When we examine verses such as Matthew 16:18 we see how the church would never be extinguished by the forces of darkness.
Again; as my last posting and many others that I have placed on this site in the past I emphasized the believing remnant of the true Christians vs pretenders as being much smaller than the professing church. In that group we once again need to differentiate a smaller group who wish to be godly in Christ Jesus and suffer persecution. ( 2 Timothy 3:12). Thus; we see a differentiation of rewards in heaven and those who wish to be great will seek His face to be given the desire to run the race with endurance as Paul did and find examples of godly individuals to emulate.
Ruling and reigning is something the book of Hebrews discusses of those who are in the "hall of fame" and in the great cloud of witnesses ( Heb. 12:1-2). Therefore we are currently "seated in heavenly places" ( Ephesians 2:6). Therefore the history of the church is something which will be today once tomorrow comes; and it leads to the future when we will rule as "kings and priests" on the earth. ( Rev. 1:6; also see 5:10). For now the church is in training for this future by our pruning by the Spirit and our trials and testings on earth to refine us as gold ( 1 Peter 1:7).
It is a good thing that the church has continued to succeed; especially when ALL seven churches that originated in the area of Turkey today ceased to exist within a few centuries of their inception at least where they were originally as the vast majority of citizens there are Muslim. We can also see that deception comes shortly after revivals as was the case where Paul warned Timothy of what would come in the last days after he departed within their own midst. Much of this these days can be blamed on faulty logic; when we just want to bring in numbers to fill the church there is always compromise on verses such as 2 Cor. 13:5; and John 15:2. We should make disciples.
When we examine verses such as Matthew 16:18 we see how the church would never be extinguished by the forces of darkness.
Again; as my last posting and many others that I have placed on this site in the past I emphasized the believing remnant of the true Christians vs pretenders as being much smaller than the professing church. In that group we once again need to differentiate a smaller group who wish to be godly in Christ Jesus and suffer persecution. ( 2 Timothy 3:12). Thus; we see a differentiation of rewards in heaven and those who wish to be great will seek His face to be given the desire to run the race with endurance as Paul did and find examples of godly individuals to emulate.
Ruling and reigning is something the book of Hebrews discusses of those who are in the "hall of fame" and in the great cloud of witnesses ( Heb. 12:1-2). Therefore we are currently "seated in heavenly places" ( Ephesians 2:6). Therefore the history of the church is something which will be today once tomorrow comes; and it leads to the future when we will rule as "kings and priests" on the earth. ( Rev. 1:6; also see 5:10). For now the church is in training for this future by our pruning by the Spirit and our trials and testings on earth to refine us as gold ( 1 Peter 1:7).
It is a good thing that the church has continued to succeed; especially when ALL seven churches that originated in the area of Turkey today ceased to exist within a few centuries of their inception at least where they were originally as the vast majority of citizens there are Muslim. We can also see that deception comes shortly after revivals as was the case where Paul warned Timothy of what would come in the last days after he departed within their own midst. Much of this these days can be blamed on faulty logic; when we just want to bring in numbers to fill the church there is always compromise on verses such as 2 Cor. 13:5; and John 15:2. We should make disciples.
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