Dismayed heathen: 'Anything to appease sun god'

From this morning's Microsoft news feed, via Yahoo: "The sun may be waking up after almost a decade of relative calm, scientists say — and that could cause problems on Earth.

"The solar storms that rage on our star during its active period create bursts of electromagnetic energy that can affect everything from the power grid to GPS signals.

"These so-called solar maximums occur roughly every 11 years, and they haven't been much of a problem in the past.

"Scientists, however, fear that our reliance on electricity and interconnectivity could mean we're far more vulnerable to their effects this time around."

*****

Job 31:26: [26] If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

[27] And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
[28] This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

"What's Job talking about? Job, the oldest book in the Bible, and he already knows the power and the influence--how insidious, how cunning the satanic policy of evil . . .

"Where's Job from? The Land of Shinar and in his day he sees the prevailing system of sun and moon worship.

"Obviously he can see the sun shining and the moon walking in brightness, full moon, and 'my heart hath been secretly enticed.' Enticed to do what? To worship that. You see the power of this system in that region?" says Alex Kurz.

"People say, 'Well, who today worships the sun and the moon and the star?' You better believe this worship goes on. It may not be a direct act before the sun god, but there are subtle ways of worshipping that ultimately is directed to Baal.

"We won't call it the s-u-n. We won't call it the moon. What if we just switch names? By the way, at the Tower of Babel all the languages were confounded. Just because over here they call it the sun and the moon--well, over here they call it something else but it's still the principal deity. You see the corrupted master genius of this creature, Mystery Babylon?

II Kings 23:5: [5] And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

"By the way, when you study Baal worship there's always the issue of the high places. What did we read in Genesis 11? A tower whose top may reach unto heaven. This fascination with the high places.

"How often, over and over, does God warn Israel and you know what the sad part is? Israel falls victim to all of this.

Jeremiah 8: [1] At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
[2] And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
[3] And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

Jeremiah 10: [1] Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
[2] Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

"If you're involved in the astrological, astronomical movements and activities, what would cause a heathen to be dismayed? In the Babylonian tradition--heathenism, paganism--why did they worship the sun, the moon and all?

"What type of season might cause a heathen to be dismayed at the sign up there in heaven? Historically, guess what happens when the days are getting shorter and shorter? The heathen says, 'Wait a minute, we can't let the sun god die!' 

"So how do you appease the sun god? Wow, you should learn some things about the Aztecs. Do you know how they would appease the sun god? They would sacrifice their enemies. They would take the heart of the victim and give it to god. Have you ever heard anybody say, 'Give your heart to Jesus.' Don't give your heart to Jesus; that's what the pagans did.

"The pagans will rip your heart out and offer it up to the sun god because 'Hey, we want the days to get long again.'

"Now, how will the heathen react to the shortening of days? Verses 3-5: [3] For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

[4] They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

[5] They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

"What heathenistic response happens because they're dismayed by the shortening of the day? A tree, which represents life . . .  

"We find there are these customs of the heathen to appease and to satisfy; all of the astrological phenomenon going on out there.

"What if we moved the moon over and the star over, what do you get? A crescent moon. You see why we're focusing in Revelation 17 on where?

"The moon, Ashtaroth, is called the face of Baal; she's called the Lady of Baal. It's fascinating that if we study the Babylonian tradition, their infatuation with sun and moon and the movements, etc.

"Listen, there's a symbol today called the crescent of the moon. You've heard of a solar eclipse. That's when the moon eclipses the sun. The moon becomes more important than the sun. You see, she's a mother."

(new article tomorrow)

Carried away into mysticism, witchcraft

Here is an outtake from Sunday's sermon on the dangers of Asbury University's "revival" and similar ones at other colleges:

"They believe God is still speaking, the revelation's not completed and the spiritual gifts are still working," explains Richard Jordan. "They believe you can lose your salvation, you have to have the second blessing, the anointing, the sanctification, really weird kind of Christian living kind of stuff that's all a bunch of legalism.

"They're egalitarian, believe in women preachers, they endorse the LGBTQ stuff. Listen, they have people confessing their sins and that's not one of the sins they confess.

"If God the Holy Spirit was working in the midst all of that, those things would be addressed. He doesn't ignore sin to produce something. The big issue of the whole thing is you never hear the gospel.

"Ninety-five percent of the music being sung is produced by Bethel, Hillsong. Some of the most demonic, most heretical people you'd ever find are writing for Bethel and Hillsong--that genre of music--and that's what drives it all.

"If you listen to K-LOVE and all that stuff, almost all the music is produced by them, and it's a genre of music that's been subverted by mysticism of the New Age, witchcraft, that has crafted a sound that produces a euphoric high that pulls you away from the truth into blindness. It imitates the way the Holy Spirit works; it's emotionally driven, it's experience-based and it's exactly what Paul's talking about in I Corinthians:

I Corinthians 12: [2] Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

"That music, when you study it, and if you don't study it you don't know about this stuff and the euphoria it produces hooks you in the sensualness of it . . . it's designed to carry you away, to lead you away into darkness, to captivate your mind and your emotions and make them the captains of your faith.

"Listen, music is a powerful, powerful instrument. In Ezekiel 28, the anointed cherub that covers, Satan, he has musical instruments built into himself. He had those instruments and musical talent literally built into him so he could lead creation in the worship of the God of creation, and when he fell he took that with him and he uses that as a lead methodology of carrying people . . . you know you get carried away.

"You get up in the morning and you don't feel so good you just put the music in your ear and it captivates your mind and your thinking. That's how things become emotionally driven.

*****

Deuteronomy 32: [31] For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

[32] For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
[33] Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

"When he talks about the vine, the wine, he's talking about what in Revelation 17 is the fruit and the intoxication produced by this false religion.

"The Antichrist, in the latter days which Deuteronomy is pointing to, he's seen as riding a woman:

[1] And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
[2] With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
[3] So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
[4] And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
[5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"She's able to deceive, to intoxicate the whole population and draw them into her false religion."

(new article tomorrow)

Daniel 11 to read like daily newspaper

(sorry for delay--new article tomorrow now)

Daniel 8: [23] And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

[24] And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
[25] And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

“In Daniel 11, he tells you which one of the four divisions of the Greek Empire the Antichrist is going to come out of," explains Richard Jordan.

Daniel 11:4: [4] And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

Here’s going to be the two legs in the image in Daniel 2. Daniel 11:5-6:

[5] And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
[6] And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.

“You move from verse 5 to 6 and you’ve moved from the past into the future. From verse 6 on, we’re no longer in the past. Now, every commentator you read—Scofield, Larkin, Sir Robert Anderson, all of them—they put verse 5 all the way down to verse 21 in the past because verse 21 is where the Antichrist shows up.

“I’m saying to you that between verse 6 and 21 is not the past; it’s things that are going to take place in this period of time right here. If you want to know some of the details of what’s going to be going on here politically and so forth in the Middle East during that period of time, that passage right there is going to read like the daily newspaper.

“There’s a conflict back and forth between the king of the south (the king of Egypt) and the king of the north (king of Syria).

"In verse 15 there’s a king of the north: [15] So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.

“When you come down to verse 20 there’s the second king of the north and then when you come to verse 21, that’s the Antichrist:

[20] Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
[21] And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

“So the 70^th Week’s going to begin in verse 21. There’s going to be three kings of the north that will be dealt with during this period. Obviously there’s a gap here in prophecy that prophecy fills up with details in the Book of Daniel.”

James ID's himself with tribulation saints

(just got my computer back and it works like a gem. with no programs to slow it down it sure has speed, unlike before the "wiping". new article tomorrow for certain)

“If you took a tribulation Jew who knows his Bible and you said to him something about, ‘The trying of your faith worketh patience,’ he would think of Abraham. If you said to him, ‘If any man lacks wisdom let him ask God and it will be given to him,’ he would think of Solomon.

“The references in the Book of James, if you look in chapter 2:21, there’s Abraham and Isaac. Verse 25 has Rahab. In chapter 5:11 is Job and in chapter 5:17 is Elijah. You have Old Testament saints as examples brought up over and over.

“What you have in James is a study of the Old Testament, studying the examples that fit in for a Jew over in the tribulation, laying out in the demonstration of the lives of these patriarchs and others back there in exactly the situation these people are going to be in over there," explains Richard Jordan.

“The book is going to wind up being a real encouragement to them and an enlightening process to them and the trying of their faith. Their faith is going to be founded in the truth of what God’s Word says and their faith is going to be tried.

“They go through trials, temptations and difficulties to see if their faith is going to stick with what God says in spite of the obstacles and in spite of the difficulties.

“It’s going to be just like in Hebrews 11, all those different things He pointed to saying, ‘Look, faith overcomes in spite of all these various things that are thrown at you,’ and James is going to go on with that.

“When James begins, he identifies himself with the 12 tribes, not only of Israel in the Book of Acts, but of Israel in the tribulation period.

“James doesn’t call himself an apostle. He’s not one of the 12. Evidently this is the James who was the Lord’s brother, who’s an apostle in the secondary sense. In fact, he was a pastor of a church in Jerusalem; a leading elder there.

“He identifies himself as a servant of God and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that’s a special title to a tribulation saint.

“Revelation 7: [1] And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
[2] And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
[3] Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

[4] And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

“Go down through verses 4-8 and you see 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. In other words, the servants of God in Revelation 7:3-4 are associated with the 144,000 (12,000 members out of the 12 tribes).

“James, when he starts the book, identifies himself in such a way as to specifically identify himself with the tribulation saints over there and with the 12 tribes in the tribulation. He’s writing to those people.

“He does this so these tribulation saints see, ‘Hey, this is OUR mail; this book is about us.’ It’s written to the nation with the 'little flock' in view. The specific people he’s addressing, and when he gets personal, he’s talking about the 'little flock.'

“Here’s an example in chapter 1:18: [18] Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

“Chapter 2:1: [1] My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

“Verse 2:7: [7] Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

“When he talks about them being scattered abroad, that’s a tremendously important description because it talks about where Israel is. The condition of Israel when James is written is the same as what the condition of Israel will be in the tribulation period, and that has to do with being scattered.

“Acts 8:1 [1] And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

“At that time, there were only 12 believers left in Jerusalem. All the myriads of thousands (30-40,000 there minimum and some estimates run up to 100,000) you have all those people because of the persecution of the unbelieving Israelite and the persecution that was laid upon these people—they’re scattered. Persecution scatters the little flock.

“Chapter 11:19: [19] Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

“They’re out of Judea now. They get scattered abroad and finally they go further and further and further. In fact, in Acts 10 Peter was in Joppa; he’s even left Jerusalem at the time and so were other apostles and so forth.

“In the Acts period, when James is writing the book, he’s writing to Israel in a scattered condition, but that’s exactly the condition they will be in in the tribulation period.”

Consolation, comfort of love

My rotten success with computers continues. The Lenovo I just purchased not even six months ago has to be wiped clean because of something I never heard of until yesterday--Bitlocker Recovery. Microsoft says it has no workaround and cannot offer support assistance. So I will have my laptop back from the computer repair shop either tomorrow or the next day. Until I'm back online, here's an old post: 

Psalm 94: [17] Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

[18] When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
[19] In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

“The Psalms are a beautiful haven when life is tough because they remind us of the power found in praise and worship regardless of our distresses," writes a Christian blogger. "They point us to the comfort found in His presence, even in the midst of pain, when we remember how wonderfully faithful and kind He is.

Paul writes in II Corinthians 1, [3] Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
[4] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
[5] For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
[6] And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
[7] And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

“The word ‘comfort’ is an interesting word," explains Richard Jordan. "We usually think about comfort like patting somebody on the back, making them feel better. But the word 'comfort' in the Bible really means to fortify somebody in their inner man. ‘Fort’ is for fortitude. The prefix ‘com’ is ‘to bring it into your life’ with fortitude. ‘To be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.’

"That’s what comfort is and that’s what sound doctrine does in your inner man. The more doctrine--the more explanation, the more details you have--the more comfort there is.

“I’m often struck by I Thessalonians 4:18: ‘Wherefore comfort one another with these words.’ This is what Paul writes after describing the details of the Rapture.

*****

Colossians 1:18: [18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

"If you ever come to understand how much the Father loves His Son, how totally in love with God the Son God the Father is . . .  If you could ever understand how every member of the godhead is so in love with each other. The way the godhead lives is every one of them lives for the glory, the benefit and the esteem of the other members. They all live with the other in mind.

"When the Holy Spirit wrote that Book, who does He say that Book is? It's the Word of the Father. He didn't say, 'You ever see my book?!' He says, 'That's God's Word.'

"By the way, the Father, when He sees that work product of God the Holy Spirit, that Book, you know what He says? He says, 'I've magnified my Word above my name.' Every member of the godhead lives for the benefit and betterment of the other. That's God's life.

"Philippians 2 starts, [1] If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

[2] Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
[3] Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[4] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

"When you take to heart that verse in Philippians about esteeming others better than yourself, that's just thinking the way God thinks. So there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, which is the mechanics of our positional truth.

"The reason the issue of baptism is so contentious is because it is THE critical thing to know and understand about identification in Christ.

"You can be a mid-Acts, Pauline distinctive ministry Believer and not be a grace believer. I've met many who understand the dispensational chart but understand nothing about operating out of their identity in Christ.

"Listen, if you don't get Romans 6: ([3] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?) and that identity truth about being crucified with Him, buried with Him and raised with Him.

Galatians 2: [20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

"For me to live is Christ. If you don't get that you're not going to be a grace believer. God is not writing His law into your heart today. II Corinthians 3 talks about how He's writing Christ into your heart. His life. That's why the one faith, the one doctrine, the one baptism and the mechanics of all that.

"That's the common ground we're on and if you want to see the unity, that's the doctrine. The unity is you and me saying, 'That truth right there is our oneness.'

Ephesians 4:7: [7] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

"You see the first word is 'but'? All that unity is true, but to every one of us . . . 

"He gives the unity talk and then he turns right around and talks about the diversity of the Body of Christ. He says, 'All that diversity that's out there, listen, it's all based on the platform of our unity, of our oneness.'

"The diversity is the reason he says in verse 3: [3] Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

"Work hard to keep what God has already made one. Why would he say that? Because right here is where there's the potential for problems. Why? Because of the diversity. Why would there be diversity? Look at the world out there--it's diverse! 

"How are you going to reach it? It's not going to be a one-size-fits-all. It's going to need a diversity of people to minister to a diverse creation. You follow that?"

Haughty fir tree from heaven's Eden

"Nahum 2 provides information about the eventual destruction of the Antichrist: [3] The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.

"It's easy to pass right over that, but go to Ezekiel 31, which provides a real description about the issue of these trees. Satan, in Scripture, is called a fir tree. Book of Zechariah.

"There is clearly a parallel between what happened with Satan in eternity past and his plan of rebellion against almighty God and what happened in Eden," explains Alex Kurz.

"Remember in Ezekiel 31 it talks about how he was in Eden, and it talks about the rivers and how he is a proud, haughty tree, mightier, stronger and higher and more beautiful than all the other trees.

"Interesting, that's why the Lord uses that type of analogy. Satan is, spiritually speaking, a mighty tree that stood out.

"What the tree in Eden represents and testifies to is this greater tree that is out there. When God put in that garden the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He was educating Adam and the generations thereafter regarding the prevailing evil that exists in the universe.

"This rebellion has already occurred. Lucifer, the anointed cherub, he WAS in Eden. Not this Eden in the Book of Genesis, but an area out there in the heaven that is also called Eden. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a testimony to that other tree and there are tremendous similarities.

"The most obvious similarity is when Eve saw that the tree was pleasant to look at. Satan was the sum of all wisdom and perfect in beauty. Ezekiel 31 says all the other trees envied him and that's how he was able to sell his plan of rebellion to the other angels.

"It's not coincidental that the most popular Christmas trees are fir trees. That's why God said to Jeremiah, 'Don't do what all those heathen are doing. Why are you doing that to the trees?'

"Guess what God's going to do when He talks to Nebuchadnezzar. He calls him a tree!"

Lesson on 17 on 17th

(new article tomorrow)

In the second “miraculous catch of fish,” the apostles aren’t getting any bites fishing in the Sea of Galilee until Jesus tells them to cast the net one more time and Simon Peter draws 153 “great fishes.”

"Large quantities of ink have gone into explaining why there should be 153 fish,” reads one website on hermaneutics. “At the purely historical level, it is unsurprising that someone counted them, either as part of dividing them up amongst the fishermen in preparation for sale, or because one of the men was so dumbfounded by the size of the fish ...”
*****

“There are all kind of different meanings placed on that number 153 and the one most Bible teachers generally give is it represents the number of Gentile nations on earth that go into the kingdom,” says Jordan. “What I think is fascinating is if you take the numbers 1-17 and add them together one by one you get 153.

“E.W. Bullinger explains that 17 is the seventh prime number and 9 times 17 is 153. You’ve got the numbers 9, 17 and 7 associated with it. 17 is 8 plus 9.

****

“The number 17 turns out to be a fascinating number in Scripture. There’s Revelation 13:17, talking about the Antichrist and the other beast, the false prophet.

“Verses 17-18 say, [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
[18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

“So, if Israel’s going to have wisdom in its stand against the Antichrist, one of the things they have to do is count the number and the number is 666.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to count the 666s in the Bible?’ You ever found the six hundred and sixty-sixth verse? The 666^th chapter in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 7. Verse 25 says, [25] I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness.

“By the way, Ecclesiastes is a book written to instruct the ‘little flock’ in the ‘last days’ on how to identify the philosophy carrying the Lie program of the Adversary found in Revelation.

“What did Revelation tell you to do if you wanted to seek wisdom? 'Count the number.' So you come down two verses in Ecclesiastes 7 to 7:27 and it says, ‘Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account.’

“Somebody’s counting ‘one, two, three,’ and when he does, he’s seeking out wisdom. It’s a point of interest in Scripture that counting numbers, and the use of numbers, is something associated with getting some wisdom!

“Now, I realize this is sort of like climbing a tree, getting way out on a limb and giving somebody standing at the trunk a saw and saying, ‘Bet you can’t saw me off.’ They don’t have to; you’re so far out there nobody else wants to go out there with you!

“But what happens is the way you get up the tree and out further and further on that limb is you just keep believing the verses, keep believing the verses, and pretty soon the limb looks like it’s fixing to crack out from under you but it doesn’t. That’s sort of the way it is with these numbers kind of things.

*****

“The No. 17 is associated with change, with transition from the old to the new in the Bible. The first 17 in the Bible is Genesis 1:17: [17] And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

“That’s the 17^th time since the beginning of the Bible that the term 'God' appears. It’s in the same verse.

“In Genesis 6:13 God’s going to bring an end to humanity in the earth save for Noah and his family. There’s going to be an end to the old and a beginning of the new.

“That expression ‘God said’ in verse 13 is the 17^th time the expression occurs in the Bible. Come down to chapter 7 and notice when the change takes place. 7:9 says, [9] There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

“When it says ‘as God had commanded Noah,’ that’s the 17^th  time the name Noah appears in the text, and it appears in connection with the ending of the old world and salvation of life going into the new world.

*****

“Matthew 7:28 says, [28] And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

“That’s the 17^th time the name Jesus appears in the Book of Matthew, the first of the gospels. Now, what did He do? He ended those sayings. When Noah’s name occurs the 17^th time, it’s because God had commanded him. Both are connected with the Scripture.

“In John 2 you see Christ’s first miracle, where He turns the water to the wine, and John 2 happens to be the 70^th chapter in the New Testament. So these connections keep going.

*****

“Genesis 7:11 says, [11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

“The world ended on the 17^th day of the 7^th month; that’s when the rain started. Genesis 8:3-4 says, [3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
[4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

“Like I’ve been saying, 17 is associated with the transition from the old to the new. Now, you’ll notice there’s symbolism that told him the new earth was there. One was a dove. What is a dove a picture of in the Bible? The Holy Spirit.

“When Jesus is baptized, the Father speaks from heaven and the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Well, what’s the olive tree a symbol of in the Bible? The nation Israel. Hosea 14, Romans 11.

“It’s the spiritual life that God the Holy Spirit’s going to give to the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the nation Israel. So what we’re looking at here is how new life is going to be established in the new world. It’s going to be the Holy Spirit working through ultimately the nation Israel. And it’s connecting all of it.

“One of the ways you can help identify the thrust behind the number is the Book of Genesis has 50 chapters. Most of the chapters will kind of clue you into what that number is about and will give you some help and understanding.

“You understand, some of the numbers in Scripture are very clear. Like 13 is the number of rebellion because that’s what Genesis 14 connects it with immediately. Three and seven are divine numbers of perfection and completion. Twelve is Israel’s number. Those numbers are real easy.

“Nine is the number of fruit bearing. Eight is the number of a new beginning. Seventeen is the number of the old passed away, changed to the new.

"So what do you wind up with when you put those numbers together in a sentence? You wind up with a perfect transition of Israel into fruitfulness. You’ve got this perfect new beginning of fruitfulness in the kingdom that comes and you say, ‘Wow! How ’bout that?!’ "

In Genesis 17, God changes Abram’s name by inserting the 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet into it to make Abraham.

“He takes that same 5^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing death to the old life and grace for the new life, and inserts grace into Sarai’s name,” explains Jordan. “This is where, in verse 17, He formalizes His covenant with the nation Israel.

“Here’s God’s new seed line in the earth right here. Now when you have a name change in the Bible, there’s something prophetic about it.

“In Isaiah 62:1, you see a name change associated with Israel’s kingdom: ‘For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.’

“Zion appears only one time in your Bible in the possessive. Every other time it’s just Zion. It occurs 152 times in the singular and one time in the possessive plural. That equals 153.

“You understand you can’t do this with anything but a King James Bible. God is called the God of Israel 203 times in the KJB. You ought to divide that by 17 and see what you come up with.

“Psalm 69:35 says, ‘For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.’

“God’s intention is to take Zion, that part of the city of Jerusalem where the temple was, and make it ‘the city of the great king.’

*****

“When God ratified the covenant with Abraham He put Abraham asleep and they cut the sacrifices up.

“Genesis 15:12 says, ‘And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.’

“The smoking furnace in Deuteronomy 4 is described as the captivity. The burning lamp . . . all through the horror of great darkness they have a guide who takes them to the glory on the other end in the promise of God’s Word to them.

“So when you come back to Isaiah 62, the salvation of Israel is going to be ‘as a lamp that burneth.’ That’s talking about the Abrahamic covenant and God’s salvation to Israel through His promise to Abraham.

“Isaiah 62:2 says, ‘And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.’

“That’s exactly what He does with the Abrahamic covenant. He gives Abraham a new name. This new name is associated with the nation Israel during the tribulation period.

*****

“Revelation 2:17 says, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’

“One of the rewards for the overcoming ‘believing remnant’ is that new name. Now, what verse is that in? Verse 17. Just coincidence, I understand, but fascinating it’s the right verse!

“If you’re looking for another one, go to Acts 2. When the Holy Spirit comes on the apostles here, verse 5 says they were ‘dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.’ They all were heard speaking in their own language and are listed in verses 8-12. Do you know there are 17 different groups listed there?

“Look at verse 17: ‘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.’

“What was it we discovered back in Genesis 8? There’s the dove associated with Israel and Israel’s salvation taking them into the kingdom when they have this spiritual status restored through the new covenant and His Spirit put into them.

*****

“You can just keep going and going with this. Seventeen in the Scripture is a number associated with transition from old to new; change from the old to the new. Numerology wise, the numbers 7, 8, 9 and 17 are associated with the number 153.

“With the 9 and the 17, you’ve got that transformation of Israel into that fruit-bearing nation God intended. By the way, 9 is the number of fruit-bearing. In Ephesians 5, Paul says ‘the fruit of the Spirit is . . .’ and proceeds to list how many fruit? Nine.

“In I Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’ That term ‘planted’ is used nine times in your Bible.

“Did you know Titus is the 17^th book in the New Testament? Titus 2:13 says, [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“You know what three times 17 is? 51. I Corinthians 15:51 says, [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

“You know what I Thessalonians 4:17 says? [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

“When you’re caught up together with Him that CHANGE has taken place and the reality of that blessed hope is there, not just a prospect.”

Lord: 'Wait a minute, sit tight'

"What's life going to be like in the third heaven? It's not going to be an unusual, shocking, unfamiliar environment. To me that's one of the most wonderful things about it. Heaven will be a place of total familiarity. It's going to feel like home. It's going to be a welcoming environment; a natural place for you to be.

"Yes, it's going to have animals. You're going to have cities, rivers, farmers, jobs, agriculture, demanding activities. In fact, one of the things God does all through the Scriptures is when He created man, it was to participate with Him. Not just to dictate what goes on but to understand what He's doing and actively participate with Him in the carrying out of His creation," explains Richard Jordan.

"There will be demanding activities. You're not going to be bored, sitting on a cloud drinking mint juleps and watching the little chubby angels go by. You know, about 30 minutes of that and you'd be tired, bored stiff."

*****

II Peter 1: [12] Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

[13] Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
[14] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
[15] Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

"Pete says, 'I'm going to die just like the Lord told me I would back in John 21, but I want to be sure that after I'm gone you understand the things we've been preaching to you are not cunningly devised fables.'

"What were they preaching to them? Verse 10: [10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

[11] For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

"Peter's been preaching about that coming kingdom. In John 21 you see they were expecting that coming kingdom to arrive rather quickly; it was on the horizon for them. And yet by the time you get to II Peter, Peter's old and going to die and the kingdom hasn't come.

"He writes II Peter so the people he's writing to, that 'little flock' of Believers who followed his ministry, will understand that what he preached to them isn't false.

"He said, 'We went up on the mount of transfiguration and we were eyewitnesses; I'm telling you what I SAW when I saw Him transformed in His glory, and we've got a more sure word of prophecy. We've actually got God's Word on this, which is better than any eyewitness account.'

Verses 19-21: [19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

II Peter 1:3-4: [3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

[4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

" 'Nothing's changed, Peter. What you said was wrong.'

Verses 8-9: 8] But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

[9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

"That's an important statement. Men say, 'If you tell me you'll do something and you wait a little while, you must have been lying.' God's not that way, but He is longsuffering to usward.

"So, Peter says the delay in His coming is no big deal, because a thousand years for us is like a day to the Lord. Time doesn't change His mind.

"If you tell somebody you'll do something and six months from now you hadn't done it, you know you might not ever do it. But the Lord's not that way. If He ever told you He's going to do something, it doesn't make any difference how long it takes, He's going to do it.

"When God formed the nation Israel, He told Moses, 'Go down there and tell Pharoah, Let my people go.' So, Mo goes down there and tells him and the Lord says, 'He ain't going to let them go, so I'm going to give 10 plagues.'

"I don't know about you, but if I was wanting to get delivered right away, I wouldn't want, 'Well, let's stop and do 10 more things before we do that.' 

"It'd be, 'Lord, hey, us down here we'd appreciate you getting the show on the road.' The Lord says, 'Wait a minute, sit tight, first I'm going to whack old Pharoah around a little bit. Take the gods of Egypt and destroy them, demonstrating that I'm the God of gods. Before I do that, I got this to do, but don't worry, I'm going to do that.'

"That delay principle goes all through Israel's history and Pete's calling on it here. He says, 'The Lord's not slack; He'll do what He said He'll do, but right now He's being longsuffering.'

Verses 15-16: [15] And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

[16] As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

"The longsuffering is explained to you by Paul in his ministry. I Timothy 1:16: [16] Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

"That means God interrupted the prophetic program. He didn't do away with it; He just put it on pause so He could do something He hadn't promised anybody He would do; something He kept secret to Himself but now is doing, which is the dispensation of grace.

"And when that happened, you know what that meant? Peter, instead of going into the kingdom, he's going to die."

Carried into a land of traffick

"Arabs -before Islam- and their narrations confirm that an eagle was one of their ancient gods. They even created an idol to worship in the form of an eagle. It is one of the idols of Noah, peace be upon him, mentioned in the Holy Quran."

***** 

Ezekiel 17 begins: [1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

[2] Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
[3] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

"In this parable, Ezekiel's literally going to outline ahead of time the international relations between Israel, Babylon and Egypt, between about 595 and 588 B.C.--about a 20-year period.

"Ezekiel explains what verses 3-4 mean in verse 12. He tells what verses 5-6 mean in verses 13-14. Verses 7-10 are interpreted in verses 15-18.

"The great eagle is the king of Babylon. He's great, in fact--he's the most powerful international force of his day.

"His wing span stretches out across a wide domain. His glory covers all the nations of the earth at the time.

"Verse 12 says he came to Jerusalem, so why would it say in verse 3 that he came to Lebanon? The cedars of Lebanon were what the palace of the king in Jerusalem and the temple were made of.

Verse 4: [4] He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

"He comes to Jerusalem and takes the king. He chops off the top of his young twigs; he takes him off the throne, cuts his family off and carries it into a land of traffick.

"It's interesting Babylon is called the land of traffick, the city of the merchants. You get to Ezekiel 28, when Lucifer becomes Satan, and he goes out and merchandises his evil plan. Eventually it's called MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Verse 5: [5] He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

"The king of Babylon takes away the king who's there but doesn't put a Gentile in his place. When it says he takes the seed of the land, he takes another king from the line of David. The seed line, the seed of the woman. That's going to be a guy named Zedekiah and he puts him on the throne."

(sorry for such a short post--will have longer one tomorrow)

His abode under the stars

 In Jesus’ day, the Garden of Gethsemane, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, was sought by citizens of Jerusalem for rest and relief from the sun.

The same author and composer of the classic hymn Dwelling in Beulah Land (“I’m living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky”), Charles Austin Miles (1868-1946), is responsible for the great gospel hymn, In the Garden.

Miles was asked in 1912 to “write a hymn poem that would ‘breathe tenderness and bring hope and rest for the weary'; Miles, visualizing Mary Magdalene at the Garden, brought forth the words":

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known

*****

In the last week of Jesus Christ’s life before He was crucified, He went into the temple in Jerusalem, as Malachi foretold, cleansing it and casting out the money-changers.

Presenting Himself as the priest, Christ temporarily restored the temple back to God’s intended purpose for it, teaching in it daily.

“He’s the ‘interpreter of the ways of God,’ as G. Campbell Morgan once said. He’s teaching in the temple and the people hear Him, and this extends to the last day of His life," explains Richard Jordan.

“Luke 21:37: ‘And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.’

“From this, we know Christ didn’t spend His nights in Jerusalem, but went outside the city up on the Mount of Olives and slept under the stars.

“The point is there’s no place for Him; not in the beginning of His life in Bethlehem and not in the end in Jerusalem.

"The leadership of the nation has rejected Him so finally He withdraws Himself from public preaching to the masses and educates only His disciples for the ministry they’ll have after He’s gone. He instructs them, ‘Don’t go tell them I’m the Christ.’ It’s that withdrawal stage."

(new article tomorrow)

Humbleness

(new article tomorrow)

"'Serving the Lord with all humility of mind,’ as Paul calls it, comes by hearing and how do you hear? Look at Romans 10:14: [14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

“There’s a process, see? There’s a sending and a preaching and a hearing and a believing--because you heard, because it was preached, because someone was sent! Faith comes by hearing," says Richard Jordan.

“It starts with the possession of His Word, but then it starts with taking that Word and preaching it, being a minister, putting it out there. The heralding of it and the hearing of it creates faith in what’s said.

“Paul says, ‘[8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

“Look at all the privileges you and I have at our disposal that we didn’t do anything to produce. The Body of Christ has produced them for us, put them into our hands. We call this the ‘Information Era’ and it really is, but you see it’s that information that people need to hear.

“That ‘humility of mind’ Paul talks about comes from just appreciating what God has provided for us. The Body of Christ produced truth and made it available. There ought to be no other course for your life or for mine than to proclaim God’s truth so that others can hear it.

“How can we just sit on it?! That humbleness is about being overwhelmed with the privilege you and I have of possessing God’s Word in our own hands, and the tools to study it, investigate it, examine it, analyze it, think deeply and reflect upon it.

“Paul says, ‘Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.’ God help us not to just leave it on the table. ‘To whom much is given much is required.’

"The thing that changed Paul’s attitude was seeing all the abundance of what God had given for him in Christ.

“The thing that can give you the humility of mind that grace produces is to take a moment and think about all the wonderful privileges God’s given you in your life. I’m not talking about just in Christ; I’m talking about how it’s impacted your LIFE and then let that motivate you.”

******

"Paul says in Ephesians 3, 'Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.'

“Think about how in the time of the Apostle Paul in the Greco-Roman world, the literacy rate had reached a pinnacle in ancient history. The Greek world, the Greek philosophers, the Roman world . . . Historians say that the Roman civilization was based on ‘the book and the register.’

“No one, either free or a slave, could afford to be illiterate. The written word was all around them, both in public and private life, through the law, calendars, regulations on shrines, etc. Funeral epitaphs were engraved in stone or bronze. The republic amassed huge archives of reports on every aspect of public life. So people were literate, but when the Roman Empire fell, literacy became a fleeting thing.

“You go into a period called the Dark Ages, and during that age only about 30 percent of the population in Europe could read, and they would be the clergy or the wealthy who had time to do it and teach their kids.

“Now you imagine if you lived in, say, 1,000 A.D. and you couldn’t read that verse in Ephesians because you didn’t have a bible, because bibles back then were all handwritten, and if you had one, you wouldn’t be able to read anyway.

“II Timothy 2:15 says, 'Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.'

“The word ‘study’ means ‘the application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge as by reading, investigation or reflection. To research or a detailed examination and analysis of a subject. To endeavor, to think deeply, to reflect, to consider what God says.’

“Paul says ‘Study!’ and you think, ‘Oh, geez, I need to apply my mind to the acquisition of knowledge by reading, but I can’t read by investigation! I got to go find somebody to read it for me by reflection and thinking deeply.’

“What would you do? Look at you this morning. How many of you don’t have a Bible in your lap? I’ve got the Bible on my phone, my tablet, my IPad, my laptop, my desktop.

“If I told you today, ‘I’m going to send you to a remote island all by yourself and you’re not going to see anybody for 10 years, and I want you to study God’s Word,’ what books would you take with you as study aids?

“First thing I would do is take a King James Bible, an English dictionary, a concordance, Treasure of Scripture Knowledge. Maybe you’d take a bible dictionary, take a commentary or two. Take a 1611 Bible. Take a Strong’s Concordance.

“Do you realize a Strong’s Concordance was first published in 1890? It was the first English concordance. In 1885, if you wanted to find a verse, you had to remember where it was. You ever do that? ‘I know that verse’s in there somewhere; where’s it at?’

“Now you don’t even own a concordance anymore because the Bible app you got on your stupid phone is hooked into it. Do you understand you are a privileged group of people that in church history didn’t exist?!

*****

“The printing press was introduced by Guttenberg in 1445. By the way, Guttenberg’s said to have invented the printing press and that’s not true. In 1437, there was a fleet of Chinese vessels that went up into the Mediterranean and delivered to Pope Edmond information from the Chinese emperor, part of which was printed books. The Chinese had developed the printing press long before. They had mapped the circumference of the planet. They developed latitude and longitude.

“That’s the reason the Venetian mapmaker everybody talks about that Columbus might have saw—did he see or didn’t he see?—the map that he got . . . what he did was introduce the printing press.

“In the 14th century when Wycliffe first translated the bible, 80 percent of English adults couldn’t spell their name. In the 15th century, when Gutenberg introduced the printing press, only about 30 percent of European adults were literate.

“By the 17^th century, the number went up to 60 percent. By the 18^th century it was ubiquitous. Did you know in Sweden in the 17^th century, the 1660s along in there, there was 100 percent literacy rate because the church required people to be able to read.  Do you understand you could have lived in an era where you couldn’t read? A lot of us wouldn’t have been able to.

“I wear glasses because I can’t read without them. Did you know the first eyeglasses were introduced in the 1200s? Nero, Seneca, the 1^st century; they were the first people in recorded history talking about magnification, but it wasn’t until the glass-blowing industry got going in the 11^th and 12th centuries that they made ‘looking stones,’ as they called them. The first glass put into frames was in Italy in 1286.

“So if you could get a bible and you could read, but you couldn’t see . . . Paul says in Galatians 6, ‘You see what a large letter I’ve written you.’ He’s not talking about how long it is; Galatians is a short little book. He’s talking about, ‘I wrote this with my own hands and I put it in big letters because I need that to see.’ You see, if you write letters big enough, blind as I am in one eye, you can still see them.

*****

“Several years ago, a guy in New York handwrote the King James Bible; he wanted to figure out how long it would take him. It took him four years. Now, if you were in Wycliffe’s day in the 14^th century, and you got a Lombard bible that Wycliffe translated into what was English at the time (English just began in the 1300s), you know how he did it? He didn’t have a nice fountain pen with a big reservoir. He had a quill tip and he dipped.

“Before that, they first started writing with chalk. Then they figured out how to add wax and graphite together. Then they had wax and color together—crayons. Before that, they chiseled it into rock. Can you imagine toting a bible like that around?! Well, you couldn’t do it.

“Now, that guy with a felt-tip pen writes that Bible and it takes him four years. How many quills do you think he went through? Lots. I got this nice pen with a gold tip on it and it will write forever. If it doesn’t, they’ll put me a new one in it. But when you use those bible marking pens, how long do they last? 2-3 months. Why? Because you wear them out. If you had to have a quill, you would have to have a bunch and that’s just to get one copy.

******

From the 6^th century to the 12th century, there were followers of the Apostle Paul, i.e., preachers of Paul’s truth, who were completely unplugged from the religious system and dubbed by their enemies as “Pauliceans.”

“They accused them of pretty much the exact same things they accuse us of, but the wonderful thing is it’s not about us; it’s His inheritance and we get to participate in what God’s has for Himself."

"If you just relax and see that, it will blow your mind. We’re ‘fellowheirs,’ equal participants in this inheritance in which God’s forming a spiritual body of Believers through whom the Lord Jesus Christ MANIFESTS Himself.

“We’re fellow partakers of His promise, meaning ALL that He’s planned to do in His Son, it’s ALL by the gospel, and that’s why Paul says in Romans 16:25, ‘Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.’

“Everything God does today is based upon the Crosswork of the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul says in Ephesians 3, ‘Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.’

“Paul says, ‘That’s what I’M made a minister of.’ Kind of an odd thing when you read through the passage is how Paul keeps returning to this PERSONAL issue.

“He talked about it back in verses 1 and 2. He addresses HIS place in this ministry, and how he’s been placed INTO the ministry of this great truth.

“Verses 7 and 8 are sort of like a personal moment for Paul. He’s talking about this great stuff and then he says, ‘And you know what He did? He made ME the one to tell people about it!’

“Paul writes, [8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

“When I read that, I go, ‘Wow, God took a proud, religious, scholarly, rabbinical rabbi and turned Him into a servant! You talk about a change of mind!’

“By the way, he didn’t say, ‘Unto me who am less than the least of all apostles.' He would never say that! In II Corinthians 12 Paul states, ‘I don’t come one whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles.’

“Paul would NEVER say that about his office. He said, ‘I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my office,’ meaning this POSITION Christ gave him to proclaim this new message. Paul never minimized that. Whenever he thought about himself, he had what he calls that ‘humility of mind,’ because he knew it wasn’t anything about him.

“In Philippians 3:4, Paul says, ‘[4] Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: [5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. [7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

“Paul’s saying, ‘Listen, I can strut my stuff. I can be a high-minded rabbinical scholar and tell you all of my pedigree.’ But, he says, ‘I counted loss all those things that I could brag about--that I spent my life pursuing so that I could have status.’

*****

“He tells you in Galatians 1:14 that he ‘profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.’

“ ‘They were gain,’ he said, ‘but I counted them loss for Christ. I found something in the Lord Jesus Christ that was far more to be treasured than all those things.’ He says in Philippians 3:8, ‘Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.’

“When he says, ‘Yea, doubtless, and I COUNT,’ he’s saying, ‘I didn’t just meet Christ on the Road to Damascus and realize, There’s reality! I’ve learned day by day to count all those things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffer the loss of all things.’

“When I read verse 8, I’m conscious of the fact we’re getting to look into the heart of the Apostle Paul here. That’s the only time he ever uses that terminology.

"The Lord Jesus Christ had captivated his heart, and when Paul got a good look at Him, it gave him a good look at himself, and he realized he had someone, not in himself, but in Christ, to treasure. He came away from there with a ‘humility of mind,’ as he calls it--a thinking process that could only say, ‘It’s not I, it’s Him.’

*****

“When he talks about being a minister, look at what he writes in I Corinthians 4: ‘1] Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

“Paul says, ‘When you think about me, don’t think about my pedigree, all my standing. Don’t go around telling people I got my Ph.D. at the feet of Gamaliel; tell them I’m a minister of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God.’

“The he writes, ‘Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.’ You see it doesn’t say ‘successful’? Doesn’t say ‘popular.’ It doesn’t say ‘the crowd’s hanging on my words.’ It says ‘faithful.’

“The ministry of Christ and the ‘steward of the mystery’ are two ways of describing the same thing. So, what’s a steward?

"In Luke 12:42 Jesus told a parable about a steward. It says, [42] And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?’

“Notice what a steward is. They don’t own anything. A steward is a servant of his master and he takes his master’s goods and gives it out to others. He’s not the owner, he’s not the boss. He takes the orders from the boss, the master, and goes and gives that . . . he doesn’t decide, ‘I think I’ll give you this, I like you better; I’ll give you that.’

“He says, ‘The master says you get this, and the master says you get that.’ He’s saying, ‘I’m just the guy handing out the stuff.’ That’s why he’s got to be faithful. He’s got to be faithful to what the master said.

*****

“I Thessalonians 2:4 says, [4] But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

“He says, ‘I’ve been allowed of God.’ Grace is an underserved favor. Paul’s saying, ‘I’ve been given by God this undeserved privilege to preach this. I’ve been allowed of God to be put in trust; He’s taken His goods and entrusted them to me, and then I give them out as a wise steward. I’m just a minister. I’m just a servant. I’m just the pipeline. I’m not the issue; HE’S the issue! The message is the issue.’

“Ephesians 4: 7-8 says, [7] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
[8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

“Paul’s not talking about salvation; he’s talking about his ministry that was given to him as a gift of grace. He’s saying there’s a ministry privilege that’s given to YOU and ME! Every one of us has this grace! We have the privilege of being part of a ministry of the truth of God.

*****

“In Galatians 2:9 Paul reports, [9] And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

“These men saw the special privilege given to Paul to preach this special message to the Gentiles. That’s what Galatians 2 is all about, by the way.

“Paul went to Jerusalem and communicated the gospel, which he was preaching among the Gentiles to the Jerusalem saints who didn’t know it. He brought them up-to-date and they PERCEIVED that unto Paul ‘who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.’

“There’s two ways to take the word ‘unsearchable.’ The word means ‘untraceable.’ When you can’t trace something, you can’t search it out. Jesus said, ‘Search the scriptures for they are they which testify of me.’

“Here’s a truth you can’t search the Scriptures and find. That’s interesting. But when it’s unsearchable, it means you can’t find it; it’s too wide, too deep; it’s too broad. You go on down in chapter 3 and it says it ‘passes understanding.’ You can’t get your mind around . . . He prays that you’d comprehend it because it’s just so big. It’s as big as God.

“Paul says, ‘I’ve got this message and I’ve been given the privilege of preaching it,’ and that changed his whole thinking process.’ ”

(new article tomorrow)