TWELVE GOD-GIVEN TRUTHS TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORD
[FROM AN ANONYMOUS FRIEND]
“None of the wicked shall understand; but the Wise
shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)
In this paper, I am going to briefly outline just twelve
truths of Scripture from many that God has shown me over the years. I try
to apply these truths to all subjects that I write about. More than just
truths, I look upon them as spiritual commandments from God, absolutely
necessary in rightly dividing the Word of Truth. My hope and my prayer is
that God will grace you with a spirit of wisdom to comprehend these marvelous
revelations of Scripture.
I have received countless emails over the years in which
my detractors inform me that the Scriptures are easy to understand: all
one has to do is read them.
That’s not true. Billions of Christians “read”
the Scriptures, but have not a clue as to what they mean. And one of the
biggest problems in not understanding what they have read; is that they
do not believe the Scriptures. And why don’t they believe? Because their
shepherds have deceived them into believing that Christian doctrines take
precedent over the Scriptures.
I know of not one Christian doctrine that is completely
Scriptural. Not one. And that includes, SDA’s, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Christian Science, and every other institutionalized church and denomination
of manmade creeds. These truths that I am presenting here are “creed
busters.” They destroy the doctrines of men. They make the wisdom of
religion look incredibly stupid. God’s truths are like treasures hidden
in a field. We must buy the field and then diligently search out the treasure.
The following twelve truths of Scripture could make you very spiritually
wealthy.
TRUTH NUMBER 1
- [A] “And so it is written, The first man Adam was
made a living soul; the Last Adam [Jesus Christ] was made a quickening
spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which
is NATURAL; and afterward that which is SPIRITUAL.” (I Corinthians
15:45-46)
- [B] “It is sown [first] a NATURAL BODY [a physical
body which dies]; it is raised [afterward] a SPIRITUAL BODY [which is
made immortal and never dies]…” (I Corinthians 15:44)
- [C] “Who shall change our [first] VILE BODY, that
it may be fashioned like unto His [afterward] GLORIOUS BODY…” (Philippians
3:21)
- [D] “If I have told you EARTHLY things [first],
and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of HEAVENLY
[spiritual] things [afterward]?” (John 3:12)
The sequence of God’s plan of salvation for mankind is
most important – First is the physical, and then comes the spiritual. Without
the knowledge of this principle of Scripture, it is impossible to even understand
what man is and what is his destiny. Have you not been taught that the first
Adam was indeed a “quickening, living, immortal spirit,” and that
afterward, at the resurrection; his immortal soul will be given an ETERNAL
PHYSICAL BODY? Then there is also the ungodly doctrine called the “Law
of Circularity” which teaches that we have always existed as spirits
(as in Mormonism), and are now spirits having a physical experience – just
the opposite of the truth.
It was the natural body of Adam that became a living soul
after God breathed into him. And that living soul was subject to death (Genesis
2:17; Ezekiel 18:4,20). Even this simple truth of Scripture is universally
denied.
God said that Adam would “SURELY die” (Genesis
2:17). But most have been taught that Adam was an immortal, spiritual soul
that can, NEVER EVER DIE. I just received a DVD from Internationally famous,
self-styled prophet, Jack Van Impe, in which it is stated: “Once we
are born, WE NEVER DIE.” Jack Van Impe parrots that Old Serpent, who
told the world’s first recorded lie: “you shall NOT SURELY die”
(Genesis 3:4).
It is universally taught and believed that Adam and Eve
were already formed and created in the very spiritual image of God way back
there in the garden. However, this is not how the Hebrew manuscripts read,
as a perfect creature formed in the very spiritual image of God not only
does not sin, but it cannot sin. The reason that Jesus (made
unto sinful flesh) did not sin, was not that He could not sin, but rather
that His Father WOULD NOT LET HIM SIN. Jesus was born with a physical body
of sin, and therefore that body had to die. But I assure you that Jesus
did not possess a “carnal mind” in that body of flesh and sin.
He sinned NOT. [COMMENT: John the Baptist, speaking of Christ, said: "He
who comes from heaven is above all" (John 3:31). Christ was above
all (including sin); therefore, in my opinion, He was
incapable of it. - GC]
Making mankind into God’s own Image is a process that involves
a lifetime of trials and tribulations that includes the crucifying and mortifying
of the carnal human mind and body. I realize that from the King James and
many modern translations it sounds like it was a “past tense”
made in His image at creation, but actually it was not. Genesis 1:26,27
is equivalent to our English imperfect. Here is how one Version translates
it:
- “And saying is God, Make WILL WE [a continuing action]
humanity in Our image…”
- “And CREATING [a continuing action] is God humanity
in His image.” (Genesis 1:26,27 Concordant Literal Old Testament)
Man is not a “spirit being” having a “physical”
experience, but rather man is a “physical and mortal” being having
a “spiritual” experience. We are first born mortal [physical],
but in the resurrection God gives us immortality (the spiritual). Throw
away this marvelous truth of Scripture, and you will be as deceived as Kenneth
Copeland when he stated that when Adam was created, he was so shining, so
glorious, so spiritual, so GOD-like, that one could not even see his body
for the glorious radiance of his spirituality. Oh really? And is that why
he was “naked,” although he “…knew not that he was
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
NAKED?” (See Genesis 2:7; Revelation 3:17)
Just prior to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit,
we read that Eve:
- “…saw that the tree was good for food ['the lust of the flesh,'
I John 2:16], - and that it was pleasant to the eyes ['the lust of the eyes,' I John
2:16], - and a tree to be desired to make one wise ['the pride of life,' I John
2:16], - she did eat… and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6)
It is not just the eating of the fruit that was
a sin, but the “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life”
that went before the eating. And just why where they so filled with
sin at their very creation? Because they were in the “perfect spiritual
image of GOD?” Poppycock. They were natural, physical, carnal, and
“…the carnal mind [with which Adam and Eve were created] is enmity
[hatred] against God, for it is not subject to the law of God ['But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat
of it...' Genesis 2:17], neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).
So, do the Scriptures really teach what the world has been
taught – that Adam and Eve were made into the perfect spiritual “image
of God?” Get real.
Here is how GOD says He created Adam and Eve:
- “For the creature was made subject to vanity [King
James Margin: "futility"], not willingly, but by reason
of Him [God] Who has subjected [Greek: 'subjects' - aorist tense - subjecting
is still going on] the same in hope.” (Romans 8:20)
In Dante’s inferno, “all hope is gone,” but in
God’s realm He subjects the entire creation “…in HOPE.”
God willfully, wantingly, knowingly, purposely, and wisely,
created mankind “subject to vanity,” subject to failure, but beyond
the failure, God also subjects the same in “hope.” Once again,
contrary to all orthodox doctrine, there is hope for all of God’s carnal-minded,
God-hating people on planet Earth. God Himself says so, in the same breath:
“because the creature itself [the same creation that God subjects to
vanity, futility, failure, and carnal-minded hatred against God] also shall
be [ah, did you catch that? 'shall be'], delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”
(Romans 8:21). Do you believe the Scriptures? Really – what about this one?
And so God, “made the creature subject to vanity”
- failure, but later in mankind’s development, the creature “shall
be” – [future tense]… shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption.” Ah yes, God created them in a condition of “bondage”
and “corruption,” and therefore not “immortal” as is
taught, but rather in “bondage of corruption.” But thanks to God,
in the resurrection of the dead, ‘…this corruption must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality‘ (I Corinthians 15:54).
Yes, of course, first comes the PHYSICAL (death), and then
the SPIRITUAL (life). There it is – the hope of all humanity. Corruption
and mortality (the physical first) must put on incorruption and immortality
(the afterward spiritual).
TRUTH NUMBER 2
- [A] “All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude
in PARABLES; and without a parable spoke He not unto them.” (Matthew
13:34)
- [B] “But without a PARABLE spoke He not unto them…”
(Mark 4:34)
- [C] “This PARABLE spoke Jesus unto them: but they
understood not what things they were which He spoke unto them.” (John
10:6)
Jesus taught in parables only, and no one understood His
parables, hence Jesus taught in a way that He knew no one would understand
His message. This truth of Scripture is so revolutionary to the minds of
most Christians that many will think it blasphemy, and yet the Scriptures
abound with statements that fully support it.
I heard Matt Crouch (elder son of TBN President Paul Crouch)
state on international television that Jesus spoke in parables to make the
meaning of His teachings simple and clear and understandable to the simple
farmers and uneducated people of Judea. My Wycliffe Bible Dictionary has
a similar explanation: “Purpose of parables. The obvious purpose of
Jesus’ use of parables was to make spiritual truth clear and compelling.”
What a crock.
Is anyone interested in what Jesus Himself had to say about
His use of Parables? Good. Here it is:
- “And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why
do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
unto them it is not given.” (Matthew 13:10,11)
Now then, does anyone see any similarity between “to
make spiritual truth clear and compelling,” and “…but unto them
it is not given?” No? Neither do I. What I see is a diametric
opposite. What I see is a flat out contradiction between Christian teachers
and the Word of God.
“Jesus spoke in parables to make His quaint little
stories clear and understandable to the uneducated farmers of Judea,”
my foot: “and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables,
they perceived that He spoke of them” (Matthew 21:45). The Chief Priests
and Pharisees were generally highly educated people. But even they
didn’t know what Jesus’ parables really meant, but they on one occasion
at least “perceived” that Jesus was speaking about them.
So surely, if Jesus’ parables were “clear and compelling”
to the uneducated farmers of Judea, then they would be even more so to His
own disciples, would they not?
- “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into
the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare [expound,
define, explain] unto us the parable of the tares of the field.”
(Matthew 13:36)
Even Jesus’ Own disciples had to have these parables explained
to them. And just how did Jesus “declare” these parables to His
Own disciples? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. You wouldn’t believe
me if I showed you. Okay, here’s how Jesus explained His parable. He explained
His parable to His disciples by telling them ANOTHER PARABLE! I told you
that you wouldn’t believe me. More on this later.
This is another one of those marvelous spiritual truths
of Scripture that you will never hear explained in the Church. Just what
do they teach all these future clergymen in seminary? The fact is, that
Jesus did not want the people to understand Him, and Jesus did not want
them to repent, and Jesus did not want to spiritually heal or save them.
He clearly said so. But why? Because God has a plan that involves calling
MANY, but choosing out only a FEW.
- “For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken
away even that he has.” (Matthew 13:12)
Does anyone understand what Jesus just said here? Probably
not too many, for this too, is a parable explaining a parable – and no one
understood either. I wish they would let me teach a few classes at seminary.
- “Therefore speak I to them in parables, because
they seeing, see not; and hearing they hear not, neither
do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah…
for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should BE CONVERTED, AND I SHOULD HEAL [SAVE] THEM.” (Verses
13-15)
Wow! Jesus didn’t want them to understand and He didn’t
want to convert them and He didn’t want to save them. How could Isaiah’s
prophecy be true if Jesus were to contradict it by teaching them plainly
so that they could understand and repent? Now, that’s what Jesus said, and
that’s what Isaiah said, but there’s a problem:
- “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah
said, Lord, who has believed our report?” (Romans 10:16)
Yes, who? Have you believed this report I have just given
you? It is almost frightening how few truly believe God’s Scriptural reports.
Hence, precious few believe and understand the Scriptures, and fewer yet,
obey them.
There is good news, however, concerning the Parables, which
virtually no one understands, and it is this:
- “And when He was alone, they that were about Him
with the twelve asked of Him the parable. And He said unto them, Unto
you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them
that are without, all these things are done in parables.” (Mark 4:10,11)
I have never met a Christian in my life that believes this
verse. Not one. They all have told me that Jesus spoke many times, in fact
most of the time, in plain language to the multitudes and the people, and
not in parables only.
Hey, I’m glad that it is they who are contradicting
Jesus and not I. Add to this denial the heresy that anyone can at any time,
accept Jesus and believe, and then be saved. Jesus says they can’t; the
Church says regardless of what Jesus says, they can. Who ya gonna believe?
Continuing:
- “That seeing they may see, and not perceive: and
hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should
be converted and their sins should be forgiven them. And He said unto
them. Know ye not this parable? And how then will you know all
parables?” (Verses 12,13)
Say, did you get that? If you would know but one parable,
you would know all parables! This is because all parables are speaking
of the same subject, just presented from different perspectives. Wouldn’t
you just love to know just one parable so that you could know all parables?
What is so utterly amazing is that not only does the Church
not understand all of the parables of Jesus, they do not even understand
the parables in which Jesus explained. I assure you that I am as
serious as I could ever be when I say that. In a future paper I will explain
[Lord willing...] what all the parables mean. But for now, just understand,
that Jesus’ entire ministry was preached in such a way that no one would
understand Him, except to those very few to whom it was later (much later
- see Truth Number 3) given to understand. Pray that God will grant you
spiritual understanding of His parables, or you too, will “…understand
not.”
TRUTH NUMBER 3
- [A] “Therefore speak I to them in parables, because
they seeing SEE NOT; and hearing they HEAR NOT, NEITHER DO THEY UNDERSTAND”
(Matthew 13:13)
- [B] “How is it that you [disciples] DO NOT UNDERSTAND…”
(Matthew 16:11)
- [C] “But they [the disciples] UNDERSTOOD NOT this
saying, and it was HID from them…” (Luke 9:45)
What was it that Christ’s disciples and apostles understood
not? Surely they understood His spiritual teachings, did they not? What
is it that they “…understood NOT” about Jesus’ sayings? Truth
number 3 will reveal this shocking truth to us.
That Jesus hid the meaning of his teachings from the masses,
we have clearly been told already in Truth #2. But now I am going to show
you something even more profound. Most in fact, will not believe the Scriptures
before their own eyes.
The King James “parables” to the masses and the
“proverbs” to the Apostles is translated from the very same Greek
word:
Both “parable” and “proverb” are translated
from the Greek – G3850 parabole par-ab-ol-ay’ From G3846; a similitude
(“parable”), that is, (symbolically) fictitious narrative (of
common life conveying a moral), apothegm or adage: – comparison, figure,
parable, proverb.
This is really childish that I should even have to explain
to Christians that a “parabolay” really is a “FICTITIOUS
narrative, and therefore is not a literal story at all. Oh, what religion
has done to otherwise perfectly sane minds.
Just for the record, here are just a few of the definitions
of “fictitious” from my dictionary: “fictitious adjectives:
artificial, feigned, fiction, imaginary; synonyms: false, fabrication, deception,
incredible [unbelievable], impossibility, nonexistent, invented, distortion
of historical facts” etc., etc., etc. From: Merriam Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, page 465.
How many reading this paper will now believe and concede
that parables are not literally true stories? Virtually none. As I have
said for a long time now: “Christendom is a religion of contradictions
and square circles.” And they love to have it so (see Jeremiah 5:26-31).
That Jesus taught the multitudes including the Scribes
and Pharisees in “parables” [parabolay] which means: “FICTITIOUS
narratives,” is stated numerous times in the Scriptures. And clearly
the multitudes along with the Scribes and Pharisees did not understand any
of it.
Actually the Bible as a whole is one giant parable. Tis
true, but I don’t have time to go into that right now.
And now for the shocker of shockers: Ask any Christian
and he will tell you: “Jesus taught His disciples in “plain, literal,
simple language.” Maybe the multitudes, the masses, the Scribes and
the Pharisees, didn’t understand Christ’s teachings, but surely the Apostles
understood His teachings. Oh really? And do we have chapter and verse on
that? Do we have two witnesses on that? No we don’t, because it isn’t true.
Here’s how Jesus taught His own disciples, even in private:
- “These things have I spoken unto you in PROVERBS:
but the time comes [not yet, but in the future] when I shall no more speak
unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you PLAINLY of the Father.”
(John 16:25)
By Jesus’ own admission, He didn’t teach or speak to even
His Own apostles “plainly.”
Now for a little humor: After Jesus spoke these words to
His apostles He explains how He came out from the Father into the world
and that He would again leave this world and that He would then plainly
make known to them the Father. Not wanting to admit to their total ignorance
of what Jesus was saying:
- “His disciples said unto Him, Lo NOW SPEAK YOU PLAINLY,
AND SPEAK NO PROVERB. Now ARE WE SURE THAT You know all things, and need
not that any man should ask You: by this we believe that You came forth
from God.” (John 16:29-30)
Jesus responded: “Oh really?” Well, those are
not His exact words (That is what I would have said). Jesus responded: “DO
you NOW believe?” (Verse 31) Of course they didn’t. They had not a
clue as to what Jesus was spiritually saying.
The word for “plainly” is taken from the Greek
- G3954 a parrhesia par-rhay-see’-ah From G3956 and a derivative
of G4483; all out-spokenness, that is, frankness, bluntness, publicity;
by implication assurance: – bold (X -ly, -ness, -ness of speech), confidence,
X freely, X openly, X plainly (-ness).
So Jesus promised that at some time in the future He would
speak to them no longer in proverbs, but “plainly” – frankness,
bluntness, assurance, confidently, freely, openly. Hence His “proverbs”
were NOT frank, blunt, assured, confident, free, open, and plain! No wonder
the disciples and even the Apostles “understood not” the teachings
of Jesus Christ. Do we have any “witnesses” or “spiritual
matches” to that effect? Many:
- “And when He was alone, they that were about Him
with the twelve asked of Him [and why did they 'ask Him?' because they
did not know or understand His parables] the parable… And he said unto
them, Know you NOT this parable? [Why of course they did not know this
parable] and how then will ye know all parables?” (Mark 4:10,13)
To know “all parables,” they needed to know “this
parable.” But since they clearly and admittedly did not know “this
parable,” neither did they know any of the parables. The Apostles of
Jesus Christ followed Jesus for three and one half years, and never understood
the parables, even though they understood certain principles contained in
a few parables.
The multitudes did not understand Jesus’ parables; the
Scribes and Pharisees did not understand Jesus’ parables; the hundreds of
disciples did not understand Jesus’ parables, and as unbelievable as it
may sound, not even the APOSTLES understood Jesus’ parables. Now get ready
for another shock:
Not only did none of the above, including the Apostles
themselves, understand any of Jesus’ parables, but they did not understand
the parables after Jesus EXPLAINED the parables! And how is such a thing
even possible? Well, get ready for an even greater shock:
The reason they didn’t understand the parables even after
Jesus explained them, is because Jesus explained His parables WITH ANOTHER
PARABLE! That’s right, Jesus explained the parables that the Apostles themselves
didn’t understand, by another parable, which they also did not understand.
In Matthew 13:10 we read: “And the disciples came,
and said unto Him, Why speak you unto them in parables?” In verse 11
Jesus said it is given to His disciples to understand (but He didn’t say
WHEN it was given for them to understand), and then in verse 12 Jesus says:
- “For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken
away even that he has.”
In other words, another parable. Jesus explained the first
parable that they didn’t understand with another parable, which they did
not understand.
A little later:
- “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into
the house, and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the
parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He
that sows the good seed is the Son of man: the field is the world…”
(Matthew 13:36-38)
Etc., etc., which is nothing more than yet another parable
to explain a previous parable. Jesus does not explain “the children
of the kingdom,” “the children of the wicked one,” “the
devil,” “the reaper angels,” “the end of the world,”
“The Son of man,” “furnace of fire,” “the kingdom
of their Father,” anymore than He explained what the first version
of the parable was. Therefore, He had to add this to the end of His explanation:
“Who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Verse 43) But none there
had “ears to ear,” as we shall now see conclusively proven.
After several more parables:
- “Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these
things? They say unto him, YEA, Lord.” (Matthew 13:51)
They understood nothing.
In chapter 15 we read:
- “And He called the multitude, and said unto them,
hear, and understand.” (Matthew 15:10)
And He gives them another parable. Then Peter questions
this parable:
- “Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Declare
unto US this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye ALSO yet without understanding?
Do NOT ye yet understand…?” (Verses 15-17)
Yes, the multitudes and the disciples “also”
were without understanding.
In the next chapter we read this:
- “Then Jesus said unto them [His disciples], Take
heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And
they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no
bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, O ye of little faith,
why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread? Do ye
NOT YET UNDERSTAND? How is it that you DO NOT UNDERSTAND?” (Matthew
16:6-9,11)
Then in verse 11 it says they understood that Jesus meant
the “doctrines” of the Pharisees, but they still didn’t know what
the doctrines of the Pharisees were.
- “And He [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples],
How is it that YE DO NOT UNDERSTAND?” (Mark 8:21)
- “But THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT that saying, and were afraid
to ask Him.” (Mark 9:32)
Jesus then said unto His disciples:
- “Let these sayings sink down into your ears… But
THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT this saying, and it was HID from them, that they perceived
it NOT; and they feared to ask Him of that saying.” (Luke 9:44,45)
- “These things UNDERSTOOD NOT His disciples at the
first: but when Jesus was glorified [after His resurrection] then remembered
they that these things were written of Him…” (John 12:16)
Three and one half years Jesus taught His disciples. Three
and one half years they heard Him teach in the synagogues hundreds of times.
Yet, how much did they truly understand?
- “Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and ALL THINGS that are written
by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. And
THEY UNDERSTOOD NONE of these things: and this saying was HID from
them, NEITHER KNEW they the things which were spoken.” (Luke 18:31,34)
How many things, which were written in the prophets concerning
the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, did the disciples understand?
“NONE.”
At Jesus’ last meeting after His resurrection with His
apostles we read:
- “And He said unto them, These are the words which
I spake unto you, while I was yet with you [words which they never understood],
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses,
and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me [in other words,
the entire Hebrew Scriptures]. Then [When? 'THEN.' Not during their three
and one half years of learning at His feet? NO, 'then'] opened
He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures
[ALL of the Scriptures].” (Luke 24:44,45)
Why did Jesus reveal His message, His gospel, His kingdom,
His word to so very few people? Christ’s answer is much harder for most
to believe than the parables themselves:
- “And the disciples came, and said unto Him, WHY
speak You unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven [not
at that precise time, but eventually, after His resurrection] but to them
it is not given [not then OR later]. For whosoever has, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not,
from him shall be taken away even that he has [another parable answers
the reason for parables]. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because
they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand
[here Jesus gives us a parable within a riddle].
- And in them [and in all future generations down through
the centuries, save a very small elect few] is fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand,
and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people’s heart
[the people's heart in Isaiah's day, Christ's day, through the generations,
and in our day] is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their
eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should HEAL [or SAVE] them.
- But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears,
for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous
men [all the patriarchs of the Old Testament] have desired to see those
things which you see, and have NOT seen them, and to hear those things
which you hear, and have NOT heard them.” (Matthew 13:10-17)
I doubt that many of my readers are comprehending the marvelous
truths contained in the above passages. The prophets THEMSELVES (even Isaiah
himself), desired to see these things, but did NOT see them. All
of the Apostles and New Testament writers understood that the patriarchs
of old, including the prophets themselves, did not understand their own
prophesies, therefore they were not converted, and they are not yet saved.
These things are for those who come after Christ, not before:
- “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired
and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto YOU [not unto them!]. Searching what, or what manner of
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow
[not come BEFORE, in their day and time].
- Unto whom it was revealed, that NOT unto themselves,
but unto US they did minister [for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends
of the ages are come - I Corinthians 10:11] the things, which are now
reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with
the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire
to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and
hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto YOU at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 1:10-13)
Therefore I repeat once more:
- “And these all [all the saints and all the prophets,
verse 32], having obtained a good report through faith, received NOT the
promise: God having provided some better thing FOR US, that they without
US should NOT be made perfect [be saved].” (Hebrews 11:39,40)
These and many more Scriptures prove the Church’s teaching
that people who die unsaved will never be saved, is a damnable heresy. Until
you concede in your heart that neither the parables nor the interpretation
of the parables are literal, you will know no more of the plan of God and
the Gospel of Jesus Christ than the Apostles did before they were converted
and had God’s Holy Spirit.
TRUTH NUMBER 4
- [A] “Inasmuch as ye [all of you] have done it unto
one of the least of these My BRETHREN, ye have done it unto ME… Inasmuch
as ye did it not to one of the least of these [My brethren], ye did it
not to ME.” (Matthew 26:40,45)
- [B] “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF.”
(Luke 24:27)
- [C] “Think not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to FULFILL.” (Matthew
5:17)
- [D] “I was daily with you in the temple teaching,
and ye took Me not: but the Scriptures MUST BE FULFILLED.” (Mark
14:49)
- [E] “After this, Jesus knowing that ALL THINGS were
now accomplished, that the Scripture might be FULFILLED, said, I thirst.”
(John 19:28)
- [F] “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism
into DEATH: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so WE also should walk in newness of life… I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ LIVES
IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Romans
6:4; Galatians 2:20)
- [G] “Remember the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they
will persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours
also… Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the Day of Judgment: because as He [Jesus] IS, SO ARE WE IN THE WORLD…”
(John 15:20; I John 4:17)
Contained in these few Scriptures is the reason why the
Church has not a clue as to what the plan and purpose of God is, or how
the Scriptures are applied to the working out of that purpose. How did Jesus
“fulfill” the Scriptures? By fulfilling the 44 Scriptures listed
in the back of Strong’s Concordance concerning the coming Messiah? Forty-four
Scriptures only? Those 44 Scriptures are truly, not even the tip of the
iceberg. What Christ did could not be put into books – the whole [kosmos]
could not contain it.
Jesus did not fulfill the sacrificed sin offering only.
Jesus was not merely one offering, but the many offerings, burnt offerings,
the meat offering, the peace offerings, the trespass offering, and the sin
offering. Jesus also prefigured the priest doing the offering, the meaning
of each offering, the compartments and furniture of the tabernacle, the
bread, the candles, the curtain, the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle
itself, and the whole nation of Israel – Jesus prefigures all and FULFILLED
ALL.
No one could comprehend every verse in the Old Testament
Scriptures that represented Jesus, but they could learn the PRINCIPLE by
which Jesus fulfilled all the law and all the prophets. And that is how
the apostles and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had their understanding
of the Scriptures opened in just a very short time. When the Scriptures
speak of Israel they speak of Jesus, and when they speak of Jesus they speak
of us, for “…as Jesus is, so are we in the world” (I
John 4:17).
And that is the simple explanation of this marvelous truth.
The Scriptures speak of far more than just the prophecies of Jesus coming
as the Messiah.
We are all in Adam. We do all that Adam did. We believe
in the Spirit what Israel lived in the flesh. All Israel was baptized in
the Red Sea. We are all baptized into Christ’s death. And now the last Adam
(Christ) lives His life in us (Galatians 2:20), but not until we repent
of the first Adam of the flesh living his life in us.
- “Then opened He their UNDERSTANDING, that they might
UNDERSTAND the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)
- “Consider what I say: and the Lord give you UNDERSTANDING
in all things.” (II Timothy 2:7)
- “And we know that the Son of God is come, and has
given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may know Him that is True…”
(I John 5:20)
- “And you shall know [Greek: 'sure understanding'
- but future] the truth, and the truth shall [future] make you free.”
(John 8:32)
For three and one-half years Jesus promised that some day
His apostles would know the truth. But clear to the end of three and one-half
years of learning at the feet of Jesus, the Apostles did not yet understand
His teaching, purpose or plan. One day they were blind to these truths,
and the next they understood. How is that possible?
We have clearly seen that Jesus kept the real meaning and
truths of His teaching from the masses, the church leaders, His disciples
and even His apostles. Late in Christ’s ministry, we are told that:
- “And they understood NONE OF THESE THINGS: and this
saying was hid from them, neither knew they the THINGS WHICH WERE SPOKEN.”
(Luke 18:34)
But after His resurrection, Luke tells us that:
- “THEN opened He their understanding, that they might
understand THE SCRIPTURES.” (Luke 24:45)
Maybe TODAY will be the day that God begins to “open
your understanding of the Scriptures.”
Jesus said to His disciples:
- “…ALL THINGS must be fulfilled, which were written
in the Law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, CONCERNING
ME. Then opened He their understanding…” (Luke 24:44,45)
In the first section, the Law of Moses, Strong’s Concordance
gives four entries of things Jesus fulfilled from these five books:
-
- “…her Seed” (Genesis 3:15)
- “In you [Abraham] all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:3) - “…with him [Isaac] for an everlasting covenant, and with his
descendants after him.” (Genesis 17:19) - “…a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out
of Israel…” (Numbers 24:17).
And that’s it. Why they don’t even mention the fact that
there was to come a Prophet like unto Moses:
- “The Lord thy God will raise up unto you a Prophet
from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me [Moses] unto Him
ye shall hearken.” (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 7:22)
If they missed that one, just imagine how many of hundreds
of smaller prophecies regarding Christ they missed.
Understand that what is recorded for us in the gospels
is but a very tiny portion of what actually was taught and happened in Christ’s
life and ministry:
- “And with MANY such parables spoke He the word unto
them…” (Mark 4:2,33; Matthew 13:3)
- “And MANY other signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of His disciple, which are not written in this book.” (John 20:30)
- “And there were also MANY other things which Jesus
did, the which, if they should be written everyone, I suppose that even
the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
(John 21:25)
It wasn’t that Jesus was “holding back” on His
disciples, so that they didn’t quite “get it,” but rather they
just didn’t have the spiritual mind to “get it,” until Jesus gave
them His very Own mind in the form of His Holy Spirit. Notice Jesus’ words:
- “But take heed, behold, I have foretold you ALL
things.” (Mark 13:23)
Yes, Jesus told them “ALL things,” but “they
understood NONE OF THESE THINGS!” (Luke 18:34)
Surely the question will arise: If at the end of Christ’s
ministry, “they understood none of these things,” then of what
value were those three and one half years that Jesus taught them? Tis true
that they did not understand Christ’s gospel and message during His ministry,
and during this mentoring, but it was not for naught.
Three things were to happen:
- [1] “But these things have I told you, that when
the time shall come, you will REMEMBER that I told you of them.”
(John 16:4)
This is how the gospel accounts could be written 30-40
years later, because God caused them to “remember” all these things.
In Revelation 1:10 & 12 John, “…heard behind” him,
a trumpet, and he “turned to see…” And that is how we
come to understand many things in the spirit. It is only when we turn and
look behind us that we see what we didn’t see while it was actually taking
place.
- “These things understood NOT His disciples at
that time: but when Jesus was glorified, then REMEMBERED they
that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things
unto Him.” (John 12:16)
- “Then REMEMBERED I the word of the Lord,
how that He said…” (Acts 11:16)
- [2] “And He said unto them, These are the words
which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you… Then opened he their
understanding, that they might UNDERSTAND the Scriptures.”
(John 24:44,45)
- [3] After three and one half years of personal tutoring
and training of His disciples, Jesus told them at the Last Supper: “I
have yet MANY THINGS to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them NOW.”
(John 16:12)
And so the disciples understood many things [1] after they
came to pass, [2] again when Jesus opened their understanding, and [3] many
more things as they progressed and grew in their faith and ministry.
Peter learned to not call the Gentiles common or unclean.
He preached to them the gospel, and they received God’s Holy Spirit. Paul
learned the truth about being baptized by God’s Spirit rather than by water.
The whole Church learned that Circumcision and the Law of Moses was not
required for salvation at the Acts 15 Jerusalem Conference. And many more
such things.
But primarily in this Truth, we are dealing with Christ’s
opening of their understanding of the Scriptures after His resurrection.
Before Jesus opened their understanding of the Scriptures
on the evening of His resurrection, no New Testament writer could have quoted
Scriptures from the Old Testament and applied them to Christ as we find
in our Bibles today. And why is that?
Because many times the Scriptures that they quote in reference
to Jesus Christ are taken completely out of their context, where they did
not have reference to Jesus at all. For example:
- “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” (Matthew
1:23)
Now go back to Isaiah 7:14 and you will see that this verse
has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, if we insist that it be IN CONTEXT.
In Acts 1:20 we see Peter putting into practice the “Scriptural
understanding” that Jesus gave him the evening of His resurrection.
Let’s notice what Peter says:
- “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let His
habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick
let another take.”
Peter took half his statement from Psalm 69:25, but changed
the word “their” to “his,” and the other half of his
statement is from Psalm 109:8, and neither Psalm appears to have anything
to do with selecting a new Apostle to replace Judas. What is going on?
- “Then opened He [Jesus] their [the eleven Apostles]
understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.”
(Luke 24:45)
But what was it about the Scriptures that caused them to
understand the Scriptures? Just what did Jesus teach them that they didn’t
already know? Back up a few verses for the answer.
Earlier that same day Jesus met with two of His disciples
on the road to Emmaus. For the next seven miles Jesus explained to them
the Scriptures. What did He teach them that in a few hours they were able
to understand the Scriptures?
- “Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and to enter into His glory. And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF.” (Luke 24:25-27)
Are we to believe that in a few hours Jesus read to them
the entire 39 books, 929 chapters, 23,145 verses of the Old Testament, with
commentary and explanations? No, of course not. He taught them a principle,
a spiritual truth, whereby they could understand all the Scriptures that
pertained to Him.
The spiritual resurrected Jesus Christ does not represent
the physical house of David, or the physical Tribe of Judah, or the physical
nation of Israel. Jesus Christ is Spirit and His words are Spirit. “As
Jesus is, so are we” means that those who are spiritually (composed
of almost exclusively Gentiles in this Church era) are the true Jews – not
national Israel and Judah. National Israel and Judah are going into the
Great White Throne of Judgment in the second resurrection during the period
of the Lake of Fire. They will NOT be grafted into Jesus, the Tree of Life,
before then. Jesus fulfilled all that is written in the Law of Moses and
all the prophets – it ALL pertains to Jesus, and thus it all pertains to
us ‘upon whom the ends of the ages are come’ (I Corinthians 10:11).
TRUTH NUMBER 5
- [A] “It is the spirit that quickens [gives life];
the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT,
and they are life.” (John 6:63)
- [B] “But this spoke He of the SPIRIT…” (John
7:39)
- [C] “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the SPIRIT which IS the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)
Everything from Genesis to Revelation pertains to a higher
SPIRITUAL meaning than the physical examples, parables, metaphors, allegories,
stories and symbols in which they are written. “Let us make man in
Our Image” (Genesis 1:26) are words of SPIRIT. “…Surely I come
quickly…” (Revelation 22:20) are words of SPIRIT. God does not look
like a six-foot man or a five-foot woman. Jesus comes quickly to us,
not to the world.
John tells us that:
- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was MADE FLESH… grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:1,14,17)
God is not “flesh.” Jesus had to be “made
flesh.” And then AS flesh, Jesus had to “grow and wax strong”
(Luke 2:40). God does not “grow or wax strong,” but Jesus “made
flesh” had to grow and wax strong. Jesus also had to “overcome”
(John 16:33). God does not need to overcome anything. Jesus had to “suffer”
and “learn obedience” (Hebrews 5:8). God does not suffer: God
does not learn anything, seeing that God is all knowing (Isaiah 46:10).
Jesus was “troubled in His soul” (John 12:27). God is never troubled
in HIS soul. Jesus got “weary” (John 4:6). God never gets weary
(Isaiah 40:28). Jesus became “exceeding sorrowful” (Matthew 26:38).
God never sorrows. Jesus was famished after fasting for 40 days and nights.
He was so “hungry” that he was ready to die (Matthew 4:2). God
never gets hungry. God can never die of hunger. Jesus got very “thirsty”
(John 19:28). God never gets thirsty. Jesus “wept” (John 11:35).
God never weeps. Jesus was acquainted with “sickness” (Isaiah
53:3). God never gets sick.
How sad that many Christians believe that nothing bad ever
happened to Jesus before His crucifixion. If it were not for God IN Jesus,
Jesus would have been as helpless as a newborn baby. In fact, Jesus said
with all humility and truth: “I can of Mine Own Self do nothing…”
(John 5:30). Furthermore, although Jesus never sinned in His entire life,
yet He “was made sin” for our benefit (II Corinthians
5:21).
Jesus Christ is our Example of just how man (mankind) is
to “be made into the Image of God.” Jesus is our example, our
way, and our destiny:
- “For whom He did foreknow, [that's US, and eventually
all humanity, I Corinthians 15:28], He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many
brethren.” (Romans 8:29)
Jesus was made a physical man so that He could show us
the way to the spirit God. And so it was that this Jesus, in the flesh,
who became human, became a man of flesh, was conformed into the spiritual
“Image of God,” and spoke to us through His “words of spirit.”
It is Jesus Who “was the word of God” back in Genesis, Who did
the speaking when “…God [the Word] said, Let there be light”
(Genesis 1:3). It was “the word” in Genesis 1:26 Who said: “Make
will We humanity in Our Image…” (Concordant Version). What kind of
words were those words, which The Word spoke back there in the garden? Why
they were the words of Jesus, and Jesus plainly tells us that His words
“ARE SPIRIT” (John 6:63).
- “And creating is God humanity in His [spiritual]
Image. In the Image of God He creates it. Male and female He [spiritually]
creates them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Why of course, that is why Paul teaches us that we are
“…to be conformed to the Image of His Son.” Jesus now
is in the very spiritual image of God, just as He was prior to being emptied
into human flesh, in the form of a servant:
- “And now, O Father, GLORIFY You Me with Thine Own
Self with the glory which I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.”
(John 17:5)
If mankind is not in the literal, physical image of God,
then what, pray tell, does God look like?
- “To whom then will you liken Me, or shall I be equal?
Says the Holy One… I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no
God beside Me… I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and
create evil: I the Lord do all these things… I have made the earth,
and created man upon it: I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and all their host have I commanded… To whom will you liken Me, and
make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like?” (Isaiah
40:25; 45:5,7,12; 46:5)
“God is not a MAN…” (Numbers 23:19),
regardless of how many millions of theologians want to make God into the
image of sinful man. God is not in our image: neither are we yet in His
Image.
Obviously the words that Jesus spoke were “spirit,”
seeing that His very words came from GOD, Who IS SPIRIT:
- “For He [Jesus] Whom God has sent speaks the WORDS
OF God, for God gives not the SPIRIT by measure unto Him.” (John
3:34)
Did Jesus give His Apostles the power to speak words of
SPIRIT? Yes, He did:
- “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the SPIRIT and
of power.” (I Corinthians 2:4)
- “The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and
His word was in my tongue.” (II Samuel 23:2)
- “According to the word that I did covenant
with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My spirit remains among
you; fear ye not.” (Haggai 2:5)
- “For to one is given by the spirit the word
of wisdom: to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit.”
(I Corinthians 12:8)
- “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians
6:17)
And we too are to speak with these same words of SPIRIT:
- “For it is not you that speak, but the spirit
of your Father which speaks [words of spirit] in you.” (Matthew
10:20)
And of course the same thing was true for Christ:
- “…the word which you hear is not Mine,
but the Father’s [God is spirit] which sent me.” (John 14:24)
Now then, how did Jesus teach the multitudes, ALWAYS? In
parables:
- “All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes
in parable; and without a parable spoke He not unto them.” (Matthew
13:34; Mark 4:33,34; John 10:6; 16:25)
Parables are “words of spirit.”
The day that we fail to believe Jesus when He tells us
that His words “are SPIRIT,” is the day that we will fail to understand
anything spiritual. The words of Jesus are not to be taken literally, physically,
materially, or carnally. All of Jesus’ teachings are SPIRITUAL. I will keep
this section short, as this principle overlaps with all of the rest of the
principles.
TRUTH NUMBER 6
- [A] “…that in the mouth of TWO OR THREE WITNESSES
every word may be established.” (Matthew 18:16)
- [B] “…In the mouth of TWO OR THREE WITNESSES shall
every word be established.” (II Corinthians 13:1)
- [C] “And I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES…”
(Revelation 11:3)
This particular law of Scripture is constantly violated.
We are to have at least a second witness to establish a Scriptural truth
or doctrine. Unfortunately, the Church does not follow this truth of God
in establishing doctrine. Truth be known, orthodoxy has not even one witness
to support any of their doctrines!
Example: The Scriptures tell us that man is “mortal,”
not “immortal.” They teach that man’s soul is immortal. Where
do they have a Scripture to support this claim? No Scripture – no witness.
Where is their second witness to this claim? No second witness. They will
not be encumbered with Scriptures to support their damnable heresies and
lies.
God told Adam if he ate of the forbidden fruit he would
die: “And the Lord God commanded…you shall surely die” (Genesis
2:17). Theologians teach that, “once we are born, we shall NEVER surely
die.” Say, doesn’t that sound like the very same thing the lying serpent
told Eve? Check it out:
“And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall
NOT surely die.”
Can we all agree that the phrase: “shall NOT SURELY
die” is a contradiction of the phrase “SHALL SURELY die?”
Does the Church teach what God said or what the serpent said? Why would
you prefer to believe what the serpent said rather than what God said? Am
I going too fast for anyone?
So do souls actually die, or are they immortal? A “soul”
in Hebrew is a “nephesh.” Does the Church have “two witnesses”
that souls do not die? They don’t have even one. Well then, do we have two
witnesses, telling us plainly that souls do die?
Yes we do:
- “…the soul [Hebrew: 'nephesh'] that sins, it [the
soul, the 'nephesh'] shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4)
Say, isn’t that exactly what God taught us back in Genesis
2:17? Of course it is.Doesn’t this then contradict both the lie of Satan
and the Church?
- “The soul that sins, IT SHALL DIE.” (Ezekiel
18:20)
Jesus tells us in the parable of two great witnesses:
- “Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe
which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which brings forth out of his treasure, NEW AND OLD.”
(Matthew 13:52)
What “new and old” treasures do “scribes”
preserve for us regarding the “kingdom of heaven?” Why the NEW
Covenant Scriptures and the OLD Covenant Scriptures, of course. And both
the Old (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15), and the New (II Corinthians 13:1; Matthew
18:16) command that we must have two witnesses to establish every Word of
God.
I will keep this truth short, as it overlaps with the next
spiritual truth #7, which requires that we compare and match spiritual with
spiritual.
The next time your pastor mentions “immortal souls,”
“Christians going to heaven,” “Jesus being in hell for three
days,” “not all men will be saved,” “Christian tithing,”
“consciousness in death,” “resurrection of the body,”
“parables make the teaching clear,” “man’s will being free
and independent of God,” and dozens of other such nonsense, ask him
to give you two Scriptures to support each of his unscriptural heresies.
TRUTH NUMBER 7
- [A] “Which things also we speak, not in the words
which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; COMPARING
[or 'matching'] SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH SPIRITUAL.” (I Corinthians
2:13)
- [B] “And to this AGREE the words of the prophets;
as it is written…” (Acts 15:15)
- [C] “These [Bereans]… searched the Scriptures
daily, whether those things were SO [Greek: 'in this way,' 'like'].”
(Acts 17:11)
- [D] “As You have sent Me into the world, EVEN SO
have I sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)
The purpose for comparing spiritual with spiritual is to
find a spiritual match. There is a spiritual match for every symbol in the
book of Revelation. This is a powerful truth that will open the whole Bible
to us.
In the previous truth we learned the need for two witnesses.
In this truth we will learn the need for those two witnesses to be a “spiritual
match.” Let’s now “spiritually match” two witnesses and see
a marvelous eye-opening result.
After being introduced to the Great White Throne in Revelation
20:11, we read of the judgment of every man’s work in fire:
- “And I saw the dead small and great stand before
God, and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.
- And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged
every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Notice the specifics of these verses:
- “Every man’s work is to be judged by fire.”
- EVERY MAN
- Every man’s WORK
- Every man’s work is to be JUDGED
- Every man’s work is to be judged IN FIRE
But we just learned that no witness can stand alone. We
must have at least TWO WITNESSES to establish the truth of any doctrine.
For the simple fact that orthodoxy absolutely refuses to give you a “spiritual
match” to these Scriptures, it has enabled them to attach all kinds
of unscriptural, extra-scriptural, anti-scriptural heresies to the above
Scripture. Why won’t they give you a “second witness,” and a “spiritual
match” to the above Scripture? Because the only second witness which
is a spiritual match to the above Scripture, destroys their whole pagan
teaching regarding it, that’s why.
Now then, is there a second witness to: “Every man’s
work is to be judged by fire?” Yes, there is a SECOND witness to this
Scripture. But we are looking for more than just a second witness. We have
just learned that we are also to “compare [or match] spiritual with
spiritual.” We are looking for a second witness which is a SPIRITUAL
MATCH to these statements that every man’s work is to be judged in
fire.”
Would you believe that there is ONE and ONLY ONE
such spiritual match to this Scripture in the entirety of the Bible? After
I give it to you, you will clearly see why orthodoxy will not even concede
that this Scripture IS a second witness and a spiritual match. Here it is:
- “Every man’s work shall be made manifest
for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire;
and the fire shall try [test, examine, judge] every
man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide that he has
built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall
be burned, he shall suffer loss, BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet
so as by fire.” (I Corinthians 3:13-15)
There it is: a perfect spiritual match and a second witness
to Revelation 20:13-15:
- EVERY MAN
- Every man’s WORK
- Every man’s work TRIED, TESTED OR JUDGED
- Every man’s work tried, tested or judged IN FIRE
Why do Christians and theologians hate what I have just
shown you? Because when we put these two spiritually matched Scriptures
together, we also are given the added knowledge that there is SALVATION
in and through this fire which judges us, and the Church doesn’t want all
mankind to be saved (at least not on God’s terms). Yes, the most
evil people who have ever lived will also be saved one day. But contrary
to what all of my detractors constantly lie about my writings, is that they
will not be saved before they are purged in “God’s CONSUMING FIRE”
of every last vestige of evil and carnality.
But many Christians have written me insisting that these
two Scriptures are not spiritual matches, and in fact insist that they are
never even a second witness to one another. Be it known to all, that God’s
CONSUMING SPIRITUAL FIRE will purge every vestige of these carnal and evil
deceptions of THE GREAT WHORE CHURCH OF BABYLON.
They (like we) will first be “ground to POWDER”
(Luke 20:18), and then (like we) subjected to “refiners FIRE and fuller’s
SOAP” (Malachi 3:2) of Almighty God. The process for them will be the
same process as with us, albeit at a later date, and in many cases with
greater intensity. Always remember: “It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the LIVING GOD” (Hebrews 10:31). But it is not
a never-ending torture.
Question: As the world of Christendom predominantly believes
that the Bible is to be taken literally, how pray tell is it even
within the realm of possibility for them to compare ANYTHING “spiritual
with spiritual” from the Scriptures?
TRUTH NUMBER 8
- [A] “Now ALL these things happened unto them for
examples: and they are written for OUR ADMONITION [to reprove, caution,
warn, remind of obligation or duty, etc.], upon whom the ends of the world
['eons - ages'] are come.” (I Corinthians 10:11)
- [B] “Now these things were OUR EXAMPLES, to the
intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”
(I Corinthians 10:6)
- [C] “For whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for OUR LEARNING…” (Romans 15:4)
It is essential that we study the Old Testament Scriptures,
for they are often the only key to the New Testament Scriptures. Paul used
the Hebrew Scriptures to teach the foolish Galatians the New Covenant promises.
Here’s but one great example:
- “Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do
you not HEAR the law? For it is written [in Old Covenant Scriptures] that
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the FLESH; but he of the
freewoman was by PROMISE. Which things are an allegory: for these
are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders
[gives birth] to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar IS Mount
Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
with her children.
- But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which
IS the mother of us all.
- For it is written, ‘Rejoice, you barren that bear not;
break forth and cry, you that travail not: for the desolate has many more
children than she which has an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac
was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so
it is now.
- Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman SHALL NOT be heir
with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not the
children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” (Galatians 4:21-31)
This is not only an allegory, but it is an allegory containing
many metaphors as well. An allegory is when characters or events (such as
Sarah and Agar and their children) represent abstract or spiritual
ideas or principles. A metaphor is when one thing is said to be something
else (such as Agar actually being Mount Sinai, which then represents or
corresponds to Jerusalem in bondage). It may seem a little complicated at
first, but once one sees all of the aspects of the allegory explained, this
principle is quite easy to understand. Nevertheless, it does require the
Spirit of God to believe it. It is this very fact (that the Church does
not understand or believe this allegory) that the Church continues to believe
that God’s true chosen people are STILL “the children of the bondwoman”
- “Jerusalem which NOW IS” over there in the State of Israel.
Unbelievable.
This dear reader, is how the Old Covenant was written for
“OUR admonition…”
Does anyone believe that this is the ONLY “allegory”
in the Old Testament, which is written for OUR admonition? Hardly – the
Old Testament is FILLED with such allegories, but who has “ears to
hear and eyes to see?” And “who will believe our report?”
The whole book of Revelation is explained in the Old Testament Scriptures,
but the theologians of this world do not and cannot discern it. They all
teach that Revelation is a book of end-time, end-of-the-world eschatology.
They have not a clue.
Paul constantly referred to the Old Testament Scriptures
in his epistles, and he taught the whole plan of salvation from the Old
Testament Scriptures, as they were the only Scriptures available during
his ministry.
- “And that from a child you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (II Timothy 3:15)
These same Scriptures were now able to make Timothy wise
unto salvation, but not until he first learned about Jesus Christ in the
Old Testament Scriptures. These were the Scriptures that Jesus caused His
apostles to understand after His resurrection.
What Jesus taught from the Old Testament Scriptures during
His ministry was not even the tip of the iceberg.
The Truth of God, “thou shall surely die,” and
the lie of the Devil, “you shall NOT surely die,” is for “our
admonition.” The story of Cain and Able is for “our admonition.”
The story of the flood is for “our admonition.” The story of Babel
is for “our admonition.” The promises to Abraham and the meaning
of faith are for “our admonition.” The entire story in every single
detail of Joseph and his brothers is for “our admonition.” Do
you wear your “coat of many colors,” or do you hide it in the
closet? You say: “What coat of many colors?”
Forget it – ask you pastor why he has never taught you
how to wear your coat of many colors.
If you cannot identify yourself, personally, with all the
stories and accounts in the Old Testament, then you have not even begun
to overcome all the carnality that you are.
TRUTH NUMBER 9
- [A] “Knowing this first, that no prophecy [inspired
writing or speaking] of the Scripture is of any private [Greek: 'its OWN']
interpretation.” (II Peter 1:20)
- [B] “To understand a proverb, AND THE INTERPRETATION
[or 'puzzle' - the proverb itself is not also the interpretation]…”
(Proverbs 1:6)
- [C] “Are you able to make known unto me THE DREAM
which I have seen, AND THE INTERPRETATION thereof [the dream does
not interpret itself]?” (Daniel 2:26)
“Own” is a little closer to the Greek in this
verse than is the word “private.” A few examples of how the Greek
word, idios, is used in other Scriptures will show this more clearly.
In a few cases it should be translated “private,” as in, “…the
disciples came unto Him privately” (Matthew 24:3). But more
than 70 times it is translated “own” as in:
- Matthew 9:1 “…and came into his own city
[Greek: idios - not 'private' city].”
- John 4:44 “…has honor in his own country
[Greek: idios - not "private' country].”
- I Peter 3:5 “…their own husbands [Greek:
idios - not their 'private' husbands].”
Why is no Scripture its OWN interpretation, we might ask?
For one thing, to protect the integrity of the Scriptures. ALL twelve of
these spiritual principles are to be used together in explaining the Scriptures.
If every Scripture or even any Scripture can be its “own interpretation,”
then we wouldn’t need the other eleven principles. How can a Scripture be
its own interpretation when we are told to “compare or MATCH spiritual
with spiritual?” One standing alone cannot at the same time be a match
to something else. Why then the need for “TWO witnesses” if each
Scripture fully interprets itself? No, every one of the principles
that I am presenting is of paramount importance.
In our last example on the judgments by fire (I Corinthians
3 and Revelation 20), it was absolutely necessary to have not only two witnesses,
but to match one spiritual teaching with another spiritual teaching in order
to arrive at the truth. You see, neither Scripture by itself fully explains
God’s “judgments by fire.” From I Corinthians 3 orthodoxy will
concede that the fire is figurative, spiritual, symbolic, and that the believers
that go through this fire WILL BE SAVED BY IT. But this same orthodoxy (because
they refuse to obey this commandment of God’s Scripture) conclude that the
lake of fire of Revelation 20 is not symbolic, even though we are told that
the whole book is “signified” (Revelation 1:1), which means that
it is “symbolized.” They say that this fire is literal, and that
those that go through it will never be saved.
Now then, does it say that those thrown into the lake of
fire are NEVER SAVED? NO. Does it say that this is LITERAL fire? NO. Does
it say that it will last for all ETERNITY? NO. “For ever and ever”
is not an accurate translation of Revelation 20:10.
The following is proof that “aions of the aions”
does not translate into “ever and ever.”
- King James turns the NOUN “aions” into an ADJECTIVE “ever.”
- King James changes a PLURAL “aionS” into a SINGULAR “ever.”
- King James drops the GENITIVE “of” (Taking FROM the word of
God).
- King James inserts the CONJUNCTIVE “and” (Adding TO the word
of God).
- They again change the PLURAL NOUN “aions” into a SINGULAR
ADJECTIVE “ever.”
They break FIVE LAWS OF GRAMMAR IN JUST THREE WORDS! And
Christendom then calls this verse “INERRANT.” Unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE!
Here is a simple example as to why no Scripture is its
OWN interpretation. I am asked the following question about once a week.
If dead people are really dead as you say [Actually, I quote SCRIPTURE when
I say that, so it is really GOD saying it, not I], then how was it that
Moses and Elijah appeared alive with Christ on the mount? Let’s read it:
- “And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and
John his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart, and
was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His
raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them
Moses and Elijah talking with Him.” (Matthew 17:1-3)
Now then, since most theologians refuse to follow the commandments
of God, they do conclude that this verse is its OWN interpretation, and
therefore what you see is what you get – Elijah and Moses are still alive
in heaven, or some place. To them this Scripture is its OWN interpretation;
they don’t need a SECOND witness; they don’t need to compare SPIRITUAL WITH
SPIRITUAL; they don’t need to be sure this Scripture MATCHES other Scriptures.
Hence, break the commandments of God and they teach heresy.
The preachers and theologians of Christendom ARE the Scribes
and Pharisees, Elders, the Chief priests of today’s Church. And what was
their attitude back then with regards to following the commandments of God
with regard to having more than one witness?
- “And as soon as it was day, the ELDERS, of the people
and the CHIEF PRIESTS and the SCRIBES came together and led Him into their
council… Then said they all, ‘Are You then the Son of God?’ And He said
unto them, ‘You say that I am.’ And they said, WHAT NEED WE ANY FURTHER
WITNESS?” (Luke 22:66, 70-71)
Yes, indeed, “What NEED have we of any further witness?”
Here’s why we need to follow the commandments of God. Just one additional
Scripture witness will solve this Christian heresy that dead people are
still alive. Here it is:
- “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus
charged them, saying, Tell the VISION [the vision they just had
in verses 1-3 of Elijah and Moses appearing as if they were alive] to
no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” (Matthew
17:9)
It was all a VISION! It never “literally” happened
anymore than your dreams are literal. The Scripture says “two or THREE
witnesses,” so lets throw in a third just to put this whole issue out
of the reach of the heretics. Are Elijah and Moses still alive? Did they
receive their promises and go to heaven? Are they now in heaven?
Turn to Hebrews 11. Although Elijah is not mentioned by
name in this chapter, he is, nonetheless, included, as he certainly was
“…OF the PROPHETS” (Verse 32). What do the Scriptures say regarding
the present condition of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham & Sarah, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the prophets, of whom Elijah was one? Are they
alive today? Did they receive the promises? Are they in heaven? Hold on,
cause I’m about to knock your socks off:
- “These ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED
THE PROMISES… For they that say such things declare plainly that they
SEEK a country… they DESIRE a better country, that is a HEAVENLY…
And ALL THESE, having obtained a good report through faith, [here comes
the second witness that they are dead and not in heaven]… RECEIVED NOT
THE PROMISE: God having provided something better thing FOR US,
that THEY without US should NOT BE MADE [future tense, not past
tense - it hasn't happened YET] perfect.” (Hebrews 11:13,14,16,39,40)
WOW!
I would venture to say that not a thousand people alive
on earth today have ever seen or had the above Scripture explained to them.
Yet this Scripture is in perfect harmony with ALL other Scripture, but TOTALLY
CONTRADICTS ALL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
- ALL of the men and women of faith, the fathers, the patriarchs, and
prophets are DEAD.
- ALL of them died “looking for a country & home afar off,”
which they never received.
- ALL these received a “good report,” but they received NO PROMISES.
- ALL these “desired a heavenly” home, but they NEVER RECEIVED
IT.
- ALL these will remain dead until WE are given OUR promises.
OUR promise is better: “God having provided some BETTER
THING FOR US.”
- WE are to become “perfect” (Galatians 3:3; Ephesians 4:13;
Philippians 3:15; Colossians 1:28, 4:12; etc.)
- WE are to become “perfect” BEFORE the saints of old; BEFORE
Moses & Elijah.
- THEY are not only made perfect AFTER us, but are made perfect THROUGH
US!
Not even John the Baptist is as great as the very least
in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 11:11).
Grace was not given to save the saints of old. Grace came
by JESUS CHRIST, not by Moses, neither to nor for Moses (John 1:17). Hebrews
11, speaking of ALL the saints that were before us clearly declares that:
“for they without [Greek: 'apart from'] US should NOT be made perfect
[or 'complete'].
Hebrews was written at least a whole generation after the
crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, and at that time the saints of
old had not yet received their promises, so guess what? They are all still
dead in their graves awaiting the Second Resurrection, as they cannot be
made perfect or complete except though those who come up in the First Resurrection.
And no one is ever made “complete” except through Jesus Christ
(Colossians 2:10).
Have you not read:
- “Unto whom it was revealed, that NOT unto themselves,
but unto US ['Now ALL these things happened unto them for examples, and
they are written for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the eons are
come' - I Corinthians 10:11] they did minister the things, which are now
reported unto YOU by them that have preached the gospel unto YOU with
the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire
to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of YOUR mind, be sober, and
hope to the end for the GRACE that is to be brought unto YOU [not
'them' - they DIED not receiving the promises made to them] at the revelation
of Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 1:12,13)
Jesus Christ is the “wave sheaf” and the “firstfruit,”
but the saints and patriarchs of old were not “firstfruits” at
all. Jesus, not they, was the FIRST of the firstfruits” (I Corinthians
15:20,23), and WE, not they, are also “firstfruits” (James 1:18;
Revelation 14:4). When will we believe the Scriptures? The FIRST to be called
will be the LAST TO BE SAVED, and the LAST to be called will be the FIRST
TO BE SAVED (Matthew 19:30; 20:16). My, what we can learn when we begin
to obey the commandments of GOD.
All Scripture is inspired, and all Scripture is true, but
no one Scripture fully explains and interprets itself. Remember that should
someone want to show you from “a” single Scripture that there
is no end to the lake of fire, for example.
TRUTH NUMBER 10
- [A] “ALL is of God…” (II Corinthians 5:18)”Things”
is not in the manuscripts.
- [B] “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are
all things…” [Greek: 'For out of Him, and through Him, and for
Him, is ALL' - there is no word 'things'] (Romans 11:36)
- [C] “For it became Him, for Whom are ALL things,
and by Whom are ALL things…” [Greek: 'For it became Him, because
of Whom ALL is and through Whom ALL is...' - no 'things'](Hebrews 2:10)
- [D] “For by Him were ALL things created… ALL things
were created by Him and for Him: and He is before ALL things AND BY Him,
ALL things consist [Greek: 'hold together'].” (Colossians 1:16)
- [E] “For in Him we live, and move,
and have our being [Greek: 'exist' - that's our ALL].” (Acts
17:28)
- [F] “…the purpose of Him Who works ALL things
after the counsel of His Own will.” (Ephesians 1:11)
Few Christians indeed believe this Truth. First they will
insist that I took that phrase out of context. Let us see if that is true:
- “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, ALL THINGS are become new.
And ALL things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by
Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
(II Corinthians 5:17-18)
Is it only in reference to the “new creatures”
in Christ, that “All things are of God?” No, let’s read the next
verse:
- “To wit [Greek: 'that is'], that God was in Christ,
RECONCILING THE WORLD UNTO HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses unto
them: and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (Verse
19).
Now we can clearly see that the “ALL things are of
God” includes not only those now being made into new creatures, but
also “the WORLD.” Where does God ever limit Himself when it comes
to saving His people?
- “And He is the propitiation for our sins, and NOT
FOR OURS ONLY, but also for the sins of THE WHOLE WORLD.” (I John
2:2)
What is true is that God is not trying to save everyone
now in this church age. But all of mankind is the offspring of God:
- “And has made of one blood all nations of men…though
He is not far from every one of us [the 'us' including every sinning pagan
Athenian - Verse 21].”
For IN HIM we live, and move, and have our being… for
we ARE ALSO His offspring.” (Acts 17:26-28)
The most evil people who have ever lived, did not live
unto themselves, by themselves, independent of God, but rather, “in
HIM they live, and move, and have their being.”
For even the life of the criminal is sustained by God,
or they would just fall apart and cease to exist:
- “And He [Jesus] is before all things, and by Him
ALL THINGS CONSIST [Greek: 'hold together'].” (Colossians 1:17)
Why is it that God tells us that “all is of God,”
but as many read their Bibles, they do not believe that what they are reading
is “ALL of God?”
God gave Joseph a dream that he would be in a position
of great power and that even his brothers and his father and mother would
be bowing down to him. His brothers especially hated him for what they considered
a haughty attitude toward them. They hated him so much, that they were going
to kill him, but Reuben saved him and they rather sold him into slavery
down to Egypt. In Egypt Joseph went through his 13 years of trial and testing.
Later his brothers were forced to seek food from Joseph, and they feared
for their lives. They thought that Joseph was as evil as they. Joseph, however,
had compassion on them and made the following marvelous statement of revelation
concerning the workings of God:
- “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in
the place of God? But as for you, ye thought EVIL AGAINST ME, but God
MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much
people alive.” (Genesis 50:19,20)
Notice that God did not “change” what they planned,
or “turn” the evil that they planned into something good. No,
God “meant IT,” it being the whole scenario from start
to finish, for good. God didn’t change anything or turn anything, rather
God planned it to happen just as it happened FROM THE BEGINNING. God has
never ever made a mid-stream correction in His original plan. God always
knows the end of everything in the beginning: “Declaring the END from
the BEGINNING…” (Isaiah 46:10). But “Who will believe our report?”
A few months ago while visiting in someone’s home, I was
introduced to a Jehovah’s Witness minister. During a discussion around the
kitchen table, something was said that prompted me to state that God knows
all things, and He knows all things before they ever happen. To which the
JW minister took great exception and gave an example of something that God
did not know, and that this was clearly stated so in the Scriptures. When
He quoted the Scripture I nearly fell out of my chair. Here is the Scripture
he quoted to prove that God does not always know everything:
- “…Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called
unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:8,9)
For the rest of the evening he insisted that there are
things that God doesn’t know, and if God were to ask a question to something
He already knew, then the Scripture would be showing God to be a liar by
asking. I asked him if the fact of God asking a question is proof that God
does not know the answer to the question, and he said, “YES.”
I later asked him if Jesus was the only stupid person present when He asked
whose image was on the coin? I asked him if every uneducated person present
knew that it was Caesar’s image with the exception of Jesus? He replied:
“That was different.” Oh really?
How the name of God is blasphemed by such demeaning foolishness.
Yet most professing Christians refuse to understand these simple truths
of Scripture. They refuse to believe that all is of God. They rather think
that all evil is of Satan. They refuse to believe that even Satan “is
of GOD.” God created Satan, God controls Satan, and God calls all the
shots with Satan. Satan cannot move without God’s permission:
- “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold he is in your
hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the
Lord…” (Job 2:6,7)
If even Jesus Christ, the SON OF GOD, could not do ANYTHING
of Himself without the Father, then why oh why do Christians believe that
everyone else in the universe can do whatever they want independent of God?
Jesus said:
- “I can of Mine Own Self DO NOTHING…” (John
5:30)
Jesus also said:
- “…For without Me YE CAN DO NOTHING…” (John
15:5)
So Jesus can do nothing of and by Himself; the Apostles
could do nothing of and by themselves; we can of ourselves do nothing, but
Satan and sinners can do whatever their fabled free wills want to do, is
that correct? That is foolish and unscriptural blasphemy.
Truly “ALL is of God.”
What then of all the supposed contradictions in Scripture?
Below are a few examples of what many would call contradictions in the Scriptures:
| THE RELATIVE: | THE ABSOLUTE: |
| ” …seek, and ye shall find… ” (Matthew 7:7) |
“Not one is seeking out God.” (Romans 3:11) |
| “God changed His mind.” (Exodus 32:14) | “God is not a man Who changes His mind.” (I Samuel 15:29) |
| ” …CHOOSE you this day whom ye will serve.” (Joshua 24:15) |
“Ye have NOT CHOSEN me, but I have chosen you…” (John 15:16) |
| ” …whosoever doeth not righteousness is NOT of God… ” (I John 3:10) |
“ALL is of God.” (II Corinthians 5:18) |
| “Zechariah was just before God.” (Luke 12:5-6) “Come unto Me…” (Matthew 11:28) |
“Not one is just.” (Romans 3:10)
“None CAN come to Me. “(John 6:44, |
To the carnal mind, the above Scriptures are contradictions,
and therefore proof that the Word of God is not consistently true.
Even the greatest theologians in the world deny this truth
that “All is of God,” because they cannot distinguish the relative
of man’s doings from the absolute, which is God’s doing.
In the first example man is told to seek but is also told
that no man seeks. Which is it? They are both true. No man does seek God
except and until God brings about circumstances wherein he does seek
God. But He only does seek God because “All is of God” who brings
about the circumstances whereby someone who would not seek God, now does
seek God.
In the second example we are told that God changes His
mind [repents], but are also told that God is not a man who repents or changes
His mind. The answers are all the same. Where it appears to many that God
felt sorry for ever having created mankind, He is in reality doing only
that which He had determined to do from the beginning. It is only from man’s
perspective that God repented or changed His mind. God always knows the
“end from the beginning,” and therefore is never surprised or
never thwarted or frustrated requiring a change in course or a change of
plans.
A few years ago someone tried to trip me up with this verse:
- “They have built also the high places of Baal, to
burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded
not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind.” (Jeremiah
19:5)
Here, I was told, is absolute proof that God learns new
things that He didn’t know before. Nonsense.
This is a simple problem of translating. The word translated
“mind” in this verse is the Hebrew word leb, and it means
the “heart with its feelings,” not the mind. The King James very
often confuses heart with mind and mind with soul, as if they were one and
the same, even though there are different words for each.
God’s plan and purpose for humanity consists of many, many
things which are not after God’s own heart, but that are, nonetheless, absolutely
essential for the completion of His plan:
- “Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for
why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)
This is God’s HEART speaking in this verse. But in the
MIND of God, the death of the wicked was absolutely necessary, and a prophesied
fact that could not be avoided:
- “For I will lay the land most desolate,
and the pomp of her strength shall cease, and the mountains of
Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.”
(Verse 28)
This is but another of countless examples in Scripture
that show God’s mind and His heart. God takes no pleasure or delight in
His heart over the horrible things that continually happen to humanity,
but nonetheless, these things are absolutely essential to the fulfillment
of the plan that God has devised in His mind.
It is absolute blasphemy to think or teach that God is
the Creator of all that is, but then takes zero responsibility for all the
evils of that creation – ALL is of God (see Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).
TRUTH NUMBER 11
- [A] “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which
IS and which WAS, and which IS TO COME…” (Revelation
1:4)
- [B] “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, says the Lord, which IS, and which WAS, and which
IS TO COME, THE almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
- [C] “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME.” (Revelation 4:8)
- [D] “Jesus Christ the same YESTERDAY, and
TODAY, and FOR EVER.” (Hebrews 13:8)
When God wants to emphasis something, He repeats it. When
He really wants to emphasize something, He repeats it again. When He really,
really, really wants to emphasize something, He repeats it multiple times.
Let’s count the times God uses this phrase:
- “Him which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME.” (Revelation
1:4)
- “I AM alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the ENDING, which IS,
and which WAS, and which IS TO COME.” (Revelation 1:8)
- “I am Alpha and Omega, the FIRST and the LAST.” (Revelation
1:11)
- “I am the FIRST and the LAST.” (Revelation 1:17)
- “I am He that LIVES, and WAS DEAD; and, behold, I AM ALIVE.”
(Revelation 1:18)
- “…the FIRST and the LAST, which was DEAD, and is ALIVE.”
(Revelation 2:8)
- “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which WAS, and IS, and IS
TO COME.” (Revelation 4:8)
- “Oh Lord God Almighty, which ART, and WAS, and ARE TO COME.”
(Revelation 11:17)
- “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which ARE, and WAS, and SHALL BE.”
(Revelation 16:5)
- “I am Alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the END.” (Revelation
22:13)
Let’s try reading a few verses together with this spiritual
understanding of what is “spiritual,” and what still, “is,
was, and will be.” A couple of years ago I presented the following
in one of my articles:
- “The [spiritual] Revelation [that is, was, and will
be] of [spiritual] Jesus Christ [who is, was, and will be], which God
gave unto Him, to show unto His [spiritual] servants [which are, were,
and will be] [spiritual] things [which are, were, and will be] which must
shortly come to pass; and He sent and [spiritually] signified [what is,
was, and will be] by His [spiritual] angel [which is, was, and will be]
unto His [spiritual] servant [which is, was, and will be] John.
- Who bare [spiritual] record of [what is, was, and will
be] of the [spiritual] word [which is, was, and will be] of [spiritual]
God [who is, was, and will be], and of the [spiritual] testimony [which
is, was, and will be] of [spiritual] Jesus Christ [Who lives, was dead,
and am alive; Who is, was, and will be; the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning
and the end; Who is, was, and is to come], and of all [spiritual] things
[which are, were, and will be], that he [spiritually] saw [things that
are, and were, and will be].
- [Spiritually] Blessed is he [who is, was, and will be]
that [spiritually] reads [what is, was, and will be], and they that [spiritually]
hear [what is, was, and will be] the [spiritual] words of this [spiritual]
prophecy [which is, was, and will be], and [spiritually] keep those things
[which are, were, and will be] which are [spiritually] written therein:
for the [spiritual] time [that is, was, and will be] is [spiritually]
at hand.” (Revelation 1:1-3)
If anyone thinks this is funny, he is laughing at God,
not at me. Once one thoroughly understands this spiritual truth of what
is, was, and will be, it is not necessary to read the entire Book in the
way I have stated it above. Neither is it necessary to repeat the words
of James when he instructs us to always be aware of the fact that “If
the Lord will, we shall do this, or that” (James 4:15).
The testimony of Jesus Christ does not change, and Christ
Himself does not change, and therefore His dealings with humanity do not
change, other than that there is coming a consummation of sin and death.
Christ is not changed, but WE WILL BE CHANGED to conform to the Image of
Jesus Christ.
TRUTH NUMBER 12
- [A] “If any man will DO His will, he shall KNOW
of [concerning] the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether
I speak of Myself.” (John 7:17)
- [B] “But he that does truth [Greek: 'is DOING
the truth'] comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they [his 'doings'] are wrought in God.” (John 3:21)
- [C] “For this cause we also, since the day we heard
it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding:
That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of
God.” (Colossians 1:9,10)
- [D] “My son, if you will receive my words, and
hide ['treasure'] My commandments with you… Then shall you understand
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives
wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”
(Proverbs 2:1,5,6)
- [E] “And we know that the Son of God is come, and
has given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is True,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the True God, and eternal [eonian]
life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (I John
5:20,21)
- [F] “And he that received seed into the good ground
is he that hears the word, and understands it, which also bears fruit…”
(Matthew 13:23)
- [G] “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his
praise endures for ever [the eon].” (Psalm 111:10)
I have presented you with dozens of Scriptures. Do you
agree with them? Do you believe them? Are you willing to DO THEM? Whenever
God and our Savior speak to us, we are to BELIEVE AND OBEY. All who have
ever attempted to circumvent these spiritual truths learned were not taught
of God,
- “…but vain were they made in their reasonings
and darkened is their unintelligent heart. Alleging themselves to be wise,
they are made stupid…” (Romans 1:21,22, Concordant Literal New
Testament)
Every single person I know that has stopped growing, spiritually,
begins to go backwards, losing what light they may have possessed because
they are no longer faithful to the Word and commandments of Almighty God.
They all possess one or more “idols of the heart,”
that they will not give up or repent of. Sadly, in most cases, (even when
backed into an indefensible corner with the Scriptures), it is extremely
rare that such ones will acknowledge their sin and repent of their error.
Over time such individuals usually become bitter, after which it is only
a matter of time before Satan has them for lunch!
These twelve spiritual truths are not just helpful in understanding
God’s word; they are essential. Without them, you cannot
understand anything spiritual in the Scriptures. To the degree that you
deny or leave off one or more of them is the degree that your spiritual
understanding diminishes. Apply them all, always, and you will see spiritual
revelation like you never even thought possible.
Tim
/ June 15, 2010Excellent. As you say, no-one should listen to your exposition of the scriptures, and not accept the truth of what you say. Some great ideas here, which I will re-read, and use to help illuminate the Word as I continue on my pathway.
Brett
/ July 8, 2010NOTE: This article was written by L. Ray Smith and the original can be found at http://www.bible-truths.com
Incredible paper…
Steve
/ February 14, 2012The prophets of Hebrews 11 who gained a good report but did not become saved. This is confusing. Will they be among the elect in Christ’s 1000 year kingdom who rule over the rest? How could David, who God loved, not be saved?
Gary
/ February 14, 2012Thank you, Steve, for bringing this up. I have been meaning to address this issue, and even began a draft some time ago, but never got around to finishing it.. that is, until now.
Anyway, as you may have noticed in the previous comment, this article was not written by me. I posted it on my site because it teaches 12 very valuable spiritual principles every believer should know and apply. But this is one issue where the author of this article (Ray Smith) and I disagree. I firmly believe that the OT saints will be in Christ’s kingdom. Jesus sure seemed to think so:
“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” (Luke 13:28)
While reading this article you also may have noticed that Ray seems to have overlooked Hebrews 11:35, which states that the OT saints suffered to obtain a “better resurrection.” And if I understand “better resurrection” correctly, it is the first resurrection that the apostle Paul called the “out resurrection” or could be called “out from among the dead”. Rotherham says this in Php 3:10-11:
“To get to know him, and the power of his resurrection and fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death, if by any means I may advance to the earlier resurrection, which is from among the dead.”
This “earlier resurrection” is certainly the “better resurrection” in which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many more suffered for, were tortured, and persecuted as explained in Hebrews 11. And it would simply be biblically inconsistent for God to reserve all the OT saints to be included in the second resurrection (as Ray implies) with the vast majority of this wicked evil world. Do OT saints that endured all kinds of trials and hardship need to be chastised and corrected even MORE in the lake of fire with the rest of the wicked of this world? The point I’m making is that if anyone is more qualified, tested, and trained to rule with Christ it would be the OT saints. What about the throne and tabernacle of David that will be restored when the kingdom is ruling in power? Are we to believe that David himself will not be around and will have to go through the lake of fire and the second death before he sits on his own throne? Give me a break. David will be raised (resurrected) and will be called their king and prince (Jer 30:9, Eze 34:23-24; 37:24-25).
But Ray seems to imply that they won’t rule with Christ simply because they were not under the correct “grace”. Again, give me a break. It is true, as Ray said, that grace did not come by Moses, it came by Jesus Christ as the God of the OT. But Noah found grace (Gen 6:8). So did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses also found grace, as well as David and all the OT prophets.
Sure, Christ was the wave sheaf, but he was also the wave sheaf of the OT saints. The fulfillment of OT feasts looks “back” as well as “forward” in time. The concept of Christ was, and is, and is to come (as Ray himself says) is a spiritual reality that bypasses time. Christ already was the wave sheaf before the foundation of the world (as Ray would have to agree). That is the same concept and the spiritual reality as Christ also was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world to cover all mankind before the feasts were given to Moses. To be a firstfruit is to be a part of the first resurrection, and if the OT saints are indeed a part of the first resurrection they will be firstfruits.
I believe OT saints cannot be made perfect (complete) without us does not mean they will be excluded from the first resurrection. It proves the opposite of what Ray implies, for neither will we be made perfect (complete) without the OT saints. Just because the OT saints will not be made complete (perfect) without us only proves that ALL believing saints will be TOGETHER and raised in resurrection TOGETHER to make the first resurrection COMPLETE. The point is, one cannot be made perfect (complete) without being resurrected. And all believing saints cannot be made perfect until their “man of sin” is destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming; which includes all OT saints. Yes, they all had their “man of sin” to contend with just like we do, and that man of sin was not destroyed when they died, and neither will our man of sin be destroyed when we die. It will only be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s COMING. We cannot and will not experience true immortal life until our man of sin is completely destroyed to prepare us for the kingdom.
Sure, all OT saints died in faith not receiving the promises, but Ray didn’t mention that neither do any NT saints receive their promises when they die. The point is, we all have to be resurrected to receive the promises, and those promises are the inheritance of “aionion life” which can only be inherited at the first resurrection to experience the life of the ages starting with the 1000 year rule of Christ.
There are many more scriptures and I could go on, but I believe I have made a good case why the OT saints will NOT come up in the second resurrection and suffer the second death going through the lake of fire. Ray is certainly a very gifted teacher and writer, and I must say that I have learned a lot by his writings. But he is not infallible and in this case I firmly believe he is just plain theologically wrong.
Gary
Steve
/ February 14, 2012That makes a lot more sense. Thank you for your usual great answer. Have you ever thought about writing an article that contrasts your own beliefs with Calvinism? You both start from the same premise–that God willed the fall and that free will is a myth–but then proceed to form diametrically opposed conclusions. Armenianism is so unbiblical as to not really even warrant any attention. That really only leaves two choices–Calvinism and Universalism. A contrast of the two might be fascinating. Thanks again. Peace.
Steve
/ March 30, 2012Regarding Scriptural Truth # 10. Three verses are given (2 Cor. 5:18, Romans 11:36, and Hebrews 2:10) where it is said the word “things” is not in the Greek. I checked Young’s Literal Translation, but it did contain the word things. So did the translation on e-sword. How can I verify that “things” is not in the verse? Thanks. Peace.
Gary
/ March 30, 2012Easy. Just plug each verse into the search engine here and you will see that there is no Strong’s number for the word “things.” http://studybible.info/KJV_Strongs/rom%2011:36