Into God's fam'ly divine

Acts 13:9: [9] Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,

"Right there is where Saul's name is changed from Saul to Paul in the Bible," explains Preacher Richard Jordan. "Sometime people misunderstand that verse. Paul always had two names. He was called Saul because he was a Jew. But he was also a Roman, a free-born citizen of Rome, born in the free city of Tarsus.

"He tells the Centurions that. In Acts 16 when he's in Philippi and they take him out and beat him, he said, 'These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.'

"He's telling them, 'I'm not just a Jew; I'm a Roman.' They get all bent out of shape and want him to get out of town and he doesn't let them off the hook. Paul says, 'You beat me publicly; you're going to apologize publicly.' He was a Roman; he was a unique individual.

"Just like the 12 apostles to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel are great examples of the nation Israel, Paul is the great example of the church the Body of Christ. He says, 'I used to be Saul, but something happened in my life that completely revolutionized and changed me and turned me from that religious Pharisee, putting all my confidence in what I was going to do, into Paul, a new creature.'

"Philippians 3: [3] For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

"When you rejoice in who God has made you and the provisions available in Christ, you don't rejoice in your performance and who you are in yourself. You don't put your confidence in your resources.

"Paul says in verse 4:[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:

"Paul's going to get into a flesh-bragging contest here. You ever been with anybody like that? 'My flesh is better than your flesh. I'm prime rib; you're chopped liver.'

"He says, [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;

"When you're circumcized the 8th day, that was what God told Abraham. Paul said, 'I'm not a convert. I'm not a Johnny-come-lately. I'm a true thoroughbred. I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin.'

"Benjamin was that special son; the special delight of his dad's heart. It was that special little tribe down by Judah that stayed true to Judah, the Southern kingdom. You remember the brother who wanted to come and get bread from Egypt where Joseph was ruling. He said, 'You can't get any bread if you don't bring Benjamin.'

"People say Paul was an itty-bitty hunchback guy. Well, he's sticking his little chest out and saying, 'I'm not a puny little dude. I've got a pedigree; what you got?' He had a lot of confidence in his pedigree.

" 'As touching the law, a Pharisee.' He's saying, 'I'm a fundamentalist, buddy. I'm a conservative of the conservatives. A fundamentalist of the fundamentalists. A Bible-thumper of the Bible-thumpers. A Pharisee. I'm not one of those liberal Sadducees.

"He says in verse 6, [6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 'You want to see my passion for what I was? Persecuting the church.' 

"In Acts 9 you see Paul breathing out threatenings against the followers of Christ, going around to lead them and grab them and compel them to deny Christ. He said, 'I was zealous of the traditions of my fathers.'

" 'Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.' I read that and I think, 'Man, the guy's performance.' You take the rules and regulations, and you know what? You'd say, 'There's a guy I'd like my daughter to marry.' There's a guy where the outward performance . . .  He said, 'I didn't miss a beat. Nobody can come along and put a finger on me.' And he had all that pedigree.

"Then he says, 'Yea, but what things were gain to me I counted loss for Christ. When I met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, all of a sudden the emptiness of my religion and my performing and trying to gain something went away, because I found the reality of life in Him. I found something that took the place of what I was doing and you know what? It completely transformed me. It made me somebody brand new.'

"Acts 9 begins, [1] And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

"Paul is sent out by the leaders of Israel to ferret out the followers of Christ, bind them and bring them back to Jerusalem. He's sent out by the religious system.

"Verse 3: [3] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. Uh-oh. I love that song:  I saw One hanging on a tree, In agony and blood, Who fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood.

Sure, never to my latest breath,
Can I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke.

"Paul says, 'I was apprehended. My wild career was STOPPED!' Verses 15-16: [15] But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: [16] For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

"That word apostle is really just a Greek word transliterated instead of translated. If you translated it it would mean 'one who is sent.' An apostle is someone who God sends. Jesus told the 12 in John 13:20, 'Whoever receives you receives me.' In other words, 'If I send you and they receive you, they receive me because I'm the one you represent.'

"Romans 11:13: [13] For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 

"You understand you have an apostle who is the one the Lord Jesus Christ chose specifically and especially for us today. Paul said, 'I am the Apostle to the Gentiles.' There's a clarity that cuts through the religious system and Paul knew exactly what his mission was. He knew exactly what he was doing and who he was doing it for. 'I'm an apostle, not of a religious system or denominational doctrine, but I'm the apostle of Jesus Christ. I met Him and He sent me.'

"Romans 15:15-16: [15] Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

[16] That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

"There was a special favor and privilege given to Paul and Paul said, 'I live in this grace that was given to me.'

"If you look at verse 8, Paul says 'that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers,' talking about His earthly ministry. Paul says, 'Just like the Lord Jesus Christ was a minister and a prophet to the nation Israel, He's now made ME His minister and apostle.'

"It wasn't Paul's idea to do what he was doing. His idea was to be the Pharisee of the Pharisees. But the Lord changed him when He met him. He changed his course, his identity, who he belonged to and who he was doing it for.' "

As the old hymn Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul goes:

O what a wonderful, wonderful day - day I will never forget;
After I'd wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Saviour I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend - He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.

(new article tomorrow)

Riches more precious than gold

In dictionaries that tell you what names mean, one of the meanings of Ephesians is "desirable ones." The big thrust of Ephesians is being in Christ and what it means to be in Christ.

Jordan explains, "The Father said about Christ in Matthew 3, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,' and where am I? I'm in Him. That gives me some assurance about how the Father thinks about me. He sees me IN the merits, IN the person, IN the identity of the one who is well-pleasing to Him. Not in me; not in myself. Not in who I am. The issue is who He is.

"When Paul in Ephesians talks about 'to the saints and the faithful,' it isn't just that they are saved; it's that they've come along in the edification process to the place where they are fully functioning as Believers. They've grown up in Him. They are living in the fullness of the Christian life; in the maturity God's given them in Christ.

"Paul spent three exhausting years of ministry in Ephesus proclaiming the gospel and doing the work of the ministry. He struggled and pleaded with those who opposed him. There was the great religious center to the queen of heaven at Ephesus and for three years he shed tears over the souls of the Ephesians. He says that in Acts 20, 'I wept over you for three years.'

"The end result was a body of Believers who he could call, not just the saints, but faithful in Christ Jesus. Fully functioning and you see it in chapter 1. You get on down and see there's people in Ephesus he's writing to where he didn't even know them. He just heard of their faith.

"After he left there some folks got saved that weren't saved under him. He didn't lead them to Christ. The saints that he left there kept doing the work of the ministry. You want to see one of the most explosive ministries in the Bible go back and read Acts 19. He just blew the whole territory up with the gospel. And when he left, he left saints that were carrying on with the work. They didn't need him there stroking them, pushing them forward.

*****

"The will of God is not what you're doing; the will of God is what He's doing. If you just get that shift in your mind . . . if you want to do the will of God, find out what He's doing and let Him will and do that in you and you'll be doing the will of God.

"If you learn to think like God thinks, when you go through the details in your life, you'll be able to think about them the way God thinks about them. And if you think about them the way God thinks about them, what will you do? Won't you do what God thinks? You will be doing the will of God in those circumstances.

"God wants you choosing the thing of greatest value. You've got everything off the stage of your life that shouldn't be there. Everything God says don't have in your life, you've put away. You've denied ungodliness and worldly lust. You took it out of the way.

"All the satanic policy of evil, all the thinking of the Adversary, you took out of your life. You took out the worldly lusts, the course of this world. You see it and you say, 'That right there doesn't belong in my life. Out!' Why? 'It's a waste of my time! I could put something else there!'

"I take out of my life all the things God says don't put there and I begin to put in their place the things God says to put there. As I begin to add those things into my life--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness--I live soberly, righteously and godly. I think soberly; I think in the reality of what God says.

"Righteously means I live with other people in that right activity. Godly. I live toward the Lord the way He says. The identity He gives me. I begin to put that into my life. As I do that, you know what that is? That's doing the will of God.

"I know who I am; I know what my job is. I'm the vessel through whom He lives. I belong to Jesus Christ. That's who I'm doing this for. I'm not doing it for the praise of men; I'm doing it because of Him. It's God's will that I'm a part of. I'm down here having what God's doing living in me. And it's God who wills and does His good pleasure as I take His Word and let it be my thinking; my life.

"God has this great cosmic plan to make everything in the universe center in His Son. That's what I'm about. That's what my life's about. I know who I am. I know what I'm doing. I know who I'm doing it for. And I know what the authority is. I'm a part of this great thing God's doing today.

"Paul writes in Ephesians 3, [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

[10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
[11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

"God said, 'I've got this plan, I planned it before the foundation of the world. I'm working it out. It's all focused in my Son.' And right now--not in eternity, not in the ages to come, not after the Rapture--under the principalities and powers in heavenly places, we've got the privilege of manifesting that wisdom!

"That's what God's doing, so my life right now is not about the little peevish stuff. I mean, are you like Paul today? Are you in prison? Maybe your prison is illness. Maybe you've got some infirmities. Maybe your prison is persecution. Maybe there's some assaults laid upon you. Maybe your prison is family and friends. Maybe your prison is a husband or a wife. Maybe it's work; maybe it's your boss. Maybe your prison is finances, afraid the phone is going to ring because it's a bill collector.

"Maybe your prison is just your own restlessness of heart and spirit. You look around and you feel like, 'I ought to have something I don't have; others have it and I need it; I want it.' That discontent.

"Maybe your prison is just an angry spirit; resentment about something that's been done to you in the past. Maybe your prison is just a sense of a total lack of well-being. I was at the doctor last week and he asked, 'How is your sense of well-being?' I thought, 'What?! I want to know how my heart's beating.'' But that's a good question.

"Paul was in prison when he wrote these verses and in prison he could say, 'I know who I am and I know what I'm doing, and I know who I'm doing it for, and I know the assignment that I'm on. It's the assignment of what God's doing. I'm a part of what God's doing! And my circumstances aren't where I determine who I am, who I belong to or what my job is. I'm not looking out here at how I feel about my circumstances; I'm looking to one thing, and that's who God has made me in Christ Jesus.'

"Now, all of that is not cliches and euphemisms to Paul. They're going to be 150 more verses where he gives you details about what that's going to mean. This is substantive reality about what God's doing and I've got this comprehension of this grand, cosmic design God has in His Son and He's made me a part of it.

"Paul says in Ephesians 1, [17] That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

[18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

[19] And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 

"Never come to the place where you think that your progress in the Christian life is going to be enhanced by your performance. It's enhanced by understanding who Christ is. But when you understand who He is and who He's made you, you know what? 'Christ in you the hope of glory' begins to live out through you."

Regarding Ephesians 3:8, Fannie Crosby wrote this classic song:

Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Wealth that can never be told!
Riches exhaustless of mercy and grace,
Precious, more precious than gold!

(Chorus)
Precious, more precious,
Wealth that can never be told!
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Precious, more precious than gold.

Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Who shall their greatness declare?
Jewels whose luster our lives may adorn,
Pearls that the poorest may wear!

Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Freely, how freely they flow,
Making the souls of the faithful and true
Happy wherever they go!

Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
Who would not gladly endure
Trials, afflictions, and crosses on earth,
Riches like these to secure!

'Behold, the people is one, now nothing will be restrained'

Los Angeles Magazine, September 8, 2020:

"Gender reveal parties were not always a thing–and there is really no reason anyone has to keep making them one. Now, as yet another destructive wildfire has been sparked by fireworks set off at one of these events, even the woman known as the 'inventor' of the trend is calling on parents to reconsider the stunts they stage to publicize the biology of their fetuses.

"Influencer Jenna Karvunidis went viral with a party she hosted in 2008 to reveal that she would be giving birth to a daughter. She posted it on her lifestyle blog (Instagram didn’t exist yet) and received coverage in a local magazine in Chicago. It appeared on a parenting forum website, and then a glossy magazine for moms-to-be called The Bump." 

National Public Radio (NPR) article from July, 2019:

In a Facebook post this week, Jenna Karvunidis said that when someone on Twitter had remembered her as the "inventor" of the gender reveal party, she wanted to share another surprise on Facebook. 

"Plot twist! The baby from the original gender reveal party is a girl who wears suits," Karvunidis says. "She says 'she' and 'her' and all of that, but you know she really goes outside gender norms." The post went viral. Karvunidis says her views on sex and gender have changed, especially when she's talking to her daughter.

"She's telling me 'Mom, there are many genders. Mom, there's many different sexualities and all different types,' and I take her lead on that," Karvunidis says.

*****

"A symbol of the merging of the binary (not just male-female, but all forms of duality) is Eliphas Levi’s BAPHOMET," says a YouTuber on the subject, emphasizing that more fires have been attributed to gender-reveal pyrotechnics over the years than celebrating the Fourth of July.

"Ritual immolation; a sacrifice-by-fire — of individuality and the binary to an anti-human entity that idealizes a dystopian form of 'oneness': one world government, one world currency, destruction of the man-machine binary under the technological phenomenon of SINGULARITY.

"Nothing epitomizes this immolation-of-the-binary/one-world ritual more than New York City’s ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER that exists at the expense of the immolated binary Twin Towers.

"The term 'binary' applies to separate polar opposites. The key word there is separate. The term non-binary is the amalgamation of opposites. That's where they're brought together.

"It doesn't have to be gender; just any opposites. One of the most ominous of non-binary is the human machine unification. The esoteric and metaphorical non-binary is the harmony between the feminine vibration of empathy, care and love and the masculine vibration of will, ambition and action.

"The upward-pointed triangle is a alchemical symbol for the masculine and downward-pointed triangle is the alchemical symbol for feminine. A spirit is considered masculine. Flesh is considered feminine. 

"Matter is the Latin word for mother. So matter and flesh is human. But AI computer programs and machines are neither male nor female. So rituals are performed to celebrate this abominable, anti-spirit, anti-human, anti-earth non-binary, which is the human machine.

"It is exemplified by the technological phenomenon of singularity. That term just says it all. No symbol expresses this dystopian agenda more than NYC's One World Trade Center, with its design containing the male triangle and the female triangle.

"It was formerly the binary Twin Towers. There's no other monument like One World Trade Center to the New World Order. Transgenderism and gender-neutrality among celebrities is an example of the ritual as well. The high-profile personality appears to be coerced into that position." 

(new article tomorrow)

The vain religious 'I'm an elite' system

"The Black Lives Matter stories are meant to show there's a good ol' boy system where you can get away with murder and, again, they're taking our historical past and continuing to ignite the same fires and divisions to keep society fighting over the same things," says a popular YouTuber who exposes fake news. "Realize these stereotypes, and these ideas and concepts, are truly pushed by the same mainstream media that tries to pretend like they're only exposing what's going on.

"Who's pulling the strings behind our government? The entity that's been in the nation's federal headquarters longer than the Feds and that is the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit-founded Georgetown University is older than Washington, D.C. 

"They're using this ancient knowledge to control people; things like Kabbalah and Hermeticism. The concept of Hermeticism says, 'Are you going to be the one controlling, or are you going to be the one being controlled?' 

"The Society of Jesus is truly an Orwellian concept. Everyone understands that Jesus was supposed to be a positive spiritual force and that's what Orwellianism is--getting behind something people agree to. It sounds good, but then it's anything but, and it's more along the lines of the exact opposite. The Society of Jesus is an entity within the Catholic Church that considers themselves a military and intelligence order for the benefit of Rome. They were created to destroy the Protestant Reformation."

*****

In Mark 12:35 Jesus Christ said, "I got a question for you guys."

"The picture is He's answered them, He's answered them, He's shut them up and now they don't dare ask Him a question," explains Richard Jordan. "He asks, 'How say the Bible students in your group that Christ is the Son of David?'

Where did that question come from? He says in Mark 12: 36, 'For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.'

"That's a quote from Psalm 110: [1] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

"The Messiah's the Son of David. Well, if He's the Son of David, how come David called Him His God? How can He be God and David's son at the same time? Verse 37: [37] David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

" 'And the common people heard him gladly.' They knew He was right. I suspect they knew He had the religious leaders by the neck. How would the Father call His Son more if His Son wasn't more than just a physical son?

"That's why that passage is quoted in Acts 2 by Peter. That's why it's quoted in Hebrews 10. Psalm 110:1 is quoted many times in the New Testament. Paul quotes it. It's a great statement on the deity of the Messiah.

"So Christ reaches in and pulls that out on them. Verse 38: [38] And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces. 

"The problem with talking to the people now is it's obvious that the Pharisees don't believe God's Word. You notice how He says it in verse 36, 'For David himself said by the Holy Ghost.'

"Psalm 110 is written by David, but it's also given by inspiration of God; it's a Messianic Psalm and it says that Christ is David's Lord and his son. That's a powerful statement. And it's these guys, these scribes who are supposed to be teaching this stuff, that don't have any answer.

"I love the way Matthew 22 says it: [45] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? [46] And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

"He had them, and the only time they asked Him any questions after this was to mock Him and falsely accuse Him.

"What He's done is He's completely shut up the vain religious system of the nation, by demonstrating, 'I am the Son of God. I'm Him. This is my Father's house and you're corrupting it.'

"Deuteronomy 6 says, [5] And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. [6] And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

"Jesus says, 'If you'd have believed Moses, you'd believe in me because Moses wrote of me.' He's going right to the heart of the matter. They don't love God, they don't love one another. All they love is their religion, their self, pride.

"Mark lays out the indictment  and you've got to appreciate what's being said when He says, 'Beware of the scribes which love to go in long clothing.' They liked to wear long robes that demonstrated themselves to have a religious status.

"When you see people wearing unique clothing, robes especially, to identify themselves as religious people, that's this crowd. It's part of Baal worship; the satanic religious system that Satan's cursed this earth with from the very beginning.

"II Kings 10 says, [19] Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

"So He gathers all the Baal worshippers together, all their leaders. Verses 20-21: [20] And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. [21] And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.

"They had a church building; a temple. That temple had an altar, all kind of icons, idols, aids to worship.

"Verse 22: [22] And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

"Vestments are religious garments. The denominational church I was raised in as a young man, when you came in the front door there was a lobby; it was called the vestibule. That gets its name from vestments; it's where the vestments were stored.

"You've seen Protestant preachers put on the robes. Their collar is backwards sometimes. The vestments were to mark them out as special from everybody else. Then he says, 'They loved the salutations in the market.' They loved the chief seats in the synagogue.

"Matthew 23: [5] But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

[6] And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
[7] And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
[8] But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
[9] And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
[10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

"You ever seen someone walk around with a big cross around their neck? Hanging down from a chain? That's what that's talking about. phylacteries were put on their forehead to hold Scripture but it's the same idea.

"You know anybody who calls their religious leaders fathers? Oh, yeah. That comes from Judges 17, where you watch a Baal worshipper take a priest and call him 'my father.' One thousand years before Christ they were doing that. That's not Judaism; that's not Christianity. That's Baal worship.

"I read something online the other day where the guy wrote, 'I'm an ordained minister,' and the person wrote back, 'Well, I guess we should call you Reverend.' That's common. Reverend Wright and so and so.

"Talking about the Lord, Psalm 111:9 says, [9] He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

"If you're calling yourself Reverend, who are you saying you are? Well, you've got a holy man who calls himself the Holy Father. You see, they love titles that give them special status.

"This is not a new phenomenon, folks. This goes all the way through and it's all part of Baal worship. It's all a part of making people laity and clergy. 'I'm clergy; I'm special. I have a connection with God you don't have.'

"That's just Judaism. There were priests who had special privileges that nobody else had. The Baal worship has corrupted Israel and made the pride of their heart, not loving God and man, but loving the ceremonies that gave them special privilege. That's why it's called the VAIN religious system.

"Job 32 says, [21] Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man. [22] For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away.

"You have to be careful about giving flattering titles. Reverend, master, etc. But these guys LOVED that. They've been so co-opted by the vain religious system.

"Mark 12:40: [40] Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

"They literally are devouring the poor. That's what's holding back this young man from taking that last step. The fear of these people."

*****

Examining Baal worship, Isaiah 8 says, [19] And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? [20] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Paul writes in I Corinthians 12: [28] And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Preacher Alex Kurz explains, "Tongues are listed last. The reason we point that out is for at least the last 100 years you have elements within the Charismatic Pentecostal Movement who insist that speaking in tongues is a necessary sign of one's conversion after being water baptized. It's this idea you are not truly saved unless you possess the gift of tongues.

"When the Bible talks about the gift of tongues, it is the supernatural ability to speak in a known, recognizable, intelligent language. Now it may be known or unknown; that is it may be a language you're not familiar with or you are not able to speak. But it's still a legitimate intelligent language. It has nothing to do with some sort of mystery prayer language, or some sort of mystery gibberish. It has nothing to do with some angelic form or talking; angelic-speak if you will.

"Interestingly enough, even within the Charismatic ranks there is disagreement. Some charismatics will acknowledge that the gift of tongues is the supernatural ability to speak an intelligent language. The other camp within the ranks argues that the gift of tongues that Paul is addressing is different than the gift of tongues, for example, in Acts 2."

(new article tomorrow)

First commandment of all?

In the last few days of His earthly life, Jesus Christ goes to the temple in Jerusalem and the leaders of the temple gang up on Him.

"First we saw the priests and the scribes, then we saw the Pharisees and Herodians," explains Jordan in a study on Mark 12. "They're his enemies and they're trying to catch Him in His words; trying to find a way to accuse Him.

"Now, the night before He dies they gather false witnesses because they couldn't successfully get anybody to catch Him in what He actually said. So they had to produce some fake news; some false accusations. It's interesting, Christ asked them ONE question and they all ran to the hills, but He answers their questions every time.

"You're seeing the impact that Christ's ministry has had on the vain religious leaders of the nation Israel. They're coming to Him with their hypocritical questions; they're not really concerned about what's going on, and Christ answers them.

"When Matthew describes this, chapter 22 says, [34] But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

[35] Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
[36] Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
[38] This is the first and great commandment.
[39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

"Now, Mark says He answered them well. In other words, He shut them up.

"This one lawyer, though, his question, Mark 12 says, [28] And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

[29] And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
[30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
[31] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
[32] And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
[33] And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
[34] And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

"Now, there's two things about that question. One, it goes to the heart of the real issue.  He's not asking about the technicalities, or the Pharisees and scribes--they're mad at Christ because He's gone into the temple and taken away their worship; He's insulted their religion.

"This guy, he cuts right to the chase, 'What's the real issue here?' It's a heart issue so he goes beyond all the external stuff and he's not being flippant. He demonstrates the real true nature of the law.

"Notice verse 34. The only time they asked Christ any questions after this was to mock Him and falsely accuse Him.

"He didn't just nail them on every one of their questions, He embarrassed them and put them to silence. Now Jesus is going to turn the tables and He's going to ask. 

Mark 12:35: [35] And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

"Notice how Matthew says this in Matthew 22:41: [41] While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

[42] Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
[43] He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
[44] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
[45] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
[46] And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

"He shut them up and now they're over in the corner talking about Him. He doesn't ask His question across the room. They're over on the other side of the room. He just walked right over there, 'You all through? I got a question for you guys.' "

(new article tomorrow)

No more in chains

When you get delivered, you are turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. 

"What I want you to see is that issue of the power of darkness," says Jordan. "In Genesis 15 is a great illustration. When God chose Abraham all the nations of earth had been let go to walk in their ignorance. God said in His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, 'I'm going to demonstrate to the world what it would be like if they had me as their God.'

"God makes that promise into a covenant in Genesis 15. God swore with an oath so there was no question.

"My dad's oldest brother, in the early 1900s, in East Brewton, Ala., used his church letter from the East Brewton Methodist Church, as collateral at the bank to borrow money to start a business. In that era, your church letter meant something. Being a member of the Methodist church meant something about your integrity and who you were. Nowadays we don't want to shake a guy's hand; we want a contract.

"God said, 'I'm going to enter into a legal, binding agreement.' A covenant was always made with the shedding of blood: 'I'm giving the oath of my life.'

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

"Literally what God did was put Abraham in a position of experiencing what it's like to be a part of the Gentile nations, who were held captive by Satan. 'I'm going to take you out of that,' and it was out of that horror of great darkness that Abraham's seed was to emerge.

"It's a description used to tell what it's like to be held captive by the Adversary. It's this horror, this tremendous captivity that people are in. Now, they're oblivious to the meaning of it. Why? Because they're in darkness; they don't see.

"By the way, Israel is in bondage to Satan in Egypt. You remember when God brought them out He gave 10 plagues. Moses was told, 'I'm judging the gods of Egypt.' God could have told Moses, 'Just go down and tell Pharaoh, let my people go and bring them on out.' They could have been out in Exodus 5. He said, 'I'm going to bring them out, Mo, but I've got a couple of things I want to do first. I'm going to judge these gods.' Whap, whap, whap, whap, whap, whap, whap, whap, whap, whap. 

"Job was in captivity. That's why he was suffering. People say, 'Job is about why do the righteous suffer,' but you don't pay any attention to the answer. Job suffered until God came and liberated and turned his captivity (Job 42).

"Isaiah 49:24. Here's the big question of the Adversary. Satan holds the creation in the horror of great darkness, alienated from the life of God, from the light of God.

"Satan literally lines them up as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and he says, '[24] Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?'

"The chapter ends, [25] But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

[26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

"Go to Jeremiah 31 and you see he literally holds them in his hand. Verse 11 says, [11] For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

"Jesus said if you're going to deliver the guy held captive, you've got to bind the strong man and take his stuff. So Jesus says, 'I'm the mighty one; I can do it.'

"But then Satan says, 'What about the lawful captive? The contract said if you don't keep my commandments I curse you and I can't use you.'

"God's given His Word to the contract so Satan says, 'I got you. Your Word says--your covenant says--they're mine.'

"Colossians 2 says, [14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; [15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

"He said, 'Okay, I'll come and I'll fulfill all the requirements of that contract, I'll pay for it, I'll put it out of the way, I'll satisfy it and then I'll make a new one.' He took that law and nailed it to His cross. He went in and took the prey from the mighty. He made a shew of them openly, triumphing in the Cross. 

"I Corinthians 2: [6] Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

[7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

"It was on that Cross that He spoiled principalities and powers. It was on that Cross that He nailed the law to do away with it. That's what Calvary, the resurrection, the ascension is all about. It's about setting the captive free.

"But if you don't understand the captivity, you can't really have the appreciation you ought to have for the liberty. I read that and I say, 'Woo, woo, woo, that's enough to make a grace Believer shout!' It's a wonderful thing to be free. 

"Every time we sing the song Glorious Freedom, I wonder how many of us are telling the truth:

Once I was bound by sin’s galling fetters, Chained like a slave I struggled in vain; But I received a glorious freedom, When Jesus broke my fetters in twain.
	Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom, No more in chains of sin I repine! Jesus the glorious Emancipator,   Now and forever He shall be mine.
2	Freedom from all the carnal affections, Freedom from envy, hatred and strife; Freedom from vain and worldly ambitions. Freedom from all that saddened my life.
3	Freedom from pride and all sinful follies, Freedom from love and glitter of gold; Freedom from evil temper and anger, Glorious freedom, rapture untold.
4	Freedom from fear with all of its torments, Freedom from care with all of its pain; Freedom in Christ my blessed Redeemer, He who has rent my fetters in twain.

  

In his bloodthirsty rage he doesn't see his undoing

Mark 9:[17] And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

[18] And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
[19] He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
[20] And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

[21] And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

Jordan explains, "The dad describes the possession of his son and says the spirit cast him into the fire and into the water. The goal was to destroy him. Now when Jesus cast the devil out, verse 25 says, 'When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.'

"This is a picture of the spiritual condition Israel's in. They can't speak and they can't hear. They can't speak for God; they're God's nation but they can't testify for Him, and they're deaf. They can't hear His voice. Completely captured by Satan, in total Satanic captivity.

"When Christ comes and says, 'Get out!' verse 26 says, 'And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

"There's this rage of anger at being thrown out. All this spirit wants to do is destroy this boy, just like all Satan wants to do is destroy the nation Israel.

"When it says 'and came out of him and he was as one dead,' that's a picture of Ezekiel 37. Israel is scattered among the nations, considered to be dead and gone. Dry bones and yet what happens? He comes and takes that nation out from the other nations and resurrects them and they come back to life. Even though the satanic captivity left them looking like they were dead, He resurrects that nation.

"The little boy's plight demonstrates the total captivity Israel was in. Satan's fascination with his own goals that are taken away from him and Christ making very clear that that deliverance depended upon Him being their Redeemer, and that from this point on, is where He's going; He set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. 

*****

"If there's a passage for you to understand about what's in the future for Israel, how the Cross fits in their program, Isaiah 49 is it:

[24] Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
[25] But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
[26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

"This is a passage Paul picks up on in Colossians and Philippians. When you study the Book of Ephesians, there are four times Paul quotes the Old Testament, but there are several other times, like the breastplate of righteousness (we looked at that in Isaiah) where he doesn't quote the Old Testament, but you can see that he's thinking about them; he's alluding to them.

"In Isaiah 49, He proclaims to Israel about what He's going to do in redeeming them, setting them in their kingdom, delivering them from their enemy, destroying their enemy. To deliver them, you've got to take them out of captivity, and then you've got to destroy the one holding them captive or he'll come back and get them again. Then He's going to sit them in His kingdom, bless them and be their King.

"Satan, in verse 24 is like, 'Objection! You can't have them; you've got no right to them! I hold them and they're my prey and I can do with them what I want to. I can tear them, I can throw them into the fire, I can throw them into the water. I can just flop them around any way I want to because I control them and their mine! I've captured them. Not only have I captured them, you can't stop me, Lord, because I did it lawfully.'

"What's the law say? If you offend in one point you're guilty of all. Did Israel offend? Yes. Were they guilty of breaking the law? Yes. Were they in captivity because they had broken the law? Yes. So Satan says, 'They belong to me. I've captured them and your law says they're mine. What are you talking about you're going to take them away from me?! You can't do that; it's not lawful!'

"So, in verse 25, Christ says, 'Yeah, I can; I'm going to do it.' Did you ever have anybody do that to you? You say, 'You can't do that!' and they say, 'Yeah, I can.' Doesn't that just infuriate you? Can you imagine how infuriating the Lord Jesus Christ was to the Adversary?

"By the time they get to the Cross there is a blood-thirst rage Satan has toward Christ because He just defies him. Satan says, 'You cannot do that, I've got them, they're mine. They're not powerful enough to get away and your law says they're mine! I'll take you to court! I know what the judgment is!' And Christ says, 'Nah, I'm going to take them anyway.'

"Satan was never smart enough to figure that thing out. Watch how he does it in verse 25. You see where He says, 'I will contend with he that contendeth'?

"In chapter 50 He talks about that contention:[4] The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

[5] The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
[6] I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
[7] For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
[8] He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

"That's obviously talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. 'For the Lord God will help me.' You know He's talking about Calvary when He gives His back to the smiters.

"To be confounded is to be confused by false information. Christ said, 'I'm going to trust my Father. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, who will contend with me?'

"He says, 'Who is mine Adversary? Let him come near to me.' By that verse you can write down Colossians 2:15: [15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

"We now know there was spiritual combat going on at Calvary in the spirit world where Jesus Christ had literally enraged the Adversary to a blood-curdling murderous endeavor, and all the time Satan, because of his blindness and rage, couldn't see what God was doing. All He had to do to cause Satan to do the very thing that was going to be the undoing of everything Satan sought for, and be the foundation for everything God's going to do, was keep a secret and Satan never figured it out!

"Mark 9 says, [31] For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. [32] But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

"He returns to the necessity of the Cross in order to be Israel's deliverer and avenger. He had to first be their Redeemer, and the total captivity in which Satan held Israel required the Cross, required Christ contending with the Adversary. They didn't understand that; we know WHY they didn't understand it--'Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'

"After the resurrection He opens their eyes that they might understand and He could go back through Isaiah 49-51 and show them exactly what the plan was because it was the plan of the Father all along and it was the sinful rage of the Adversary that couldn't get it."

(new article tomorrow)

Pyrotechnics fans and wildfires out West

The Burning Man Festival was cancelled this year, so Techie pyrotechnics fans who would have normally flocked to the Nevada desert just before Labor Day Weekend had to make do. They say the festival, where you roll around in the dust just to gain admission, is sort of the younger San Fran tech CEO's Bohemian Grove. Decisions about us and the country are made there.

According to Business Insider magazine, "Burning Man might have a reputation for being full of 'hippies,' but some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley have reportedly attended the event, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

"The wealthiest Burning Man attendees set up exclusive luxury camps with staffs of bodyguards and cooks, Recode reported in 2014, calling the area 'Billionaire's Row.'

"Burning Man is not a festival. Burning Man is a community. A temporary city. A global cultural movement based on 10 practical principles, the official website reads.

"A few of these principles include radical inclusion ('Anyone may be a part of Burning Man'), gifting, decommodification (no money passes hands at the festival), radical self-reliance and self-expression, leaving no trace ('We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather'), and participation.

"The name 'Burning Man' comes from the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden sculpture ('the Man') that usually takes place on the Saturday evening of the event."

*****

Separately, a friend posted to Facebook an article yesterday about a man who started a wildfire in Oregon using a Molotov cocktail. After being released from jail he went out and started SIX more fires before being rearrested not even 24 hours later!

Here is a study from Preacher Richard Jordan, given 4-5 months ago while going through Mark 9, on the subject of fire and water:

Lucifer said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Clouds have to do with hiding the glory of God from His creatures.

Isaiah 6: [1] In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Verses 4-5: [4] And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Where does smoke come from? Fire. Verses 6-7: [6] Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:[7] And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Here's the fire that's going to come out of the throne's altar. Lucifer, says, "I'm going to ascend up above the clouds to where God lives above those clouds and I'm going to have them worship me like they worship Him."

This thing about the heights of the clouds . . . Did you ever notice all through your Bible in Baal worship they're always looking for the high places? It's not just for the purpose of getting some kind of tactical advantage.

What did they do in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel? It's top is going to reach to heaven. They're going there up in the high places and they're going to offer some sacrifices that are going to gain them authority to be heaven; to take God's heaven, take God's place, take God's rule. 

II Kings 15, talking in the reign of Uzziah, [3] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; [4] Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

He did everything except remove the worship centers, the churches of Baal worship. What are people doing in the high places? "The people sacrificed and burnt incense."

Notice the description Jeremiah uses. Jeremiah 13:15.[15] Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. [16] Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

The dark mountains were the high places where they're worshipping Baal. He's not talking about physical darkness; he's talking about spiritual darkness. This is the condition Israel was in when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up.

Look at John 1: [3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.[4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men.[5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Now what kind of darkness is it that when the light shines it doesn't go away? It's not physical darkness. Chapter 3 says men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The dark mountains were the places of spiritual darkness.

Remember in Jeremiah 44, he talks about them worshipping the queen of heaven and all the accoutrements that go with that. Israel was in complete satanic captivity and the dark doctrines of the Baal worship had completely captured the nation Israel and held them captive.

So Israel is in that condition of being completely engrossed and captured by Satan, and when he talks about fire, when you burn something, it's sadistic to do that.

When you focus on drowning people, that's sadistic too. But there's a difference between being sadistic and being masochistic. One is you torment yourself and you get pleasure out of that, and the other is you get pleasure out of tormenting others. And the fire and the water represent those two extremes Satan has gone to.

He starts here in the courts of God and he winds up . . . listen, what sin produces and where sin takes you . . .  I Kings 8, when Elijah takes the prophets of Baal up on Mount Carmel and they cry out for Baal to light the fire, manifest himself, and he doesn't, they go and cut themselves. They flog themselves. That's the sadistic kind of torture that you get pleasure out of serving.

There's a place where sin takes you, where Satan takes a person. In Revelation 2 it's called "the depths of Satan." Where you're not just torturing yourself, you get pleasure in torturing others.

Romans 1:28 says, [28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

A worthless, useless mind seeking only its own ways, seeking only to deify the creature; worship and serve the creature to do those things that are not convenient.

Then he lists the things in 29-32: [29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

[30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
[31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

That's what happens in a culture. When you see that in a culture, that's how it got there. They not only rejoice in seeing people damned, they have pleasure; they get their jollies out of it. They don't just enjoy doing it; they enjoy seeing people damned in doing it with them.

Now, that's exactly the attitude of the Adversary. That's the depths to which sin takes a person. It will take you there if you mess with it. You go around with a reprobate mind, that's where you'll wind up.

Ezekiel 31, talking about Satan, says, [2] Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? [3] Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

Here's Pharaoh but he's called the Assyrian. Pharaoh's an Egyptian. How did he become an Assyrian? In Isaiah 51 he talks about the Pharaoh in Egypt being the Assyrian. In other words, he had become a captive of the Adversary. That's why Exodus says there arose a Pharaoh that knew not Joseph. He's now a part of the satanic program.

By the way, the Assyrian turns out to be the description, the title of the Antichrist. It's that spiritual whore who rules over the kings of the earth goes all the way over to Revelation 17 and the Antichrist rides it to power.

The chapter goes on, [16] I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

[17] They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
[18] To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

What are they being comforted over? Come to Ezekiel 32:31: [31] Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

What's his multitude? All these people God had destroyed. He's going to look out at all those people who've just been damned to hell and destroyed and he's going to be comforted over that multitude back in verse 27-29: [27] And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

[28] Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.
[29] There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

Even Pharaoh and all his army shall be slain by the sword. Now, that's the depths of Satan. That's what had spiritually captured God's nation. That's a terrible totality of destruction.

Satan is fascinated by the fire and the water because that was his original goal; it was to possess the position of judgment and authority of God's throne; to be the one they worship and answer to. "I'm your judge; you answer to me. I'm God; you worship me."

It turned out that sin destroyed all that. The fire turned into hell and the water--look at Psalm 18:

[8] There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
[9] He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
[10] And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
[11] He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
[12] At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
[13] The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
[14] Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
[15] Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

Fire and water are Second Advent phenomenon connected with the destruction of Satan and his program. That's why that devil there in Mark 9, when Jesus said, "This kind comes out only by prayer and fasting. Only by understanding that I've got to go to the Cross."

The passage reads, [28] And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

[29] And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
[30] And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.
[31] For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
[32] But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

He means this total, complete control over the nation Israel through that satanic program that held Him captive. "That kind comes out with nothing but what I as the Redeemer will do."

(new article tomorrow)

The real 'name it and claim it,' corporate-style

Preacher Alex Kurz, Shorewood Bible Church, gave this message on Aug. 30 about us, as members of the church the Body of Christ, being called and identified by the singular name Christ:

As the one new man, this new entity, we enjoy a level of oneness--we are so fully identified with Jesus Christ that we're called by His name. Now that's high ground.

Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:12: [12] For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Could Paul have ended verse 12 with 'so also is the church'? It would have been a true statement, but Paul is calling the church Christ. It's highlighting this level of deep oneness. He's using Christ's name in describing you and me.

Technically, Christ is not a proper name but essentially it is. 'Christos' has to do with being anointed. That, by the way, is why it's called the 'anointed cherub.' I just want you to recognize Paul has no problem using the name, the title of Christ in describing us as joint members of His body. We are anointed.

II Corinthians 1:21 says, [21] Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Can I be called by His name? I'm anointed. 

We as the church--a corporate entity, a corporate organism--are called by Jesus Christ's name. We are that intimately connected in oneness.

Do you know any place in the Bible where a plurality of people can be called by someone's name? Genesis 5 says, [1] This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; [2] Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

As far as God's concerned, He called their name a singular Adam. What does God see in the dispensation of grace as He's forming this glorious body, which is His body? We adopt His name. You understand, Eve does not become Adam but she is called by Adam's name.

We don't BECOME Jesus Christ but we're called by His name. That should stir our hearts because God sees Christ when He sees you and I.

God has no problem calling Eve Adam. There is this spiritual oneness that qualifies us by Christ's name. That is startling. It almost borders on heresy, but it isn't anymore heresy than it would be to call Eve by Adam's name.

Where did Eve come from? That's critically important because, in order for you and I to be called by the name of Jesus Christ, where did we come from?

Genesis 2:7 says, [7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

I Corinthians 15 says, [47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Now what is characteristic of the Lord Jesus? As the last Adam, the second man, He's spiritual; He's the Lord from heaven. Eve has the right to be called Adam. She qualifies to be called Adam because Eve was not a separate external species. Eve was not a foreign kind.

So what parallel can we draw from that? Christ's body cannot be some sort of external species, some sort of foreign kind of creature. Just as Eve was taken out of Adam, guess where we come from? You see, in order to be called by Christ's name, where do we come from? We're not an external, independent separate kind of creature. Christ's body is taken out of who? Christ. That's why we, corporately, get to be called by His name.

Genesis 2 says, [18] And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

[19] And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
[20] And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
[21] And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
[22] And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
[23] And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

[24] Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

There's a lot of discussion about that language. Drop down to verse 20: [20] And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

 Did those animals come out of Adam? God says not one of those creatures can be meet; a help meet for Adam. They're disqualified. You talk about incompatibility. When it comes to these other kinds and types of creatures, they're not meet. God has to do something to produce and to create a help meet because no external species qualifies.

That term help meet came from the Bible. That's true of the word beloved, too. There was no English word prior to the King James Bible that was coined beloved. The Oxford English Dictionary tells you it is a Bible word; it wasn't coined by linguists.

So you have the Bible that will produce words that convey doctrine. By the way, the voice from Heaven came saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'

Guess what, in Christ you and I are qualified to now be as equally, excessively, greatly first-loved and adored. Because where are we? In the beloved one.

What right does God have to love you with such fury? With such excessive extravagance? Because He places us in the object of His love.

The word help meet, in the 1600s, they put the two words together. Oxford says that's absurd. Well, it might be absurd if you're a linguist, but it's not absurd if you believe the Bible. I've said it before that the Bible is sometimes accused of having bad grammar.

You see how at the end of verse 20 there was not found a help meet. The concept of being a help meet, yes, it carries the idea of being suitable, but suitable in what way? Suitable because what God wanted for Adam was an individual who was truly His counterpart. Someone who is truly equal with Adam.

Even the Oxford dictionary, they understand that word meet carries with it the meaning, 'even with, equal to, on the same level.' God wanted Adam to have someone who was a reflection, a replica of Adam. How can you get a replica, or a mirror image, or a reflection of Adam in a cow, an eagle, or any other kind of animal?

The idea of being meet has to do with God producing a counterpart of Adam. In other words, one that is now formed out of and from Adam. And whoever is going to come out of or from Adam is an individual who possesses a perfect resemblance to Adam. Eve is now going to signify one who is like Adam, standing opposite to or before Him. That is going to imply that Eve--she truly is an equal to Adam. Eve was not created to be inferior or superior to Adam.

God took a rib from Adam. He didn't take a bone from the foot, which would suggest she's under his feet. Nor did He take a bone from the head to suggest she now is going to be superior. God took it from the rib. She's supposed to be by my side. This was before the Fall in Genesis 3.

Eve now can only be a help meet, someone who is truly suitable. Whoever's going to help Adam has to be made out of the same material. It has to be of the same type, same species, of the same kind, so the only way that Eve can ever be called a help meet is if God takes the DNA, takes the material Adam already possesses. Eve is a counterpart of Adam because she came out of him. The only way we can be a counterpart of the Lord Jesus is if we have His life.

How can you be called by the name of Christ unless you possess His spiritual DNA? Just as Eve was taken out of Adam, guess what God is doing in forming the church the Body of Christ? He's going to take something out of His beloved Son and create a new creature possessing the identity of His Son; the spiritual DNA of His Son, possessing the life of His Son.

Galatians 2:20 says, [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. 

Christ liveth in ME! I get to be called by His name because I share in His life. Does Eve share in Adam's life? She came out of him. Notice Genesis 2:[21] And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

Just remember there's a reason for God doing what He's doing in verse 19. You notice how Adam is naming the animals? Adam was the first scientist, if you really think about it. What God's doing is enjoying the creative genius, the wisdom of His son, Adam. He didn't call a cow 'green.' He didn't call a bird 'water'? Why are there specific names? Those names carry meaning. But none of them were named 'Adam' because they're external creatures.

Verse 20. There's a connection to these foreign species. None of them are qualified to be called Adam so God caused a deep sleep. Deep sleep in the Bible typifies death. In order for Eve to be taken out of Adam what has to happen to Adam first? Go to sleep.

Before you can be taken out of Christ, that is possessing His DNA, what did Christ have to do first? He had to die. Do you know that when they first introduced anesthesia, there were in some ranks of the church an aversion to it and they actually used verse 21 to convince people that anesthesia was okay? Didn't God put Adam to sleep to perform surgery? 

God's a surgeon. Why did He have to cut the flesh open? Do you think God had a scar? Here's an idea. What reminds me that I'm married? What did Adam possess that always served as a reminder for the almost 900 years that he lived? He had a scar. Jesus is going to retain His human scars forever, do you understand that?

Could God have just miraculously created a rib? God cuts Adam open, removes a rib and closes the flesh thereof. I think it's a safe bet to say Adam always had a scar. Boy, you talk about typology. Can you imagine an emotional scar that he also carried the rest of his life when he in Genesis 3 partook of the fruit?

If you take a slice of cake is that cake complete with a missing slice? Isn't there a vacancy there? So God takes something out of Adam and there is an empty space. But did God leave Adam incomplete, lacking something? God did something better.

Notice we don't fill the vacancy in that cake with a banana or pickle. What do you need to bring the cake back to its fullness? The slice of cake. God doesn't just fill the void with something that is extremely distinct and foreign. He takes Adam's material; He takes what already is Adam, belongs to Adam and He now creates Eve, who is an equal counterpart. He brings Eve to Adam and God says, 'You're name, Adam and Eve, is Adam.' Eve is a counterpart because she's made out of Adam. She came out of him.

Look at how complete, how deep, the union is between Adam and Eve. Verse 22: [22] And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

[23] And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Who quotes verse 23 in his epistles, specifically the Book of Ephesians? Why does Paul use this verse to describe a glorious relationship?

Think about a parallel in Ephesians 1: [4] According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

[5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
[6] To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Did God choose Eve to be Adam's help meet? Is there any record of Adam saying, 'Oh, God, I wish you'd give me a help meet'? There is no record of Adam asking for it. It was God who said, 'I'm going to choose a help meet and it's got to be you; a part of you.'

Salvation is not about you. Eternal life, justification, imputed righteousness has everything to do with what the Father and the Son achieve. God already saw something; God already saw Eve before Adam knew anything about it. Eve was already in him; she was hidden. Now isn't that a parallel there?!

Ephesians 3:9: [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

We're joint members. We're permanently, eternally attached one to another. That's why Paul is using the human body. The finger can't say I'm better than the toe. The eyeball can't say I'm better than the heart. We're all one whole and that demands that we reject inferiority and superiority. We're all equal; We're counterparts one to another.

Adam never said, 'I'm going to name that Adam.' There was no suitable help meet but God already knew, 'I know where I'm going to get the help meet; I'm pulling it out of him.' You see what's happening here; the parallels?

Ephesians 5 is called the great Magna Carta for marriage. Notice verse 30: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

What did we just read in Genesis 2? You see we are a counterpart. And that's why I get to be called by Christ's name. Just like Eve had every right to be called Adam. We are an extension of Jesus Christ. We are members of His Body, of His flesh, of His bones. 

[31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
[32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Our union is so complete, so inseparable we're called His body, we're called His flesh, we're called His bones. Just like Eve. They two, the both of them, are called Adam.

The counterpart is going to have to come out of Adam. Eve's got to possess his life, his identity. That's why God says, 'You're one.' 'I just took something from you, Adam, and I gave it back to you in a better vehicle.'

Romans 8:32 says, [32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Jesus was delivered up for our offenses. He was delivered up. God the Father did not hold back. He spared not. I mean, when God's wrath was poured out against His Son who was made sin for us, made a curse for us, the Father didn't spare the full fury of offended righteousness.

But notice, 'How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?' Isn't that interesting. Via Christ's death we now are given all things. When you go back to the Garden, via Adam being put to sleep, a type of death. Adam gets a far better package. He got the better end of the deal, by the way.

Ultimately, why did God insist that Adam have a help meet? What was God's purpose in creating Adam in the first place. Genesis 1:28: [28] And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Listen, the reason God created Eve, by taking her out of Adam, is because in order for Adam to reign and rule, he needed a co-regent. The two of them TOGETHER are now given the position of dominion. 

There is this joint-rulership that was entrusted to Adam and Eve. What is the church the Body of Christ ultimately destined to do? Ephesians 1: [21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

[22] And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
[23] Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Was Eve the fullness of Adam? Remember there was an empty spot. God says, 'Adam, here is your complement. Here is the one completes you.'

Now, the world steals that. Remember that movie with Jerry Macguire and everybody just melted when he ran up to the girl and said, 'You complete me.' Wait a minute, God took Eve out of Adam and brings her back and she now is by right his fullness. Adam was the one who had the right to say to Eve, 'You complete me.'

Our Savior is so gracious that He has a body which came out of Him. A body which God chose. It was hidden in God's thinking, His mind, just like Eve.

We were chosen in Christ. As His fullness, we're going to reign and rule together with Jesus Christ in the heavenly places, just as Adam and Eve were commissioned to reign as co-regents having dominion over the earth.

Paul sets the stage before providing tremendous detail about the inner workings and the relationship of the body. He begins when describing the inner function by saying, 'Christ, don't forget your name.'

Galatians 3:27: [27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

This is a positional statement; Paul's not talking about 'put on, put on' like he does in Ephesians. Pointing to I Corinthians 12:13 ([13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.) Paul to the Galatians says, 'We've been baptized into Christ.' What's the difference? There is none. Did you catch that? Do you understand what a high calling? You and I are called by His name.

*****

Jordan from last Sunday evening: "Israel was called my son and yet Israel is also identified as a woman. Why would Israel be called a son and then a woman? The Body of Christ is called the one new man and yet it's likened to a chaste virgin. Why would the different genders be identified that way?

"Genders and pronouns that represent gender are used as metaphors to describe the roles and the functioning of things and that's what's going on. The issue of Israel being a son is not the issue of Israel being a male in gender. It's what it means to be a son."

*****

Jordan from his message on divorce: "When Paul talks about departing, divorcing, leaving your marriage, that always takes place before the paperwork gets filed. The paperwork catches up with that. That reality, those choices have been made before the paperwork. Sometimes people say, 'Well, I'm not going to be the one to divorce my spouse because I'm not going to be the one to file the paperwork,' but they've already departed from the marriage. It's not the issue of filing it, it's the issue of departing that's the big thing. Sometime people torment themselves about things that aren't what the reality is and they focus on the wrong things and they can't solve the right things."

(new article later today)