Category: Religion

On eternal things – Thomas

From In Touch (emphasis added)

John 20:25-29

“The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he (Thomas) said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Thomas is an “everyman”. He hadn’t yet seen the resurrected Jesus, though he’d heard, as you and I have heard that Jesus had risen from the dead. Angry, hurt, and confused, he resisted believing the bewildering accounts of resurrection—accounts that came from trusted friends he had lived with for three years.

Thomas was no stranger to resurrection. With his own eyes, he’d seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead—and he had believed. But he had also personally seen Jesus crucified, and that’s when his dream of the kingdom died. Crucifixion seemed more powerful than resurrection, more final. Faith crumbled; hope was crushed.

Then Jesus appeared alive, and gently said, “Peace be with you,” offering Thomas all the proof he needed. The proof he personally needed. Resurrection, it turns out, was more permanent than death.Face it: Believing in resurrection isn’t easy no matter how many people tell you it happened. Jesus still has to bring us to belief, to give our hearts and minds and souls peace in faith. Without appearing physically to us, He gives us what we need in order to believe—what we ourselves need. And as He did with Thomas, Jesus seeks us out.

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Thomas had seen miracles; he’d witnessed many demonstrations of Jesus’ supernatural power. Yet the crucifixion shook his faith badly. Has anything ever shaken your faith to the core, even though you may previously have seen numerous works of God? What can you learn from Thomas’s experience?

2. In order to believe, Thomas needed something tangible—something special for him. The vast majority of Christians have never seen the resurrected Jesus, yet God gives us what we each need in order to believe. What did (or do) you need for faith to become real? How has Jesus revealed Himself to you or how do you still need Him to do so?

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On eternal things – Satan and the human race

The purpose of this post is to get on a couple pages what I believe to be a reason why many people do not accept the Bible and specifically why they do not believe the doctrine of salvation as understood as perseverance of the saints who of their own freewill believe and accept that the Jesus of the Gospels is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, the one who gave His life as a ransom for sin at Golgotha and was buried and three days later resurrected and some days later ascended into Heaven and will soon come back to rule and reign on this earth (ref).

I am not going to use a lot of Bible verses, just a few, because if someone does not believe the Bible is the Word of God then providing a bazillion verse references will only exacerbate matters.

Here I go…

I believe Lucifer was a created being, an anointed cherub who covered the throne of God. He was the most beautiful of the spiritual beings God created. Over a matter of time he developed pride and misplaced and used it as a means to have aspirations to at least put himself on the same level of God. It was this attempt that he apparently tried to carry out that resulted in him being punished and expelled out of Heaven (technically the third heaven) which is where God’s throne is (Isaiah 14:12-26; Ezekiel 28:12-19). Through this expulsion he changed and gained the name of Satan. Through this he changed but he can still appear to human beings as an angel of light or pretty much however he wants to appear.

Satan saw God recreate the earth and create Adam and Eve and he saw immediately a means to attack God and that was to ruin these two beings. Through deception he got Eve to disobey God and the Adam willfully disobeyed God choosing to follow Eve. God appears in the garden of Eden and Satan is there with Adam and Eve. Pay close attention. God pronounces judgments and prophecies what will eventually happen (Genesis 3 and specifically verse 15).  “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Satan is wiser than any human being. Satan heard the judgment and knew immediately what it was implying: a virgin would conceive and give birth to the Savior of all the creation. He understood this because a woman does not have seed and yet look at the verse again. Something was going to occur that involved something outside of human flesh to create a very special human being. Now much could be said as to what would transpire but I will limit it to two thoughts. The first is Satan knew he needed to wipe out a specific line/heritage so as to frustrate the birth, maturation and victory of this special human being. The second, one of many fail-safe plans, he needed to pervert the words of God so as to get any future offspring to not correctly understand and believe it.

In the first case we see Cain killing Abel then fallen angels coming down and polluting all of creation resulting also in what is known as giants (that is something for a different post, Genesis 6) such that only one man and his immediate family are genetically clean, righteous – Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God wipes out all of His creation with a flood.  Time passes and God selects Abram (later his name is changed to Abraham) and God tells him that he will bless him and give him a great land. Fast forward Jacob whose name is changed to Israel, Joseph, Moses, Pharaoh, what follows is a history of war, blessings, disobedience and judgment over and over again. Also over this period nations try to wipe out the people of Israel. Fast forward to around 3 BC a virgin conceives and later gives birth – what happens? As soon as Herod finds out he has every child 2 years and younger murdered. Why? Twofold, Herod was trying to preserve his throne and Satan was trying to kill that special human being that God said would save His creation about 4000 years ago.

In the second matter, in those 4000 years Satan rose up Nimrod (Genesis 10 & 11) who was worshipped and later Semiramis and Tammuz and the whole shebang when you study it is a woman who gives birth from the gods and she has a son who becomes her husband and he dies and is resurrected and do you see what is happening? From these starts the mystery religion is formed and it goes from the area of Persia down to Egypt back out to Persia and Palestine and then up and over to Asia Minor and Europe. Through the years its teachings change and adapt and grow to entangle cultures and people (see the definitive work about this: Hislop’s Two Babylons). From history as many people already know you can trace religions which taught a virgin born baby, a baby that was god, a god that was one yet many, blood sacrifice, resurrection of god-being, etc.

Satan is not foolish or ignorant. He knew exactly what to do to gain the best chance of blinding people to the Truth and have them dwell in Hell with him for all eternity. The human race is a means to an end to him. The end is his efforts to hurt and frustrate God. He knows what the end will be. He believes God’s word though he convinces humans it is all fables and lies. He knows. Remember he was in existence before the earth and creation was brought into being. He knows God and he knows God will keep His word.

At this moment Satan is the god of this world. Soon the Lord Jesus Christ will come and defeat him and wrap him in chains to bind and throw him in the bottomless pit. Jesus will then rule and reign on this earth (Revelation 19 & 20).

So what are you going to do with this information and Jesus?

[please forgive type-o-s and poor grammar]

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On eternal things: An important difference

To the best of my knowledge all religions but Christianity (which is different from Roman Catholicism) teach that one must work or earn their way to heaven, nirvana, or whatever the term is for the blessed hereafter. The god or prophet gives rules and admonitions that one must follow and obey so as to have a hope, a possibility of gaining eternal bliss.

With Christianity, the God of the world said here is what you would have to do – be perfect everyday of your life and this will require sacrifices and rituals to cling to in order to hope for eternal bliss. In essence at this point of the story it is the same as all other religions.

Then He did the unthinkable and said, I know you can’t do it so I will send my Son to you and He will do it and He will fulfill the required righteousness on your behalf and if you accept His work, His payment for your life – if that is all you will trust in to enter Heaven, you then can freely enter.

Immanuel – God with us. Doing for us what we could not do in order to have an eternity we desperately desire.

 

Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved,

 

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

 

Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

 

Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

 

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

 

Ephesians 2:8&9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

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On eternal things, v.3

In the Bible God tells us…

  • That there is none righteous, no not one.
  • All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
  • Our works of righteousness are nothing but filthy rags.
  • Because of sin we are enemies of God and the wages of sin is death.
  • The good news is that God proved his love for us, in that while we were sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believed on Him shall have everlasting life. Jesus Christ came to save sinners and God is not willing that any should perish but it is a person’s freewill to believe Him or not. Jesus declared that He alone is the way the Truth and the Life and that no one can come to God the Father but by Him.
  • The reality is that God made Hell for Satan and his angels. So we are not to neglect a great salvation because if we do there is no escape – no other remedy.
  • God has given only one way to Heaven. It is His home and it is His say. A person’s baptism, good works, mass/communion/Eucharist, church membership or any other thing outside of their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ – will NOT save them.
  • That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart that God had raised Jesus from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
  • Confess your sinner and that you believe Jesus paid your sin debt in full at Calvary -and THAT alone is what you are trusting for salvation. This salvation is eternal and secured by the work of God not our own works.
  • For by grace are ye saved thru faith and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.

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Russia, Iran, Syria war with Israel soon?

Israel jets over E. Lebanon after Syria strikes

Israeli Air Force continues air strikes against Damascus

Russian sources: Syria set for war with Israel. Iron Domes at Haifa and Safed

NYT: Israel Targeted Iranian Missiles in Syria Attack

“Russian and Iranian media Sunday, May 5, predicted full-scale Middle East hostilities involving Israel erupting in the coming hours, in the wake of Israel’s renewed strikes against Iranian missiles bound for Hizballah and other targets around Damascus. Russian sources reported rumors that President Bashar Assad was on the point of declaring war on Israel.”

Assad desperately needs this development to blossom if he has any hopes of remaining in office and alive. This type of shift in the matters of Syria is theory will solidify Arab support against the common enemy – Israel. There are quite a few different ways this scenario can play out and it is far too early in the development to know with any reasonable certainty what will happen.

Undoubtedly what is in mind for some students of Bible prophecy is the references to a war/battle in which God says He will pull Russia and many of Israel’s enemies down to the mountains of Israel so that they will suffer a large defeat (Ezekiel 38).  God draws them in with a hook and pulls them in to a confrontation with Israel. Historically this battle/war that WILL happen has yet to happen.

Bible text of reference below:

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
(Ezekiel 38:1-23 KJV)

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Purpose and service

“The Christian life was never intended to be a matter of book learning or head knowledge.

God wants us to live out the life He created and intends for us to live.

The Bible tells us repeatedly to get knowledge and understanding. But then it challenges us to pursue wisdom, which is the application of knowledge and understanding in real-world situations according to God’s commandments & principles.

But we must take a step beyond the mere application of what we know – that step is service.

One doesn’t reach their full potential until one turns one’s skills into service for the Lord.”

~ Dr. Charles Stanley
How to Reach Your Full Potential
page 16

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