5 Phases of Salvation

5 Phases of Salvation!

11.       The promise: Before the foundation of the earth was laid GOD the Father knew that humanity would sin and need salvation so He ordained that Jesus, His only Begotten Son, would go to the cross to redeem humanity, giving His life and shedding His Blood to redeem us to our Creator.

22.       Jesus’ birth by a virgin, His life of overcoming sin and every temptation that is common to humanity by only doing the will of His Father as the Son of Man.

33.       Jesus’ death on the cross becoming sin for us and removing our sin from us. His resurrection from the grave defeating death and hell and taking the keys of their dominion. His commission to all believers (the Church) to do as He did in the world.

44.       Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Throne of GOD from where He directs His Body (the Church) in the earth, the Father’s sending of Their Spirit (Holy Spirit) to indwell His earthly temples (our bodies) to teach, guide, comfort and direct all believers.

55.       We come to the place in our life that we know we cannot save ourself and recognize that only GOD’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ can save us from eternal damnation into eternal life. We confess we are a sinner in need of salvation and ask GOD to forgive us in Jesus’ name and by His shed Blood, to live in us by His Holy Spirit and to take control of our life (be LORD of our life). We confess to others our faith in GOD and salvation in Jesus and do only His will.

Warning

 To our family and friends who believe that they are Christians; you go to church fairly often, give money to the church, participate in some type of mid-week meeting, you may belong to the men’s or women’s group in your church. To all of you who believe you are born again and going to Heaven someday I want to give you a warning.

Please read this all the way through, I was one of you for over 30 years. I became a Christian on my 23^rd birthday. Over a period of 20 years I went to Bible College for 3 years, I read and studied the Bible (for my own reasons usually to prove my point), Charlene and I tithed, we were children and adult Sunday school teachers, we were home group leaders, we supported missionaries in Mexico and in YWAM, I taught Bible studies, I spoke from our pulpit when our Pastor was away, I went on a church planting trip to Russia, I was on the board of our Church for a few years,. We were busy and happy Christians.

But, I was not fully surrendered to GOD, I had secret sin, I served GOD the way I wanted as much or more that the way He wanted. This led to 17 years of walking away from GOD, leaving the church family that we loved and who loved us, of my going deeper into sin, of our marriage almost being destroyed, of health issues for Charlene. 6 years ago we started going to a small church where our old pastor was teaching, we liked the church and we kept going. I repented of my sin to GOD and Charlene and started seeking to serve GOD.

This is the warning: For all of that 37 years I prayed, I read and studied the Bible, I was used by GOD to teach and minister to others but as stated above there were times that I acted upon my own agenda instead of GOD’s. Was I a saved – born again believer? Yes I believe I was! Did GOD use me for His purpose? Yes He did when I agreed or allowed Him to! Was it possible for me to be excluded from Heaven? Yes, not because I had secret sin or even because I did not always do what I knew GOD wanted me to do. But because out of not yielding my life (the one that Jesus purchased back to GOD) I had rebellion in my heart. The rebellion led to the secret sin and not always doing what GOD wanted me to do. Rebellion is lawlessness and is what leads to not entering into GOD’s Eternal Heavenly Kingdom! “Not everyone who says to Me (Jesus), ‘LORD, LORD,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ’LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

After 40 years of being a Christian and reading and studying the Bible one day these verses jumped out at me and made me realize that many in the church were in this position, then it dawned on me that I was one of those who could be left out of heaven. This leads to a discussion on salvation that I am not going to start at this time since it will be more of a booklet than a paper.

So how can a Christian be left out of Heaven? There are many parables in Jesus’ teachings that emphasis this teaching, Matthew 17:24-27, chapter 25; Luke 9:57-62, 11:37-54, chapter 12, 13:22-30, 14:25-33 and there are many more. Some of these are hard to take because Jesus is calling for our full surrender to GOD. The Bible is clear that GOD wants our full undivided life. So how does that work and why.

The why first: GOD created everything that exists, the earth, sky, seas, universe, etc. They are His because He made them. GOD formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed His breath of life into him, then GOD gave that man dominion over all that He had created in the earth to care for and use. That man, Adam, the progenitor of all humanity then took and gave that dominion to Satan, a fallen angel who had rebelled against GOD. How did Adam do that, he disobeyed the only law GOD had given him, to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before Adam’s decision to disobey and be lawless there was no sin or death in the earth. Since Adam gave his dominion to Satan there has been continual sin and death and it will continue until Christ Jesus Returns.

The how: Jesus the Son of GOD was born as a human from a virgin mother, no earthly father was involved because the sin nature of humanity would be passed on. GOD created His only begotten Son in the womb of Mary and Jesus Christ was born the son of man and the Son of GOD. He then lived a sin free life overcoming or resisting every type of temptation that humanity faces, He then in obedience to His Father went to the cross and died in our place for our sin. He became sin for us and was separated from His Father which is our eternal punishment. He then defeated death and hell taking the keys of their dominion and by the power of His Holy Spirit He rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of His Father in Heaven where He waits for His Church to complete His work of salvation on the earth (the great commission). When we ask GOD to forgive us our sin because of what Jesus did and confess to others that we have given our life to GOD we are born again; saved by grace; redeemed.

What do these terms mean? Born again – we are no longer children of humanity and the world, we are now children of GOD, joint heirs of His eternal Kingdom with Jesus. Saved by grace – we did not do anything to deserve or earn our salvation other than to ask GOD in Jesus name to forgive us and save us. Redeemed – Jesus purchased us from the devil back to GOD by His blood.

So the how is that we no longer belong to the devil, we never have belonged to our self because Adam gave us to the devil in his lawless act of rebellion over GOD’s one command. We are now the possession of GOD as we were intended to be from creation. Since we are the possession of GOD reinstated as the inheritors of His eternal Kingdom we no longer have the right to disobey GOD (we have the freedom of choice, but not the right), as our creator and Heavenly Father He expects us to obey and serve Him. As Jesus taught His disciples and later prayed Himself, “Father, not My will but Yours!”

If you do not want to be with those to whom He says, “I do not know you, you lawless one, you are not allowed in My Kingdom.” Then stop living according to your own will and desires and start obeying GOD in everything you say and do.

Mark of the Beast

The Mark of the Beast is Blasphemy!

In September of this year (2017) I wrote a paper on what blaspheming Holy Spirit is. The point being that this is the unforgivable sin because it calls Holy Spirit unclean, which denies His sovereignty based on Mark 3:22-30, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 1 John 5:16-17. Today (12-15-17) while I was watching an episode of the Jim Bakker Show he and his guests were talking about there being no forgiveness for those who take the mark of the beast and it hit me (40 years after the first time I ever heard this) that it is the blasphemy because Holy Spirit is the mark of GOD and to take another mark is to deny Him and His sovereignty.

Most of us know that Holy Spirit is the seal or mark of GOD on believers. “In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory…And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of GOD, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the Living GOD. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our GOD on their foreheads.’” (Ephesians 1:7, 13-14, 4:30; Revelation 7:2-3 NKJV) (Emphasis mine) Also study these scriptures 2 Timothy 2:14-20; Revelation 3:7-13, 7:2-8, 9:4, 14:1-5, 22:1-5.

If you’ve been a Christian for awhile you know there is much discussion and questioning about what the mark of the beast is, here is what the scriptures say, “He (the false prophet) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:16-18) (NKJV emphasis mine) It does not matter what the mark is. People will be desperate to be able to buy and sell to feed their families and many Christians will be tempted to take the mark. The sad thing is that many who call themselves Christians will take the mark thinking that GOD will understand because they have not been taught the truth and have not taken the time to study the scriptures themselves. It will be obvious to those who love GOD and obey Him when the mark of the beast is offered as a replacement to the mark of GOD.

This is the unforgivable sin, to reject Holy Spirit for the mark of the beast. Taking on his name or the number of his name will cause Holy Spirit to depart and the person’s name to be removed from the Book of Life. “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worshiping the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of GOD, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 NKJV) (Emphasis mine) Also study Revelation 14:14-20; 20:4-6, 11-15.

So what is a believer to do? “And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death…Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of GOD and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the LORD from now on.’ ‘Yes’, says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’…And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and the judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of GOD, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 12:11, 14:12-13, 20:4 NKJV) (Emphasis mine)

Study Jesus’ teachings especially Revelation. Just going to church, paying tithes, and being involved is religious works and is not salvation. Salvation is repentance and obedience. You must ask GOD to forgive your sins because Jesus became sin for you and you must give your redeemed life to GOD. That means to stop living as the world and religious people live and live as GOD directs you. You can only do this if you have a personal relationship with GOD and study His Word the Bible.

Only those who have the mark of GOD, His Holy Spirit, have their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and will live and reign with Him in His eternal Kingdom. Study these scriptures also, Luke 10:17-20; Philippians 4:1-7; 2 Timothy 2:11-19, 3:1-9, 16-17, 4:1-5; 1 Corinthians 3:9-23.

Other times of marking by GOD: The first time a man is marked by GOD is Cain in Genesis 4 as part of his punishment so that no one kills him. In Genesis 32 Jacob is marked and renamed Israel. In Exodus 12 the children of Israel mark their homes so that the Angel of Death passes over their household. In Joshua 6 Rahab of Jericho and her family are marked to be saved. In 1 Samuel 16 David son of Jesse is marked to be the future king of Israel. In Ezekiel 8 & 9 the prophet has a vision of GOD’s judgment where those in Jerusalem who mourned over the sin of Israel were to be marked so they would be saved from its judgment. Study these events and think about the presence of Holy Spirit and His work in each situation.

GOD IS!

The Kingdom of GOD and the Kingdom of Heaven are the same thing; there is only one Kingdom!

GOD created everything that exists; there is nothing that exists that GOD did not create! GOD created everything and GOD maintains everything and GOD redeems everything and GOD does it for His own good pleasure.

So if there is only one Kingdom, the Kingdom of GOD than that means that Lucifer (Satan or the devil) does not have a kingdom of any kind. The devil is a created angelic being that rebelled against GOD, he wanted to usurp GOD and take over His Kingdom. Now he is on the run trying to disrupt GOD’s Kingdom and GOD’s plan for humanity because he is jealous of humanities favored position in GOD’s Kingdom. Enough about the eternally defeated rebellious angelic being for whom there is no redemption, who only wants to harass humans and make our lives miserable and to keep us from GOD’s eternal Kingdom.

GOD who created everything is everywhere (omnipresent), GOD knows everything (omniscient) and GOD lives in us (born again believers, Christians).

STOP and think about that: GOD lives in you!

GOD who created everything and is everywhere and knows everything and is all powerful (omnipotent) lives in every born again believer.

If you prayed and asked Jesus to forgive you for your sins from a sincere heart no matter what words you said, Jesus did it. GOD forgave you your sins and GOD’s Spirit (Holy Spirit) entered into your being (not just your life as some ethereal being hanging around), Holy Spirit entered into your spirit, soul and body as the very presence of the True and Living GOD!

You are born again and GOD dwells in you, you are the Temple of Holy Spirit (GOD)! Stop letting the defeated rebel, the devil, control your life. GOD gave us the victory over him in Christ Jesus! GOD lives in us and we are in GOD’s eternal Kingdom and only we can allow the devil access to our life. He will try to afflict us and he will try to harass us but if we stand in the liberty that Christ gave us when Jesus defeated death and hell and took the keys of their domains then rose from the grave and ascended into Heaven to be enthroned at the right hand of GOD, we will have victory over the devil’s every work.

Review: GOD is everywhere always at all times; GOD knows everything nothing is hidden from GOD; GOD is all powerful, (How can there be anything stronger than GOD who made everything?)! GOD lives in you as a born again believer (Christian, blood washed, redeemed, saved, etc.) So by GOD’s presence in your life stop letting a defeated angelic being defeat you in your life and service to GOD and His Kingdom.

For those of you who have not asked GOD to forgive you for being a sinner or do not really understand what I said above here is a synopsis of the Gospel (Good News) of salvation.

GOD created everything, Lucifer the highest angel in GOD’s Kingdom rebelled and tried to replace GOD, he and all the angels who joined his rebellion were cast to earth until the time of judgment when they will be cast into hell which was created for them. In the mean time man lived in a perfect paradise on earth called Eden, where GOD walked and talked with Adam everyday. There was only one rule, humans were not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One day Lucifer in the guise of a serpent deceived Eve into believing GOD was holding something back from humans by denying them the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So she took and ate it, then she offered it to Adam who knew better but he ate it also and then they knew that they were naked. This was the entrance of sin into humanity and humanity was now part of Lucifer’s rebellion against GOD and therefore condemned to hell for eternity along with Lucifer and his followers of fallen angels.

That is why GOD was born as a man through a virgin (man’s sinful seed [nature] was not used) as Jesus the Christ (savior of humanity and the world). Jesus lived a sin free life overcoming every temptation that is common to man (lust, greed, fear, pride, rejection, hatred, rebellion) and willingly suffered and died at the hands of His creation, becoming sin for us (because Jesus knew no sin) so that in physical death Jesus could defeat death and hell and take the keys of their domains, Jesus then raised Himself from death by the Power of Holy Spirit. After witnessing on the earth during 40 days Jesus ascended into Heaven to be seated at GOD’s right hand until the Church completed the work of GOD’s Kingdom on the earth.

All of what I have written is easily found in the Bible (GOD’s Word to humanity) all that we need to know about GOD and His Kingdom and our salvation and role in GOD’s Kingdom is found in the Bible. Get yourself a good modern language translation of the Bible and a Bible dictionary and a Bible concordance and study the Bible. Read, look up and cross reference key words and phrases, study the different subjects the Bible talks about, learn what the Bible says about you and everything around you. Just know that GOD does not answer all of our questions there are things that will only be revealed in eternity.

But it you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your savior then He is also your LORD and GOD has a plan for your life as you study the Bible, pray asking GOD to show you and patiently wait on Him (GOD is not in a hurry) GOD will speak to you through the Bible, Holy Spirit and other believers and guide your life and bless you and use you for His Kingdom here on earth

Jesus brought the Kingdom of GOD to the earth and left it with those who believe on Him and follow His Spirit. He will not return until we Christians (His Body) have completed the work of GOD’s Kingdom in the earth.

Thoughts on Salvation

Salvation!

I have been thinking about what non-believers and nominal Christians think about GOD, most think either that He is a judgmental being that holds people to an unattainable or unreasonable standard. Or that He just does not care what happens to us and in His anger causes bad things to happen to us.

Pastor Chris Leeper said, that many in the Church in America believe that Christianity is all cupcakes and ice cream. Jesus did not teach this, He told us to take up our cross and follow Him. When GOD gives us something He also tells us to give it to others, it’s not just for us.

Joseph Prince said that grace is the flow of GOD’s provision for believers and living under the law squeezes it closed.

Is it oxymoronic to say: “Christianity is about keeping the 10 commandments or going to hell.” and “GOD loves us and excepts us as we are without judgment.” No, actually both are wrong!

Is it oxymoronic to say: “GOD is Love!” and “GOD will judge everyone!” No, these are both true statements.

What do these random thoughts have in common? They speak of the misconception that many people whether believers or not have about GOD.

GOD is Love and He is the Righteous Judge of all His creation! But, He is not going around looking for people to condemn.

“GOD so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. He did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved. Those who believe in Him are not condemned but those who do not believe in the only begotten Son are condemned already because they do not believe. The condemnation is that the only begotten Son is light and life and they rejected Him choosing evil rather than light.” John 3:16-19 my paraphrase.

The Gospel is good news there is nothing good about hell except not going there. The Church in America fell into the habit of preaching hell fire and damnation trying to convince people to stop sinning so that they would not go to hell. Jesus came as the demonstration of GOD’s love to those already condemned to hell so that in believing in Him they would be delivered from hell. Jesus taught more about the Kingdom of GOD than hell because humanity was already condemned to eternal hell but He wanted to save us to His eternal Kingdom.

Keeping the 10 commandments or religious rules will not save anyone from hell or get anyone into Heaven. Rules and regulations stifle faith and growth, the two things that every believer needs to have in their life. If we make being a Christian about keeping rules and doing works we will choke off GOD’s grace which is the flow of His love, mercy, favor, provision, healing, etc.

No Person Will Go To Hell For Any Sin They Have Committed. Every Person Who Goes To Hell Will Go Because They Rejected Jesus, GOD’s Gift Of Salvation To Humanity! This is the Gospel, the good news that there is true salvation, a gift from GOD!

Dream 11-16-17

Early this morning I had a two part dream. In the first part I was giving an impassioned speech to a group of national political leaders in which I said, “It is not about being the Big DC or the little dc, it is about making the people big, so that they want to give 20 % to support the programs!” I understood this to mean that it was not about the political party or personal gain but making the citizens of the nation successful so that they wanted to give to the government the funds needed to maintain what it was doing.

This is in light of the fact that our founding fathers put their lives, fortunes and there for their futures on the line for what they believed. Not all of them were Christians, not all of them were federalists (those who believed in a central government that controlled all aspects of national life), not all of them were wealthy, not all of them were moral, not all of them had integrity; but they all were willing to put themselves, their families and everything they had on the line for the dream of freedom from an oppressive government that taxed the people for its’ own benefit and used religion to help control the people.

What we see in today’s politicians is an agenda that leads to a larger central government that uses more and more taxation to support itself and rejects Christianity as a moral guide. Most people who become career politicians become selfish and corrupt for the sake of their own political parties’ agenda rather than working for the agenda of the people that they are elected to represent. Most of today’s politicians are driven by the gaining of wealth and political power rather than giving all in support of the people of the nation.

In the second part of my dream I was in a large outdoor area of water and land not in the USA but where there were many Americans. First I understood there was a water born attack that was primarily against the Americans in the area. Then I was a surviving participating victim of the attack seeing it from the beginning, but awakening before the conclusion. I have no understanding of the meaning of this part of my dream.

Foolishness and Pride

Foolishness & Pride

Jesus said, “…whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca (empty head)!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22bNKJV).

Why does Jesus say that the term fool is so critical that calling a person fool could lead to eternal judgment of hellfire? Because the term fool is a judgment that only GOD can make.

We think of the term fool as meaning a person who is silly (foolish) and makes simple mistakes that the average person would not make. Sometimes we think of a person who repeatedly makes serious mistakes that ruin theirs and others life. Webster’s defines fool as, “a person who lacks judgment; a simpleton; a professional buffoon or jester.”

In the scriptures GOD reveals what His view of a fool is, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no GOD.’ they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who do good. To do evil is like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom. The devising of foolishness is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men. The great GOD who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.” (Psalm 14:1; Proverbs 10:23, 24:9, 26:10 NKJV).

Jesus reinforces His statement about judging someone as a fool with His parable of the rich man in Luke 12:13-21, “…But GOD said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” (12:20 NKJV) and “Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Proverbs 29:20).

In Young’s Analytical Concordance there are several Hebrew words that are interpreted as fool and foolish, their other definitions are evil, boaster, self confident, empty person, thickheaded, brutish, to boast, self confidence, empty, and simple. In the Greek there are also several words that are interpreted fool or foolish in English, their other definitions are thoughtless, unwise, heedless, witless, unintelligent, senseless, foolish, dull, and slow. There is one Greek word moros the definition is, or as in Hebrew, a rebel.

So while we give mostly casual definitions to the word fool; even calling family and friends fool; GOD considers it a much more serious judgment on a person; even an eternal judgment. So take the time to study what GOD’s Word says about fools.

Now for those of you who are a fool there is good news in Proverbs 26:3-12, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (26:12 NKJV). GOD seems to be saying that a fool is more likely to repent then a proud person, as the scriptures say, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling).” (Proverbs 16:18 NKJV).

Yet if you are a proud fool there seems to be little chance you will repent, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4-5). The trouble is that the proud and the fool do not understand that they are so we must pray for our family and friends who are!

Did Jesus Suffer?

How Did Jesus Suffer For Us?

I’ve heard teachings that Jesus suffered by being separated from His Father for our sin because GOD could not look on Him. I’ve heard teachings that Jesus suffered in hell even some who said that He was tormented by demons.

When I was a young Christian and not familiar with the Bible I believed what I was taught by others, as I’ve grown and read and studied the Bible over the years I’ve seen that there are things that are taught that are not supported by the Bible. The two statements above fall into that category I have not found any scripture support for either. If you have some please share.

The standard statement is that Jesus suffered by being separated from the Father for the first and only time because of our sins, that’s why He cried out, “My GOD, My GOD, why have you forsaken Me?” First the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the full embodiment of the GOD Head; Father, Son Holy Spirit (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-4; Colossians 2:1-10). He was never separated from Himself because He could not be He is the one true GOD (John 17:3). This is one of the tricky lessons about GOD that trip so many up, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit are not entities of GOD they are the one true GOD. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:28-31) Forsaken as used by Jesus is from the Greek word enkataleipo “to forsake, abandon, leave in straits, or helpless,” said by or of, Christ, Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Acts 2:27, 31.¹ So we know that the Father could not abandon Himself so He must have left Himself in straits or helpless; on the cross in His humanity Christ was helpless and in dire straits as His life ebbed.

The part about GOD not being able to look on Jesus because of our sin does not make since because GOD looks on sinners, the Bible teaches that His eyes search throughout the whole earth (Psalm 11; Jeremiah 16:17; Zechariah 4:10).

Many support this separation theory with the events of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus asks the Father to “let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will.” Jesus did suffer but not by being separated from His Father, nor was He tormented in hell. The Bible teaches that GOD delivered up Jesus for our sin, He who knew no sin became sin for us. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Hebrews chapters 7 thru 10 teach about Jesus’ priesthood compared to the Aaronic priesthood, how Jesus is both the priest and the sacrifice, also study Romans 8:31-39.

So did Jesus suffer? Yes He did! He suffered agony in His body from the scourging and crucifixion! He suffered agony in His soul from the rejection by humanity, especially the Jews! He suffered agony in His Spirit as He bore the weight of our sin! But He did not suffer in hell (Psalm 16:8-10) where He ministered to those waiting for salvation leading the captives to freedom (Isaiah 14:8-9; Luke 4:17-20; Matthew 27:45-56); where He defeated death and hell and took the keys of their dominions (Revelation 1:18).

Jesus’ physical death fulfilled the just requirements of the Law and initiated the New Covenant (Testament). His time in hell (study Luke 16:19-31) began the eternal judgment of those who reject Him and the eternal reward of those who believe in Him. His resurrection established Him as Savior of all who believe in the Father’s provision of and Christ’s completed work of salvation and as LORD of all.

¹ Vine’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005

How To Alter Your Past

How To Alter Your Past*

We were sitting in his study. He was holding a scarlet cord.

  “I dyed it myself,” said the teacher. “I left it in the solution for several days to make sure the dye soaked into every fiber. Do you think it is possible to undye the cord, to make it white again?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “It is written: ‘Thought your sins are as scarlet, I will make them white as snow.’ It would be like undyeing the cord.”

  “Which would be impossible,” I said.

  “But it’s even more impossible than that. How do you make sins go from scarlet to white? Sins are sins because they are already committed. They’re done. They’re part of the past, and the past is finished.”

  “Then the only way to alter a sin would b to change the past.”

  “Yes, and yet Scriptures are filled with the promise that GOD will one day wipe away sin and wash away our guilt. You can’t wipe away sin or cleanse guilt without changing the past.”

  “But it’s impossible to change the past.”

  “The first recorded miracle of Messiah was the changing of water into wine. But wine is only wine if it is aged. But the wine in the miracle had no past to be aged. It had to, in a sense, be given a new past. If GOD can give a past where there was no past, the He can remove a past where there was one.”

  “So salvation is the undyeing of the scarlet cord,” I said.

  “Exactly. GOD doesn’t just forgive the scarlet cord or pretend that it isn’t scarlet. He changes its past and, by that, changes its reality. He undyes it.”

  “He can do that?” I asked.

  “GOD brought time into existence. GOD can bring it out of existence.”

  “So it’s not simply that everything is the same and we’re forgiven in spite of it. It’s as if we never sinned in the first place.”

  “And even more amazing than that. It’s not just as if we never sinned but, in His redemption, it has become that we’ve never sinned. In salvation, the impossible becomes reality, the guilty become innocent, the tainted become pure, the rejected become those who were always beloved children, and our sins, which were as scarlet, became…as white as snow.”

The Mission: Soak in the undyeing. Receive from heaven your changed, innocent, pure, and beloved past, a past as beautiful and as white as snow.

Isaiah 1:8; Luke 7:37-47; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 1:8-9

As Beloved Children

*The Book of Mysteries, Day 17; Jonathan Cahn; Front Line, Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group; Copyright 2016

Our History Reritten

Our History Rewritten

Earlier this year during worship we sang a song that said, “You rewrote my history!” this had a profound effect on my understanding of Psalm 139:16 NKJV, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” I understood that when I was born again that GOD forgave my sins and did not see them when He looked at me or thought about me. He did not see my past life of sin, He only saw my life as He had written it out before I was born. When I became a Born again Christian at the age of 23 much of my first 22 years were erased in the sea of forgetfulness and He sees them as they should have been as they were written! This is another amazingly awesome concept of who GOD is and how He sees and interacts with us.

So why do I believe this?

“O LORD, You have searched me and know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend (winnow) my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged (enclosed) me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; I cannot attain it…For You formed my inward parts; You covered (wove) me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was (Lit. bones were) not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O GOD! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number that the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139:1-6 & 13-18 NKJV.

So GOD knows everything about me and He wrote out all the days of my life before I was born. Then I was born and lived my life how I was brought up and influenced by family, friends, and society. I did and said things not based on the Father’s plan for my life but based on my own wants and desires. Then on my 23^rd birthday I began the experience of salvation through Jesus Christ, when I repented I was washed in the blood of the Lamb my sins were forgiven and I was made a new man by the power of the Holy Spirit. My sins were thrown into the sea of forgetfulness and GOD sees me as I was meant to be when He formed me in my mother’s womb. So what happens when He looks at my life as a whole, if my sins are removed and He does not see them what does He see? He sees my life as He wrote it to be, there are no gaps!

How do I know? Here is an example: The birth of Moses and his first encounter with the Hebrews, “And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank…And the child grew, and she brought him in to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’ Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ Then he said, ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ So Moses feared and said, ‘Surely this thing is known!’ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” Exodus 2:1-3, 10-15 NKJV

Here is the abbreviated version from Hebrews 11:23-27, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of GOD than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” NKJV

Exodus is what happened before the Cross and Hebrews is how GOD wrote it out while Moses was in his mother’s womb.

In His Hands

“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.’” Isaiah 49:14-16 NKJV

Over the years I have heard people quote the Bible as saying GOD has written our names on the palms of His hands. I believe that is the implied understanding of Isaiah 49:16 and as I was thinking about that I thought how awesome it was that whenever GOD; our Heavenly Father; looked at the palms of His hands He saw my name. Every time! But more than that He sees the names of every person that was ever conceived or at least every person that ever called on His name for salvation. How awesome!

Yet as I took the effort to find the actual scripture and read it I was amazed at what it actually says. It is so amazing that I checked every translation that I have and they all say the same thing. GOD did not just write my name in the palm of His hand; He inscribed me in the palm of His hand. When He looks at His palms He sees everything about me there is to know. This is where Psalm 139 is so amazing in that it says that GOD wrote out all the days of our life before any of them existed.* This means that when He looks at the palms of His hands He sees everything about every person ever conceived. That is awesomely amazing!

There are some who will say this is about the Jews only, it was written to the Jews and is for the Jews, but in the context of the whole chapter it is about Jesus and salvation for humanity. There are some who will say this is for believers only, but GOD loves every person ever conceived and Jesus died for every person ever conceived.

If your view, understanding, faith in GOD struggles with this then your view of GOD is just too small; go back and study Genesis chapters 1-5 and The Gospel of John chapters 1-3. Our Heavenly Father the triune GOD, Elohim, who made everything that exists also lives in all believers, we are His living temple in the earth, He spreads out the universe like a cloak and holds all creation in His hands. Stop thinking of GOD only as a Father who provides for our daily needs and loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so that we don’t have to go to hell with the devil. He is so much more than that, more than we will ever know and understand in this mortal life. So we should be seeking to know and understand Him as much as we can!

*Earlier this year during worship we sang a song that said, “You rewrote my history!” this had a profound effect on my understanding of Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” NKJV. I understood that when I was born again that GOD forgave my sins and did not see them when He looked at me or thought about me. He did not see my past life of sin, He only saw my life as He had written it out before I was born. When I became a Born again Christian at the age of 23 my first 22 years were erased in the sea of forgetfulness and He sees what they should have been as if they were! This is another amazingly awesome concept of who GOD is and how He sees and interacts with us.

Temple

Temple

There are 3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words that are translated temple in the Bible. The 3 Hebrew words are translated house, palace and temple; the 3 Greek words are translated sacred, priestly, edifice, temple, a dwelling place, inner sanctuary and house.¹

Temple = name given to complex of buildings in Jerusalem which was the center of the sacrificial cult for the Hebrews. Three temples stood successively on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem: Solomon’s, Zerubbabel’s and Herod the Great’s. See 2 Chronicles 3 & 4; 2 Samual 7; 1 Chronicles 17, 28:12-19; 1 Kings 6 &  7; Leviticus 16:14-15; 2 Kings 25:8-17; Jeremiah 52:12-23; Ezra 6.²

The word temple is used many times in the Bible in reference to the worship of GOD and as His dwelling place.

GOD dwells in a heavenly temple Psalm 11; Ecclesiastes 5:1-2; Isaiah 6:1-4.

GOD does not dwell in temples made by man Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:44-50, 17:22-28.

Don’t put your trust in the natural or earthly temple Jeremiah 7; Micah 3; Matthew 12-1-8, 24:1-2.

We will dwell in GOD’s eternal temple Psalm 36:5-9, 65:1-4; John 14:1-3; Revelation 21.

We are GOD’s temple in the earth 1 Corinthians 3:16-18, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 2:19-22.

The key to this teaching is that GOD’s Kingdom has come on the earth because Christ gave His life as a ransom for humanity on the cross rose from the grave and ascended to heaven and then He sent His Holy Spirit to live in those who believe in Him. We are the temple of GOD in the earth. When we understand that GOD dwells in us so that we can serve and obey Him then we will walk in the fullness of His Kingdom while we are on the earth as it is in Heaven.

“Nevertheless when one turns to the LORD, the veil is taken away. Now the LORD is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the LORD. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from GOD, and you are not your own? And what agreement has the temple of GOD with idols? For you are the temple of the Living GOD. As GOD has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their GOD, and they shall be My people. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of GOD, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple of the LORD, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of GOD in the Spirit.”

Study the gospels and see what Jesus said about the Kingdom of GOD.

All scripture is from The Holy Bible The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994

¹ Young’s analytical Concordance of the Bible, Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company

² The New Compact Bible Dictionary, Zondervan Publishing House, 1967

He Was Separated From Himself

He was separated from Himself by our sin or He separated from Himself to forgive our sin.

Even in the flesh Jesus was fully GOD, the Bible says He was the fullness of the GODhead incarnate and yet for our sake He was separated from The Father by our sin. In the flesh as He hung on the cross He who knew no sin, became sin for us, to pay the ultimate price which was separation from the Father. When He cried out, “My GOD, My GOD, Why have you forsaken Me?” at that moment He died in the flesh unable to bear our sin in the presence of the True and Living GOD. He took the ultimate punishment that we were destined to suffer for our sin, separation from GOD.

Jesus the Father and Holy Spirit were one before during and after His life in the flesh. This is essential to understand the magnitude of who Jesus was in the flesh and what He did. Elohim the triune GOD who created everything that exists is one GOD and He is The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit. If your god is not the one true GOD Jehovah than you need to seek Him because only He; by His gift of salvation to humanity through Jesus Christ; can and will keep you from going to hell. Rejecting Jesus the Bible teaches us is the sure path to eternal hell.

Jesus was not defeated on the cross, Jesus did not suffer in hell, Jesus suffered separation from Himself! As the son of man He went to the cross to pay the required price for our salvation, the shedding of the blood of one pure and innocent who had no sin of His own to pay for. His willing innocent live was the price to redeem us to our Heavenly Father. Separation from the Father was the eternal punishment that we were going to receive at judgment for our sin, but Jesus was separated in our place. While He was in hell He preached liberty to the captives and led them to freedom, He defeated death and hell taking the keys of their dominions.

No one who has claimed to be god has claimed the ability to redeem people from hell, no one who has claimed to be god has given his own life to redeem humanity from eternal hell, no one who has claimed to be god has raised himself from the dead: except Jesus Christ.

What He did was: give His physical life because we could not save ourself from sin and hell. While in hell He was still fully GOD and He defeated death and hell, then He rose from the grave and gave us His victory. When we ask Him to forgive our sin and to be LORD of our life then we receive the fullness of the work of salvation that He completed for us. He did not do any of this for Himself He did it for us because GOD loves us and does not want us to be separated from Himself for eternity. The Bible teaches us that hell was created for the devil and fallen angels not for humanity, but that when we like the devil reject GOD (sin) then we condemn ourself to hell.

If you do not want to spend eternity in hell then you have to call out to Father GOD to forgive you for being a sinner in Jesus’ name and ask Holy Spirit to come and fill your life with the presence and power of the fullness of GOD so that you can live for Him as Jesus lived and died for you. Otherwise you’ll spend eternity in hell being tormented with (not by) the devil.

We Are The Temple

Many touched Jesus as He ministered and were healed! So why did He make a big deal about the woman with the issue of blood touching Him as He was walking?

To show that we can touch him at any time and receive the same grace and healing power as during the time of ministry. It’s not about the special situation or time of ministry, it’s about His eternal omnipotent presence to heal.

He was the Kingdom of Heaven present on the earth then and after His ascension He sent His Spirit to live in believers making us His Living Temples here on the earth. His Kingdom has come and it is up to us to do His Will by The Holy Spirit through yielding and humble obedience.

There are many worship songs where we tell Holy Spirit that we want, need and are desperate for His presence. The problem is that we do not present Him our body as a holy sanctified temple for His presence.

How you ask do we do that, by obeying His commandments, start with the 10 Commandments. Then obey Jesus’ commands, Love GOD with our whole heart, mind, body and strength and love your neighbor as yourself; love your enemies; be one as He and the Father are one, that is be in unity with all believers. Then to make sure check against the lists of things not to do in the epistles.

It might seem daunting but it is not really hard, it just requires an honest heart and willing obedience. That is what Jesus presented before Heavenly Father, an honest heart and a willing obedience when He prayed in the Garden the night before He was crucified.

For any who truly do not know the Bible references or how to study the Bible message me, for those who believe but are not sure use your Bible or eBible study tools do the study and learn for yourself. We are all going to be held accountable before Jesus for knowing and obeying His commandments to us The Church.

GOD's Kingdom Has Come

During His earthly ministry Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who is in Heaven, holy is Your name. Let your Kingdom come and let Your Will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily needs. Forgive us today our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Yours’ are the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen!”

We do not have any problem understanding this prayer and how it applies to our life as Christians, we know that it has been fulfilled even if we struggle in our life at some points. The Bible is full of examples of GOD’s faithfulness as the True and Living GOD who is worthy of the praise and worship of all creation. That He provides for all living creatures and maintains all creation. That He forgives ours sins because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and that He requires us to forgive as we are forgiven. That Jesus defeated all evil and has given us His victory, authority and power over all works of the devil. That Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning over all creation for eternity. Truth!

But I think we do not fully understand the phrases, “Let Your Kingdom come and Your Will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven…For Yours’ are the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.” So this is what I have been coming to understand, the Kingdom of Heaven has come to the earth and we are the ones who are supposed to manifest it through our lives as believers and as the Church, the Body of Christ. This is neither a new or profound revelation but in the Western Church to a large extent I do not see it being practiced.

First we do not truly understand a simple question Paul asked the Church in 1Corinthians 3.

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the LORD gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but GOD who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are GOD’s fellow workers; you are GOD’s field, you are GOD’s building. According to the grace of GOD which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of GOD and that the Spirit of GOD dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of GOD, GOD will destroy him. For the temple of GOD is holy, which temple you are. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with GOD. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours.  And you are Christ’s, and Christ is GOD’s.” NKJV

There are several things that Paul said that need to be reapplied to the Church today.

I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there is envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like unsaved men? For when one says, “I am a Baptist,” and another, “I am Pentecostal,” are you not carnal? Who then are Methodists, and who are Charismatics, but ministries through whom you believed, as the LORD gave to each one? For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with GOD. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether charismatic or apostolic or orthodox the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours.  And you are Christ’s, and Christ is GOD’s.

The Church today is not unified; the Church today is divided by interpretation of doctrine, by politics, by social standards, by race and color. The things that divide the world should divide the Church from the world not from each other! The Western Church has been praying for revival for decades, what we should be praying for is forgiveness and unity! The reason we do not pray for them is twofold; for one we think we are right; for the other we know that true repentance and unity come out of persecution.

I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but GOD who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor (Matthew 13:-30, 36-43). For we are GOD’s fellow workers; you are GOD’s field, you are GOD’s building (1 Peter 2:1-10). According to the grace of GOD which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (Isaiah 16-17, Ephesians 2 :19-22). This is foundational.

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, (storing up treasures in Heaven Matthew 6:19-21); wood, hay, straw, (mammon Matthew 6:24); each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, (of the heart Proverbs 17:3); of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. This seems self explanatory.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with GOD. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness;’(Job 5:13) and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’ (Psalm 94:11) Therefore let no one boast in men. (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Again self explanatory.

This is the part that I started this paper for. Do you not know that you are the temple of GOD and that the Spirit of GOD (Holy Spirit) dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of GOD, GOD will destroy him. For the temple of GOD is holy, which temple you are. This is amazingly great and it is amazingly scary.

Bad news first Jesus said, “’Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemes they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation’–because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” Mark 3:28-30 NKJV, this is the sin that leads to death. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:14-17 NKJV. It is clear that Jesus gave us the answer to the question, “What is the unforgiveable sin that leads to death?” Denying or rejecting the Holy Spirit and saying that His works and gifts are of the devil.

Good news when Jesus walked the earth He taught that the Kingdom of GOD sometimes called the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. He gave parables teaching about the Kingdom, He even told a couple of people they were close to the Kingdom. He chastised the religious leaders for not knowing and recognizing the Kingdom. Later He came to John and gave him the revelation of things to come which included the culmination of the mortal realm with the judgment of all who rejected Him and His eternal Kingdom. If some or all of this does not sound familiar to you then you should read the four gospels and Revelations 1-5 & 19-22.

I think that the thing most of us have missed is the significance of the fact that His Kingdom has come on the earth as it is in Heaven. When the Father sent Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to indwell the believers and send the Church into the world with the great commission we became the Temples of GOD in the earth. The Spirit of GOD, Holy Spirit lives in us! We are His living temples in the earth! That is why we are admonished by every epistle of the Apostles to live a holy life before GOD. To live sin free, to resist the devil, to flee fleshly lusts, to discipline our mortal bodies, to be conformed to the image of Christ, to have the mind of Christ.

When we are born again by the Blood of the Lamb through our profession of sin and asking of forgiveness we are baptized into salvation in Christ, we are a new creation. The Holy Spirit comes into our life when we are born again and we receive His power to live and serve the call GOD placed in us in our mother’s womb. When we are baptized in water as a public profession of faith and a good conscience we are baptized into His death and resurrected with Christ to be seated at the right hand of GOD our Heavenly Father. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we receive His gifts and He produces Kingdom fruit in our life so that we know the fellowship of Christ’s suffering and we are conformed to His death.

This is His Kingdom come in the earth as it is in Heaven and all we have to do is seek it before anything else and everything else is provided so that we can serve Him and His Kingdom in the earth and through all eternity. It is all premised on the words Jesus spoke in the Garden of Gethsemane, that we also must speak from our heart; “Father, not My Will but Yours be done!”

This is the hard part, for the last 3 paragraphs I have not included any scriptures, if you want to know this truth you must search the scriptures to see if these things are true like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-13). This is the process of learning, understanding and applying the truth to our lives.

Persecution East vs West

In the Eastern Church there is persecution that leads to believers being beaten, their home being destroyed, fired from their jobs, kicked out of schools, imprisoned and murdered just because they are Christians. In the Western Church we are worried about losing our tax benefit, only lately have we seen people attacking Christian businesses and murdering Christians for being Christian. The difference is that in the East Christians are being persecuted by religious zealots who what everyone to believe as they do. In the West we are persecuted by people who want us to stop telling them they are bad and we are good. We need to be praying for the Church in two ways; for the Eastern Church for continued grace and blessings as they grow under the fierce persecution they endure daily; for the Western Church that our hearts are pricked to repentance so that we do not come under true persecution.

Hard Hearts

“Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their hearts were hardened.” Mark 6:51-52 NKJV

So Jesus had just feed 5000 men plus women and children from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and they had 12 baskets of leftovers. Jesus then sent the disciples ahead by boat while He sent the crowds home, after everyone had left Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. When evening came Jesus was able to see the boat the disciples were in on the sea and that they were straining at the oars because they were going against the wind. It says that in the forth watch of the night¹ that Jesus was walking on the water (in Matthew’s account he tells of Peter calling out to Jesus and walking on the water for a few moments while the wind was still making the sea rough). In all the accounts after Jesus enters the boat the wind and sea calms and the disciples are amazed and marvel. In Mark’s account Holy Spirit tells us that the disciples had not understood about the loaves because their hearts were hardened. What does this mean?

Holy Spirit seems to be implying that they did not understand that Jesus fed the people because He was their shepherd and His desire was to provide for them. In each of the accounts the disciples are worried about the cost and labor involved in feeding 5000 plus people.

I have heard people using the term, “GOD is showing out!” in regards to miracles in the Bible and today, that is probably because showing off has a negative connotation. I do not believe that GOD shows out or shows off, He loves and shepherds His children, even the ones in disbelief or rebellion. The disciples still did not understand this which is why they still had unbelief, fear and worry about how much work and cost was involved in serving the people. That is why when Jesus fed the 4000 plus people they had the same response during and after.

If we are frustrated or worried about what is involved in doing the work of the Kingdom rather than concerned for the lost, deceived and suffering, then we have a hard heart that Jesus wants to break and soften so that we are not just willing but eager to do the work that He calls us to personally and jointly.

Personally is the individual call and gift that He puts in us in our mother’s womb and then calls us to; jointly as the Body of Christ obeying the commission He gave us before He ascended to the right hand of the throne of GOD where He waits for us to fulfill His Will.

Study Matthew 14:13-33; Mark 6:30-52; John 6:1-21; Luke 9:10-17 (feeding 5000 only); Matthew 15:29-39 & Mark 8:1-10; also study Psalm 139:13-18; Romans 8:26-30; Galatians 1:11-17 & Ephesians 1.

¹ I have not done any research on this but I believe this is correct, In their culture and custom night started at sundown, a watch was 2 hours so the forth watch was 8 hours after sundown or sometime after midnight.

Blaspheme of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever asked or heard someone else ask, “How do I know if I have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit?” Well Jesus was clear about what blaspheming against Holy Spirit is.

“And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebub’ and ‘By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.’ So He (Jesus) called them to Himself and said to them in parables: ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. Assuredly (truthfully), I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemes they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation’ – because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” Mark 3:22-30 NKJV (emphasis mine), study Matthew 9:32-34, 12:24-37 & Luke 11:14-23.

Webster’s says that to blaspheme is “to speak irreverently of GOD or sacred things; to curse.” And, blasphemy is “impious speech.”¹

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1-2. In Proverbs 8:35-36 wisdom says, “For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD: but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

In Acts 5:1-11 we see instant judgment on Ananias and Sapphira for lying to Holy Spirit. In Acts 7:51-60 we see Stephen stoned to death after he rebukes the Jews for always resisting Holy Spirit.

So is blasphemy of Holy Spirit the sin unto death? “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He (GOD) will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.” 1 John 5:16-17 (emphasis mine), study James 5:19-20; 2 Peter 2:18-22 & Jude.

Jesus said that whoever says that Holy Spirit is an unclean spirit has blasphemed against Him and is eternally condemned. This seems clear to me that lying to GOD who knows everything, resisting GOD’s Spirit and saying that the works of Holy Spirit are of the devil are all forms of blaspheming Holy Spirit.

“This is He who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.” 1 John 5:6-8 In this passage we see four things about the Spirit, He is GOD, He bears witness to the truth because He is truth, He bears witness in Heaven and He bears witness on the earth.

“Do you not know that you are the temple of GOD and that the Spirit of GOD dwells in you? If anyone defiles (destroys)² the temple of GOD, GOD will destroy him. For the temple of GOD is holy, which temple you are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

As a born again believer in Jesus Christ we are filled by Holy Spirit, we have become His dwelling place on earth. This is a dilemma for people who say they are Christians but do not believe that Holy Spirit is active in the Church today, there are some who think He stopped working in and through Christians after the original Apostles died. This ties in with another scripture that is hard for many Christians to understand, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘LORD, LORD,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. ‘Many will say to Me in that day, ‘LORD, LORD, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Mathew 7:21-23, make sure to read it in context, verses 13-29.

So you may ask, “How can they do the works of the Kingdom of Heaven if they are not true believers”? Well, “For the gifts and calling of GOD are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29 Many people who are not Christian find their gift and calling in life and live happy fulfilled lives only to find they have gained the whole world but lost their soul and many Christians never find their gift and calling and live miserable lives. Also there are many who got into religion as a good paying job and they do well at it, but they are doing it for their own reasons and not because GOD called them to it. Then there are some, as Jesus and all the Apostles said who, “Are sheep in wolf’s clothing.” They know they are teaching false doctrine and for whatever reason they do not care. And there are those who are sincerely serving GOD but doing it their way rather than His (I used to be one of those).

All of this to say: Holy Spirit, the Spirit of GOD is GOD! The Father and the Son are in Heaven waiting for the Church to complete the commission they gave us. Holy Spirit is here dwelling in us, gifting us, teaching us, counseling us, comforting us, conforming us, making us one body, preparing the Bride of the Lamb and in every way possible manifesting the Kingdom of Heaven on earth through us! That is why if we ignore Him, reject Him, degrade Him, or deny Him it is considered blasphemy and we will be condemned for eternity.

If you want to learn more about Holy Spirit then read from Matthew 1 through Revelation 22. Though, He is also found throughout the Old Testament.

¹ New concise Webster’s Dictionary, Modern Promotions/Publishers, 1984

² The Holy Bible New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994