Great to see you back. It looks like you had a very enjoyable vacation in Florida and the Caribbean. I assume you made it back home safely. The Lord is good!
You are understanding correctly, and I do agree that Paul had a burning passion for their salvation as you say. If Paul truly wished for them to be anathema before God, then I would have to agree that it can be viewed as being hypocritical. My thoughts on this are that Paul was perhaps giving warning to not only those who were rejecting the gospel message, but also to those who professed to believe but, in their heart, they had no love for the Lord.
A person who does not have love in their heart for the Lord is already in a cursed state. This is not to say that they will always remain in this condition, but if they continue to reject the gospel message, Paul says let them be accursed. I think we both agree that Paul had no desire to see anyone lost or accursed. In fact, in Romans 9:3, Paul makes a very powerful statement. We know he was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he had a deep love for his fellow brethren, Jewish, Hebrew brethren. He was willing to suffer the separation from Christ throughout eternity so that they would be saved, even though that's not possible.
Brother, it is truly amazing how we can recall certain messages given many years ago. That message had to be powerful to stick with you for so long. I notice in Colossians 3:3 that it says we are dead, and the word for dead in the verb tense is Aorist which means that it has already happened in the past. Upon salvation, we died to our old self and put on Christ, so we are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.
You gave a great summary passage in Romans 8:38-39. There isn't anything that can take us and separate us from the love of God. Jesus is interceding for us. The Holy Spirit is interceding for us. We are in God's mighty grip with a salvation complete and secure in Christ Jesus!
Thank you brother S. Spencer; yes, we had a very enjoyable time away, spending a little time just south of where you are - in Florida & Key West particularly (we've never been to visit here before). Also, taking in a short cruise around the Caribbean, and with great weather made our long travel there very worthwhile, restful, and special. The Lord has indeed blessed us throughout our journeyings & given opportunity to witness to a couple of folk of His unfathomable, undeserved Love for us. Trust you and yours continue to do well. Every blessing brother.
Father God I ask for protection from things trying to cause me to have a bad day. I ask for the covering of the Blood of Lord Jesus to be on me and all of my family members I pray for daily and often. I ask that You break every yoke of bondage and things trying to hinder us from having a Blessed day. I ask a divine covering over us all. I ask for all of these things in Lord Jesus Christ Name, amen.
Please prayer for my deliverance from evil and wicked ungodly men who call themselves Christians but operate contrary to the call . That the Father will protect my family and I from their evil plot and validate us. They have thrown us out like dogs after we served families children communities for years.
Pray that they they appreciate and respect the many years of our service bringing the organization to the top. Pray also that I and my family do not fall in the holes which they are digging for us.
j'ust receive the strength from that grip. Be at peace!
Great statement!
As Brother Chris mentioned It reminds me of Romans 8:31-32, and also Jude 1:24-25.and Ephesians 3:12-17. "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence BY THE FAITH OF HIM. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
"These mystery cults had a teaching of a dying and rising god and how this god brought salvation. And some of these cults had a mother goddess who gives birth to the god who dies and rises from the dead each year.
I've always wondered why the apostle chose to speak of those who "do not love the Lord Jesus", in such a way. Given that Paul had a direct calling to minister the Gospel to unbelievers & doubtless had a burning passion for their salvation, as he did for his own people, it seemed hypocritical of him to then want them to be Anathema before God & His Salvation.
I remember the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about those who reject them & their message ( Matthew 10:14,15), which gives us some licence to step aside & depart from those who refuse to hear the Words of Life & Truth, but to treat them as 'Cursed' seemed quite strong & unpalatable.
The only way I could bring those thoughts together is that Paul was stating that if people continued to refuse to hear & obey, then their end was to be as Anathema by the Lord, for our Lord is soon coming & they will be righteously judged. But while there is time for all to hear & repent, we should endeavor to take every opportunity to share what Christ has done - that they be not forever cursed, but to be saved & as children of God, longingly look for His Coming. Would I be understanding this correctly, or any further thoughts? Blessings.
Thanks brother Jesse for your ongoing explanations of these selected verses; they are of great help in my readings and appreciation of the original language. I have been following your offerings whilst away, but a couple of your notes caught my eye. One of them here on this page, and another on the next one.
When you referred to us being in God's Grip & our security therein, my thoughts immediately went back to a sermon given by my pastor in the 70s, which was so dramatic in nature, that it was firmly embedded in my mind. He referred to Colossians 3:3 in his message, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God". When he came to getting his point across with this verse, he held up his right hand, then made a fist & stated that we are hidden with Christ & in Christ in there in His Palm. While still holding up his right fist, he then raised his left hand & swiftly brought it to grab onto his right fist, clenching it tightly, and asked us, 'how secure are we now? We are secure in Christ & together with Him firmly held by a loving merciful Father - there can be no safer, loving & more secure place than in such a perfect relationship with the Eternal God, designed & executed by God Himself'. Romans 8:38,39.
1 Corinthians 16:14 - Let all your things be done with charity.
Literally, let all your things be done with agape love.
1 Corinthians 16:22 - If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
He says, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. If anybody does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be Anathema. That's the word for cursed. It means to offer a sacrifice that has been designated for a curse.
And then Maranatha is broken up into three words. And both of these words Anathema and Maranatha are Aramaic, but you may have never heard this one, so it's worth writing it down in your bible above the word. MAR is Aramaic for Lord. Mar is Lord. AN is our. And ATHA is come. Our Lord comes is what Maranatha means.
So, he says let them be cursed, our Lord is coming!
1 Corinthians 16:23 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and notice the word "be" is in italics, which means that it is not in the original text. This is not a prayer, as it sounds. This is a factual statement in the Greek text. It literally read the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you!
1 Corinthians 16:24 - My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
It says, "My love be with you," and again, the word "be" is in italics. My love is with you all in Christ Jesus. It's a factual statement. That's the word AGAPE. And lastly, he says Amen. It comes from the Hebrew word that is pronounced the same, and it means so be it. That's the crowning touch of the letter, the sign off, so be it, of a truth!
This is all I have to share in 1 Corinthians. I will begin with 2 Corinthians next, Lord willing!
Next, it says be strong. It's a Passive. Literally, be strengthened. Be the recipient. Not you be strong, meaning from out of yourself work it up. It means be receptive to being strengthened. And the word happens to be KRATOS. In Greek, it's the word for grip. Again, it's the same word that Paul used for putting on the armor of God in Ephesians Chapter 6. He says be empowered in the strength of His grip. That is literally what he said in Ephesians Chapter 6.
What Paul pictures is God's hand, and that when we belong to Christ, we are in God's hand. And he's telling us to draw off the strength of that grip that God has on you. But we try to get away. We are always trying to be on the run. But God has a grip on you. Receive from the strength of that grip.
Remember what Jesus said? He said no one can take you out of my Father's hand, and no one can take you out of my hand. So basically, there's two, the Father's hand, and the Lord's hand. And we are in His grip. Now who in the world is going to break that grip and get us away from Christ? It won't happen. So instead of wiggling and trying, and because we've got this tremendous grip over us, just receive the strength from that grip. Be at peace!
1 Corinthians 16:13 - Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
It says first of all, Watch ye, or watch. This is a Present Imperative which means to be continually watching! The word is the opposite of the word for sleep. So, it means to be on guard. Be awake! Jesus used the word in Mark 14:38 when the disciples fell asleep when he was praying, and He said stay awake, be watchful.
Also, Peter, in 1 Peter 5:8, he says be watchful, be sober, because your adversary the devil is walking around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's not saying don't get physical sleep. But literally "Wake up, spiritually. Wake up. Be on the alert because Satan is waiting to catch you off guard. That's command number one.
Command number two: Stand firm in the faith. In Ephesians Chapter 6, Paul tells us put on the whole armor of God in order that you may be able to stand. Not run, not even fight, because he's already been defeated. Stand firm in the faith!
Number three: quit you like men. "And like a man, I've quit several times!" No, that's not what it means. It's literally one Greek word that means be a man. It's associated with courage! Remember what God told Joshua in Joshua Chapter 1 Verses 8 through 11? Be of courage Joshua for I am with you wherever you go. It's not a human courage. It's a spiritual trust that no matter what, we can face anything in life because Christ is there.
1 Corinthians 15:34 - Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
It says here, "I speak this to your shame," but literally in the Greek text, Paul says I am speaking this to shame you. There were times when Paul thought that it was appropriate to tell Christians or believers "You don't feel shame so I'm going to tell you what the truth is so it will shame you!
1 Corinthians 15:52 - In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Fascinating statements! The word moment is ATOMA in Greek and it is the word for atom. What he's saying is that it will be so fast. It's less than a millisecond. The atom cannot be split so he says it's that short of a time. You can't even split the second that it's going to take for this to happen! It's in the twinkling of an eye, not the blinking of an eye, but the twinkling of an eye, the sparkle. And it's at the last trumpet.
1 Corinthians 16:3 - And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
The word liberality is gift, and the word gift is CHARIS which means grace. It's not a forced thing. It's a gift. It's the work of grace in people's hearts that causes them to give.
1 Corinthians 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
For a great door and effectual, which means powerful, energy, ENERGEO, is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. So, he says I'm right in the middle of God opening a door by His power, so that I can preach the gospel, but I have many adversaries, many opponents.
1 Corinthians 14:23 - If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
The word "mad" is the word maniac in Greek! I've seen meetings where everything is nice, and everything is flowing along, and then all of a sudden, a whole bunch of people jump up and just start jabbering, raising their hands and "speaking in tongues" or whatever it was that they called praising the Lord. People were jumping up and down and running around and rolling on the ground. And others were confused and saying, "What's going on around here?" But to the people that were doing it, they were supposedly "showing their spirituality." That's not spiritual at all!
1 Corinthians 14:28 - But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
If nobody's there to explain to the non-believer the sign they just witnessed, then be silent!
1 Corinthians 14:29 - Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
The word judge is the word for discernment. I think it's interesting that people are supposed to judge what they are hearing. In Acts Chapter 17, the Bereans eagerly received what Paul had to say, but they still searched the scriptures daily to see if it was true.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
He says everywhere from doctrine to your social life; it will not be the believer that rubs off onto the non-believer. It will always be those who have corrupt morals. They are the ones in social interaction with believers that are going to corrupt your good ethics. The word manners is ETHOS where we get our word ethics from. So don't be deceived. If you're living that life of eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, if you're hanging around that crowd, whatever good ethics you have is going to be down the drain.
My life has suddenly changed and now it's changing again, hopefully for the better with peace, joy, and happiness!!! Please pray that God will always direct my life into the correct path!!! Thank you!!
I pray daily for God to restore my prodigal sons to faith and reconciliation, that the Holy Spirit will make them new creatures in Christ and that their devotion to God would be made unshakable. It is hard for me every time I think of their current lack of faith and what they have substituted in God's place in their lives. I grieve over this, but i do trust God to be faithful to complete what He had begun in them as children who believed the gospel and in Jesus. He gave them this childlike faith then ad He can give them faith again to believe rightly concerning the gospel, Jesus, and their need for salvation.
I am thankful that my youngest son's wife is a believer. My oldest son's wife is Muslim and he is, too as he had to be in order to marry her. They believe in a false god who cannot save them. I pray that God will show them how impotent and untrue the god of Islam is and turn them to the truth. Both of these women are very kind, loving, and great for my sons as partners. I pray for all three of my sons to return to God and for God to send a believing wife for my middle son.
I appreciate and value your prayers for me and my family.
I was reading up on the mystery religions of the time of the early church. It seems that many of these cults were secretive about their rituals and beliefs; but the Christian faith was open and evangelistic. These mystery cults had a teaching of a dying and rising god and how this god brought salvation. And some of these cults had a mother goddess who gives birth to the god who dies and rises from the dead each year. Jesus was born of a virgin miraculously and died and rose only once for all.
Satan was hard at work from the time just after the flood deceiving people and nations with false gods/beliefs that would imitate the person and work of Jesus, the triune nature of the one true God as three gods: father, mother, and son. By the time that Jesus incarnated in the flesh, the pagan world was deep into such mystery cults. When the gospel was presented it seemed that many pagans eagerly embraced Christianity. It makes me wonder how deeply they held to their pagan beliefs to be so readily converted or even if they found it easy to believe the preaching of the gospel because of the similarities to their corrupt pagan beliefs. We can know that God the Father was at work drawing these people to Jesus and the Holy Spirit was at work regenerating them through grace and that Jesus was the one who chose them for salvation by election. It is so true that Jesus defeated Satan at the cross and despoiled him and his works. Praise be to God who is faithful and true!
I am praying for God to send you the best man for you to be married to and that you will patiently and hopefully wait upon the Lord to cause this to occur.
Asking for extra strong protection and breakthrough as well as for much more love, joy, peace, strength, faith, trust, encouragement, wisdom, guidance, discernment and to live lives pleasing to the Lord and to walk in His authority and power and to do exploits for Him. Asking for us and all in need. Also asking for help finding a new job and for K. help with school and overall. Thank you.
Lord Jesus please richly bless, protect and guide them. Please help them in accordance with your perfect will Father. Thank you and praise you. In your holy name I pray. Amen
Father God I ask for protection from things trying to cause me to miss the mark in what I am trying to accomplish. I ask for protection from these things and ask that I have a breakthough in the area of dating. I ask that she is good for me and I for her. I ask for protection from things coming against me in all of my ways. I ask for protection from all of these things in Lord Jesus Christ Name, amen.
Please pray for my strength to push forward my love is not carnal for Jesus Christ. I am emotionally challenged and drained from reading the word. I am still struggling to understand why or what is making me feel so lost but reading chapter 8 made me realize this to shall pass but my faith needs building up on strength to get through it all. Lord I know what you said to me in a vision 2015 and here I am still waiting. Please help my unbelief. Thank you all for praying
The Corinthians was a Carnal Church and we see such Worldliness in the Church today.
The work of the Holyspirit is preached in a Charismatic way.
Teachings such as "believers can directly experience the Holy Spirit's presence through personal revelation, emotional experiences, supernatural gifts, ect.
Not enough emphasis on the fruit of the Spirit.
However there is a exaggeration in contributing everything we do to the Spirit when these acts may be the flesh.
COGIC WORSHIP 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:Jesus Christ is God-One God only. I Worship God the Father.God of prayer.God of fasting,prayer,repentance.God that is a kingdom manifested in the world. God of eyes to see.God that answers prayer done. John 14:12-14 (Luke18:1-14- Romans 8:2)
I have faith God has eyes to see and save people also my personal ministry pertaining to do the right thing
Great to see you back. It looks like you had a very enjoyable vacation in Florida and the Caribbean. I assume you made it back home safely. The Lord is good!
You are understanding correctly, and I do agree that Paul had a burning passion for their salvation as you say. If Paul truly wished for them to be anathema before God, then I would have to agree that it can be viewed as being hypocritical. My thoughts on this are that Paul was perhaps giving warning to not only those who were rejecting the gospel message, but also to those who professed to believe but, in their heart, they had no love for the Lord.
A person who does not have love in their heart for the Lord is already in a cursed state. This is not to say that they will always remain in this condition, but if they continue to reject the gospel message, Paul says let them be accursed. I think we both agree that Paul had no desire to see anyone lost or accursed. In fact, in Romans 9:3, Paul makes a very powerful statement. We know he was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he had a deep love for his fellow brethren, Jewish, Hebrew brethren. He was willing to suffer the separation from Christ throughout eternity so that they would be saved, even though that's not possible.
Brother, it is truly amazing how we can recall certain messages given many years ago. That message had to be powerful to stick with you for so long. I notice in Colossians 3:3 that it says we are dead, and the word for dead in the verb tense is Aorist which means that it has already happened in the past. Upon salvation, we died to our old self and put on Christ, so we are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.
You gave a great summary passage in Romans 8:38-39. There isn't anything that can take us and separate us from the love of God. Jesus is interceding for us. The Holy Spirit is interceding for us. We are in God's mighty grip with a salvation complete and secure in Christ Jesus!
Blessings!
Pray that they they appreciate and respect the many years of our service bringing the organization to the top. Pray also that I and my family do not fall in the holes which they are digging for us.
We pray that God be glorified.
j'ust receive the strength from that grip. Be at peace!
Great statement!
As Brother Chris mentioned It reminds me of Romans 8:31-32, and also Jude 1:24-25.and Ephesians 3:12-17. "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence BY THE FAITH OF HIM. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Looking forward to 2 Corinthians.
Blessings
I hope you enjoyed your vacation.
Blessings.
"These mystery cults had a teaching of a dying and rising god and how this god brought salvation. And some of these cults had a mother goddess who gives birth to the god who dies and rises from the dead each year.
Thanks for sharing!
Blessings
I've always wondered why the apostle chose to speak of those who "do not love the Lord Jesus", in such a way. Given that Paul had a direct calling to minister the Gospel to unbelievers & doubtless had a burning passion for their salvation, as he did for his own people, it seemed hypocritical of him to then want them to be Anathema before God & His Salvation.
I remember the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about those who reject them & their message ( Matthew 10:14,15), which gives us some licence to step aside & depart from those who refuse to hear the Words of Life & Truth, but to treat them as 'Cursed' seemed quite strong & unpalatable.
The only way I could bring those thoughts together is that Paul was stating that if people continued to refuse to hear & obey, then their end was to be as Anathema by the Lord, for our Lord is soon coming & they will be righteously judged. But while there is time for all to hear & repent, we should endeavor to take every opportunity to share what Christ has done - that they be not forever cursed, but to be saved & as children of God, longingly look for His Coming. Would I be understanding this correctly, or any further thoughts? Blessings.
When you referred to us being in God's Grip & our security therein, my thoughts immediately went back to a sermon given by my pastor in the 70s, which was so dramatic in nature, that it was firmly embedded in my mind. He referred to Colossians 3:3 in his message, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God". When he came to getting his point across with this verse, he held up his right hand, then made a fist & stated that we are hidden with Christ & in Christ in there in His Palm. While still holding up his right fist, he then raised his left hand & swiftly brought it to grab onto his right fist, clenching it tightly, and asked us, 'how secure are we now? We are secure in Christ & together with Him firmly held by a loving merciful Father - there can be no safer, loving & more secure place than in such a perfect relationship with the Eternal God, designed & executed by God Himself'. Romans 8:38,39.
1 Corinthians 16:14 - Let all your things be done with charity.
Literally, let all your things be done with agape love.
1 Corinthians 16:22 - If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
He says, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. If anybody does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be Anathema. That's the word for cursed. It means to offer a sacrifice that has been designated for a curse.
And then Maranatha is broken up into three words. And both of these words Anathema and Maranatha are Aramaic, but you may have never heard this one, so it's worth writing it down in your bible above the word. MAR is Aramaic for Lord. Mar is Lord. AN is our. And ATHA is come. Our Lord comes is what Maranatha means.
So, he says let them be cursed, our Lord is coming!
1 Corinthians 16:23 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and notice the word "be" is in italics, which means that it is not in the original text. This is not a prayer, as it sounds. This is a factual statement in the Greek text. It literally read the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you!
1 Corinthians 16:24 - My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
It says, "My love be with you," and again, the word "be" is in italics. My love is with you all in Christ Jesus. It's a factual statement. That's the word AGAPE. And lastly, he says Amen. It comes from the Hebrew word that is pronounced the same, and it means so be it. That's the crowning touch of the letter, the sign off, so be it, of a truth!
This is all I have to share in 1 Corinthians. I will begin with 2 Corinthians next, Lord willing!
God Bless!!!
1 Corinthians 16:13 Continued...
Next, it says be strong. It's a Passive. Literally, be strengthened. Be the recipient. Not you be strong, meaning from out of yourself work it up. It means be receptive to being strengthened. And the word happens to be KRATOS. In Greek, it's the word for grip. Again, it's the same word that Paul used for putting on the armor of God in Ephesians Chapter 6. He says be empowered in the strength of His grip. That is literally what he said in Ephesians Chapter 6.
What Paul pictures is God's hand, and that when we belong to Christ, we are in God's hand. And he's telling us to draw off the strength of that grip that God has on you. But we try to get away. We are always trying to be on the run. But God has a grip on you. Receive from the strength of that grip.
Remember what Jesus said? He said no one can take you out of my Father's hand, and no one can take you out of my hand. So basically, there's two, the Father's hand, and the Lord's hand. And we are in His grip. Now who in the world is going to break that grip and get us away from Christ? It won't happen. So instead of wiggling and trying, and because we've got this tremendous grip over us, just receive the strength from that grip. Be at peace!
1 Corinthians 16:13 - Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
It says first of all, Watch ye, or watch. This is a Present Imperative which means to be continually watching! The word is the opposite of the word for sleep. So, it means to be on guard. Be awake! Jesus used the word in Mark 14:38 when the disciples fell asleep when he was praying, and He said stay awake, be watchful.
Also, Peter, in 1 Peter 5:8, he says be watchful, be sober, because your adversary the devil is walking around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's not saying don't get physical sleep. But literally "Wake up, spiritually. Wake up. Be on the alert because Satan is waiting to catch you off guard. That's command number one.
Command number two: Stand firm in the faith. In Ephesians Chapter 6, Paul tells us put on the whole armor of God in order that you may be able to stand. Not run, not even fight, because he's already been defeated. Stand firm in the faith!
Number three: quit you like men. "And like a man, I've quit several times!" No, that's not what it means. It's literally one Greek word that means be a man. It's associated with courage! Remember what God told Joshua in Joshua Chapter 1 Verses 8 through 11? Be of courage Joshua for I am with you wherever you go. It's not a human courage. It's a spiritual trust that no matter what, we can face anything in life because Christ is there.
1 Corinthians 15:34 - Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
It says here, "I speak this to your shame," but literally in the Greek text, Paul says I am speaking this to shame you. There were times when Paul thought that it was appropriate to tell Christians or believers "You don't feel shame so I'm going to tell you what the truth is so it will shame you!
1 Corinthians 15:52 - In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Fascinating statements! The word moment is ATOMA in Greek and it is the word for atom. What he's saying is that it will be so fast. It's less than a millisecond. The atom cannot be split so he says it's that short of a time. You can't even split the second that it's going to take for this to happen! It's in the twinkling of an eye, not the blinking of an eye, but the twinkling of an eye, the sparkle. And it's at the last trumpet.
1 Corinthians 16:3 - And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
The word liberality is gift, and the word gift is CHARIS which means grace. It's not a forced thing. It's a gift. It's the work of grace in people's hearts that causes them to give.
1 Corinthians 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
For a great door and effectual, which means powerful, energy, ENERGEO, is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. So, he says I'm right in the middle of God opening a door by His power, so that I can preach the gospel, but I have many adversaries, many opponents.
1 Corinthians 14:23 - If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
The word "mad" is the word maniac in Greek! I've seen meetings where everything is nice, and everything is flowing along, and then all of a sudden, a whole bunch of people jump up and just start jabbering, raising their hands and "speaking in tongues" or whatever it was that they called praising the Lord. People were jumping up and down and running around and rolling on the ground. And others were confused and saying, "What's going on around here?" But to the people that were doing it, they were supposedly "showing their spirituality." That's not spiritual at all!
1 Corinthians 14:28 - But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
If nobody's there to explain to the non-believer the sign they just witnessed, then be silent!
1 Corinthians 14:29 - Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
The word judge is the word for discernment. I think it's interesting that people are supposed to judge what they are hearing. In Acts Chapter 17, the Bereans eagerly received what Paul had to say, but they still searched the scriptures daily to see if it was true.
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
He says everywhere from doctrine to your social life; it will not be the believer that rubs off onto the non-believer. It will always be those who have corrupt morals. They are the ones in social interaction with believers that are going to corrupt your good ethics. The word manners is ETHOS where we get our word ethics from. So don't be deceived. If you're living that life of eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, if you're hanging around that crowd, whatever good ethics you have is going to be down the drain.
I pray daily for God to restore my prodigal sons to faith and reconciliation, that the Holy Spirit will make them new creatures in Christ and that their devotion to God would be made unshakable. It is hard for me every time I think of their current lack of faith and what they have substituted in God's place in their lives. I grieve over this, but i do trust God to be faithful to complete what He had begun in them as children who believed the gospel and in Jesus. He gave them this childlike faith then ad He can give them faith again to believe rightly concerning the gospel, Jesus, and their need for salvation.
I am thankful that my youngest son's wife is a believer. My oldest son's wife is Muslim and he is, too as he had to be in order to marry her. They believe in a false god who cannot save them. I pray that God will show them how impotent and untrue the god of Islam is and turn them to the truth. Both of these women are very kind, loving, and great for my sons as partners. I pray for all three of my sons to return to God and for God to send a believing wife for my middle son.
I appreciate and value your prayers for me and my family.
I was reading up on the mystery religions of the time of the early church. It seems that many of these cults were secretive about their rituals and beliefs; but the Christian faith was open and evangelistic. These mystery cults had a teaching of a dying and rising god and how this god brought salvation. And some of these cults had a mother goddess who gives birth to the god who dies and rises from the dead each year. Jesus was born of a virgin miraculously and died and rose only once for all.
Satan was hard at work from the time just after the flood deceiving people and nations with false gods/beliefs that would imitate the person and work of Jesus, the triune nature of the one true God as three gods: father, mother, and son. By the time that Jesus incarnated in the flesh, the pagan world was deep into such mystery cults. When the gospel was presented it seemed that many pagans eagerly embraced Christianity. It makes me wonder how deeply they held to their pagan beliefs to be so readily converted or even if they found it easy to believe the preaching of the gospel because of the similarities to their corrupt pagan beliefs. We can know that God the Father was at work drawing these people to Jesus and the Holy Spirit was at work regenerating them through grace and that Jesus was the one who chose them for salvation by election. It is so true that Jesus defeated Satan at the cross and despoiled him and his works. Praise be to God who is faithful and true!
I am praying for God to send you the best man for you to be married to and that you will patiently and hopefully wait upon the Lord to cause this to occur.
Thank you. I am glad you got the tree removed, safely.
I will be praying with you for these children and anyone caught up in sex trafficking and enslaved by others to be abused.
The Corinthians was a Carnal Church and we see such Worldliness in the Church today.
The work of the Holyspirit is preached in a Charismatic way.
Teachings such as "believers can directly experience the Holy Spirit's presence through personal revelation, emotional experiences, supernatural gifts, ect.
Not enough emphasis on the fruit of the Spirit.
However there is a exaggeration in contributing everything we do to the Spirit when these acts may be the flesh.
Blessings
COGIC WORSHIP 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:Jesus Christ is God-One God only. I Worship God the Father.God of prayer.God of fasting,prayer,repentance.God that is a kingdom manifested in the world. God of eyes to see.God that answers prayer done. John 14:12-14 (Luke18:1-14- Romans 8:2)
I have faith God has eyes to see and save people also my personal ministry pertaining to do the right thing