I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO DIE FOR CHRIST or Allah! (PART I)
In light of the many recent be-headings and murders of Christians by radicalized Muslims or Islamic Extremists, some in the Church are teaching that if you are in the place God wants you to be and this happens to you, then it is “gain,” because even Paul said it was better to be with Christ than to be ministering here on earth or so it is taught. Who really benefits when a Christian dies? Both Muslims and Christians hold the erroneous belief in life immediately after death. I think there would far fewer suicide bombers if they knew the truth.
Paul said in Phil 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” When we look at this verse as it stands alone it leaves us with the impression that death is something to be gained, yet we know that death is and always will be an enemy; the greatest enemy of life. No one gains anything by being dead; not God, not Jesus and certainly not you. In order to “gain” a proper understanding of the preceding verse it must be seen in its context. In its context we must go back and read from the beginning of the chapter to the end of the Epistle. In verse 6 we read:
Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Phil 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Phil 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
We can see that the context preceding verse 21 is “the day of Jesus Christ” when he returns to gather us together to heaven. This was Paul’s earnest expectation and hope and should be ours as well. The words “earnest expectation,” is the Greek word apokaradokia, to watch with intense anticipation, and is used in one other place in regards to the creation:
Rom 8:18-19 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. NKJV
When are the sons of God revealed? When they/we return with Jesus for the Battle of Armageddon.
The second word Paul uses in conjunction with earnest expectation is his “hope,” elpis. Hope is often associated with the return of Jesus Christ:
Col 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, NASB
1 Thess 2:19-20 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy. NASB
Phil 1:23
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Webster
(TBC, see Part II)
Part IV of the Apocalupsis of John, the Book called Revelation
In the preceding 3 posts I have established beyond any doubt that the miscalled “churches” in The Apocalupsis of John are in reality assemblies or congregations of Jews, members of the Nation of Israel. To give you an example of how unsound some believers can be, a woman, whose blog I used to follow, said to me, “If Jesus called them churches, then that’s what they are!” Unfortunately Jesus has had nothing to do with how translators have chosen to translate most of the words in the Bible. Out of 17 Bible versions or translations in my PC Bible program only these 3 translate ecclesia properly:
Rev 1:4
John to the seven assemblies that [are] in Asia:
YLT- Young’s Literal Translation
Rev 1:4
4 John to the seven assemblies
Darby
Rev 1:4
4 John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia:
WEB- World English Bible
If you are a serious workman of the Word or want to be you must invest in some PC Bible program or buy a lot of Bibles! On my way home from NY last Sunday by way of Chicago I had the opportunity to sit next to a young Jewish girl who had recently become a Christian. She was very well versed in the “mainstream” doctrines of Christianity. She was surprised to hear many things I had to say about beliefs she held and took a copious amount of notes on her phone. I was able to show her from the Scriptures (on her phone) passages which substantiated what I had to say, but she could not find one Scripture to substantiate anything she believed! Everything she believed hear-say and much of that was heresy!
She was even astonished to see from 1 Corinthians 10:32 that the apostle Paul established that there are only 3 types of people in the world; Jews, Gentiles and the Church of God. She was equally surprised to see these verses:
Gal 3:28-29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
KJV
She was insisting that she was a Jew for Jesus. What an absurd belief. I tried to explain to her that once a Jew or a Gentile became born again of the spirit of God by confessing Jesus as their Lord and believing God raised him from the dead, they became members of the Church of God. She could not let go of her ancestry and she could not understand how I could be of the seed of Abraham. She really imploded when I told her that Abraham was a Gentile and not a Jew!
Abram is first mentioned in Ge. 11:26; his name was changed to Abraham in Ge. 17:5. Jacob isn’t mentioned until Ge. 25:26 and his name was not changed to Israel until Ge. 32:28. The word Jew is not mentioned until the book of Esther and then it applied to a descendant of Judah. Abraham is called a Hebrew in Ge. 14:13 which means a descendant of Eber. Eber is first mentioned in Ge. 10:21. Eber lived 464 years; see Ge. 11:16.
I could go on and on, but the point you need to see is that the word Hebrew had nothing to do with Jews or Israel originally; that Israel did not exist in Ge. 11. Therefore Abraham could not have been a Jew, but rather a Gentile.
The most astonishing thing that this young Jew for Jesus had to say to me was that no one could be a Christian or a member of the Church of God without confessing and believing that Jesus was God incarnate. I asked where she got this from in the Scriptures and she did not know precisely. I showed her Romans 10:9 where it says to confess Jesus as Lord which she said means God, because God is the “Lord” God. I proceeded to show here in Acts 2:36 that God had bestowed His title as Lord upon Jesus. Jesus is my Lord, my master. Nowhere in the Pauline Epistles does it talk about the Lord God or the Lord our God. They show God as our Father and Jesus Christ as our Lord! Lord is used 241 times in the Epistles which are written directly to the Church of God and never is the title attached to God!
To the Jew God will always be the Lord; but to the Christian, Jesus is our Lord, not our God. Here is what Lord means, in case it is not clear yet:
NT:2962 kurios, kuriou, ho
he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord
a. used universally, of the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner Matt 20:8
b. kurios
is a title of honor, expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants salute their master, Matt 13:27; 25:20,22; Luke 13:8; 14:22, etc.;
c. this title is given:
to God, the ruler of the universe Matt 1:22 (OT, Gospels and Revelation)
to the Messiah; and that:
to the Messiah regarded universally: Luke 1:43
to Jesus as the Messiah, Acts 10:36
d. of Christ (In the Epistles)
(from Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Don’t be afraid to comment; I will not delete any comments but will publish all.
(More on Revelation in the next post).
Is Your Faith based on “Another” Gospel?
When Paul spoke about another gospel he was speaking about anything other than his own gospel which he was preaching:
Gal 1:11-12
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. KJV
Paul did not receive the revelation of Matthew, Mark Luke and John. He received the gospel of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. These epistles are in the exact same order in every Greek Manuscript.
Romans, Ephesians and Thessalonians are Doctrinal
Corinthians and Philippians are Reproof
Galatians and Colossians are Correctional.
The revelation Paul received from our Lord Jesus in these letters supersedes everything else, as these are written directly to the church of God which is the body of Christ. These represent the Sacred Secret that God kept from everyone until Paul.
To confirm that Jesus did not know about this secret, he told his disciples that some of them would not die until they saw him returning in the clouds. Yet, they all died. Jesus and the disciples believed that the Great Tribulation described in the book of Revelation and Daniel would begin immediately after his ascension. They all expected Jesus to return within 7 years.
But, God threw them all a curve ball for the sake of the Gentiles. Thank Him He did! We are now living in that time period, the Age of the Secret, the Administration of Grace. Essentially the book of Revelation has been held in abeyance for about 2,000 yrs now.
See Romans 2:16, 16:25; 2Ti 2:8 concerning Paul’s gospel. See also the word “doctrine” in 1st and 2nd Timothy. God bless!
The Mystery (Secret) Revealed (a solved mystery is no longer)
When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray (what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer), he prayed for God’s kingdom to come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. THIS PRAYER HAS YET TO BE ANSWERED! When Jesus prayed this prayer he did not know about the Secret which God kept hidden from everyone from the foundation of the world. This secret was first revealed to the Apostle Paul and the other Christian Apostles and Prophets.
Rom 16:25-27
25 Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which hath been kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
27 To God the only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
WebsterEph 3:1-5
3 For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations (Gentiles),
2 if, indeed, ye did hear of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me in regard to you,
3 that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few [words] —
4 in regard to which ye are able, reading [it], to understand my knowledge in the secret of the Christ,
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets (Christian) in the Spirit —
YLT
Since then, very few people have taken notice of it, especially The Church. God kept it a secret for over 4,000 years and virtually no one in the church today can tell you what it was, let alone it’s significance. Practically everything being taught today about the Kingdom of God as it relates to the church of the Body of Christ is FALSE, DEVILISH and COUNTERFEIT, and sickening, to everyone who knows and understands the Secret of Romans 16:25,26; Eph 3:1-9 and Col 1:25-29.
The devil has had about 2,000 years to eradicate its knowledge and has done a marvelous job. The Kingdom of God and of Christ is in the FUTURE, not now! Jesus is not now ruling as King of kings! If he is, he is certainly not doing a very good job! The late Apostle Frederick Price said last Sunday, “if God Almighty is controlling the world, as most Christians think he is, I don’t want to go to Heaven!” If what we see in the world today is a reflection of God’s way of doing things, then what could there possibly be to look forward to? This is not the Kingdom of God! We, Christians, aren’t building any such thing. We are building the Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27-30
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
28 And God has appointed in the church, ekklesia, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? (no) Are all prophets? (no) Are all teachers? (no) Do all work miracles? (all can)
30 Do all possess gifts of healing? (no, but many do) Do all speak with tongues? (no, but all can) Do all interpret? (no, but all can).Ephesians 4:1-8
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men…..” ESV4:11-16
11 And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the holy ones (us) for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
15 Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. NAB
This is what Christians should be doing, not being kingdom builders! What is it going to take to wake you up? Take a look again at the prayer Jesus taught his Jewish followers to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven.” God’s kingdom is in heaven where he is! Jesus taught them to pray for God’s kingdom to come to earth and now Christian’s pray it every Sunday. If it’s already here, why continue to pray for it to come? Makes no sense.
One of the greatest mistranslations of most translators, has been the Greek word musterion. The problem is it was not translated at all, it was merely transliterated into a similar English word. This word is used throughout the Church Epistles of Paul given by revelation from Jesus himself. These Church Epistles serve as the new doctrine for correct believing for the church today. The transliteration of musterion into mystery was purely satanic, in that it has lead believers to understand that there are some things concerning God that are just unable to be understood. Nothing could be further from the truth. The actual translation of this word is “secret.” It does not regard a secret that any man kept, but one which God kept from the foundation of the world. You and I both know, that a secret between 2 people is one of the hardest things to keep. Deep down inside we are just dying to tell someone else or in some cases, we forget it is a secret over time, and it inadvertently slips out.
Since this was a secret that God kept, it is considered by some a Sacred Secret. No one else, including God’s only Son knew about it. Jesus was not told the secret until he had ascended into Heaven. Soon after he was told this secret, he chose a man named Saul who was a very religious Jew to reveal it to. Saul was so religious he was legally killing followers of Jesus Christ because he believed they were heretics. He was present at the stoning to death of Stephen; he gave the consent for it to be done.
Romans is the first Doctrinal Epistle written directly to believers in Jesus Christ of this Age. As I cited previously, Ro 16:25-26 says, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery (the secret) which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the (Christian) prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; NASU
Here we see that this sacred secret was first revealed to Paul for our obedience of true faith and became known as his gospel. Two of the most important words used in his letters the the Church are the words “according to.” When you read these words pay close attention because our lives are to be patterned accordingly. You will see that Paul’s gospel is actually the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will leave you with further evidence of this secret revealed from the epistle to the Colossians vss 1:24-29
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and do fill up the things lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the assembly (improperly translated Church),
25 of which I — I did become a ministrant according to the dispensation of God, that was given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God,
26 the secret that hath been hid from the ages and from the generations, but now was manifested to his saints,
27 to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations — which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory,
28 whom we proclaim, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,
29 for which also I labour, striving according to his working that is working in me in power.
We are now living during this administration of God, just as we are living during the Trump administration. One being spiritual in nature and the other physically. There is nothing more important in the Word of God to understand for the believer than that the Epistles of Paul were written according to revelation from Jesus Christ, making them our supreme guide for faith and practice. There are no mysteries in the Bible at all, just misunderstandings. God bless.
See more like this in my new book http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=rightly+dividing+the+word+of+truth
E.W. Bullinger, 1837-1913
E. W. Bullinger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many of my Christian friends look at my Tweets on Twitter and must think I am out of my mind when it comes the Christian Doctrine. Studying the 4 gospels for doctrine is no different than studying the 5 books of Moses, as they are all a part of the old covenant, to Israel. Yes, we can learn alot from that study, but nothing doctrinally for us.
What I espouse in my book is nothing new even though it sounds foreign to your ears. Romans was the first doctrinal epistle written to the Church of God; Ephesians was the second and Thessalonians was the last since it culminates in the Rapture of that church. Paul’s epistles are as relative today as they were in his day. They are not historical writings; they were given to Paul by our Lord Jesus for the purpose of how Christians are to correctly believe.
Corinthians is the first Reproof epistle, Philippians is the 2nd. Galatians and Colossians are epistles of Correction. As Timothy was instructed by Paul all the Scripture he wrote is either for Doctrine, Reproof and Correction. I know, that just too simple to be believable, but it is the Gospel of God in Christ Jesus, whether you believe it or not.
As Paul said in his Reproof epistle, 1Co 14:38, “if any one be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” Being Ignorant is a choice Chrisians make every day. They laugh at practically everything that comes out of my mind and onto this medium, but one day we will all have to give an account of our stewardship of the secrets of God. It will not be a pleasant day for those of you who choose Ignorance and Pride and Haughtiness instead of the revelation God kept hidden until he revealed to the apostle Paul by way of the ascended Christ.
BUT, DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. Google E.W. Bullinger and just take a look at all the titles he produced in his lifetime. You will discover that he believed practically everything I believe about the Word of God. You can also look at http://www.TruthorTradition.com.
You will discover many significant things, but the purpose of this writing is to address the Holy Spirit, God and His gift to us, called holy spirit. The difference between the 2 is the article “the.” The article presence or absence of the article “the” in the Greek Manuscripts determines which one the apostle Paul is talking about. One is the Giver and the other is His gift. You will see that this is one of Bullinger’s titles.
Yes you can Ignore everything I say hear just like you have ignored everything I have said heretofore, like Jeremiah and all the other Prophets were ignored by Israel. My advice to all you nay and gainsayers is, “Wake up and smell the coffee!”
Happy Trails.
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