bible tells us that Satan has deceived the whole world in Rev 12:9. That is a pretty broad statement and an all inclusive term. However, Christians we know are in the world, but not of the world so we can see that Christians have not generally been deceived. What we must discover and get others to see is the fact that Satan has deceived a lot of people into not believing the truth. Then people need to understand how Satan has accomplished this deception.
What is Satan’s motivation to deceive people if everyone is going to be saved? Have you ever asked your self that question? I mean come on and think with me for a change using your brain for change. If you continue to read in Revelation 12 you see that Satan is very angry and has great wrath towards the human race and those that are in the church, because it says that he knows his time is short. Satan can clearly see that things in the spiritual realm is winding down to a final conclusive point of time. He can see what is happening in heaven the spiritual realm, the church and the physical world. He is trying to cause what God said in the Bible that is soon to occur, not to occur. This is the key motivational factor for why Satan is trying to deceive you right now. Satan’s only hope is to destroy the nation of Israel and to eliminate the Church or at least keep the church divided. If Satan can do either of these, he thinks he can change his eternal fate and destiny. At the very least he thinks he can put it off a little longer and delay it from happening so fast.
There are many who struggle with the fact that there are many religions in the world today. Why would a loving God create or allow so many possible ways for man to better themselves and to achieve a higher state of being, they were not all legitamate paths to travel? Many people have concluded that God loves people so much that he made many ways to achieve salvation. However, I believe, that the primary reason God has allowed this to occur is for many compolex purposes, but it all goes back to the fact that God gave every man the right to choose. 
Giving man a freewill is God’s right of giving the man the right to be wrong! When God created the first man and woman on the earth, He presented them with a simple binary choice. He even told them which one to choose and which one to avoid and yet they made the wrong decision. Any choice presented to us by God dictates that we have the responsibility of things to choose from and a direct decision to make. But, it does not mean that every way that we have chosen to go in is the right way or the correct way for us to go in. That is what Universal Salvationists would like you to believe. It does not matter what you choose the everntual outcome will be the same becasue of God’s Grace. However, let’s get back to why Satan is deceiving people today? Those in the far east and the rest of world that have chosen to believe in Buddha as their choice or option when it was presented to them have actually fallen into this trap of the enemy’s deception. Satan causes religions to spring forth as instruments of depction. What makes you think that it does not matter what you do here on the earth and what path you select to travel on? What makes you believe that choosing Christianity is no different than choosing Islam? Just because you select an Islamic path, it does not mean that this was the correct way to God. It is kind of like the old saying, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. That is the dilemma that people are faced with today everywhere in the world. Because, they do not know this True unseen God they usually end up looking for Him in the wrong places. After all any religion is better than no religion, or is it? Could it be that Satan has put all of these other religions in the world in order to deceive people from choosing the right one and to keep people from selecting the only way that will let them into the Kingdom of God? Why can’t there be One Absolute Truth against many lies? If I was the enemy that is what I would do. I would put out so many options, so much propaganda, distractions and smokescreens that nobody could see or have time to find the truth. It is an amazingly useful strategy in war time, isn’t it? Keep your enemy distracted with little things here and there and then strike with a big thing when they are not looking. This is a common ploy of the Taliban in Afghanistan. You of course have to understand that there is a spiritual war going on. If you refuse to read and believe the whole Bible and only take a few verses out of context to justify your beliefs you can be wrong like the other religions in the world.
God wrote the Bible in a fashion using techniques that purposely allowed men the right of choice. They can read the Bible and get out whatever they want to see from the Bible and to ignore what they do not want to see. God tells us to specifically to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (2 Tim 2:15). This verse implies there are many ways to wrongly divide the Bible. Just as there are many false religions God wrote the Bible to allow many false teachings. So how do you know when you are right or not? That is a really good question. It starts with knowing the author personally, and then He opens the book up for you to see what it really means, if you are interested of course.
If you would like to continue reading this series, you can go to “Part 2“.
The Bible Definition of Apostasy and the Apostate Church!
(Ver 1.4) In reading wall posts on Facebook and Christian blogs on the internet I have discovered a popular common theme on many of them. It appears that there are a tremendous number of self-righteous people who think they are the only true church and everyone else is just promoting or following a false god. That sounds like a very smug and an arrogant attitude that proves to me that they do not know Christ or have the love of God in them. My Bible tells me that if you do not have the love of God for your brother that you can see, how then can you possibly have any love for your God that you have never seen (1 John 4:20)? My Bible also says that if you have the Spirit of God in you then He is the one that teaches you to love your brother (1 Thes 4:9). Therefore, loving your brother is more than a suggestion; it actually appears to be a requirement for your salvation based upon the words of Jesus in John 13:34. These verses imply that if NO Love is present then NO God is present either. If no God is present then you are just walking in darkness and Satan controls your life and your destiny. Love is a predominate subject found in the New Testament and people want to treat it with disdain to ignore it like it is not important or relevant to me. Many of these blogs like to take the woman in Revelation 17 called the whore of Babylon and call her the “apostate church”. So far I have not heard ANY of them give us any scriptural backing for their statement of beliefs. Without scriptural backing it is obviously just some man’s opinion and what is commonly called a private interpretation of the scriptures (2 Peter 1:20) which is not allowed. That is a very shaky foundation to build your house of religious theology cards upon, if you ask me. What we need to do is to look to the Bible and seek the answers from God’s word and see what God thinks about the subject of apostasy. That is what I will do today. Jesus gives us a clear example and it exemplifies God’s definition of what an apostate Christian is in the book of Luke.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
We can see Jesus talking about a Pharisee in this verse who obviously thinks very highly of himself. Also notice that according to Jesus this proud man is praying to hiimself and not to God. God does not even acknowledge his words at all. Did you see that? This Pharisee claims that he is not like other men. He is thankful that he is not an extortioner, or an unjust man who cheats others, or even an adulterer who cheats on his marriage covenant. This man looks at others and judges his own state of righteousness by what is observed in the visible lives of the others around him. This man is beginning to sound like a lot of the internet bloggers that I have read recently. One of the key words in this verse is the Greek word translated as “adulterer” and it has the following Greek definition from the Strong’s:
G3432
Perhaps a primary word; a (male) paramour; figuratively apostate: – adulterer.
If you understand this word it means someone who is married, but who commits adultery on their spouse. It is a word for a man who is unfaithful to his wife or for a wife that is unfaithful to her husband. We have all seen a lot of examples of this type of behavior in the media in the past few months. Really famous people with beautiful and famous wives and they choose to sleep around and be unfaithful not being satisified with what they have. That is the meaning of this word. But, it also says it is a figurative definition for someone who is called an “apostate”. Does that sound familiar?
This Pharisee man was calling someone else an apostate man just like those on the internet are doing today. Isn’t that interesting? Here is the Pharisee praying loudly so that everyone can hear him and telling us how great he was and how he was so much better than the publican who was standing nearby. You can clearly see that this Pharisee was exalting himself above all others. He thought himself to be better than the others, smarter than the others, the one that had all knowledge of the truth and everyone else was just ignorant fools. Jesus continued in his discourse in this chapter 18 of Luke and told us about the publican and how that he humbled himself and asked God to be merciful to him a sinner. Clearly there is a major difference between these two contrasted attitudes. One man was very proud and one man was very humble. Which one of these two men got the attention of God and was justfied? Let’s read and find out, here is the conclusion that Jesus derives from these two men’s words of prayer:
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
So Jesus claims that the publican went away being justified by God, because he had humbled himself before God. The implication is clear that the Pharisee was put down and called an idiot by God. The Pharisee man that thought he was righteous and so much better than the others around him was deemed by God to be the lowly one. The man that actually humbled himself was the ONLY one that God raised up. So who was right? Obviously it was not the Pharisee! Therefore, who is Jesus calling the “apostate”? Obviously it was not the Publican that was called an apostate by the Pharisee! Did you notice that Jesus did not agree with anything that the Pharisee said? The Pharisee called the Publican the apostate and Jesus reverses this decision. This lesson from Jesus teaches me that just because someone believes something is right or even true that does not necessarily make it right or true in the eyes of God. I do not believe that the Pharissee thought he was wrong. I beleive the Pharisee honestly believed he was better than the Pulican. However that was not the correct attitude to take, was it? This is a very clear Biblical example of what is occurring on Facebook and many of the blogs that I have found all over the internet. They exalt themselves and their religious faith, church or denomination to be the ultimate true church that is far wiser, knowledgeable or better than everyone else. Everyone else in their eyes are labeled as the false religious deceived ones. Everyone of these websites call themselves the “true church” and all the others the “apostate church” simply because they teach something different than they believe is the truth. Who exactly died and made them God? Do they know everything just because they think they know everything? If they are NOT God then they actually know very little of the whole truth like everyone else in the church. Even Paul said that he saw through a glass darkly (1 Cor 13:12). Therefore, no one sees everything in the Bible clearly and no one today is greater than Paul who wrote 2/3 of the N.T. These types of Christians teach the Bible from their ignorance of the Bible just like I do, but yet they still feel like they are superior to everyone. That is exactly a Pharisee type of attitude and God’s response to it would be the exact same today as Jesus gave us in this example in Luke 18.
The dictionary gives us some definitions of the word Apostate. I guess it would not hurt to review this information and see if it matches the Bible definition.
- deserter: a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
- not faithful to religion or party or cause
So we can see a lot of similarities between these words and the Bible definition of an “adulterer”. An adulterer is someone who is unfaithful to their spouse. An apostate is someone that is unfaithful to their religion. They are quite similar definitions. So what is the problem? We have a large group of people on the internet that call themselves Christians but sound like “Pharisees” while doing it and I do not think they have all the answers either. I do not think they they are God that knows everything. Who are they to judge another ignorant Christian believer? That is an example of an idiotic foolish Pharisee type of behavior and it is clearly a very dangerous attitude to exhibit, if you ask me. You see Saul went around and persecuted the early church of Jesus Christ as one of these religious Pharisees that thought he was so right and what happened to him? Jesus appeared to him and personally asked him, “Saul why are you persecuting me!”. Jesus took the persecution of the Pharisee Saul very personally, didn’t He? So who are these Pharisees on the internet that are persecuting Christianity, thinking they are the true church and no one else is saved? I’ll tell you who they are, they are fools in the grasp of Satan’s control like Saul. Pawns of darkness that are soon to be sacrificed in their dangerous religious chess game. They walk after their own religious mindsets and exalt themselves much too highly. Their end will not be a good one!
Here are two more Hebrew words found in the Old Testament that give us further light on the definition of “apostate”. We can learn a lot by studying the Bible, if you want the truth you should be looking for it in the Bible.
H7726
From H7725; apostate, that is, idolatrous: – backsliding, frowardly, turn away
H7728
From H7725; apostate, that is, heathenish or (actually) heathen: – backsliding.
We can see a clear pattern from both of these words. They imply someone that was right with God, but has now become unfaithful. The term “backsliding” is even used. This term speaks about someone that has fallen into sin. Someone who is dominated by old habits that they were delivered from. They clearly speak of someone who does wrong after knowing right. So how is this the “apostate” church that is portrayed on the internet? From what I can tell the “apostate” church to these Pharisees are just the people who do not believe exactly like they do. If they find someone that believes anything differently than they do they claim them to be in error, rather than studying the Bible with humility to see if it could be possibly them that is in error. That is an example of a Pharisee attitude. You see there are no perfect men or women in the world today. There are no men or women who know everything or can do everything without committing a sin or even keep from making a little simple mistake sometimes. Your attitude will either make you a Pharisee or a Publican. What I believe is that we need more “Publican” Christians and a lot less “Pharisee” Christians in the world today. Of course calling a Christian a Pharisee Christian is an oxymoronic term that really does not exist. What I did was to contrast two groups and put symbolic titles upon them for you to see and understand where you are today. Can you choose to change? Will you judge yourself and make the determination which kind of Christian you are today?
Rom 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
The Greek word translated in this verse as “stumbling block” is G4348. According to Strong’s, it can be defined as “an occasion for apostasy”. This word has a Greek root word that is G4350. This Greek root word means to strike at or to surge against as water. Both of those are describing precisely what the Pharisee was doing to the Publican. The pharisee was striking down the Publican with his harsh erroneous words causing an occasion for apostasy. So we can see how judging others is a factor in causing others to stumble and fall away. The body of Christ should be attempting to help others and not to put them down or pull them apart from the body. In this verse in Romans, God is speaking directly to the church and telling them not to stand in judgment of fellow Christians. We can see that becoming a stumbling block will only cause the one who is causing the other to fall to be judged by God. Read these words of Jesus found in Matthew very carefully:
Mat 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
To offend a believer in Christ and call them the apostate church in error is an act of grave consequences in the eyes of Jesus. Jesus clearly told us that it would be better for that man to have been cast into the sea with a mill stone around his neck than what is about to happen to them for what they have done to another. That sounds very serious to me. God is taking note of who you offend and who you call an apostate today. If you are wrong, the consequences will be extremely severe, is that really worth it to call anyone an apostate when you are not God and do not know their heart?
Wake up and realize that only God is God, you do not know everything and you do not understand most of what is in the Bible. If you think you do you make yourself out to be God and exalt yourself beyond your own ability. The Publican was humble enough to just call himself a sinner and to cry out to God for His mercy. If you learn to do this, you can change from a Pharisee and become a Publican who was justified in the eyes of God. Paul did it and you can too. Learn from Paul’s example, and you will be very glad that you did. Thanks so much for studying the Bible with me and share this message with a friend on Facebook that is saying someone is an Apostate to possibly help them turn into a true Publican. God Bless!
In the Last Days Knowledge Shall Increase!
(Ver 1.4) This is Part 1 on the subject of God’s Knowledge in the Bible. I always try to teach how important it is in correct Bible interpretation to be open to new ideas, thoughts and to things that maybe you haven’t ever heard or considered before. Why do you think that this type of noble attitude might be important to have while studying the Bible? I think if for no other reason, it is based upon the factor of human ignorance and that we are not God who knows it all. We as ignorant humans still have a lot left to learn from our God. If you think that you know it all, or at least that you already know all that you need to know, you are already potentially deceived into believing a lie. Satan I believe wants you to think that you are smarter than you really are. Whenever this deception occurs you are then not going to make the effort to seek to know the truth of God’s Word. Satan wants you ignorant of the truth. You are easily defeated as an ignorant Christian. However, God also gives us another very good reason for having a positive attitude and he tells us something that is very profound in the book of Daniel:
Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
This verse is a great witness to the fact that God has concealed the meaning of this book until the “time of the end”. To “shut up” means to hide, keep secret or conceal. This is a common methodology of God found throughout the Bible. God has hidden information for us to find. This information is revealed by the Spirit of God at the proper time. For some scriptures it was during the time of the Apostles and Paul when God revealed vast amounts of new revelation. But, it is also for our time based upon this verse in Daniel, that we live in right now. If you didn’t know it, we are in the time of the end, and guess what it is almost over. Many of you can look around and see how fast technology is advancing. But, the net revelation of this verse, to me speaks of both natural and spiritual things. We of course in the last 20 to 30 years can see the explosion of computers and the internet. As a result of this technology, man’s knowledge has grown astronomically. But, God not to be out done by man is also doing something new. He is revealing the Word of God like never before on a scale that is difficult to comprehend fully. I believe that if you are reading Bible commentaries that are 100 years old or older then you are reading information that has been updated and expanded so much that it sometimes doesn’t resemble the outdated theology. It doesn’t mean they were wrong, it just means God has shed more light on it and revealed a more complete meaning of the verses.
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Here is a promise from the Old Testament that God said he would pour out His Spirit and by doing so, the result is a new revealing of His word to His people. I believe that this is a prophetic verse that we can take hold of and claim for ourselves today. This also reminds me of some other verses in the Bible about the harvest.
Jer 5:24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the later, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Natural rain involves water falling from heaven physically, but God is speaking of a spiritual rain in this verse. Spiritual rain is the water from heaven where Jesus is right now and this rain could be a new understanding of His Word.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
In the book of James, it basically quotes from Jeremiah the same reference, but this time it puts it into the context of the return of Jesus Christ. God is looking for the precious fruit of the earth and that is not apples, oranges and bananas. The reference and implied meaning of this verse is that when the Apostles and Paul wrote the New Testament that was the early rain. God poured out His spirit and men increased in spiritual knowledge like never before. Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament after being filled with the Holy Spirit and God revealing to him the meaning of many of the Old Testament scriptures. However, God did not reveal to Paul the meaning of Daniel, did he? Have you read anything in Paul’s writings that directly mention Daniel? I have not, however I do believe that Paul wrote many things that do help us to understand this book that we have yet to see and understand. You see in this verse in James, God also speaks of a later rain. The early rain is a reference to a beginning of the rainy season. The later rain could be implied the end of the rainy season. I do not think that means there are new books of the Bible to come, I believe that it has to be a new understanding of what has already been given to us by God. I believe that God has been pouring out His Spirit for the last 100 years and as a result, knowledge and understanding of God’s Word has greatly increased.
You can see this implied reference from Daniel 12:4 where the writer is told to seal up the book until the time of the end. Did you ever notice that there is no obvious encryption code found in the book of Daniel or any other book of the Bible? How is it that God can write things in a known language and the reader not understand what it means for hundreds or even thousands of years. Have you really ever thought about this and asked how God accomplished this task. Now is certainly the time of the end and therefore something should be transpiring to open up this book so that our understanding can be greatly increased. If now is the time of the end like I believe it is, then we ought to be learning new things at an exponential rate. If now is the time of the end there needs to be stuff happening to let us know it. We should be able to look around at the prophecies and see them being fulfilled all around us. Have you seen it happening? I have seen it almost everyday. We will only be privy to it if you are open to change and new ideas that God will be revealing very soon. Either decide to be ready for it or be prepared to miss it, for it will happen very soon and ver fast.
If you would like to continue reading in ths series about “Bible Knowlege” you may go to “Part 2“.
Once Saved, Always Saved vs. The Sin Unto Death!
(Ver 1.4) This is “Part 1” in a series of very important Bible study lessons on a very controversial subject taught by many churches called Once Saved Always Saved. It is also called eternal security, unconditional security and goes by several other names. Can a Christian after being saved ever do anything that will cause them not be saved? There are certainly so many in the church today that say this is impossible. This is certainly a difficult subject found in the Bible and one that has caused much debate for many Christians. As you can tell I do not intentionally avoid controversial subjects in my Bible lessons. I try to talk about the important subjects and the relevant God kind of things that are on everyone’s mind at one time or the other. But, I want to make sure that when I talk about a subject, I try to do it from a balanced Bible perspective and that I do not ignore any related subjects or scriptures in order to embrace a part of the truth that I like more. I like to confront religion and religious minded people directly with the Word of God. I do not intentionally ignore the hard sayings that the Bible contains. I obviously am still learning new things everyday, so I might be able to add more to a topic later, but I just talk about the things that I’ve learned up until this point in time and that is the best that I can do. I have heard this philosophy of “Once Saved, Always Saved” being taught in many Christian circles and denominations. I often wondered about it, why it seemed to me not to be totally accurate truth being taught. I heard the argument for eternal security and it seemed like a very legitimate good one on the surface. The Bible tells us that the payment of sin was an all inclusive one-time act of Jesus (Heb 9:26). Therefore, what sin could I possibly commit that was not already covered under the blood of Jesus for me to lose my salvation and I could at first not think of any. Until one day I read a verse in the Bible that talked about a new kind of sin that I had never seen before. This sin was called the “Sin Unto Death” so I started studying the scriptures for a clearer understanding of this topic and this lesson was the beginning of what I found.
Today’s topic is Once Saved Always Saved vs. the Sin Unto Death! It is a modern Bible debate of the scriptures. What does it all mean? Is there a Sin that a Christian can commit to cause them not be saved anymore? What we must realize is that if there is just one sin that you can commit to lose your salvation then we need to know about it and how to avoid it. You see in some Christian denominations it is taught as “Once Saved, Always Saved!” Meaning that there is not any sin of any kind or any human action that a man or women can commit to go to hell after being saved. After studying the Bible, I would not want to be in that person’s shoes on judgment day if that is really what they believe. Too many Christian use the Bible and certain verses as a justified license to commit sin and that is not a good interpretation of what God said. I believe in the eternal power of the blood of Jesus and I believe that Jesus died on the cross once for all people and for all sins, past, present and future. I believe that there are no more sacrifices for sin that is required to pay for any past or future sin. However, to say once saved and always saved means that man no longer has any free will rights or future choices or decisions to ever make to stay saved and that forces us to ignore a vast portion of the New Testament that teaches us that we have responsible actions to follow. This type of thinking causes man to have no future accountability and no further responsibilities after becoming a Christian. Where in the Bible does it ever say that man loses his right to choose or make decisions? Where in the Bible does it say that a man will never be judged for what he has done on the earth? That type of thinking does not fit the complete image of God or the Bible in any form or fashion. God never makes our decisions for us. God never chooses or forces your destiny. God will never control your thoughts. God will never stop you from doing anything either right or wrong.
If you closely read and study the Bible, it speaks of an ongoing and a continual process of salvation. Salvation is spoken of in the terms of something that clearly has a beginning or starting point. For example, Jesus said in John 3:3 that “you must be born again”. This spiritual birth described by Jesus was exactly like a natural birth and it represents a starting point for your new spiritual life and growth process. If something like being born again has an observable beginning, then it must also have an observable ending termination point with a specific process of stuff in the middle. Is this too complicated for you? Do you understand processes?
Let’s talk briefly about the imedded process of being a Christian from inception to termination. You see in the Bible we are told to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12). Does that not sound like a process to you? We are also commanded “to run the race” (Heb 12:1, 1 Cor 9:24). 
Isn’t every race a process with a stated ending after a beginning? We are told to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim 6:12). Have you ever watched a boxing match? Do they not start every match with a bell and then go through to the number of predetermined rounds if each boxer survives that long? That sure sounds like a process to me. Then we are told to “Hold Fast to what you have been given until Jesus comes back” (Rev 2:25). If it is necessary to “Hold on” to what Jesus has given to us, then that is also a stated process that can be lost. All of these verses imply an ongoing process and a continuing effort to contend for a good and a positive outcome. They also imply the possibility of someone losing, quitting, or giving up. Any race will always have a winner and a loser, Any race will always have people who finish and some that quit. A fight also has a winner and a loser. A fight can also have a person who throws up his hands and says “no mas” or “I give up”. To work out your salvation implies a job with an expected outcome attached to it, like a paycheck. If at any time you give up and do not finish the job or work are you still entitled to the pay? Then that verse in Revelation 2:25 that Jesus is speaking to the church and telling them to “hold fast on to their salvation until I come back”. You see salvation is a gift that we have been freely given, yes? If I gave you a Rolex watch, couldn’t you throw it away? You see any gift given is dependent upon the receiver holding on to it and taking care of it in order for the gift to be kept safe. If you have to hold on to your salvation then you can lose your salvation, you can throw it away intentionally, you can treat it casually and even accidently lose it. Any gift from God a man or a woman has the right to reject it or walk away from it at any point in time. People never lose their right to choose and they will always have the ability and power to reject salvation. The Bible is a very tricky book to understand. You see it says so many things in so many different ways that you have to be very careful on what you base your theology. You cannot take just a small part of the Bible and make that the complete truth. It might be only a small part of the truth and you have exalted it to be the complete truth. That is what I believe people who teach “Once Save, Always Save” have done. So what is this “Sin Unto Death”? In 1 John 5:16 God gives us some information that is difficult to understand. Let’s go through what this verse says and talk about it:
1Jn 5:16 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 dath: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
God is obviously talking about the subject of sin. Sin is usually defined as “missing the mark” and the mark is doing the right thing no matter what it costs. But, in this verse there seems to be two different types of sin being discussed. One is a normal sin and the other is called a “sin unto death”. What is the Bible definition of death? I think that most Christian people think naturally and define death to be when someone’s body just ceases to function. But, you also have to keep in mind that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). In that verse God is talking about two kinds of death using a single reference. One type of death is physical or natural and the other type of death is a spiritual death. You see there is a spiritual death that is simply defined as the separation from God. The human spirit will never cease to exist but it may not exist within God’s family unit. Let’s continue reading in 1 John so we can see the definition of sin:
1Jn 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
This verse starts with the definition for sin, saying it is anything that you do that is unrighteous. That includes a tremendous number of possible things, doesn’t it? This verse ends in a contradictory statement to what I just quoted in Romans 6:12 that the wages of all sin was death. In Romans it clearly teaches us that the “wages of sin is death”. Wages are what you normally receive for doing good works at a job. However God is using this concept to teach the consequences of sin as an inverse negative. We have a paradox given to us in 1 John 5:17 that is truly a mystery. God clearly teaches that there are sins that are not unto death. What we have is a major interpretation problem brewing or we could also view it as a misunderstanding based upon our ignorance of the subject. The only logical way to resolve the conflict is to understand that one verse is talking about both physical and spiritual death and the other verse is just talking about spiritual death. The “sin unto death” is a referenced spiritual death that separates that individual from God spiritually speaking. We are told in 1 John 5:16 to only pray for those that are committing the sins that are not unto death, but for those that have committed the sin unto death, it does not do any good to pray for them God says. I also want to emphasize that John was writing about Christians in this verse context calling them spiritual brothers. This sin unto death is not used in relation to non-Christians even though they are technically already spiritually dead not having been born again. I do hope that you are beginning to understand the difference between these two types of sins being contrasted. If not let’s review an example of the types of sin not unto spiritual death:
1Co 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.
We are looking at a Bible example of a sin not unto death and trying to see what God says about it. In this verse found in 1 Corinthians 5 you can read about a man that is committing fornication and sin by taking his father’s wife and sleeping with her. God tells us very clearly that this action is a sin, but yet He does not say that it is a sin unto to spiritual death, yet the man is still handed over to Satan to be killed a physical death as we can read in the next verse:
1Co 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.
The man was handed over to Satan by Paul for the destruction of his flesh. Did you know that Satan had that kind of power and access if you sin? This is certainly an example of death, but it is only a natural physical death and not a spiritual eternal separation from God. God still says that the man’s spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. What we can see is that the man’s sin resulted in him going to heaven early and he didn’t have a long extended life here on the earth. That is what sin does to you, it opens the door to Satan and it shortens your life here on the earth. But, notice the difference, he was still potentially saved so this was not the sin that was mentioned earlier called the sin unto spiritual death. Are you seeing it? Let’s examine some other New Testmanet scriptural examples concerning those who have comitted this sin unto death:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
In this verse in Hebrews we can see an example of the “sin unto death”. It speaks of someone who was once saved, but now they have changed their directions and speak against God. They appear to disdain the shed blood of Jesus in the new covenant, and God says that they have actually trample on or walked over the Son of God like He was their defeated enemy. The blood that they once thought was holy they now call unholy and what they use to esteem they now despise. This verse speaks of someone who was clearly once saved and now has turned back to what they use to be. This is extremely sad to me, but people will always have the freewill right to go back into the darkness and leave the light of God. Here is another verse that reveals men on the earth can castaway what God has given to them:
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
You can see fairly clearly reading throughout this chapter in context and this verse in particular that it says that people can purposefully “cast away” whatever has been given to them. I tried to talk about this concept earlier, when I said if I came and gave you a Rolex watch, you could choose to not keep it and even throw it in the garbage. It really depends upon how much you value what is given to you. If someone has no confidence in God or the blood of Jesus saving them then that could also result in that person losing their salvation. Look back up in this chapter at another verse in context on the subject of drawing back:
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Finally, in this verse God talks about some people who were once saved but now they have “drawn back” into perdition. To “draw back” means to quit or stop running or to not finish or complete the process that I talked about earlier. It speaks of them entering back into the state of “perdition” which means a state of “loss” or “ruin”. All of these terms are speaking about someone who was once saved, but chose to depart God and go another foolish way. It is impossible to draw back into perdition if you were not saved free from perdition. This is not rocket science you just have to see what the Bible says on the subject. Can a believer draw back from their salvation? According to God they can!
So what is this “sin unto death”? I believe that the only sin that will result in you not making it, is the one where you willfully and intentionally say “I do not want you God anymore”, “I do not want to be saved and you are not my Lord, Jesus”. If you do this and say this guess what, God will not make you go to heaven and He will let you go to hell. God will always allow you to choose your destiny right up until your very last breath that you breathe here on this planet. After you leave this planet your choice has been made and there are no more chances to change. There is a lot more in the Bible on this subject and I could give you personal testimonies of people, but I am running very long so for now I think I will end this lesson with a restatement of the Christian process that you are in right now:
What are we Christians suppose to be doing right now? Here are 4 things:
- Fight the Good Fight of Faith…
- Run the Race that is Set Before Us…
- Work Out Our Salvation with Fear and Trembling….
- Hold Fast to What God Has Given You…
Perhaps you know something I do not on this subject of why you are saved eternally without the possiblity of being lost again, if you have scriptures that I did not talk about today, I would be happy to hear about them. I will do a followup lesson in this series and go into more scriptures about the subject of the sin unto death in the future:
God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading this series, please go to “Part 2“.
The Key to Grace and the Key to Greatness!
It takes humility to admit that you are wrong. I know I’ve been wrong a lot in my life and I’m still learning. Pride will shut you off to receiving anything from God. The Bible says God gives grace to the humble. So evidently there is a qualification that is required in order to receive His grace. This is a spiritual law that goes to everything that God does and everything that God gives. If you want to learn the truth, be willing to admit you were wrong and change what you were thinking. This is an amazingly simple but critically important point. Why are there so many division within the church? I think part of it is because nobody wants to admit we were wrong. I don’t believe that there are any Christian denominations that are 100% correct and I don’t believe there are any preachers that are 100% correct about anything either. So what is our attitude towards one another to be? We should be much more tolerant and patient towards each other. We should try to be more helpful and loving. We should all certainly remain open. Even listening to preachers that I know are saying something that is wrong that doesn’t mean that they won’t say something that is right that you need to hear. I always try to say to myself, they just haven’t seen that truth yet on that subject and move on past their remarks. Will Rogers use to say, “We are all ignorant, just about different things.” If you didn’t know that, you could have just learned a whole bunch by listening to that one statement.
1Pe 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humulity: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Do you need the grace of God in your life today? This verse informs us of one of the key elements to obtaining the grace of God. In order to receive God’s grace you must become humble. Of course, your definition of humble must be God’s definition of humble and not what your preacher may think it means. To be humble is the opposite to being proud. You can see this in this verse in 1 Peter. The Bible definition of proud is someone who appears or thinks they are above someone else. They look at others with disdain or arrogance. They think more highly of themselves than others. Proud people have great difficulty in submitting to others. They think they know everything and have a better solution to every problem. The Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day were prime example of men who thought they were better than everyone else. But, God gives us another picture of humility:
Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
God reverses the thinking of men and tells us how to become great in God’s eyes. Men and women like to think that to become the greatest singer or entertainer or sports figure it just takes good looks, or talent or ability or some other human quality. Maybe in the world that is the way it works. But God purposely choose a different system to define greatest in heaven. The key to greatest in God’s world is to become humble like a little child. Have you ever watched a small child and observed their behavior? Most of the time it is a great example of humility. Jesus used this example and said this is what it takes to be great in the eyes of God. You see I have never seen a normal child who thought he or she was better than anyone else. Children can develop pride and rich kids can become snobs and arrogant towards others they view as being inferior, this is a learned behavior from their parents mostly. But I am talking about little kids like 3 or 4 years old. The innocence and the behavior of a child should be your example for your Christian life. We all need God’s grace and this is one of the key elements to obtaining it.
Mat 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Greatness and grace are extended to the humble and in this verse to those who become servants to other. Jesus set us an example that even astounds me still today. Jesus who was God in the flesh, the creator of everything we can see, the one that knows all and sees all, the one that has all power and ability and He stops and washes the feet of His followers before He returns to heaven. That is a very difficult thing to imagine happening. How can the omnipotent God become a servant to others? To wash people’s feet was the task of slaves and servants in those days. Jesus set some very high standards and definitions for greatness and I hope I can live up to them.
So what is your definition of being humble? What is humility to you? I know there are many other verses in the Bible on the subject that I did not talk about. Do you have a favorite story in the Bible about humility? Can you see how in those stories that God’s grace was extended towards them because of their humility? I like stories like Moses and David where God demonstrated His greatness because of the humble hearts of his servants. I would be very glad to hear your thoughts on this subject.
The Top 10 Enemies To Salvation! Why People Don’t Get Saved!
(Ver 1.1) There are a countless number of enemies to salvation. I want to address the Bible reasons for why people do not get saved. Maybe you did not realize it, but salvation is not automatic. Just because God wants you to be saved, does not mean you are saved. If you read the Bible and study it very carefully you will discover that whatever God has freely given to man, man is required to do something to enjoy it. So salvation is a partnership agreement between you and God. God initiated salvation by His grace and you receive it by your faith. I hope that you understand that concept because it is a spiritual law and is a pattern for how things work in the Bible from cover to cover.
Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
This verse in Acts speaks about a process of how salvation works. There are steps required to be taken to get saved. No one is automatically saved. In fact by default you are not saved. You are born into a world of evil and sin. As a very young child you have not reached the age of accountability and are unable to understand sin, even though the sinful nature resides in your flesh. I believe that young children that are killed or die prematurely go to heaven. But I guess I’m getting off of the main subject of why people don’t get saved. In this verse in Acts it speaks to us about an implied process. We have to have someone who is sent to preach the gospel to the people, the people have to listen, hear, and understand what is being said, then the people have to believe what is said. Then they have to accept and confess Jesus as their Lord. I know I gave you a lot of information that is not in that verse, but let’s look in the Bible for what I just said:
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they saved, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
You see the process of salvation being described in reverse order in these verses. To be saved a man or a woman must be sent by God to preach and proclaim the good news that God has forgiven them of their sins and has reconciled them back into a favorable relationship to Him. So Salvation is dependent upon someone “preaching”. The first enemy to people not getting saved is for nobody to “preach” and proclaim the good news. All it takes for no one else to be saved is for everyone to keep their mouths closed. So you are the potential first enemy to the salvation of the world. What people do sometimes is think that they have to do something to make others get saved. So they get into a works mentality of protesting against sins like abortion, or homosexuality or whatever. All this does is turn people off of God’s process. God does not work within your guidelines, you must work within His guidelines. You are responsible to do your part and nothing else. Preaching against sin and sinners is not in the Bible. The Bible tells us that God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18). That means to go and tell people that God is not mad at them and that He has forgiven their sins and doesn’t hold them against them anymore. We are required to go and preach the Gospel meaning the Good News of God and that is all.
The next step in salvation is to say things in a way that people will clearly understand them. You see people do not get saved just because they hear you speak. Hearing is involved, but that is not the complete picture of salvation. People need to hear enough information to clearly understand the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So the next enemy to salvation is not communicating effectively and clearly. I hope you see that you have a responsibility and a major role to play. You are God’s light in the world for others to see. People who do not know God cannot see God, they can only see and hear you. You are responsible for communicating in a way that speaks the truth in love. You are responsible for more than you realize.
So the next step in the Salvation process is for the hearer to believe what you say. Did you know you are not responsible for making them believe anything. If they can’t look at you and see that you are different and what you are saying is true, then you are not God and your job is done. Jesus said in Mark, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel, those that believe will be saved and those that believe not will be damned”. We again see God’s process of Salvation in this verse. A preacher goes and tells someone and someone hears and believes it or chooses not to accept it. You are not responsible for their decision. As sad or as joyous as it might be you are not responsible any further.
So what are the primary two enemies to the world getting saved? First no one goes and tells anyone the good news. Next, you tell someone the wrong information or in the wrong way so that they do not understand it clearly. These are the first two enemies for people getting saved. So let’s go through why people reject the Gospel even if it is presented in the right way:
1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
This verse tells us that people think the message is foolishness. It could be that they do not understand how much of a sinner they are and how much they need salvation. Many people think they have never done anything bad enough to not be saved. In many religions it boils down to a works mentality. People doing good things to earn a place in paradise. Some even teach that life is like a balance scale and if your good side of your scale outweighs the bad side, you are automatically saved. It is amazing how much works comes into play. I have even seen men beating themselves with chains to punish themselves and they think this act earns them favor before God. The level of deception in the world is tremendous and many have bought into this works idea;
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
You see in the Bible it clearly tells us that our works are not factors in us getting saved. There are many verses in the Bible that speak to us in these terms. No matter how good you think you are you cannot earn a ticket into heaven. So I would say that the third enemy to people getting saved are those that think they can work and do good to make it into heaven. If you run into people like this you might be able to help them see the error of their ways by showing them Bible verses. Like the Bible says “if you are guilty of violating one law you are guilty of the whole law” (James 2:10). The Bible actually says any offense is guilt. One sin is not of greater sin consequence than another. They are all equally the same result to everyone. The Bible says the wages of sin is death so we know any sin results in death.
So let’s look at Jesus’ words concerning the Salvation process. Jesus gives us a parable that uses natural things to demonstrate some powerful spiritual truths. Jesus made the statement that this parable was the most important for us to know and understand. If we don’t understand this parable, Jesus said how can you know any parable?
Mar 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Jesus tells us that a man went out to sow seeds in a field. The symbolic field represents the hearts of men and women in the world. The symbolic seed is the “Word of God”. The symbolic “sower” represents the preachers who go and tell the world the good news. Jesus gives us only one verse on the preacher’s responsibility and then he starts to talk about the hearer:
Mar 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.
What we discover in this parable is the heart of men and women in the world come in different kinds of soil. The preacher or “sower” does not know what kind of soil they are sowing into. It almost sounds like a random pattern of sowing seed everywhere you can. This first kind of soil called “way side” was a soil that was particularly compressed and hard packed and the seeds were easy for the birds of the air to come and eat. The symbolic birds or the air are representative of Satan and his demon spirits. These are called the “prince of the power of the air” and “prince” means the ruler of the atmosphere. You can understand all of these by reading Jesus’ explanation of the parable later in the chapter. It is implied in these people that they really do not hear what you are saying. In this example of the first type of soil we can clearly see that Satan is another key enemy to salvation.
Mar 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:
Jesus then describes the second condition of the hearts of men and women. This soil is said to be “stony ground”. Again a hardness of the heart is implied. The inability of the seed to get any depth and it remains on the hard surface. So as the seed grows Jesus says it is unable to take root. In the explanation, Jesus tells us that these people receive the word gladly, but they soon are offended and fall away. Jesus informs us that other people in the world are not on our side or God’s side in helping you to get saved. Jesus tells us because of “affliction” or “persecution” because of the Word that you have heard, people are soon offended and fall away. Please note that your old unsaved friends are one of your worst enemies to your salvation.
Mar 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
In the next example of the heart of man, the realization of “weeds” are described. If you have ever owned a home and had a front yard with grass you understand that you have to do nothing to get weeds. Weeds are a part of the fallen world system. They come with the territory. In this example of soil the weeds dominate the seed and take control over the soil. It is clear that these people in this soil hear the word of God, but yet they do not produce any spiritual fruit for God. Why is this? Jesus tells usthree very important enemies to salvation in his explanation:
Mar 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.
Jesus says the “Cares of this World” choke out the Word of God. The cares of the world include many things. It could be your job. It could be your husband. It could be your children. It could be your car. It could be your boat. It could be your love for movies. I could go on and on. Placing inordinate priority on anything in this world will cause you to make that your God and you will not produce fruit for God. Jesus told us that where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Mat 6:21). What He was asking us to look at is what we think is important. If something else in the world is more important to you than the Bible, you are in trouble. Next, Jesus describes a kind of people who think they don’t need God because they trust in their abilities, possessions and their resources. Jesus tells us that it is very hard for a rich man on earth to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 19:23). They build their big barns and fill them with their possessions and think they are in control of their destiny. Having a false sense of security, because of all of the nice things they surround themselves with, they fall into deception easily. Finally, Jesus gives us the third problem this type of soil is faced with. The “Lusts” of other things. Did you know that “Lust” is not always a negative thing? It just depends upon what you are “lusting” for. A “lust” is a very strong desire. It can become a habitual desire and that is when it starts to control you. It never starts that way, it just can easily develop into something larger. Nobody starts out as an alcoholic. Many times it takes years of repetitious behavior. Eating and food can become more important to you than God. There are really so many examples of this that I cannot go into them all. I’m sure you understand what I am talking about. You have seen how drugs can hook someone into a lifelong dependency. People become so hooked on the drug that it controls their life and they spend all of their money on it and eventually it kills them.
The Enemies To Salvation:
- A Preacher is Sent But Does Not Go!
- A Preacher Doesn’t Say Anything!
- A Preacher Says the Wrong Thing!
- Satan Steals the Word From your Mind and You do not Hear
- You do not understand what is being said!
- Your Old Unsaved Friends Come Around and Laugh at You and You are Offended!
- You Give Up because of the Pressure of Your Peers!
- Other Things in the World Take Priority Over God!
- Having a False Sense of Security In Your Wealth! Trusting in Your Money!
- Lusts and Desires for Natural Things! Food, drugs, alcohol, sex, TV, movies, books!
If you have never been saved! You are a candidate today to receive the free gift of God’s salvation. If you have read this blog you have heard a lot more than many other people have. You can see that there are enemies to your salvation and you are now faced with a choice. This is not a hard or difficult process to get saved, it is actually outlined in this verse of scripture:
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
I can tell you that Jesus was raised from the dead and that He now lives in me and I know him personally. If you want the same, all you have to do is believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and then say “Jesus I make you my Lord and Savior”. If you meant it and did those two things, Jesus now lives in you also. Congratulations you are saved!
I Will Make You Fishers of Men!
In my last blog I made a reference to what the nation needs to do, to help people who are in desperate need. I know there are people all over the world that do not know what is happening and why it is happening to them. In the past few weeks we have seen devastating earthquakes that have killed way too many people. But, yet these earthquakes do not surprise me, Jesus said in the last days these would occur (Mat 24:7). So I expect more to occur and for them to be even stronger than before. I do not mean to imply this to be a prophecy of an impending doom, I just believe the Bible and the words of Jesus. Jesus called this the beginning of sorrows in time of the end.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Jesus makes a demand on us. If you do not take it personally you are not a disciple of Christ. Jesus gives us a very specific instruction in this verse and it starts by following Jesus. To follow Jesus means to observe his movement, his words, his actions, his ways, his purpose, and then for you to imitate them to the best of your ability. Since Jesus is not here in the flesh any more the only way we can do what he said to do is by reading and studying His Word. Only by learning what Jesus did and how he did it, can we then begin to follow in his footsteps. So the journey begins with learning about Jesus. Jesus is our example and our leader. We follow His direction by learning about Him in His Word and by hearing the Spirit of God that is within us. The Word and the Spirit will always agree.
Then Jesus gives us the goal for this following of His ways. There is a specific purpose and plan given to us and a reason that we are now a Christian. This reason is of course to help others see the truth of God’s love toward man. In other verses of the Bible Jesus said we are the “light” of the world. He implies that you do not hide a candle under your bed, you put it out where it helps others to see where they are going. Jesus told us if we follow him, He will make us “fishers” of men. That immediately tells you one of the major reasons why Jesus came to the earth, to be an example fisherman. A “fisherman” is an occupation. It is something men and women do to make a living and pay their bills. It is also “work” and that is a four letter word to many. “Work” implies an extended effort and a toilsome endeavor. In fact here is a definition of the word:
WORK: a sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result
We can see that there are implied obstacles and certainly physical and mental effort on our part involved in being a “fisher” of men. We can also see there is a goal and a prize for doing this. You can call it a reward or a payment, but nonetheless it is the end result of good work and it should always be a positive. We are to be fishers of men. Learning the techniques and using the tools that Jesus taught us to use. By following Christ’s example we can become more like Him and achieve the same results.
I can already tell that this post will probably not be too popular. People do not want to know or hear about their responsibilities. People are generally too focused on themselves and think that it is the preacher’s responsibility to get everyone saved. It’s too bad that is not what Jesus said, is it?
Deceptions in the Modern World designed to Deceive and Control Us Part 4 – Is the Government Your God?
(Ver 1.1) This is now “Part 4” in the Bible study series concerning the subject of modern strategies of the devil to deceive Christians. If you have not read this series from the beginning you might like to start with “Part 1” first. But please understand that this lesson is not dependent upon any previous lesson to be understood and applied in your life. I think millions of Americans are being raised and indoctrinated to look at the government as their personal source for whatever they need. If someone needs food, the government invented food stamps. If someone needs housing, they invented Welfare and Section 8 housing. If someone lost their job and needs money the government invented unemployment income. Now the government has been looking to solve everyone’s health care issues by giving a people free Medicare that is again going to be paid for by other rich people. There are a never ending list of deceptive promises designed to trick us into being controlled by the government. All I ask is “Who is Your God”? Do you look for God to help you or is that the responsibility of your government? Do you pray to God or the President or Congress? Is a human your god? I do not think so!
Ignorant Christians obviously vote our congress and president into government office. And I wonder who is their god to them? My point of this lesson is to get us to see that God is still God and that He is capable of solving whatever problem that we are facing right now. This of course doesn’t help anyone that does not believe there is a God. But my Bible says “That a fool says there is no God”, and it is very difficult to help a fool. But for Christians my Bible also says “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2) Christians should be looking to Jesus as their source for whatever we need. Whatever Jesus did while he walked the face of the earth, He still does today. The Bible says “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Jesus has not changed in His love, His actions or His deeds. Whatever He did before, He can do again! Always remember what Jesus did in the Gospels. He healed blind eyes, He healed lame men, He healed lepers, He raised the dead, He fed 5000 once and 3000 another time. Is there anything too hard for our God?
So is the government our source and supply? Are new government programs the answer for our problems? Should we expand the government so that they can solve all of our problems? This might be news to you, but our current government cannot sustain the current level of growth and monetary deficits. Our government will not survive at this rate very much longer. Our government is already bankrupt, financially and morally. If our government was a financial institution they would have needed a bail out a long time ago. We are living in an extremely fragile time and the least little thing can send everything spiraling out of control. The world financial markets are perpetuating an illusion of stability. The governments of the world are uncontrollably spending money they do not have to prop-up the illusion of stability. The world will soon realize that the stage is set for the anti-Christ to appear.
People have been raised and conditioned to look to the government to solve all of their problems. So when the anti-Christ appears on the scene offering solutions for every problem that he has created for you to see, people will automatically jump in that pool with all of their clothes on and soon drown in the waters of confusion and deception.
Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Looking to the government for our answers is exactly what Satan wants us to do. By Satan offering to solve all of our problems we will be deceived into a false sense of security. Everything will appear to be great for a short time. Satan will try to teach us that we can get by without God! He will then attempt to teach that we can ignore the Bible. It is a deceiving plan to teach that people won’t need a God as long as the government feeds them! God doesn’t need to send us manna from heaven as long as we have food stamps.
SO, WHO IS YOUR GOD? Is your God too small to fix your problem?
What we need to do as a nation is to bring back God as our source and supply. We then need to help people who do not know God to see the truth. Then we need to teach these people who are in need to learn how to fish for themselves. As long as the government continues to give out free fish to everyone, no one will be motivated to do the right thing and learn to help others.
Please join me in praying for God to help us to not be deceived by our governement:
LORD, I come to you as our Jehovah Jireh. The God of more than enough supply and provision. As you supplied Abraham with a ram for sacrifice instead of Isaac, you are more than able to supply what is needed to fulfill your plan and your purpose for my life. Help me O’LORD to not place my faith in the provisions of a temporary human government on the earth. Help me to not be deceived by the deception of temporary promises from anyone on earth not speaking Your Words and Your Will, especially people who are being used by Satan. Grant me wisdom to know who to vote for in our elections. Help me to vote for people that do your will and hear your voice. I look to you the creator of the heavens and the earth and declare you be LORD over my mind, my thoughts, my will, my emotions and my Spirit. Thank you for leading me into the paths of truth and life and far from the ways of deception and death. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Thank you for reading and studying the Bible about the ways Satan is trying to deceive us in the Church today. These are things we must learn and avoid to follow after. Please leave a comment or press “Like” if you agree with this message. God Bless you until next time.
If you would like to continue to learn in this series on “Deception” please go to “Part 5“.
Asking God the Hard Questions?
(Ver 1.1) 
Too many Christians like to ignore the hard stuff. Stuff that is just too tough to think about or to attempt to explain. I have found that God is not intimidated by the difficult questions. In fact He has given us a huge book full of information that contains ALL of the answers that we are seeking. Everyone is seeking to know who they are, why they are here, what purpose does their lives serve in being here. These are in fact the basis for all other questions that we can probably think of. Because people don’t know who they are and why they are here, they spend a lot of time searching for their answer in the wrong places, with the wrong people at the wrong time. It is an amazing extended effort in frustration.
So what are some of the Hard Questions of Life that we should be trying to find out the answers to in the Bible? Here is my top 10 list:
- Who Am I?
- Why Am I here?
- Is There a God?
- Who is God?
- Why is there so much Evil in the World?
- Why doesn’t God do anything to Stop Evil from happening?
- Is God causing the Tornados, Hurricanes, Earthquakes?
- Is there a Devil?
- Is there a Heaven and a Hell?
- Is there anything after Death?
These are just some of the most important questions that I can think of to find the answers to. Maybe you can come up with some more good questions to ask God. If you can please give them to me in a comment. I can think of some related questions that I didn’t really include in my list, like “Did God take my Child in that car wreck?” or “Did God take my mother with cancer?” There are really a lot of personal questions that we are all faced with from our life’s past that we do not understand.
Unfortunately, we all want easy simple answers to every question, not realizing that there are many factors that are uniquely individual to everyone. You see many people may experience the same thing, but how they got there could be completely different than somebody else. So God’s answer to me for a question might be a little different for His answer to you for the exact same question. People like to look at the external and God is primarily focused on the internal aspect of your heart. Life is a completely complex system of interrelated dependencies. Everyone’s life is similar, but yet uniquely different.
So how do you find these answers to the Hard Questions of Life? I have to admit that finding things in the Bible can be work. If you want an easy answer to your problem, I would suggest that you go try a religion that offers a simple inoffensive message of enlightenment and hope. If you want the truth I would say you are not here reading this blog by chance or accident. I do not have all of the answers to every complex question, I just know the one that has all of these answers. You can know Him also, He will speak to you and help you to find the answers that you are seeking. God is actually for you and wants you to be successful in this life. God desires a relationship with you, for you to know Him and for Him to know you.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. If you want or need help with a difficult question, I will do my best to try to point you to answers in God’s Word. Just please understand that every answer is not simple and many times God’s answers are completely different than what you want to hear, but yet they are always intended to help you see something that you need to change inside of you. God Bless You!
Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight — Understanding God’s Methods of Hiding Information in the Bible! Pt 7
(Ver 1.1) This is now part seven of a series of advanced Bible study lessons on the methods that God has used to conceal truth and information in the Bible for us to find. By studying these methods we will greatly increase our ability to understand the truth of God’s Word. I have covered a lot important concepts and information in these lessons that will not be repated. If you have not read this series from the beginning I would strongly suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“.
Technique 7: Types and Shadows
The next technique for concealing truth is what I call the usage of “Types and Shadows”. Types and shadows are very interesting patterns that God has used and are very prevalent in the Old Testament especially. A type or a shadow is many times a recognizable representation of a New Testament spiritual truth. Types and Shadows can be found within individuals, groups, events, Jewish feasts and festivals and even places. Types can be referred to as an archetype or archetypal. Here is one definition for this word:
archetypal – representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned. Archetypal Patterns.
This term describes something that is a pattern of something else that is to come. In other words there is a recognizable resemblance of the past thing from knowing or seeing the future thing. I hope you got that last statement, because it was significant. The idea that you must know the new in order to recognize the pattern in the old is the primary reasons why the Jewish people don’t see Christ the Messiah all over the Old Testament and we do. Because they don’t know the new, they don’t see the old patterns that reflect and describe the new.
Here are some scriptures that describes the usage of types and shadows by God in the Old Testament:
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
These verses inform us of God’s instructions given to Moses through the law. God says these things that Moses had written about were shadows of things which already existed in Heaven. That is an informative verse and demonstrates the principle of types and shadows. Two specific words in this two verses stood out and these are the words “shadows” and “patterns”. That is exactly what I am talking about. These natural types or shadows are given to Moses by God, to provide a view of something that is not seen in the spiritual realm. God showed Moses what to build on earth using the patterns of the things that already existed in heaven. These things can be looked at in one of two ways. They can be viewed as a way of revealing that which existed in heaven or they could also be viewed as something that concealed the things in heaven. Because we have never seen these things in heaven we would not really know by looking at the earthly things what they represented, would we? Let’s examine another New Testament verse that also deals with the subject of types and shadows:
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
God provides a short list of some things that can be found in the Old Testament and declares that these things are types and shadows of things that were to come in Jesus Christ. The principle is again that God gave us things in the law that were recorded to provide insight into something that was going to come in the spiritual realm. The thing that was to come was greater than the thing given to be a type. It’s like if I’m walking in the sunshine and I cast a shadow on the ground. You might be able to look at just the shadow and tell a lot about me, but there are a lot of the details omitted in the shadow representation. Only by looking correctly at the real can you fully comprehend the shadow. There lies a problem with people reading just the Old Testament in isolation, they are looking at shadows and it is many times very difficult to determine what something is by just looking only at the shadow.
The term shadow is a term that implies the light has been blocked by something. In other words a natural shadow on the ground is caused because some object is blocking the light. The absence of light causes shadows. In the natural realm the light can be from the sun or from another light source like a lamp. In the spiritual realm God is the Light! Who is blocking God from shining into the minds of people on the earth like the Jewish people who do not know Jesus? The Bible says that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not”. This verse is of course speaking of Satan as being in control of our current world system. But the term “blindness” means the inability to see light. This applies physically and spiritually equally.
There are types and shadows from Genesis chapter 1 until Malachi. If you are a serious student of the Word of God you will also realize that the Gospels are all predominantly Old Testament. I think sometimes people forget this, but Jesus did not implement the new covenant until his resurrection. Knowing this fact we can see further types and shadows in the life and ministry of Jesus. For example, in the life of Jesus, he walked up to a fig tree and cursed it and it died overnight. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but Jesus didn’t get angry and do anything on a whim or by accident. This action of cursing the fig tree was symbolic and a type of something else that was a much greater truth. Since this is not my subject I will not attempt to explain it for the sake of time.
I guess I should try to point out that a pattern found in the Old Testament might be very similar to an analogy that I previously discussed in the topic of symbolism. Sometimes types can be real people that point us to spiritual truth. But a type or pattern can also be a holiday, like the Feast of Passover. The Passover Feast can be viewed as a type of Jesus the lamb of God being sacrificed and Him shedding his blood. Then there is story of Moses in the wilderness who puts a serpent on a pole and everyone that looks upon it is made whole. Again this is a type and a shadow of Christ’s work on the cross. Christ became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. There are many patterns given within the law of Moses and I cannot begin to try to include them all in this blog.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
This verse in Hebrews actually describes types and shadows very accurately. The law of the Old Testament contains many shadows of the good things to come. Of course it then tells us that these things are not the clear image of the real item. After all they are just shadows. God informs us the real thing that was coming is the New Covenant. The things given in the Old were purely given to point you to the real. That is why the nation of Israel is in so much deception. They have embrace the shadows and have chosen to purposely ignore the real.
There are so many other examples that I could give you right here, that I’ll just pick one example, that is found in the book of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite or gentile woman, whose Jewish husband died. We can see a man called Boaz who is called the kinsman redeemer of Ruth. Ruth moves back to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, where she meets Boaz and eventually marries him. Without going into a lot of details of this story the major types and shadows are as follows, Ruth represents the church, Boaz represents Jesus Christ and Naomi represents the Nation of Israel. A type and a shadow is never a perfect image of the true image portrayed. Like a real shadow on the ground it always points you to the real image that is causing or making the shadow. The shadow should be an outlined representation of the real without all of the detailed features of the true image. This of course is sometimes difficult to see or recognize at first until you figure out what the shadow is pointing you to. But once you see it then it becomes much clearer what everything means. There are many other types and shadows in the book of Ruth and I didn’t give you all of them because it would certainly complicate your world without a much more in-depth teaching and understanding.
So I’ll end this blog on that note. We have now gone through seven different techniques that God has utilized to hide information in the Bible for us to find. That of course is not every method that there is and hopefully I can continue to discuss some more in my next blog. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading this series of lessons you can go to “Part 8“.
Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight — Understanding God’s Methods of Hiding Information in the Bible! Pt 6
(Ver 1.2) This is part six of a series of advanced Bible lessons on the methods that God has designed and implemented to conceal spiritual truth and information in the Bible for us to find. By studying these methods we will greatly increase our ability to understand the spiritual truth of God’s Word. Some might ask why is important to know this? I believe that the Bible will only be understood correctly, by understanding how things are hidden in the Bible. God is making known these hidden things today and if you didn’t know that there were hidden things to find and how these things were hidden you would really not be able to understand how to study the Bible. Here is a prophecy that Jesus made to us:
Mat 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
This is a prophetic statement of the end times that we live in. God is saying that the things that He has hidden in His Word will be understood by the church. The true believers will participate in this knowledge. Those who are known by God and who know God will see the revelation shine forth. Those who walk in the darkness will not perceive it and will fail to comprehend what is happening. Satan will do everything that he can to deceive you into a lie, but if you are wise you will overcome. This revelation will cause the true believers to unite and become one in mind, one in purpose and one in spirit, and this will allow them to make themselves ready for the coming of the Lamb of God.
Isa 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
This is one of the Standard Operating Methodologies of God. God declare something will happen before it happens. However, these things that are prophesied are not very self apparent or self revealing. In other words they are hidden to allow God to reveal them at the right time. If you understand what God is doing before He returns you will be able to participate.
In my last lesson on this subject I talked specifically about how God can call one thing by multiple names, titles and descriptions and how difficult that makes it to find related verses in the Bible. Linking two completely different names in the Bible to be references to the same spiritual individual subject is one of the most prevalent methods that God uses throughout the Bible. Today, I want to discuss the opposite to that technique and introduce you to a new paradigm. If you have not read this series from the beginning I would strongly suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“.
Technique 6: Calling Multiple Things by the Same Name
There are so many different methods of concealing truths that sometimes I wonder how we have learned anything from the Bible. Obviously if it were not for the Spirit of God showing us how to read it and study it we would all still be hopelessly lost. So I want to tell you something else that is extremely important in the correct interpretation of the Bible and this one will probably be somewhat controversial because it might be totally new to you. I’ve studied the Bible a lot for many years and this is one of the things that God showed me that certainly has helped me to better understand the Bible, so I hope it will help you also.
This method of concealing information is based upon a trick of calling multiple things, people, places or objects by the same name, so that if you hear someone say it you won’t really know which one they are talking about. This is really a common problem that we face every day in our usage of the English language and many times we are forced to decipher what is being said by the context of a particular word or by even knowing who it is that is speaking. Wow, that was an incredible statement that God had me type and it helps to explain many challenges that we face today in a wide variety of Bible interpretations found on the planet. Two people can say the exact same words and they mean something differently because of who they are and how they said it. You see an English word can have multiple meanings and can be used in a wide variety of ways and even in slang. You must automatically decode the meaning of the words based upon the speaker, the intent and the usage. Believe it or not, this is a clever way that God has used to encode information into the Bible for us to figure out.
Let me give you a quick example, if I told you to look at my fruit, what comes to your mind? Maybe you would think I had a basket of apples or oranges. But Jesus said you will know them by their fruit? So how did that change the definition and what you are now thinking about when I say look at my fruit. You see the difference and the difficulty of attempting to think naturally versus thinking spiritually. What I did was show you a common approach found in the Bible. God speaks of fruit in verses found from Genesis to Revelation. How do you know which kind of fruit He is referring to, or could it be that He is referring to both of them sometimes simultaneously? It is a very challenging puzzle to consider.
Let me go into another example of what I am talking about, the concept of calling different things by the same name in the Bible. The term “heaven” is used multiple times in the Bible. If you have studied the Bible very much, you must have noticed that the Bible refers to at least three different areas or realms and they are all referred to as “heaven”. You can see this in the New Testament when Paul writes about being caught up to the third heaven. Obviously if he went and visited the third heaven there must be a first heaven and a second heaven. Looking through the Bible you will find that one heaven is the atmosphere around our planet where birds soar, the wind blows and clouds form. Then another dimension called heaven would be the area of outer space where stars, planets and other celestial objects exist. Finally, we know that there also exists a spiritual place or city that contains the throne of God. A place full of angelic beings and those that have departed to be with the LORD. This last one is definitely a spiritual reality and location. But we can see that there are three completely different areas all called by the exact same name and this makes our job of reading and studying the Bible that much more complex.
I’ll attempt to give you another example, but this one will be tricky. I noticed this when reading the Bible that the city named Jerusalem was mentioned a lot. From the Old Testament nation of Israel to the New Testament ministry of Jesus all the way to the book of Revelation. In fact by my Bible program’s search it found 767 verses that contained the word “Jerusalem” from Joshua to Revelation. Jerusalem is certainly one of the central themes of the Bible. But here is the secret, pay close attention to what I am about to tell you because it will be very important. There is more than one city named Jerusalem in the Bible. In fact I have found three different cities all called Jerusalem. I’m not talking about a conquering nation coming into Israel and destroying the earthly city Jerusalem and then it being rebuilt into a newer version of the same city. I’m talking about three separate and distinct cities that all potentially exist right now in time in different locations. So when we read a verse that says “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” The first question that you should ask yourself would be “Which One?”.
You see there is the earthly city Jerusalem in the nation of Israel located in the middle east and this is the main city that everyone always associates with the name Jerusalem. But we can also see in Revelation chapters 3 and 21, a new city called Jerusalem and this one is certainly not the same city as the one in the middle east today. So that is definitely number two. Then in the Epistles we can read about a third city called the “Heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22) or as it is also called “the Jerusalem that is above” (Galatians 4:26). This is certainly new information to many so I anticipate that I will get some opposition, because they haven’t seen it and don’t understand it yet. Oh well? You know I don’t expect you to believe something just because I said it, I do expect you to study things for yourself and find out if they are true or not. You see the implications being given to us by this revelation is that the earthly city Jerusalem represents the Old Covenant relationship of God and natural Israel. The New Jerusalem is said to be the bride of Christ and corresponds to the New Covenant relationship of Jesus and the church. Then there is the heavenly Jerusalem which I would guess some have said was the same as the New Jerusalem, but that does not fit the scriptures. You see in Galatians 4:26 it describes the “Heavenly Jerusalem” to clearly be the spiritual mother of the church and therefore we can imply that it says that she is not the church. The implication is that of a mature woman capable of child bearing. The church is called the New Jerusalem in Revelation 3, so we know that the heavenly Jerusalem must have existed prior to the spiritual birth of the church in order for her to give birth to us. It is only logical.
There are a number of clearly implied references and associations of these three cities. First, they are all cities and they all represent women. They are all implied to be women so there is also an implication that they all have children. They are all implied to be related to a covenant relationship with God. Three women, three cities, three covenants. I don’t have time to explain everything here in this blog. My goal is to make you familiar with a technique that God has shown me that He has used to conceal information in His book, the Bible.
What do we know about Moses, God said in his Word that he gave Moses instruction to pattern things after those things that were already in heaven. Moses built an arch of the covenant and created a temple, priests and garments that were all patterns of things that already existed in heaven. What was God doing? He was establishing a city, a covenant and a temple on the earth that revealed another one that already existed in heaven. This one was in heaven was a very old city and had to exist prior to the church. In the allegory given to us in Galatians 4, we can see that this heavenly city was a type of Sarah who was a very old lady when she had Isaac, the promised child. But it says the earthly city Jerusalem was a type of Hagar who is in bondage with her children. What does the Bible say, it says to cast out the bond woman, for her son will not be heir with the children of the free woman. This is very strong words and speak volumes of information about the current state of Israel and the middle east city of Jerusalem.
I can certainly say that if God referred to three different cities, all with the same name that would certainly make things significantly more complicated to figure out what He was talking about. Do you agree? First, just learn the concept and method and then go and see how it is applied in the Bible. If there are three cities called Jerusalem, that implies three different nations called Israel. The number of parallels and duplicates of earthly and heavenly things are very huge. Then God tells us that there is coming a new heaven and a new earth. That implies these Old things will pass away and vanish. But that also confirms why God tells us that there will be a New Jerusalem to take the place of the other two cities. There are so many examples like this in the Bible if you look for them you will find them. This process always starts by you realizing that they exist and for you knowing what to look for.
I’ll give you another example of what I am talking about to help you see it more clearly. A” day” can be interpreted to be a literal 24 hour time period where the earth revolves around one complete cycle and we sleep and then we get up and go to work. This 24 hour time period is just the first definition of the word and here is a scriptural example of this word being used in this manner:
1Co 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
Then the word “day” can be interpreted to mean a 12 hour time period that the sun shines into and this period is in direct contrast to “night” another 12 hour time period. So now we have the same word but used to mean a 12 hour time period instead of a natural 24 hour time period. Here is an example of this word being used like that in the Bible:
2Ti 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;
I hope that you are already seeing the potential conflicts in correctly interpreting the word “day” in the Bible. But, we certainly are not through with all of the possible ways to use the word “day” in the scriptures. Let’s look at another example:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
What does this word “day” mean in Hebrews 10:25? I think that it means a coming event. But it could also mean other things. There is the complexity of correctly interpreting the Bible. You see here is another problem with correct Bible interpretation; many, many times it is imperative to get God’s definition for a word in order to correctly apply it and understand what is being said to us in the Bible. Here is an example of what I am talking about. God gives us His definition for a “day” in this verse:
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
You see a problem now exists. After learning God’s definition of a word, you need to try to apply God’s definition to every other occurrence in the Bible of the word “day” and see if it fits or works to help you understand the spiritual side of the verse. This is a very tricky method of hiding information in the Bible. Take for example, the Genesis 1 account of the creation of our world. If you notice it describes a 6 day period of work by God. But, you can also learn by applying God’s definition to what 6 days imply to us in prophetic terms. God actually lays out the plan of man and salvation and redemption in the first chapter of Genesis. By noting what God did on what day and applying it using God’s definition of a day you can see several major spiritual truths being hidden in these verses. There is a prophetic verse in the Bible that says “I make known the end from the beginning”. So by studying the beginning we ought to be able to see and understand the end. I’ll give you a quick example, on day 4 God divides day and night and caused the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night. This is a prophetic view into Christ being born on the 4th day of human history or around 4000 years after Adam. Do you understand that Jesus is the Sun and Satan is the moon? Any way I have gone long enough in this blog so I hope that you are understanding the concepts being given. You might not understand everything that I write about in these blogs, but try to get a hold of the concepts and then apply them when you are studying the Bible. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading this series of lessons, please go to “Part 7“.
Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight — Understanding God’s Methods of Hiding Information in the Bible! Pt 5
(Ver 1.3) This is part five of a series of advanced Bible study lessons on the methods that God has used to conceal information in the Bible for us to find. By studying, learning and understanding these methods we will greatly increase our ability to understand the real truth of God’s Word. We have already discussed that God uses various methods of hiding information of which I have first mentioned has consisted of Him spreading the information out randomly over the entire Bible in an unorganized pattern which causes it to be difficult for us to find all of the verses on any related subjects. I like to call this the truth seed scattering method of hiding truth. It is very much like a farmer out in his field planting seeds to produce a single crop. The seeds fall in random order but they all grow together in unison to make up the unified crop to harvest. That is exactly like the Word of God was designed. You can find subjects throughout the Bible and they must all be considered equally when interpreting the Bible. Other methods we have talked about are God’s usage of figurative language, God’s usage of symbolism and symbolic representations and God’s usage of parables. If you have not read these lessons from the beginning I would strongly suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“.
Technique 5: Referring to the Same Thing Using Multiple Names, Titles or Descriptions
Another very common method of hiding information in the Bible is something that God uses very often and it is literally a very tricky method of hiding information. You see if God wanted to tell you something and He wanted to make it harder to find, one method might be that He could depict it using different descriptions, terms, titles or names. God could be talking about the exact same thing, but this makes it significantly more difficult to associate and put the pieces together correctly. What if your Bible study subject was about “the words that people speak” or just “spoken words”. Have you ever thought how you would attempt to find every verse in the Bible that refers to this one subject so that you could potentially gain a thorough knowledge on it? You would have to search the Bible for “word”, “words”, “speech”, “speeches”, “spoken”, “spoke”, “speak”, “speaker”, “say”, “saying”, “sayings”, “tell”, “told”, “console”, “consoled”, “council”, “commune”, “communicate”, “converse”, “demand”, “demanded”, “demands”, “command”, “commanded”, “commandment”, “commands”, “talk”, “talks”, “talker”, “voice”, “voices”, “breath”, “mouth”, “lips”, “tongue”, “tongues”, “whisper”, “whispers”, “whispered”, “question”, “questions”, “questioned”, “ask”, “asked”, “asks”, “inquire”, “inquiring”, “inquired”, “request”, “requests’, “requested”, “utter”, “uttered”, “utters”, “babble”, “utterance”, “declare”, “declared”, “declares”, “inspire”, “inspired”, “inspiration”, “encourage”, “encouragement”, “correct”, “corrected”, “correction”, “scorn”, “sarcasm”, “mockery”, “cynicism”, “irony”, “ironic”, “sound”, “sounds”, just to name a few of the obvious ones. How many other words am I leaving out that can be taken as “spoken words”? What about the truth, a lie, or lies, or lying? What about someone who prays or is praying, or has prayed, isn’t that speaking words to God? This is the root of the problem, there are so many other synonymous words that I did not include and then there are also some not so obvious ones that are very difficult to find. For example, what about a babbling brook or a flame of fire? What about a reference to a fountain, a rudder, a bit or a bridle? What about the fruit of your lips? Jesus said “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.” That is a not so obvious reference to something coming out of their mouths and it must be their spoken words. This verse does not mention words directly nor even have a direct reference to the area of the mouth, but yet it speaks about something coming out of an area of the body that normally you put stuff into, to feed your body. That is very tricky, if you ask me. Then the Bible describes Jesus as the man with the sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and again that is a symbolic reference talking about His spoken words. Words are described in terms of a weapon that cuts two ways. That is some very powerful information on the subject of spoken words, yet how would you find it and recognize the significance?
I do hope you grasp what I’m saying for it is very important that you do. There are so many ways to describe and speak about any subject that it makes it very difficult to think of them all, much less to find all of them in the Bible. You would have to read the Bible from cover to cover on every Bible study, paying very close attention to every word to see if it is related to the subject you are searching for. Even then many of the references could be symbolic, figurative, or some other reference that makes it difficult to recognize with just a surface reading.
So let’s talk about the “devil” or Satan. How many different Bible verses can you come up with that describe this spiritual being in not so obvious terms. I can think of a bunch so I’ll give you a few examples to get you started in thinking of new ways to recognize this technique used in the Bible. Satan is called the “serpent”, the “dragon”, the “deceiver”, the “accuser”, the “prince of this world”, the “god of this world”, the “thief”, the “enemy”, the “ruler of the darkness”, “Lucifer”, “Beelzebub”, the “moon”, and I probably could go on and on. Wouldn’t it have been easier, if God had always called Satan by the name “Satan” and then we would have been able to understand when He was talking about him in a more precise and clear manner? Of course it would! But nobody said the Bible was simple! God intentionally designed every word of the Bible to conceal and reveal information.
By calling one thing by a multitude of different names or titles, you make it significantly more difficult to find and understand them. But God can also give new implied information in using this technique. For example, one of the first times that Satan is mentioned in the Bible, he is called “the serpent” (Genesis 3). But, in Revelation 12 he is called “the dragon”. We are also clearly told in Revelation 12 that the dragon was the ancient serpent. Therefore, both are symbolic references to the same spiritual entity. However, you can infer from these two references some qualities that have transpired or have developed in the course of time over the last 6000 years. Satan who was called the serpent was a much smaller and insignificant spiritual being in Genesis. As a symbolic serpent he was a manageable force. But, now as a great red dragon in Revelation he has implied growth and strength which also infers a much greater power. In other words, Satan is a much larger formidable spiritual opponent in Revelation than he was in Genesis. This information was given to us indirectly by God using two different symbolic references for the same spiritual being called Satan. If you would like to read my lesson on the “Names, Titles, Descriptions and Symbols of Satan” found in the Bible it would be worth your time to go and check it out.
I’ll give you one more example, since this subject is so vitally important to correct Bible interpretation. God calls the sun by multiple names and descriptions. If you just searched the Bible for the obvious word “sun” you would miss some of the most important verses in the Bible on the subject. By only searching for the obvious “sun”, you will miss the not so obvious ways to describe the sun. The very first reference in the Bible of the “sun” is found in Genesis 1 on the 4th day of creation and God calls the sun the “greater light” in Genesis 1:16. The “Greater Light” is the prophetic symbolic ruler of the day and of course represents a symbolic type of Jesus Christ who was to come to the earth on the 4th day (4000 years) of human history. Then in 2 Peter 1:19 God calls the sun the “Day Star“. If you understand astronomy you understand our sun is nothing but our closest star that lights our days. This is a physical reality that symbolizes a spiritual reality. In this verse in 2 Peter, Jesus is again called the Sun that rises in the hearts of men. Finally, in Revelation 22:16 the sun is given another completely different name and is called the “Bright and Morning Star“. Again this is literally speaking about the sun. This verse in Revelation is Jesus speaking directly to us and claiming to be the Sun of Righteousness found in Malachi. Then in 1 John 2:8 we find a symbolic sun being referred to as the “true light“. That is radically important to the subject of the sun, but a reference that would be very hard to find. So if you just searched the Bible for the term “sun”, you missed three or four of the most important verses on the subject. To adequately satisfy the subject you would need to start with the obvious references of the “sun”, “day”, “daylight”, “light”, “morning”, “dawn” and then be smart enough to look for the not so obvious ones like “star”.
Another technique that I haven’t spoken of yet is opposite or antithesis truths. To understand “day” you might also have to understand “night”. To understand the “Sun” you might also need to understand the “moon”. To understand “light” you might also need to understand “darkness”. Many times in the Bible a subject is covered by speaking about what it is not. Light is not darkness so when God tells you about “darkness” you can infer some meaning to what light is. It can get very complicated and I know you will get it if you start to look for it. I also just gave you a small sample of the names of Jesus found in the Bible, if you would like you can go to “Names, Titles, Descriptions and Symbols of Jesus” found in the Bible and begin to recognize how many ways there are to describe one person. It is almost overwhelming.
Begin to recognize that there are literally dozens of ways to describe the same thing. God can be talking about the same thing in multiple verses, but calling them by different names. All this does is make it more difficult and challenging for us to figure it all out. I do hope you get it! This is a very prevalent and widespread technique used by God to conceal information in the Bible. Why, because you probably didn’t realize that there were so many multiple ways of naming something. Things, events, people, and places in the Bible are often referred to using different titles and names based upon different descriptive qualities and attributes. I can’t tell you how important it is that you grasp this concept and know this technique of hiding information in the Bible. Using this knowledge alone will cause you to learn more than you can imagine.
If you would like to continue reading this series, please continue to “Part 6“.
Genesis 6: Prophetic Salvation and Redemptive Patterns in Noah? Pitch Within and Pitch Without!
(Ver 1.1) I know I teach things that are new and different than anything you have ever heard before, but that doesn’t mean they are not true or what the Bible says. If you diligently study the Bible I believe you will come to the same conclusions that I have. In my blog today I want to teach you about something prophetic that God showed me about the story of Noah. Noah as you recall was selected by God to preserve the human race. God looked at humanity and said “The end of all flesh has come up before me.” This was obviously not a good thing because violence and sin had filled the earth. Men and women were lovers of themselves and didn’t care about anybody else. However, Noah found favor before God. God told him to go and build an ark that him and his family could get into along with the animals of the world and God would then send a flood to cause a new beginning or a new starting point. Apparently something this catastrophic came as a result of the tremendously sad state of the human race at that time. Jesus told us “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the son of man” (Mat 24:37). We do not have much to look forward to, if this is truly the case. There does seem to be a growing evil presence in the world. It would appear that those in the darkness are growing darker and more evil. A day does not go by on the 6:00 evening news where someone has not done something evil against another human on the earth. But since this is not my mainline subject I will not go into that in any more depth. What I want to show you today is God’s plan of salvation and redemption in some hidden types and patterns found within the Old Testament story of Noah:
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
This pattern and type is not easily found, but it is not hard to understand once you see it. In studying the Bible maybe you noticed that many English translations are void of the original Hebrew language meanings and that they also lack the true importance of what God had originally intended it to say. Today’s scripture verse will be a prime example of this problem. It would appear that the translators did not know how to correctly translate the verse so they used their best guess method at what they thought that it meant to say. After you read the rest of this lesson you will understand why it is so important to study the original Hebrew words in order to see what you might be missing. So here is the key verse to our subject lesson today:
Gen 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
God told Noah to make an ark out of gopher wood. The Ark is a symbolic representation of humanity and the human condition. God uses the Ark to save humanity. This is also symbolic of God’s plan of salvation and redemption. God comes to the earth personally and becomes the very thing that He wants to save. By becoming a man, God is now able to save the human race. It is a fascinating concept to consider. But that is not my subject today either. So let’s look at the Ark. God told Noah to put pitch on the inside and then to put pitch on the outside of the ark. Let me stop right there and describe the human condition. Humans are spiritual beings that inhabit or dwell in a physical body. The body is the outside part that we see, the inside of a person is their spirit that we do not see. I do hope that you understand spiritual things enough to see what I am telling you is true. So what we have described to us in the form of a symbolic ark are the external vs. the internal parts or dimensions of a man. A man or a woman alive in the world today is in contact with both the natural and the spiritual worlds simultaneously, whether they know it or not. The vast majority of the unsaved people of the world are not aware of the spiritual dimension of things at all. Even a great number of carnal Christians are also oblivious to spiritual things and there lies the problem. Oh well?
So we have man in two separate dimensions simultaneously, one is natural and one is spiritual and God’s plan of salvation and redemption must include both of these dimensions in order to be fully effective. Do you understand that concept? Well the story of Noah and the Ark gives us some valuable clues to how God did this and most have never seen it. You see the two words translated as “pitch” in Genesis 6:14 are not the same Hebrew words. Both Hebrew words are related to each other, in fact one word comes from the root word of the other. But one Hebrew word seems to mean something almost completely different than the other one means. So why would translators make them the same word in the English translation? That is a really good question, I guess they couldn’t figure out what other words to use so they assumed they both meant pitch. If you look at the base definition of each word the root of each word means “to cover”. To cover something implies that you are hiding something or removing something from plain view. This is an intentional act of taking something found in plain view and covering it with something else to not be seen. I personally think that this applies to God’s work of salvation. In building a physical Ark, Noah would have had to do something to make it water tight. In boat making this usually involves some coating or a sealant; especially for a wooden boat. If a wooden boat sits in water without a water tight coating, the wood would eventually become water logged with the water that you were hoping to keep out and it would probably soon leak and sink. So a coating of pitch was placed on the inside as well as the outside of the Ark to make it waterproof. But what was this covering and what is the symbolism a representation of with these two different Hebrew words translated as “pitch”?
Let’s consider the facts. A human is a spirit being made in the image and likeness of God. God being a spirit being created man to look and resemble Himself. However, God limited man’s ability by confining him to a physical body. By confining the man to a physical body, he is limited to a specific three dimensional time and space. In other words, while God can be everywhere at every time all at once, man can only be in a single location at any given point of time. Man is confined to a specific environmental condition range of temperatures and living requirements. Physical man needs oxygen, food, water and other essential elements to survive in this world. By God’s intelligent design man was severely limited in a state of specific fragile circumstances in order to learn and to be able to make choices without affecting any other spiritual eternal being or spiritual place or location. While one physical human being can kill another physical human being, one physical being can do nothing to the real spirit man in their body. God created our lives as a series of lessons in a temporary natural environment so that we could choose where we will spend our eternity. Spiritual beings will never die or cease to exist somewhere.
So what is a human body? Your physical body is your earth suit and it is comprised of a multitude of different physical elements and parts. The number of trace elements in the human body is over 50 different types ranging from Oxygen to Tungsten. The human body by weight is 70% water. Oxygen is the most abundant element in both the earth and the human body by weight. The top three elements in the human body are Oxygen, Carbon, and Hydrogen. It is really most interesting to note that the human body can be called a hydrocarbon unit. These are two of the key elements found in bitumen. Bitumen is a waterproofing agent used in asphalt and other areas and surfaces to keep water out. According to the Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word H3722 translated as “pitch” for the “within” inward part of the ark this word represents this type of waterproofing agent called bitumen. But if you think of the human spirit as being like the interior of the ark, it is also covered with a waterproofing surface called a body. I just think that is interesting to note.
So let’s explore the human body from a different angle other than its physical composition. I personally believe that the physical human body is the only factor that gives you legal access to this planet. To be born here of a woman is the only legal entry or door into this physical world. Your physical body gives you the right to choose your eternal destiny. Jesus said unless a man is born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). To be born again means you first must be born the first time physically to even qualify to be born again spiritually. That is a very difficult concept for some to consider, but it also means that it severely limits Satan and the other demons from participating in God’s plan of salvation.
So let’s do an analysis of the two words translated as “pitch” in this verse and see what they reveal to us. The first word that I will look at is the “pitch” that is said to apply to the inside of the ark. The inside of the ark would be representative of the spirit of man so let’s see what God says about our spirits. This “pitch” word comes from a Hebrew word in the Strong’s number H3722 and has the following definition:
WITHIN
H3722
A primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: – appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).
This word has a lot of potential overlapping meanings. First, let’s talk about the last meaning found in this definition called “reconciliation”. To reconcile one thing to another is to restore it into right relationship. Of course in this lesson we are talking about the condition of the fallen man being restored back into right relationship with the One True Creator God. The word reconciliation is a very important theological concept given to us in the Bible. Here are some definitions for this word reconciliation.
Reconcile:
- to make (two apparently conflicting things) compatible or consistent with each other; often passive; usually foll by to) to make (oneself or another) no longer opposed
- to become friendly with (someone) after estrangement or to re-establish friendly relations between (two or more people
- make peace between, reunite, propitiate, bring to terms, restore harmony between, re-establish friendly relations between
Whether you realize it or not before you were saved, you were an enemy of God. God directly opposed everything that you stood for, even though He died for your right to change and be saved. The human race was separate and directly opposed to God and everything that a Holy God stood for. After sin entered into the world, the human race was in direct opposition to God. After sin, the human nature was no longer God’s nature. Knowing this God had to do something to reconcile the situation. We have one spiritual being, God being opposed to another spiritual being, man and God’s plan of salvation includes something called “atonement”, “forgiveness”, “mercy” and “grace”. The implied ways of this reconciliation are represented to us as a cleansing process. A cleansing process involves a washing in the blood of Jesus, spiritually speaking of course. Our sins have been purged or annulled by the shed blood of Jesus. Through what Jesus did for us as a man on the cross, God was able to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. What is that? It means to go and tell people, God is not mad at them. God is not opposed to them anymore. They are not God’s enemies anymore. God has invited them to be His friend and a part of His family.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
You can clearly see what I just described to you take place in God’s plan of salvation. In these two verses God declares that the Church should be telling people this good news. This should be the emphasized message from the church of God to the lost world. Reconciliation is the prophetic representative work of the “pitch” within in the Ark of Noah. Our spirits have now been forgiven and reconciled back into the right relationship with God is part 1 of God’s plan. But, man lives in a physical body and God’s plan of salvation must also include this external part of man to be an all inclusive work and fully effective. So let’s explore the symolic “pitch” which is applied to the external portion of the ark called the body of man revealed in this Hebrew word in the Strong’s number H3724:
WITHOUT
H3724
From H3722; properly a cover, that is, (literally) a village (as covered in); (specifically) bitumen (as used for coating), and the henna plant (as used for dyeing); figuratively a redemption price: – bribe, camphire, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money, village.
This word is contrasted to be a completely different work of God. Where the first “pitch” on the inside meant to “forgive'”, this “pitch” on the outside has a financial implication of someone paying a sum of money to buy back an object. This is where “redemption” comes into play. Maybe in your Bible study you have heard about Christ’s work of “redemption”. But maybe you did not understand the difference between “redemption” and “atonement”. As you can see they are dramatically different realms of man. One work applies to the “spiritual” side of man and the other applies to the “physical” side of man. By God accomplishing both of these simultaneously, man is wholly saved in one act of God’s grace. Let’s look briefly at the definition of “redeem”:
Redeem
- To recover ownership of by paying a specified sum
- To set free; rescue or ransom
- To save from a state of sinfulness and its consequences
Again we see a process of someone paying a sum of money to buy something back. Something is implied to have been taken either legally or illegally and a sum of money is paid to recover what was taken or lost. This is more of what Jesus did on the cross, even though you might not have fully understood it. How did Jesus accomplish this redemption and what price was paid for our redemption is now the part of the lesson that we have arrived at:
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
You see in these verses, Jesus Christ is said to be the price paid for our redemption. Jesus gave himself for a ransom. A ransom is a sum of money you pay to a kidnapper to get your child back. Apparently the human race belonged to or was taken captive by someone that had to be paid in order to get us back to God. What are we talking about though? We are only talking about the human body. The spirits of the man and women were already forgiven and reconciled to God. What we find is that God had to pay a price for the bodies of the human race.
Isa 52:3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
In this verse God prophecies that man will be redeemed without the payment of cash, gold, silver or monetary value changing hands. God makes a statement that the human race had sold themselves and gotten nothing in return or of value for their stupid act. So God’s plan of salvation and redemption did not cost Him any money either, but it was certainly not FREE!.
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
We can understand from this verse that we, the human race were bought out of something or someone’s possession and now belong to God. God paid the price for our redemption from sin with His blood sacrifice. It is very much like a person who takes a valuable item to a pawn shop and temporarily sells it for money. They are given a specific time limitation to redeem their item and if they do not the item is forever lost. We have been purchased back from our sad sinful state and by accepting Jesus as our Lord have received the free gift of salvation and redemption. Unlike a pawn shop analogy where the item sold never has a say or a voice on its destiny, people are the objects that was sold and they can choose to be redeemed or stay where they are at. But the redemptive work of God is more complex than my simple pawn shop analogy. We are actually still awaiting for a part of the redemptive work of God to occur or be completed in the future:
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
You see if you look for verses in the Bible, you will see that we are still waiting for the full redemptive work of God to be accomplished. We still have mortal temporary bodies on this planet and according to the Bible we will be transformed on the outside very soon and all get new bodies that our spirits can live in forever. God writes in Roman’s 8:23 that we are all awaiting this to happen with anxious anticipation. A groaning is applicable to a birthing process, I believe. God has already paid the price for our redemption, but yet we still await the redemption of our bodies. It is a very complex subject, I know.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson on the pitch within and the pitch without and how it relates to the Word of God for the salvation and redemptive work of Christ. This two part work of God completed the salvation which involved the forgiveness of the human spirit as well as the purchased redemption of our bodies. God has hidden little things like this in the Bible for a reason and they can only be seen if you look for them diligently. I pray that you see them and understand them. Until my next blog, God Bless You.
Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight — Understanding God’s Methods of Hiding Information in the Bible! Pt 4
(Ver 2.2) This is part four of a series of lessons on methods that God has used to conceal information in the Bible for us to find. By studying these methods we will greatly increase our ability to understand the truth of God’s Word. I have been attempting to go through the techniques that God has used to conceal spiritual information using definitions, terms and descriptions that are not complicated or laced with educated phraseology that is intended to be studied only by the elect doctorate types. I am using plain language and common terms that hopefully anyone can understand. If you did not read this series from the beginning I would strongly suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“. I have covered a lot of good information and it will not be repeated in the same level of detail.
Technique 4: The Use of Parables
Eze 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
Another widely used technique found in the Bible is the designed use of parables. God purposely uses parables in the Bible to conceal and reveal spiritual truth to us. According to the Bible a parable is a sort of riddle or a puzzle. You may have noticed while reading the Gospels that Jesus taught a lot in parables. Many times parables would give powerful spiritual truths using the terms of natural things like, seeds, farms, fields, wheat, tares, leaven, weddings, a bride, a groom, etc. Jesus actually fulfilled prophecy by teaching in parables. You can clearly see in this next verse that God prophesied something very profound about the words that Jesus would speak to us:
Mat 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
To speak things that have been kept secret since the world was established, is the key reason for why Jesus spoke in parables to us. We can clearly understand that these parables must hold some very complex secret information within them, but yet people do not still appreciate their value, because they do not fully comprehend their meanings. There are over 40 different parables that Jesus used to teach people with in the Gospels. Some parables are repeated in multiple books of the Bible and some parables only occur in one book of the Bible. How many of these do you know and understand? I will give you a list of parables later in this lesson, and you should spend time studying them because they hold some of the greatest spiritual secrets of the Bible within them. The words of the prophet referred to in Matthew 13:35 are recorded from the book of Psalms and we should go back and read this verse for confirmation:
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
We can see some powerful truth in this verse of prophecy. It says in speaking of Jesus that He would open his mouth and speak in parables. A parable is defined to be “mental superiority”. This word says that it uses “metaphors” and “similes” to convey an implied hidden message. There is one word in this verse that describes this type of speaking and it is the Hebrew word H2420 which is translated as “dark saying”, and this word has the following definition in the Strong’s.
H2420
From H2330; a puzzle; hence a trick, conundrum, sententious maxim: – dark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.
That is a truly amazing definition and is certainly very relevant to the subject of God hiding the truth in plain sight. You see these parables describe spiritual truths in a puzzle or riddle form. This means that you might be able to see some of the truths on the surface but the really deep stuff is hidden from our natural view and human understanding. This makes the usage of parables a very tricky method of concealing information in the Bible.
Pro 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
One time Jesus said to his disciples, to you it has been given to understand, but to them I speak in parables (Mark 4:11). So obviously this was a technique that both concealed and revealed spiritual truths. A parable is always something that is “like” something else. It is a reference to a natural thing that has deep spiritual truths attached to it. I do not know how many parables there are in the entire Bible. I do know there are a lot of them. Here is a quick example of a parable:
Mat 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
So you can observe some similarities between symbolic references and parables. Both are techniques that use natural things to describe spiritual realities. A symbol can be a single word used in a story to conceal a single spiritual reality and a parable is usually a story that conveys and relates several spiritual truths together. In this verse in Matthew Jesus is speaking about the kingdom of heaven and tells the people that heaven is like a fisherman’s net that is cast into the sea and it brings out every kind of fish that it can pull up. Since Jesus was speaking to a nation of people that understood fishing and fishing methods this was an interesting puzzle word picture for them to think about. How can the kingdom of heaven be like a fisherman’s net? It was a puzzle and a very descriptive reality of what was going to happen in the spiritual realm in the near future. There are several elements in this one verse parable. We have the sea, the fisherman, a boat, the fish and the net and each of these must represent some key to the correct meaning of the story. The sea must represent the world that we live in; the fish must represent the people who are saved out of the world. The net must be the Word of God. The fisherman must be the preachers and the angels of God. God was telling the people that the new kingdom of God would consist of every nation and every kind of people in the world. God was telling them that there is not favoritism with Him and He loves everyone the same. There are many hidden inferred meanings within this parable and it is a great subject to study to learn about spiritual things. This was truly a puzzle to their natural thinking religious minds and the people of Israel clearly did not understand what God was saying to them.
So we have talked a little bit about what a parable is, but let’s address what a parable is not so that we can clearly understand the difference. A parable is never a story of a specific named individual, place or actual event within history. That would be an allegory. An allegory if you recall is an actual story that occurred in human history that also has a spiritual meaning attached to it. Some ignorant people have tried to make Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16 to be a parable and even go so far to try to say hell is not a real place, but it is only symbolic of a spiritual place of torment. I don’t know how people can be so easily deceived, but it takes all kinds, I guess. However what you must understand is that Jesus is not a liar, if He tells you a story of someone specifically named Lazarus this is not symbolism and this is not a parable. Lazarus must have existed as a real historical man. It would be a physical lie to tell you of something or someone with a name that did not specifically exist or actually happen and try to pass it off as symbolism. Jesus never says “hell” is like a rich man and a beggar in this chapter of Luke. But, if Jesus said, the Kingdom of God is like a ….” and gave you a natural example without naming names or specific places, dates or events, then it would be a legitimate parable and a legal method of communicating without telling a lie. The Bible clearly says that it is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:18). Be smart and learn the difference between a lie and a parable. Parables do not contain the names of any real people. A real parable is only a story of nameless and anonymous things that can relate to a spiritual reality.
There are very few examples of Jesus explaining a parable’s meaning to us. However, we can see that He does give us some examples of correct interpretation for us to follow. Jesus taught that of all the parables that He gave to us, the parable of the sower was the most important one for us to understand and he talks about this in 3 gospels (Matthew 13:3, Mark 4:3, Luke 8:5). God uses several key farming elements to describe spiritual things to us. There is a farmer who sows seed. There is seed and there are 7 different types of soil that the seed falls in. There are also seed enemies, like birds of the air and weeds. Everything in this parable has deep spiritual meanings attached to them. Jesus taught us that the Word of God was the seed. Jesus taught us that the soil represented the hearts of men and women in the earth. The birds of the air were demons and spiritual forces that come to steal the Word of God from the hearts of men. If you have never studied this parable, then you should do so immediately. Jesus said it is the key to understand every parable. I only went through a few examples and their explanations. I have covered this subject in other lessons if you want to learn more. I’ll end the discussion of parables with this verse found in Ecclesiastes:
Ecc 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
You see this verse speaks of a wise man of God who teaches God’s people truth and diligently seeks it out. The verse ends in the term to “set in order” the words found in the puzzle. The word translated here as “proverbs” is the same Hebrew word for “parable”. There is a clear implication that there is a puzzle and a riddle to solve and someone is responsible for solving it. One of the ways that God hides things in the Bible is by using parables and proverbs, dark sayings that have hidden meanings. These are stories and descriptive words of natural things that describe powerful concealed spiritual truths. Parables often times involve metaphors and metaphoric expressions. These are usually used in communications that convey new ideas by using objects and things that the listener is already familiar with. We can also understand that if you are not familiar with “farming” then Jesus using a farming metaphor to describe the kingdom of God will not help you to understand what is being taught until you do become familiar with the natural process of farming. Therefore, parables conceal and reveal information simultaneously.
There are so many parables throughout the Bible and you must locate them and then correctly interpret them. To quote a famous movie line “Are you the one or should we look for another?”. God bless you until next time when I continue talking about other methods that God has used in hiding information in the Bible.
Parables in the Gospels
|
Scripture(s) |
Parable |
| Matthew 7:6 | Parable of the Pearl and Swine |
| Matthew 7:24; Luke 6:48; | Parable of the Wise Man Who Built His House |
| Matthew 11:16-17; Luke 7:32; | Parable of Children Sitting in the Markets |
| Matthew 13:3; Mark 4:3; Luke 8:5 | Parable of the Sower |
| Matthew 13:24; | Parable of the Wheat and Tares |
| Matthew 13:31; Mark 4:31; Luke 13:19 | Parable of the Mustard Seed |
| Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20-21 | Parable of the Leavened Bread |
| Matthew 13:44; | Parable of the Treasure in a Field |
| Matthew 13:45 | Parable of Merchant Seeking Pearls |
| Matthew 13:47; | Parable of the Fisherman’s Net |
| Matthew 13:55; | Parable of the Householder’s Treasure |
| Matthew 18:23; | Parable of the King’s Servants |
| Matthew 20:1; | Parable of the Hired Workers |
| Matthew 21:33; Mark 12:1; Luke 20:9 | Parable of the Vineyard Leased Out |
| Matthew 22:2 | Parable of the marriage of the King’s Son |
| Matthew 23:27; | Parable of the Whited Sepulchers |
| Matthew 24:32; Mark 13:28; Luke 21:29; | Parable of the Fig Tree |
| Matthew 25:10; | Parable of the Ten Virgins |
| Matthew 25:14; | Parable of the Talents and Servants |
| Mark 3:24; | Parable of a Kingdom Divided |
| Mark 3:27; | Parable of the Strong Man’s House |
| Mark 4:26 | Parable of the Man who Casts Seed into the Ground |
| Mark 13:34 | Parable of the Man taking a Far Journey |
| Mark 13:34 | Parable of the New and Old Cloths |
| Luke 5:37 | Parable of the New Wine In Old Wine Skins |
| Luke 5:39 | Parable of the New and Old Wine |
| Luke 6:39 | Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind |
| Luke 10:30-36; | Parable of the Good Samaritan |
| Luke 12:16 | Parable of the Rich Man who Laid Up Treasure for Himself |
| Luke 12:36 | Parable of the Men who Wait for their Lord to return |
| Luke 13:6 | Parable of the Fig Tree without Fruit |
| Luke 13:35 | Parable of the Shut Door |
| Luke 14:8 | Parable of the Wedding Seating Arrangement |
| Luke 14:12 | Parable of the Feast and the Poor |
| Luke 14:16 | Parable of the Great Supper |
| Luke 14:28 | Parable of the Cost of the Tower |
| Luke 14:31 | Parable of the King Going to Battle |
| Luke 14:34 | Parable of the Salt that Lost Its Flavor |
| Luke 15:4 | Parable of the Lost Sheep |
| Luke 15:8 | Parable of the Woman with 10 Pieces of Silver |
| Luke 15:11 | Parable of the Prodigal Son |
| Luke 16:1 | Parable of the Rich Man and Steward Who Wasted Mammon |
| Luke 17:7 | Parable of the Servant in the Field |
| Luke 18:2 | Parable of the Judge and the Widow Woman |
| Luke 18:10 | Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee |
| Luke 19:13 | Parable of the Rich Man with 10 Servants & 10 pounds |
| John 10:1 | Parable of the Sheepfold and the Gate |
| John 10:7 | Parable of the Sheep Door |
| John 10:11 | Parable of the Good Shepherd |
If you would like to continue reading this series of lessons, please continue with “Part 5“.
The Greatest of These is LOVE!
(Ver 1.1) Today I am going to blog to me! It is always better for me to judge myself rather than to attempt to judge someone who has said something negative against me. If anyone else can gain anything from my message written to me, that is a blessing. Otherwise know, I’m not teaching or talking about you today. Sometimes I think it is just good to review subject that I know to be right, so that I can better put them into practice. That is my goal and what I’ll attempt to do today. Today’s subject is a review of the God Kind of Love!
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.
This is one of the greatest verses in the KJV Bible, but I had to fix two words. These words in KJV of the Bible were translated as “charity” and that is not a word that means the same as what God is saying. Charity in my mind is what many give to, to get a tax deduction. But this Greek word translated as “charity” is a unique word that describes a much greater spiritual truth. The Greek word is “agape” and it is a plural word that implies a continual process of never ending love. It can actually mean a “love feast”. A feast is an over abundance of something good. In our world I can feast on dinner or desert. But this is the God kind of love and it implies a spiritual feast of a force which cannot be compared with anything else I have on this earth.
1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
I can see from this verse that God is “Agape” and “Agape” is God! To BE “Agape” is a powerful expression of the character and attributes that make up everything that God IS! God does NOT have love, God IS Love and there is a huge difference. If I only have love for my wife, then there is a chance that I could change my mind. If I am love to my wife then I am committed no matter what happens. The God kind of love is a commitment. So many times people look at love as an emotion or a feeling and this is not the God kind of LOVE! God did not come to the earth and die for our sins because He felt like it.
Joh 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.
I have learned that the God kind of love gives, even though it is tough and you don’t feel like it or even when someone does you wrong or says bad things about you or even hurts you. Jesus experienced all of these things multiplied by a factor of a thousand and yet as he hung on the cross, he prayed that God would forgive them, because they didn’t know what they were doing. That is a powerful example that I strive to live by.
1Co 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 cymbal.
This verse tells me that I can write the best blog that I can write and share great knowledge and revelation, but if I do it in the wrong way I am just perceived to be a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. In other words I am just making a noise not worthy of being heard. There are too many blogs on the internet like that. Too many people sounding off with a noise. I will not be like those, I want to look different, sound different and be different. So I will endeavor to do a better job at speaking the truth in love.
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
So what is the God kind of Love? I know it is not a human love. It is not a natural love and it doesn’t come easy. However, everyone that has been born again has this love on the inside of them. I am responsible to let this love shine out or it will remain hidden. The God kind of love is a conscious, deliberate, intentional act of doing the right thing even though my flesh wants to hit you. That is tough sometimes.
The God Kind of Love IS:
- Giving
- Patient
- Kind
The God Kind of Love:
- Bears all things
- Believes the Best
- Hopes for the Best in Everyone
- Puts Others First
- Seeks Good for Others
- Endures all things
- Never Fails
The God Kind of Love IS NOT:
- Easily Provoked
- Envious
- Selfish
- Proud
Thank you for reading my lesson for me. I was blessed to be remined what kind of Love that I need to display to others that are not so lovely and loving to me at times. I pray that anyone that has said or done anything bad to me is blessed. I forgive you. And I love you.
The Agapegeek Blog 