Another way that God's transcendence is expressed is in His royal and exalted glory and power.
Ps. 57:5, 97:9 speak of God being exalted above all else. He always is in the most high position from creation.
Deut. 4:39; Eccl. 5:2 speaks of God dwelling in heaven above, even the highest heavens. ) Ps 8:1, 57:5) None of us CAN go up to heaven to check Him out in His sovereign majesty. God had to come down to us in the Son for us to know what God s like. John 3 :13.
Ps. 113:5 says that He Himself is the most high ( Ps. 97:9)
So the term 'transcendence" s a convenient term to use to summarize these ways in which God is "above us"; in majesty, holiness, sovereignty, exaltation, glory, perfection, etc.
God is ontologically different and distinct from us that we can only describe Him adequately with our human language (this is called "ineffable). But in His immanence, He has revealed Himself in human terms, both verbally and in Jesus, the Son so that we can be redeemed and have fellowship with Him both now and forever. Jesus said, "This is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent." ( John 17:3)
Though God is transcendent, He has spoken clearly and in language that we can understand with certainty His nature and actions. Romans 1:18-22 says this and that therefore no one can be blameless from ignorance.
Romans 11:33-36 does speak of His mystery, incomprehensibility, ineffability, and "deep things of God" that no man can know.
We can also understand God's transcendence as referring to his Lordship over all that is, to His power and right as the King of everything He has made in all of creation, to His sovereignty and authority over all creatures and in all of His will. This speaks to His omnipotence, omniscience, and omni-presence. ( Ps. 2:47; 93:1; 96:10-13; 97:4; 99:1)
His authority is His control over the moral sphere, over all things that happen in time, all circumstances, and all that w happen.
Lord you know how terrible these things are and that it is just a detail of many similar situations today. I pray that this grandchild is indeed transformed to a mighty warrior in the Lord. May it be as Malachi 4:6 states: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
May we claim these verses as well '
Psalm 8:2
From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
Numbers 14:31
Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey-I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.
I ask now that the spirit of New Age will not affect this child; nor doctrines of demons that are in society as well as being taught in many congregations. May it be truly a move of the Holy Ghost and make that clear to the father and her other siblings that this has occurred.
Before creation, there was only God. He existed forever as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a unified oneness of being. He is and always is one being with three distinct "persons" or centers of consciousness or "subsistences" each sharing eternally the one divine essence (nature) fully and equally. Before creation, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved each other and were completely satisfied within the Being of the one Godhead. He was self-sufficient in all ways, in need of nothing outside of His one Being. No other being in creation is like this. And, since we are finite in all ways, we cannot wrap our minds fully around this quality of God. In this way, He is transcendent.
In His holiness, God is set apart from all He created, being transcendent and beyond the reach of any created being, especially in that humans are sinful and therefore rightly restrained from God's presence. God's glory in His transcendent holiness and majesty determines that no man can see the face of God and live. We will be consumed by His glory and wrath for sinfulness. He did not let Moses see His face (glory) in Exodus 33:20 because Moses was still in sinful flesh. The full revelation of God to mankind is reserved for the future. Now we know in part, but then we will know more fully. Isaiah 64:6-7 speaks to our unworthiness to be in fellowship with God and abide in His presence. "all of us have become like one who is unclean.."
God's holiness and righteousness forces God to turn His face away from what is sinful and keep Himself separate from anything and anyone sinful, impure, unclean, and less than perfect. But paradoxically, God does draw near to those who He redeems and it in this His immanence that any creature can have fellowship with Him and come to truly know Him. Jer. 23:23-24 speaks of this. It is also in His immanence that He controls and upholds the universe, in His work within history, time, and space, and in His plan to create and redeem.-- Pt. 3
Dear Lord: This sister in the Lord has been a great help to me in the last year or more with my struggles and you have given her great wisdom in Your Word. Please protect and sustain her health so that she can continue in the service feeding people in her area as well as contributing to this site and for the sake of her husband and the rest of her family so that they can see your Mighty hand at work.
Sir, a day in "prophetic" terms equals one year, as we see in the 70 weeks. The 1,260 is the same time as the 42 months, as well as the time, times and half time spoken in Daniel. They are all the same time, 538 A.D. to 1798 A.D. Your "tag" info is diluted with misunderstanding.
This word means that something is "not near" or "not knowable" or "beyond our scope of experience"
So, in relation to God, He is in a unique realm of His own. He exists outside of time, space, and dimension. Before creation, He existed within Himself alone. He exists apart from and independent from anyone of anything else.
God is transcendent in His uncommunicable attributes of holiness, purity, sovereignty, infiniteness, limitlessness, omni-presence, omnipotence, omniscience, and perfection. No created being possesses these characteristics in the way God possesses them, which is infinitely and perfectly. He cannot give any creature these attributes because His divine nature is higher above and surpasses any created being. He is in a class of His own as God, as there is no other God but the God of Scriptures. ALL things are upheld by Him. ( Heb. 13), yet He is upheld by Himself alone. He is the only truly transcendent being
God is transcendent in that He is unknowable and remains unknown ( Acts 17:23) by creatures unless He reveals to creatures aspects of Himself, which is called "immanence". All we know about God s what He has revealed to us in creation, theophanies, words to and through His prophets, working of His power, miracles, and most truly and clearly in the incarnation of His eternal Son, Jesus who is "Immanuel", God with us and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers and in the Scriptures inspired by God. Being transcendent, God is the incomprehensible Creator, unsearchable those He created who exist in the realm of time and space and matter. Neither by an act of our will nor by our own reasoning can we possibly come to understand God or experience Him personally. But because He wills to us to know Him, He intersects our realm of time, space and matter to communicate to us what He is like, what His will is, and causes us to seek Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 and Romans 11:33-36 speaks to this.
GOD is in control of history, nothing random happens.
What I know is that the four riders of Apocalypse, one of GOD and three of the Devil, they are already running /walking with their powers that are reflected in whole world.
It is up to the believing followers of JESUS to identify who the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are,
the rider of the white horse is Michael( Daniel 12:1-3 combined with 1Thessalonians 4:16),
and the rider of the red horse in my view is Trump,
but who is the rider of the black horse?
And the pale horse, who is the rider whose NAME is called Death, and Hell follow with him? Is not he the MAN of sin, son of perdition, who will manifest himself very soon as the messiah of the Jews ( John 5:43-47 combined with Revelation 13:11-18) even now, in the last week, week 70th Daniel 9:27 combined with 2Thessalonians 2:3-4 and 9-12, as soon as be elected the next and last Pope? As is written, Power will be given UNTO THEM over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the ruthless beasts of the earth?
The battle is/will be against three unclean spirits like frogs- Revelation 16:13-15. Why frogs? ->there is something in the site of purebible.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the MOUTH of the dragon( Revelation 13:11), and out of the MOUTH of the Beast (Beast of sea- Revelation 13:1-9, the Papacy), and out of the MOUTH of the False Prophet( John 5:43-47).
14 For they are the SPIRITS OF DEMONS, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that Great Day of GOD Almighty.
RED APPLE TREATY 4 ME ONLY on Jeremiah 32 - 7 months ago
Verse of day July 18, 2024
"Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:" Jeremiah 32:17 KJV
My Respond textual scripture:
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10 KJV
I accepted Jesus Christ as God using my faith to receive it"( if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it")
I would like some to pray for me. I am going to have an ultrasound of my right torso to check my liver. My AST and ALT liver enzymes have been elevated on two lab tests in the last month. I had an MRI done a few weeks ago due to painful spasms in my back and right side. It seems that this was associated with my back problems and inflammation of nerves that serve that are. The scan also showed gallstones, which I did not know I had. The blood draw showed these elevated liver enzymes. I did see my new primary physician last week and she is ordering this ultrasound to check to see if my liver is showing inflammation or simply "fatty".
Please pray that my liver is healthy and that nothing of concern shows up on the ultrasound. I do hope that I will find out what is causing the spike in these enzymes. It could be the statin med I take or the gallstones. I appreciate those who will pray for me.
Romans 5:12->by one MAN sin entered into the world, in the Garden of GOD,...yes, by one MAN sin entered in the world as a whole,and passed upon all men,so death passed upon all men,for that all have sinned, then, in consequence, the earth become without form and void because darkness fell upon the face of the earth as a whole, and it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, and men saw the daughters of men that they were fair; then they took them wives of all which they chose,and GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the earth become a deep abyss. But the Word, the Word is GOD,GOD Himself,GOD is Spirit,self-executing,He did move among those which kept not their first estate,but left their own habitation, giving themselves over to fornication, so our GOD hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of this Great Day,the LORD's Day,the seventh and last Day,or seventh and last millennium.They are set forth for an example of suffering of the vengeance of Eternal fire,GOD is a devouring fire.
Then our GOD,planned the restoration of all things- Acts 3:21-as they were in Eden before the sons of GOD had rebelled themselves and sinned.And the first thing our GOD made according to His Plan was to make again His Light shine in the darkness,so JESUS shouted loudly,saying:Let there be light,and there was light.And the Word,GOD the Father,saw the light,that it was good:and He divided the light from the darkness.In this point started a terrible battle against Satan in the first millennium,and our Omnipotent GOD even from a sinful nature brought forth a holy seed for Himself,Abel( Matthew 23:33-35combined with John 8:44-47).And Genesis 5:3-32 describe the generation of the holy seed of GOD,but until the law sin was in the world:but sin was not imputed when there was no Law.
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." The woman in the wilderness denotes the left out church. 1260 days is a tag placed by the Holy Spirit to distinguish her from the woman in wilderness who chose her place herself. She is Israel who from bondage wandered through the wilderness. So she was first but for her iniquities God set this rule. "After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise."(Nu.14:34) Why 40? 4x10 where the command number 4 signifies the Word become flesh. It was again Christ they rebelled.
In Nu.33 we have a list of 42 way stations where Israel had to stopover, which is a tag placed against them."where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Indication of Time, -months hour and year is different from day that is decreed for the Son.
Hi Joe , reading through your post and the things that you have asked for , it seems to me that you are on the right track . Being self aware is very important and you seem to have that down ok , next just try to be aware of her , listen to what she says and also to what she doesn't say , not just with her words but her body language too . Be patient , pray to God about this relationship and wait . Wait for the answer . It's not always what we were hoping to hear but as long as we stick with God , He won't steer us wrong .
"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." In order to understand the sealing of 144,000 we need understand the role of Jesus Christ the Mediator. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."(Gal.3:28)
Having introduced in an earlier post of precious stones with which the 12 foundations of the holy city are adorned let us look at the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.
Here are two verses. "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." and "And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." (vv.12-14). Three gates on each wall is clear indication of Christ the Mediator. The spiritual significance of gates which shall never be shut is vital for understanding the Redemptive nature of Jesus who with one offering has perfected all who are sanctified. (He.10:14)
These gates are for the righteous nation to enter. (Is.26:1-3) so we need look beyond Israel as a nation but at the 144,000 as those who have been sanctified by Jesus Christ. "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."(He.2:11). According to the flesh Jesus came of the seed of Abraham. "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel./Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.(Ro.9:6-7). They serve as examples for us fulfilling the saying of Jesus, " So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."(Matt.20:16). In rejecting Christ their place has been given over to another.
Sign of Jesus Christ is 'the name of the Father in the foreheads. They stand on mount Sion in heaven (Re.14:1) The same sign qualifies the group on the earth (vv.4-8). The Spirit tags them as 144,000. What we are shown in v.9 occupy the mid-heaven, all martyrs and given white robes. In Ch.6 we see them under the altar of soul where the sea of glass represents the mid-heaven. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held."
The heaven, up and down holds a throne, "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God".(Re.4:5). The Word of God as sound is issued in terms of lightening, thunderings and voices. Of the last belongs to what the prophets of old had revealed."God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" signify these voices.
When God came down "that there were thunders and lightnings." (Ex.19:16). Word of God is sound as well as sign. The latter we see as Gospel casting a halo about which is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Co.4:6). This is what we find in the holy city of God."And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones" (Re.21:19; Is.28:16) This foundation is on the same stone laid in Zion, which is in heaven.
In the vision of St John we have God, the Word was God symbolically made manifest. "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." (4:3)
There is another multitude, which is situated at the lower parts in the up and Down division of the heavens. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth."(Re.5:13)
"Till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads./And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."
"I heard the number of them" is similar to God remembering Noah; similarly God proving the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah. "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;"(Ge.8:1)
God is a Spirit and activities associated with mind and heart of man therefore sets him in terms of the Man who is the visible image of the invisible God. " That God did tempt Abraham" simply means that God set the Patriarch and his only son 'after our likeness' . Ishmael did not count, though was first born. Isaac was the heir of promise and not the son of a bonds-maid. The children of the kingdom to which Noah also belonged was in the book of remembrance. (Mal.3:15-16) In short these actions of hearing or remembering refer to the Spirit of Christ working in heirs of promise. John thus hears the number of 144,000 and it had nothing to do with Israel.
Fulness of Christ in a saint gives him a volume where the kingdom of Christ extends up and down as well as Across. Thus 12x12 x1000 sets him as part of the day. The day of salvation. He is secure and his salvation is assured. On the other hand the children of the wicked are the tares,"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;/ The enemy that sowed them is the devil."(Matt.13:38-39). In rejecting the prince of Life they chose Caesars of this world. "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast."(Re.17:13)
Jesus referred their position in the kingdom in terms of 'your hour of darkness.'.
Re.71-2 "The earth, nor on the sea, nor on the trees (2 of 2)
"He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." (Ep.4:10-12) Up or down Jesus Christ as the Word become flesh is made up of 4x3=12. Fall of Babylon signified the stone "like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea," Cf. with the stone cut not with hands in the Daniel's vision.
In short Gospel is tied up with the Man component while the word of God is associated with the Word. ( John 1:1) Judgment was upon the seas and consequently Babylon shall not be found anymore.
The earth abides forever since he is the world made to appear and children of the kingdom shall reign with him in the day of Regeneration; with regards to the sea we have the Parable of the Dragnet, the good has to be gathered into vessels. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:/Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away."(Matt.13:47-48)
The angel ascending from the east points to the angels associated with the Son of man. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."(Matt.24:27; 30-31)
East is associated with Eden the Mountain of God in the vision of Ezekiel. The nations moved farther to the east after the great flood. It is thus unless we take the cues supplied by the Spirit of God we have doctrines of men. Universalism for example, posits that eventually the wicked also shall be let into the kingdom of God. The Word is clear,"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth./Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear."
"The earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree./And I saw another angel ascending from the east"
Before we go into the significance of the number 12 let us explain what the first two verses present which explains the kingdom of God up and down as well as the world from one end of the heaven to other end. "TheLordsitteth upon the flood; yea, theLordsitteth King for ever." (Ps,29:10)
This is same as the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. In St John's vision we see it represented up and down. "Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."(Re.4:3)
"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." Here we get an idea what moved upon the face. The Lamb "having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" supplies specifically the spirit of Christ as the Parable of the Tares teaches the world as a field. "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;/The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."(Matt.13:38-39; Re.5:6) Here we have thus kingdom of God up and down as well as across where children of the kingdom stand cheek in jowl with children of the wicked one. In the narrative of Joseph and his brethren, obviously those who sold him to the Ishmeelites were wicked.
After the Ascension of Jesus Christ the angel inform the disciples thus, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."(Ac.1:11) St Paul also confirms it. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." (Ep.4:10-12)
Dear Sister , I agree with you . It does seem like some kind of cruel joke , for a god to create a human being only to damn that human to eternal torture in hell .
God is not cruel . So , logically , if God is not cruel.....
Maybe people , souls , are not condemned to suffer eternal torture in hell if they have either rejected Christ or , have never even heard of him . Maybe , they are just dead .Gone . Ceased to exist and know nothing and suffer nothing but.....the wages of sin , which is ? Death .
For some reason this is more terrifying to some , than the thought of eternal damnation in hell .
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them and....lead us not into temptation...what temptation ? The request not to lead us into temptation comes straight after forgive us as we forgive others. What could be the temptation ? The temptation that comes straight after forgive us as we forgive others ? The temptation that we all feel sometimes which is vengeance , vengeance on another human that we believe has sinned , maybe against us , maybe against someone we love or maybe just a horrible person who had done something evil to someone else whom we haven't even met .
Vengeance is mine sayeth the LORD . I will repay .
Lead us not into temptation .
The wages of sin is death .
Put these scriptures together and understand .
God is love .
May God bless all who seek His truth with an open heart .
Concluding thoughts on God's conception of good and evil vs. man's
My last post discussed seemingly contradictory facets of God's character. Ultimately the truth of some of this can be found with Christ; who atones for sinful man and is the ultimate and final intercessor. Nonetheless He gave Moses at least a unique position to intercede in a similar role. There are other examples such as Gideon in Judges where he asked the sun and moon to stand still which is stated to be unique. Some things we consider unique to Christ often overlook many similar miracles that He worked through Elijah including seeing someone rise from the dead (after administering a sort of CPR); multiplying food as for others as well as himself during famine and many other things. Christ uniquely was able to heal a blind man accoring to the Gospel in John 9; perhaps that is why the whole chapter is on that subject and the persecution of the man was so fierce since the Pharisees hated God to work outside their own perception of proper boundaries.
Back to the subject of destruction of different nations; the logic can be found in regard to their sins reaching a certain point with child sacrifice; idol worship; etc. but still seeing children being killed isn't easy to stomach. We have the same feeling as Jeremiah the "weeping prophet" when thinking of a book like Lamentations; as well as much of the book of Jeremiah seeing the horror of God's judgment where mothers would eat their own children. In this matter we once again can look to the concept of killing vs murder. If someone was to go out and kill a bunch of innocent children of course it would be murder. That is different than a police officer shooting a guilty armed offender or an army fighting and killing an opposing force that presented a clear and present danger. Of course each army would justify their own actions. That leads us to Joshua 5:13-15 where the angel is on Gods side
The fall of man: God's view of good and evil vs. man's
I will call this Part 2. A brief survey of scripture to the unenlightened easily could lead to the conclusion that the Lord is very schizophrenic; paranoid; moody and cruel along with many other apparently contradictory actions and behaviors. Let us approach this subject for a moment from that skeptical viewpoint. I expect the readers at this point to say what??? why??
Okay; let's think for a moment. Those who believe; and rightly so that God's Word is inspired and is useful for all things as 2 Tim. 3:16 says are able to take a framework of promises to believers and basic moral commands such as the 10 Commandments and more or less gain a perspective to the general laws which mankind is expected to adhere to and through that come up with a beginning knowledge of the lawgiver Himself; hopefully praising God as with Psalm 119 for His commandments and statutes; loving God and realizing that it is only in Him that we are able to fulfill these commands.
Well and good. But to avoid a merely surface level or Parasitical mindset we need to understand that we can't comprehend certain hidden things of the Lord as Deuteronomy 29:29 indicates. There are other verses that suggest ( Proverbs 25:2) kings and priests search these mysteries out at least to some extent. Okay back to the Atheist or skeptic.
Why does God care so much about a bird's nest to preserve it ( Deut. 22:6; a mother is not to be taken with her young); but then the Lord says to destroy men women and children ( Deut. 20:14) just two chapters before? Why does the Lord say let me alone that I may destroy these people and start a new generation with Moses ( Exodus 32:9-14) and yet He "repents" or changes His mind after Moses intercedes? The same sort of seemingly conflicted behavior occurs with Edom in the book of Hosea 8:8-11 in terms there of Ephriam where He seems to be unwilling to carry out the judgments in surrounding verses.
Part 1: The corruption of the universe after the fall.
(Sorry I missed deleting some of my later commentary in the last posting).
In the song "Leaving Eden" at least Brandon Heath's version gives a sobering reminder of man's decay and plight. God has as Ecclesiastes states put eternity in their hearts ( Ecclesiastes 3:11); one aspect of which is always looking back to Eden or finding something that pleases the five senses to give the illusion that we can once again retreat to our own utopia.
One look at our bodies in the mirror after a few decades reminds us of reality. The destruction of the outer shell made from the dust of the earth is the fate of all of us due to what is known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics where all things in the universe at present are in a state of decay. The soul of unregenerate man has nothing to hold onto but memories; which become more and more corrupted and delusional as our mind deteriorates and sin hardens men's hearts. The conscience becomes more and more seared and eventually sin has its full result leading to death; which is spiritual death once the body dies. In reality one is dead spiritually even when living on this earth without Christ. (read Romans 6).
The good news is that before we know the law we are innocent ( Romans 7:9). This would appear to be another verse showing how those before a certain age of accountability have a sin nature but don't understand enough to deliberately sin against God.
We shudder to think of events such as a 5 year old getting hold of a gun and killing a parent or sibling although it does happen. Surely they wouldn't be convicted for murder. I have said this before; that it isn't one's fault that they are born this way; but it is if they are old enough to decide to live it out and remain that way as man has a conscience at least before totally seared ( Romans 2:15). See also 1 Timothy 4:2. In my next posting I am going to discuss man's vs. God's understanding of good and evil.
In this segment I am going to attempt to discuss many facets of sin; from the corruptible flesh we currently possess to the contamination of the soul resulting in eternal death. In comparison to the saved soul of course eternal fates are polar opposites.
I plan on discussing some of what man was meant to be before the fall; which in some context may play out in the Millennial period which is the day of rest for God played out in the last 1000 years of earth's existence which is a sort of Sabbath rest bringing peace to the whole world.
I am going to pray here and send this message; Lord pity us for you know we are but dust ( Psalm 103:14). We all mourn as doves for our sins ( Isaiah 59:11). I pray that as painful as it is the readers will understand the levels and depth of our state and this will lead someone to repentance. May we heed as Proverbs states flee from wickedness ( Proverbs 4:15) as it relates to others; and to ourselves ( 1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22). Help us realize that all of our value comes from His life in us; and all the associations we have are only importance in what remains eternally. This world is going down; let us approach it with patience as we are told to in the last days ( James 5:7). Let us be filled with the Spirit to understand the indignation to come and proclaim it as a trumpet; and have the boldness to extricate ourselves especially from those who claim to be Christians but are living in lifestyles of sin as it corrupts the camp and grieves the Spirit. May we love the praise of God more than that of men ( John 12:43 stands as a warning not to do the opposite). Lord help us all to weep because of our sin; yet especially because of His mercy which is new every morning ( Lamentations 3:22-23).
to the destruction of the outer shell made from the dust of the earth that is the fate of all of us due to what is known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics where all things in the universe at present are in a state of decay
I am hopeful some of this commentary will help complement the planned transcendence of God that Gigi is planning to post.
A summary of concepts
How God's Spirit along with His angels compare with Satan's minions experientially; and substantively.
Man's role in covenant with God in all facets of His existence.
How things in heavenly places are the controlling factors that activate things in the earthly realm and bring things to pass.
How incorruption rules in celestial bodies compared with corruption in our old bodies
Introduction: This series attempts a deep dive as it were into understanding the big picture of how the world; flesh and the devil work in contrast with the Godhead. I am also attempting to study how the concept of the antichrist system as well as the final Beast are both opposed to and a substitute for the true God. The bottom line in that concept demonstrates how unregenerate man simply doesn't have the capacity to comprehend things outside of their experience; or those which fallen beings as emissaries of Satan have implanted in their brains which appear on the surface to be the same miracles that come from the true Christ.
Before exploring all these themes; we first must look at God's exalted position over all of His creation; or as will be brought out in an upcoming posting; His "transcendence". All the Omni (present; potent; scient) characteristics; timelessness and limitless attributes worthy of eternal praise have allowed all things to be created and as some other postings have discussed of late; given man a time to be born and a time to die ( Ecclesiastes 3:2). All things whether we understand it or not fit into His plan from creation of this world to the inception of the new and eternal one when heaven comes down to earth in Revelation 22.
Attempting to create our own kingdom on earth brings the wisdom of man to still be below the "foolishness of God" ( 1 Cor. 1:25).
Matthew 22:3 - And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Notice in the King James that it says to call them that were bidden. In the Greek text, it is called the Perfect Tense. And it's literally translated, "The ones who had been invited." So, you see the invitation has already taken place. That's how the Perfect Tense works there.
From the Greek, it is telling us that they are in the condition of already having been invited, and they are there now to say okay, this is the culmination of it all, the fulfillment of it all. So, to call the ones that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Literally, they did not desire to come. Just to say no at the calling is an insult because they sent the invitations out and nobody replied back and said we are not coming. They planned all the food. But this is a king too! You don't have any choice with the king. They said, no, tell them we are not coming. So, it went back and got reported.
Matthew 22:5 - But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
First of all, they made light of it. In the Greek text, it literally means "they did not care," Zero! So, when the servants came and said, look it is all ready, they said we don't care. We don't want to go. They didn't care!
Matthew 16:22 - Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Literally from the Greek: Peter began to rebuke him saying, have mercy on you Lord, this shall never happen (Double Negative) to you. It would be equivalent to our English saying, "God have mercy on you for saying that!"
Matthew 16:23 - But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Here it is literally: He turned, and He said to Peter get behind me, and that is an important word. Jesus will always emphasize that whether it's Satan, or people, or whoever it is. The proper position is behind Him, never alongside of Him, never in front of Him, always behind! He says, "Get behind me Satan."
He's speaking to the influence over Peter. It is Satan that says there will be no suffering in the flesh, and that there will be no hardship in the flesh. Satan is the great defender of the flesh. And through human reason and logic, he will oppose any doctrine that will present the fact that if you follow Jesus, there will be suffering and persecution.
Now the word offense is SCANDALIDZO which is where we get our English word scandal from. A SCANDALON in Greek was actually a rock that you tripped over. So, he says, Satan you are throwing a rock in my path to keep me from reaching my goal.
And the word "savourest" comes from the Greek word PHRONAY which means the frame of mind.
Please notice that Jesus is telling Peter that his frame of mind is not on the things of God, but on the things of man. When we hear about suffering how do we react? Peter's reaction was, and his frame of mind was to defend and protect the flesh. We need to be careful of that in the church. Our frame of mind must be on the things of God, not on the things of man, or the things of the flesh.
PT. 3
Another way that God's transcendence is expressed is in His royal and exalted glory and power.
Ps. 57:5, 97:9 speak of God being exalted above all else. He always is in the most high position from creation.
Deut. 4:39; Eccl. 5:2 speaks of God dwelling in heaven above, even the highest heavens. ) Ps 8:1, 57:5) None of us CAN go up to heaven to check Him out in His sovereign majesty. God had to come down to us in the Son for us to know what God s like. John 3 :13.
Ps. 113:5 says that He Himself is the most high ( Ps. 97:9)
So the term 'transcendence" s a convenient term to use to summarize these ways in which God is "above us"; in majesty, holiness, sovereignty, exaltation, glory, perfection, etc.
God is ontologically different and distinct from us that we can only describe Him adequately with our human language (this is called "ineffable). But in His immanence, He has revealed Himself in human terms, both verbally and in Jesus, the Son so that we can be redeemed and have fellowship with Him both now and forever. Jesus said, "This is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent." ( John 17:3)
Though God is transcendent, He has spoken clearly and in language that we can understand with certainty His nature and actions. Romans 1:18-22 says this and that therefore no one can be blameless from ignorance.
Romans 11:33-36 does speak of His mystery, incomprehensibility, ineffability, and "deep things of God" that no man can know.
We can also understand God's transcendence as referring to his Lordship over all that is, to His power and right as the King of everything He has made in all of creation, to His sovereignty and authority over all creatures and in all of His will. This speaks to His omnipotence, omniscience, and omni-presence. ( Ps. 2:47; 93:1; 96:10-13; 97:4; 99:1)
His authority is His control over the moral sphere, over all things that happen in time, all circumstances, and all that w happen.
May we claim these verses as well '
Psalm 8:2
From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
Numbers 14:31
Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey-I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.
I ask now that the spirit of New Age will not affect this child; nor doctrines of demons that are in society as well as being taught in many congregations. May it be truly a move of the Holy Ghost and make that clear to the father and her other siblings that this has occurred.
Maranatha. Rich P
Blessings.
pt 2
Before creation, there was only God. He existed forever as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a unified oneness of being. He is and always is one being with three distinct "persons" or centers of consciousness or "subsistences" each sharing eternally the one divine essence (nature) fully and equally. Before creation, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved each other and were completely satisfied within the Being of the one Godhead. He was self-sufficient in all ways, in need of nothing outside of His one Being. No other being in creation is like this. And, since we are finite in all ways, we cannot wrap our minds fully around this quality of God. In this way, He is transcendent.
In His holiness, God is set apart from all He created, being transcendent and beyond the reach of any created being, especially in that humans are sinful and therefore rightly restrained from God's presence. God's glory in His transcendent holiness and majesty determines that no man can see the face of God and live. We will be consumed by His glory and wrath for sinfulness. He did not let Moses see His face (glory) in Exodus 33:20 because Moses was still in sinful flesh. The full revelation of God to mankind is reserved for the future. Now we know in part, but then we will know more fully. Isaiah 64:6-7 speaks to our unworthiness to be in fellowship with God and abide in His presence. "all of us have become like one who is unclean.."
God's holiness and righteousness forces God to turn His face away from what is sinful and keep Himself separate from anything and anyone sinful, impure, unclean, and less than perfect. But paradoxically, God does draw near to those who He redeems and it in this His immanence that any creature can have fellowship with Him and come to truly know Him. Jer. 23:23-24 speaks of this. It is also in His immanence that He controls and upholds the universe, in His work within history, time, and space, and in His plan to create and redeem.-- Pt. 3
Amen.
This word means that something is "not near" or "not knowable" or "beyond our scope of experience"
So, in relation to God, He is in a unique realm of His own. He exists outside of time, space, and dimension. Before creation, He existed within Himself alone. He exists apart from and independent from anyone of anything else.
God is transcendent in His uncommunicable attributes of holiness, purity, sovereignty, infiniteness, limitlessness, omni-presence, omnipotence, omniscience, and perfection. No created being possesses these characteristics in the way God possesses them, which is infinitely and perfectly. He cannot give any creature these attributes because His divine nature is higher above and surpasses any created being. He is in a class of His own as God, as there is no other God but the God of Scriptures. ALL things are upheld by Him. ( Heb. 13), yet He is upheld by Himself alone. He is the only truly transcendent being
God is transcendent in that He is unknowable and remains unknown ( Acts 17:23) by creatures unless He reveals to creatures aspects of Himself, which is called "immanence". All we know about God s what He has revealed to us in creation, theophanies, words to and through His prophets, working of His power, miracles, and most truly and clearly in the incarnation of His eternal Son, Jesus who is "Immanuel", God with us and with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers and in the Scriptures inspired by God. Being transcendent, God is the incomprehensible Creator, unsearchable those He created who exist in the realm of time and space and matter. Neither by an act of our will nor by our own reasoning can we possibly come to understand God or experience Him personally. But because He wills to us to know Him, He intersects our realm of time, space and matter to communicate to us what He is like, what His will is, and causes us to seek Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 and Romans 11:33-36 speaks to this.
See part 2
What I know is that the four riders of Apocalypse, one of GOD and three of the Devil, they are already running /walking with their powers that are reflected in whole world.
It is up to the believing followers of JESUS to identify who the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are,
the rider of the white horse is Michael( Daniel 12:1-3 combined with 1Thessalonians 4:16),
and the rider of the red horse in my view is Trump,
but who is the rider of the black horse?
And the pale horse, who is the rider whose NAME is called Death, and Hell follow with him? Is not he the MAN of sin, son of perdition, who will manifest himself very soon as the messiah of the Jews ( John 5:43-47 combined with Revelation 13:11-18) even now, in the last week, week 70th Daniel 9:27 combined with 2Thessalonians 2:3-4 and 9-12, as soon as be elected the next and last Pope? As is written, Power will be given UNTO THEM over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the ruthless beasts of the earth?
The battle is/will be against three unclean spirits like frogs- Revelation 16:13-15. Why frogs? ->there is something in the site of purebible.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the MOUTH of the dragon( Revelation 13:11), and out of the MOUTH of the Beast (Beast of sea- Revelation 13:1-9, the Papacy), and out of the MOUTH of the False Prophet( John 5:43-47).
14 For they are the SPIRITS OF DEMONS, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that Great Day of GOD Almighty.
ATTENTION!
15 Behold, I come as a thief.
Be careful and Get ready
Consider it done!
"Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:" Jeremiah 32:17 KJV
My Respond textual scripture:
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10 KJV
I accepted Jesus Christ as God using my faith to receive it"( if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it")
I would like some to pray for me. I am going to have an ultrasound of my right torso to check my liver. My AST and ALT liver enzymes have been elevated on two lab tests in the last month. I had an MRI done a few weeks ago due to painful spasms in my back and right side. It seems that this was associated with my back problems and inflammation of nerves that serve that are. The scan also showed gallstones, which I did not know I had. The blood draw showed these elevated liver enzymes. I did see my new primary physician last week and she is ordering this ultrasound to check to see if my liver is showing inflammation or simply "fatty".
Please pray that my liver is healthy and that nothing of concern shows up on the ultrasound. I do hope that I will find out what is causing the spike in these enzymes. It could be the statin med I take or the gallstones. I appreciate those who will pray for me.
Romans 5:12->by one MAN sin entered into the world, in the Garden of GOD,...yes, by one MAN sin entered in the world as a whole,and passed upon all men,so death passed upon all men,for that all have sinned, then, in consequence, the earth become without form and void because darkness fell upon the face of the earth as a whole, and it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, and men saw the daughters of men that they were fair; then they took them wives of all which they chose,and GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the earth become a deep abyss. But the Word, the Word is GOD,GOD Himself,GOD is Spirit,self-executing,He did move among those which kept not their first estate,but left their own habitation, giving themselves over to fornication, so our GOD hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of this Great Day,the LORD's Day,the seventh and last Day,or seventh and last millennium.They are set forth for an example of suffering of the vengeance of Eternal fire,GOD is a devouring fire.
Then our GOD,planned the restoration of all things- Acts 3:21-as they were in Eden before the sons of GOD had rebelled themselves and sinned.And the first thing our GOD made according to His Plan was to make again His Light shine in the darkness,so JESUS shouted loudly,saying:Let there be light,and there was light.And the Word,GOD the Father,saw the light,that it was good:and He divided the light from the darkness.In this point started a terrible battle against Satan in the first millennium,and our Omnipotent GOD even from a sinful nature brought forth a holy seed for Himself,Abel( Matthew 23:33-35combined with John 8:44-47).And Genesis 5:3-32 describe the generation of the holy seed of GOD,but until the law sin was in the world:but sin was not imputed when there was no Law.
GOD BLESS
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." The woman in the wilderness denotes the left out church. 1260 days is a tag placed by the Holy Spirit to distinguish her from the woman in wilderness who chose her place herself. She is Israel who from bondage wandered through the wilderness. So she was first but for her iniquities God set this rule. "After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise."(Nu.14:34) Why 40? 4x10 where the command number 4 signifies the Word become flesh. It was again Christ they rebelled.
In Nu.33 we have a list of 42 way stations where Israel had to stopover, which is a tag placed against them."where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Indication of Time, -months hour and year is different from day that is decreed for the Son.
"Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." In order to understand the sealing of 144,000 we need understand the role of Jesus Christ the Mediator. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."(Gal.3:28)
Having introduced in an earlier post of precious stones with which the 12 foundations of the holy city are adorned let us look at the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.
Here are two verses. "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." and "And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." (vv.12-14). Three gates on each wall is clear indication of Christ the Mediator. The spiritual significance of gates which shall never be shut is vital for understanding the Redemptive nature of Jesus who with one offering has perfected all who are sanctified. (He.10:14)
These gates are for the righteous nation to enter. (Is.26:1-3) so we need look beyond Israel as a nation but at the 144,000 as those who have been sanctified by Jesus Christ. "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."(He.2:11). According to the flesh Jesus came of the seed of Abraham. "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel./Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.(Ro.9:6-7). They serve as examples for us fulfilling the saying of Jesus, " So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."(Matt.20:16). In rejecting Christ their place has been given over to another.
Sign of Jesus Christ is 'the name of the Father in the foreheads. They stand on mount Sion in heaven (Re.14:1) The same sign qualifies the group on the earth (vv.4-8). The Spirit tags them as 144,000. What we are shown in v.9 occupy the mid-heaven, all martyrs and given white robes. In Ch.6 we see them under the altar of soul where the sea of glass represents the mid-heaven. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held."
The heaven, up and down holds a throne, "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God".(Re.4:5). The Word of God as sound is issued in terms of lightening, thunderings and voices. Of the last belongs to what the prophets of old had revealed."God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" signify these voices.
When God came down "that there were thunders and lightnings." (Ex.19:16). Word of God is sound as well as sign. The latter we see as Gospel casting a halo about which is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Co.4:6). This is what we find in the holy city of God."And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones" (Re.21:19; Is.28:16) This foundation is on the same stone laid in Zion, which is in heaven.
In the vision of St John we have God, the Word was God symbolically made manifest. "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." (4:3)
There is another multitude, which is situated at the lower parts in the up and Down division of the heavens. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth."(Re.5:13)
"Till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads./And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."
"I heard the number of them" is similar to God remembering Noah; similarly God proving the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah. "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;"(Ge.8:1)
God is a Spirit and activities associated with mind and heart of man therefore sets him in terms of the Man who is the visible image of the invisible God. " That God did tempt Abraham" simply means that God set the Patriarch and his only son 'after our likeness' . Ishmael did not count, though was first born. Isaac was the heir of promise and not the son of a bonds-maid. The children of the kingdom to which Noah also belonged was in the book of remembrance. (Mal.3:15-16) In short these actions of hearing or remembering refer to the Spirit of Christ working in heirs of promise. John thus hears the number of 144,000 and it had nothing to do with Israel.
Fulness of Christ in a saint gives him a volume where the kingdom of Christ extends up and down as well as Across. Thus 12x12 x1000 sets him as part of the day. The day of salvation. He is secure and his salvation is assured. On the other hand the children of the wicked are the tares,"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;/ The enemy that sowed them is the devil."(Matt.13:38-39). In rejecting the prince of Life they chose Caesars of this world. "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast."(Re.17:13)
Jesus referred their position in the kingdom in terms of 'your hour of darkness.'.
"He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." (Ep.4:10-12) Up or down Jesus Christ as the Word become flesh is made up of 4x3=12. Fall of Babylon signified the stone "like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea," Cf. with the stone cut not with hands in the Daniel's vision.
In short Gospel is tied up with the Man component while the word of God is associated with the Word. ( John 1:1) Judgment was upon the seas and consequently Babylon shall not be found anymore.
The earth abides forever since he is the world made to appear and children of the kingdom shall reign with him in the day of Regeneration; with regards to the sea we have the Parable of the Dragnet, the good has to be gathered into vessels. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:/Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away."(Matt.13:47-48)
The angel ascending from the east points to the angels associated with the Son of man. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."(Matt.24:27; 30-31)
East is associated with Eden the Mountain of God in the vision of Ezekiel. The nations moved farther to the east after the great flood. It is thus unless we take the cues supplied by the Spirit of God we have doctrines of men. Universalism for example, posits that eventually the wicked also shall be let into the kingdom of God. The Word is clear,"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth./Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear."
"The earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree./And I saw another angel ascending from the east"
Before we go into the significance of the number 12 let us explain what the first two verses present which explains the kingdom of God up and down as well as the world from one end of the heaven to other end. "TheLordsitteth upon the flood; yea, theLordsitteth King for ever." (Ps,29:10)
This is same as the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. In St John's vision we see it represented up and down. "Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."(Re.4:3)
"And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." Here we get an idea what moved upon the face. The Lamb "having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" supplies specifically the spirit of Christ as the Parable of the Tares teaches the world as a field. "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;/The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."(Matt.13:38-39; Re.5:6) Here we have thus kingdom of God up and down as well as across where children of the kingdom stand cheek in jowl with children of the wicked one. In the narrative of Joseph and his brethren, obviously those who sold him to the Ishmeelites were wicked.
After the Ascension of Jesus Christ the angel inform the disciples thus, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."(Ac.1:11) St Paul also confirms it. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." (Ep.4:10-12)
God is not cruel . So , logically , if God is not cruel.....
Maybe people , souls , are not condemned to suffer eternal torture in hell if they have either rejected Christ or , have never even heard of him . Maybe , they are just dead .Gone . Ceased to exist and know nothing and suffer nothing but.....the wages of sin , which is ? Death .
For some reason this is more terrifying to some , than the thought of eternal damnation in hell .
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them and....lead us not into temptation...what temptation ? The request not to lead us into temptation comes straight after forgive us as we forgive others. What could be the temptation ? The temptation that comes straight after forgive us as we forgive others ? The temptation that we all feel sometimes which is vengeance , vengeance on another human that we believe has sinned , maybe against us , maybe against someone we love or maybe just a horrible person who had done something evil to someone else whom we haven't even met .
Vengeance is mine sayeth the LORD . I will repay .
Lead us not into temptation .
The wages of sin is death .
Put these scriptures together and understand .
God is love .
May God bless all who seek His truth with an open heart .
Concluding thoughts on God's conception of good and evil vs. man's
My last post discussed seemingly contradictory facets of God's character. Ultimately the truth of some of this can be found with Christ; who atones for sinful man and is the ultimate and final intercessor. Nonetheless He gave Moses at least a unique position to intercede in a similar role. There are other examples such as Gideon in Judges where he asked the sun and moon to stand still which is stated to be unique. Some things we consider unique to Christ often overlook many similar miracles that He worked through Elijah including seeing someone rise from the dead (after administering a sort of CPR); multiplying food as for others as well as himself during famine and many other things. Christ uniquely was able to heal a blind man accoring to the Gospel in John 9; perhaps that is why the whole chapter is on that subject and the persecution of the man was so fierce since the Pharisees hated God to work outside their own perception of proper boundaries.
Back to the subject of destruction of different nations; the logic can be found in regard to their sins reaching a certain point with child sacrifice; idol worship; etc. but still seeing children being killed isn't easy to stomach. We have the same feeling as Jeremiah the "weeping prophet" when thinking of a book like Lamentations; as well as much of the book of Jeremiah seeing the horror of God's judgment where mothers would eat their own children. In this matter we once again can look to the concept of killing vs murder. If someone was to go out and kill a bunch of innocent children of course it would be murder. That is different than a police officer shooting a guilty armed offender or an army fighting and killing an opposing force that presented a clear and present danger. Of course each army would justify their own actions. That leads us to Joshua 5:13-15 where the angel is on Gods side
I will call this Part 2. A brief survey of scripture to the unenlightened easily could lead to the conclusion that the Lord is very schizophrenic; paranoid; moody and cruel along with many other apparently contradictory actions and behaviors. Let us approach this subject for a moment from that skeptical viewpoint. I expect the readers at this point to say what??? why??
Okay; let's think for a moment. Those who believe; and rightly so that God's Word is inspired and is useful for all things as 2 Tim. 3:16 says are able to take a framework of promises to believers and basic moral commands such as the 10 Commandments and more or less gain a perspective to the general laws which mankind is expected to adhere to and through that come up with a beginning knowledge of the lawgiver Himself; hopefully praising God as with Psalm 119 for His commandments and statutes; loving God and realizing that it is only in Him that we are able to fulfill these commands.
Well and good. But to avoid a merely surface level or Parasitical mindset we need to understand that we can't comprehend certain hidden things of the Lord as Deuteronomy 29:29 indicates. There are other verses that suggest ( Proverbs 25:2) kings and priests search these mysteries out at least to some extent. Okay back to the Atheist or skeptic.
Why does God care so much about a bird's nest to preserve it ( Deut. 22:6; a mother is not to be taken with her young); but then the Lord says to destroy men women and children ( Deut. 20:14) just two chapters before? Why does the Lord say let me alone that I may destroy these people and start a new generation with Moses ( Exodus 32:9-14) and yet He "repents" or changes His mind after Moses intercedes? The same sort of seemingly conflicted behavior occurs with Edom in the book of Hosea 8:8-11 in terms there of Ephriam where He seems to be unwilling to carry out the judgments in surrounding verses.
(Sorry I missed deleting some of my later commentary in the last posting).
In the song "Leaving Eden" at least Brandon Heath's version gives a sobering reminder of man's decay and plight. God has as Ecclesiastes states put eternity in their hearts ( Ecclesiastes 3:11); one aspect of which is always looking back to Eden or finding something that pleases the five senses to give the illusion that we can once again retreat to our own utopia.
One look at our bodies in the mirror after a few decades reminds us of reality. The destruction of the outer shell made from the dust of the earth is the fate of all of us due to what is known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics where all things in the universe at present are in a state of decay. The soul of unregenerate man has nothing to hold onto but memories; which become more and more corrupted and delusional as our mind deteriorates and sin hardens men's hearts. The conscience becomes more and more seared and eventually sin has its full result leading to death; which is spiritual death once the body dies. In reality one is dead spiritually even when living on this earth without Christ. (read Romans 6).
The good news is that before we know the law we are innocent ( Romans 7:9). This would appear to be another verse showing how those before a certain age of accountability have a sin nature but don't understand enough to deliberately sin against God.
We shudder to think of events such as a 5 year old getting hold of a gun and killing a parent or sibling although it does happen. Surely they wouldn't be convicted for murder. I have said this before; that it isn't one's fault that they are born this way; but it is if they are old enough to decide to live it out and remain that way as man has a conscience at least before totally seared ( Romans 2:15). See also 1 Timothy 4:2. In my next posting I am going to discuss man's vs. God's understanding of good and evil.
I plan on discussing some of what man was meant to be before the fall; which in some context may play out in the Millennial period which is the day of rest for God played out in the last 1000 years of earth's existence which is a sort of Sabbath rest bringing peace to the whole world.
I am going to pray here and send this message; Lord pity us for you know we are but dust ( Psalm 103:14). We all mourn as doves for our sins ( Isaiah 59:11). I pray that as painful as it is the readers will understand the levels and depth of our state and this will lead someone to repentance. May we heed as Proverbs states flee from wickedness ( Proverbs 4:15) as it relates to others; and to ourselves ( 1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22). Help us realize that all of our value comes from His life in us; and all the associations we have are only importance in what remains eternally. This world is going down; let us approach it with patience as we are told to in the last days ( James 5:7). Let us be filled with the Spirit to understand the indignation to come and proclaim it as a trumpet; and have the boldness to extricate ourselves especially from those who claim to be Christians but are living in lifestyles of sin as it corrupts the camp and grieves the Spirit. May we love the praise of God more than that of men ( John 12:43 stands as a warning not to do the opposite). Lord help us all to weep because of our sin; yet especially because of His mercy which is new every morning ( Lamentations 3:22-23).
to the destruction of the outer shell made from the dust of the earth that is the fate of all of us due to what is known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics where all things in the universe at present are in a state of decay
A summary of concepts
How God's Spirit along with His angels compare with Satan's minions experientially; and substantively.
Man's role in covenant with God in all facets of His existence.
How things in heavenly places are the controlling factors that activate things in the earthly realm and bring things to pass.
How incorruption rules in celestial bodies compared with corruption in our old bodies
Introduction: This series attempts a deep dive as it were into understanding the big picture of how the world; flesh and the devil work in contrast with the Godhead. I am also attempting to study how the concept of the antichrist system as well as the final Beast are both opposed to and a substitute for the true God. The bottom line in that concept demonstrates how unregenerate man simply doesn't have the capacity to comprehend things outside of their experience; or those which fallen beings as emissaries of Satan have implanted in their brains which appear on the surface to be the same miracles that come from the true Christ.
Before exploring all these themes; we first must look at God's exalted position over all of His creation; or as will be brought out in an upcoming posting; His "transcendence". All the Omni (present; potent; scient) characteristics; timelessness and limitless attributes worthy of eternal praise have allowed all things to be created and as some other postings have discussed of late; given man a time to be born and a time to die ( Ecclesiastes 3:2). All things whether we understand it or not fit into His plan from creation of this world to the inception of the new and eternal one when heaven comes down to earth in Revelation 22.
Attempting to create our own kingdom on earth brings the wisdom of man to still be below the "foolishness of God" ( 1 Cor. 1:25).
I agree.
Some teachings makes God out to be a serial killer when they insist God CHOOSES some to be lost rather than God KNOWS who will be lost.
With that view, you are predestinated by luck, Not God's foreknowledge.
God bless.
God bless
Matthew 22:3 - And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Notice in the King James that it says to call them that were bidden. In the Greek text, it is called the Perfect Tense. And it's literally translated, "The ones who had been invited." So, you see the invitation has already taken place. That's how the Perfect Tense works there.
From the Greek, it is telling us that they are in the condition of already having been invited, and they are there now to say okay, this is the culmination of it all, the fulfillment of it all. So, to call the ones that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Literally, they did not desire to come. Just to say no at the calling is an insult because they sent the invitations out and nobody replied back and said we are not coming. They planned all the food. But this is a king too! You don't have any choice with the king. They said, no, tell them we are not coming. So, it went back and got reported.
Matthew 22:5 - But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
First of all, they made light of it. In the Greek text, it literally means "they did not care," Zero! So, when the servants came and said, look it is all ready, they said we don't care. We don't want to go. They didn't care!
Matthew 16:22 - Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Literally from the Greek: Peter began to rebuke him saying, have mercy on you Lord, this shall never happen (Double Negative) to you. It would be equivalent to our English saying, "God have mercy on you for saying that!"
Matthew 16:23 - But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Here it is literally: He turned, and He said to Peter get behind me, and that is an important word. Jesus will always emphasize that whether it's Satan, or people, or whoever it is. The proper position is behind Him, never alongside of Him, never in front of Him, always behind! He says, "Get behind me Satan."
He's speaking to the influence over Peter. It is Satan that says there will be no suffering in the flesh, and that there will be no hardship in the flesh. Satan is the great defender of the flesh. And through human reason and logic, he will oppose any doctrine that will present the fact that if you follow Jesus, there will be suffering and persecution.
Now the word offense is SCANDALIDZO which is where we get our English word scandal from. A SCANDALON in Greek was actually a rock that you tripped over. So, he says, Satan you are throwing a rock in my path to keep me from reaching my goal.
And the word "savourest" comes from the Greek word PHRONAY which means the frame of mind.
Please notice that Jesus is telling Peter that his frame of mind is not on the things of God, but on the things of man. When we hear about suffering how do we react? Peter's reaction was, and his frame of mind was to defend and protect the flesh. We need to be careful of that in the church. Our frame of mind must be on the things of God, not on the things of man, or the things of the flesh.
I thought maybe I was overlooking something.
Thanks and God bless.