That explains something that puzzled me for years.
John the Baptist was put in prison, he sent his disciples to Jesus and says are you the coming one, or do we look for another?
THE WORD "ANOTHER" IN GREEK MEANS ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND. So, he figures this must be the suffering Messiah. Are we expecting the next one to come too?
I believe there are 2 words in the Greek for another.
One is another of the same kind,
allos
The other is another of a different kind. heteros
I believe that word is used in Acts 7:18. "suggesting this Pharoah may have not been Egyptian".
I never applied this to John's questioning.
I just to the popular view, that he was beginning to have doubts.
I never fully believed or understood that being the case.
Godly, God chosen leaders are a real need in the body of Christ today. As you say, so many who are popular today are not truly as "anointed" as most people perceive. There is so much false doctrine being fed to so many believers and so much extravagance in lifestyle of so many leaders. They have become weakened by their acquisition of wealth and prestige which compromises the very purpose for which they are appointed to be a leader.
We must continue to pray for God to raise up leaders along the lines of Moses and Joshua.
Pondering your posting today. I wonder how many are purposely handing the baton so to speak to future leaders in the next generation today? First off there aren't that many who are great examples today; a few but of course many who have large ministries have slid off the doctrinal rails a while ago. So much is done today as well with those who are trained a certain way or sometimes those in families that have attended church for a long time as members which can be perfectly fine. Seeking those God has called for the job first of all means weeding out those who AREN'T qualified for the job despite how popular they may be in social circles. Also God in scripture chooses who He will; oftentimes not the biggest; badest and boldest as the world likes to choose. To find someone with a real heart for the Lord I can't help but wonder how rare that is today.
Of course some want to have an attitude that they are larger than life; or just won't think about the inevitable; in terms of their inheritance much as Paul chose Timothy. It is certainly rare for established Pastors to be humble enough to admit when the Lord has chastised them or in fact have the same transparency and accountability as they ask from other members of a church. This in fact makes them like the Pope or some other person with an exalted title or position who doesn't have anyone they can confess to above them (except God of course). It certainly helps future leaders to learn of mistakes made much as David taught Solomon. He eventually; of course wrote Ecclesiastes but had to learn many hard lessons after failing to be obedient to God as well as the advice from his parents.
Prayer of course is important; perhaps some of this occurs with Pastors and Deacons or elders under them as for future missions although I haven't seen much of it personally. Such things seem hidden from the rest of the laypersons in congregations.
Thank you Sister Star1964 for your reply & I can understand the difficulty in sometimes understanding the Scriptures & how they all fit together. These were the words given to Israel, often words of warning & impending suffering & judgement, but also words of hope & consolation if they should repent of their wickedness & unfaithfulness and they turn their hearts back to the LORD. When we partition this Book of Ezekiel (as also with other Bible books), we can see the picture more clearly & this will help us understand the times, the people, the judgements, & the promises.
The chapter you were reading (chap 19), is just a small section of Ezekiel's prophecies against Judah & Jerusalem (actually from chapter 4 to chapter 24), & it is understood that Ezekiel gave these prophetical warnings (in these chapters) prior to the fall of Jerusalem, reminding his fellow captives (even as Ezekiel was one of them) that God's Judgement on the city & Temple was certain.
When you get to chapters 25 to 32, Ezekiel prophesies against the Gentile nations, that God's Judgement was also coming upon them; but there was still hope for Israel (chapters 33 to 38) & of course this newly revived Israel's role in the coming Millennial Kingdom of their Messiah (chapters 40 to 48). This is just a very brief outline to help you divide the Book & see to whom God is speaking to and of God's Promise that God will "save my flock...will set up one shepherd over them...even my servant David...And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it" ( Ezekiel 34:22-24; referring to their coming Messiah Jesus, son of David (a term that some Jews knew of the Messiah referred to in the Old Testament, Matthew 21:15 & others).
So, when you write, "...it says that we are looking at it is happening today", I'm unsure what you are supposed to be reading in that chapter or the book that indicates this - maybe the problem lies here in that message.
Dear Star1964 , Ezekiel is one of the hardest books to understand , probably the hardest in the old testament , for me anyway :) . The best advice I can give you regarding the old testament would be , to start at the beginning and just read through it as it is presented . I think you said that you read this chapter three times ? I have read the entire Bible many many times and I'm still learning new things every time I read it . It's a lifelong commitment and , it's a lifelong friend . And like any other friendship , the more time and energy you put into it , the stronger that bond with your friend will get :) . It's not a race , relax and enjoy getting to know your God , I would defo advise to start at Genesis and just keep going .
I was saved after growing up Catholic. Being challenged by my father for leaving the one true church and reading a Bible a king wrote I studied hard to know the truth. I only will attend an independent Baptist church. They line up the most with the Bible. I just started attending gospel light Baptist church in Walkertown North Carolina/ look it up on YouTube. I'm 100% sure rapture is real. He just finished Sunday school lessons explaining revelation verse by verse. 100% dependable! Pastor Matthew Morrison. God bless you on your journey!
God is ONLY Love, ONLY Spirit, ONLY Light, and ONLY Holy, i.e. a Pure Mind. They are One and cannot be separated. God cannot change like shifting shadows and take upon His Self any fear, or make flesh His reality, or produce darkness which is evil. He cannot oppose Himself or be divided; His Mind is eternally pure.
if God is not anything but One in our mind, but divided, we are hopeless, stuck in space and time, remaining faithful to a split mind; a split allegiance. This is a state which literally keeps us from truly recognizing and experiencing God's perfect Love, healing, and ETERNAL patience. God is not limited to the ephemeral.
Be grateful there is NO power that will contaminate the Holy Mind of God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Him, because there are no other gods! Nothing except God is real. Unweakened power with NO opposite is what Creation is, because our Creator Is.
1 John 4:7-8 . Because this represents truth, and if I desire to know and experience the Source of this Perfect Love, I should probably focus 100% on this Love. I should endeavor to weed out ALL that is not love in order to recognize clearly without interference, the purity of God's Love. In this, I should truly be thankful and glad that the weeds and vines which do not produce good fruit are tossed out and thrown into the fire. Good fruit is the effect of God's perfect Love and in turn extends God's Will and perfect Love; this is how we join in Creation. To recognize means to know again, implying that I knew before.
"God is Love" AND "God is NOT fear/hate" do not conflict, just as "Satan is not love" AND "Satan is fear" do not conflict. Both pairs of statements together contain the same meaning; both statements together are true.
"God is fear/hate" AND "God is not love" do not conflict, just as "Satan is love" AND "Satan is not fear" do not conflict. Both pairs of statements together contain the same meaning. In and of itself , they can and will appear to be true to a mind who is unaware of the first set of statements; or he is aware of them, but he wavers in belief the first set as truth.
The first group above is the opposite of the second. Obviously, ONLY one group can only be true, leaving the other as false.
A thought system accepting ALL the above together, having ANY possibility of coexisting, i.e. ALL being true; and maintain any hope of a unified mind, may want to pause to consider that a divided mind will never be at peace, because a divided mind is a confused mind. Peace and understanding ALWAYS go together and can never be found alone. I must first remove my FAITH in opposites.
The Mind of God is a pure fresh water spring which cannot produce anything but pure, fresh water. If It were to become contaminated with fear which we actually believe can actually oppose Love, it would produce impure, not so fresh water.
Thank you for the time to explain, at times it is hard for me to understand. I read the chapter over and over, and it didn't stick. I am in this book because it says that we are looking at it is happening today. But have a hard time to see it. The days of Noah explain as it is today, is so much easier to comprehend. That I understand fully. I have read the New Testament long ago, but only read a couple of books in the old. I have a bible that reads itself audio.... maybe that's the way I should go?
I must also add that I believe Israel ceased to be God's corporate representation of His Kingdom on earth at the Cross. And the New Testament Church ceases to be God's corporate representation of His Kingdom and custodian of the True Gospel at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
And I believe that we are currently living in the Great Tribulation period which will end when Christ returns to complete His Salvation and Judgement Program with the Resurrection and Rapture and creation of New Heavens and New Earth.
As to those comments and posts I read during first Corinthians chapter 4 concerning the stewards of the mysteries of God the apostle Paul says though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ one father there is no confusion if you truly understand second Timothy 2:15 rightly dividing the word of Truth is the key to unlock all the scriptures with the Holy Spirit praying from the wisdom from above which is freely given one needs to rightly divide from the earthly Kingdom that's promised Israel and the New Jerusalem which is for his bride the body of Christ the church of Jesus Christ one Lord one faith one body...
This is why the apostle Paul in that same chapter 1st Corinthians 4 when he says be followers of me very clearly he is the apostle to the gentiles so the scriptures are time sensitive and proprietary the gospel of the Kingdom is promised to Israel everywhere in the scriptures Daniel is clear and Jesus is clear on the prayer The Lord's prayer is that we would become one in him when he prayed to the father about the glory we share but the prayer about the kingdom of God coming to Earth that is only for a thousand years it's only a sojourn but we look for new heavens and a new Earth were dwelleth righteousness hallelujah... In the end the two witnesses Elijah and that prophet Moses wrote about these two olive trees Revelations chapter 11 will unify the gospel of the Kingdom on Earth and the New testament prophet no other one qualifies except and eyewitness that's why they're called the two witnesses my two witnesses Jesus said in Revelations chapter 11 it can only be the apostle John it was an eyewitness at the cross he was the only apostle there when Jesus our savior was breathing his last cried out to God the Father to receive his spirit but before he did that he said father forgive them for they know not what they're doing so the sins of ignorance were included in the atonement hallelujah again bless his holy name the church is born after Christ is raised Alive.
I do not agree with your definition of the "Church" nor your definition of the "rock".
God speaks of the Church and Israel both in a corporate sense (God's organizational representation of His Kingdom on this earth) and in a Spiritual or Eternal sense (All True Believers throughout history). And we must look at both the immediate context and the context of the entire Bible to determine which is in view. Sometimes it can be both.
The "rock" is Christ Himself. It is not what you describe.
What we are discussing really boils down to our view of the Bible itself. Is the Bible truly the Word of God where God is the ONE AND ONLY AUTHOR of the ENTIRE Bible and every word, every phrase in the Bible is from the Mouth of God Himself. Or is it a collection of writings by Men inspired by God that merely "contains" the Word of God.
If it is the former, which indeed it is, and not the latter then the Bible is its own dictionary and its own interpreter. And we must compare scripture with scripture throughout the ENTIRE Bible to come to any Truth using the principles that God lays down for us in the Bible. And this includes the principle that "Christ spoke in parables and without a parable spoke He not".
Furthermore, we read in Rev13:8 that Christ was "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the World." So the efficacy of Christ's payment for the sins of His Elect (the Eternal Church) extends throughout time.
There is one and only one Judgment and Salvation Program for Mankind throughout time. And that Program, the Gospel, is circumscribed by the Bible Alone and in its Entirety.
There is no doubt that God has allowed fallen angels to rule over nations as the book of Daniel makes clear regarding Persia and Greece specifically; with the angel Michael.
My question specifically would be WHEN these angels fell. The story of the watchers is in extrabiblical literature. I would tend more to think that they were part of the spiritual order and society that existed sometime AFTER Lucifer fell and took the angels with him; which clearly happened BEFORE Adam fell after the serpent incident in Genesis. The period between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 where the ORIGINAL creation occurred and then in verse 2 it was void and in a chaotic state probably was when there was an original flood or disaster in the earth because of the trade with violence; etc mentioned in Ezekiel 28.
Satan himself has been given the role as a usurper; temporarily squatting as it were on territory that originally was to be under God's total rule and delegated to man in the garden to take care of. Apparently it is in the Divine plan to allow him and his henchmen to control nations and regions concurrently and to ultimately bring about the Messiah and end in Armageddon where the appointed time and judgment occurs.
As for reasoning here it is likely to test men; to see if they will follow their own judgments and imaginations and continue therefore in spiritual blindness or believe through a supernatural move of the Spirit the Gospel truth which is revealed only to those predetermined in His plan ( Deut 29:29). Overcoming therefore is the flesh; world and the Devil; all three are conquered through Christ's atonement. Some things in the interim before Christ comes back are delegated to the church in this time period and to those of faith previous to that and in the Tribulation. Prayer is a major key in holding back evil and the Lord temporarily holds back judgment until the fullness of times; as Romans states regarding the Gentiles.
Hi Jesse , with regard to them not believing that Peter was at the door , maybe they didn't believe because it was a woman who was telling them :) . I have noticed just how many times men do not believe women in the Bible :) . Then I think of the Samaritan woman at the well . Jesus actually tells her , face to face , that he is the expected Messiah . How many other people did Jesus say that to ? It's an awesome encounter and worthy of careful study I think . There again I could say that about most verses in the Bible :) .
I do not disagree , of course I don't , why would I ? I do not agree with some people who seem to want to imply that sexual sins are some how worse than others. Jesus says that even to think of adultery is to commit it , to me this does not mean that sexual sins are worse than others , it just reminds me of all the other kinds of sins that go through my mind every day . We all have sinful thoughts , some of a sexual nature but there are very many more kinds of sinful thoughts , judging others , looking down on others , pride in our appearance , pride in our so called accomplishments , witholding a kind word when we know it's needed , the list is literally endless as I'm sure we all know . These sins in our thoughts are easy for us to hide from others , we can keep doing them all day every day and no one can accuse us or point the finger at us because they don't know about them , we hide them in ourselves and so may appear to others to be holier than thou , but in fact we are festering inside . Some sins go before , outwardly appearing to others and inviting judgement and condemnation from others , who will not miss the opportunity to point the finger . God knows every thought that passes through our minds and hearts , we can hide many of our sins from others but we can hide nothing from our Heavenly Father . He knows what we all are and I believe that we all , including me , need to recognise who and what we are before pointing our fingers at others . How do we know any one else's prayers to their God ? How do we know any one else's struggles with their own personal weaknesses ? We don't and we are not judges in this life other than of our own weaknesses and faults and failings . God is my judge and I'm glad He is . He is righteousness and He is merciful and whatever judgement He lays on me I will take it because I know that He alone is pure and in a perfect state in order to judge me . Any one can think anything of me and I don't mind , God alone is pure and right
When the Lord divided the nations at the time of the Tower of Babel ( Deuteronomy 32:8). And claimed (the as yet future) Israel as His own ( Deuteronomy 32:9). He assigned other Elohim, members of the Divine Council, (congregation of the mighty), ie created intelligences, (angels) as stewards over the other nations.
Those lesser gods, (because there is only ONE Most High God), did not fulfill their purpose in protecting and preserving the knowledge of the one true God and leading men back to Himself. But rebelled instead, by leading the people of the nations into idolatry and the worship of themselves. Thereby forcing God to judge and condemn them to die like men.
It is those Elohim that God is speaking to in Psalm 82. Not human judges or rulers.
That is my opinion which is based upon the teachings of the late and highly respected biblical scholar Dr. Michael S Heiser.
"Dr. Heiser attained an MA in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA and PhD in the Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he minored in Classical studies. Dr. Heiser received his Bachelor's degree from Bob Jones University and also attended Bible college for three years."
It is given to us in Acts 1:8. Jesus told the disciples that you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem (there's your first section), and in all Judaea and Samaria (your second section), and into the uttermost part of the earth. That term "uttermost part" or the extremities, or the ends of the earth is an idiom. It means from the nearest city to the farthest village.
Acts Chapter 1 Verses 1 through 11 is the Prologue, the introduction for us. It is actually an overlap to Luke Chapter 24. I don't know of anybody that spends a lot of time reviewing like Luke does. There's a lot of overlap there! But he wants to bring over that information from Luke Chapter 24 as he begins this second part of his gospel.
And then from there, Acts Chapter 1 Verse 12 through Chapter 7 Verse 60, is the proclaiming of the gospel in Jerusalem. All of our focus will be on the ministry in Jerusalem, as the Lord told the disciples in Acts 1:8.
In Chapters 8 through 12, it will be the proclaiming of the gospel in Judaea and Samaria.
And lastly, in Acts Chapters 13 through 28, we have the proclaiming of the gospel in the uttermost part of the earth. And again, if you take the apostles that are prominent, you see that after the prologue, the proclaiming of the gospel in Jerusalem, the proclaiming of the gospel in Judaea and Samaria come under Peter's prominence.
And then the proclaiming of the gospel to the uttermost, or ends of the earth, Chapters 13 through 28, is when Paul is emphasized and is the most prominent.
So that is the introduction to the book of Acts. I will share my introduction to Romans next. Blessings in Christ Jesus!
At first, the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were one document on two separate scrolls. Luke and Acts were originally circulated as the gospel of Luke Volumes 1 and 2. Later the two books were divided. And you can see why Acts would not have a title because it's the second half to the first scroll. The first scroll had a title, but the second scroll didn't. Around the second century, they decided to give it a name too, and separate them!
VI. WHY IT WAS WRITTEN:
Luke was written to present what Jesus did and taught through His human body. In Acts 1:1, it says that this was written to present what Jesus continues to do and to teach through His Spiritual body, the church. It's still the Lord. One through His human body, and now He has sent His Spirit to continue His work through his Spiritual body the church.
VII. TO WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN:
It was written specifically to the most excellent Theophilus, probably a Roman governor, and in general to all Gentiles (non-Jews), to understand the scriptures.
Now there are actually 2 outlines for the book. There are 2 apostles that are prominent. They aren't the only ones, but they are the prominent ones. From Acts Chapter 1 Verse 12, all the way to the end of Chapter 12, the prominent apostle is Peter. And from Chapters 13 through 28, the second half of the book, the prominent apostle is Paul.
Peter was the apostle to the Jews. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. It also tells you the timing when Saul of Tarsus was saved, and he became known as Paul. He's the one that went on the missionary journeys and took the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. Those are the Gentiles. So, the timing all the way through the book is very accurate and I'll mention that to you as we go through.
In Acts Chapter 12, Peter gets thrown in jail. So, they get together for a prayer meeting. I would hope that if I got thrown in jail for preaching Christ that my brothers and sisters would get together and pray. You might be praying "please keep him locked up as long as possible!" But at least you'll be praying.
So, they were praying "Lord, please deliver Peter." Well, Peter was delivered. He was walking down the streets of Jerusalem and he was looking for the fellowship to meet and he comes and knocks on the door. And the gal that's in charge of the door, she goes, and she says, "who is it?" And he says, "It's me Peter." She goes back in, and she tells the prayer group "Peter's at the door." They said "It can't be. He's in prison. Lord, please deliver him." He can't be at the door, he's in prison!
Look at the faith they had. They had no faith at all! They didn't believe it was Peter. And in spite of what they believed or didn't believe, in spite of what they were aware of or not aware of, God's Spirit just used them! In fact, they were so clueless, that they didn't get in the way!
Why did I even bring that up? The title to the book as I'm relating it to you, should be, and is according to Acts 1:1, the theme is the ministry of the Lord, what He continues to do and to teach. The apostles are just vessels. It's not what they do. It is the ministry that the Lord continues to do and teach.
If you look at it from that perspective, you realize that as you read through, there are things that happened through the apostles that they didn't plan or weren't even expecting. God just did it! There's no formula.
This is very interesting. If you take the title, in most English bibles, it will say "The Acts of the Apostles." Originally, this letter had no title whatsoever. So whatever title you have in your English bibles, it is not inspired. It had no title.
But the word Acts comes from the Greek word PRAXEIS that means practices. They added the word apostles from Acts 1:13 because they said this is all about the apostles. So, they called it the Acts, or the Practices of the Apostles.
But this is very misleading. If I had any influential weight to change the title of the book of Acts, I would try to do it. And I think that a lot of people in their approach to the book of Acts, and in their approach to the teachings in the book of Acts, they do so because they say here are the Acts of the apostles.
It's not the Acts of the apostles. It doesn't record what the apostles did. It records what Jesus did through the apostles. There's a difference. Many people will look at the book of Acts and they'll say "Well, now that Jesus is gone, look at all the stuff they did for Him!"
No! As a matter of fact, if you take my challenge, as you read through Acts, start reading through the chapters and you will find out that they did not have a clue as to what to do. They had no "committee meetings," nothing! Even when they were waiting in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, they didn't know when He was coming.
The Lord had a specific day and a specific time. They didn't know that! After His ascension, they waited for 10 days before the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. I say all of this because everything that's done in the book of Acts is the Acts of Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, through the apostles.
Luke and Acts express the highest level of Greek in the New Testament. Again, from a very educated man! In fact, many scholars, not bible scholars, but many Greek scholars hold that Luke and Acts are the highest quality of Greek in all ancient literature!
Putting Luke and Acts together with all the literature that they have found, it's the highest quality of Greek. There are 312 Greek words in Luke that are not in the rest of the New Testament. There are 478 Greek words in Acts that are not in the rest of the New Testament. So, he's got a big vocabulary!
Now some think that Luke and Acts are actually trial documents. Paul was on his way to Rome, and it was required, to make an appeal to Caesar, you had to have documents that explain yourself, preceding any appeal before you stand before him. Theophilus was thought of putting this together for Paul, and Luke was doing this for him.
So, Paul was in Rome, and Luke's there, and he contacts Theophilus, and he says if I write up some documents on the ministry of Christ, and the life of Paul, will you use these in your court appeal that goes before Caesar before Paul can stand before Caesar?
Now there are two things by way of characteristics of the gospel and the book of Acts that support the trial document theory. All uprisings recorded in Luke and Acts were caused by Jewish leaders. At no time does Luke make anybody who's Roman the fault. The Roman soldiers are always good guys in the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. They're not the bad guys! It's the Jewish leaders who are the bad guys. So, it helps throw weight into this view that these were court documents because it would be favorably received by the Romans.
The record of the Lord's ministry, from Luke Chapter 1, all the way through to the end of Acts Chapter 28, if you put those two books together, it is the most detailed account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Again, Luke is an educated man. Luke 1:1-4 tells us that he gathered in manuscript. He gathered in all the writings that he could find about Jesus Christ. He interviewed eyewitnesses. And being an educated man, he used a lot of detailed words. He wanted to be accurate and detailed about his presentation.
II. THE RECIPIENT TO THE BOOK OF ACTS:
We are told that the man's name to whom it is written is Theophilus, which literally means "Lover of God," THEOS for God, and PHILEO for love. He's a God lover. It's either his name or his title. Theophilus was a common name at that time. Some people believe it might have been used as a title in order to hide his identity.
But in Luke Chapter 1, he's called "the most excellent Theophilus." The title "most excellent" is either a title of an officer in the Roman military or the title of an official in the Roman government, especially a governor. The title is used three times in Acts, once it's for "most excellent" Governor Felix, "most noble" Felix, and "most noble" Festus, addressing the governors of the Roman government.
So Theophilus was a Roman official. Tradition says that he was from Antioch of Syria. Apparently, Luke and Theophilus knew each other. Luke and Acts, both of them were written to Theophilus. We're told in Acts 1:1-2 and Luke 1:1-4 that they were written to the same person.
The book of Acts is the last book of the history section. Matthew through Acts is the historical accounts of the teachings and miracles of Jesus Christ and His Spirit's work through the early church. The book of Acts covers approximately 30 years. So that's the historical section. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, also wrote the book of Acts.
I. ABOUT THE AUTHOR LUKE:
He's only mentioned three times in the New Testament. Colossians 4:14 tells us that He is a physician. Historical accounts tell us that he was schooled in Alexandria Egypt. So, we look at that and we see that God chose an educated man to do a very detailed investigation. Luke is a Greek name and therefore many believe that he was a Gentile.
From Acts Chapter 1 Verse 1 through Chapter 16 Verse 9, Luke uses "they," third person plural in his writings. Starting with Acts Chapter 16 Verse 10 all the way to the end, he changes it to "we." So, at Acts 16:9, this is where Luke joined up with Paul.
He joined up with Paul in Troas. He was probably converted in Troas by Paul. He becomes Paul's personal physician. In Acts Chapter 27, he's right there in the shipwreck with Paul, right before Paul reaches Rome, which will be his last destination before he dies.
Also, Chris has advised you well. I just want to ad one more thing, be sure she has appointed you as her power of attornery for both medical and financial matters.
I see no reason to dispute that.
Whenever it was that they rebelled against The Most High, it seems that they are still on the job of deceiving the nations.
Please come quickly Lord Jesus! And soon!
"The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel." Isaiah 9:8 KJV
The Love of God is the gathering of His People in His Son. He is our government, our peace and our hope. Our burden must be yoked to Him.
That explains something that puzzled me for years.
John the Baptist was put in prison, he sent his disciples to Jesus and says are you the coming one, or do we look for another?
THE WORD "ANOTHER" IN GREEK MEANS ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND. So, he figures this must be the suffering Messiah. Are we expecting the next one to come too?
I believe there are 2 words in the Greek for another.
One is another of the same kind,
allos
The other is another of a different kind. heteros
I believe that word is used in Acts 7:18. "suggesting this Pharoah may have not been Egyptian".
I never applied this to John's questioning.
I just to the popular view, that he was beginning to have doubts.
I never fully believed or understood that being the case.
God bless
understood
Godly, God chosen leaders are a real need in the body of Christ today. As you say, so many who are popular today are not truly as "anointed" as most people perceive. There is so much false doctrine being fed to so many believers and so much extravagance in lifestyle of so many leaders. They have become weakened by their acquisition of wealth and prestige which compromises the very purpose for which they are appointed to be a leader.
We must continue to pray for God to raise up leaders along the lines of Moses and Joshua.
Of course some want to have an attitude that they are larger than life; or just won't think about the inevitable; in terms of their inheritance much as Paul chose Timothy. It is certainly rare for established Pastors to be humble enough to admit when the Lord has chastised them or in fact have the same transparency and accountability as they ask from other members of a church. This in fact makes them like the Pope or some other person with an exalted title or position who doesn't have anyone they can confess to above them (except God of course). It certainly helps future leaders to learn of mistakes made much as David taught Solomon. He eventually; of course wrote Ecclesiastes but had to learn many hard lessons after failing to be obedient to God as well as the advice from his parents.
Prayer of course is important; perhaps some of this occurs with Pastors and Deacons or elders under them as for future missions although I haven't seen much of it personally. Such things seem hidden from the rest of the laypersons in congregations.
Anyway as always I appreciate your commentary.
Agape; Rich P
The chapter you were reading (chap 19), is just a small section of Ezekiel's prophecies against Judah & Jerusalem (actually from chapter 4 to chapter 24), & it is understood that Ezekiel gave these prophetical warnings (in these chapters) prior to the fall of Jerusalem, reminding his fellow captives (even as Ezekiel was one of them) that God's Judgement on the city & Temple was certain.
When you get to chapters 25 to 32, Ezekiel prophesies against the Gentile nations, that God's Judgement was also coming upon them; but there was still hope for Israel (chapters 33 to 38) & of course this newly revived Israel's role in the coming Millennial Kingdom of their Messiah (chapters 40 to 48). This is just a very brief outline to help you divide the Book & see to whom God is speaking to and of God's Promise that God will "save my flock...will set up one shepherd over them...even my servant David...And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it" ( Ezekiel 34:22-24; referring to their coming Messiah Jesus, son of David (a term that some Jews knew of the Messiah referred to in the Old Testament, Matthew 21:15 & others).
So, when you write, "...it says that we are looking at it is happening today", I'm unsure what you are supposed to be reading in that chapter or the book that indicates this - maybe the problem lies here in that message.
God is ONLY Love, ONLY Spirit, ONLY Light, and ONLY Holy, i.e. a Pure Mind. They are One and cannot be separated. God cannot change like shifting shadows and take upon His Self any fear, or make flesh His reality, or produce darkness which is evil. He cannot oppose Himself or be divided; His Mind is eternally pure.
if God is not anything but One in our mind, but divided, we are hopeless, stuck in space and time, remaining faithful to a split mind; a split allegiance. This is a state which literally keeps us from truly recognizing and experiencing God's perfect Love, healing, and ETERNAL patience. God is not limited to the ephemeral.
Be grateful there is NO power that will contaminate the Holy Mind of God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Him, because there are no other gods! Nothing except God is real. Unweakened power with NO opposite is what Creation is, because our Creator Is.
God Is
Peace
pg 1
1 John 4:7-8 . Because this represents truth, and if I desire to know and experience the Source of this Perfect Love, I should probably focus 100% on this Love. I should endeavor to weed out ALL that is not love in order to recognize clearly without interference, the purity of God's Love. In this, I should truly be thankful and glad that the weeds and vines which do not produce good fruit are tossed out and thrown into the fire. Good fruit is the effect of God's perfect Love and in turn extends God's Will and perfect Love; this is how we join in Creation. To recognize means to know again, implying that I knew before.
"God is Love" AND "God is NOT fear/hate" do not conflict, just as "Satan is not love" AND "Satan is fear" do not conflict. Both pairs of statements together contain the same meaning; both statements together are true.
"God is fear/hate" AND "God is not love" do not conflict, just as "Satan is love" AND "Satan is not fear" do not conflict. Both pairs of statements together contain the same meaning. In and of itself , they can and will appear to be true to a mind who is unaware of the first set of statements; or he is aware of them, but he wavers in belief the first set as truth.
The first group above is the opposite of the second. Obviously, ONLY one group can only be true, leaving the other as false.
A thought system accepting ALL the above together, having ANY possibility of coexisting, i.e. ALL being true; and maintain any hope of a unified mind, may want to pause to consider that a divided mind will never be at peace, because a divided mind is a confused mind. Peace and understanding ALWAYS go together and can never be found alone. I must first remove my FAITH in opposites.
The Mind of God is a pure fresh water spring which cannot produce anything but pure, fresh water. If It were to become contaminated with fear which we actually believe can actually oppose Love, it would produce impure, not so fresh water.
see pg. 2
Sister in Christ Star
Sister in Christ, Star
I must also add that I believe Israel ceased to be God's corporate representation of His Kingdom on earth at the Cross. And the New Testament Church ceases to be God's corporate representation of His Kingdom and custodian of the True Gospel at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
And I believe that we are currently living in the Great Tribulation period which will end when Christ returns to complete His Salvation and Judgement Program with the Resurrection and Rapture and creation of New Heavens and New Earth.
This is why the apostle Paul in that same chapter 1st Corinthians 4 when he says be followers of me very clearly he is the apostle to the gentiles so the scriptures are time sensitive and proprietary the gospel of the Kingdom is promised to Israel everywhere in the scriptures Daniel is clear and Jesus is clear on the prayer The Lord's prayer is that we would become one in him when he prayed to the father about the glory we share but the prayer about the kingdom of God coming to Earth that is only for a thousand years it's only a sojourn but we look for new heavens and a new Earth were dwelleth righteousness hallelujah... In the end the two witnesses Elijah and that prophet Moses wrote about these two olive trees Revelations chapter 11 will unify the gospel of the Kingdom on Earth and the New testament prophet no other one qualifies except and eyewitness that's why they're called the two witnesses my two witnesses Jesus said in Revelations chapter 11 it can only be the apostle John it was an eyewitness at the cross he was the only apostle there when Jesus our savior was breathing his last cried out to God the Father to receive his spirit but before he did that he said father forgive them for they know not what they're doing so the sins of ignorance were included in the atonement hallelujah again bless his holy name the church is born after Christ is raised Alive.
I do not agree with your definition of the "Church" nor your definition of the "rock".
God speaks of the Church and Israel both in a corporate sense (God's organizational representation of His Kingdom on this earth) and in a Spiritual or Eternal sense (All True Believers throughout history). And we must look at both the immediate context and the context of the entire Bible to determine which is in view. Sometimes it can be both.
The "rock" is Christ Himself. It is not what you describe.
What we are discussing really boils down to our view of the Bible itself. Is the Bible truly the Word of God where God is the ONE AND ONLY AUTHOR of the ENTIRE Bible and every word, every phrase in the Bible is from the Mouth of God Himself. Or is it a collection of writings by Men inspired by God that merely "contains" the Word of God.
If it is the former, which indeed it is, and not the latter then the Bible is its own dictionary and its own interpreter. And we must compare scripture with scripture throughout the ENTIRE Bible to come to any Truth using the principles that God lays down for us in the Bible. And this includes the principle that "Christ spoke in parables and without a parable spoke He not".
Furthermore, we read in Rev13:8 that Christ was "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the World." So the efficacy of Christ's payment for the sins of His Elect (the Eternal Church) extends throughout time.
There is one and only one Judgment and Salvation Program for Mankind throughout time. And that Program, the Gospel, is circumscribed by the Bible Alone and in its Entirety.
My question specifically would be WHEN these angels fell. The story of the watchers is in extrabiblical literature. I would tend more to think that they were part of the spiritual order and society that existed sometime AFTER Lucifer fell and took the angels with him; which clearly happened BEFORE Adam fell after the serpent incident in Genesis. The period between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 where the ORIGINAL creation occurred and then in verse 2 it was void and in a chaotic state probably was when there was an original flood or disaster in the earth because of the trade with violence; etc mentioned in Ezekiel 28.
Satan himself has been given the role as a usurper; temporarily squatting as it were on territory that originally was to be under God's total rule and delegated to man in the garden to take care of. Apparently it is in the Divine plan to allow him and his henchmen to control nations and regions concurrently and to ultimately bring about the Messiah and end in Armageddon where the appointed time and judgment occurs.
As for reasoning here it is likely to test men; to see if they will follow their own judgments and imaginations and continue therefore in spiritual blindness or believe through a supernatural move of the Spirit the Gospel truth which is revealed only to those predetermined in His plan ( Deut 29:29). Overcoming therefore is the flesh; world and the Devil; all three are conquered through Christ's atonement. Some things in the interim before Christ comes back are delegated to the church in this time period and to those of faith previous to that and in the Tribulation. Prayer is a major key in holding back evil and the Lord temporarily holds back judgment until the fullness of times; as Romans states regarding the Gentiles.
So I'd say "watchers" fell before Eden
Those lesser gods, (because there is only ONE Most High God), did not fulfill their purpose in protecting and preserving the knowledge of the one true God and leading men back to Himself. But rebelled instead, by leading the people of the nations into idolatry and the worship of themselves. Thereby forcing God to judge and condemn them to die like men.
It is those Elohim that God is speaking to in Psalm 82. Not human judges or rulers.
That is my opinion which is based upon the teachings of the late and highly respected biblical scholar Dr. Michael S Heiser.
"Dr. Heiser attained an MA in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA and PhD in the Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he minored in Classical studies. Dr. Heiser received his Bachelor's degree from Bob Jones University and also attended Bible college for three years."
VIII. SECTION OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF ACTS:
It is given to us in Acts 1:8. Jesus told the disciples that you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem (there's your first section), and in all Judaea and Samaria (your second section), and into the uttermost part of the earth. That term "uttermost part" or the extremities, or the ends of the earth is an idiom. It means from the nearest city to the farthest village.
Acts Chapter 1 Verses 1 through 11 is the Prologue, the introduction for us. It is actually an overlap to Luke Chapter 24. I don't know of anybody that spends a lot of time reviewing like Luke does. There's a lot of overlap there! But he wants to bring over that information from Luke Chapter 24 as he begins this second part of his gospel.
And then from there, Acts Chapter 1 Verse 12 through Chapter 7 Verse 60, is the proclaiming of the gospel in Jerusalem. All of our focus will be on the ministry in Jerusalem, as the Lord told the disciples in Acts 1:8.
In Chapters 8 through 12, it will be the proclaiming of the gospel in Judaea and Samaria.
And lastly, in Acts Chapters 13 through 28, we have the proclaiming of the gospel in the uttermost part of the earth. And again, if you take the apostles that are prominent, you see that after the prologue, the proclaiming of the gospel in Jerusalem, the proclaiming of the gospel in Judaea and Samaria come under Peter's prominence.
And then the proclaiming of the gospel to the uttermost, or ends of the earth, Chapters 13 through 28, is when Paul is emphasized and is the most prominent.
So that is the introduction to the book of Acts. I will share my introduction to Romans next. Blessings in Christ Jesus!
V. THE RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BOOKS:
At first, the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were one document on two separate scrolls. Luke and Acts were originally circulated as the gospel of Luke Volumes 1 and 2. Later the two books were divided. And you can see why Acts would not have a title because it's the second half to the first scroll. The first scroll had a title, but the second scroll didn't. Around the second century, they decided to give it a name too, and separate them!
VI. WHY IT WAS WRITTEN:
Luke was written to present what Jesus did and taught through His human body. In Acts 1:1, it says that this was written to present what Jesus continues to do and to teach through His Spiritual body, the church. It's still the Lord. One through His human body, and now He has sent His Spirit to continue His work through his Spiritual body the church.
VII. TO WHOM WAS IT WRITTEN:
It was written specifically to the most excellent Theophilus, probably a Roman governor, and in general to all Gentiles (non-Jews), to understand the scriptures.
Now there are actually 2 outlines for the book. There are 2 apostles that are prominent. They aren't the only ones, but they are the prominent ones. From Acts Chapter 1 Verse 12, all the way to the end of Chapter 12, the prominent apostle is Peter. And from Chapters 13 through 28, the second half of the book, the prominent apostle is Paul.
Peter was the apostle to the Jews. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. It also tells you the timing when Saul of Tarsus was saved, and he became known as Paul. He's the one that went on the missionary journeys and took the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. Those are the Gentiles. So, the timing all the way through the book is very accurate and I'll mention that to you as we go through.
TALK ABOUT A LACK OF FAITH, I LOVE THIS ONE:
In Acts Chapter 12, Peter gets thrown in jail. So, they get together for a prayer meeting. I would hope that if I got thrown in jail for preaching Christ that my brothers and sisters would get together and pray. You might be praying "please keep him locked up as long as possible!" But at least you'll be praying.
So, they were praying "Lord, please deliver Peter." Well, Peter was delivered. He was walking down the streets of Jerusalem and he was looking for the fellowship to meet and he comes and knocks on the door. And the gal that's in charge of the door, she goes, and she says, "who is it?" And he says, "It's me Peter." She goes back in, and she tells the prayer group "Peter's at the door." They said "It can't be. He's in prison. Lord, please deliver him." He can't be at the door, he's in prison!
Look at the faith they had. They had no faith at all! They didn't believe it was Peter. And in spite of what they believed or didn't believe, in spite of what they were aware of or not aware of, God's Spirit just used them! In fact, they were so clueless, that they didn't get in the way!
Why did I even bring that up? The title to the book as I'm relating it to you, should be, and is according to Acts 1:1, the theme is the ministry of the Lord, what He continues to do and to teach. The apostles are just vessels. It's not what they do. It is the ministry that the Lord continues to do and teach.
If you look at it from that perspective, you realize that as you read through, there are things that happened through the apostles that they didn't plan or weren't even expecting. God just did it! There's no formula.
IV: NOW ABOUT THE THEME OF THE BOOK:
This is very interesting. If you take the title, in most English bibles, it will say "The Acts of the Apostles." Originally, this letter had no title whatsoever. So whatever title you have in your English bibles, it is not inspired. It had no title.
But the word Acts comes from the Greek word PRAXEIS that means practices. They added the word apostles from Acts 1:13 because they said this is all about the apostles. So, they called it the Acts, or the Practices of the Apostles.
But this is very misleading. If I had any influential weight to change the title of the book of Acts, I would try to do it. And I think that a lot of people in their approach to the book of Acts, and in their approach to the teachings in the book of Acts, they do so because they say here are the Acts of the apostles.
It's not the Acts of the apostles. It doesn't record what the apostles did. It records what Jesus did through the apostles. There's a difference. Many people will look at the book of Acts and they'll say "Well, now that Jesus is gone, look at all the stuff they did for Him!"
No! As a matter of fact, if you take my challenge, as you read through Acts, start reading through the chapters and you will find out that they did not have a clue as to what to do. They had no "committee meetings," nothing! Even when they were waiting in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, they didn't know when He was coming.
The Lord had a specific day and a specific time. They didn't know that! After His ascension, they waited for 10 days before the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. I say all of this because everything that's done in the book of Acts is the Acts of Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, through the apostles.
III. NOW ABOUT THE BOOK OF ACTS ITSELF:
Luke and Acts express the highest level of Greek in the New Testament. Again, from a very educated man! In fact, many scholars, not bible scholars, but many Greek scholars hold that Luke and Acts are the highest quality of Greek in all ancient literature!
Putting Luke and Acts together with all the literature that they have found, it's the highest quality of Greek. There are 312 Greek words in Luke that are not in the rest of the New Testament. There are 478 Greek words in Acts that are not in the rest of the New Testament. So, he's got a big vocabulary!
Now some think that Luke and Acts are actually trial documents. Paul was on his way to Rome, and it was required, to make an appeal to Caesar, you had to have documents that explain yourself, preceding any appeal before you stand before him. Theophilus was thought of putting this together for Paul, and Luke was doing this for him.
So, Paul was in Rome, and Luke's there, and he contacts Theophilus, and he says if I write up some documents on the ministry of Christ, and the life of Paul, will you use these in your court appeal that goes before Caesar before Paul can stand before Caesar?
Now there are two things by way of characteristics of the gospel and the book of Acts that support the trial document theory. All uprisings recorded in Luke and Acts were caused by Jewish leaders. At no time does Luke make anybody who's Roman the fault. The Roman soldiers are always good guys in the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. They're not the bad guys! It's the Jewish leaders who are the bad guys. So, it helps throw weight into this view that these were court documents because it would be favorably received by the Romans.
HERE IS A GENERAL STATEMENT FOR YOU:
The record of the Lord's ministry, from Luke Chapter 1, all the way through to the end of Acts Chapter 28, if you put those two books together, it is the most detailed account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Again, Luke is an educated man. Luke 1:1-4 tells us that he gathered in manuscript. He gathered in all the writings that he could find about Jesus Christ. He interviewed eyewitnesses. And being an educated man, he used a lot of detailed words. He wanted to be accurate and detailed about his presentation.
II. THE RECIPIENT TO THE BOOK OF ACTS:
We are told that the man's name to whom it is written is Theophilus, which literally means "Lover of God," THEOS for God, and PHILEO for love. He's a God lover. It's either his name or his title. Theophilus was a common name at that time. Some people believe it might have been used as a title in order to hide his identity.
But in Luke Chapter 1, he's called "the most excellent Theophilus." The title "most excellent" is either a title of an officer in the Roman military or the title of an official in the Roman government, especially a governor. The title is used three times in Acts, once it's for "most excellent" Governor Felix, "most noble" Felix, and "most noble" Festus, addressing the governors of the Roman government.
So Theophilus was a Roman official. Tradition says that he was from Antioch of Syria. Apparently, Luke and Theophilus knew each other. Luke and Acts, both of them were written to Theophilus. We're told in Acts 1:1-2 and Luke 1:1-4 that they were written to the same person.
The book of Acts is the last book of the history section. Matthew through Acts is the historical accounts of the teachings and miracles of Jesus Christ and His Spirit's work through the early church. The book of Acts covers approximately 30 years. So that's the historical section. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, also wrote the book of Acts.
I. ABOUT THE AUTHOR LUKE:
He's only mentioned three times in the New Testament. Colossians 4:14 tells us that He is a physician. Historical accounts tell us that he was schooled in Alexandria Egypt. So, we look at that and we see that God chose an educated man to do a very detailed investigation. Luke is a Greek name and therefore many believe that he was a Gentile.
From Acts Chapter 1 Verse 1 through Chapter 16 Verse 9, Luke uses "they," third person plural in his writings. Starting with Acts Chapter 16 Verse 10 all the way to the end, he changes it to "we." So, at Acts 16:9, this is where Luke joined up with Paul.
He joined up with Paul in Troas. He was probably converted in Troas by Paul. He becomes Paul's personal physician. In Acts Chapter 27, he's right there in the shipwreck with Paul, right before Paul reaches Rome, which will be his last destination before he dies.
Will pray for your mother.
Also, Chris has advised you well. I just want to ad one more thing, be sure she has appointed you as her power of attornery for both medical and financial matters.