When I read things like this at secular news sites it grieves me deeply. My first thought is how many reading this believe this is typical of Christians and Christianity. I sincerely hope none do, but it is sure to plant seeds, nevertheless, in light of this man being referred to as a “Christian” pastor in the headline. This man is not a Christian.
I’m not going to quote from the article, only offer the link: ‘Christian’ Pastor Prays For President’s Death, Calls Obama’s Mother A Whore
Interesting article today at Mondoweiss. If you’re not familiar with the blog, it is ran by a small group of (Jewish) journalists who stand opposed to many actions taken by the Israeli government. Today’s post appears to be written by guest author John Wagner.
Quote,
On October 26, 2014, the Jerusalem Post carried an article entitled “Bethlehem Bible College – purveyor of anti-Israel propaganda” in their Christian News section. The Rev. Alex Awad, a Baptist minister who works both for Bethlehem Bible College and The United Methodist Church, was personally named as part of a “a blatant attempt to demonize Israel.” The article goes on to denounce a video the college produced on the bombing of Gaza. Though not immediately apparent, the writer of the article is on the staff of “Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting,” a controversial US based pro-Israeli organization.
That the Jerusalem Post felt it necessary to publish this frontal attack on a well known Bible college is actually a good sign.
The mainstream Israeli press, and no doubt Israeli policy makers themselves, are now having to deal with the fact that unqualified support for Israel’s territorial expansion can no longer be assumed even among US Evangelical Christians. While it is certainly true that many of the most ardent supporters of the occupation are Christian Zionists, there are growing numbers of theological conservatives, including some who might be included among the “Christian Right,” who are viewing the human rights situation in the Holy Land in a far different light.
Much of this change has to do with a greater variety of trips to the Holy Land, trips that include the West Bank and encounters with an indigenous Palestinian Christian community. Tourists who in years past might have been limited to visiting Holy sites are now returning home with a sense of profound indignation at the way Palestinians have been treated. I am one such tourist myself; I’ve taken sides on this issue whereas before I was quite neutral. I also know my experience is not unique.
There is also increasing opposition among Evangelicals to a Biblical understanding that gives modern day Israel the right to all of historic Palestine. According to Dr. Gary Burge of Wheaton College, such interpretations have trumped the teachings of Christ (PDF):
“Christian Zionists believe in Jesus, but I wonder if they are always thinking like Christians in this matter. They have uncritically inherited the territorial world view of Judaism and wed this to prophetic predictions that are unsupportable.”
Dr. Burge is one of a growing number of critics of Christian Zionism among moderate and conservative Evangelicals.
Hope you will continue at the link. Personally, I’m overjoyed to read many Evangelicals are beginning to question their long-held position concerning this situation; it would appear many are doing just that in light of what God’s Word has to say. Praise the Lord! That many of these Evangelicals are just now becoming aware of the existence of Palestinian Brethren, is astounding on one hand but understandable when you consider all agency-led tours (or tours led by US Christian Ministries) of the “holy land” never (NEVER!) included visiting the areas in which these Churches and people reside. This was no doubt purposefully done.
Again I say Praise the Lord! Thank you Father for beginning to wake up those who have an open heart and a desire to follow the teachings of your Son…
This takes the cake. I’m of the opinion all lawmakers in every Nation on earth, are insane. While it should bring some comfort to know it’s not only those in America, it doesn’t. It’s spooky to realize the world is being led by murderers, thieves, liars, and egomaniacs who like to play “god”.
‘Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President’
The Russian-language newspaper, Trust, is reporting that an actual lawmaker—albeit one with a history of strange ideas—has introduced to the State Duma a bill…..
“The essence of my proposition is simple”, says the Chairwoman Of Parliamentary Commission on Women’s affairs, Children and Family, Yelena Borisovna Mizoulina. “Each female citizen of Russia will be able to receive by mail the genetic material of the President, get pregnant from him and have a baby. These mothers will be receiving special allowances from the government.”
Ms. Mizoulina, who holds a PhD in law, made the proposal in a roundtable discussion regarding the issue of fertility and Russia. She went on to describe what would happen after President Putin’s babies were born..
“And after the birth of the child, he will have to be given to be raised into the special institutions that resemble Souvorov Schools with the aim that he will be loyal to the Motherland and personally to the President of RF.”
A Souvorov school resembled the “military boarding school” concept familiar to Americans and RF means Russian Federation.
“Children born from the Russian president in the future will form the military and political elite of the state,” Ms. Mizoulina is quoted as saying (her name is sometimes spelled Mizulina). The article further states, “According to the deputy of the State Duma, the measure will contribute to the improvement of the demographic situation and the education of the population in the spirit of patriotism.” (more at link)
(Someone please tell me this is a joke, pleeeeease
While reading this devotional from (Wonderings of a Pilgrim) written by David Harsha in 1856, Jesus’ words to his disciples came to mind.
“…. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16: 33
Folks, the world is a mess. I cling to any good report, as I’m sure you do, for we appear (on the surface) to be surrounded by evil-doers: they are so to speak, “at the door”. But the truth is, God is in control even when we can’t see it. We’re operating within God’s “Plan A” brethren, for see, God has no “Plan B” for there is no need for one! Everything is going just as planned. The real question is, are we going to trust Him?
I’ve mentioned this before but feel to repeat it tonight; Its been over 10 years now, when while in prayer I asked God what the Spirit was saying to the Church today. I received an answer (unexpectedly) by these verses in Hebrews 3, a warning of unbelief, suddenly coming to mind:
2 Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end, 15 while it is said,
“Today, when you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
The generation which left Egypt fell into doubt and unbelief and missed out on what God had for them. With all my heart I believe the Spirit was telling me this is the greatest danger we, the Church, are facing (and will) face prior to our Lord’s return: That of falling into doubt and unbelief. We will cease to trust God, to believe He is in control of any and all situations. If not careful, fear will destroy the faith of many. We will forget, we are “only sojourners” in this world, with a promised rest awaiting us if we persevere in faith (and trust) until the end. Jesus has already overcome the world folks! And God’s not desperately looking to enact a “Plan B” because His plans have been disrupted by evil-doers. Everything is happening according to God’s schedule.
So, are we going to trust Him?
From The Wonderings of a Pilgrim:
We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow, gone so soon without a trace. 1 Chron. 29:15
Beyond this darksome valley of tears and death there lies a bright and joyous region of immortality, where weary pilgrims meet to stray no more. In that happy land their wanderings will have forever terminated, and they shall sit down in everlasting repose under the delightful shadow of the Tree of Life, in the midst of the paradise of God, and enjoy, through the blissful ages of glory, the presence and smiles of that Friend and Savior who, in the tenderest love for them, once poured out his own most precious blood on Calvary, that he might present them, faultless, before the throne of Heaven!
O’ how transcendently glorious must be the future eternal home of the Christian pilgrim! On those golden plains beyond the river of death, rays of divine glory are beaming in full effulgence. There, the Sun of Righteousness is shining in all his meridian splendor, making eternity one constant noontide of untold and indescribable glory and blessedness– a day without clouds. There, our Immanuel shall be as the “light of the morning when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds.”
Eternal day will dawn without a cloud. No gloom or darkness will ever overspread those blissful realms beyond the shores of time. The celestial world will always be irradiated by the glory of God and the Lamb, and the redeemed shall forever bask in the gladsome sunshine of Infinite Love. In that bright home of pilgrims, the Savior will conduct his ransomed ones to living fountains of waters– streams of immortal joys, and God shall wipe away all tears. In the presence of Jesus there is fullness of joy; at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the human heart ever conceived those things which God has prepared for those who love him.
An exceeding and eternal weight of glory will crown every pilgrim who has found the happy shores of Immanuel’s Land. In the Palace of the King of kings, all will be perfectly blessed, and from that “building of God, that house not made with hands,” there shall be no more going out; but we shall forever be with the Lord, beholding his glory and enjoying the soul-ravishing manifestations of his endearing love. O, happy abode of Zion’s pilgrims! O, sweet and pleasant world, where the balmy zephyrs of Heaven refresh the weary soul; where there flows not a tear; where there enters not a pain; where death itself shall be swallowed up in victory! This is the heritage of those who fear the Lord.
But before our feet stand on the blissful shores of the heavenly Canaan, we have to pass through a wilderness. This world is that wilderness, where Zion’s pilgrims wander until they are taken home to glory. It is a thorny pathway that leads to the realms of eternal day; but, by the grace of God, the Christian is enabled to hold on the good way with joy, until he passes through the wilderness and over Jordan, more than a conqueror through Jesus, and takes up his seraphic song of triumph amid the undying splendors of immortality.
The Israeli response comes at the height of movement of goods, funds and building materials for the rehabilitation of the thousands of homes and buildings damaged or destroyed during the summer fighting. It “joins” the closure of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side, and is in practice totally disconnects Gaza from the rest of the world. Hamas has already asked Egypt to open the crossing on its side, in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster. – YNETNEWS; All crossings closed, Gaza is totally isolated from the world
My prayers tonight go out to my Christian brethren, and all the people of Gaza. The enemy desires to see this part of the body totally destroyed: Did you know some of the earliest Churches in Christendom were/are located in this part of the world? I don’t believe God will permit the enemy to wipe-out this part of Jesus’ body, but they are suffering terribly, and have been for over 60 years. If that knowledge doesn’t touch you deeply and drive you to pray, you need to check yourself, to determine if you are truly abiding in Christ.
(A prayer for deliverance from Psalm 143)
Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my supplications!
In thy faithfulness answer me, in thy righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with thy servant;
for no man living is righteous before thee.
For the enemy has pursued me;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
Make haste to answer me, O Lord!
My spirit fails!
Hide not thy face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear in the morning of thy steadfast love,
for in thee I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to thee I lift up my soul.
AMEN
This is a very good essay presented by Robert L. Reymond at Knox Theological Seminary in 2006 on the topic of “Who Owns the Land”. (HT to Psalms115three blog).
Below is only one section of this presentation, which I hope those who visit here will take time to read and study in it’s entirety.
Jesus’ Teaching About the Land and the Future of Ethnic Israel
When Christ came two thousand years ago, the Biblical doctrine of the land experienced a radical advance. By inaugurating his public ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles along the public trade route (Isaiah 9:1, cited in Matthew 4:12-16), Jesus was making a statement. That land would serve as the springboard to all nations. The kingdom of God — the central theme of Jesus’ teaching — would encompass a realm that extended well beyond the borders of ancient Israel. As Paul so pointedly indicated, God’s promise to Abraham meant that he would become heir of the whole world (Romans 4:13). Jesus’ pointing his ministry toward the whole of the world rather than confining it to the land of Canaan cleared the way for the old covenant “type” to be replaced by the new covenant “antitype.”
Teaching that the kingdom of God had appeared in its grace modality with his first coming and that it would appear in its power modality at his second coming, he transformed the imagery of a land flowing with milk and honey into a rejuvenation of the whole of God’s created order. It was not Canaan as such that would benefit in the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom: The whole cosmos would rejoice in the renewal.13
Now what did Jesus teach about the future of ethnic Israel? In his parable of the wicked farmers (Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19), Jesus tells the story of a landowner who leased his vineyard to some farmers and then went into another country. When the time arrived for him to receive his rental fee in the form of the fruit of the vineyard, the landowner sent servant after servant to his tenants, only to have each one of them beaten or stoned or killed. Last of all he sent his son — Luke says his “beloved son”; Mark says “yet one [other], a beloved son” — saying: “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the landowner’s son, they said: “This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” This they did, throwing his body out of the vineyard. When the landowner came, he destroyed the tenants and leased his vineyard to others. The interpretive intentions of the parable are obvious on the face of it: The landowner is God the Father; the vineyard, the nation of Israel (Isaiah 5:7); the farmers, Israel’s leaders; the servants, the prophets of the theocracy (Matthew 23:37a); and the son Jesus himself.
The central teaching of the parable is obvious — as indeed it was to its original audience (Matthew 21:45): After having sent his servants the prophets repeatedly in Old Testament times to the nation of Israel to call the nation back to him from its sin and unbelief, only to have them rebuffed, persecuted, and often killed, God, the Owner of Israel, had, in sending Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead, moved beyond merely sending another servant. Listen once again to the pertinent verses in this connection: Matthew 21:37: “Then last of all he sent his son.” Mark 12:6: “…having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last.”
From Matthew’s “last of all” and Mark’s “last” it is clear that Jesus represented himself as God’s last, his final ambassador, after whose sending none higher can come and nothing more can be done.14 The Son of God is the highest messenger of God conceivable. In sum, God had in Jesus finally (Matthew: hysteron; Mark: eschaton) sent his own beloved Son whom the nation would reject. But the rejection of his Son, unlike the rejections of those before him, was to entail neither God’s continuance of dealing with the recalcitrant nation nor a mere change of politico-religious administration. Rather, his rejection, Jesus taught, would eventuate in “the complete overthrow of the theocracy, and the rearing from the foundation up of a new structure [Christ’s church] in which the Son would receive full vindication and supreme honor.”15 His very words are as follows:
I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit [Matthew 21:43].
What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others [Mark 12:9; Luke 20:16].
Here is a Biblical “replacement theology,” and it is Jesus himself who enunciated it: National Israel, except for its elect remnant, would be judged, and the special standing that it had enjoyed during the old dispensation would be given to the already emerging international church of Jesus Christ made up of both the elect Jewish remnant and elect Gentiles. So as Jesus predicted, Israel’s rulers rejected him and incited Rome to execute him; the Temple was soon destroyed (see Matthew 24:1-35); the people dispersed; and Israel ceased to exist as a political entity, as Moses had predicted in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (see Deuteronomy 31:24-29). Paul declared in 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 that the Jews who “killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets…displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved — so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last [eis telos16].” Since Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians in A. D. 50 or 51 it is unlikely that he intended by his phrase, “God’s wrath has come upon them” the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in A. D. 70. More likely, he was referring to the divine rejection of national Israel that Jesus referred to in his parable of the wicked farmers and elsewhere (Matthew 23:38; 24:15-28), a rejection that Paul declared in Romans 11 has come to expression in God’s hardening the mass of Israel, save for an elect Jewish remnant. So once again Israel as an ethnic entity has become lo-ammi, “not my people,” only now with a finality about it save for an elect remnant (Romans 9:27-29).17 Accordingly, Paul writes in Romans 11:7-10:
Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking [that is, a righteousness before God, Romans 9:31]. The elect [remnant] obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever [dia pantos 18].”
But because God has by no means rejected every Jew, choosing in grace a Jewish remnant (Romans 11:5), today elect Jews continue to be saved by being “provoked to jealousy” (Romans 11:11, 14) by the multitudes of saved Gentiles who are enjoying the spiritual blessings originally offered to their fathers, and who accordingly through faith in Jesus Christ, their Messiah, are being grafted back into their own “olive tree” (Romans 11:23-24). The justification of Gentiles is then the primary avenue to the justification of the Jewish elect; indeed, in this way (houtÿs) “all Israel” will be saved (Romans 11:26).19
In light of these Biblical data we can affirm the following five propositions:
1.The modern Jewish state is not a part of the Messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ. Even though this particular political state came into being on May 14, 1948, it would be a denial of Jesus’ affirmation that his kingdom is “not of this world order” (John 18:36) to assert that modern Israel is a part of his Messianic kingdom. To put it bluntly, modern Israel is not true Israel at all, but is rather “the spiritual son of Hagar” (Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 4:24-25) and thus is “Ishmaelitish” to the core, does not necessarily intend a small, insignificant number but simply that which is “left.” But when Isaiah declares: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sands of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved,” the implication is that God will harden the mass of ethnic Israel. It has accordingly forsaken any legitimate Biblical claim to Palestine.
2. The land promise of the Old Testament served as a type of the consummate realization of the purposes of God for his redeemed people that encompasses “all the nations” (Genesis 12:3) and the entire cosmos (Romans 4:13). Christians as members of the Messianic kingdom of God are the real heirs, along with Abraham, of the land promise in its antitypical, consummated character.
3. Because of the inherently limited scope of the land promised in the Old Testament, it cannot be regarded as having continuing significance in the realm of redemption other than in its function as a model to teach that obedience and divine blessing go hand in hand while disobedience and divine retribution also go hand in hand.
4. The Old Testament predictions about the “return” of “Israel” to the “land” in terms of a geo-political reestablishment of the state of Israel are more properly interpreted as having fulfillment at the “restoration of all things” that will accompany the resurrection of believers at the return of Christ (Acts 3:21; Romans 8:22-23). To interpret these predictions literally would be a retrograde elevation of type over antitype.
5. The future Messianic kingdom will embrace the whole of the recreated cosmos and will not experience a special manifestation that could be regarded in any sense as Jewish in the “holy land” or anywhere else. Peter, the apostle to the circumcision (who surely would have had his ear tuned to any and every future privilege Jews might enjoy), when he wrote of future things in 2 Peter 3, said nothing about a Jewish millennium or about a restoration of a Jewish kingdom in Palestine but rather divided the whole of Earth history into three periods: the first period — “the world of that time” — extending from the beginning of creation to the Genesis flood (2 Peter 3:5-6); the second period — “the heavens and Earth that now exist” (2 Peter 3:7) — extending from the flood to the final Day of the Lord, at which time the Earth will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:7) and the present heavens “will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10); and the third period — “new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13) — extending throughout eternity. If he had believed in a Jewish millennium following this present age 2 Peter 3 would have been the appropriate place to mention it, but he makes no mention of a millennium, much less a Jewish millennium, placing the entirety of Earth history within the three time frames.
Conclusion
What should we conclude from all this? The twin facts of ethnic Israel’s unbelief and God’s wrath exhibited toward ethnic Israel (1 Thessalonians 2:15-16) pose a problem for Christians today. On the one hand, should not our attitude toward these people through whom came not only our Old Testament Scriptures but also our Messiah and Savior according to the flesh (Romans 9:5), indeed, our very salvation (John 4:22) be one of gratitude, and should Christians not do everything in their power to treat the Jewish people as they themselves would wish to be treated? On the other hand, were not the Jewish people complicit in the crucifixion of Christ, declaring him to be one in a long line of false messiahs, and do not these same Jews, when pressed, acknowledge that they regard Christians as idolaters, worshiping as they do a “mere man”?
In response to this problem, I would first say that no Christian should advocate anything evenly remotely resembling discrimination against Jews because of their ethnicity or religion. At the same time, in light of the fact that the only hope of salvation for the Jewish people resides in the provisions of the Christian Gospel, it would be wrong, indeed, unloving and un-Christian, for Christians to encourage or to support Israel in the establishment and maintenance of its ethnicity or religion as the ground of its hope before God. (For) The Bible denounces every hope for approbation before God that is not grounded in the person and work of Christ. Such approbation pursued through ethnicity or through good works is futile (Galatians 2:16). Therefore, the Jew, if he is ever to know genuine forgiveness by God, must forsake the notion that his racial connection to the patriarchs and/or his allegiance to Torah make him acceptable to God (Romans 2:17-29; Galatians 5:3-4).
It is a strange twist of thinking, if not downright disloyalty to the Gospel, for Christians to aid and abet Israel in the retention of its ethnic/religious distinctives that provide the ground of its hope for divine approbation, the holding on to which only solidifies Israel in its unbelief. And yet, in order that the blessing of Genesis 12:3 might be theirs, and in order to escape the threatened curse enunciated in the same verse, many Christians fervently believe that they must support Zionist causes whatever the cost and must rejoice with every “Israeli advance” in the world. They fail to realize, as they do so (1) that as long as they encourage the Jew to continue to hold his un-Biblical perception of what constitutes “Jewishness,” and (2) that as long as he continues to hold to Judaism as his religion, just that long will he continue to reject Jesus Christ, who is Israel’s only hope and thus be eternally condemned!
The Roman Catholic Church, in its modern efforts at aggiornamento, has not helped here either, declaring in its 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church that because the faith of the Jewish people — catechetically described as the “the first to hear the Word of God” — “unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant” (paragraph 839), because to the Jews belong all the privileges outlined in Romans 9:4-5 (paragraph 839), and because with Christians they “await the coming of the Messiah” (!) (paragraph 840), the People of God include the Jewish people.
Never mind that the Jewish people for the most part deny the deity of Jesus Christ and thus the doctrine of the Trinity; never mind that they for the most part rejected their Messiah, the first time he came, as a misguided prophet at best and a blasphemer at worst, and accordingly believe today that Christians are idolaters because we worship him whom they contend was simply a man; never mind that they see no need for Christ’s substitutionary atonement. According to Rome’s teaching they are still related salvifically to the people of God and may go to Heaven!
The great mass of world Jewry today neither believes that the Old Testament is the inspired, inerrant Word of the living God nor does it have a clue about what the Old Testament teaches. We must think more carefully here, for can one truly believe the Old Testament and not acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, Savior, and Lord revealed therein? No one who has heard of the Messiah and his atoning work and then rejects him believes the Old Testament. Jesus himself expressly declared: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me” (John 5:46).
When the modern Jew claims that he believes and follows Torah, even though he may say that he sees grace taught therein, but who at the same time also believes that he must live a certain way if he is to remain a “son” or “daughter” of Torah, he does not believe the Old Testament and is denying the saving provision of which Torah actually speaks. The Levitical sacrificial system pointed to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who alone takes away the sin of the world.
Christians must realize that to bring any unbelievers, including ethnic/religious Israel, to the Christian faith, they must show them the futility of any and every hope for God’s approbation apart from faith in Jesus Christ. The fact that Jews have Abrahamic blood flowing in their veins (Matthew 3:9; John 1:13), or that they are physically circumcised (Romans 2:25-29; Galatians 5:2-4; 6:15), or that they are practicing “sons and daughters of Torah” (Romans 2:17-24; 3:9; Galatians 3:10; 4:21; 5:1) are all insufficient for salvation.
*Complete essay may be accessed HERE
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“Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.”—Isaiah 65:17-19
THIS PASSAGE, like the rest of Isaiah’s closing chapters, will have completest fulfillment in the latter days when Christ shall come, when the whole company of his elect ones shall have been gathered out from the world, when the whole creation shall have been renewed, when new heavens and a new earth shall be the product of the Savior’s power, when, for ever and for ever, perfected saints of God shall behold his face, and joy and rejoice in him.
I hope and believe that the following verses will actually describe the condition of the redeemed during the reign of Christ upon the earth:
“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old. They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”
But the work which is spoken of in the text is begun already among us. There is to be a literal new creation, but that new creation has commenced already; and I think, therefore, that even now we ought to manifest a part of the joy. If we are called upon to be glad and rejoice in the completion of the work, let us rejoice even in the commencement of it. The Lord himself will joy and rejoice, and we who are in sympathy with him are exhorted and even commanded to be glad; let us not be slack in this heavenly duty.
Do you know what this work of creation is, which is here thrice promised in the words, “I create.. I create.. I create”? It is evidently a second creation, which is altogether to eclipse the first, and put it out of mind. Shall I tell the story?
The first creation was so fair that, when the Lord looked upon it, with man as its climax and crown, he said, “It is very good;” but it failed in man who should have been its glory. Man sinned; and in his sin he was so connected with the whole of the earth, that he dragged it down with him. The slime of the serpent passed over everything. The taint of sin marred the whole of God’s work in this lower world. The creation was made subject to vanity, and it groaneth in pain together until now. But the Infinitely Blessed would not be defeated, and in infinite condescension he determined that he would make a new creation which should rise upon the ruins of the first. He resolved that under a second Adam something more than Paradise should be restored to the universe. He purposed that he would undo, through Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman, all the mischief that had been wrought by the serpent. He has commenced to undo this mischief, and to work this now creation, and so commenced that he will never withdraw his hand till the work is done. He has commenced it thus—by putting new hearts into as many as he has called by his Spirit, regenerating them, and making them to become new creatures in Christ Jesus. These the apostle tells us are a kind of firstfruits of this now creation. We are the commencement of the future ingathering. Our new-born spirits are the first ripe ears of corn out of a wonderful harvest that will come by-and-by.
By-and-by (our) bodies shall be new-created, when, from beds of dust and silent clay, they shall upleap into immortal beauty. The resurrection will be to the body what regeneration is to the soul. When body and soul are thus created anew, the whole earth around them, in which they shall dwell, shall be, at the same time, renewed also; and so God shall make the spirits, the minds, the bodies, and the bodies of men, all now. These bodies, quickened by his Spirit who dwelleth in us, and united to souls purified and refined, shall tread upon an earth delivered from the curse, and shall be canopied beneath new heavens. Have they not new desires? Should not all above them be new? They shall tread a new earth for they have new ways.
There is one reason why you are called upon to rejoice in this, namely, that you are a part of it. When the angels saw God making this world, they sang together, and shouted for joy; but they were not a part of this lower world. They had nothing to do with man’s estate, save as a matter of sympathy. But as for this new creation of our gracious God, you and I, beloved, who have believed in Jesus, are part of it. That same grace, which has quickened others into new life, has quickened us. The same Spirit, who has given new principles and new desires to others, has given them to us also. The Father hath begotten us again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are the central beings of the new creation, and so let us joy and rejoice in it with all our soul, and mind, and strength.
Brethren, did any one of you ever weep because you did not sit at the Passover? Did you ever regret the Paschal lamb? Oh, never, because you have fed on Christ! Was there ever man that knows his Lord that ever did lament that he had not the sign of the old Abrahamic covenant in his flesh? Nay, he gladly dispenses with the rites of the old covenant, since he has the fullness of their meaning in his Lord. The believer is circumcised in Christ, buried in Christ, risen in Christ, and in Christ exalted to the heavenly places. Did you ever regret the absence of the burnt-offering, or the red heifer, or any one of the sacrifices and rites of the Jews? Did you ever pine for the feast of tabernacles, or the dedication? No, because, though those were like the old heavens and earth to the Jewish believers, they have passed away, and we now live under new heavens and a new earth…
The substance is come, and the shadow has gone; and we do not remember it!
*From C.H. Spurgeon’s sermon, God Rejoicing in the New Creation
I see two things happening within the Church today: (1) there is a powerful move involving the return of the spirit of the Judaizers and (2) the religion of the Pharisees, which has always been within the Church, is growing stronger.
This message at fortheloveofhistruth blog, takes on the false religion of the Pharisees. Its well worth reading folks…
Quote;
“Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash theirhands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” – (Mark 7:1-13)
As our Lord Jesus warns us elsewhere to “beware of false prophets,” he warns us here to beware of false religion. Nothing is more dangerous to the souls of men, and nothing more deadly than false prophets and false religion.
The Apostle Paul warns us that those who eat and drink the bread and wine of the Lord’s Table without faith in Christ eat and drink damnation to themselves. What he says about the Lord’s Table is true of and applicable to all other religious practices without faith in Christ. To profess faith without faith, to claim an interest in Christ without an interest in Christ, to be baptized without being born of God, to pretend to be a child of God while you are yet a child of the devil, all these things are eating and drinking damnation to yourself.
Our Lord Jesus warns us again and again to, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” The warning is repeated often because it is needed often. Here he explains exactly what he meant by the leaven of the Pharisees. When our Lord warns us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, he is talking about the doctrine, or the religion of the Pharisees.
What a humbling picture we have before us of apostate, human religion. Here we see, to some extent, what man is capable of doing in the perversion of truth, while clinging to the name of God. These well read, highly educated, greatly respected religious men really thought God was impressed by watching them meticulously wash their hands and their dishes in religious ceremony! There are multitudes exactly like them today. In fact, the religion of the Pharisees is the natural religion of the carnal heart. All men, by nature gravitate to it. Yet, the religion of the Pharisees, though it is naturally appealing to and universally approved of by all men, is deadly to a man’s soul and an utter abomination in the sight of God. The religion of the Pharisees is both the most ancient and the newest of all religions. In this study I will call your attention to seven things that characterize the religion of the Pharisees. As we look at these seven characteristics of it, let us ask ourselves this question: — Is my religion the religion of Christ or the religion of the Pharisees?
Enjoyed reading at a new blog tonight and wanted to pass on the link. This is a new work for the Lord and I’m sure they would appreciate a visit and any encouragement you can offer.
Very good message at Mike Ratliff’s blog tonight,
I was born into a Christian family in 1951. I remember very well how the small town in which we lived in Oklahoma would be effectively shutdown on Sundays as all of the churches in town rang their bells (if they had them) and their auditoriums were full as their pastors preached the real gospel, which did not leave out the law and God’s impeding judgment on the unrepentant. However, as the 1960’s came and with it a cultural revolution, so did our churches’ proclamation of the gospel and justification by faith alone begin to take a backseat to sermons on morality and rebellion and cultural justice.
Here we are more than half a century later and we are witnessing the death spiral of what used to be called mainstream Christianity…
God has a way of confirming things He reveals.
From the moment I saw the first photos depicting members of this newest terrorist group and began to read reports of young girls leaving home and country in order to “join up” with ISIS (or Islamic State) I sensed this group was a “different type” of terrorist organization. While napping a few weeks ago, I believe the Holy Spirit showed me the essence of these differences: I was deeply disturbed for days afterward.
While it possesses all the “bells and whistles” we’ve come to expect from a terrorist group/organization, it’s nevertheless ‘different’. It actually reminds me of many of the life-like (killing) video games young people and even adults are into playing today.
That’s all I feel to say on the topic, except to add this article I read tonight confirmed a few things I had already been shown, and to add the question, how do you fight this? You can’t bomb a spiritual enemy out of existence.
Analysis: Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion
“The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy” – (From the compiled unpublished works of A.W. Tozer – April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963)
“The Bible has no compromise whatsoever with the world. The Bible has a message for the evangelical church, calling it back home. The Bible always send us out into the world, but never to compromise with the world; and never to walk in the way of the world, but only to save as many as we can. That is the one direction. So, my Christian friend, if you are settling back, snuggling into your chair and resting in your faith in John 3:16 and the fact that you have accepted Jesus Christ, you had better watch yourself. Take heed, lest you also be found wanting. Take heed of your own heart, lest when all is said and done, you have become tied with the world.” (p. 15).
“Theology” is simply the study of God, and “from the word ‘theology’ comes the word ‘theologian.’ It used to mean a person who has specialized in the study of God, but it has come to mean someone who is an expert in a slice of Christianity. In many cases, the slice is rather small and disassociated from the whole. These contemporary theologians deal with doctrinal minutia. Their expertise is in the area of rethinking doctrinal positions in light of contemporary society and culture. For some reason, they believe that because society has changed so drastically, our doctrinal positions need to change accordingly. To reexamine the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, for example, is an exercise in futility. By slicing and dicing doctrinal positions, we have come to a point of not knowing what we believe…..
Experts who know everything but what is essential to the spiritual life are now running our churches.” (p. 22).
“The great deterrent to victorious Christian living is the idea that once we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and believe that John 3:16 is all there is to it, our life now is on automatic pilot and we can just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is the source of a great deal of disillusionment that leads to discouragement in the Christian life. There is no such thing as automatic pilot in our Christian experience; every step is an operation of faith that will be fiercely contested by the enemy of our soul. This kind of automatic pilot thinking leads to spiritual lethargy. Breaking out from the tyranny of spiritual lethargy–whatever the cost–should be the number-one priority of every Christian” (p. 205).
Under the section inside the dashboard we’re able to see the most viewed posts of the day. Over the years I’ve noticed one of the most viewed posts has been one concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. It’s understandable as I too find it an interesting topic: not only because of the facts surrounding the event but because, 1- It’s a topic very few preachers or pastor cover, and 2– It’s a topic which which is covered prophetically within each of the four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all commonly believed to have all been written prior to this final, complete destruction, extensively (one or more, more then others) covered this by including Jesus’ many predictions and warnings to the people of Israel who “rejected their God” (John 1:11), and as a consequence faced judgment within their lifetimes.
From Luke’s Gospel alone we can choose (but) three of many, and read;
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me *until the time (ἥξει) comes (*may also be translated as “unless”) you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Chapter 13
41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Chapter 19
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written. 23 Alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Chapter 21
This post is shared for those who have continued to show a continued interest in this topic.
During my time recuperating from surgery, I read a classic booklet on the topic, written in 1805 by George Peter Holford. I found it both fascinating (for it showed this topic was of great interest within the Church prior to the wide-spread teachings of dispensationalism) and frankly, heart-wrenching. At certain points within the booklet, I found myself in tears. It’s not an “easy” thing to read. It also takes awhile to become accustomed to the flow of the author’s writing…remember it was written over 200 years ago. I can say I have learned from not only reading the account of this destruction, but more importantly it has also enabled me to understand the four Gospels (and book of Acts) and their authors, in a new light. To grasp, in part, what the authors must have went through, for their ideas and hopes (for a restoration) were turned upside down by the word’s of the one they followed: Jesus.
They were being told the Temple alone, which had been and was, the “center” of their world and all that was Holy, was to be destroyed, replaced by the “True Temple”- Jesus. To be able to grasp this concept (that the old must go for the new to “arise” to take it’s place) must have been one thing, of many, they all four wrestled to understand. Once understanding this, the book of Acts become an even more amazing book! For by the time Peter stood up to address the crowd (after being filled with the Holy Spirit) we can see “he got it”.
Anyway, forgive me, I ramble…My hope is those who take the time to read this account will be blessed: that it will “perform” all in the heart of the reader which God desires.
The Destruction Of
JERUSALEM
An Absolute and Irresistible
PROOF OF THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF
CHRISTIANITY:
INCLUDING A NARRATIVE OF
THE CALAMITIES WHICH BEFEL THE JEWS
So far as they tend to verify
OUR LORD’S PREDICTIONS
Relative to that event.
By George Peter Holford
(Written in 1805)
THE goodness of God stamps all his proceedings. It has please Him not only to communicate to mankind a revelation, which, to the pious mind, bears in its internal texture its own evidence and recommendation, but also to accompany it with such external proofs of a sacred origin, as seem calculated to strike, with irresistible conviction, even those who are least disposed to admit the truth of the Holy Scriptures. In order to evidence their divine authenticity, God has done as much as man could possibly have required. [1] For, supposing that it had been referred to mankind to have prescribed for their own satisfaction, and that of their prosperity, the credentials which His messengers should bring with them, in order to authenticate the divinity of their mission, could the wisest and most skeptical amongst men have proposed, for this purpose, any thing more conclusive than,
1st. Demonstrations of power, surpassing every possible effect of human skill and effort — and
2dly. Intelligence relative to the future events and circumstances of nations and individuals, which no human sagacity would ever pretend to foresee or predict ?
If such had been the evidences demanded, what addition to them could possibly have been suggested ? Is it in the human mind to imagine any tests of divine authority better adapted, sooner or later, to expose the artifices, and frustrate the designs, of an imposter ? In vain will the profoundest policy attempt to discover means more suitable to this purpose, and, with respect to the reception of the revelation itself, more perfectly fitted to banish all reasonable doubt on the one hand, and to invalidate the charge of credulity on the other. Now these, precisely, are the credentials with which it has pleased God to sanction the testimony of his inspired messengers, as recorded in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. THEY WROUGHT MIRACLES : THEY FORETOLD FUTURE EVENTS. Thus all that man himself could demand has been given, and objectors are left entirely without excuse.
JESUS CHRIST, the principal of those messengers, like his illustrious types and predecessors Moses and Elijah, proclaimed and attested his divine mission at once by miraculous acts, and by prophetic declarations. His miracles were numerous, diversified, and performed in various parts of his native country ; they were not frivolous tricks, calculated merely to excite wonder and gratify curiosity, but acts of substantial utility and benevolence. They were publicly, but not boastingly and ostentatiously, displayed — in the presence not of friends only, but also of enemies — of enemies exasperated to malignity against him, because he had censured their vices and exposed their hypocrisy, and who were actuated by every motive which a spirit of revenge could suggest to incurable prejudice, to induce them to detect the imposition of his miracles, if false, and to deny and discredit them, if true. To deny them they did not attempt, but they strove to sink them in disrepute, and thereby furnished a striking specimen of those embarrassing dilemmas, into which infidelity is continually betraying her votaries. They ascribed them to the agency of Satan ; thus representing him, “who was a liar from the beginning,” as contributing to the diffusion of the truth — “the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience” as promoting the cause of holiness and as co-operating in the overthrow of his own kingdom, with HIM who “was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil!!!”
The prophecies of our Lord, as well as his miracles, were many, and of great variety. They were not delivered with pomp and parade, but rose out of occasions, and seem to have resulted, for the most part, from his affectionate solicitude for those who then were, or might afterwards become, his disciples. While the fulfillment of some of these predictions was confined to the term of his mission and the limits of his country, the accomplishment of others extended to all nations, and to every future age of the world.
Of the prophecies which have already been fulfilled, few, perhaps, are so interesting in themselves, or so striking in their accomplishment, as those which relate to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the signal calamities which every where befel the Jewish nation. The chief of our Lord’s predictions, relative to these events, are contained in Matt. 24 ch. Mark, 13 ch., Luke 21 ch., Ib. 19 ch. 41-44 ; Ib. 23 ch. 27-30 : and we may with confidence appeal to the facts which verify them as conclusive and incontrovertible proofs of the divinity of his mission. Before, however, we enter upon this illustration, it may be gratifying to the reader, and add considerably to the interest of many of the subsequent pages, to give in this place a brief description of that renowned city and its temple.
Jerusalem was built on two mountains. Three celebrated walls surrounded the city on every side, except that which was deemed inaccessible, and there it was defended by one wall only. The most ancient of these walls was remarkable for its great strength, and was, moreover, erected on a hanging rock, and fortified by sixty towers. on the middle wall there were fourteen towers only ; but on the third, which was also distinguished by the extraordinary merit of its architecture, there were no less than ninety. The celebrated tower of Psephinos, before which Titus at first encamped, was erected on this latter wall, and even excelled it in the superior style of its architecture : it was seventy cubits high and had eight angles, each of which commanded most extensive and beautiful prospects. In clear weather, the spectator had from them a view of the Mediterranean sea, of Arabia, and of the whole extent of the Jewish dominions. Besides this there were three other towers of great magnitude, named Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne. The two former, famed for their strength and grandeur, were nearly ninety cubits high ; the latter, for its valuable curiosities, beauty and elegance, was about fifty five cubits. They were all built of white marble ; and so exquisite was the workmanship, that each of them appeared as if it had been hewn out of an immense single block of it. Notwithstanding their great elevation, they yet must have appeared, from the surrounding country, far loftier than they really were. The old wall, it has just been remarked, was built upon a high rock : but these towers were erected upon the top of a hill, the summit of which was itself thirty cubits above the top of the old wall ! Such edifices, so situated, it is easy to conceive, must have give to the city a very great degree of grandeur and magnificence. Not far distant from these towers stood the royal palace, of singular beauty and elegance. Its pillars, its porticoes, its galleries, its apartments, were all incredibly costly, splendid and superb ; while the groves, gardens, walks, fountains, and aqueducts, with which it was encompassed, formed the richest and most delightful scenery that can possibly be imagined. The situation of these structures was on the north side of Jerusalem. Its celebrated temple, and the strong fort of Antonia, were on the east side, and directly opposite to the Mount of Olives. This fort was built on a rock fifty cubits in height, and so steep as to be inaccessible on every side ; and to render it still more so, it was faced with thin slabs of marble, which, being slippery, proved at once a defense and an ornament. In the midst of the fort stood the castle of Antonia, the interior parts of which, for grandeur, state, and convenience, resembled more a palace than a fortress. Viewed from a distance it had the appearance of a tower, encompassed by four other towers, situated at the four angles of a square. Of these latter, three were fifty cubits high, and the fourth seventy cubits.
The tower last mentioned commanded an excellent view of the whole temple, the riches grandeur, and elegance of which it is not in the power of language to describe. Whether we consider its architecture, its dimensions, its magnificence, its splendor, or the sacred purposes to which it was dedicated, it must equally be regarded as the most astonishing fabric that was ever constructed. It was erected partly on a solid rock, which was originally steep on every side. The foundations of what was called the lower temple were 300 cubits in depth, and the stones of which they were composed, more than sixty feet in length, while the superstructure contained, of the whitest marble, stones nearly sixty-eight feet long, more than seven feet high, and nine broad. The circuit of the whole building was four furlongs ; its height one hundred cubits ; one hundred and sixty pillars, each twenty seven feet high, ornamented and sustained the immense and ponderous edifice. In the front, spacious and lofty galleries, wainscoted with cedar, were supported by columns of white marble, in uniform rows.In short, says Josephus, nothing could surpass even the exterior of this temple, for its elegant and curious workmanship. It was adorned with solid plates of gold that rivaled the beauty of the rising sun, and were scarcely less dazzling to the eye than the beams of that luminary. Of those parts of the building which were not gilt; when viewed from a distance, some, says he, appeared like pillars of snow, and some, like mountains of white marble. The splendour of the interior parts of the temple corresponded with its external magnificence. It was decorated and enriched by every thing, that was costly, elegant and superb. Religious donations and offerings had poured into this wonderful repository of precious stores from every part of the world, during many successive ages. In the lower temple were placed those sacred curiosities, the seven branched candlestick of pure gold, the table for the shew- bread, and the altar of incense ; the two latter of which were covered with plates of the same metal. In the sanctuary were several doors fifty-five cubits high and sixteen in breadth which were all likewise of gold. Before these doors hung a veil of the most beautiful Babylonian tapestry, composed of scarlet, blue, and purple, exquisitely interwoven, and wrought up to the highest degree of art. From the top of the ceiling depended branches and leaves of vines, and large clusters of grapes, hanging down five or six feet, all of gold and of most admirable workmanship. In addition to these proofs of the splendour and riches of the temple, may be noticed its eastern gate of pure Corinthian brass more esteemed even than the precious metals — the golden folding doors of the chambers — the beautiful carved- work, gilding, and painting of the galleries — golden vessels, &c. of the sanctuary –the sacerdotal vestments Of scarlet, violet, and purple –the vast wealth of the treasury– abundance of precious stones, and immense quantities of all kinds of costly spices and perfumes. In short, the most valuable and sumptuous of whatever nature, or art, or opulence, could supply _ was enclosed within the consecrated walls of this magnificent and venerable edifice.
So much concerning this celebrated city, and its still more celebrated temple. We shall now consider our LORD’s prophecies relating to their destruction.
On the 2d. day of the week, immediately preceding his crucifixion, our blessed SAVIOUR made his public and triumphal entry into Jerusalem, amidst the acclamations of a very great multitude of his disciples, Who hailed him KING OF SION, and with palmbranches, the emblems of victory, in their hands, rejoiced and gave praises to GOD for all the mighty works they had seen, singing “Hosanna! blessed be the KING that cometh in the name of the LORD ! peace in heaven, and glory in the highest !” But While the people thus exulted, and triumphantly congratulated the MESSIAH, he struggling with the deepest emotions of pity and compassion for Jerusalem, beheld the city and wept over it, saying, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes; for the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around, and keep thee in on every side ; ‘And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee and they shall, not leave in thee one stone upon another ; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” [2]
On the 4th day of the week following, being only two days before his death, he went for the last time into the temple to teach the people : while He was thus employed, the High Priests and the Elders, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and Pharisees, successively came to him, and questioned him with subtly, being desirous to “entangle him in his talk ; ” to whom, with his accustomed dignity and wisdom, he returned answers which carried conviction to their hearts, and at once silenced and astonished them. Then, turning to his disciples, and the whole multitude, he addressed to them a discourse of very uncommon energy, in which, with most exquisite keenness of reproof, he exposed and condemned the cruelty and pride, the hypocrisy and sensuality of’ the Pharisees and Scribes.
Having next foretold the barbarous treatment which his Apostles would receive at their hands be proceeded to denounce against Jerusalem the dire and heavy vengeance, that had for ages been accumulating in the vials of divine displeasure, expressly declaring that it, should be poured out upon the then existing generation, adding that inimitably tender and pathetic apostrophe to this devoted city, ” 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them- which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children tog-ether, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,, and ye would not ! Behold ! your HOUSE is left unto you desolate ; for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till you shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord !” [3]
Having said this, he went out of the temple, and, as he departed, his disciples drew his attention to the wonderful magnitude and splendour of the edifice. — They spake, “how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts ;” and said unto him, “Master see ! what manner of stones and buildings are here ! And Jesus said unto them , See ye not all these things ? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” When we consider the antiquity and sanctity of the temple, its stupendous fabric, its solidity, and the uncommon magnitude of the stones of which it was composed, we may, in some measure, conceive of the amazement which this declaration of our LORD must have excited in the mind of his disciples. Nevertheless, this remarkable prediction,. as. we shall see in the sequel, was literally fulfilled, and, as our LORD had foretold, even during the existence of the generation to which he addressed it.
Our Lord now retired to the Mount of Olives, to which place the disciples followed him, in order to make more particular inquiries relative to the time when the calamitous events, foretold by him, would come to pass. We have already intimated, that, the Mount of Olives commanded a full view of Jerusalem and the temple. No situation, therefore, could have been better adapted to give energy to a prediction which related chiefly to their total ruin and demolition.; and if we suppose (and the supposition is highly probable) that our LORD, While in the act of speaking, pointed to the majestic and stupendous edifices, whose destruction he foretold, every word which he then uttered must have been clothed with inexpressible sublimity, and derived from the circumstances of the surrounding scenery a force and effect, which it is not possible adequately to conceive.
Source Sabeel
Amid the ranks of Israeli military troops in this year’s annual Jerusalem March strode a colorful and vocal group of international Christian Zionists. Waving their countries’ flags, wearing their national costumes, and carrying signs in various languages, including Hebrew, they showered Israeli onlookers with blessings and greetings—with special praise for the heavily armed police and soldiers lining the parade route. “God bless the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)!” and “We love the IDF!” punctuated the more general expressions of love for Israel.
Yet in this year’s march, as in previous years, Palestinian Christians led a creative attempt to penetrate the conscience of those who often blindly support Israel while either ignoring or distorting the Palestinian perspective which calls for the Palestinian people’s freedom and human rights according to international law. Members of Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian Liberation Theology center, mobilized local and international activists to hand out “gifts” in their own costumes to the Christian Zionists marching through West Jerusalem.
Dressed as brides, five “virgins” distributed thousands of flyersthat challenged the marchers’ exclusive theology. This creative activism was inspired by the Gospel reading of Mathew 25:1-13, which the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem(ICEJ) Executive Director Dr. Jürgen Bühler reflects on during this year’s theme of the Feast of the Tabernacles. The ICEJ is the organizer of the yearly Jerusalem March.
The “virgins” also carried oil lamps and handed out to the marchers 531 small bottles of olive oil from Bethlehem olive trees cut off from the town by Israel’s illegal separation barrier. The 531 oil bottles symbolized the number of Palestinian villages depopulated in the 1948 Nakba when the state of Israel was created.
The flyers included the following statement translated in over 25 languages:
“The lamp shines brighter if the oil is clean; cleanse the faith with inclusiveness and justice for both peoples of this land.”
As one Palestinian Christian activist explained, “We wanted to give them a gift that would critique any theology that excludes and demeans half of the population of this land.”
Christian Zionists are one of the most potent political forces affecting international policy toward Israel and Palestine today. Heavily influenced by apocalyptic theology that sees the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, they typically bless its military actions and settlement expansion as proof of God’s plan that will hasten the return of Jesus to earth.
However, many Jews, Israeli or otherwise, are troubled by the beliefs of some Christian Zionists that see Israel as something of a pawn in an End Times battle plan in which some Jews convert in mass while others are annihilated.
Though popularized through bestselling books, Christian Zionism remains outside of the doctrine of most traditional Christian denominations. Yet this once-fringe theology has had a significant influence in the political realm as a special interest group capable of mobilizing key constituencies and donor dollars. For example, according to polls, very few U.S. Christians (or Jews, for that matter), cast their vote on the basis of support for Israel. Yet such groups help solidify the perception among candidates that criticism of Israel can only be an electoral liability, while little political capital can be gained by standing up for Palestinian rights.
The flyers also promoted three web sites: http://www.sabeel.org, http://www.kairospalestine.ps (a unified movement by Palestinian Christians to resist the Israeli occupation which endorses boycott, divestment, and sanctions), and http://www.christianzionism.org, a site which actually challenges the theology of Christian Zionism.
While it’s uncertain to what degree this symbolic action will influence the hearts or minds of the marchers in this year’s Jerusalem March, the activists made an important public statement that will ripple well beyond the march’s West Jerusalem streets, declaring the existence of Palestinian churches who struggle under the reality of an occupation that many of their international Christian sisters and brothers have yet to confront.
Big news. I knew they were scheduled to vote tonight and believed it would pass, but am still surprised at the numbers. It wasn’t even close. Sweden last week, Great Britain tonight, wonder how long the U.S. will hold out.
quote,
In a historic move, the British Parliament voted overwhelmingly tonight, 274-12, to recognize a Palestinian state.
#MPs vote 274 to 12 to approve amended motion that Govt recognise #Palestine state alongside #Israel as part of negotiated 2 state solution
The sense of the speechmaking (rush transcript here) was almost entirely in favor of the motion, with members of the House of Commons saying they were reflecting the popular will in the wake of the Gaza slaughter and the failure of the peace process. Some said they were seeking to influence the United States, which has not been an honest broker. Here is the New York Times coverage, indicating it was a symbolic vote. Many speakers said that it was not symbolic, it was historic and long past due, from the country that gave Zionists the Balfour Declaration and that recognized a Jewish state in 1950.
We’ll get up more coverage of the debate later, but I wanted to pass along Sir Richard Ottaway’s speech. A strong supporter of Israel, the Conservative M.P., 69, who represents a London district, said that the country has made him “look like a fool” with its recent settlement announcement and that he is voting for the motion because of that landgrab. “I have to say to the Government of Israel that if they are losing people like me, they will be losing a lot of people.”
– See more at mondoweiss
*Edited to add link to the debate which took place during Parliament, prior to the vote today. I just finished reading it and found it fascinating
Mike Ratliff put up a new post today. Though it answers no specific questions concerning the situation surrounding the urgent prayer request posted below, it offers evidence of the mighty power of the Gospel to prevail.
John 12: – “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”
A few days ago I posted an email I received from my brother-in-law about what ISIS was doing in IRAQ. Here is a follow up from Mission Network News about the very same region.
quote,
Working in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region day and night to help meet the needs of people displaced by the threats and violence of the terror group Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul and other areas, members of an Iraqi ministry team recently came into contact with a colonel from the Kurdish forces battling ISIS.
The colonel was serving as a division commander of the Peshmerga, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s armed forces, which have helped to slow the incursion of ISIS in its brutal push to establish a caliphate imposing a strict version of Sunni Islam. With the aid of U.S. airstrikes, the Peshmerga have also slowly retaken some territory. They are helping to secure the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where the ministry team assisted by Christian Aid Mission is supplying displaced people with food, clothing, beds, and medicine.
The colonel had a few questions for the team members: What was the reason for offering all this aid? What was the motivation, what was the source of it?
“We spoke with him explicitly, explaining everything to him, saying that Christ taught us to love and express our love to the people in a practical way,” said the team director, who informed the officer that all relief items had been donated or purchased locally.
The Peshmerga colonel, whose name is withheld for security reasons, was quick to respond.
“You see the Arabs around you in the Gulf states, which claim to be religious Muslims, have not sent us anything but terrorists,” he told the ministry team members. “But you who follow Christ send love and peace and goodness to people every day.”
The conversation continued at length, the ministry team director said.
“After we had a long talk with him about Christ, he bowed and prayed, asking Christ into his life,” the director said. “And he said, ‘Today I am the happiest person! I’ve had the privilege of making this decision,’ and he received a copy of the Bible.”
The colonel’s experience was just one of many taking place in Iraq. In cities of refuge like Erbil for people displaced from their homes in other parts of Iraq, people are turning to Christ at a stunning pace. Tent churches are springing up in the makeshift camps. Under normal circumstances, mission strategies focus on how to proclaim Christ effectively, but the challenge now is keeping pace with the number who would receive Him, the director said.
“The greatest challenge in the ministry right now is not whether these people will accept Christ or not,” he said. “In all our travel to deliver the aid and preach God’s Word, we did not find anyone opposed to or rejecting our message. The challenge is how and when we will reach all those people with the message of salvation in the squares, sidewalks, roads, inside the tents and out, and everywhere.”
Romans 5: – “….But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more”
From Mike Ratliff
I received the following email from my brother-in-law this morning. 10/09/14 Thursday 6:39 P.M.
Prayer Request from Dan and Marilyn Wilson Missionaries who are in the areas that are being attacked by ISIS are asking to be showered in prayer. ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families – even if it means their own deaths. They are very afraid, have no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have had seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called them for some reason to be His voice and hands at this place at this time. Even so, they are begging for prayers for courage to live out their vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children, accept martyrdom if they are called to do so. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance. One missionary was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn’t say it, but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten — no matter what. Please keep them all in your prayers.
This came this morning… Just a few minutes ago I received the following text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI).
We then spoke briefly on the phone and I assured him that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts. “We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!” Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead with you not to ignore this email. Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to friends and Christians you may know. Send it to your prayer group. Send it to your pastor and phone him to pray on Sunday during the service – making a special time of prayer for this. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians. My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62:1-2
Though I can’t claim to know if this story is true or not, we do know the bible warns about seeking to communicate with the dead, ‘familiar spirits’, or the spirit world in general. God would not warn against it, if there was no danger in doing so.
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD… (Deuteronomy 18)
‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.’ (Leviticus 19)
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10)
As satan can masquerade as an ‘angel of light’ it stands to reason demons can also. When dabbling in such practices as is mentioned in this news article, it is practicing witchcraft, plain and simple, and we are flinging the door wide-open to demons and inviting deception into our lives.
The Word lists witchcraft as an ‘act (or work) of the flesh’ which if practiced, will prohibit us from inheriting the Kingdom of God, – “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”
Full story at: UK DailyMail
Three American friends have been taken to hospital after reportedly becoming ‘possessed’ by evil spirits while playing with a Ouija board.
Alexandra Huerta, 22, was playing the game with her brother Sergio, 23, and 18-year-old cousin Fernando Cuevas at a house in the village of San Juan Tlacotenco in south-west Mexico.
But minutes into it, she apparently started ‘growling’ and thrashing around in a ‘trance-like’ state.‘They had involuntary movements and it was difficult to transfer them to the nearest hospital because they were so erratic.
‘It appeared as if they were in a trance-like state, apparently after playing with the Ouija board. They spoke of feeling numbness, double vision, blindness, deafness, hallucinations, muscle spasm and difficulty swallowing.’
He added that whether the trio were really possessed, or had simply convinced themselves that they were, was not for doctors to comment on.
My hope is those interested in Church History have gained or benefited from this series. If like me, you are interested in knowing where (and when) many of the doctrines we have been taught originated from and if they are really based upon the Word of God or came from the mind or imagination of man.
This last section concludes the examination of one of the more popular forms of theology taught in the West-Dispensationalism. No article, or even series can cover everything, but William E. Cox, in my opinion, has done a fairly good job of explaining the more popular doctrines surrounding dispensationalism. I chose his writing on the topic not only for that reason but also because, like myself, he adhered to the teachings for many years. In other words he isn’t someone critiquing the various teachings and doctrines as an “outsider”–but as one who knows personally, of what he writes about. I also appreciated that William Cox did not just offer opinions, but proved everything by including many references to God’s Word. If this series promoted anything, let it be to encourage us to be as those in Thessalonica who, “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so”.
See: Part (1) – Part (2) – Part (3) – Part (4)
*Previous Closing words to part (4) – The coming of Shiloh (Messiah) was longingly looked for by all the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament period. In John 8:56 our Lord reminded the unbelieving Jews that Abraham had prophesied the first advent: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” To apply this verse to the second coming of Christ is to completely ignore the context in which it was spoken.
National Israel was characterized by three thing: nationality, law, and circumcision. Again these were for a limited time only. These were shadows or types of our Lord’s earthly ministry and the church. A statement by Phillip Mauro (The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 81) shed slight on this fact.
It is appropriate here to point out that one of the glaring errors of “dispensational teaching” is the failure to recognize what the New Testament plainly reveals, namely that names which God temporarily gave to the shadowy and typical things on the Old Covenant, belong properly and eternally to the corresponding realities of the New Covenant. Thus we are given the proper meaning of “Jew” (Rom. 2:28, 29); “Israel” (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 6:16); “Jerusalem” (Gal. 4:26); Seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3:29); “Sion” (1 Peter 2:6; Heb. 12:22; Rom. 9:23). Likewise it is made known that according to the New Covenant meaning, “the tribes of Jacob” are those who are Jews inwardly, that is to say, the entire household of faith (James 1:1; Acts 26:7).
Shiloh came nearly two thousand years ago, took over the scepter from national Israel, and began his reign in the hearts of his people. At that time the types faded in the pure light of the Substance to which they had pointed. Although the unbelieving part of Israel still held on to the shadows of nationality, law, and circumcision, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) condemned their continuance (Romans 6:14; 7:4; 10:4; Galatians 3:23-26; 4:9-11; 5:6). Having become the great Antitype of national Israel, the law, circumcision (Romans 2:28-29; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11), and the prophets, our Lord formed the believing part of Israel (Romans 11:5) into the Christian church. Nor was this an impulsive innovation; it was fulfillment of that which had been in the eternal plan of God (Compare Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Gal. 3:7-9, 14, 16, 27-29; Eph. 3:4-6).
THE CHURCH (Continued)
Some are troubled by the fact that some of these Old Testament promises were eternal, yet ceased to be in effect. The Bible is its own interpreter. That is, we arrive at the meaning of any passage by a comparison of Scripture with Scripture. Looking at the Old Testament use of the word “eternal” one finds that it must be interpreted according to the radius of time being dwelt with. An eternal priestly promise was in effect just as long as the priesthood existed; a legal eternal promise was in effect only so long as the law was in effect; an eternal promise to national Israel was in effect just as long as God dealt with Israel as a nation; an eternal promise with reference to the temple was binding upon God until the very second the temple ceased to exist; an eternal promise given under the old covenant was in effect during the entire life of the old covenant. Theological pandemonium has grown out of the attempt to make promises made under the law binding upon God long after the law has served it purpose in God’s program.
Perhaps an illustration might help at this point. Let us say that a nation is on the gold standard and promises to stand behind its money forever. Then let us say that nation, by an act of congress, decides to change its money system. It is no longer on the gold standard, but is now using a completely different system of exchange. Gold may suddenly become worthless. Confederate money after the Civil War well illustrates this point.
The writer had the experience of serving with a tank battalion during World War II. During the Hitler regime the mark was the standard money in Germany. However, after the defeat o Hitler the money was completely changed by the Allies. Our soldiers went into many bombed-out banks after the Nazi surrendered. Many a soldier found bills which under Hitler’s rule would have been worth thousands of marks. Now the soldier had a nice souvenir, but it was worthless. Why? Because new money had been printed. So with most eternal promises of the Old Testament. With the close of the Old Testament, God’s program moved into the entirely different era.
Old Testament promises were eternal or everlasting for the duration of the time God decreed to use a given method of dealing with his people. The duration usually was known to God alone. Israel’s national promises were given during the period of the law and were eternal so long as the law was in effect. With the coming of Christ into the world, the period covered by the promises came to an end, and, therefore, the promises are no longer binding upon God. Paul speaks in II Corinthians 3:13-18 of the non-eternality of the law, and says in verse 14 that it is done away in Christ.
In ii Chronicles 7:16 it is recorded that God promised to live in Solomon’s house forever; yet that house was destroyed and does not exist today. Did God break his promise? No, “forever” meant for as long as the house stood.
The same is true with reference to the priesthood as instituted during the Old Testament ear. In many passages, of which Exodus 40:15 and Numbers 25:13 are examples, we are told that the house of Aaron constituted an everlasting priesthood. All Protestant Christians are agreed that the old priesthood came to an end and was replaced by Jesus, who became our High Priest. The book of Hebrews makes this fact quite clear. So that the priesthood of law was everlasting only as long as the law was in effect.
In dealing with Genesis 13:15, which reads, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever,” Adam Clarke (Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. I, p. 99) says:
…and this was always the design of God, not that Abram himself should possess it, but that his posterity would, till the manifestation of Christ in the flesh. And this is chiefly what is to be understood by the words for ever, ad olam, to the end of the present dispensation, and the commencement of the new. Olam means either eternity, which implies the termination of celestial luminaries; or a hidden, unknown, period, such as includes a completion or final termination, of a particular era, dispensation, etc.: therefore, the first is its proper meaning, the later its accommodated meaning.
In dealing with Genesis 17:8, which reads: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God,” Clarke has this comment:
Here olam appears to be used in its accommodated meaning, and signifies the completion of the Divine counsel in reference to a particular period or dispensation. And it is literally true that the Israelites possessed the land of Canaan till the Mosaic dispensation was terminated in the complete introduction of that gospel … (Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. I, p. 114)
There is a sense in which every eternal or everlasting promise never comes to an end. This is in fact the true sense in which these words are used throughout the Bible. If this proper sense were understood, many of our differences would immediately clear up. We refer to the fact that most if not all promises, covenants, ordinances, etc., of the Bible have different forms through which they pass. The all-wise God who gave them knew of these forms at the time he inspired his writers to use the words “eternal,” “everlasting,” “forever.” While every form has its “end,” the actuality, of which the form is only one phase, never ends.
Illustrations could be picked at random of everlasting things instituted by God which have passed through different forms, each form having its definite end. Among such illustrations might be listed: law, Sabbath, circumcision, kingdom, priesthood, the Israel of God. These by no means exhaust the list, but certainly they are among the more pronounced scriptural examples of the point being made. Each illustration listed; law, Sabbath, circumcision, kingdom, priesthood, God’s chosen people, was definitely instituted and pronounced by God himself to be eternal. Each illustration listed has gone through developments (forms); and, while the realities themselves remain, in new form, the developments have long since ceased to exist.
The forms through which these everlasting things develop are essentially three in number: (1) from their inception until the first advent of Christ; (2) from that advent (at which time each one developed into a much higher form) until the second coming of Christ to earth; (3) from that second coming (which is yet future) they will be developed into the Eternal State which will have no end.
Viewing the entire Bible, while keeping in mind Paul’s warning that the letter kills, while the spirit gives life, three definite points may be arrived at by way of concluding this chapter.
1. God made a two fold covenant with Abraham, the main references to this covenant being recorded in Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-15; 22:1-19. This is called a two-fold covenant because most of it involves believers from all nations, (compare Genesis 12:3, 22:18 with Galatians 3:7-9, 14, 16, 27-29). While a part of it was fulfilled in national Israel, the main parts of this covenant were spiritual and were ordained to include believers from every nation, including national Israel. Note that Israel was not even born at the time the Abrahamic covenant was first made.
2. To implement his plans God arbitrarily chose Israel to be his peculiar people only until the first advent of Christ (Genesis 49:10). The Abrahamic covenant was renewed with Israel at Sinai. This was not a separate covenant of works, but was the same covenant which had been given to Abraham, renewed with Isaac, Jacob and now with Moses at Sinai. At Sinai Israel was also given conditional promises which applied to her alone and were to be in effect only until the coming of the church. By the time the church was established at Pentecost, all these national promises had been either literally fulfilled or invalidated through unbelief and disobedience. For a biblical account of these fulfillments see my book, The New-Covenant Israel (Read Galatians 3:17, 19, 24).
3. Our Lord at his first advent (particularly through the death, burial, and resurrection) fulfilled the promises to national Israel and became their Deliverer (Luke 1:30-33, 76, 77; 2:25, 30). HE was pointed to as the One through whom the Abrahamic covenant was to have its main fulfillment (Read Galatians 3:16).
He came as a Deliverer out of Zion (Romans 11:26) and all believing Jews (the remnant spoken of in Romans 11:5) were given power to become the sons of God. As many as received this opportunity, and indeed all who shall receive it during this present age, were formed into the Christian church which is the apex of all Jesus’ suffering (Ephesians 1:20-23). Believers from every nation, including Israel, are being saved and brought into the church in fulfillment of Genesis 12:3; 22:18, and other such passages.
This gathering will continue until our Lord returns to claim his vineyard which he has entrusted to disciples.
Envision for a moment the marshalling together of the church fathers, all the great Reformers, most of the outstanding contemporaries of J.N. Darby, and all the great theologians who labored to produce our Bible commentaries. If such a marshalling were possible, all these we have mentioned would line up with Paul and all the other apostles in condemning any teaching which makes the church a mere parenthesis. These men would say that the church for which our Lord bled and died was the very apex (as the body of Christ) of all God’s planning. They would say, with Darby and Scofield, that national Israel was a type of the Christian church; then they would go on to the only logical conclusion, i.e., that all types have their antitype or fulfillment, and that the church, as the body of Christ, is the embodiment of all that national Israel typified.
A SUMMARY
Dispensationalists begin by clearing the board of all opinions except their own; they dismiss as useless and false all historic interpretations. Next they divide the human race and the Bible into three distinct groups (this is convenient since any scripture which would otherwise refute their interpretation can be relegated to another “division” of Scripture). They add many arbitrary elements which are not supported by the Scriptures, such as extra captivities, extra kingdoms, extra covenants, extra judgments, extra ages, and so on and on. All of these stand or fall together. To disprove one of these premises is to collapse the entire theory.
Their cardinal teachings could be grouped into two main areas: the area of prophecy and the area of the church: Their major interest in prophetic teachings has to do with the prophecies concerning national Israel; most of these they hold to be yet future. With reference to the church, they make it a separate entity from national Israel and believe there are two separate plans for the two groups. Historic Christian theologians have held, as do the great majority of Christian thinkers today, that the nation of Israel was a type while the church is the antitype. That is to say that, rather than being two separate entities, one is a fulfillment or continuation of the other.
Darbyism (dispensationalism) is an unproved inference, which will not stand up under a close scrutiny of the Scriptures. Like many other movements within the history of Christianity this theory met with a widespread response because it struck out against apostasy. As one studies the history of this movement, one will find that there was a dearth of prophetic teaching when the Brethren movement originated about 1825 A.D. There also seems to have been a modernistic attempt to play down or deny completely the second coming of our Lord. This being the case, devout people grabbed quickly at a movement which filled this gap by emphasizing the second coming and a study of prophesy. This same situation explains the wide acceptance of the Scofield Reference Bible. Scofield, although not a Plymouth Brethren, was a devout disciple of John Darby.
Like most movements, this one, which was dominated by Darby and later by Scofield, brought with it some unscriptural teachings. When there is a hunger on the part of the constituents for a certain type of legislation, it is all too easy for them to ignore undesirable “riders” attached to the bill, and, in their haste, to support more than they thought. This seems to have been the case with dispensational beliefs. Because of the great natural hunger on the part of many people for a return to prophetic teachings, many fascinating “riders” were attached by men such as Darby, and a “package deal” was subscribed to. Our attempt today is to “hold fast to that which is good” about the Darbyite teachings but to smooth off the rough unscriptural edges.
Most conservatives today would not subscribe in toto to all the teachings of Luther, Calvin, the Pietists, the Separatists, the Puritans, or any other such individual or group in history. Yet we feel that each of these groups has made contributions and has done much to awaken the church out of lethargy at given times in history.
Our point is that we ought to give the Plymouth Brethren credit where credit is due, but that we ought to be willing to admit they too “were men like ourselves.” And we ought to be willing to hold their good points without being slaves to every jot and tittle of their doctrine. This will be hard for some to do, because many of these men, especially Scofield, have been almost literally canonized and it is considered by many to be sacrilegious to differ from them on a single point. Scofield’s footnotes have been placed within the canon of the Bible itself and he carries the same weight in the minds of some as does the apostle Paul! Many Protestants have fallen into the practice of the Roman Catholic church by having extra-biblical “canonized saints” who speak ex cathedra and are beyond any court of appeal.
Many men, however, have gone into the dispensational movement only to leave it after further examination because of these extra-biblical teachings which were foisted upon every member of that school of thought. These men are still firm believers in predictive prophecy and look for the literal second coming of Christ. They have not left the Bible; they have simply left Darbyism and Scofieldism. George E. Ladd lists many such men in his book, The Blessed Hope.
We look, longingly, for the Blessed Hope of all believers, i.e., the literal, bodily return of our Lord in glory. At that coming we expect all graves to be opened. All the wicked from every generation, along with the wicked then living, will be judged and cast into eternal torment. Taking part in the judgment will be the saints from all ages; for all believers will have been signaled by the trump of God (I Thess. 4:16, 17) to be caught up to meet the Bridegroom in the air. His royal train will not stop in mid-air, but he will “bring his saints with him” as he continues on to earth. Immediately after the cleansing judgment of all the earth, every believer, of every generation, will cast his crown at Christ’s feet as all believers enter into the Eternal State with him.
“Even so come, Lord Jesus.”
Source: The GOSPEL TRUTH – AN EXAMINATION OF DISPENSATIONALISM by William E. Cox
Part (4) in the series, Examining Dispensationalism by William E. Cox.
See: Part (1) – Part (2) – Part (3)
Source: The GOSPEL TRUTH
VII – DISPENSATIONALIST BELIEFS AND THE CHURCH
With reference to the Christian church, dispensationalists believe it came into being as a result of the rejection of the alleged earthly kingdom. They teach that the church was kept hidden in the mind of God until he was ready to establish it. Although Jesus may have hinted at it, they say, it did not actually come into prominence until Paul began to preach “my gospel.” Dispensationalists teach that none of the Old Testament and in fact very little of the New Testament deals with the church.
We need to keep before the reader the dispensational belief that Israel and the church are two distinct bodies, that each has its separate plan in God’s program, and that each has a different destination. Israel is said to be an earthly covenant people while the church is said to be a heavenly body. After the one-thousand years earthly reign (millennium) the church will be returned to heaven (from whence she will have come in order to reign in the millennium, in a lesser position than that held by Israel) while Israel will remain eternally on the earth. Chafer said (Dispensationalism, pp. 40, 41):
It should be observed that though Judaism and Christianity have much in common, they never merge the one into the other. Having each its own eschatology reaching on into eternity … The Word of God distinguishes between earth and heaven, even after they are created new. Similarly and as clearly it distinguishes between God’s consistent and eternal earthly purpose, which is the substance of Judaism; and His consistent and eternal heavenly purpose which is the substance of Christianity, and it is as illogical and fanciful to contend that Judaism and Christianity ever merge as it would be to contend that heaven and earth cease to exist as separate spheres.
How do dispensationalists maintain this distinction between Israel and the Christian church? They maintain it, to their own satisfaction, by holding to many premises never held by historic Christianity. Chafer makes a correct analysis of this fact in one of his books (Dispensationalism, p. 107):
At the beginning of this thesis it was stated that the doctrinal differences herein discussed are due to the fact that the two schools of interpretation involved stand on widely divergent premises. The dispensationalist believes that throughout the ages God is pursuing two distinct purposes: one related to the earth with earthly people and earthly objectives involved, while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people and heavenly objectives involved, which is Christianity.
Dispensationalists teach that the present “church age” was not revealed to the Old Testament writers. Therefore, the prophets saw the two advents of Christ, but saw nothing intervening between these two comings. These two advents appeared to the prophets as mountain peaks. What they were not permitted to see, however, was that God had a valley (the present dispensation) planned in between these two “peaks.” Because this was so, say the dispensationalists, the prophets saw the two comings of our Lord blended together as though they were one. They go on to say that all prophecies which may appear to be referring to the first advent are in reality referring to the second coming. This was one of Darby’s “rediscovered truths” which had remained hidden from the great Reformers and all the great writers of Bible commentaries. Darby’s “rediscovered truths” on this subject is recorded for us in his book (The Hopes of the Church of God, p. 7):
… The greater part of the prophecies, and in a certain sense, we may say all the prophecies, will have their accomplishment at the expiration of the dispensation in which we are.
We have already shown that, according to dispensational teachings, people were offered salvation through the establishment of a millennial kingdom. Had this kingdom been established, the Jewish remnant would have carried out the Great Commission and most of the world’s population would have been converted through obedience to the law. The cross then would not have been necessary, according to this teaching. However, the kingdom was not accepted, and so, teach the dispensationalists, it was postponed until the millennium can be set up at the second coming. That postponement has already lasted nearly two thousand years! Now when the kingdom was postponed, its mode of salvation was of course also postponed. It was necessary for God to institute a temporary mode of salvation to be in effect during this temporary period. We have said that dispensationalism has separate plans for Israel and the church.
Lest this appear to be too sweeping a statement, let us go to the dispensationalists themselves for this teaching.
On page 1011, note 2, of the Scofield Bible the author labels the heading: “The new message of Jesus.” He has said that our Lord began his ministry with a message of the kingdom, at which time he made an offer to Israel of an earthly kingdom along with salvation by legal obedience. This having been rejected, says Scofield, Jesus began to preach a completely different gospel which now for the first time included a reference to the cross of Calvary. Scofield went on to say, concerning “the new message of Jesus,” that our Lord offers “not the kingdom, but rest and service” in his new message.
We have given many quotations to the effect that dispensationalists teach a plan of redemption, other than the cross, offered at the first advent, rejected, and to be renewed during the millennium. If that plan is not in effect today, and if people are being saved, then it stands to reason that they are being saved in some way other than that first offered by Jesus before he began his “new message.” The “new way” is the way of the cross, according to dispensationalists.
We quoted S.D. Gordon (Quiet Talks About Jesus, p. 114) to the effect that the crucifixion of Jesus was not in God’s plan of salvation, but rather that it was “conceived somewhere else,” and then “yielded to by God.” This, we have said, is the only logical conclusion to be drawn from dispensational teachings. Gordon went on to say (p. 118): “There is no cross in God’s plan of atonement.” This ties in logically with Scofield’s teaching concerning the “new message of Jesus.” The first message, they would say, had no cross in it.
This the Bible-believing Christian must brand as heresy of the worst sort. The New Testament teaches that the cross was foretold, and that it was foreordained before the foundation of the world. Our Lord, in predicting his death on the cross, said: “For this cause came I into the world.”
J.C. O’Hair, writing in The Great Blunder of the Church, said, repeatedly, that there was not a thimble-full of grace in the Synoptic Gospels. This was in line with the teaching that these Gospels were not addressed to Christians but are to take effect in the millennium, under Jews. Chafer said: “At this time (millennium) the King will rule with a rod of iron. There is no word of the cross or of grace in the kingdom teachings. (italics mine).
John Nelson Darby is quoted by Oswald T. Allis (Prophecy and the Church, p. 76) as follows: “Supposing for a moment that Christ had not been rejected, the kingdom would have been set up on the earth. It could not be so, no doubt, but it shows the difference between the kingdom and the church” (italics mine).
Darby says plainly here that the difference between the kingdom and the church is that the church needs the cross while the kingdom does not!
Chafer (Dispensationalism, p. 57) again attempts to show a distinction between the church and Israel. In speaking of eschatology he said:
Judaism has its eschatology reaching on into eternity with covenants and promises which are everlasting. On the other hand, Christianity has its eschatology which is different at every point. Some of these contrasts are:
THE FUTURE OF THIS LIFE. In the case of Israel, the thing to be desired was a long life “upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,” whereas the Christian’s hope is the prospect of the imminent coming of Christ to take away His Church from the earth.
A serious problem arises here, it seems, in the dispensational plan for having Israel spend eternity in an earthly kingdom while Christians spend eternity in heaven. We refer to the dispensational teaching that Jesus will occupy the throne of David “forever”. Now they take this word “forever” always in its most literal sense; this would mean that our Lord could never cease to sit on that throne. Yet the Scriptures teach that a time will come when our Lord will give over the kingdom to the Father and “God will become all in all.” How could this be if Jesus were reigning on the throne of David forever?
Another facet of dispensational teaching concerning the church is that it is parenthetic, and is not the main project at hand. Rather, they say, the church was established by God in order to fill in the parenthesis between the time the kingdom was rejected and the time when it will be reinstituted. After the “parenthetic church age” is finished, then God will return to his first love, the Jewish program.
W.R. Newell, (Romans Verse by Verse, p. 335) gives the dispensational view on this point:
When we reflect that, after He has “caught up in the clouds” His Church saints our Lord is coming back to this earthly people Israel, and will establish them in their land, with a glorious millennial temple and order of worship, to which the Gentile nations must and will submit: then we see that the present time is altogether anomalous! It is a parenthesis, in which God is make a “visit” to the Gentiles, to “take out of them a people for His name”; after which, James tells us, our Lord “will Himself return, and build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen” (Acts 15:16), on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, where David lived.
Please note that Newell offers no scriptural references for the major portion of this statement; also check the one verse he does use (Acts 15:16) and see that whereas Newell makes it future, James actually said that the scripture had already been fulfilled by the incident at the home of Cornelius.
Dispensationalists consistently quote the words “after this” as being future from James. A more careful reading of the passage, however, will show that James was quoting Amos 9:11 and that the words “after this” are not James’ words at all. Rather they are the words which James quotes from Amos. It was Amos, not James, who actually said that after Amos’ time God would rebuild the tabernacle. James ruled that the account given by Peter (read Acts 15:7-11 for this account) proved that Amos’ prophecy on the rebuilding of the “tabernacle” had been fulfilled in Peter’s presence (Acts 15:14, 15).
This is typical of dispensationalists at this point; rather than producing scriptural proof of their alleged parenthesis, they merely assume it in such a matter-of-fact manner that many people never think of questioning it. Chafer offers another example of this sort of reasoning (Dispensationalism, p. 34). He begins a long paragraph with the words:
“An extensive body of Scripture declares directly or indirectly that the present age is unforeseen and intercalary in its character and in it a new humanity appears on the earth with an incomparable new headship in the resurrected Christ, which company is being formed by the regenerating power of the Spirit.”
We must note here again that, while Chafer refers to an “extensive body of Scripture,” he lists not a single verse. Throughout the long paragraph, however, he mentions scriptures on other subjects being dealt with. The present writer has searched dispensational literature in vain for one verse of conclusive scripture dealing with a gap or parenthesis anywhere in God’s program.
Dispensationalist teaching on the church is one of so many doctrines where the wish is father to the thought; for the Bible simply will not bear out Darby’s “rediscovered truth.” While much of the New Testament could be used to refute this doctrine, one of Paul’s epistles alone will serve to undermine all dispensational teachings concerning the relationship between the church and national Israel.
One might think in terms of dispensationalism versus Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
I. DISPENSATIONAL TEACHING: The church is a parenthesis, i.e., a temporary thing lying between God’s two dealings with national Israel.
PAUL’S EPHESIAN EPISTLE TEACHES: The church is the very body of Christ, and is therefore the fullness of God.
… the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. (Eph. 1:22, 23)
II. DISPENSATIONAL TEACHING: The church is not even mentioned in the Old Testament.
PAUL’S EPHESIAN EPISTLE TEACHES: The church was mentioned in the Old Testament as early as Genesis 2:24. For Paul quotes the passage from Genesis 2:24, and then says that this verse was spoken concerning Christ and the church.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.” This is a great mystery, and I take it to mean Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31, 32 RSV).
III. DISPENSATIONAL TEACHING: Israel and the church are separate bodies and are to remain so.
PAUL’S EPHESIAN EPISTLE TEACHES: God took two “men” (Israel’s believing remnant and Christian Gentiles) and made the two of them into one “man.” Now, therefore, there are no long two bodies, but one.
For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (Ephesians 2:14-16).
IV. DISPENSATIONAL TEACHING: National Israel will carry out God’s main purpose during a future millennial period.
PAUL’S EPHESIAN EPISTLE TEACHES: The church is God’s main instrument for carrying out his plans. This, the plan that the church would be the fullness of God (Eph. 1:23) was according to the eternal purpose of God, and has been realized in Christ Jesus.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:10-11).
Both Darby and Scofield taught that Israel was a type of the church. They went on to teach, however, that the church was not prophesied in the Old Testament, and that the type was never meant to have a fulfillment. This is indeed difficult to reconcile, a type without an antitype. In fact it is the only such type in their entire system. All other types, they say, were fulfilled through Christ.
To say, as dispensationalists do, that the church is parenthetic while national Israel is the eternal “chosen people” of God is to violate an important rule of hermeneutics. This is to make the type more important than its antitype. Someone has well said that a shadow cannot cast a shadow. Israel was the shadow; the church is the substance. Abraham is the father of all the righteous; yet one must never lose sight of the fact that it is not through Abraham that one becomes righteous, but rather it is through Abraham’s Seed “which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
So instead of the church being a temporary thing in the plan of God while national Israel is the main piece on the chessboard, actually the opposite is true. National Israel was chosen as a channel for a limited time. In other words, national Israel was the parenthesis which dispensationalists class the church as being. Many scriptures, in the Old Testament as well as in the New, plainly state that Israel’s was a temporary role lasting only until the first coming of Christ. Indications that Messiah was to take over the scepter of Israel are given as early as the book of Genesis:
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be (Genesis 49:10).
The coming of Shiloh (Messiah) was longingly looked for by all the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament period. In John 8:56 our Lord reminded the unbelieving Jews that Abraham had prophesied the first advent: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” To apply this verse to the second coming of Christ is to completely ignore the context in which it was spoken.
National Israel was characterized by three things; nationality, law, and circumcision. Again these were for a limited time only. These were shadows or types of our Lord’s earthly ministry and the church. A statement by Phillip Mauro (The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 81) shed slight on this fact.
It is appropriate here to point out that one of the glaring errors of “dispensational teaching” is the failure to recognize what the New Testament plainly reveals, namely that names which God temporarily gave to the shadowy and typical things on the Old Covenant, belong properly and eternally to the corresponding realities of the New Covenant. Thus we are given the proper meaning of “Jew” (Rom. 2:28, 29); “Israel” (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 6:16); “Jerusalem” (Gal. 4:26); Seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3:29); “Sion” (1 Peter 2:6; Heb. 12:22; Rom. 9:23). Likewise it is made known that according to the New Covenant meaning, “the tribes of Jacob” are those who are Jews inwardly, that is to say, the entire household of faith (James 1:1; Acts 26:7).
Shiloh came nearly two thousand years ago, took over the scepter from national Israel, and began his reign in the hearts of his people. At that time the types faded in the pure light of the Substance to which they had pointed. Although the unbelieving part of Israel still held on to the shadows of nationality, law, and circumcision, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) condemned their continuance (Romans 6:14; 7:4; 10:4; Galatians 3:23-26; 4:9-11; 5:6). Having become the great Antitype of national Israel, the law, circumcision (Romans 2:28-29; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11), and the prophets, our Lord formed the believing part of Israel (Romans 11:5) into the Christian church. Nor was this an impulsive innovation; it was fulfillment of that which had been in the eternal plan of God (Compare Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Gal. 3:7-9, 14, 16, 27-29; Eph. 3:4-6).
Next, Conclusion and Summery.
Part of today was spent going through email, some of it a week old. One received over the last day or two was from Andrew Strom. It concerned a message written by Bryan Hupperts in 2003, shortly before the United States invaded Iraq. If you’re not familiar with Bryan Hupperts you can find a few old posts in which I shared a few of his messages here.
As Iraq is once again back in the news in a big way, I thought someone might find it of interest to read Bryan’s “open letter” to (then) President G.W. Bush. I’ll post it as it was sent out by Andrew Strom.
quote,
NOTE: A month before the US invasion of Iraq, Bryan Hupperts from the USA released the following prophetic word, for which he was mocked and heavily criticized – especially by Christians. We published it at that time under the following heading-
“COULD IRAQ BECOME a TRAP?”
“To the President Of The United States”
-Bryan Hupperts (Feb 3, 2003)
Dear Mr. President,
Nothing manmade has ever fallen such great heights, as did the
shattered remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia. In an instant,
7 explorers lost their lives in yet another American tragedy. Tears
are the deepest expression of prayer because sometimes there
are simply no words to express the grief… Have you considered
that the repeating tragedies that keep striking the USA are also
warnings of a great storm to come?
Mr. President, I ask you to weigh my words carefully. No
rational person disputes that Saddam Hussein is the bad guy.
Even Muslim leaders will quietly acknowledge that he needs
to be removed from power. Yet I fear our insurgence into Iraq
will end in the greatest of all American tragedies. Sir, you are
leading our country into a diabolically laid trap.
Look to the Columbia as a prophetic warning. Other nations
mock you calling you the Imperial President. If you will seek
God for wisdom to avoid this military conflict, they will revere
you instead as the Regal President. Hussein can be
successfully dealt with only if you and your counselors will
humble yourselves and seek God for wisdom. If we invade
Iraq, it will signal to terrorists around the globe that the West
has declared jihad on Islam and it will ignite a Third World War.
The Pharaoh of Egypt survived the coming famine because he
heeded a godly interpretation of his troubled dreams. Look to
his example and consider the fate of the USA. The Columbia,
a perfect picture of the heights that the USA has flown to,
exploded and rained down in fiery debris all over Palestine, TX.
We need not die so young nor so senselessly as a nation…
Mr. President, rightly did you quote Isaiah when you said,
“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.” Yet nothing
manmade has ever fallen from such heights, as did the
Columbia. To openly invade Iraq will bring similar
consequences upon our own shores. Sir, do not leave a
Presidential legacy of, “Blood fire and vapor of smoke.”
Heed the very public warning. Understand the sign in the
sky. Seek the Lord. Thank you. © 2003 Bryan Hupperts.
Andrew also posted this at his website, asking for comments to be shared. You can visit and see what others are saying, and leave your own thoughts, at:
2003 IRAQ PROPHECY – Bryan Hupperts – COMMENTS?
I’d also be interested in anyone’s thoughts as well….
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
In recent days this verse has been on my lips many times a day. Today, I’m so very thankful to be sitting up at my computer and able to check in at the blog, and it is for the reason of this faith I am able to do so.
It’s hard to hold on to faith year after year in the midst of chronic illness, but somehow God continues to feed my faith and keep it alive. But more importantly it is His faithfulness and love bestowed upon me, just one of His flock, which continues to amaze me.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
This latest flair-up has been an especially rough folks, but God is bringing me through it. There is no way to express the gratitude and love I feel for my Lord and Savior today, for His tender care, compassion, and faithfulness.
I’m just thankful
I’m still weak so please forgive me if I don’t reply to your comments right now. With God continuing to strengthen me I hope to get back to posting soon.
Does this surprise, shock, or stun me…are you kidding! After the recent headline proclaiming ‘papa Duck’ is a ‘bonafide Prophet’ I knew a ‘Duck Bible’ was in the works. Maybe it will be similar to the Scofield Bible and will come with the it’s own personal interpretive notes.
Nashville, Tenn. (CBS HOUSTON) – Two members of the “Duck Dynasty” cast have announced the upcoming release of a Duck Commander-themed Bible for the fall. The popular A&E reality show cast members’ new book, “The Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible,” will be released in the New King James Version and will include “30 life-changing testimonials” along with 125 “Set Your Sights features” from cast members, Phil and Al. (More here)
Teaching Sound Doctrine & Glorifying Christ
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It's the end (of the end) of the world as we know it...
Sola Dei Gloria 