Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

That’s how God tells us to study our Bible. That sounded weird to me when I first noticed it in 2 Timothy 2:15 but once I got over the way I had been told to read my Bible which had me in the jacked up confused mess I was back a few years ago it all began to make sense. You ever worked a puzzle with a bunch of pieces, like one of those 1,000 pieces (but not the ones of chocolate I know that sucker is gonna be used to torment people in the lake of fire it’s absolutely cray-cray all brown you can’t sort it at all) but a normal big puzzle you sort by color, that’s kinda what that verse did for me. It showed me how to sort out my Bible God’s way not man’s. Instead of thinking it was all to, for and about me as a member of the body of Christ from “In the beginning God” in Genesis 1:1 to “Amen” in Revelation 22:21, now I see the distinctions and the differences that made all the confusing parts confusing when I tried to mash em up and together. They didn’t go together so it kinda ended up looking like your play dough as a kid when you used the play dough factory, all the colors sorta mixed together to make this putrid brown color but not mixed too cause you could still see all the colors sorta, that’s what Christendom teaches as how to study your Bible and it’s wrong. See for yourselves that God says to rightly divide the word of truth (and no He didn’t say handle if you’re reading something other than the KJB, it’s divide – those two words have very different meanings and it completely changes the verse to use handle.)

Why would we need to divide the Truth you ask, because God says too first of all. Secondly because there’s divisions in Scripture that if ignored today then you frustrate grace and are unfruitful members of Christ’s Body at best and at worst you’re lost as a golf ball in high weeds and don’t even realize it because you’re trusting in something other than the faith and shed blood of Christ alone to save you! I know that’s a bold statement but it is said with much love and concern for you all and besides it’s what God says.

Okay so let’s look at how we rightly divide: it comes from two passages in Paul’s epistles.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”  (Ephesians 2:11-12)

Notice the bold phrase “time past” and how it says Gentiles were without Christ being strangers of the covenants and promises of Israel; having no hope cause they were without God. That’s important.

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”  (Ephesians 2:13)

“But now ” we Gentile’s are made nigh to God by Christ’s blood. That is on glorious distinction and change people!

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”  (Ephesians 2:7)

And there’s another division called ages to come. These three make up the basic timeline of the history of man and the different parts of the Bible fit in them as the chart below shows. I plan on teaching this much more in-depth in the coming weeks on Friday’s but in a nutshell it boils down to this:

In times past God chose one nation of people to be His special people and separated them from the rest of the nations by the law, promises, covenants and a physical sign – circumcision, all of which Paul referred to as the middle wall of partition. From Abraham until Moses this wall was being erected and the giving of the Law was the final stones – Israel was a nation separated from the nations through the Old Testament (yes they were dispersed among them periodically but they remained separated by the law and circumcision) and through the Gospel accounts of Jesus earthly ministry into the mid Acts stoning of Stephen when they fell and were put in a time out of sorts, a long one. See, in time past salvation was to come through Israel to the world in the form of the kingdom of heaven but now since Israel rejected Christ and the kingdom God stooped dealing with Israel and instead brought salvation to the world without them by making them just part of the nations again and bringing grace to the world through faith alone in the shed blood of Christ. That’s the only way to be saved today is by God’s grace through faith, trying to follow anything from Israel’s program won’t work, because it required works to show faith and to continue to do works to obtain eventual salvation. That’s not what God wants us to do today though, today we just have to belief the Gospel of Christ’s death burial and resurrection and we are made a member of the body of Christ. That’s it. Course the time out for Israel will end on day, possibly very soon as it has been almost 2,000 years now, and that’ll happen after we, the Body of Christ are caught up with him to heaven and the prophetic program of Israel will pick back up. The pause will be over, the wall will go back up and the kingdom of heaven headed by Christ will come on earth after the completion of Daniel’s 70th week, the Lord’s day which ushers in the millennium (the kingdom) the ages to come. Study this chart and be ready to dig in next Friday.

Eternally gripped in His glorious grace,

Miranda

Are You Sure

I want you to think for a moment about a pretty serious question:

Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die?

If you do how do you know?

These aren’t trick questions mind you, but questions I am going to start asking people when I meet them. Obviously I will tweak things based on the situation and individual but I want to really step up my efforts to reach the lost in this world. And I am not just a gonna assume a person is saved and miss an opportunity.

I will ask. If they are (I’ll be able to see that by the answer to the second question) praise God I just met a brother or sister in Christ if not I will ask if they want to know how they can know and be sure or deal with a false trust in works. Then I will take them through the Scriptures showing their problem of needing a Savior because they have sinned against God, once they see the need I’ll give them the solution and just simply present the gospel from Scripture; that Christ died for their sins was buried to eternally remove them all and rose the third day for their justification before God, giving us eternal life in Him. I’ll explain in depth using a Bible if time and setting allow, or make it short and to the point using a tract and memorized verses if not.

Either way after giving them the good news I will ask if they understand and want to accept the gift of eternal life through Christ by believing what He did for them, that that’s all they have to do. All they can do, for any works they try to add such as a confession, water Baptism, praying that prayer, repentance, etc. will just condemn them, the only way to be saved is trusting in the shed blood of Christ to save us. It’s His faith through the Cross and if we add to it then we are rejecting that truth, rejecting Him.

If they believe that hallelujah praise God another soul is saved, if not then I tried. Either way I will give them some Bible pamphlet or tracts depending on how it went with a way to contact me for Bible Study, questions or information. I want to see the lost saved the best way to do that is take it on like Paul and always be about sharing the good news.

So I ask you my friends,

Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die? If so how do you know? If not do you want to know how you can be sure?

I am just a comment or email away if you want to talk.

ar3volut1on@outlook.com

Glorious Grace

I have a request of all that read this message, I want you to read the following list of verses and ponder in your heart the glorious riches of the grace of God and how very deeply He loves you! So much that while you were yet a sinner Christ died for you a brutal horrific death that was meant for you, your sins nailed him there. Then he was buried to take your sins away, He descended to the very depths of hell and left them all their – your past, present and future sins (after all they were all future when He died) before crossing the divide across which the rich man had gazed longingly as he suffered eternal torment and agony in that very hell to Abraham’s bosom, paradise and emptied it of the saints waiting patiently for their Lord to one day come. Then the third day He rose from the grave victoriously justifying all who believe in Him for all eternity before God thus our salvation is solely by His glorious grace a free gift we don’t deserve and we can never do anything to earn but God gives us from the rich depths of His love.

New In The Son

We live in a world that is completely jacked up, it’s a hot mess of trouble with a capital T! But you know what, it won’t always be this way because it’s all going to pass away when God makes all things new in the future out there, more than a thousand years from now.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”  (2 Peter 3:10-13)

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”  (Revelation 21:1-5)

But the good news is we don’t have to wait that long to experience some amazing new eternal things!

Since there’s nothing new under the sun, then we must look above it to the Son! The Son of God, Christ Jesus who saved us out of this messed up world through His death, burial and resurrection- we just have to believe that and accept it, it’s the free gift of God. The instant we do then we are a changed, sealed by the Holy Spirit and made one in Christ. As such we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

Where our conversation is,

That means we are to set our affections on things above not things here on earth.

Remember, I said we are changed, boy are we ever. Our old sinful filthy man is made new in Christ, that old man is dead and we have life in our Savior. New life! Glory be to God we are changed and made new!

Actually there are so many new things we have in Christ but tonight I want to look at just 7. Seven “new” things we have in Christ.

1. New Birth

2. New Man

3. Newness of Life

4. New Song

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”  (Psalms 40:1-3)

5. New Purpose

6. New Body

7. New Eternal Destiny

Just look at that list, think about what it really means. We are new things IN the Son! That truth is absolutely amazing and my dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ I pray always that you know that you are made new in Him, for ever and always new and eternally gripped in His glorious grace.

It Didn’t Start in Acts 2

I wanna talk about something tonight that sorta threw me for a second when I first saw it, then it clicked and all sorts of things suddenly fell into place and made perfect sense. It was one of those how did I miss this moments! I had missed it and it caused me much confusion, frustration and years of not being able to do what God wants me to do today because I wasn’t really looking at the instructions for today but the ones for Israel. I had believed what I was taught by men, what the local church I attended told me, and I wasn’t being a Berean by searching the Scriptures to see if what men were saying was true. I thank God my eyes were opened and I see things correctly now, the way God intended me to see them. Let me tell you all again don’t just believe what anyone – and I do mean ANYONE – tells you is true about the Bible and what it means. Instead get out your Bible and search it, read it, let the Holy Spirit lead you and show you whether what I or anyone else has said is the truth.

So what was it that was so ahhh, now I see for me? It was this little simple oh so clear truth: Pentecost was not the birth of the Christian church of today. I know it is what pretty much every christian church and denomination out there says it was but I’m just call em on that and say they are wrong, way wrong. I saw that I had been wrong for years. I had to reread it again just to kinda adjust to the truth there and then I got lit, I mean I was on fire reading and all those pesky pieces suddenly fit, and that brothers and sisters is a glorious thing. If you think I’m either nuts or stupid let me walk you through the passage and show you how the church the body of Christ wasn’t there, wasn’t even a hint or blimp anywhere near the radar.

Read it in full first, then I’ll break it down.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:1-41)

The reason most assume the Church of this dispensation began on the day described above is on the premise that the so-called ‘great commission’ embodies the instructions from Christ for today. That premise is unfortunately wrong and so is the conclusion drawn from it. I’ll take on the ‘Great Commission’ another night, for now let’s look just at Pentecost.

There is no Scriptural basis whatsoever for the belief that the Body of Christ began, historically, with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. There is a whole lot of evidence to show it wasn’t the beginning, however. Just look.

1. Nowhere in the record of Pentecost does Scripture mention or even hint at the Body of Christ; we don’t see it until we come to Paul’s epistles.
2. Pentecost was a Jewish feast day, not related in any way at all to the Body of Christ.
3. Only Jews were recognized in Peter’s Pentecostal address, just look at 2:5, 14, 22, 36 in bold above, while the Body is “one new man:” composed of both Jew and Gentile reconciled to God in one body, the result of the breaking down of the middle wall of partition that had separated Israel from the Gentile nations since Abraham. Look at the list of languages given – they are languages of the nations BUT they are people there for the feast, not Gentiles in the crowd but Jews that were scattered abroad come in to Jerusalem for the feast.
4. The Jew had to be alienated from God just like the Gentile before they could both be reconciled to God in one body. This is why Israel had to be set aside, cast away, as a nation before God could offer reconciliation to the world and form the Body of Christ.This is why Romans 11:15 talks about “the casting away of them”, the them is Israel, in connection with the “reconciling of the world.” The fact that God is dealing with Israel alone at Pentecost proves it wasn’t the church the Body of Christ because Israel couldn’t have been concluded in unbelief and cast aside yet.
5. The promised kingdom hadn’t even been offered to Israel until Pentecost; See Acts 2:30-39, 3:19-21 to see it offered, Israel had to reject the offer before they could be set aside, that didn’t happen until the stoning of Stephen (and that is something I will be talking about soon too; talk about a doozy first sermon and unfortunately last sermon, but what a way to go; he’s not the first church martyr either.)
6. At the feast of Pentecost there were two loaves (Leviticus 23:17) representing Israel and Judah, the two houses of Israel that will be brought together in alliance during the kingdom but still retain their individual identities. The body of Christ however is many members in one Body, one identity in Christ.
7. The baptism that occurred at Pentecost was with or in the Spirit for power (Acts 1:8). That’s completely different from the baptism OF the Holy Spirit into Christ and His body we have today.
8. Jesus himself is the one who preformed the baptism on Pentecost baptizing his people with or in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:7-8). Today it’s the other way around; the Holy Spirit baptizes us into Christ and his Body.
9. Only Jews were baptized on Pentecost, nary a Gentile was even present, so how could this have been the baptism of both Jew and Gentile into one body? (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Search it out, see what the Scriptures actually say. As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may you be eternally gripped in His glorious grace.

The Real Miracle

What is it you are celebrating today? If you answer Jesus’ birth I’m afraid you’re a little late. He was born back in late September. Scripture tells us that very clearly when we look at the first two chapters of Luke. It starts with the announcement of the conception of John the Baptist to his father, Zacharias.

I find these two chapters absolutely fascinating – the tale of two cousins – one destined to declare the other who had descended straight from heaven. Let’s just look at a few highlights that allow us to definitely date the births of both babies within a week or two.

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.”  (Luke 1:5)

The course of Abia was the eighth of the 24 courses King David had established in 1 Chronicles 24 for the ministry of the temple priests. Each of the 24 courses was to run for one week every six months. So each priestly family served two weeks 6 months apart per year in addition to the 3 weeks per year that all the priests served together: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These three are the ones every Israelite male was required to attend each year, no exceptions!

“And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.”  (Luke 1:8-9)

“And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”  (Luke 1:11-13)

We see that Zacharias was serving in his course which was mid June.

“And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,”  (Luke 1:23-24)

Now Jerusalem was about 30 miles from his home so when his course ended it probably took him a few days to get home which puts Elizabeth conceiving in late June and giving birth 9 months later in late March.

Ok, now let’s look at when Mary conceived Christ and we can date his birth as well.

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”  (Luke 1:26-27)

“And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.”  (Luke 1:36)

So Elizabeth is 6 months along with John when Mary conceives Jesus by the Holy Spirit. When is 6 months after late June? Yep, late December, which unfortunately for anyone saying that Jesus was born December 25th puts his birth in late September. This makes much more sense actually since we are told that shepherds are in the field on the night of his birth.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”  (Luke 2:8)

The shepherds would have left the fields for the winter by late October so the fields would have been empty had the birth taken place in December. Also worth noting in proving that this most amazing child – God incarnate, Emmanuel God with us – was not born in December is the taxing ordered by Caesar. He would never have ordered this in winter as it would have been much harder to enforce during winter weather when roads were all but impassible.

So we’ve established that Jesus was not born in late December but conceived then. In my opinion this is a far greater miracle than the precious birth which was actually rather ordinary as far as births go. But the conception was the moment that God put meat on and came to dwell among and eventually go to the cross to pay the price for our sins. It is our brokenness, our filth and vileness that will nail the man that precious baby that John leaped in the womb over (want a defense for life beginning at conception there you have it, Mary was a week or so pregnant) grew to be to that tree 33 years later. Our sins separated us eternally from God who is holy just and perfect, therefore he can’t abide sin. That black bitter sin covered us in the debt of breaking God’s laws and the wages of that is death, not physically but spiritually as one day we would be cast into that lake of fire we so justly deserved. But with that conception God set in motion the greatest gift to mankind- salvation. The gift that began as the fulfillment of the prophecy program foretold since the world began of Israel became after their fall and temporary time out the gift of the grace of God! The gospel of the death of Christ for the forgiveness of the sins past present and future of all who place their faith in Him, his burial for the removal of them eternally and His resurrection the third day for our justification. When we believe that we are saved, sealed by the Spirit and eternally seated in heavenly places in Christ. Christ, Jesus, the precious miracle conceived that late December some 2000 years ago. That’s what I rejoice over, that’s what I give thanks for, that’s what I glory and joy in. And not just one day in December but every second of everyday, with my every breath. I do it without traditions and trappings that take my mind off the most incredible gift my eventual eternal salvation through the shed blood of Jesus. May you remember that today and everyday and share that perfect gift with everyone you meet, not just in this day but everyday. Give the gift of eternal life through the sharing of the gospel of the grace of God!

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may you be eternally gripped in His glorious grace.

A New Creature!

That verse is another one that I cherish as dearly precious to me. I’m a new creature in Christ; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. That truth thrills and humbles me for there is much which passed away. So much brokenness, so much pain ; I did things I’m so ashamed of said things I wish I could take back. Though those bruises and scars are still there they no longer chain me, prison me, now they are just faded hints that the old creature once lived but has now passed away and I am made new, alive in Christ no longer dead in bondage and sin. I weep for joy and thanksgiving at that truth, and I try at every opportunity to share Christ with others so they too can be new creatures with me by giving all who will listen the gospel of the grace of God.

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, KJV)

God expects nothing from us for what Christ did for us other than belief, folks that is not doing anything it is simply accepting the truth of what He has already done and letting it feee us. When Christ saved me and set me free I gave myself to Him, what was left of me that is, my broken shattered heart and He has made it and me new ! He will do the same for you, if you have not already accepted the free gift of grace eternal salvation through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness and eternal putting away of your sins and your justification before God I beg you not to wait another second but believe on what Christ has done and be set eternally free.

Christ Offered Once For All

The other night we looked at how Catholicism is steeped (dead and buried in) made by man and led by that Pope with no hope.  That’s where following men rather than God leads, fish hats, ornate robes, and no hope. Take our next topic for instance, Priests.  This is one tradition of Catholicism that is just strange to me. I look at their official stance and just scratch my head saying “What are these people smoking!”  Just before yourself.

Instead of ministers, the Catholic Church has priests. Their official explanation is:

 A priest  is one who is ordained or on whom the priesthood has been  conferred, who offers sacrifice, and who has the threefold power of teaching, ministering, and governing… the priest alone can complete the building  up of the Body in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.” (p. 491, The Catholic Encyclopedia)

The office of priest was a position  held back in the Old Testament  Jewish faith, but in the Christian church of the New Testament, the leaders are either called ministers, pastors, or elders. Since Jesus “paid it all” for our sins at the cross once for all, there is no longer a need for sacrifice  in the “age of grace,” thus there is no need for a priest.  Just look at what God tells us in His Word:

Hebrews 7:25-27  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  [26]  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;  [27]  Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

I will be dealing with this Catholic sacrifice or Eucharist or Mass in depth in my next post but for now I want to look at a slightly different topic- cults. We need to understand what the official position of the Catholic Church is on cults first though to really understand how even they are saying their teachings are heretical and not to be followed.

The Catholic Church officially says this about cults.

Broadly, honor to a thing or person, cult includes worship and veneration. As such it is usually divided into: Altria, worship that is accorded to God alone; hyperdulia, which is the esteem and veneration given to the Blessed Mother (Mary); and Delia, which is the veneration given the saints. It also refers to the liturgy in a loose sense and is controlled study in the Church by the Sacred Congregation of Doctrine of the Faith. Canon law “On Divine Cultus” sets up specific laws concerning worship and veneration.” (p. 146, The Catholic Encyclopedia)

Now here’s how Webster’s defines a cult: “…a sect adhering to a common ideology or leader, especially when such adherence or devotion is based on fanatical beliefs or dogma; an instance of fixed, almost religious veneration for a person or thing, especially by a body of admirers.”

Alrighty then! The Pope is called “The Holy Father ” (one of God’s titles in Scripture) along with many other arrogant papal titles. In 1870, the Pope was declared to be infallible by His personally selected council, thus forcing his followers to adhere without question to his “ex-cathedra” statements. The Catholic Church’s beliefs are “fixed” by the Pope and his hierarchy. The Catholic Church’s fanatical beliefs include allegiance to the “infallible” Pope, prayer to Mary or other dead saints, and daily “miracles” through the “Tran substantiation” of the communion elements.

I believe we have adequately shown that by the Catholic Church’s own definition it admits that it fits the description of a cult, and as such, qualifies as the largest cult ever known to man. Since the Roman Church calls itself the “Holy Mother ” Church, could this imply that the Roman Catholic Church is the “Mother” of all cults? It certainly beats considering, particularly if you are a member of it. I can’t help but hear the words of God so oft repeated in Scripture:

Revelation 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Major Divisions

Tonight I want you all to study the chart above. Really get to know it, digest it and know the truths it shows of how God is dealing with man. I have always gotten God’s dispensational plan to a point, and that was all the Spirit leading me because the church we work in and where I was standing the day I accepted God’s gift of grace sure doesn’t believe in or teach dispensationalism; or anything else that is biblically sound either, they have become a liberal, progressive, Catholic wanna be, social justice ecumenical, modernist, apostate abomination. But there are precious tender hearts in the children there and God put me there to show them His Son and why they need Him. There are a very small number of brethren among the adults as well; these are why we are there. But I digress sorry, my point tonight is grab a KJV Bible and see if this chart holds up scripturally.

Romans Roadwork 2

We are still in the last of Romans chapter 1, the passage that’s a scathing commentary on today’s society written by God through Paul nearly two thousand years ago that’s as relevant today as it was in that day and in times past all the way back to that garden where Adam first brought sin upon man. This passage (as all scripture) has three applications which we will be looking at historic, doctrine / dispensation, and spiritual/ practical. Last night we looked at the historic application of this passage and touched on the spiritual but I will go into more detail on it tomorrow night. Tonight I want to cover the doctrinal / dispensational application.

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” (Romans 1:22-25)

Historically this is referring to man’s descent from Adam’s original sin to the utter deprivation described in these verses, deprivation which is highlighted in the accounts of the Flood, Babel and Sodom and Gomorrah. There are numerous other accounts of man’s utter depravity when separated from God but I think last nights passages prove the point- without God man is lost hopelessly so. God in his infinite wisdom foresaw this sad state of affairs and had the answer in Himself. It’s a glorious twofold plan that will restore all things in His Son. But we’re not quite to that glorious part yet, we still have a hot mess to deal with.

We we learn in Scripture is that Abram is called and the nation of Israel is about to be born. Through one man God will bring about a chosen and peculiar people unto Himself and the rest of the world is given over to become fools and reap the consequences of that choice. He sets aside the nations to focus on one particular nation. We will look more at that special nation in a few days right now our focus is on those set aside , given up nations and the people in them.

See they think they are so smart, so wise, that they got it all figured out, under control and they are just a rocking along doing what ever they want and thinking its living. They reject God in favor of nature and their own imaginations. They exactly and worship the creation more than The Creator. They give themselves over to vile and unnatural lusts, calling it love and work that which is unseemly- that means man knows man and woman knows woman! Folks basically the result of God washing His hands of a nation or group of people is homosexuality. Just read the remaining verses of chapter 1 if you done believe that, a clearer picture hasn’t been given. It disgusting and it will destroy mankind from off the earth entirely. No matter what the crowd wants to believe two dudes will never make a baby of any kind, same for two chicks. So we see in the dispensational application of these verses. They apply in particular to the nations after Israel was set apart.

Basically they were all a jacked up hopeless mess and God knew it, it’s why He has to put meat on and come down in the form of His precious Son to take our sins on himself and pay our debt so we could be saved. So we could be fixed, healed, made righteous. Even the nation he separated for himself and gave the law to show them the way, giving them covenant promises and everything, they still blew it. For goodness sake they didn’t even recognize Him when he came to them. He fulfilled literally to the letter hundreds of prophecies they had spent their lives studying and they still missed it. They were so caught up in their own ideas and traditions of what the Messiah would be that they blew it, that’s called becoming a fool. And it describes each of us, at least before we accept the Gospel of the grace of God that Christ gave to Paul and he faithfully wrote the very words the glorified Christ from heaven told him to write so that we have them today. That Christ was crucified for our sins, buried and rose the third day for our justification. When we believe that truth, believe in that gift of God we are saved that second. Saved eternally for the Holy Spirit enters us then sealing us until the day of redemption. (That’s the resurrection and catching away of the body of Christ). The moment of that sealing is our baptism into Christ, being made members of his body and sons of God. That’s our only hope and if it’s something you’ve never done or your not sure you’ve done then I beseech you to do so now. This moment trust Christ to save you. He is faithful and sure, when we trust in His sure faith we are secure, trust Him!