I am so grateful to have Pastor Don teaching our Friday Bible studies, he is an incredible and thorough teacher. I know it seems like we have been lingering on these topics a long time, but that is because we always end up getting off track and asking questions. I am grateful that he teaches this way, for it sure makes it easier to talk with others about the Bible truths and when we leave a subject, we are so grounded in it.

We are looking at Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

We are now working on the basic principle of eternal judgment.

Pastor Don pointed out that for many of the churches today these topics that were considered elementary principles are not all that elementary. We know that when Jesus comes and all the saints are raised from the dead, there will be an eternal judgment. God has a purpose and a plan and has written many scriptures regarding eternal judgment. Those false teachers who claim there will be no eternal judgment are scripturally incorrect.

When Jesus was on earth He was sent to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. We are servants of the Bride and friends of the Bride. Jesus spoke to the Jews concerning the Jews.The Apostle Paul was given a clear understanding of what would happen with the Church, and he spoke to the Gentiles.

Jesus spoke mostly about love, but after the topic of love, He spoke more about hell than any other topic. If God is love, is it not the gesture of a loving God to show people the dangers that they could face and the possibility of where a wrong choice could lead them? He gave many examples for He wants us to be clear about.

In Revelation 21:8  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. When the New Heaven and the New Earth are created there will be those who will face the second death in the lake of fire, for they can have no part of what is new.

But we DO NOT have to be afraid, for we will not be going to the lake of fire.  We need to have compassion for those who hate God, who refuse to believe in what He has said.

Acts 10:9-16  The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

Until this time, if a person was not a Jew they were considered unsavable, lost, and the Jewish men would often pray thanking God that they were not a gentile, a woman or a dog. But after Peter was up on the roof and had this vision, God showed Peter that even Gentiles could be saved, cleansed, and made acceptable. Then He was invited by a Gentile believer, Cornelius. And then it was realized that Jesus paid the price for ALL, Jew and Gentile. ALL were acceptable to God, and all could receive salvation.

Men everywhere who fear God and do what is right are acceptable. And now the Gospel is brought to the World.

Someone asked about an aborigine in Australia who never heard the Gospel or seen a Bible, how can they be saved? Pastor Don said the Spirit of God is speaking to all men in all cultures and in all tribes. He is preparing their hearts, and then when a believer comes in contact with them, they can fill in the rest of the story.

One of our members who ministers in Hati, attracted the negative attention of a shaman, an evil witch doctor, when he went to a village. The shaman wanted to kill him, to do something about the “evil man.” There was an earthquake and a great storm. The shaman’s hut was the only one which was destroyed. The cliff where the hut was located disintegrated and fell into the sea. The hand of God is not too short to take care of people. We are to bind and cast out but at times the Hand of God will aid us.

Revelation 20:5-6 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The first resurrection are those who died and are now alive with Christ. The second death is for those who did not accept Christ in this life, and they will be resurrected, face judgment, and then either be saved or end in the lake of fire – which is the second death. Those in the first resurrection will reign with Christ, and there will be no second death.

This is not soul sleep like the Jehovah Witnesses teach, and they have also had to change the number of those who will rule and reign with Christ once their numbers grew beyond the 144,000 – but we know that the 144,000 are pure Jews.

The rest of the dead, who were not absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord, hate God and did not accept the Lord. Their spirits are in a holding place, hell, gehena, facing varying degrees of torment.  In verse 6 the first are those who serve with the Lord for the 1000 year reign. The second death is also a death. We have 1. physical death, and then 2. Spiritual death. The physical soul and spirit man are eternal, and both have a mind/will/and emotions.

The rapture will occur before the first resurrection, and during the rapture, Jesus does not set His feet on the ground, He comes in the clouds. During the 2nd coming of Christ, all the dead in Christ rise, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

After the rapture there will be seven years of tribulation. We are beginning now to see signs of things in the earth coming together that will herald these events. We are getting closer and closer to a one world government, there will so be the currencies of the Euro and the Amero (which will be a combined currency of North and South America). And eventually the Amero will be turned into the Phoenix. This is a pre stage, sort of a rehearsal for the end times.

There are anti-American demonstrations with the muslims, people are setting up open dialogues with Gentile Christians and Jews, and muslims and other religions, hoping to achieve the goal of a one world religion. There is a redefinition and forcing of tolerance – but it is not just accepting another’s differences, it is being forced to accept as true the differences between religions.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The second death is a spiritual death, and those who are saved will rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years.

Revelation 20:7-9  Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

The camp of the saints and the beloved city is Jerusalem. They will gather to battle and fire from God will devour the enemy of the saints.

Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The beast, the military leaders, the false prophets, the son of perdition and the devil will all end up in the lake of fire. They know their end, but they will still try to get as many people as possible in as much trouble as possible so that they will end up in the lake of fire. But God did not intend for people to end up in the lake of fire, but if they make that choice, God will honor it. And this is the lake of fire that continues forever and ever, or for the ages of ages. We don’t know how long an age is.

When you receive a personal prophesy from someone, it does not mean that it will instantly come about, sometimes there is a long period of time between the prophesy and the outcome. God waits until certain things are worked out in our life. When those things are worked out then the prophesy can be fulfilled.

When Abraham was told by God to move to a land God would show him, Abraham was not given a road map, he was not told where that land was, all he was to do was to MOVE HIS CAMEL, and God would direct him.

We too need to move our camels, to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and God will direct our paths. When things are tough, that could be part of the battle that gets you to where God wants you to go. Not always when things are tough in our lives does it indicate that we are out of God’s will. If we are having peace in the midst of the tough times, then we know we are not out of the will of God. When we do not have peace in a tough situation than maybe we are out of the will of God.

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

The old heaven and earth will pass away. Earth is in revolt now, and there has been so much innocent blood shed, pollution, etc. God will not use the old earth and heaven, for there is too much damage in it, He will create a New Heaven and a New Earth.

In the Old Testament, God lead the Children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. In order to do that he had to remove the “ites” from the land – the Canaanites, Jebusites, Perizites, etc. God took a righteous person (Abraham) from the area we now know as Turkey, and Abraham is the father of faith, and of the Hebrew children. As time went by, the Israelites moved into the promised land, and purified the land from the ites. But they couldn’t immediately go into the land when Abraham lived for their numbers were too small. It took 400 years of slavery in Egypt for the numbers to swell to enough individuals to do the work to clear the promised land of the enemies. God had instructed the Israelites to keep the Jubilee – the 50 year period where all debts were resolved and the land was given back to the original owners. He also had told the people to let the land rest for a sabbath year, and the people did not do either of those things. So the people were in captivity in the time of Daniel until they had worked off those years of disobedience. Daniel was able to calculate when the dispersion would be over and the people could return to the land.

In the promised land there were sacrifices made by the “ites”, children sacrificed to idols and when the wall of Jericho was built, infants were killed and their blood was mixed with the cement in the walls. When we were in Israel, we saw that the walls did not tumble down as the song suggests, but went straight into the earth. God provided a burial for those innocent sacrificed children.

Man is so evil that the earth, in the time of Noah, was destroyed in a flood, and God started over with Noah.

Man was given dominion over the earth, but Adam turned that dominion over to satan by his disobedience. Adam knew the rules, and he taught them to his kids, and they did not have respect for each other, and Cain killed Able because Able offered a sacrifice that was pleasing to God, whereas Cain offered the fruit of his work with his hands. Cain did not respect the covenant.

I am going to continue this tomorrow so the teaching is not too long to read. To those of you finishing up your work in college, I pray that God gives you the right words for your papers and helps you to remember what you need to know for your finals.

Have a blessed Sunday,

Heather

 You can find part one here.

Pastor Don continued talking about Revelation.

In Revelation 22 Judgment has occurred and that judgment is for the ages of ages, and yet we know that something is still going on after Revelation 22. We don’t know when an age ends, but we do know that the Church is raptured, and we have no idea of what will happen next.

Revelation 20:7-10 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The devil, the beast and the false prophet are in the lake of fire forever and ever. We know that the actual term for that is for ages of the ages. But we don’t know how long a period called an age is. We do know that there have been several ages on our world, such as the age of the Church.

Pastor Don had a brainstorm about how to explain this. He talked about the game of basketball, and how each game has four quarters in it, and yet while one game is at some point within those four quarters, there are other games of basketball being played each of those games having four quarters. But there is the eternal game of basketball. The ages of ages is like one period of basket ball played over and over for all time and there is still basketball going on with each game of four periods. So a person can move from one game to the next game forever.

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

The New Heaven and the New earth are in existence.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

This judgment is for all the dead who were not raptured (if you were raptured you did not die, your body was transformed). And for those who are in Christ, to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord, so they would have already faced the Judgment seat of Christ. But to be fair, there is a judgment provided for all those who rejected Jesus.

Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

This is for those who died a physical death, and their spirits were in a holding place called Death and Hades. Any who speak of the soul sleep are teaching a false teaching, for the Bible clearly states that to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord. There are also false teachings that state that there won’t be a final judgment with a lake of fire, that God will forgive all sinners, even the devil will be forgiven. If this teaching was true, why did Jesus teach more about hell than most subjects? After Love, the next most frequent subject that Jesus taught about was hell. The ideas about soul sleep and that all would be saved even if they reject Jesus during their lives is not supported by scripture, and it would not make God true to His word, for He is a judge, and must justly judge. But everyone will get their day in court, so to speak. And in this judgment people will be judged by their works. The end result for failing this judgment is to be cast into the lake of fire. If we can’t believe Jesus for what He said about earth, how can we believe Him for heavenly things?

Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Anyone not found in the Book of Life will be cast into the fire. Scripture points out that those who are in Christ become one new man.

Those false teachers state that they have a spiritual revelation, but it is not a revelation from God. They often come at the believer pretending that they have received advanced information from God. It is not supported in the Bible, but they often say things like, “You are not advanced enough to understand this revelation that I have received.”  Many of the cults like the Jehovah witnesses and the mormons give extra revelation. But what they are sharing is not supported by the Bible. No matter how Christian-like a teaching sounds, if it is not supported by the Bible it is a false teaching. One of the biggest lies that is being taught today is the doctrine of universal salvation. This comes from spiritual presumption. God clearly spells out His Truth for us in His word, and He will not go beyond His Word or change His mind about something.

We know that Jesus prophesied correctly and taught correctly. To accept any other teaching that is not in agreement with the Word of God is spiritual presumption. There will be a factual end of the age, and there will be a judgment. We don’t know exactly when that will be, but the signs of the times are indicating that time is near.

Death and Hades in verse 14 are cast into the lake of fire, that is the second death. Hades and death are a holding place in the center of the earth. Jesus spoke of them in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man was in hades, and Lazarus was in the good part of this called Abraham’s bosom.  This is taught in Luke 16. The rich man did not keep the law and ended up in hades, and Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom. This is not purgatory. The concept of purgatory is also a false teaching based on spiritual presumption. There is no holding place. When a person dies they are either in heaven or in hell. To die is to go immediately to judgment. Purgatory was invented by a pope to raise money for the church. People were told that they could pay indulgences for others, but you cannot cover another person’s sins. There was no crossing over from Abraham’s bosom to hades, once you came to a place that is where you stayed.

The book of life mentioned in verse 15 is a list of those who are believers, who have accepted the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers us. Jesus descended to paradise, to Abraham’s bosom, after His crucifixion, and preached to those, bringing them to Heaven with Him. The others in hades are there awaiting eternal judgment. But after Jesus went to Abraham’s bosom the place is empty, when believers die now, they are immediately with the Lord, they do not go to Abraham’s bosom.

When the disciples saw Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, it was not the physical bodies they saw, but the spiritual bodies that they saw.

We need to have the Spirit and the Word agree.

Pastor Don pointed out that there were three levels to our atmosphere, there is the air around us, there is the 2nd level of the stratosphere, where satan resides, and then there is a higher place of paradise with the Lord.

Pastor Don pointed out that we cannot see much beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, there are vast reaches of space that we cannot see. So, we cannot penetrate to where paradise is.

If you are a believer you will spend the ages of ages in paradise.

Revelation 21:6-8 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

This is not Hell, it is a new place. It also is not Heaven.

Revelation 21:22-23  But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

Jesus, the Logos, the Lamb of God, the son of God.

Revelation 21:24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

Nations are saved and walk in the light.  It is a new earth, a new Jerusalem.

25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

No night, not Chronos time.

26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life

This is a new age, but there are many things we do not know about this place. We do know that nothing evil could enter, but that means that there may be evil on the outside.

Revelation 22:1-2 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

There are still nations, and saved people are ruling and reigning on this new earth.

Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

Death, physical and spiritual is the curse.

Revelation 22:4-5 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

Forever and ever is from the ages to the ages.

Revelation 22:7-9  “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Worship God.

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

There are angels sent as ministering spirits for us.

Revelation 22:10-15 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

There are gates to the city, and the ones who do His commandments can enter. But there will be those who did not go to the lake of fire, who are outside of the city. Someone asked about that, and Pastor Don pointed out that there would be births during the millennial reign.

Revelation 22:16-18  “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

Angels testify of these things, and the Root and offspring of David is Jesus. This is a spiritual perception, and we are not to add to these prophesies our spiritual presumptions.

Deuteronomy 28, 29, 31 and 21 talk about the blessings and cursings connected with obedience and disobedience.

Revelation 22:20-21 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

In the ages of ages things happen beyond Chronos time that we know nothing about and are not permitted to know. God wants us by faith to complete the age based on the Word, not with our presumptuous ideas. It would be easy for God to clearly state something if He wanted to. If He wanted those false teachings in the Bible He would have put them there. These false teachings are not of God. One example is Carlton Pearson (????) who is saying that all will be saved. His church is losing members, so it is not showing much fruit for those false teachings.

God will always pay and there will be a judgment. We need to ask ourselves, do you believe there is God? The depth of your belief will cause you to evaluate presumptuous teachings. If there is error, we are to correct the problem in love. But remember the sinner who loves their sin is lost. The sinner who acknowledges that their sin is sin, even if they are struggling to beat their sin, will be forgiven.

The Lord will lead us to know Him, and tell us how to be His disciples. He will introduce us to discipleship and how to work for Him. Why would God equip us and then not do anything with us? What the devil meant for evil, God can turn for good. God can turn what satan meant for harm into a testimony. The more you learn about God, the more you will move in the supernatural things of God.

Hoping your day is blessed, I am still working at getting to all your sites, I miss reading what you have to share, but life has been a bit more hectic these days.

Heather

This is the closed captioning transcript of Pastor Don’s message, very, very slightly edited.  Remember three dots … mean a pause in his talk. And the things in the brackets [  ] are what the congregation says.

Say Amen

Show 95

Alright, let’s open our Bibles, we’re going to go to the book of John, and we’re going to go alllllll the way to the 21st chapter of the book of John. 

After Jesus went to the Cross, there were 40 days after the Resurrection that He was on the earth…walking and talking and hanging out with people. It was during this time period that He said many very important things by His Spirit for the Church, for the disciples to understand and to give them the information that He wanted them to have.  Then, as we look at scripture, we begin to see that  He is preparing them for the day of Pentecost. “Pente” is fifty. So, from the time of the Resurrection, the time of Passover, if you count from Passover fifty days, you come to the time period of Pentecost. 

Now, Pentecost is a great and joyous celebration on the Jewish Calendar. It is not only the celebration of what they believed was the time period when Moses had gone up to the Mountain and came down with the Law. But, more importantly than that, God, in the Old Testament, gave the Law which was a gift to man so man would know how to live. But God is preparing to give us the second great gift. The first great gift, of course, is Christ.  And He’s going to give us this second great gift which is the indwelling and the presence of the Holy Spirit. [hallelujah]  Beautiful stuff! Beautiful stuff! Where would we be without the Lord? I’m telling you, where would we be? 

So, what we end up with is this opportunity during this, not just the forty days that the Lord was with the disciples and the different things that He deposited with them, but then at the end of it, we have this celebration of the Jewish Feast, but it takes on a new color. 

Under Moses, Moses told the People that at Pentecost, which was fifty, there would be a fifty year celebration. Debts would be canceled. [amen] Slaves would be set free. How about that? Wouldn’t that be something in America? At the end of fifty years, your debts would be canceled? [hallelujah] You all don’t like that idea…[conversation] I like that idea! Debts canceled. Slaves set free. [laughter]  And so in this telling of Pentecost is not only this great liberty and this great excitement, that debts that would be carried over from parents and grandparents, and laid on the children, even to the third generation, those debts would be wiped out.  It is a spiritual picture that, through the Holy Spirit, we can enter into the newness of life, and all of the curses that had been left upon us, by our parents and grandparents can be wiped out. 

Many of you sit here today and you struggle, you struggle with different types of addictions that have been given you by your parents and grandparents…Just imagine…just imagine, huh…in the Spiritual celebration of Pentecost, that all of that is wiped out and obliterated. That the devil’s claim over you, is broken. [praise God] What, my goodness…Can you imagine that? All of you that can’t handle money or have sexual sin, it’s been passed down to you and just one day you wake up and pffff, gone.  [amen!]  That’s, my goodness. That’s a great one. 

So what we end up with is trying to grab an understanding, trying to wrap our head around the goodness of God. That He would give a time period. He would set in motion a holiday that would be set primarily as a blessing to the people, so that they can throw off the past. That’s what it is. And, once throwing off the past, enter into this new relationship with the Father, by the Spirit. If we can just begin to understand that, we begin to get a picture that God wants us to see. That the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Covenant, the Presence of the Holy Spirit was something that was experienced by the priest, that was experienced by the prophet, and on occasion, by the King. The rest of the people could not get a Word from the Lord. The rest of the people did not have supernatural contact with the Lord, for they were limited in that only those three offices did the Shekinah glory of the Holy Spirit touch them and move them, give them wisdom, give them understanding, and guide their lives. 

But Jesus!…[amen!] But Jesus comes…the veil, curtain of the Temple, is rent as he passes from death into more life. The curtain is opened, and the power, the Shekinah, the private Glory of the Holy Spirit comes out of the Holy of Holies, and then becomes available at Pentecost to all men, all believers. [glory!] Do we get this? Do we? I want you to see how important it is that during the time of the prophets, people had to rely on a prophet to get a Word from God…People had to rely on the priest or the prophets in order to be healed.  People always had to go somewhere that the Shekinah glory of God would be available…But it was never how….oh my goodness! It was never available to them through prayer or by request. They had to wait because they were under mercy, not under grace. And therefore, it was only the kindness of the Lord, that would show up at a given time for a set purpose…But they can’t do what you can do!…

That’s why Jesus said, even though John the Baptist was the greatest among men, was humble, great man of God, powerful man of God, but He says, you are even greater than him….Because, why? You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit available to you, daily, nightly…When Jesus said you could receive the Holy Spirit, He meant that you could walk in the presence of the Holy Spirit, 24/7, if you so desire, that there’s no position of your flesh that you can hide from Him. That every little corner and closet that you have, if you would open the door, the Holy Spirit will come in and be present with you. It’s just…I’m just overwhelmed by just the concept, just the concept that David, David…the man of God’s own heart, a man after God’s own heart, that I can get in the presence of the Lord quicker and easier than even the great King David.  [AMEN!]  …

I don’t know about you, but that gives me a chill, just to know that the Holy Spirit was made that available to us by the sacrifice of Christ. AWESOME! Just awesome…awesome, just I mean, just…awesome. I think for the next fifteen minutes, I’ll just stand here and go “Awesome.” [laughter] Awesome! Cause see, I just want you to, know that. Cause people are walking around going, “I wish I could hear from God. You know, I  wish I could have an experience from God. I wish God would speak to me. I wish God would …I can’t find Him. He’s lost. He’s in, God is in Venezuela and I wish I could find Him.” [laughter] You know… my goodness. “I can’t find Him. He won’t talk to me. I’m so low.” If you’d stop whining and crying, you’d realize He’s right there in the room with you. Lord have mercy. 

So let’s look at some scriptures on how this happened. I’m just giving you an overview.   And what we want to do is come to be sure. Now, let’s go to John. And we want to go look at these scriptures. We want to trace this down, and we want to begin in in John Chapter 20 verse 19. You there?  [yes] Ok, let’s get busy. “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”… When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” This is because it’s after the Crucifixion, and now the time of the resurrection. And He showed them His side. “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” Well, wouldn’t you be? [yes, amen] “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”” In verse 21 the Lord God, Himself, is commissioning discipleship. He is commissioning discipleship. In this verse here, in verse 21, an amazing thing has happened. This is a premier, powerful verse here. He declares them to be sent ones. He declares them to be apostles. The word, “apostle” means a sent one. And what He declares is, as the Father called Me an apostle and sent me forth, He says, I now am doing, what? I am sending you forth. I am what? I am coming with a commission.  I’m commissioning you. I’m setting you in the office of apostle and now, I am sending you. 

This verse, causes problems for people that believe that somehow the limits of the Church are going to end with the apostles. But here’s a very important point. If Jesus, as an Apostle, can send apostles, why then can’t these apostles send apostles?… They say, “Well, because He’s Jesus.”  Well, He’s the Son of Man standing in the office of the apostle, commissioning apostles, and sending apostles. Therefore, it’s just logical to assume, that if they are sent ones, they can also send ones. [amen] Now, if you don’t want to accept that, fine. You won’t be sent. [laughter]…I’m moving right along here.

Verse 22:  “And when He had said this” When He called them sent ones, put them in the office of apostle, “He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”…Hm..Hm..Hm…This is powerful stuff. So, it’s interesting, though, in verse 22 that the receiving of the Holy Spirit in this particular instance was accomplished by breathing. He breathed the Holy Spirit on them. I’ve always been amazed in the Body of Christ that we’ve never made that kind of an institution, or, you know, we’ve never made it like, the way to receive the Holy Spirit is you get breathed on. So we would have  breathe on, spit on people sessions, or something. [laughter] You know, I mean, I have never been in a church where somebody says, “Come on up, I’m going to blow on everybody.” [Pastor Don blows] You know, I have been in services, and I’ve had, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, been instructed to do that, and you see great power, the same power of laying on of hands is still released onto people. 

In this particular case though, Jesus is telling us something very important. The administration of the Holy Spirit and the giving of the Holy Spirit is not always with pattern…It’s not always the same. If we are going to follow the instructions of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will have us and command us to do different things at different times. And we have to understand that flexibility that we have in the Holy Spirit and His instructions. Everyone’s not going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit the same way.  Everyone’s not going to receive the Holy Spirit in the same way. Everyone’s not going to get born again in the same way. Some people get born again doing the Sinner’s Prayer. Other people get born again in their prayer closet. Other people get born again sitting on a bar stool and just go, boinggggg…and they get it. 

So, the, the experience of being born again is one of, what did He say? He says, you must be born of water, which I’ve shown you is the Word of God. You must hear the Word of God, and receive it where? You receive it in your heart. Ok. And He says, and you’re born of water and the…and the Spirit.  And He says, you don’t know, you don’t see the Spirit coming and going, but you’re born of the Spirit. Which means then, that there are times, there are circumstances, when the breeeeathing in of the Spirit is the same of the induement of the Spirit from on high, because you open your heart and receive it. 

The apostles surely are ready to receive the Holy Spirit. But they’re not receiving at this time the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They’re being born again, they’re being what? [born again]  They’re being born again….I just got to wait a minute for you to think about that.  Alright? You cannot get born again without the water and the Spirit. The water is the Word of God. Have the apostles, have they heard the Word of God? [yes]  Yeah, they’ve traveled around with Jesus for over a year. They’ve heard the Word. So, they’ve received the Word. Now, the Word though, without revelation, will lead us still into error…So He is saying to them, you still need the water, the Word, and you need the Spirit. And so He says, now, in order for you to be sent ones, He doesn’t want you to go with just the Word because there must be agreement between the Word and the Spirit. The Spirit and the Word must agree. The Spirit AND the Word must agree. 

I am so shocked and amazed at people that will run off with one and not the other.  [amen]  And,…I’m shocked and disappointed. Just because you have an emotional moment with the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean that that should be an unbridled, emotional experience, that somehow has greater validity than the Word itself….You know. What’s wrong? I mean, yeah, you’re going to be emotionally moved, and you’re going to be taken. You’re only human. You’re going to be taken by people’s charisma. You’re going to be taken by people’s mystery and their personality and so forth. But you have to have the Word balanced with your enthusiasm. Don’t turn on the TV and see somebody and just you love the way they dress, you love the way they sound, you love the power with which they minister, and you go wacko. And then you just don’t pay attention to what’s coming out of their mouth. [amen] Well, glory to God! You know, don’t sit, don’t sit  in radio and TV and listen to someone who has just phenomenal Word, just phenomenal Word and ignore the itching on the inside that is telling you, discomfort. Discomfort. [laughter] Discomfort. 

Well, what’s that discomfort? The discomfort is maybe the Word may be right, but the Spirit in which they deliver it is not, not balanced. It’s got to be balanced. You have to be able to find it in the Word, and it says, you know, cross every “T” and dot every “I” and all of that jazz. But, in addition to that, there should be something that, in you, that the Spirit confirms the Word you’re hearing…You know, I call it your itcher. You should have an itcher. Not, your itcher shouldn’t scratch just because of cultural bias or you’re hearing something you never heard before. I’ve heard stuff I’ve never heard before, and I was comfortable to go, Ohhh, that’s a new revelation. Let me check that out. And then I look for balance in the Word and then I go ffphew. You know, God is speaking something afresh to me that I haven’t heard before. Come on now, right? 

But, if you just sitin’ there feeling totally itched out on the inside even though your eye is taken with charisma, you need to, you need to jot it down, question it, and say, Holy Ghost, come on, say it with me. Holy Ghost [Holy Ghost] show me [show me] in Jesus’ Name [in Jesus' Name]. And He will, He will reveal to you error. He’ll reveal to you that the, that yeah, the Word’s kind of right, but the way the person’s twisting the Word is in error. You know. For example, this morning, the morning scripture was Psalm 148. There’s a line in there that caught my attention. It said, the young men, it said maidens, and then it said old men. Now, it didn’t say anything about old women. Now it’s very interesting, a person with power and a person with charisma could very easily take the omission of old women and build a theology on it that goes like this. Old women have no anointing, no authority, and no place in the praise of God. I know you’re saying, well this, well that’s ridiculous Pastor Don. But that’s how stuff gets on. Well, you have to know the Spirit of God. Would God in that process, would that be what He is saying?… [no] Would God be saying old women are excluded from praise? No. I mean that would be, that would be you know, that’s not what it’s saying at all! My goodness!

So, we have to understand that when the Bible says something like Jesus fed the 5,000, and they counted and there were 5,000 men, right. That doesn’t mean there were no women and children there…You have to understand the Spirit of the Word. And you have to understand the culture of the Word, which would mean, in those days they counted, they only counted the men. Cause, so, you’ve got to figure there’s….who goes to a picnic and doesn’t take their wife and their kids?….Well obviously some of you, cause you’re no response here. [laughter] So, there were way over 5,000 people. So we have to balance the Spirit with the Word and realize that, wait a minute, man…you know, you could run into some real holes where people will take the Word, dissect it, and feed it back to you unless you know the Spirit of the Word as well. And you have to balance that. How you all doing?  [good]  Ok? 

Now…let’s look at this here. So, He says in verse 22 “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  There’s no mention of receiving power from on high or the induement of power from on high.  He is saying that, that you must now be fully Born Again. You have to come into the full revelation of what? What I just told you. What is the full revelation of what I just told you? I (Jesus) just made you apostles. And He is bringing the Holy Spirit to what? Seal, seal the commission. I’ve just commissioned you, now, I’ve given you a demonstration by the Holy Spirit, now feel this to know, boom, that what, you have been commissioned… Everybody got that?

That’s why when we pull all these people into a spiritual office, we anoint them with oil, we lay hands on them, we pray for them, in order to what, invite the Holy Spirit to confirm their anointing. Confirm their new office, and what they’ve been commissioned for. Everybody got that? And with that, they now have been born into what? A new office, and new responsibilities, but that is not the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

So let’s go on. In verse 23 He says, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now, this is very simple. Some people want to take that and say, well you can’t forgive sins. You can’t if you’re not Born Again.  You can only forgive someone the sin that they committed upon you….But… Lord have mercy, if you qualify just as the disciples qualified…you can forgive the sins. Well, how did they qualify? They were… Born Again….What happened after they were Born Again?  They were commissioned. They were placed into an office….Come on, somebody, anybody here today? [hallelujah] By the placing of them in office, and receiving the, the Holy Spirit, were they not given this authority? Jesus said they had it. Well, if He said they had it, then I guess… they had it. [laughter] 

Now when it says, retain sins. Do you know what that means? It means that to retain someone’s sin, it means that after you hear their testimony, if they haven’t taken the necessary steps, you as a believer are to say to them, wait a minute, you haven’t repented of that. And you’ve done nothing to make restitution, therefore you are still in your sin….Everybody got that? So if somebody comes to you over a cup of coffee, if  you’re Born Again and filled with the Spirit, you have been commissioned then into the office of a saint. You are a saint of God, you are a disciple or a follower of Christ. With being a disciple, or a follower of Christ comes what? Comes you’re stepping into an office. You received the sign and the guarantee of the ability to speak in tongues, as a sign reflecting an inner work that God has done. You have that. You’re now a believer who is baptized and sealed. You have the guaranteed seal of the Holy Spirit upon you. The seal of the Holy Spirit permits you to do the work that the Holy Spirit commissions you to do. The work of the Holy Spirit commissions you to do is to forgive sins. Is to seal people and give them a new beginning, just as Jesus gave them a new beginning. Just as Peter gave people a new beginning. Just as Paul gave people a new beginning. If you can do that, then it means that it was given to you by  the power of God, and therefore when you speak and say, “Brother, I realize you are fully repentant. I realize that you have made the phone calls and gone and done the visits. And you have made an effort to give restitution for your sin. Because you have done that, in the name of Jesus, I declare your sins today are forgiven you.” [hallelujah!]…

How could you possibly, how could you possibly lead someone to the Lord, and leave them in their sin?…[laughs]  How can you possibly have someone pray the Sinner’s Prayer and not realize that you are helping them to forgive, be forgiven of their sins?  [yeah] How can you do that? How can you say, well let’s say the Sinner’s Prayer and invite Jesus in. Do you think Jesus, when He comes in just cohabitates with the sin?  [no]  Do you think He just pulls up a chair next to sin in your heart, and just stays there with it?…Do you think that when Jesus moves in with the cleaning factory on His back, do you really think He’s not going to vacuum your stuff?  [laughter]  Huh?…I’m telling you, this reality is so great, that Jesus rose from the dead, conquered sin and death, and then we walk around as believers struggling with our sin, that He has said, “No, no, no just give it to Me.” He said, “Just cast it over here.  I will take it.” When Jesus comes in, something has to change in your life. You can’t keep talking the way you talked, walking the way you walked, doing what you’re doing and thinking somehow that He is ignoring the sin.  He is a Holy Ghost, powerful, sin destroying, lying tongue destroying, obliterating God, who  comes to destroy all of our bondage. He doesn’t want to leave us with any of it. He doesn’t want to leave us with any bad habits. He doesn’t want to leave us with any negative thinking. He doesn’t want to leave us trapped in loneliness and pain. When He comes in, He comes to renovate.  [WHEW!!! AMEN!]  Glory to God! 

Have a blessed day!

Heather

Last Saturday we had a wonderful Seder at church – there were over 130 people in attendance. My husband took a few pictures and has shared them.

Selma at our table was lighting the candle and saying the blessing over our table

The other “mamas” lighting the candles and saying the blessings.

My friends Julie and her husband Tommy, Juma standing (He has taught a few Bible studies which you can link to) and some of Julie’s inlaws.

Rabbi Michael explaining about the Matzos,

One of my favorite parts, examining the matzos to see that it is bruised, striped and pierced as was Jesus for us.

Please see the links to seder notes to have an explanation of the seder. One of the parts of the Seder is to hide the afikomen, a piece of matzo that is wrapped in a napkin and hidden by the Papa, the children search for the afikomen during the Seder which they then redeem for a price. Just like Jesus was hidden in the tomb, and how He redeemed us with the price of His precious shed blood.

My husband hid the afikomen under my son’s plate, there were too many in the room to hide it too far. We had been teasing Alana, Juma and Maria’s daughter about where the afikomen was and she was giggling so sweetly. Maria is to Alana’s right.  Here she is finding the afikomen under Edward’s plate, Kelly is to Edward’s left.

FOUND!!!! We then used that afikomen to have communion.

My oldest is still at college, but here is a picture of us. From left to right, Kelly (Edward’s) girl friend, Edward, sitting – my husband Jim, me and my daughter Katherine.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Last night we had our Passover Seder, over 130 people attended. You can click on the link about the Seder to read about the significance of every aspect of the Seder and how it points to Jesus. Ellie, at Friday’s Bible Study shared about the Cup, a significant aspect of the Seder and because it is so timely, I wanted to share this with you.

THE CUP

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you” John 15:16a

“..that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:27

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Rev. 19:7

In Hebrew tradition, the Shadkhan (matchmaker) comes from the master to town for a bride. Since ancient times, the significant role of the Shadkhan (matchmaker) can be seen from its root word shidukh (match). It’s Aramaic translation, sheket (silence) implies tranquility or peacefulness. The matchmaker’s lineage traces back to God Himself.*

In Genesis 24 we read how Abraham asked Eliezer (meaning God’s helper) to act as a matchmaker to find a suitable bride for Abraham’s son, Isaac. In this we have a picture of the Father (Abraham), the Son (Isaac) and the Holy Spirit (Eliezer). We see that in the Old Testament Jesus is concealed and the New Testament is Jesus revealed.

The Canaanite women were unsuitable, so his servant was sent to Abraham’s own family and of his father’s house.

Genesis 24:1-3  Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;

The Canaanites did not believe in God, they were worldly idol worshippers.

Genesis 24:4-7 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?” But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

Isaac could not go and look for his bride because he needed to stay and keep claim to the land that God gave Abraham, for the land was promised to Abraham’s descendants.

Genesis 24:8 “And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”

Genesis 24:9-16 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.

She must pass his test and come forth as pure gold if she is to be a suitable match.

Genesis 24:17-29 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?” So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.” Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things. Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.

Then Eliezer recounts the story of his selection to Rebekah’s selection to her family. Notice that Eliezer gave Rebekah gifts, for the Holy Spirit gives us gifts.

Genesis 24:53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Though it was customary for the father of the son to choose a bride for his son, in many cases the father relied on the services of a matchmaker (Ruach Ha Kodesh) to help him choose a person of the highest virtue and integrity. Marital unions between men and women, arranged or not, are ordained by God….match made in Heaven.

The bride must:

1. PASS THE TEST – A SIGN, if she did not water the camels, a sizeable job for camels drink lots of water. She showed her character by what she did. She watered the camels not knowing Eliezer’s purpose, or knowing that she was to be a bride, and that the camels held gifts for her.

2. The servant matchmaker can help those who are chosen and ordained by God.

*God was the first Shadkhan creating Adam and Eve and commanding them to cleave together as “one flesh”. Eve taken from Adam’s body became the first bride.

In the same way, God the Father has sent His helper, the Ruach Ha Kodesh, (Holy Spirit) to His family and body of believers to take a bride for His Son, Yeshua.

God has chosen you to be a part of the Messiah’s bride. Do you sense the Ruach Ha Kodesh wooing you to draw closer? His invitation is for all who are members of His family. Yeshua’s bride will be taken from out of His body of believers, just as Eve was taken out of Adam. However, not everyone who has received the gift of salvation will RSVP. Believers who continue to live a worldly or carnal lifestyle will not be ready to meet the Bridegroom because they lack the purity of a spotless bride. It is for this reason that God designed the bond of “oneness” in order for us to grow and deepen our relationship with the Savior during this time of preparation. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word that they all may be one as You, Father are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:20-21 “For Ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God’s.” 1Cor. 6:20

Come away with the lover of your soul now and make yourself ready for His return.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

In Biblical times, it was customary for an Israelite to pay a mohar or price for his bride to her father. Marriage by purchase reflects how much the prospective bridegroom values and cherishes his bride. It also reveals his own wealth and generosity.

As His beloved bride, we have been “bought with a price” and no longer belong to ourselves. We are His, totally! Treasure the priceless gift of Yeshua’s love; hold it close to your heart. He paid it for you “…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Yeshua prays, “Father, if it is Your Will, take this cup from Me.” His heart aches with a dying love for His bride. He doesn’t want to leave her. Not this way. Is there any other possible way besides death? With unconditional acceptance, Yeshua trusts His Father’s decision and says “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42

“Likewise, He also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:20

The young man under the watchful eyes of his father and her parents, draws out the Kiddush (sanctification) cup and pours out the Bordeaux wine from his father’s vineyard. He lifts the cup and recites the blessing, “Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha olam, borey pre hagafen” (Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine) As he finishes, the bridegroom takes one gulp from the cup. His pledge to provide for her entails a lifetime commitment of sweat and blood in hard work, even if it means laying down his life. But she is certainly worth every drop.

In Jerusalem, the prospective bridegroom “pops the question” by pouring a cup of wine for his beloved, then anxiously awaits her response to his proposal. If she sips from the Kiddush cup, she shows her willingness to enter this union by saying “yes” to his proposal. Their shared cup of wine at a Jewish betrothal ceremony called a B’rit (covenant) symbolizes the sealing of their marriage covenant in blood.

We see Yeshua drinking from the B’rit cup with His disciples after the Passover dinner sealing the marriage covenant with His bride. Lifting the cup with His right hand, the Messiah recites the Jewish blessing over the wine. As the True Vine speaks, He blesses the fruit of His Father’s vine and praises the Creator for His bride, His choice fruit. He continues saying, “Drink from it all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 Yeshua invites all believers to say yes to His proposal and share in this cup, so that all who choose may become His promised bride. Yeshua knew He would not be lifting up a cup of wine to share with His bride in a few hours, but a heavy cross that only He could bear. It was for us, His bride that He drank this cup of suffering. And now, as only we can, we accept His marriage proposal and drink from His cup. Each time we partake in holy communion and share this cup, we are reaffirming our marriage covenant with our Bridegroom, Yeshua Ha Mashiach. As you partake in the Lord’s Supper, use this time to look at your life before the Lord and prepare for His return.

“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ’It is finished!’ and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” John 19:30 In Hebrew, the root word for finish is Ka’lal (complete, make perfect, or finish) It also shares the same root for Kallah (bride). With Yeshua’s final and dying words, He sealed the marriage covenant to His beloved with His blood.

The wedding celebration is comprised of two separate ceremonies: the Kiddushin, or betrothal and nissuin or nuptials. In a traditional betrothal, the engaged couple enters into a covenant with the signing of the Ketubah. In this marriage contract are the terms of their agreement, such as the bride price and provisions the bridegroom agrees to make for her and also names the wife as heir to the estate should he die.

We believers as the Bride of Christ cherish our Ketubah, the B’rit Hadassah (new covenant/testament) which is full of promises from our Bridegroom, Yeshua. Our Heavenly Groom promises to take care of us, not only spiritually, but also physically with food, clothing and shelter when we enter into a covenant with Him.

Our marriage to Yeshua will not be complete until we are in Heaven and share the second cup of wine with Him just as He said in Matthew 26:29, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” He has saved the very best for last!

We closed this study by taking communion. We reaffirmed that we wanted to be the Bride of Christ ready and waiting for His return. And we are to do everything to prepare for his return. We are not to be taken in by worldly stuff, or look to the left or the right. Every wife’s job was to read the Ketuba to her husband to remind him of the promises.

It was a very powerful teaching.

Ellie sent me what she had typed for her teaching, and asked me to fill in the extra things she said.

Have a blessed day.

Heather

Pastor Don has been going over the elementary principles mentioned in Hebrews 6:1-3.

Before the Bible study Pastor Don told us that in business dealings, we are not to separate our business from our Christian walk. We need to communicate with people. So many Christians have given Christianity a bad name by how they deal with others in the secular world. Some do not pay their rent on time, which makes it tough when Pastor Don seeks an apartment for one of the members and the landlord tells him that he does not like to rent to Christians for they do not honor their contracts.

Pastor Don says that some people wear the title “Christian” as a label, but not everyone looks at the label and sees or expects the same thing. We are responsible for our actions. We represent Jesus and we need to do a better job at that.

There are physical laws that God has set in motion. Someone asked about medicine and sickness and if that conflicts with believing in faith for a healing. This was in response to the little child who died of a disease that could have easily been treated by a doctor, but the parents did not take the child to the doctor. Pastor Don replied that one example is pain – which is a warning system that something is off in our bodies. We can have faith for healing, but still need to address the pain in our body. We can seek treatment and also believe for healing for the condition. Paul wrote to Timothy to take wine. Hezekiah had a poultice.

Pastor Don said that we need to keep ourselves alive so that we can get our miracle. If you are going to choose not to use a doctor you need to pray before that choice and make sure that what you are hearing is a word from God. He suggests going to a doctor to know what to pray about, and if you choose to have faith in medicine, God can heal through medicine. Pray over your pills that they will heal you quickly.

Then Pastor Don was asked about the manifestation of the presence of God, and told us that initially when the presence of God was on Pastor Don he used to feel goosebumps and tingling. He then assumed that when those sensations were there, God was present. But later God removed those signs because what God can do, satan can imitate. Now Pastor Don knows by faith, not by external signs.

Pastor Don pointed out that when a person claims to have huge faith, there should also be good works that demonstrate that kind of faith.

But we are not to judge anybody’s faith. He called some of what we do ignorance gone to seed. If we are not certain about a person’s faith, wait it out, and that will expose the truth. Emotions can lead us to think we are believing in faith when it is really wishing and hoping.

Here is the text we have been studying in detail so that we are not ignorant of the elementary principles of faith: Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

The last principle is eternal judgment. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Every Christian, Protestant and Catholic, believes in the New Birth. The New birth is for both Gentiles and Jews. And the New Birth has a result.

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

Jesus must be crucified, which was the picture of Moses lifting up a serpent. (Heather’s comment, someone pointed out that in order for a serpent to be lifted up on a pole and remain there, there had to be a cross piece to drape the serpent over)

John 3:15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The words “eternal life” is different from what is seen in verse 16 as “everlasting life.”

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The World – orderly arrangement of the universe. Loved means greatly prized. Begotten implies unique. Muslims misread these verses. Mohammed did not read or write, so he could not read the Bible to know what it said.

In 600AD the Catholic Church attributed deity and sanctification of Mary.

Mohammed did not associate Jesus as God, he saw him as only physical. But we know that while Jesus was born human, Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, not a physical man.

Believes means to trust, rely on, cling.

Perish means destruction, to die, to be lost.

Everlasting life – sometimes written ad Eternal and Everlasting life, is a concept of time. In Hebrew the terms everlasting, means ongoing and forever does not exist.

In Hebrew the idea of Everlasting Life implies the sense of a relationship over a long period of time.

You can golf with someone over a long period of time and when you get older you are still a golf buddy, or you can play cards younger and as you get older still play cards with a person.

The relationship is ongoing, not ending. The relationship does not end, but has different phases.

God is eternal, that is not chronos – measured clock time.

God/Spirit does not exist in chronos time. He can enter into chronos time because He created time, but he does not have to stay in Chronos time.

What is meant is AION time, you have to have this understanding – it means AGES OF THE AGES. Do ages end? No. Inside eternal ages of time are periods of AION time. They are of varying lengths, but are part of an ongoing continuum.

Jesus says, “at the end of the Age.” But that does not mean at the end of all time, but the end of a generation, or an age, or an AION. Spiritual time is not tick tock time.

An example of this is the 70 weeks of Daniel. We have been in the 69th week for a long time, 2000 years. But the 70th week has not happened. AIONIC time is connected with the prophetic age. God will determine when the AION is ended. God is not bound by our clock.

Everlasting. Pastor Don said that we will not get to heaven and do nothing for all of eternity. With the passage of existence through death, we will be an eternal being, past Judgment, and become part of ages of ages. God looks for certain passing of events.

God has waited 7,000 years of earth time for events to happen. In Heaven, how long is eternity? We don’t know, until God lets us know.

God will create a new Heaven and a new earth that will last forever, for the ages of the ages, but we don’t know how long that is.

The Age of Man is 7,000 years. Then we go into the next age, the Age of the Day of the Lord.

There will be a millennial reign of 1000 years, This could be another age, approximately a day is as long as 1000 years. It could be as long as 2000 years in God’s timing, under the umbrella of everlasting. God has forever, and the Spirit of Man and Angels have forever as well.

We roll into the 8th day, new beginnings, a different age. It is the same as the 1st day. God is not going to have the end of mankind and then everyone just sit forever. He will have stuff for us to do.

Perish in John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Perish means to be destroyed or lost.

The Spirit of Man is not destroyed if it is cast into outer darkness. It exists there for ages of the ages.

There is a scriptural error to think that one is destroyed if they are cast into the lake of fire. They will be in the lake of fire from AION to AION. Some give the false teaching that at the end of the age everyone will come out of hell and be forgiven. Some have even said that satan will be forgiven. That is not what the Bible says.

Pastor Don then used a fleshly example. He said that infants grow out of the infant stage (age). Teenagers grow out of their age. Adults grow out of their age. Why, then when we have the experiences of Jesus, and what the Bible tells us, do we not believe what it says about the ages of ages? We do not know what we will experience in the ages of ages.

John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the World, but that people may be saved. But that does not mean that condemnation is done away with, it means that there is an opportunity to be saved. To escape condemnation is conditional, and God spells out the conditions.

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The condition is that we are given a choice – to believe in the name of Jesus, God’s only begotten son, or not to believe. If we choose not to believe we are condemned.

Someone brought up the question of the Africans who maybe haven’t heard about Jesus, and Pastor Don told us that God is just and He will make sure that people have that opportunity. Some may have heard about Jesus, and with knowledge chose not to make a choice – in that they sinned. Luke 15 gives the answer about the Father’s heart for the lost – it is several parables about rejoicing for what was lost was found. But in order to have free will, God has to give a person a choice. What joy would there be if a person who did not want to be around God was forced to be in His presence?

Then Pastor Don said that with verse 19 it gets “gooder.”

John 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Jesus is the light. Those who come to the Lord don’t have to be confronted with their sins. They know that what they are doing is wrong. The know that homosexuality, gambling, adultery is a sin. The light will expose the sin to them, and then they have the choice to accept Jesus and change. But the problem is, that many love the sin so much that they choose to reject the Light of Christ.

John 3:20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

If a person is stuck in darkness, they hate the light.  To walk in righteousness is to have the light, and the right attitude. When we walk in righteousness, the people around us will become annoyed with us for it exposes them. They will complain that we go to church for 4 hours. If we went to the mall for four hours they would not say one word, but because we are at church, then they complain.

Pastor Don pointed out that many people move from one city to another, thinking that they will get a good job or more money, but many do not consider the Church when they make their moves. Will there be a church in the area where they are moving that will feed them the Word of God, or will they end up without a good home church? People forget that our prosperity is connected with our Spiritual life, and that God can provide for us where we are. Don’t make a move without considering the spiritual aspect of where we are moving.

Our church. Living Word Chapel, has a cradle to grave ministry, social work, parenting, education and equipping the saints for service. Pastor Don points out that if a person leaves our church and then comes back 20, 10, 5 years later, they will be welcomed back with love and acceptance. Never be afraid to come back if you left.

Pastor Don pointed out that in Verse 20 we see that people hide out in the darkness, but that will not protect them from the Wrath of the Lord. They hide out until pressure is brought to bear. For example on September 11, the Sunday following we had 11 people accept the Lord, and at least 30 visitors. Now we don’t see most of them, because the pressure eased.

John 3:21  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

The one who does the truth comes to the light and walks in righteousness. The light will expose those deeds that are not of the light, not of God. In the move from darkness to light the battle is fought in the mind, then the actions follow. We have to choose.

Pastor Don then began speaking about Judgment as taught in Revelation. I will continue that tomorrow.

Hoping your day is blessed. I am hoping those of you who are in the throes of finals and term papers are able to accomplish all that you need to do.

Heather

Part 1 is here

Pastor Don continued by bringing us to

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

This again is not soul sleep in the grave. Remember that to be absent from the body (dead) is to be present with the Lord – our Spirits are with the Lord, even though our bodies have died and are buried. Before Jesus died and rose from the dead, the people who died were in Abraham’s bosom – either in paradise or in hades, depending on how they were in life. You can see that in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus. But when the thief on the cross acknowledged Jesus, he was told, “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

They will receive their resurrection bodies before those in Heaven.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

The dead in Christ will rise first when the Lord comes. This trump is at the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hoshanna in the Fall. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Notice that there is no mention of Christ setting His feet on the ground. He won’t do that until the middle or the end of the Tribulation – we meet with the Lord in the air, meet with Him in the clouds. The dead in Christ will be given resurrection bodies, and be with the Lord. Then the believers left on earth alive will be given resurrection bodies, caught up with Him too.

The next verse is IMPORTANT  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

We do not have to be afraid of death, there is no pain in death.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.

There was no need to write about this  because:

2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

The other apostles and Jesus told them about this day, and we know about this day through His word. The day of the Lord is after the tribulation and we will rule and reign 1000 years. Remember that for God, a day is as 1000 years and 1000 years is as a day. Keep living right and you will have eternity with Him.

So Pastor Don pointed out that time is fleeting here on earth for us. Forgive Uncle Joe, live right, accept Christ, don’t wait. It will not be long before the books are opened and we stand before the throne of God and have every sin accounted for. We need Jesus.

Someone asked about those who don’t know the truth of the Gospel,

Pastor Don pointed out that Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

God, through His creation and through other ways will make Himself known to all, and it will be their choice to believe Him or not. God is not unjust.

Another question came in and Pastor Don gave an example. He mentioned an alcoholic who asks God to forgive him for drunkenness. If we are willing to fight our sins and not get prideful God will not condemn you, your sins will have their natural repercussions. All sin has a downside. If we analyze our sins we will agree with God that it is not the best for us. All it takes to get you into Heaven is to be honest about it with God.

When Governor Spitzer got caught in his sexual sins, he really did not consider the downside of his sin for his wife, his daughters, society and his self respect. Had he stopped and looked at his actions and asked himself what was he doing, he would realize that what he was doing was not positive. He could have said, “Man, I love doing it, but it was not good.” That may be as far as he can get with his sin, but to be honest with God and realize that we are at fault is the first step to change.

Pastor Don also pointed out that God’s way prevents all sorts of problems. The best way to beat AIDS is to have monogamous marriages. To restrain from having sex until after marriage and then stay in the one marriage.

Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Pastor Don told us that the truth about sin is that at first it feels good. People would not participate in it if it didn’t feel good. But sin always ends in a disaster.

Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

We are married to Jesus and that is so that we can bear fruit to God.

Before we knew Christ, the fruit of our sin was death, but as part of the Body of Christ we bear a fruit that brings life.

When God brought about the institution of marriage, he meant man to woman, and there were many benefits to that relationship – economical, sexual, health wise, and those who are married live longer. Any other kind of relationship opens up many problems, and while it may feel good initially, it can lead to death.

Romans 7:6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

We are delivered from the law through Jesus Christ. When we deal with others we need to deal with them with forgiveness, grace, love and kindness, the same that Jesus gives us. We obey the law now not because of fear of punishment, but because of love of God. God will love us as we grow to be more and more like His best desires for us. He loved us while we were sinners, and we are better now than we were then, so He loves us even if we mess up.

There is nothing we can do to earn our forgiveness from God, it is a gift freely given. We can’t say enough Hail Mary’s or if a person is dead, we can’t pray them into Heaven. The decision we make, we make here. Our redeemer knows our name, address, condition, and state of being. Some want to make people say a sinner’s prayer, or an act of contrition, or a multitude of formula prayers, but that doesn’t make things right. Repetition of prayers does not help. What helps is asking God for forgiveness and repenting, changing with the help of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to jump through hoops to do this.

Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Romans 7:9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The 10 commandments are spiritual, we are sinners. We can be tempted, but when God writes the law into our hearts, then we are not carnal, but spiritual.

Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Our soul (mind, will, emotions) is sin governed, and Paul explains that in the flesh he does what he does not want to do, and practices what he practices. He does what he hates to do in the physical.

Romans 7:16-17 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

The law is good, because it lets us know when we are not in line with God’s Word. But it is not I who sin, but sin that dwells in me. Our spirits were renewed when we got saved. Our Spirit does not sin, but our flesh lags behind our spirit and needs to be trained by our Spirit to act in line with God’s Word.

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

In our flesh there is no good thing. If you even think that you wish someone was dead, then murder dwells in you. Carnal thoughts inside of you are also part of your sinful nature, there are secret sins. In our own strength we cannot find out how to do good. Death is death. There is physical death and spiritual death. We cannot keep defending an abomination and trying to convince ourselves that it is gone or OK. We can’t have vestiges in us that say that things are OK, for that leads to spiritual death. You can’t bed every prostitute and justify it to yourself that it is ok because she was a harlot.

Romans 7:19-20 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Sin dwells within us.

Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

We see ourselves as a battle field, with evil wanting to dominate, and we want to do good.

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

Many people in church and in the lobby praise God and try to hide their sin man, pretending to be more spiritual than they are. The trouble is that the carnal lies are exposed by the light of the Word. We delight in the law because it is the law that shows us the lies.

Romans 7: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The flesh mind wars against our Spirit mind. An example is wanting to lie in bed and not go to church. You convince yourself that you know what Pastor Don is teaching and don’t need to attend church for you already know the stuff. But we then let our flesh fool us.

Pastor Don says that if someone else attacks us we defend ourselves, if we attack ourselves we’re ok. We tend to compare ourselves with others. We may think they are better than us, or that we are better than them. And if we are in error, we seek someone else worse than us to compare ourselves to, and tell ourselves, I’m better than them, even though I may be a piece of crap.

In our minds if we attack other people , attack ourselves, lying to ourselves with half truths, we are in sin, in captivity. There is no way in our own power to win this battle with sin. We can criticize the law, but we would still be guilty in the law.

Martin Luther was so self-condeming that he would crawl up the steps on broken glass, so that he could punish himself for his sins. Finally he took the time to read the Bible and read the books of Galatians and Ephesians, and realized that he was saved by faith. That because of God’s grace no man could boast.

If we tell ourselves that we are so bad that we can’t be forgiven or saved we are under a sin of pride. We are trying to imply that we are so humble. It is like saying that Christ did not do enough when He went to the cross. Christ sacrificed himself once for all of our sins. It is like telling him to get off the cross because we need the wood.

Pastor Don told us that when God raises the dead, the 1 Corinthians 15 experience, many of us will have the shock of our lives, for there will be a whole lot of people in Heaven that we thought would never get there. But they have confessed their sin, and have received salvation.

The Bible study ran way over time, so we had to close here.

I hope this blesses you. Have a wonderful night.

Heather 

We continued our study of the basic principles of faith as mentioned in Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

We have been looking at various passages on the Resurrection of the Dead. The next one we studied was

1 Corinthians 15:13-17  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

If Christ is not risen, there is no way we have forgiveness, and our faith is empty.

1 Corinthians 15:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

The Jehovah Witnesses use this verse to teach soul sleep. They think that those who die are asleep inside their carnal bodies in a state of suspended animation. But we know that to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord. Our spirit is with God. When our bodies are in the earth, we are not in suspended animation, we are with God.

1 Corinthians 15:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is not based on the testimony of only his 12 disciples, but over 500 people at once. You cannot get 500 people to agree to a lie. And when this epistle was written there were many who were there to see Jesus still alive, not fallen asleep. If Paul had written a lie, would not those people have come forward to state so?

Jesus talks about different kinds of death. There is the death in the Lake of Fire, there is the death to the physical body. Our spirits are with the Lord at our death.

The only spirits on earth are those of the demonic and fallen angel spirits. We have read about the anak and the nephalim which are half human, have demonic spirits.  Genesis 6 talks about the sons of God (fallen angels) and the daughters of men producing offspring. Those offspring are the nephalim.  They are bound in eternal darkness. When flesh dies, they roam the earth seeking embodiment. That is why spirits want to possess or oppress a person, they are seeking a body to make into a home for them.

When Jesus cast out the demon at Gergesenes, the demons asked him: Matthew 8:28-29 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

The demons had the run of the earth, and God was not to intervene. But Jesus, fully human, had the authority to cast the demons out, and they begged to be cast into pigs because they wanted a body. If you command a demonic spirit to return to hell it is like a vacation for them and they come back to bother others. They seek another body to possess. Pastor Don has taught us that we command the demons to leave the building, the parking lot, and to not come back into another person or the original person. Meanwhile, the person who had been relieved of the demon needs to start filling up the vacated space with the Word of God, so that there is no room for the demon to return. As Jesus said after casting a demon out, that Luke 11:24-26 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Then the person is in a worst state than before.

When a person dies, it is a separation of the Spirit from the physical body. When the spirit leaves the physical body, the body shuts down. Pastor Don has told us that when we go visit a person in a coma to speak with them, because their spirit is there and will understand what we are saying.  Death is not total death, for the Spirit still lives, there is just no life in the physical body.

When Jairus’ daughter was sick and died, Jesus said that she was just sleeping. He did not consider death, just sleep, and commanded the spirit to reenter the body. Pastor Don talked about (and it was confirmed by nurses who were attending our Bible study), that when a person dies, they breathe out and exhale. The spirit leaves the body. One of the nurses said that in hospitals the nurses usually open a window to let the spirit out. Pastor Don said that when a person dies they lose 2 pounds 2 ounces when the spirit leaves the body.

We tend to want to hold onto life so dearly, because we are afraid. But we need to believe that we will be with Him. Sometimes it is a quality of life issue, when we have suffered enough then we want to go home.

Psalm 90:10  The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

We are promised 70 or 80 years. We can live until we are satisfied.

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.

1 Corinthians 15:19-20  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Christ is the first fruits of those fallen asleep.

When Moses died in the wilderness, he was given a resurrection body that was incorruptible and would not die. Moses and Elijah were seen on the Mount of Transfiguration. This was not Jesus talking to a Spirit, for the Bible cannot lie and the Bible tells us that we cannot talk to the dead, and if you die once, you do not die again. So what the disciples saw on the Mount of Transfiguration was a vision of Heaven. Moses and Elijah were resurrected in the Spirit.

Someone asked about the graves being opened after the death of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 27:52-53 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Pastor Don mentioned about Reinhard Bonnke who raised a Nigerian pastor who  had been dead for 3 days, and had even been embalmed. The wife brought the corpse to the place where Pastor Bonnke was preaching, and could not bring him into the congregation, so she and some fellow believers were in the basement beneath the assembly. They prayed and the dead pastor rose from the dead. He is alive today and testifies about his experience. He was very grateful to be given a second chance because he was destined for hell, even though he was a pastor. There is proof of his death, and now he is testifying. His wife had faith to believe that her husband could be raised from the dead.

The power that it takes to raise Jesus from the dead can raise the dead, and this was a powerful demonstration to the people in the time of Jesus to see those walking around. One of the members of the group mentioned that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he had to mention Lazarus’ name or else all the dead would have come out of the grave. Those who were walking around after the crucifixion were the saints who had recently died and been raised from the dead. They had not gone up to heaven in resurrected, glorified bodies. Those saints walking around and Lazarus would die some day, they were not resurrected as Jesus was resurrected.

The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.

Elisha also raised the young lad from the dead. The resurrection power of a righteous man is sufficient to raise the dead. And when Elisha died and was buried, 2 Kings 13:21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. A dead man was brought to life by touching is bones.

Christ is the 1st fruits of those fallen asleep, and then those resurrected in Christ will rise.

When the Holy Spirit came to the people assembled in the upper room there were 120 touched by the Spirit. Then Peter preached and over 3,000 were filled with the Spirit. Those 3,000 were Peter’s first fruits.

In Deuteronomy and Leviticus it states that it is an abomination to speak to the dead in seances. King Saul tried to summon through a witch the dead spirit of Samuel. Someone asked if he spoke with Samuel and Pastor Don explained that there are familiar spirits on the earth that can imitate dead relatives. They are lying spirits who imitate. They know what we want to hear for they know us, but they are not the spirits of our dead relatives. They are just being used by satan to pull people away from the truth of God. We know that they are demonic spirits because angelic spirits will not violate God’s commands. Evil spirits will violate the law. They will tell the truth to get a person to rely on their ‘spiritual’ guidance, and then when the right time comes tell a lie that will get believed because of the foundation of truth that has been previously laid down. Many lies and false religions are based on these lying spirits.

1 Corinthians 15:21  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

King Saul lost his life by seeking the spirit of Samuel. Balaam kept trying to push the issue with God to get his fleshly desires, and ended up condemned by God for leading the Israelites astray.

IF GOD SAYS ‘NO’ TAKE IT AS ‘NO’ AND LEAVE IT.

If a spirit is in Heaven, caught up in the Glory of God, it is not going to hang around the earth.  The man in verse 21 that death came by is Adam. But the Man who brought the resurrection of the dead is Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

In 1/11,000th of a second, in the blinking of the eye, we who are dead in Christ, will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

But there is an order in this. First Christ, then those who are Christ’s at His coming.

Pastor Don then went on to explain passages about this in 1 Thessalonians 4. I will cover those tomorrow.

I am praying your night is blessed. We had a wonderful spring day here, and I pray that this weather keeps happening. I am sooooo ready for warm weather.

Heather

Revised: Joy shared this message with us at our women’s Bible study. Much is similar to the brief teaching that she did one Friday Bible study, so I am combining the two teachings into one complete study on Esther. Joy shared that when she first met Pastor Don, she was into anything but God, and Pastor Don invited her to come to the church he was attending Living Word Chapel (he was not the pastor yet) and he asked her if she could play “seasonal music.” What he did not share with Joy at that meeting was that the Holy Spirit had told Pastor Don to seek her out. Had he told her about the Holy Spirit then she would have ran in the opposite direction. But she was drawn to our church by being asked to play seasonal music. God was drawing her to Himself.

I will put the new things in blue to differentiate them.

Joy is a wonderful teacher and I learned so much from what she shared with us, so here is the edited study:

Joy was invited to teach at a Girls’ school. She was told to give five 20 minute messages. We got to hear two of the messages she is going to share with the girls. Joy told her father how difficult it was to teach a 20 minute message, and her father told her that if she has something good to say, it can be said in 20 minutes. I have to tell you that she did give two 20 minute fully packed messages. I took notes as fast as my fingers can fly, but I take longhand notes, and I know that I was not able to get every bit of information. Joy gave a commentary about the facts of the book of Esther, I added a few more scriptures from the Book of Esther than she shared so that you could see it in the Word.

She spoke about the Jewish festival of Purim, and Queen Esther. She titled this: Esther, For such a time as this: A woman of promise in the Post Modern Age.

With a sense of humor Joy explained that Purim is celebrated as a huge feast, and could be summed up thusly, “They tried to kill us, we won, so lets eat!”

Joy pointed out that in the book of Esther, the name of God is not mentioned once, but we can see his hand print clearly visible in all of the pages. And in Esther, people are doing what God planned and purposed for them to do.

We began with a bit of History, Daniel and his friends are in Babylon 605 BC. The king selected the best and brightest for his use. They were to be handsome, without flaw and intelligent. They were going to be groomed to help the King, and also it kept them out of Jerusalem where they might have started a revolution.

587 BC – The Babylonians conquered Jerusalem.

539 BC – The Babylonian exile ends when King Cyrus, a Persian king, permits the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and he helps to finance the rebuilding of the Temple.

516 BC was the time when Zerubbabel was given permission by King Darius to return to Israel and rebuild the temple, he brought back 50,000, but many did not choose to go back. Daniel stayed in Babylon, for he was very old at this time, many others had become assimilated into the Babylonian culture and did not return.

478 BC Esther (originally named Hadassah which means myrtle) becomes Queen of Persia, the king was King  Xerxes of Persia, who ruled from India to Ethiopia.

473 BC Esther saves the Jews from being massacred by Haman, and the Feast of Purim is instituted.

450-451 BC Ezra and Nehemiah’s time

Here is the plot of the book of Esther. The King of the Medo-Persian empire (today we know it as India & Ethiopia) took over from the Babylonian Empire. King Xerxes had a huge party, inviting at lest 127 princes and rulers for a huge party. His wife, Queen Vashti, was so beautiful that he wanted to show her off. She refuses to come to the party, and that is a real problem for the king. His advisors wanted him to do something about her rebelion.

Esther 1:4  For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty.

It is like our King of Kings wanting to show us the excellence of His glory. When Vashti blew off King Xerxes it was a wrong move. We have to be careful as the Bride of the King that we don’t say “no” to God. We can say “no” by saying that we are too busy, that he is asking too much from us, or later for you. We really have to watch out what we are saying to God.

REBELLION is contagious, and can spread. The men were afraid that Queen Vashti’s refusal would be imitated by other wives, so they told the king that he had to get rid of her.

Esther 1:17 For the queen’s behavior will become known to all women, so that they will despise their husbands in their eyes, when they report, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.’

1 Samuel 15:23 For rebelion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”

Stubbornness is idolatry or keeping our traditions. This could be a big deal if the other wives imitated her. The queen dissing the king is bad. But the King is merciful, and does not chop off her head. He divorces her. You had everything and you blew it. So the King now has to look for someone to do His will and be more obedient.

The King Xerxes divorces Queen Vashti and seeks someone who will be more obedient.

The kingdom has a huge beauty contest (Joy had us laughing as she called it, Miss Medo/Persia Pageant). One of the young women chosen is Esther (Her Hebrew name is Hadassah.) Her parents died, so she was an orphan who was being raised by her Uncle Mordecai. Mordecai sits by the gate, which indicates that he is important. As Mordecai’s adopted daughter she knew the way of God. She was selected as one of the women to be brought to the palace.

Esther 2:2-4 Then the king’s servants who attended him said: “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This thing pleased the king, and he did so.

They sought all the beautiful women in the kingdom. Esther had God’s favor. The women were brought to the King’s harem to be trained for a year. The movie about Esther, One night with the King emphasizes the baths and beauty treatments, but Joy believes that what they were really being taught was how to be a queen, how to think and act like a queen. She did not need the beauty treatments. She was fair faced, of good countenance and had clarity. She was beautiful both outside and inside. It is not enough to only be beautiful she also has to be smart to be in the King’s kingdom.

Esther gains favor with the chief eunuch and he prefers her. This eunuch is a type of the Holy Spirit. The King’s advisor, who knows the King’s heart and mind, and can guide her so that she will be pleasing to the King. That is the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to guide us to be pleasing to God. Esther trusted his advice and counsel, and prepared herself. He has authority and power and knows the King’s heart. So Esther is chosen.

After a year’s preparation, not only beauty treatments, but also learning to think, behave, and act like a Queen, and know the King’s heart and flow like royalty, she is ready to be presented to the King. She has learned that what she wants to do is to please the king and asks the chief Eunuch what should she wear that would please the king. Instead of wearing a dress that she thinks is OK, or picking her favorite color, Esther chooses to wear a dress that the eunuch selects as what would be pleasing to the King. As the Bride of Christ, we need to seek to please our King. Esther listened to the advice of the Holy Spirit (eunuch) and trusted his counsel as he knew the King. She is teachable and follows the counsel of wisdom. She is chosen as queen, but her religion is not yet known.

If we would do that with the Holy Spirit, being led by Him, our lives would be much easier.

Haman was the Prime Minister of King Xerxes and was given power and authority through the King. He had the King’s ring and could make decrees, putting the King’s seal on them and making them law. But Haman had no real confidence in himself. To gain a sense of this power and authority, he wanted people to bow so that he could say to himself, “see how important I am, for people are bowing to me.” Forgetting that what they were bowing to was the authority of the King. Haman wanted everyone to bow to Him, but Mordecai refused to bow, for he only bowed to God. This made Haman furious. He hated the Jews who would not give him the respect he felt he deserved.

Joy pointed out that hatred of the Jews is demonic. In the Mid-East it is a supernatural hatred because the Jews were favored of God. The Jews are God’s chosen people, and often those who are consumed with hatred for the Jews are under demonic oppression. God promised Abraham and all of his seed (the Jews) that God would bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him. The demonic hatred of the Jews that Haman had was a rage that bordered on insanity. But Haman plots to kill every Jew in the Kingdom.

Haman felt that the Jew was “dissing” me. As the King’s Prime Minister he has the king’s signet ring and can stamp something into law. He uses the King to plot destruction of the Jews, including Mordecai and he does it on the sly. All the Jews were to be killed on a specific day (which was chosen by lots). The name “PURIM” means lots and the day chosen was the 14th day of the month of Adair. Once a law was created, the Medo-Persians could not cancel the law. It was a law forever. So there was no way to cancel the law and prevent this extermination of the Jews from going forward.

The people began to fast and pray. Mordecai goes to Esther, and tells her that she has to help her people, that she has to go before the king and find a way to stop this extermination plan of Haman’s.

Esther 4:11  “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.”

Esther informs Mordecai about the sentence of death that can occur if she goes unsummoned before the King.

Mordecai tells her that just because she is Queen does not mean that she would be spared from this, she would perish along with all the other Jews.

Mordecai then tells Esther, Esther 4:14 “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther tells the people to fast and pray for three days and then she will go to the king.

She says, Esther 4:16 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

She is very brave to do this, and chooses to do what God called her to do, even if it is dangerous. She is leaving the outcome to God.

Joshua 1:7-9 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

God tells us to be strong and of good courage, and do as He commands us.

Esther dresses in her royal robes and goes to the court.

Esther 5:1-2  Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Esther chose to obey God and trust Him, and God provided for her safety. The King asks Esther what she desires. And her answer is to invite Haman and the King to the Queen’s palace for dinner. They have a dinner with much small talk, and she invites them back for dinner the next night.

Meanwhile Haman has a 70 foot gallows built in his front yard, as he plans to hang Mordecai for not showing the proper respect. Mordecai is puffed up with pride.

Esther had a word from God about what to do in the situation and she proceeded to do God’s Will. She appeals to the vanity of Haman and Haman will be trapped by his own words.

In the meantime, before this second dinner the King had trouble sleeping. So he had a servant read to him from the decrees. This is very boring to hear and the king used it to help him go to sleep. But, God ordained it, that the particular decree read to the king talked about a plot to kill the king that Mordecai foiled, and found out that Mordecai saved the King’s life. The king wanted to honor Mordecai.

He brings Haman to his court and asks him what he should do to reward someone who needed to be honored. Haman thinks that the King is referring to him, so he tells the king that what the King should do is:

Esther 6:6-10 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”  And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’” Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”

Seething in anger, Haman has to honor the very man that he was plotting to kill. God will use your enemies to show you favor.

During the second dinner, Haman’s plot is uncovered and he ends up hanging on the gallows that he constructed for Mordecai.

It is not a good to plot evil against the people that God loves.

1 John 5:14-15  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

When we ask according to His Word, He hears us, and has already accomplished what we have asked Him.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Where have we placed our confidence? Esther put her confidence in the Lord.

When a king issues a decree, the law cannot be removed, it can only be added to. This is how God deals with people, God’s laws are not removed. We are still to obey them. The decree cannot be rescinded.

So King Xerxes issues a new decree:

Esther 8:11  By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions.

When the people came after the Jews, the Jews fought back and they slew 500 of their attackers. The people realized that it was not worth fighting the Jews. Mordecai becomes the new Prime Minister, and the holiday of Purim is instituted. God will defeat our enemies, but we will also have to help in the fight

Philippians 4:13 AMP I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

We are self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. Godly wisdom comes directly from the Lord.

Exodus 31:1-5 AND THE Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.”

The Israelites were brought from slavery in Egypt by God, and while they were slaves to the Egyptians, all they were able to do was to make mudbricks. There were not expert craftsmen.  The artisans who built the Tabernacle were filled with the Holy Spirit by God to design and make all of the things in the Tabernacle.

God is more than happy to give ability to you if you need it and it fits His purposes, even giving abilities in areas that we are weak in the flesh. When only God could help in a situation, God gets all the glory.

Esther 9:26-28  So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them,  the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

Esther (Hadassah) overcame her enemies. It was not from her own strength, for she was an orphan, a stranger in a foreign land. She was young, had no resources, no finances. but she was trained to obey, to fear God, and to execute His commands.

Esther 2:20  Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

Now the festival is celebrated on the 14th and 15th of Adair with gladness and feasting and giving of choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor. This way they can remember how God delivered them. Israel was saved by a young girl with no resources who was trained to obey the command of Mordecai, who feared God and celebrate God’s commands. She was in the perfect position to be savior of her people.

2 Timothy 2:4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

We are in a culture war, we can’t solve global warming, and decide the fate of the world by election outcomes. We are soldiers in the army of God, and need to be focused on God’s purposes. There will be no peace in Jerusalem until the Sharshaloam comes. We have to watch with spiritual eyes and raise up children to be strong in the Lord and His might, not take MTV or other worldly advice. God is sovereign and His Will will be fulfilled by His plan. We have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and His soon arrival. He is coming quickly.

How can we apply these lessons from Esther in our lives so that we can be women ready for the Post Modern age?

Because of her OBEDIENCE, she was in the perfect position to be the savior of her people. She had favor from God because of her obedience, and she was positioned for such a time as this.

She was PREPARED. That one year period was not just to give her beauty treatments. She was trained in all the matters of the kingdom. She had to learn to be a queen, to know who she is, and what her role in the Kingdom is. She had to be guided by the Holy Spirit. We too need to be prepared, ready to listen and obey the Holy Spirit, to learn our roles in the Kingdom of God, and know how to operate under Kingdom Principles.

Beauty is not sufficient. Vashti was beautiful, but disobedient. She was headstrong, and that was not what the king needed. Our King (God) needs obedience and people ready to serve and obey with precision.

The hallmark of the post modern era is that people persist in doing what feels right to them, but that is not obedience to God. All we need to do is look at Judges Chapters 15-19 to see the results of people doing what feels right to them in their own eyes.

We as adults have failed our children by not teaching them what is right and what is wrong. Our young people are falling on the battleground of choice without the courage and conviction to choose what is right in place of the desires of their flesh.

God wants to empower us to be ready for such a time as this, to be effective in His Kingdom, and not to settle for less. We are to choose God’s best, not what the World offers.

(Heather’s comment. This was a powerful lesson. And it is true that we have to ready our children to make those hard decisions. For as the time draws to a close and the end time days appear, it will cause our children to have to make harder and harder choices than even we had to face.)

We need to know who we are in the kingdom.

We have to know our role, to be the Bride of Christ and to be obedient and serve the King at His pleasure. And it is His pleasure to show us off. In the books of Numbers and Judges it says that everyone did what was right in their own eyes, but we are not of this kingdom, and we need to do what is right in God’s eyes. We are the Bride of the King, and the King’s servants and His Kingdom is for everlasting to everlasting. We do not want to get distracted from doing His will. 

When we understand that this earth is not our home, that it’s messy and we don’t belong here, we can look with eyes as it says in Psalm 91 and see the destruction of the wicked, and not get distracted with what we are going to do about it. We only do what the King tells us to do.

When the King makes a decree the angels in heaven do not whine or argue with Father God, they do God’s bidding. Why do we whine or argue? We need to be saying, “Yes Lord, Yes Lord!”

Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Stuff will happen. Stuff will always happen but we are to do stuff for God’s Kingdom.

We are one or the other. Jesus told a parable of two sons, where the Father asks the sons to go into the field and do a task. One son refuses, thinks about it and goes and does the work. The other son agrees to do the work, but then does not go and do the work. Neither of them perfectly obeyed the Father, but the first son did go and do the work.

Nobody in this story is good, for one son was willing and disobedient, the other son was not willing, but was obedient. God requires us to be WILLING AND OBEDIENT. To be quick and cheery about carrying out His commands.

Joy shared about a job situation that happened a few years ago where God taught her an important lesson. She got a job review from her boss and her boss was not pleased with her work, and mentioned to Joy that she knew that Joy and the other workers talked about her behind her back.

God gave Joy the following scripture:

1 Peter 2:18 AMP [You who are] household servants, be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate and reasonable, but also to those who are surly (overbearing, unjust, and crooked).

Joy said, “OK, God, I get it.” She purposed in her heart not to talk about her boss, to move away if her fellow workers were talking about her boss, and not give assent, but to say, “I don’t know.” Her heart adjusted and her behavior changed. And when her next performance evaluation came, she was told that she was invaluable to the department and received the highest raise.

That’s what God wants, us to be willing and obedient. He will not put us in position unless we are willing and obedient. We will be judged by our behavior under authority.

If we are dealing with a person who is hard to get along with, we have to rely on God and discern ourselves. Are we in rebelion, stubbornness, or are we positive. If we are not willing and obedient to earthly authority, God cannot position us with greater authority.

Remember that God told us that to obey is better than sacrifice.

Willing and obedient have to go together. And we will be tested in areas where issues are challenged in this area.

Joy then shared that after she changed her heart, the boss was gone within a year. When we are showing correct behavior, things change in the supernatural.

We can be upset about people in our lives, unwilling and disobedient. But the truth is that if we change one element, it changes the whole. Change yourself and it changes the system. If we are willing to do that, and it is possible to change ourselves to display God’s purpose and intent, then we are in line with the Word of God. That is far better than expecting the world to change for us.

We have to get to the place where we are steady and not change no matter what is thrown at us, then we can stay at peace, with the peace of God that passes all understanding. That does not mean that everything will be OK in our lives. We can be happy and peaceful when everything is falling down around us, crushing us, and still be happy on the inside. For we know that Jesus is on the throne and we can trust Jesus.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him, bring it on, for it will not affect my peace. God’s got it.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

No matter how bad things seem, they will not be bad forever. Paul suffered many things. He was shipwrecked, beaten several times with 39 lashes, left for dead, in prison, etc. yet he found that no reason to whine. Whatever it was that he suffered, he chose to serve God.

This was an incredible study, and these new insights are very convicting for me. I hope that they bless you as well and that your day is blessed.

Heather

If you recall, I mentioned that I would share extra bits of information from Friday’s discussion about the discerning of spirits that was not included in Wednesday’s Bible study to flesh out the previous studies about the discernment of spirits. I could repeat the whole study as taught on Friday, but I think that you can get that in greater detail: part one here and  part two here.

But Pastor Don gave a fantastic example that helps to explain words of knowledge and words of wisdom.

If a prophet gives you a word of knowledge – you are going to get the keys to a car, you do not know which car or where. So someone else can give you a word of wisdom to pin down the search, it is a blue car.

The Word of knowledge tells you something, and the Word of wisdom tells you what to do with the Word of knowledge. We are to take the Word of knowledge and permeate it with the Word of wisdom.

1 Corinthians 12:27-31 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.  And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

When Paul tells us that we are to desire spiritual gifts, the best gifts and then goes on to tell us that the more excellent way is love. Those gifts need to be operating in love. And Paul would not tell us that we are to desire something that we can’t attain.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

The chapter and verse numbers in the Bible were not in the original text, they were placed by man to help us to find spots in the Bible, so 1 Corinthians 13 continues where 1 Corinthians 12 ends. While we are to desire the spiritual gifts, without love they are nothing, and it does not profit us anything or God anything.

We need wisdom to discern where we are and what we are are asking for, and we need to also discern if we are walking in love. For that discernment will let us know how to use our spiritual gifts. We need to know when and how to use these gifts, and that means discernment of ourselves to ascertain if we are in the perfect will of God for our lives.

1 Corinthians 14:1-2 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

God gave spiritual gifts to all of us and that includes tongues. Praying in tongues benefits ourselves and also benefits the Body of Christ. There is a singular application as well as a corporate application. The spiritual gift of tongues has a personal application to benefit yourself, and when you are praying in tongues in your private life, you also can pray for understanding and interpretation of those tongues. Ask God, “Lord, what did I just say?” Pray for the gift of wisdom and to know what God wants us to do.

If all wisdom is available to us through God, why are we spending so much time seeking others, seeking prophets, personal words from prophets, supernatural signs and wonders? It is because we haven’t discerned ourselves first, so that we can be in a better position to know what to ask for and how to operate in it. We must understand ourselves in the natural matters before we operate in the Spiritual.

Then Pastor Don went on to explain more of James 1 to the group (See Part 1 linked above.) Pastor Don again gave the example of the person standing in the corner afraid to enter into the group, and he added a few things. He said that we have to discern what words were spoken to us that hold us back. What made us that way? We were designed to release these gifts in our lives, but we cannot release these until we deal with the ingrained word in our lives. We want to replace the ingrained word that does not line up with the truth of God with the Word that is the truth of God. (Heather’s note, Pastor Don often reminds us that we cannot think two thoughts simultaneously. So when the false thoughts and ideas come up, then we have to replace them with God’s word and truth.)

Praying that these extra tidbits help you to more fully comprehend what Pastor Don is sharing.

Heather