ANGRY YET? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE.
The Bible, says that it is okay to get angry: “BE ANGRY” (about certain things), “YET WITHOUT SIN,” in Ephesians 4:26. Yes, it should make us angry when, as the preceding verse implies, we are surrounded by LIARS. We have many examples in the world today of people who are angry and sin because of their anger. Anger is an innate emotion that we are not to be denied. I am angry that some government officials think they can get away with murder, instead of just telling the truth.
2 Co 10:4 tells us “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) KJV. Taking matters into our own hands is not the answer. The WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE MIGHTY THROUGH GOD. Our anger, our outrage, needs to be taken to God through our prayers. The previous verse in 2 Co 10 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:” The way we carry on our warfare is spiritual, not physically.
In the final chapter of the greatest revelation given to the Church of the Body of Christ, Paul, by way of our Lord, Jesus Christ says:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Eph 6:10-18
Yes, we should be angry about what is going on in high places in our country and around the world today. Taking matters into our own hands as the two domestic terrorists recently did is not the answer. Fervent Prayer Is.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Jas 5:16
Are You Willing to be Criticized?
Happy New Year Everyone!
We are 2 weeks into 2013. Has it taken you by storm? Do you feel more in control of things in your life than you did last year? Or do you feel like you are being swept out to sea by the wave of public opinion?
Those of us who stood for truth during the last election were bitterly demonized for our positions. We were called divisive, unpatriotic, trouble-makers, fabricators, spoil sports, poor losers, etc. Even members of our own families said such things.
As you all know life is a spiritual battle. If you did not personally experience anything like this, then I would say that you need to get in the fight and quit watching the parade of life pass you by. In Real Estate we call the silent majority “Looky Lews;” people who come to an Open House just to see it, with no interest at all in making an offer, getting involved. Are you just a “stander-by?”
I recently watched a video posted on Facebook by David Wells about the spiritual forces grinding down Americans. Throughout the video I am thinking ahead about what one person can do to rebuttal. Suggestions were given at the end of just that. One of them was “to be willing to be criticized.” Most people I know would shudder at the thought. Criticism, whether giving it or receiving it, has been completely vilified in our society. Being able to be criticized for what you believe takes integrity. Knowing what you believe to be true and truthful makes being criticized a badge of courage rather than one of disgrace.
Did you know that the biggest Critic in life is God and His Word, the Bible. All the great believers throughout the ages were severely criticized for their words and deeds. Most of them were accused of heresy, including our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The political leaders of his time were out to murder him from the get go, just because some Persian men said they were looking for him who was born to be the King of the Jews. He hadn’t even done anything to deserve death and didn’t when they finally succeeded thirty years later! Are you willing to die for what you believe? Is what you believe willing to die for?
One of my fellow-labourers in the Word, John Lynn, has done a few teachings on “Words—Words Have Meaning.” People live and die by words everyday. In order for words to have any affect on anyone, they have to be written or spoken. If you are not into writing, then you need to be into speaking. People need to know what you believe; your neighbors need to know what you stand for. What are you afraid of? Criticism, Embarrassment? Being afraid to be who you are is the worst.
We see this in the pre-resurrection Peter. He actually denied Jesus six times, but 3 will suffice. Many of the men who followed Jesus before his murder were in hiding afterwards for four days. They were scared to death. They were probably wondering what they got themselves into, why they didn’t just leave well enough alone and keep doing what they were doing before they met that troublemaker, Jesus. Now they were all in the stew. What had they done?
What they did, is what we need to do: stick our necks out for what we believe. Be willing to be criticized and if need be be willing to have our necks chopped off for doing so. The husband being the head of the wife, is just that: we stick our necks out for our wives just as Christ stuck/sticks his neck out for us. Don’t feel helpless, it is God in Christ in You. You are a majority wherever you go, whatever you do and whatever you say. If God be for us (and He is) who can be against us?
What a Fool I have Been!
The believers of Hitler’s time must have thought Hitler was the Antichrist; surely they believed Christ would return before he was able to do so many horrible things. The point is, there are no signs to indicate his return for the believers of this day and age. The Rapture of the Church is a part of the Sacred Secret, that was kept a secret by God until He revealed unto the apostle Paul, through Jesus Christ.
No one, including Jesus Christ, before his ascension, knew anything about the time in which we now live. It stands to reason that there can be no signs in the Bible as to when this Age will end, since no one knew when it would begin. All this and more is in my book at www.fredswolfe.com. If you did not read it this past year, you owe it to yourself, your children and your grandchildren to do so. Since there are no signs announcing the Rapture (Part 1 of the Parousia) there will be no time to prepare for it. If you are not ready now, you could very well be left behind.
If you are left behind, my book will tell you what to expect and how to make it through the Great Tribulation into the Millennial Kingdom where Christ will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. It will be a thousand years that you will not want to miss. God bless you and happy new year.
A Few Reviews of my New Book on Understanding the Bible.
From the minute I opened the book I felt TRUTH pouring through the pages. I was astonished at the number of scriptures I have repeated over and over in my life, and lived by that were not translated correctly – this book has changed my foundation. It is eye opening. It has made me responsible to question and reprove my core beliefs and walk in truth of the word and not to be mislead. Thank you so much Fred for this message, my only hope is that you continue in this quest and write more books on rightly dividing the word! This is a MUST READ for all Christians and all those who want to know truth!!
I just finished reading Fred’s book. It was sometimes a challenge with quoted passages that could get long before Fred explained them, but staying with it increased my biblical fortitude! Fred helps by explaining translations and errors in translations that are important to understanding intent. I am frankly stunned by the happy, “Sesame Street” rendition of Christianity that I received through life by churches that were too often focused on pleasing and increasing their flock, than on properly explaining the message of the Bible, including its dark and gritty context. I deem Fred’s book to be a very worthwhile read from front cover to final page. Do it for the sake of your soul. I intend to reread it in the future as a reference in comparison to other books and to the Bible itself.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewing ‘Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth“, September 29, 2012
This review is from: Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth: A Fresh Perspective To Understanding The Bible. (Paperback)
To every Readers benefit, author Fred Wolfe has dug deep into historical linguistics; carefully examining the many descriptions, and developments in language over the centuries to present us with a remarkably transparent presentation of scripture. |
Jesus went to Hell and so will We
Entrance to Hell (Photo credit: joeltelling)
If you have read my book or Ecclesiastes you will know that there is no memory, or thinking or imagination or any brain activity at all, in the grave “wither thou goest!”
Ecc 9:10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. KJV
Ecc 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. NASU
Ecc 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. ESV
No matter what version of the Bible you choose to use, when we die we all go to the same place where there is no awareness that we are even dead. Jesus Christ tasted death just like we will, with one exception: we will rot away.
As you can see, the Hebrew word sheol is used in 2 of the above 3 versions. Sheol occurs 67 times in the OT in the NASU version. Of those 67, the same word in the KJV is translated hell. Hell and the grave are one and the same. You can believe anything you want to, but his is what the Word of God says.
King David says this about that in
Ps 16:10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. KJV
Ps 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. NASU
David knew that at the Awakening of the Just, he would get up from the grave. He also knew that God would not allow Jesus (thine Holy One) to rot away, as he did and we will.
Hades is the NT equivalent of sheol, the grave. It is Strong’s number 86 and is used 10 times. It is translated as hell in the KJV and kept as Hades in the NASU. Here is the same verse from Psalms quoted in the book of Acts:
Ac 2:27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. KJV
Ac 2:27
BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. NASU
Here you can see how Hades, Sheol and Hell are used interchangeably. These words have nothing to do with the Lake of Fire, which was used figuratively of the dump burning outside of Jerusalem. That is an altogether different subject, which I have already covered in a different blog post.
In the absence of the Rapture, we are all going to hell! Ha! Just like Jesus did!
God bless,
P.S. By the way, you can get my book at http://www.fredswolfe.com now!
Related articles
- The Question of Hell? (fredswolfe.wordpress.com)
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign; Do this, don’t do that, Can’t you read the Signs?
English: An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Luke 17:34 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Christians everywhere will tell you about all the current signs of Christ’s return, but do not believe a word they say. There are no signs concerning what is called the Rapture, the Gathering Together, episunagoge, of the Church of God. The reason there are no signs is because the time in which we now live was unknown to everyone who wrote anything in the Bible prior to Saul of Tarsus, A.D. 37-40.
For those of you who have never read the New Testament or are not real familiar with it, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell about the events of the Second Coming of Christ to the earth, which is not the Rapture of the Church. The Rapture occurs 7 years prior to the events you read about there. The mindset of the gospel writers and that of Jesus Christ was that Christ was going to return within 7 years after he ascended into Heaven.
The Apostle John, who wrote the gospel of John, also wrote the book of Revelation and fully expected the things recorded in that book to occur during the first seven years after Jesus’ ascension. But, they did not. Jesus even told some of his disciples that they would not die until they saw the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory; yet they did die and no one has seen that yet.
Christians will tell you that Jesus knew everything God knew while he was here the first time but this line of thought is obviously in error. When that Florida preacher was talking about Christ’s return Christians were quick to start quoting Mk 13:32, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” KJV On one hand they says he knows everything, on the other they say he doesn’t. All that matters is what the Bible really says.
The Rapture of the “saved” will occur with no signs at all; you will not know when to prepare yourselves for it. Do not wait for what is recorded in the gospels or you will wish you had not. God bless!
See more in my new book http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=rightly+dividing+the+word+of+truth
A BETTER PLACE?
How many times have you heard “they are in a better place,” concerning someone who has recently died? It is spoken with sincerity the purpose of comforting a friend, relative or possibly even a surviving spouse. It sounds good, but if you really think about it what better place is there besides right beside the survivor? If there were a better place to be why wouldn’t we all be there?
I do not believe there is any better place to be than being alive. I know the Bible doesn’t teach anything contrary to this even though most Christians think it does. Muslims evidently believe there is a better place or so many wouldn’t be killing themselves to get there. No one is any good to God or to the false god Allah, dead. The Bible describes being dead as being asleep, but one of the differences between the two, since blood is no longer being pumped to the brain, there is no dreaming.
The Bible tells is in Ecclesiastes that there is no reasoning in the grave where we all go when we die; it goes on to say in 9:10 that there is no
- work–ma’aseh–action, doing or labor
- device–chesbown–reasoning, reckoning, intelligence
- knowledge–da’ath–perception, understanding, wisdom
- wisdom–chokma–shrewdness, prudence, skill
- no lovingkindness–goodness– will be displayed there Ps 88:11
- no giving of thanks, no memory Ps 6:5
Besides, if you could see there you wouldn’t be able to see anything because there is no light, just darkness. The grave is where every person who has ever died is today, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Even Jesus was in the grave for a full 72 hours before he saw the light of day. One of the reasons so many believe contrary to what I am showing you from the Bible is, when Jesus was dying on the stake he said to one near him that they would be with him in paradise. One misplaced comma (,) makes all the difference in the world. What Jesus really said, was “I say unto you today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
What he didn’t say was “I say unto you, today thou shalt be with me in Paradise,” because Jesus didn’t go anywhere that day, but to the grave, where he stayed for 3 days and 3 nights! Paradise is always on the earth and nowhere above it. It does not even exist at the present time, but when it does come into existence that individual to whom Jesus spoke those words will be there with him.
There is no better place to be than right here with the ones who love you and the ones whom you love, contrary to popular belief. God bless,
Links for my new book
The Angelus Temple, Church of the Four Square Gospel, built by Aimee Semple McPherson and dedicated January 1, 1923. The temple is opposite Echo Park, near downtown Los Angeles, California. Photographed 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here is an endorsement of my new book “Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth, A Fresh Perspective to Understanding The Bible,” from Pastor Matthew Barnett, Sr. Pastor at Angelus Temple in Los Angeles:
Fred Wolfe has dedicated his life to examining the history, practice, and interpretation of the word of God. The Bible is too often misquoted, and this book will help to shed light on some common misconceptions, challenging the reader to strengthen their understanding of God. With scholarly evidence and reasoning, he has written a blueprint of The Bible’s inception as well as the deepest meanings of its words. By closely examining one’s understanding of the word of God, they will find a faith and clarity so absolute that it can never be shaken. This book is a must read, no matter where one is at in their walk with God.
-Pastor Matthew Barnett, Co-Founder of the Dream Center
E-book link:
Soft and Hard cover link:
http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=wolfe
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