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How to Witness for Him – #5 – Sharing God’s Plan of Salvation

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Acts 4:12

 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

WHEN YOU ARE WITNESSING TO SOMEONE, THERE ARE SEVEN PROVEN STEPS TO TAKE WHEN SHARING GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION. 

1.  The best place to start – is with your own, personal testimony.  Not your life story!  It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to tell how the LORD saved you.  As you come to the close of giving your testimony – that would be a good time to bring out your Bible – or a tract or booklet containing God’s Plan of Salvation.  Try saying – “May I share with you God’s Plan of Salvation that changed my life?” 

2.  The first thing to cover, would be fact #1 – GOD LOVES YOU.  Read John 3:16, and talk more about how much someone must love to sacrifice themselves for another.  Be frank, and ask the person if they will admit that God loves them.  Lead them to admit it if you need to.  This admission enacts their participation in God’s Plan of Salvation.

3. The next step, will be to cover Fact#2 – IT IS A FACT THAT YOU ARE A SINNER.   Read directly from Romans 3:23, and make sure that the person understands that you, along with everyone else, has fallen short of the glory of God.  It is not a matter of comparing ourselves with the sinfulness of others – it is how we compare to God’s standards.  After the person has taken this in, ask them if they will now admit they are a sinner.  It may require some prompting from you – which is normal.  But the person needs to know, that God’s loves them, even though they are sinful.

4. After the two admissions, the next step will be to share Fact #3 – YOU ARE NOW DEAD IN SINS.  Read directly from Romans 6:23, making sure he/she fully understands what death is according to Scripture.  When you are sure they understand what death is, ask them to admit that they are dead in sins.  Stress, that even though they are dead in sins, that God still loves them.

5. At this point, share Fact #4 – CHRIST DIED FOR YOU.  Read Romans 5:6, emphasizing that Jesus Christ, judged completely innocent, took upon Himself the sins of the world.  Ask him/her to admit that Christ died for them, personally.  The person needs to know, that Christ loves them so much, that He died on Calvary bearing their sins.  He did not die for the righteous – He died for sinners.

6. Now share with them Fact #5 – YOU CAN BE SAVED BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.  Read Acts 16:30, stressing that they must believe in their heart, their innermost being, that –

  • Christ died for our sins
  • He was buried
  • He rose again the third day

Ask the person to acknowledge the Gospel, and be ready to ask him/her to accept Christ as their personal Savior. 

7.  If they have actually done all of the above, now would be the time to lead them to call upon the  name of the Lord in prayer.  There is no formulaic prayer!

Please make full use of God’s Plan of Salvation, which may be printed off from this site – free of charge.  It will greatly fortify your soul winning endeavors.  The next segment covers  How to Give the Invitation!.

Romans 10:13

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

How to Witness for Him – #4 – Following Through

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Matthew 13:3-9

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

How simple this parable appears on the surface – yet we could plumb the depths of it for the rest of our lives.  The Parable of the Sower aptly demonstrates for us, among other things, the importance of “follow through.”  Only one fourth of the seed that was sown, brought forth fruit.  The Lord explained the Parable in the  verses 18-23:

  • The sower is the witness
  • The seed is the Word of God
  • The soil is the heart of the sinner

We also learn that there are four different kinds of hearts:

  1. The hard heart; this is the wayside heart; fertile but hard
  2. The shallow heart; this is the stony soil, fertile but depthless
  3. The worldly heart; this is the thorny soil; fertile but possessed
  4. The understanding heart; this is the good soil; fertile and prepared

Simple and straightforward –  if we expect the seed (the Word of God) to take root and bear fruit, the sinner’s heart must be made ready.

  • The hard heart must be broken
  • The shallow heart must be given depth
  • The worldly heart must learn that the things of this world are temporal

CULTIVATING THE SOIL (SINNER’S HEARTS) REQUIRES TIME, WORK, AND PATIENCE.  VERY FEW SOULS ARE WON ON THE FIRST ENCOUNTER.  GO THROUGH ALL THE DOCTRINES – STARTING WITH THE FACT THAT THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD, PROGRESSING TO THE DEITY OF CHRIST,  ALL THE WAY TO GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION. 

If you are unsure of any of the fundamental doctrines – please make use of the Apologetics and Doctrines page.  You are free to print off and use all of it.

How to Witness for Him – #3 – The Approach

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Never fear beloveds!  This is easier than you think.  Often we are afraid of giving witness, because we just don’t know how to approach the “target.”  Sometimes, it seems, the Lord places someone right in our paths.  Other times, it may seem as though it’s been a long time between witnessing opportunities. 

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO APPROACH THE PERSON YOU ARE WITNESSING TO:

1.  The direct approach.  This approach can be used when witnessing to:

  • A relative.  Andrew used the direct approach with his brother Simon Peter, bringing him to Christ.  John 1:40-42
  • A friend.  Philip the apostle used the direct approach to bring Nathaniel to Christ.  John 1: 45-46
  • The concerned.  Jesus Christ used the direct approach to win the heart of Nicodemus.  John 3: 1-21
  • The seeker.  Paul and Silas used the direct approach to lead the Philippian jailer to Christ.  Acts 16: 19-34

2. The second, is the indirect approach.  This approach can be used when witnessing to:

  • A stranger.  Jesus used the indirect approach to win the heart of the Samaritan women.  John 4: 7-26
  • The religious.  Philip the evangelist used the indirect approach to lead the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ.  Acts 8: 26-39

Never be afraid to share your faith!  The method used, will vary according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Either way – direct or indirect –  be sure to follow through (the subject of the next article on How to Witness) until you have presented God’s Plan of Salvation and invited them to accept Christ as their personal Savior.  Remember that you have the witness of your faith to add strength to your work – and that witnessing for Him – is the true work of every child of God.

Isaiah 43:10-12

10 Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me.

11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no saviour.

12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.

How to Witness for Him – #2 – The Qualifications

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Colossians 2:6-7

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him:

7 Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

A QUALIFIED WITNESS IS ONE WHO IS:

1. Established in the faith. 

This does not exclude young believers!  Even the young can be mature –  spiritually.  To be established in the faith is to be rooted and grounded in God’s Word.  Peter said, “Be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with  meekness and fear.”  1 Peter 3:15  The doctrinal studies on this blog, in your Sunday school class, and other sources are there to help you get firmly anchored in His Holy Word.  Study them, and carry your Bible with you to ponder any portion of one of the great doctrines.  They will give you a rock solid foundation to build your faith on.  And in this day and age – it is easier than ever to carry the Word with you via technology. 

2. Saved and know it!  

I know that I am saved, because God tells me so in His Word and God cannot lie!  You and I have the same witness!  We have the:

  • Witness of the Spirit. Rom. 8:16 –  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
  • Witness of the Word.  1 John 5:13 – These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
  • Witness of saving faith.  1 John 5: 9,10 –  9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of His Son.  10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.

There is nothing more important than reaching the lost for Christ.  Nothing.  If it is important to you ( and as a child of God it should be ) make an effort to be rooted firmly in the Bible, and then you will be able to speak volumes with very few words!  In a courtroom setting, the witnesses are chosen based on their credibility.  Our firm conviction that we are saved, and our absolute faith and dependance in the Word of God is our credibility to witness for Him.

How to Witness for Him – #1 – The Importance of Witnessing

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Romans 10:13

 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It is of vital importance NOT to lift the above verse out of context.  Many, many false shepherds stop with verse thirteen – leading to many, many false conversions.  Progressing to the next verse – the Lord gives us three essential questions, that must be considered along with verse thirteen.

Romans 10:14

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?

1. The first question, “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?”  

The answer?  The lost CANNOT call on the Lord to be saved until they believe –

  • That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
  • That Christ was buried.
  • That Christ rose again  the third day according to the Scriptures. 

15 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Cor. 15:1-4)

2. The second question – “How  shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?”  

The answer?  The lost CANNOT believe in Him until they hear the good news of salvation. 

3. The third question, “How shall they hear without a preacher (witness)?”  

The answer?  They CANNOT hear the good news of salvation without a witness. 

  • Three thousand were saved at Pentecost because of the witnessing of the 120. 
  • The eunuch was saved because Philip witnessed.
  • Paul was saved because Stephen witnessed. (Acts 7: 54-60), and Jesus the God-man witnessed, and Annanias witnessed.  (Acts 9:1-18) 
  • Cornelius and his house were saved because Peter witnessed.
  • The Philippian jailer and his house were saved because Paul and Silas witnessed. 
  • You were saved because someone witnessed to you. 
preaching

According to the inspired Word of God, the lost CANNOT be saved without a witness.  They must have a witness to hear, they must hear to believe, they must believe to call on Him, and they must call on Him in order to be saved.  But – they CANNOT call until  they believe, and they CANNOT believe until they hear, and the CANNOT hear without a witness!

Romans 10:17

 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

we are not born with saving faith.  it only comes when we hear the gospel.  it is of utmost importance that every single born again child of god is obedient to the word of god. 

Evangelize with the Gospel!!!!

How to Witness for Him – Introduction

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One day, as Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee, He saw two fishermen, Simon (later named Peter) and his brother Andrew.   He said unto them . . .

Matt. 4:19

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

SOUL WINNERS ARE MADE – NOT BORN!  FOR YOU TO BECOME AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS – YOU MUST BE TRAINED, EQUIPPED, AND MOTIVATED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Our Lord spent three years teaching and training His disciples in the art of soul winning.  After His resurrection, He told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the “promise of the Father.”  [Acts 4:1-8]  When the disciples asked if He would restore the kingdom right then, He told them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.”  It is not the job of the church to predict or focus on the Tribulation,  or be continuously searching for hidden meanings in natural events.  Our job is to witness!  “and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

ANY BELIEVER WHO ACQUIRES THE KNOW- HOW, CAN BECOME AN EFFECTIVE SOUL WINNER!

You can know –  that you and the Holy Spirit are a witnessing team. 

Acts 5:32

 And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him.

Therefore, when you are witnessing, remember that you are not alone! 

1 Corinthians 6:19

 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

WHEN YOU WITNESS, YOU CAN TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DO THREE THINGS –

  1. Illuminate the mind of the unbeliever.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit.  All lost souls are in spiritual darkness.  2 Cor. 4:3 –  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
  2. Stir the heart of the unbeliever.  As Peter preached Christ to the listeners . . . Acts 2:37 –  Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
  3. Move the will of the unbeliever.  When the prodigal son “came to himself,” and returned home he said. . . Luke 15:18 – I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee. . .  The prodigal had a change of will. 

Many graduates of Bible schools have learned all of the up-to-date techniques for “modern” soul winning.  They may even be able to quote the necessary Scriptures without flaw, and stir an emotional response from their audience.  But, if witnessing is not done in the power of the Holy Spirit, all their witnessing efforts will be ineffective.  As we progress though this series on effective witnessing, please keep your heart and mind open to the Holy Spirit, and be willing to become Fishers of Men. 

God’s Creation and Rainbows – Rainbows are a Picture of Jesus

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Genesis 9:13

I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.

  • A rainbow is a multi-colored arc that forms in the sky.
  • Rainbows are created by both reflection and refraction (bending) of light in water  (Jesus is the Water of Life) droplets in the atmosphere, which results in a spectrum of light appearing.
  • A rainbow is in fact a full circle of light.  (Jesus is the Light of the World) However, due to most people viewing a rainbow on the ground we only see a semi-circle or arc of the rainbow.
  • A rainbow is not situated at a specified distance, instead it will always be visible to a person at the precise angle freshwater droplets reflect the light which is 42 (6×7) degrees in the opposite direction of the sun.
  • A rainbow is not an object, it cannot be approached or physically touched.
  • No two people see the same rainbow, in fact even our individual eyes see slightly different rainbows. If someone appears to be standing under a rainbow you can see, they will see a different rainbow at the same angle but further away.
  • Rainbows can be seen not just in rain but also mist, spray, fog, and dew, whenever there are water drops in the air and light shining from behind at the right angle.
  • Sir Isaac Newton identified the 7 colors of the visible spectrum that together make up white light. All of which are present in a rainbow in the order red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (the acronym or name ROY G BIV is a good way to remember these colors and their order).
  • Most rainbows we see will be a “primary rainbow” whereby the color red can be seen on the outer edge through to violet on the inner edge.
  • The sky within a primary rainbow is brighter than the sky outside of the arc. This is due to the fact that the millions of droplets needed to make a rainbow are spherical and overlap to create white light. At the edge however, these colored discs don’t overlap so display their individual colors producing the rainbow arc.
  • A “double rainbow” is where a second, much fainter arc can be seen outside of the primary arc. This is caused by the light reflecting twice inside the water droplets. As a result of this double reflection the colors of the second arc are inverted with violet on the outer edge and red on the inner edge.
  • The dark, unlit sky between the primary arc and secondary arc is called Alexander’s band, after Alexander of Aphrodisias who first described it in 200 AD.
  • Very rarely, light can be reflected 3 or 4 times within a water droplet which produces even fainter tertiary (third) and quaternary (fourth) rainbows in the direction of the sun.
  • A “moonbow” is a rare lunar rainbow or night time rainbow produced by light from the moon. Our eyes see it as white even though all colors are faintly present.
  • A “fogbow” is formed by cloud and fog droplets, they are almost white with very faint colors visible. Fogbows are quite large and much broader than a rainbow.
  • Create your very own rainbow by trying this fun rainbow experiment!
  • http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/weather/rainbows.html

John 8:12

 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The light of the sun is made up of seven distinct colors as shown in the rainbow. In music, there are seven distinct notes. Seven is often referred to as God’s seal.  It is the perfect number.  The number of completion.  The number seven speaks of Perfection, Completion, and Eternal.

There are “literally” thousands of “patterns of sevens”  in the 66 Books of the Bible. 

The Quest for Truth, Michael Dedivonai, p. 80, 83

http://bookfornook.com/books/T/The-Quest-For-Truth.pdf

When we see or think of rainbows, let us be awestruck at His Holiness and Majesty.  How insignificant we are in face of all creation.  Truly, His ways are so far above ours, that it should bring us to a point of rapture  just thinking about it all.  How He reveals Himself to us through His creation, is thrilling beyond anything. 

Psalm 8:2-4

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?

Psalm 139:5-7

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

The Miracle of Blood

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It was as recent as 120 years ago, that the ill and dying, were “bled,” to effect a cure. George Washington, regarded by many, as the greatest president the United States ever had, was bled to death.

There can be scarcely a doubt that the treatment of his last illness by the doctors was little short of murder. Although he had been bled once already, after they took charge of the case they prescribed “two pretty copious bleedings,” and finally a third, “when about 32 ounces of blood were drawn,” or the equivalent of a quart. Of the three doctors, one disapproved of this treatment, and a second wrote, only a few days after Washington’s death, to the third, “you must remember” Dr. Dick “was averse to bleeding the General, and I have often thought that if we had acted according to his suggestion when he said, ‘he needs all his strength— bleeding will diminish it,’ and taken no more blood from him, our good friend might have been alive now. But we were governed by the best light we had; we thought we were right, and so we are justified.”

Read more: The True George Washington: Physique: His Death — Infoplease.comhttp://www.infoplease.com/t/history/true-washington

/death.html#ixzz1VoCVa1xw

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The life of the flesh is in the blood

We now know, that blood is the source of life, and that healthy blood is an absolute necessity to transport nutrients, and oxygen to every cell in the body. The Bible made the scientific statement 3,500 years ago – in Leviticus 17: 11, while scientists have really only begun to understand the significance of blood in the past 100 years.  Only very recently, scientists have discovered two new blood types!  See here.

The blood . . .

  • – carries on all the different body processees
  • – absorbs oxygen from the air, and carries it throughout the body
  • – collects Co2 and waste
  • – collects digested food from cilia in the intestines and distributes it
  • – grows new cells, bones, flesh, hair and nails
  • – sustains all organs
  • – repairs wounds, grows new flesh
  • – fights disease

If blood flow is cut off from the brain for only a few minutes, the brain is harmed to such an extent, that should the victim survive, there is permanent brain damage.

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called. . .1 Timothy 6:20

Hints for Home Schoolers – Being a Keeper at Home

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Men should stop treating feminists like ladies, and instead treat them like the men they say they want to be. [Phyllis Schlafly]

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;   4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,  5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2: 3-5

Let’s examine the phrase “keeper at home.” Some of what could be termed – New Age Bible Versions – have corrupted this passage to say something entirely different. Merely keeping a clean house – is not being a keeper at home. The keeper at home is something far greater than is commonly understood.

FROM THE GREEK, “KEEPER” IN TITUS 2 IS TRANSLATED FROM THIS WORD –

οὖρος

a watcher, warder, guardian

The same directive was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden – he was to“keep” the garden. It means something a great deal more than pruning! The Cheribum was to “keep” the way of the Tree of Life.  With a flaming sword, no less! The same charge is given to women for their homes. It has ever been the desire of Satan to destroy the family – and one of the ways he does this is by changing God’s Words. The NIV version changes “keepers at home” to

to be busy at home

Think I am making too big of an issue over a few words? The change in context here is of gigantic proportion! That simple change, in the NIV, as well as others, has influenced Christians for the past generation, to abandon their children to the pagan shrines masquerading as schools, and thrust women into the unnatural role of competing with men. Even our seniors are being shuffled off to assisted living, because the “keeper at home” is not there to care for the elderly members of the family.

castle

As the keeper at home – you are the guardian of your family. You are to be ever watchful for the welfare of your home, and its occupants. There simply is no more important job in the entire world. No where, and I mean no where, in the Holy Bible, the inspired Word of God, is this incredible responsibility given to men. Not in thousands of years of recorded history.

When you begin each day, have this thought in mind. You are the watcher, warder, guardian of your home. Not a mere housewife! You are the chatelaine of your castle, with all the commensurate responsibilities. Don’t let the media, politicians, or someone close to you diminish you and your desire to be obedient to the Lord. Your home is a fortress against the outside world, and you are its keeper! And the world, under the influence of the evil one, will attack with as much vengeance as an invading army. He will try to break down your door, infiltrate through a weak spot, smoke you out, and catapult destruction over the wall. The war machines you see in the above illustration are nothing compared to what he has in his arsenal.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6: 11

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Ultimate Banana Bread!

banana-bread1

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (usually three)

2 eggs

1/2 cup light olive oil

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Spray 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Stir just until blended. Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes! (very important) Turn out onto rack to finish cooling.

Now that’s what I call “instant breakfast!”

God’s Plan of Salvation – Fact #7 – You Are Now A Child of God And Are To Obey Him

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Acts 5:29

 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

If you have followed God’s Plan of Salvation and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you are now a child of God.  You belong to Jesus Christ!  You are not a servant – but a son.  A son that wants to please his Father.

SERVANTS OBEY BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO – SONS OBEY BECAUSE THEY WANT TO! 

This is one of the major differences between true Biblical Christianity, and pseudo-Christianity, which is works based.  Those who are not born again, work to earn their salvation and reward; and not a little amount of fear goes along with that.    Believers work as loving children, desiring to please their loving Father, always aware of His care and patience.  We do not fear Him as His children, because we are His own forever.  We already have a safe and happy home with Him in eternity.

What are some of the ways that we, as His children, can please Him in our day-to-day lives? 

1. Make an effort to find a solid, King James, New Testament church to attend.  Don’t settle for a worldly church!  Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

2. Do get water baptized.  Baptism does not save; it is a witness of your faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Romans 6:4 – Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

3. Do attend Sunday School!  Study the Word of God with your church family – all God’s children.  2 Tim. 2:15 – Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

4. Attend the worship services of your church.  We ALL need the preaching of God’s Word AND Christian fellowship.  Heb. 10:25 – Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

5. Be a faithful steward.  All that you are and have belongs to the Lord.  1 Cor. 4:2 – Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

6. Make time in your daily life to pray and read God’s Word, that you may grow in grace, knowledge, and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Be ever vigilant of the urge to be under the Law.  It is something that both new born and mature Christians struggle with.  Always keep in the forefront of your mind, that everything you need to know about God, is contained within the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is the Personification of the Law.  He has fulfilled it for you.  You can not follow the Ten Commandments, anymore than you can sprout wings and fly.  No one was ever able to be completely obedient to the Law except Jesus Christ. Try living the commandments that Christ gave . . .

Matthew 22:36-40

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.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Trust me – those are enough!  Welcome to the family of God, and we will all meet one day!  Praise Him!!!

Admit this fact to yourself

I AM A CHILD OF GOD AND I WANT TO OBEY HIM

God’s Plan of Salvation – Fact #5 – You Can Be Saved By Faith In The Lord Jesus Christ

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Acts 16:25-33

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Acts 16:31

 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

The Philippian jailer directly asked Paul and Silas – “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  The answer was quick, concise, and positive in content – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.”  Just what was that answer that Paul and Silas gave to the jailer?  The Gospel!  Upon hearing the Gospel preached, the jailer and his family believed and were saved.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL THAT SAVES WHEN BELIEVED?

  1. “That Christ died for our sins.”
  2. “That He was buried.”
  3. “That He rose again the third day.” 1 Cor. 15:3-4

Jesus Christ  the God-man, died for you, was buried for you, and rose from the dead for you.  And He is now at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you.

1 John 2:1

 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Romans 1:16

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation only when you believe.  Your faith in Christ releases the power of God that saves your soul.

The man born blind received physical sight by a miracle, but spiritual sight came when Jesus asked –

John 9:35-38

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on

him?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.

Salvation came to Thomas , when he believed and confessed –

John 20: 24-29

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

When you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead – you will be saved.

Romans 10:9-10

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Please, accept Him now by faith.  Speak to Him in prayer, while you are alone at your computer, or anywhere you like.  It doesn’t matter where.  You don’t need to follow any special words, but your prayer might go something like this:

Lord Jesus, I know that You love me, because You died on the cross bearing my sins.  Thank You, Lord, for revealing to me my lost, sinful condition.  I confess that I am a sinner, dead in sin, and cannot save myself.  I do now by faith, gladly accept You as my personal Savior, and I praise and thank You, Lord, for all Your mercies, and the gift of eternal salvation.  Amen.

Admit this fact to yourself

I CAN BE SAVED THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

God’s Plan of Salvation – Fact #4 – Christ Died for You

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Romans 5:6

 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Christ died for the ungodly – all those who are not like God.  That includes you. 

Romans 5:8

 But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Indeed – Christ died for each and every man, woman and child – sinners all.

2 Corinthians 5:21

 For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

1 Peter 1:18-19

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1 Peter 3:18

 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

1 Corinthians 15:3

 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

Aren’t those Scriptures wonderful?  Won’t you join the family of God and thank Him for His great love in sending His Son to bear your sins in His own body on the cross?

Admit this fact to yourself

CHRIST DIED ON CALVARY FOR ME

God’s Plan Of Salvation – Fact #2 – You Are a Sinner

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Romans 3:23

 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

If you are a human being – you qualify as “all.”  Sin is sin, and you are a sinner. 

1 John 3:4

 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Sin is the transgression of the law.

1 John 5:10

 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Sin is unbelief – it calls God a liar.

Isaiah 1:2

 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.

Sin is active and passive rebellion against God.

 GOD CAN NOT LIE.  HE SAID THAT “ALL HAVE SINNED.”  “ALL” INCLUDES YOU.  YOU HAVE SINNED AGAINST GOD IN THOUGHT, WORD, AND ACTIONS.  YOU HAVE COMMITTED SINS OF COMMISSION AND SINS OF OMISSION – BY DOING WHAT IS WRONG AND FAILING TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT.  IN THE PERFECT, SINLESS, SIGHT OF GOD – YOU ARE A SINNER. 

Admit this fact to yourself

arrow pointing down

I AM A LOST SINNER, BECAUSE I HAVE SINNED

God’s Plan of Salvation – Fact #1 – God Loves You

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IT IS AN ETERNAL FACT THAT GOD LOVES YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE THAT CANNOT BE FATHOMED.  IT IS A LOVE SO BOUNDLESS, THAT IT CAN ONLY BE KNOWN THROUGH FAITH. 

Jesus saving

John 3:16

 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Just think about the simple word “so,” in the above verse.  So simple, yet so expressive.  That deep and simple word gives us some concept of the magnitude of God’s love.  God so loved you, that He gave His only begotten Son, to be made sin for you, that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21

 For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

JESUS CHRIST WAS MADE THAT WHICH GOD HATES – SIN 

SO THAT YOU MIGHT BE MADE THAT WHICH GOD LOVES – RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

It is because God so loves you, that you can exchange your sins for His righteousness.  Is there any greater evidence of love?

CALVARY IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES YOU – AND IT IS HIS GREATEST LONGING TO SAVE YOU.

Admit this fact to yourself

GOD LOVES ME

God’s Plan of Salvation – Introduction

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As we enter into this all-important focus of Bible Doctrine, please take note of these three important imperatives:

  1. There are seven irrefutable facts revealed in God’s plan of salvation.
  2. It is God’s plan – not man’s.
  3. There is no other plan that can save your lost soul and make you a child of God.

Acts 4:12

 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Revisionist history states that the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, but that is not entirely true.  It still exists, and is regrouping for the final phase of the story of the world.  At one point, during  its zenith – all roads led to Rome.  And in a very real sense – all organized religions also lead to Rome – not to God and His salvation.  There is only one way – God’s way.  And, God’s Way is a Person; and the Person is His Son – Jesus Christ.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

GOD’S THREEFOLD PLAN OF SALVATION

I.  Christ appeared here, on this earth, to save each and every one of us, from the penalty of sin.  He accomplished this, by putting away our sins, through sacrificing Himself on the cross.  Heb. 9:26 – For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

II.  He then appeared in heaven, in the presence of God, after His resurrection, to save us from the power of sin.  Heb. 9:24 – For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

III.  Christ will appear again on this earth, for the second time, as “Lord of Lords and King of Kings,”  to save us from the very presence of sin.  Heb. 9:28 – So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  

Please come back, for an in depth, seven part study of – God’s Plan of Salvation.

Bible Study – Mysterious Melchizedek

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Our last devotional covered the exciting rescue of Lot, by Abram, who performed a brilliant coup in the middle of the night with only 318 men. Lot has been restored to his old life, and Abram turns towards home.

king of sodom

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

Lot and his household had been taken hostage right along with this “king of Sodom.”

king of salem

 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

19 And he blessed him, and said,

Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.

And he gave him tithes of all. Genesis 14: 17-20

Melchizedek (Melkhey-Tsedek) is translated as King of Righteousness

Melchizedek was the King of Shalem, which is King of peace

Mysterious Melchizedek has been seized upon by cults and the occult for millenia. Mormons/Masons have a Melchizedek priesthood.  With extra-Biblical writings, he has been ascribed variously to be a man, Noah’s son Shem, the Holy Spirit, another supernatural entity, the archangel Michael. . .

The most important thing to remember – always use Scripture to interpret Scripture!

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Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek was around 1913 B.C. While in the Spirit, King David wrote this beautiful prophetic Psalm almost 1,000 years later –

1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.

Verse one refers to the past 2,000 years – between Christ’s first coming and His second coming.

2 The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou in the midst of thine enemies. 3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth. 4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

5 The Lord at Thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up the head. Psalm 110 1-7

Verses 2-7 is a scene of Armageddon, when “Christ will become King of kings and Lord of lords; He will also reveal His priesthood. He is the altogether unique High Priest established, not after the order of the Levitical priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek.” {Hidden Prophecies in the Psalms, J.R. Church, p. 315}

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So here it is – right in the middle of the Old Testament – Gentile New Testament Christianity!! Psalm 110!!

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Then in A.D. 64, this incredible passage was written in Hebrews 7 –

1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

Verse three seems to indicate that Melchizedek is more than a man, but we must remember that Hebrews was written to the Jews, whose entire thinking was based on the priesthood, and genealogies, specifically the Levite High Priest as the only means to access God. It is being stressed here that Melchizedek, whom was written about in their own book of Psalms, was not part of this Levitical priesthood, not of the bloodline of priests, but better! Even their father Abram tithed to him, and Levi tithed also while the priesthood was “being in Abram’s loins.” Saying he is without mother or father, is demonstrating Melchizedek is not in the Aaronic bloodline.

4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 7: 1-17

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The writer of Hebrews (Paul) throughout this last letter to the Jews, is stressing that the Perfect High Priest has made the perfect, final sacrifice. All the priests up until this point had been frail humans, who had to offer sacrifice for their own sins, but this High Priest is the completion of what was begun so long ago. As the Jews would undoubtedly been well versed in the book of Psalms – this was intended to open their eyes to Who Jesus Christ really was.

The focus of both David and Paul – is Jesus Christ – not Melchizedec!

MELCHIZEDEC IS AN OLD TESTAMENT “TYPE” OF CHRIST – A FORESHADOW OF JESUS CHRIST

  • Both priest and king
  • Superior to Aaron
  • Superior to Abram
  • Offers bread and wine (great symbolism here)

For such an High Priest became us, Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens

Hebrews 7: 26

And as much as King of Salem, Melchizedec, is Biblical typology of Jesus Christ, next week we will see that the the King of Sodom portrays the devil.

Bible Study – Abram Called Out

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shem-family-tree

These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

This family tree displays Genesis 11: 10-26

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

haran

Genesis 11: 10-32

We have come through four great events in our study of Genesis 1-11; which took place over a period of 1,800 years.

  1. The Creation
  2. The Fall
  3. The Flood
  4. Babel

What happens in the next chapter – 12 – is pivotal. There are very few Bible characters whose lives are so extolled in the divine record as Abraham’s is. He is a wondrous example of a person who is justified by faith – not works.
1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Genesis 12:1

Looking at the family tree above, you can see that Abram is a descendant of Shem – who is still living at over 500 years of age! Knowledge of the true God was available, through Shem, but very few people wanted it. Just like today!

abram

The people of Ur worshiped many gods, even Abram’s own father – Terah – was a pagan. In the following verses from the book of Joshua – God is telling the people the history of Israel:

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. Joshua 24:2-3

[Ur had libraries complete with: dictionaries, grammars, reference works, encyclopedias, official annals, works on mathematics, astronomy, geography, religion and politics. Hammurabi, who ruled Babylonia in Abraham’s day, was a great patron of learning,]

atifact

This military standard is from the ruins of the royal tombs at Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesopotamia. The standard is about 4500 years old and one of the earliest representations of an ancient Sumerian army.
It has two sides, one depicting war and the other depicting peace. The excavator was the brilliant Sir Leonard Woolley, the archaeologist who uncovered the ruins of a highly advanced civilization, whose ruins can be traced before the flood of Noah. The royal standard of Ur is important in the study of Biblical archaeology, it reveals the fact that the original home of Abraham, the city of Ur really existed. Ur was an ancient city of Sumer, South Mesopotamia. The city is also known as Ur of the Chaldees. It was an important center of Sumerian culture and is identified in the Bible as the home of Abraham. [biblehistory.com]

Abram was being asked by God, to leave comfortable civilization and go out into an unknown land – strictly on faith. The faithfulness of Abram is truly incredible.

leaving-haran

 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:2-3

All the families of the earth are blessed through Jesus Christ – Abram’s ultimate descendant, Who is the focus and theme of the entire Bible.

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Genesis 12:4-5

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

abram-journey2

This map displays Abram’s journey from Haran, where his father, Terah died, to the land of Sichem – or Shechem as you see at the end of the red trail.

The Canaanites that were in the land were the descendants of Ham’s cursed son – Canaan. Gen. 9:25

altar-at-bethel

7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Hebrews 11:8

Bible Study – The Curse of Canaan

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And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

Modern biochemical analysis supports verse 19, in that through these three sons of Noah was the whole earth populated.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) indicates that all women have descended from a single woman, called mitochondrial Eve. This does not prove that she was the only woman alive at the time, but is consistent with it. High mutation rates indicate that this ancestor lived at about the time of the Biblical Eve as well.

[Carl Wieland, “Mitochondrial Eve and Biblical Eve are looking good: criticism of young age is premature” TJ 19(1) 2005, p. 57

This video is of Professor of mathematics, John Heffner, on the statistical evidence for the current world population.

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

  • This is the first alcohol that was ever made. Before the flood – fermentation was impossible.
  • John Chrysostom, a church father, writes that Noah’s behavior is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its aftereffects: “Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor”. Wikipedia

Which brings us to verse 22. Ham seeing “the nakedness of his father.” A great deal has been written on just what that means. My preferred method is to take the Scripture literally, and not put things in that aren’t there. Also – the best way is to use Scripture, to interpret Scripture.

We will take a short excursion into Leviticus, and see the Law.

7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. Leviticus 18:7-8

Leviticus 18:8, specifically states that uncovering the father’s wife’s nakedness – is equivalent to uncovering the father’s nakedness. Back to Genesis:

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said,

Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Why was the curse on Ham’s youngest son?

  1. The prevailing theory is that Ham simply saw his father’s nakedness. But that does not explain why the curse was on the youngest son, Canaan.
  2. Some like to postulate that Ham committed great immorality, by the act of sodomy on his father. Scripture does not support this.

Here goes my take on this – supported by Leviticus 18.

Ham committed incest with his mother – and produced the cursed son – Canaan. I’m sure many will object to that idea, but Holy Scripture completely supports it. Please fire your best shots!!

8 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Genesis 9: 18-29

Many evil people have misappropriated Genesis 9: 26-27, to justify the enslavement of black people throughout the centuries. It is still going on today in Africa, the Middle East, and in some cases – even here.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: Acts 17: 24-27

Bible Study – God’s Covenant With Noah

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And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Replenish means to completely fill; to make replete.

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Since creation, man’s diet has been the fruit of the ground, but now he is told to eat meat – with one exception – man was not to eat blood.

4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

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The command to abstain from ingesting blood is again given in the New Testament, when the early Christians (Jews) were attempting to put Gentile Christians under the Law, but Paul replied that the Law was death – since no man could keep it. He gave these instructions for Christian dietary Law:

29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. Acts 15: 29

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Back to Genesis –

The creation has become so altered and corrupted now, that some animals also begin to eat meat. God’s creation has now turned cruel, with an endless cycle of hunting and being hunted.

5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. [Animals could not kill man; or man kill man -this is great emphasis on the fact that human life is sacred]

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8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11 And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

For the first time since the dawn of time – man sees the rainbow. There were no rainbows before the flood, because it never rained before the flood. The symbol of the rainbow and the covenant it represents is so important – the father of lies has attempted to co-opt it with the New Age Religion.

blue-rainbow

12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember My covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Genesis 9: 1-17

This is God’s eternal promise to every living creature – man and beast – that the world would never be destroyed by flood again. While there is still regional and local flooding, but never again a worldwide flood.

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When the heavens were opened to Ezekiel the prophet, 593 B.C., he saw the Glory of the Lord – 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. Ezekiel 1: 26-28

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John the beloved is taken in the spirit up to heaven – : 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Revelation 4:2-3

Bible Study – After the First Murder

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Last week, we studied the fruit of Adam’s sin, passed down to his son, Cain.  It emerged in the form of envy, which manifested itself in violent fratricide.

  1. God takes away Cain’s ability to grow things from the ground – something he had been very proud of.
  2. God drives Cain away from his family to live as a wanderer, always on the move, with no secure dwelling place, and no inner peace.

Cain’s attitude is alive and well in those that are of the “wicked one.”  They feel no responsibility for the safety and well-being of others, nor for posterity.

Cain’s guilt made him fear – for himself – fearful that he would be killed, because he himself was a killer.  Considering that this event took place when Cain was around 129 years old – logically there would have been thousands of people by this time – with no disease.

Our merciful God set a mark on Cain, to protect him.  I will state right here – that the mark of Cain – was not black skin.  It was a mark of protection.  And it belonged to Cain alone – not only that – all of Cain’s descendants were killed in the flood.

ROMANS 2:15

King James Version (KJV)

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. . .

16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Genesis 4:16

  1. No one knows where the land of Nod was. Cain was the settler of Nod.
  2. When Moses was recording this he used a literary technique called “prolepsis” (the assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it). [ ie: When my husband was three years old, he had a toy machine gun. At the age of three – he was not my husband.]

17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. Genesis 4: 17-18

  1. Cain did not find his wife in the Land of Nod. He already had a wife.
  2. Cain’s wife was his sister, daughter, of Adam and Eve.
  3. This begins the ungodly line of Cain.

19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21 And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal–cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal–cain was Naamah. Genesis 4: 19-22

  1. Here is recorded the progression from one sin to another. v. 19 – Cain’s descendant Lamech, begins the practice of polygamy.
  2. v. 22: Primitive inscriptions reveal that Babylon has never been without the use of metals.
  3. v. 21: While Adam was yet living – his descendants invented musical instruments.

23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. Genesis 4: 23-24

  1. By the fourth generation there is a second murder
  2. Lamech boasts about killing a boy who struck him. And further boasts that if anyone tries to avenge this boy – the Lord will avenge him (Lamech) 77 times.
  3. This is a boastful presumption – that anyone could kill without fearing revenge.

25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 4: 25-26

  1. Adam still only has one wife
  2. Eve rejoices , as she says Seth is to replace the godly Abel.
  3. This begins the godly line of Seth.
  4. There is a spiritual revival.

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Throughout the Bible, the two lines are demonstrated – the godly and the ungodly. First, the conflict between Cain and Able, and in this segment, the ungodly line of Cain, and the godly line of Seth. Although Satan had won a temporary victory when Cain killed Abel, the godly line was restored through Seth.
This enmity continues today. . .in the political arena, mainstream media, and Hollywood – abortion, evolution, perversion, and socialism are accepted, glorified and promoted; while true conservative Christians values and Biblical principles are mocked and denigrated.

Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7: 13-14

Bible Study – Leaving the Garden

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And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; Genesis 3: 14

Later Scripture reveals, that Satan was speaking through the serpent. Throughout history, it has been maintained that the serpent was very beautiful, and likely stood upright.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. II Corinthians 11:3

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. II Corinthians 11:14

This is the pivotal verse of the entire Book of Genesis:

and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shalt bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel, Genesis 3: 15

THERE HAS BEEN ONLY ONE DESCENDANT OF EVE, (SEED OF A WOMAN) NOT BEGOTTEN OF A MAN. JESUS CHRIST COULD BE BORN SINLESS, BECAUSE HE DID NOT INHERIT THE SIN- NATURE THROUGH A HUMAN FATHER.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5: 12

SIN IS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE FATHER – NOT THE MOTHER – BECAUSE EVE WAS DECEIVED – ADAM WAS NOT

Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3: 16-20

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3: 21

This image from the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, shows a horribly grief-stricken Adam and Eve. One can only imagine how they must have loved all of the animals. Their attempt to cover their sin with fig leaves was not accepted by God.

The covering for sin can not be woven with human hands [Gen. 3:7]. Before Adam and Eve’s very eyes, God took one of the innocent animals they loved (probably a lamb) and slew the animal as the ground soaked up its blood.

God, by His own hand, began what is know as “The Scarlet Thread of Redemption.” The story of atonement and sacrifice continues to unfold throughout the Word of God until Jesus, the Lamb of God makes the Atonement.

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the end of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Genesis 3: 22-24

[See Ezekiel 1, here, for a detailed description of “cherubim.” Not chubby, cute little cupids!!! ]

Bible Study – The Fall of Man

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Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3: 1-7

Do not think of the serpent as a repellent snake. The serpent could very well have been Adam and Eve’s favorite animal. Which is why Satan took the serpent as his disguise – and was there in the garden from the beginning. His whole plan was to sow seeds of doubt. This is also the reason he approached Eve, rather than Adam. The Bible states that women are the “weaker vessel.” – 1 Peter 3:7.

Satan used a three-pronged attack on Eve’s will:

  • lust of the flesh – “the tree was good for food.“
  • lust of the eyes – “it was pleasant to the eyes.”
  • pride of life – “ye shall be as gods“; “and a tree desired to make one wise.”

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2: 16

EVE IS DECEIVED – ADAM IS NOT. . .BUT THEY BOTH SINNED.

“Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Timothy 2:14

What happened when Adam and Eve took the fruit?

THEY BECAME SELF-CONSCIOUS, RATHER THAN GOD-CONSCIOUS.

“What the man and woman immediately acquired was the now predominant trait of self-consciousness. God-consciousness has been lost, and henceforth self-contemplation is to be the characteristic and bane of mankind, laying the foundation for those inner feelings for mental states comprehended under the term unhappiness, and for all the external strivings whereby effort is made to attain a better condition. “ John M. Gray, Christian Worker’s Commentary on the Bible

“Instead of seeking God and openly confessing their guilt, they attempted to conceal it both from Him and from themselves. Such has ever been the way of natural man.” Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis

It is still the plan of Satan to cast doubt on God’s Word. In seminaries, Sunday school classes, and Christian Colleges – the Word of God is questioned, critiqued, twisted, and even mocked. From the very beginning – it has been Satan’s method to lie, contradict, or cast doubt on the infallible, inspired, Word of God.

bible-page

Yea, hath God said?

For ever,

O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119: 89

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Creation Week – Day 6 – Part 2

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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29: 11

evman

Does this look familiar? It is still being presented in children’s textbooks – despite the fact that ALL of the ancestral forms have been proven fraudulent. All of them.

Piltdown Man was “discovered” in 1912, and kept in textbooks until as late as 1967, even though it was proven to be a hoax in 1953. It consisted of the lower jaw bone of an ape, combined with a fully formed human skull, having teeth filed down, and stained to give the appearance of age. This was the “hopeful monster” presented to school children for 70 years.

Nebraska Man was formed from a single tooth in 1922. Henry Fairfield Osborn, of the American Museum of Natural History .

Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon Man was not primitive, had larger skull capacity than modern man has, made and played musical instruments, and buried their dead.

Peking Man apparently disappeared in China, with not a single bone preserved. Interestingly, one of the Peking Man “discoverers” was Teilhard De Chardin, implicated in the Piltdown hoax. Hmmm.

Java Man consists of a skull-cap and femur, which the discoverer, Dr. Eugene Dubois, later recanted  and assigned the skull cap to a giant ape.

Heidelberg Man entire fossil consists of a lower jaw with teeth, plus a great deal of imagination.

Lucy has all the fossil bones of an extinct pygmy chimp, with the exception of the knee joint – which discoverer Donald Johanson admits was found over a mile away from the rest of the bones. ???

H.P. Yockey stated, “The current accepted … (evolutionist origin of life) … scenarios are untenable and the solution to the problem will not be found by continuing to flagellate these conclusions” (H. Yockey, 1992, Information theory and molecular biology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, GB. P. 289).

Nancy Touchette sums the current status of abiogenesis saying,  “So far, none of the current theories have been substantiated or proven by experiment, and no consensus exists about which, if any, of these theories is correct. Solving the mystery may indeed take longer than the origin of life itself” (Nancy Touchette. 1993. Evolutions: Origin of Life. J of NIH Research 5:95).

A Reader’s Digest book – The Last Two Million Years , p. 12, is the typical story being presented to the public:

In Darwin’s time, there was little evidence to support his theory; but since then a whole chain of ‘missing links’ has been established by study of fossil bones at prehistoric sites.

Where is the “whole chain of missing links”? Where? Dates of 40 million years are tossed about without the least concern for proving anything scientifically.

“The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that ‘a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein’.”

Sir Fred Hoyle (English astronomer, Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge University), as quoted in “Hoyle on Evolution”. Nature, vol. 294, 12 Nov. 1981, p. 105

The purveyors of human evolution have this goal in mind – to disprove the God of the Bible, and the Genesis account of creation. It is the work of Satan. . .

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26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. 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. Genesis 1: 26-28

Who is the “Our” in the above Scripture?  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

Just a few quick facts relating to six, the number of man:

There are approximately six quarts of blood in the human body.

That blood travels approximately 12,000 miles ( 2,000 x 6) in one day.

The average lung weighs about six hundred grams, and has capacity of six liters.

There are six hundred muscles in the human body.

There are six senses – seeing, hearing, smelling. tasting, touching, and equilibrium.

There are six primary systems in the body – skeletal, circulatory, muscular, nervous, digestive, and reproductive.

There are six major members – head, torso, arms, and legs. (The Quest for Truth, Michael Dedivionai, p. 88)

Man is the crown jewel of God’s creation. Out of all creation, only man has language, reasoning, and logic. Only man can appreciate beauty, and only man was created to have a relationship with his Creator. Man is not just a little above the apes – man was made in the image of God.   

I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 139: 14

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Creation Week – Day 5

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“The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.” (Dr. Edwin Conkin, biologist, Princeton University)

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  And God blessed them, saying Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23

Let’s examine a few of the incredible creatures created on the fifth day. This is a nudibranch, an animal with an unusual diet. Its primary food is sea anemones – which are covered with stinging cells, that usually explode at the slightest touch.

The nudibranch tears the anemones apart and swallows the stingers without exploding a single cell – but- they are not digested!! There are tiny tubes linking the nudibranch’s stomach to the waving spurs on its back. The stinging cells move from the stomach, through the tubes to the tips of the spurs. It can shoot them at anything that attacks. Logic question – How could this ability have been acquired gradually? All the animals would have been killed before “passing down” the mechanisms to make this stolen defense possible.

hummingbird

Truly a miracle of design, the hummingbird surpasses almost everything in the sky. The hummer is the only bird that can fly backwards, sideways, and hover. Their wings beat 80 strokes per second, their heart beats 1,000 times a minute. Here is the evolutionary conundrum – the hummer has no rods in its retina for night vision. What to do? Sleep, of course. But the hummer doesn’t sleep at night. It hibernates every single night, except when the female is nesting. It is true hibernation – with the body temperature dropping to conserve energy.

Even the most advanced military helicopters cannot match the hummingbird’s complex flight formation – which originates from the hummer’s shoulder. Question – how did the hummer’s beak, tongue, and wings develop simultaneously, without the birds starving to death first? In over 300 different species of hummer – at the same time?

THE VERY SIZE OF HUMMINGBIRDS MAKES THEIR SURVIVAL AN EVEN BIGGER ADVENTURE. HUMMINGBIRDS MUST EAT MORE THAN THEIR WEIGHT IN FOOD EACH DAY, AND THEY FULFILL THIS NEED BY EATING OFTEN. BECAUSE THEIR SURVIVAL DEPENDS CRITICALLY ON EATING FREQUENTLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER ANIMAL – THEY CONTINUALLY FACE THE DANGER OF STARVING. (HUMMINGBIRDS.NET)

Impossible. How could the hummer evolve its wings, tongue, and bill, (all at the same time) which are necessary to eat – while taking millions of years to form – if it has to eat its weight every day?

We have all been victims of science classes, where artist’s conceptions have been presented in the form of : 1. the geologic column (which exists nowhere in the world) 2. Haeckel’s Embryos (proven fraudulent) and 3. whatever hopeful monster your particular generation is presented with. Likely you were also taught that coral reefs took millions of years to develop.

“Little has been discovered of the growth rate of reefs by direct measurement. Shuiter found that a new reef established in Krakatoa after the eruption of 1883 had grown to a thickness of 20cm, in five years, or 4cm per year. Other investigators have estimated reef growth at 0.1 to 5 cm per year.” (Juenen,P.H. Marine Geology, p. 421)

As evolutionary theory slides further and further down the slippery slope – a new crop of “thinkers,” has cropped up. Those, like Richard Dawkins, who believe that the earth was “seeded” by intelligent life from somewhere else in the universe. Knowing now, that even a leaf is too complicated to have evolved , they find that hopeless idea more palatable than the truth.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11

sage

Creation Week – Day 4

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For centuries the understanding of the first day of creation has caused mass confusion. In my first post in this series, I demonstrated that the “light,” created by God that first day was the electromagnetic field – not the sun. As we follow along chronologically, the second day the waters were divided and the firmament installed, the third day the seas and land were separated and vegetation appeared. And here is where day-age theorists run into trouble.

If the plants were created on the third day – how did they photosynthesize for 1,000 years or more until the sun was created on the fourth “day?”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:13-19

Just some quick facts for evolutionists to ponder. If the planets and their 72 known moons evolved from the same materials – should they not share similar characteristics?

  1. All planets should spin in the same direction, but Venus, Uranus, and Pluto spin backwards.
  2. All 72 moons in our solar system should orbit their planets in the same fashion, but 8 are known to orbit backwards.
  3. The orbits of these 72 moons should lie in the equatorial plane of the planet they are orbiting, but there are many that have inclined orbits, including our own moon.
  4. Our sun is about 98% hydrogen or helium. If Big Bang and planetary evolution are true – the closest planets to the Sun, Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury should share the same composition, but they don’t. The four closest planets to the Sun are less than 1% helium or hydrogen.

More from the Bible – “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me.” Jeremiah 33:22 This was written at a time when only 5,000 stars were visible to the human eye. Since the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, today astronomers estimate there are at least ten thousand billion trillion stars.

God knows how many stars there are – “He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.” Psalm 147:4

Until the 16th century, geocentricity was the widely held belief, but 3,000 years ago it was written in the Word that. . .

4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6 His (the sun’s) going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit ( the sun’s) unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Psalm 19:4-6

Each star is unique –

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. 1 Corinthians 15:41

sage

The New Birth – #5 – Threefold Proof of the New Birth

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Every truly born-again person, has the threefold proof of the New Birth:

  1. Inward proof
  2. Outgoing proof
  3. Outward proof

1 John 5:1

 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him.

1.  “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”  Personal faith in Christ – that He is GOD – is personal evidence that the born-again individual is a child of God.

  1 John 5: 10, 13 – He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.

  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.  This is INWARD proof of the New Birth.

1 John 4:7-11

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

2. “Everyone that loveth is born of God.”  We are to love mankind with the love of God.  Our sinful flesh is not capable of loving what is unlovable;  we must allow God to love mankind through us.  Rom. 5:5 – And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  God’s love for man, expressed through truly born-again souls, is OUTGOING proof of the New Birth. 

1 John 2:29

If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him. 

3.  “. . .every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.”  When we are genuinely converted, and born anew, we will make a practice of doing right at all times and at all costs!  2 Cor. 5:17- Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  This is OUTWARD proof of the New Birth. 

Dear Readers,  If you do not have the threefold proof of the New Birth as demonstrated in Scripture,  now is the time to get on your knees and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.  And when using the term “personal,” it simply means that it is between you and the Lord – no one can do it for you.  There is NO SALVATION  through  your priest, Pope, rabbi, minister, father, mother, family, religion, cult, ritual,  self-help program or book.  You must have saving faith in His vicarious death, burial, and bodily resurrection –  believing that He Personally  experienced torturous death in your place, and overcame the tomb by the power of His Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 6:2

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Tomorrow may be too late!

The New Birth – #4 – The Only Means

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John 3:14-15

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Numbers 21:5-9

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Moses lifted up the serpent for a sinful, disobedient people.  Anyone bitten by the fiery serpents was given a choice.  With an act of faith and humility, he could simply look at the brazen serpent and live – 0r – with an act of stubbornness and pride, he could refuse to look, and die.

Isaiah 45:22

 LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: FOR I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE.

“Even so must the son of man be lifted up.”  Just as the brazen serpent in the wilderness was the only means for the children of Israel to be healed, so is the death of Jesus Christ the only means for the new birth.  The only way to achieve regeneration is by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

means

noun: means; noun: means of something

  1. 1.an action or system by which a result is brought about; a method.

Romans 1:16

 FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST: FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH; TO THE JEW FIRST, AND ALSO TO THE GREEK.

THE SINNER MUST COME TO CHRIST BELIEVING:

1. That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 

Isa. 53:1-12 –

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Zech. 13:6 – And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

2.  That Christ was buried.  This is the proof of His death.  He was in the tomb for three days and nights. 

3. That Christ rose again, according to the Scriptures.  Here is the power of the Gospel that saves, but it is powerless to save the sinner who does not believe.  Rom. 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

THE MEANS OF THE NEW BIRTH CAN ONLY BE FOUND ONE WAY:

1. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . .”  is the only means of the new birth.  Acts 4:12 –  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

2. Our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, gladly came into the world to become the only means of the new birth.  John 12:27 – Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.  

John 17:1-5 –

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

3. That the Holy Spirit came into the world on the Day of Pentecost to convince and convict all men, everywhere, of their personal need for the new birth.

John 16: 7-11

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

A personal faith in the death, burial, and resurrection is the essential and only means of the new birth.

The New Birth – #3 – The Incorruptible Nature

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1 Peter 1:23

 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

The above verse, contains the doctrine of the two seeds, two births, and two natures.

1. Corruptible seed produces a corruptible nature.  Rom. 1:23 – And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  Corruptible man can only produce corruptible seed.  Matt. 7:18 – A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  “ALL HAVE SINNED,” because – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. . . Romans 3:23.    Every single person is born in sin.  Psalm 51:5 – Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

WE ARE NOT SINNERS BECAUSE WE SIN!

WE SIN BECAUSE WE ARE SINNERS! 

2. Incorruptible seed produces an incorruptible nature.  2 Pet. 1:4- Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  No matter what we do, born again Christians can not corrupt the incorruptible nature.  Therefore, the incorruptible seed of God gives birth to a new nature that cannot be corrupted – at any time – or in any way.  The new birth produces the life of Christ – which is made living in man – only by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Rom. 8:8-10 –   8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

The seed of man is corruptible; the birth of man is natural – therefore – the very nature of man is entirely sinful. 

The seed of God is incorruptible; the new birth is spiritual – therefore – the new nature is entirely sinless. 

Both natures exist within the born again believer.  Whichever nature we allow to dominate will determine how much we sin, and how closely we walk with the Lord.  Feeding the old nature by fulfilling fleshly and worldly lusts, will keep the old, corruptible nature strong and dominant.  Feeding the new nature with spiritual food via Bible study and memorization, Christian fellowship, and church attendance, will keep the new nature strong, help us to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil – thereby causing us to walk closely to the Lord.

The New Birth – Part 2 – The New Sinless Nature

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And now – for one of the most misinterpreted verses in the entire Bible.   Please do not try to understand it in the light of personal experience. 

1 John 3:9

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

It is essential for believers to keep in mind that the above verse is speaking of the new nature – not the old nature – because the old nature was not born of God.  The old nature is born of fallen man, and it is completely depraved.  The new nature is born of God, and it is completely holy.  The two natures are present in every born again Christian. 

what does the Bible say about the new nature?

1.  The new nature does not sin, because it is the product of the seed of God. [see above verse]

2.  The new nature does not sin, because it is the divine nature of God, and since God can not sin, the new nature that issues from His Holy Seed can not sin.  2 Peter 1:4 – Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

what does the bible say about the old nature?

1.  The old nature will sin any time we allow it to sin.  Rom. 6:12 – Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  If you are born again, you will continue under the old nature 1 Cor. 9:27 – But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.  by not yielding to the desires of the flesh – or the old nature will keep you under, and you will live a defeated Christian life.  Rom. 8:13 – For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

2.  There is nothing good in the old nature.  Nothing whatsoever.  Rom. 7:18 – For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  The power to live a righteous life cannot be found in the old nature, it can only be found in the new nature.  Gal. 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.

if you have been “born again” – you have two natures – the old and the new – and you will walk according to one or the other.   Examine your Christian walk according to the word of god – not by comparing yourself to other people.

Romans 8:5-6

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.