God's purpose for the
earthly creation of all mankind from the beginning was to have a
people who, like Abraham, would believe him and that he could have
fellowship with here on earth, not just in heaven, persons with whom he
can communicate with, talk with even by his words..
(Psa 119:72 KJV) The law of thy mouth
is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
(Psa 119:103 KJV) How sweet are thy
words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
(Psa 119:104 KJV) Through thy precepts
I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
(Psa 119:105 KJV) NUN. Thy word is a
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
(Psa 119:130 KJV) The entrance of thy
words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
(1 Sam 15:24 KJV) And Saul said unto
Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the
LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their
voice.
(Mat 23:37 KJV) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
(Psa 119:139 KJV) My zeal hath consumed
me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
(Jer 15:16 KJV) Thy words were found,
and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 17 I sat
not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced;
Heb. 12:22-24. "But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and
church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect."
The reason also that so many JEWS,
and professing Christians do not have the faith of God or faith that
overcomes the world is because their faith is mainly standing
in their own wisdom and wisdom of men rather than in God's words and
the power of God. They have personally not learned the value of God's
words or the value of proclaiming forth God's word
Even today there is
a false religious earthly Jerusalem, the false church, that itself
does not make it to Heaven cause it rebels against God, His words,
and there is a Heavenly true Jerusalem that follows after God's
word, God. "Beyond doubt, earthly Jerusalem, Israel, Zion, Jacob and other
references are types that point to the true or spiritual counterpart. For
example, you have earthly Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem in Gal.
4:25-26. Both are religious but one brings men into bondage and the other
sets men free." Each one in the bondage
churches tends to read into the scriptures wrongfully the doctrines and
traditions of their particular group. Their
denominational glasses blot out anything that does not harmonize with what
they want to believe. The veil over their heart when the
scriptures are read is just as real as the veil was over the hearts of the
Jewish people when Moses was read. II Cor. 3:12-16. People are actually
locked in to their religious beliefs. This is also why we can't reach most
of them. Only those whom God sovereignly disturbs in their comfortable
religious nests will ever consider anything else.
In spite of this fact , the
natural Jew still makes his boast in being of the seed of Abraham. The
carnal Christian still makes a false boast of professing to be a true
Christian as well. This same fact was a constant source of
friction and debate between Jesus and the Jews. The reason they hated him
so vehemently was because he knew their condition and exposed their
religious hypocrisy. John 3:20. Matt. 23:13-39. Being the natural seed of
Abraham or any human being doesn't mean a thing. Eph.
2:14-22, "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" "And that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby:" "For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father." "Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with
the saints, and of the household of God;" "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" "In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord:" "In whom
ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit." Gal. 3:26-29. "For ye are all the children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all
one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed,
and heirs according to the promise. In John 8:37-39 Jesus said to
the Jews, "I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me,
because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with
my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father." He
says the same thing to the Christains who do not abide in his words.
God does not
save men apart from the word. Rom. 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Jesus said, "It is the
spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John
6:63.
I personally am no longer
surprised that many of the churches do not openly oppose gays, but it is
also same reasons many of them also do not oppose Divorce that God hates,
basically many of the Christians they personally and their churches they
still really do not follow the Bible. (Mat 22:14 KJV) For many are
called, but few are chosen.
(Zec 1:6 KJV) But my words and my
statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take
hold of your fathers?
(Jer 15:16 KJV) Thy words were found,
and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
(Psa 119:57 KJV) Thou art my portion, O
LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.
(Job 33:8 KJV) Surely thou hast spoken
in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying, 9
I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there
iniquity in me.
(Jer 1:17 KJV) Thou therefore gird up
thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not
dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
(1 Cor 2:4
KJV) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God.
(Neh 8:12 KJV) And all the people went
their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great
mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto
them.
God also still does not save any man
and woman without using His anointed men with His ministries in the
word nor without the Holy Spirit to convict
them
(Ezek 3:17 KJV) Son of man, I
have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.18 When I say unto
the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor
speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the
same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
thine hand.19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his
wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
thou hast delivered thy soul.
The Ethiopian eunuch himself could not be saved
apart from the ministry of Philip. Acts 8:1-39.
The D.D.'s, L.L.D.'s and
Jewish theologians by the score no doubt were present at this gathering.
Despite all of their knowledge and religious training, they couldn't tell
the eunuch how to be saved. He also had the scriptures and was reading
them, but he still had to have Philip tell him how to be
saved.
Saul of Tarsus, who later became the
Apostle Paul, could not be fully saved apart from the ministry of
Ananias. Acts 9:1-22. He, Saul too, was already a very learned
and religiously zealous man well versed in the Old Testament
too.
Cornelius the centurion Cornelius
was a "devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave
much alms to the people, and prayed to God always." Acts 10:1-48.
who did everything he could to find God, but he too had to have a
minister of the word.
All of these
commendable things were meaningless without God faith by his word and his
servants. Heb. 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to
please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him."
Even though Cornelius did
all these things in this quest for salvation and God actually sent an
angel to him, the angel couldn't tell him how to be saved. He still had to
have a ministry of faith. In this particular case the apostle Peter was
the man God chose to preach the gospel to Cornelius and his
household.
(Isa 52:7 KJV) How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth!
God's method of salvation has still and
always will be to use his own called preachers to preach the gospel to
every human creature and next only he that believeth shall be saved.
Salvation always is still a personal acceptance, and individual
experience, not national, racial, political or otherwise.
Christ's next
coming will be deliverance for the saints and destruction of the earth by
fire. Jesus is also already reigning now, not from some future
earthly throne, but from a heavenly throne at the right hand of the
Father. Except for his work as our intercessor and great high priest at
the right hand of God, Jesus and his earthly sojourn is forever ended, His
work on earth was Finished, for him as well.
Rom. 8:34. When Jesus said
"it is finished" and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost on the cross,
his work was finished. John 19:30. Heb. 10:12-13 says, "But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of
God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool."
According to this scripture he has forever sat down at the right hand of
the Father and will remain there until his enemies are made his
footstool. He not only is reigning now but
he will continue to reign till all enemies are put under his feet
including death itself. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. I
Cor. 15:25-26.
It is his
called servants who are next finishing the job of reaching all
nations.
(Eph
4:11 KJV) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ:
The True Jew, Israel
today and forever areall of those Jews and Gentiles who believed God
in reality. And there is a great difference in believing about God and
believing in God. Rom. 4:3 says, "...Abraham believed God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness." Needless to say,
all true Israel shall be saved. The "all" Israel of Rom. 11:26 is not
natural Israel but spiritual Israel. It is the very small
remnant of true Israelites within the nation as a whole. Isa. 1:9. Rom.
9:27, 11:5. The true Jew in the sight of God
has never been the natural Jew. Rom. 2:28-29 says, "For he
is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which
is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;
whose praise is not of men, but of God." This same principle applies to
professing Gentile believers. If we knew the
truth, we would be shocked at the very small remnant of professing
Christians who are truly born again. The professing Christian church today
occupies the same apostate level the Jews did at the first coming of
Christ. The last soul that responds to the gospel call before Jesus comes
will be saved exactly like the first one was saved. The church
dispensation began with Apostle Peter saying,
"...repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
"For the promise is unto you, and to your
children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call." Acts 2:38-39.
When the last soul answers the gospel call, the
dispensation of the fullness of times will be over. Jew and Gentile will
be brought together in one in Christ Jesus. Eph.
1:10.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think
not the Son of man cometh." Matt.
24:44.
"And no
matter how dynamic or charismatic a human personality might be, that does
not qualify him to preach the gospel. That in itself does not give him a
ministry in the word. Natural
attributes are no substitute for the gift of
Christ. Paul said, "And no man taketh this honor
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Heb. 5:4.
Perhaps the greatest
hindrance to the cause of Christ past, present and future is those who
take this honor upon themselves and presumptuously undertake to instruct
men in the things of God. Because
of a shortage of priests, the Roman Catholic Church is advertising for
young men who will surrender their lives to the church for this noble
cause. This advertising effort has the sanction and blessings of the Pope
upon it. I personally
believe we would be better off if ninety-nine percent of all ministers,
priests and preachers would resign and get themselves a job digging
ditches. Most of the professional ministries are simply a product of their
religious system. They are not voices but echoes of the system that
hatched them. The reason they continue to preach the doctrines and
traditions of their particular group is because that is all they know and
they are afraid to look beyond the confines of their denominational walls
(for they are hirelings worried abotu their pensions form their
organizations) . Peer pressure is also a great factor in keeping them in
bondage. John 12:42-44. They are actually afraid because they have been
brainwashed to think of everything outside their group as
heresy. Such is the
condition of most religious groups. They are in prison and don't know it.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "...if therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! Matt. 6:23." Even most of their preachers are deceived
about what is actually taking place. This is why Jesus will come as a
thief in the night. This is also why the ten virgins are slumbering and
sleeping. "
(Rev 18:4 KJV) And I
heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.5
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and
God hath remembered her iniquities.6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her
double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to
her double.7 How much she hath
glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give
her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall
see no sorrow.8 Therefore shall her
plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be
utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth
her.
Every cult is the result of some human being moving apart from the
headship of Jesus Christ. Converts
from this type of ministry may have an intellectual grasp of some things
but that still is not personally saving faith that brings salvation. Their
hearts still have not been changed.. God changes hearts. Paul speaks of
those who believe in vain. (1 Cor 15:2 KJV) By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have
believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:
(Rev 18:9
KJV) And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and
lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when
they shall see the smoke of her burning,
The idea also
that people can be saved any way others than through the
means ordained of God is still absolutely false.
True Israel has
never been cast away. God's answer to those who believe this is found in
Rom. 11:1-5. "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I
also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of
Benjamin. "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying, "Lord, they
have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left
alone, and they seek my life.
It
is not a matter of who our biological mother, father is but who our
spiritual father is. Gal. 3:7-9 says, "Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations
be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham."
(John 3:16 KJV) For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God.
It is also a falsehood that
the Nation of Israel has been temporarily abandoned but will be
regathered and restored to the land of their inheritance without them
individually, accepting personally Jesus Christ as their Lord and
savior. Despite the plain teaching of the New Testament that
"there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek" some they still
make a false difference between Jew and Gentile. In
numbers, natural Israel was compared to the sand of the sea; yet only a
remnant would be saved according to (Rom 9:27 KJV) "
Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of
Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:" because they
were not all Israel which were called Israel.
Ironically that applies to many so called professing Christians as well.
even if they are Bretheren, Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic or any
other denomination.
(Rom 9:6
KJV) Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they
are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they
are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy
seed be called.8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are
counted for the seed.