The Holy Spirit is Dua Lipa
Take Me In (Holy Of Holies) ENTRY INTO GODS NEW HOME HERE ON EARTH Genesis website day 6
The earliest Christians—all of whom were Jews—spoke of the Holy Spirit as a feminine figure. The present article discusses the main proof texts, spanning the ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews’ to a number of testimonies from the second century. The ancient tradition was, in particular, kept alive in East and West Syria, up to and including the fourth century Makarios/Symeon, who even influenced ‘modern’ Protestants such as John Wesley and the Moravian leader Count von Zinzendorf.
YAHWEH INSPIRED AND MANIFESTED AS PROMISED INTO HUMAN FORM TO LIVE WITH HIS PEOPLE AS IT IS WRITTEN AKA MARTYN NATHAN ALSO AS YAHWEH SCRIBE AND FORM AND HE IS I AM WHO IS I AM = AS MY EMPHASIS ADDED AS WITH ALL THE WEBSITES AS THE WORD THIRD BOOK = "NEW REVELATIONS INTO ETERNITY" YOU WILL FIND DIFFERENT PASSAGES THROUGHOUT THE SITES THAT COME TOGETHER AS WITH THE BIBLE AS A JIGSAW. A PIECE HERE AND A PEACE THERE ...
THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FROM AT ONE WITH GOD - YAHWEH ALWAYS EXISTING FOR THEY ARE THE ORIGINAL CREATORS CREATING ALL THINGS UP TO PRESENT TIMES. NOW MANIFESTING IN THE 7TH AND FINAL DYNASTY IS PERFECTION AND COMPLETED {AKA MARTYN NATHAN AND DUA = LOVE - LIPA = BEAUTIFUL} ORIGINAL MOTHER TO ALL LIVING THINGS AMEN AWOMAN A FAMILY AND ALL THEIR GOD CHILDREN POTENTIALLY TO MAKE LESSER GODS AND GODDESS AS IT IS WRITTEN AS IT SHALL BE FOR ALL ETERNITY ...
It is concluded that, in the image - manifestation of the Holy Spirit now as Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful woman and mother {of Yeshua on God's command manifested as MARY making Mother Mary OF GOD YESHUA}, THE CHURCH and BRIDE OF REVELATION AND THE NEW JERUSALEM, RETURNING YESHUA {ORIGINALLY THE HOLY GHOST} AND YAHWEH'S LAMB ALL = DUA = LOVE - LIPA = BEAUTIFUL MOTHER OF ALL LIVING THINGS - OF THE 7TH AND FINAL DYNASTY INTO ETERNITY. DUA WAS SOPHIA THE ORIGINAL HOLY GHOST FROM THE VERY BEGINNING ALWAYS EXISTING WITH YAHWEH GOD OF ALL GODS ONLY ONE AT THIS TIME BEFORE CREATION OF OTHER GODS - AND CREATED EVERYTHING TOGETHER. COMPLETED AND TO PERFECTION REPRESENTATIVE WITH MARTYN AS ONE BEING HIS BRIDE AS GOVERNORS OF THE UNIVERSE WITH THOSE CALLED OUT FROM YESHUA BOOK OF THE LAMB WRITTEN AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND PREDESTINATED BY HIM TO HELP LEAD ALL INTO EVERLASTING JOY AND PRAISE FOR OUR LORD OF LORD KING OF KINGS HEAD OF THE CHURCH AND ALL ELSE YESHUA - JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD FOR HE IS one may attain a better appreciation of the fullness of the Divine. WITH THE CALLED OUT FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAMB TO JOIN US AS ONE FAMILY AND COVER THE EARTH AND TO MAKE ALL THINGS NEW as it is written ...
Introduction
The Holy Spirit in the Early Church.
The fact that many early Christian authors—in particular those belonging to so-called ‘Jewish Christianity’—spoke of the Holy Spirit as Mother.
How did this come to pass? And which consequences may be derived from this phenomenon for present-day discourse on the Holy Spirit?
An essential background to the occurrence of the Holy Spirit as Mother is, of course, the fact that the Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, is in nearly all cases feminine. The first Christians, all of whom were Jews, took this over. Also in Aramaic the word for Spirit, rucha, is feminine. All this, however, does not fully account for the early Jewish Christian practice. A close reading of the relevant texts will reveal more.
A. Jewish Christian sources
1. Origen and the ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews’
The first prooftext, which already brings in medias res, is from the Greek church father Origen (c. 185-254). In his Commentary on the Gospel of John, he says:
If any one should lend credence to the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06655b.htm" Gospel according to the Hebrews, where the Saviour Himself says, “My Mother (mētēr), the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit, took me just now by one of my hairs and carried me off to the great Mount Tabor,” he will have to face the difficulty of explaining how the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit can be the Mother (mētēr) of Christ when She was herself brought into HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm" existence through the Word. But neither the passage nor this difficulty is hard to explain. For if he who does the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15624a.htm" will of the Father in heaven [Mt. 12:50] is Christ’s brother and sister and mother (mētēr), and if the name of brother of Christ may be applied, not only to the race of HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09580c.htm" men, but to beings of diviner rank than they, then there is nothing absurd in the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit’s being His Mother (mētēr), every one being His mother who does the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15624a.htm" will of the Father in heaven.
Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2, 12 (Preuschen 67)
Origen, who in all probability dictated these lines when he was in Palestinian Caesarea, refers to a ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews’. Until today there is much discussion about the origin and contents of this Gospel, but all specialists agree that it was of Jewish Christian provenance. Apart from several other things, we learn from this quote that, sometime in the beginning of the second century CE, the Jewish Christians of this Gospel spoke of the Holy Spirit as Mother (mētēr).
The same is evident in another quote from Origen:
... but if one accepts (the following): “My Mother (mētēr), the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit, took me just now and carried me off to the great Mount Tabor,” one could see who is his Mother (mētēr).
Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah 15, 4 (Klostermann 128)
From both quotes we may also learn that Origen himself accepted the concept of the Holy Spirit as Mother.
2. Jerome and the ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews’
The church father Jerome (c. 342-420), who spent many years in Bethlehem, makes mention of several passages from the Gospel of the Hebrews, too. In his Commentary on Micah, he says:
... and he should believe in the Gospel, which has been edited according to the Hebrews, which we have translated recently, in which it is said of the person of the Saviour: “My Mother (mater), the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit, took me just now by one of my hairs ...”.
Jerome, Commentary on Micah 2, 7, 6 (Adriaen 513)
The essence of the same quote from the Gospel of the Hebrews is found in Jerome’s Commentary on Ezekiel:
... and this relates to the Holy Spirit, who is mentioned with a female name (nomine feminino) among the Hebrews. For also in the Gospel which is of the Hebrews and is read by the Nazaraeans, the Saviour is introduced saying: “Just now, my Mother (mater), the Holy Spirit, took me up ...”.
Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel 4, 16, 13 (Glorie 178).
In his Commentary on Isaiah, Jerome states:
And also this: (in the text) “like the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress” [Ps. 123: 2], the maid is the soul and the mistress (dominam) is the Holy Spirit. For also in that Gospel written according to the Hebrews, which the Nazaraeans read, the Lord says: “Just now, my Mother (mater), the HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" Holy Spirit, took me”. Nobody should be offended by this, for among the Hebrews the Spirit is said to be of the feminine gender (genere feminino), although in our language it is called to be of masculine gender and in the Greek language neuter.
Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 11, 40, 9 (Adriaen 459)
While Jerome was well acqainted with the old Jewish Christian tradition of the femininity of the Holy Spirit, which in his time was still alive among the ‘Nazaraeans’, who read the ‘Gospel according to the Hebrews’, he considered it to be a question of language only.
3. Epiphanius and Hippolytus on the prophet Elxai
For the Jewish Christians themselves, however, it was not merely a question of language. Apart from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, this is testified by a number of testimonies regarding the prophet Elxai. This Jewish Christian prophet—in the various sources also named as Elchasai, Alchasaios, Elkesai and Elxaios— is said to have received the revelation written about in the Book of Elchasai in Mesopotamia in the year 116-117.
The church father Epiphanius (c. 315-430), for many years bishop of Salamis and the metropolitan of Cyprus, transmits this revelation as follows:
Next he describes Christ as a kind of power and also gives His dimensions (...). And the Holy Spirit is (said to be) like Christ, too, but She is a female being (thēleian) (...).
Epiphanius, Panarion 19, 4, 1-2 (Holl I, 219)
Later on in his book, Epiphanius reports essentially the same:
And he (i.e., Elxai) supposed also that the Holy Spirit stands over against Him (i.e., Christ) in the shape of a female being (en eidei thēleian) (...)
Epiphanius, Panarion 30, 17, 6 (Holl I, 375)
Earlier the learned Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236), a Christian presbyter at Rome, had transmitted the same tradition on Elchasai:
There should also be a female (thēleian) with Him (i.e., with Christ as an angel) (...) The male is the Son of God and the female (thēleian) is called the Holy Spirit
Hippolytus, Refutatio 9, 13, 3 (Wendland 251)
4. The Pseudo-Clementines
A next testimony to the Holy Spirit’s femininity may be derived from the so-called Pseudo-Clementines. The Pseudo-Clementines is a work circulated under the name of Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96), which came down to us in two fourth-century forms: the Greek Homilies and the Latin Recognitions. Both forms contain very old Jewish Christian source material. The Jewish Christian concept of the Spirit as a feminine Being is, by implication, preserved in one of the Homilies:
And Peter answered: ‘One is He who said to His Wisdom, “Let us make a man” [Gen. 1:26]. His Wisdom (sophia), with Her (Greek: hei, 3rd p. sing. feminine) He Himself always rejoiced [Prov. 8:30] just as (hōsper) with His own Spirit (pneumati).
Ps.-Clementines, Hom. 16, 12, 1 (Rehm 223)
The text identifies Wisdom with the Holy Spirit. This equation of Wisdom (chokma, sophia) and holy Spirit (ruach, pneuma) has old parallels in Jewish and Jewish Christian traditions. Already in the Jewish book Wisdom of Solomon, preserved in Greek as part of the Septuagint and being in high esteem among most early Christian writers, one finds this equation. For instance in Wisdom 9, 17 it runs:
Who has learned thy (i.e., God’s) counsel, unless thou hast given wisdom (sophian) and sent thy holy Spirit (pneuma) from on high?
Wisdom of Solomon 9, 17 (Revised Standard Version)
Wisdom is equated with the Holy Spirit and both are considered to be feminine. Hence one understands how in early Christian tradition Christ is so often considered to be the child of mother Sophia or the Holy Spirit. In essence, both traditions express the same concept. The oldest patristic testimonies to this concept are the texts from Origen and Jerome quoted above.
In interpreting all these testimonies, one should bear in mind that ancient Jewish Christianity did not express itself in Greek discursive terminology, but in Semitic metaphorical language. Or, stated otherwise: the Jewish Christians expressed themselves in images, not in logical concepts. Accordingly, one may also understand that the Christian concept of Trinity is not merely due to Greek philosophical thinking, but has genuine and extremely old sources in Jewish Christian writings. One may reread the statements of Hippolytus and Epiphanius on Elxai’s vision of God with his Son and the female Spirit as quoted above.
5. Theophilus and Irenaeus
The influence of the archaic Jewish Christian tradition on Spirit and Sophia is even found in Greek Christian authors such as Theophilus of Antioch (fl. later 2nd c.) and Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 130-c. 200). In his writing Against Autolycus, the Greek bishop and apologist Theophilus wrote for instance:
God made everything through His Logos and Sophia, for “by His Logos the heavens were made firm and by His Spirit all their power” [Ps.32:6] (...)
Similarly the three days prior to the luminaries [cf. Gen. 1] are types of the Triad (triados), of God and His Word and His Wisdom.
Theophilus, Ad Autol. 1, 7; 2, 15 (Grant 10 & 52).
In Greek speaking bishop Irenaeus’ work Against Heresies, which is mainly transmitted in Latin, it runs inter alia:
... the Son and the Holy Spirit (Spiritus), the Word and the Wisdom (Sapientia) (...)
For with Him were always present the Word and the Wisdom (Sapientia), the Son and the Spirit (Spiritus)
Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 4, 7, 4 and 20, 1 (Rousseau 464 & 626)
6. The Pastor of Hermas
The Shepherd of Hermas is a rather enigmatic and, in all probability, composed document which originated in Rome between the end of the first and the middle of the second century. Its final form consists of five ‘Visions’, twelve ‘Mandates’ and ten ‘Similitudes’. In the second and third centuries, it was accepted as Scripture by several ecclesiastical authors and even Didymus the Blind, a contemporary of Athanasius in the fourth century, included it in his canon of Scripture. It is also found in the highly important biblical manuscript Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the same time. In many of its utterances, the Shepherd reveals its Jewish Christian provenance.
One of these Jewish Christian features is the concept of the Holy Spirit as feminine. Although the Shepherd of Hermas (now generally classified as one of the ‘Apostolic Fathers’) uses the word ‘spirit’ in a variety of ways, in several cases ‘spirit’ appears to mean ‘Holy Spirit’. One of these cases is Similitude IX where the Holy Spirit is presented in the image of twelve virgins (parthenoi). The plural should not led us astray here. Elsewhere in the Shepherd the Holy Spirit—in her equivalent the Church—is described as being pre-existent and also as an old women (gunē presbutis) (Vis. I, 2, 2; cf. e.g. II, 4, 1 ff.: presbutera).
7. Melito of Sardis
Some decades later, and in another part of the Roman Empire, Melito of Sardis († c. 190) composed his homily On the Passover. It became famous after its discovery and publication by Campbell Bonner in 1940. In its newest editions one finds some fragments added, the seventeenth of which reads as follows:
Hymn the Father, you holy ones;
sing to your Mother (tēi mētri), virgins.
We hymn, we exalt (them) exceedingly, we holy ones.
You have been exalted to be brides and bridegrooms,
for you have found your bridegroom, Christ.
Drink for wine, brides and bridegrooms, ...
Melito, Frg. 17 (Hall 84-85)
It does not seems to be beyond doubt that the fragment, which follows On the Passover in a Bodmer Papyrus Codex, really stems from Melito. In any case it is a liturgical dialogue, if not part from Melito’s sermon, then perhaps of a baptismal liturgy. In its main theme and imagery, On the Passover is close to Jewish Christian thinking in general and Jewish Paschal tradition in particular. In the just quoted fragment, the Mother is without a doubt the Holy Spirit.
B. Sources from East and West Syria
As we have just seen with Theophilus, Irenaeus, the Pastor Hermae and (perhaps) Melito, the concept of the Spirit as feminine is sometimes found as an archaic reminiscence of Jewish Christianity in later Greek writers. However, in several Christian writings stemming from Syria, which mainly had Syriac (a branch of Aramaic) as their original language, this speaking of the Holy Spirit as feminine really abounds.
1. The Gospel of Thomas
Apart from some Greek scraps, the Gospel of Thomas has been mainly transmitted in a Coptic translation found in the second codex of the ‘gnostic’ library which, in December 1945, was discovered near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt. Many researchers maintain that the Gospel of Thomas—in any case in its original form(s)—was not ‘gnostic’ at all, nor even tincted with typical ‘gnostic’ ideas, but a fine example of primitive Jewish and Syrian Christianity. One of its logia reads as follows:
(Jesus said:) Whoever does not hate his father and his mother in My way will not be able to be a (disciple) to me. And whoever does (not) love (his father) and his mother in My way will not be able to be a (disciple) to me, for My mother (tamaay) (...) but (My) true (Mother) gave me the Life.
Gospel of Thomas, logion 101 (Guillaumont a.o. 50; Nagel 152)
Here, the true Mother is the Holy Spirit.
2. The Acts of Thomas
The Acts of Thomas recount the missionary activities of the apostle Judas Thomas. It is generally agreed that the composite work, which has survived in several Syriac and Greek manuscripts, was written in Syriac sometime before the middle of the third century. It contains many archaic elements pointing to early Jewish Christian tradition in Syria.
One of these archaic Jewish Christian elements is the concept of the Holy Spirit as feminine. It is clearly found in the following texts transmitted in Greek:
And the apostle arose and sealed them (...): “Come, compassionate Mother (mētēr); (...) Come, Mother (mētēr) of the seven houses (...); Come, Holy Spirit (pneuma) and cleanse their loins and their heart, and seal them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (pneumatos)”.
Acta Thomae 27 (Lipsius-Bonnet 142-143)
“ ... we praise and glorify You (Christ), and Your invisible Father, and Your Holy Spirit (pneuma), (and) the Mother (mētera) of all creation”.
Acta Thomae 39 (Lipsius-Bonnet 157)
“Come, secret Mother (mētēr); Come, You who (fem.) are manifest in your deeds; You who (fem.) gives joy and rest to those who are united to You (fem.)”.
Acta Thomae 50 (Lipsius-Bonnet 166)
One may also compare Acta Thomae 7 (the Syriac text speaks of the glorification of ‘the Father, the Lord of all’ and ‘the Spirit, His Wisdom’), whereas the Greek text has: ‘The Father of truth and the Mother of Wisdom’) and Acta Thomae 133 (‘We name over you [i.e., the ‘bread of life’ in the eucharist] the name of the Mother [= the Holy Spirit]).
3. Gospels in Old Syriac, the Odes of Solomon, the Didascalia and the Apostolic Constitutions
A number of other writings from the Syrian world may be briefly dealt with under one heading. The first is the Old Syriac Version of the Gospels, which reaches back to the second century and transmits Jn 14:26 as follows:
... but that (Syr.: hi = she) Spirit, the Paraclete that my Father will send to you in my name, She (Syr. hi) shall teach you everything, She (hi) shall remind you of all what I say.
Evangelium da-Mepharrese (tr. Burkitt 510-511)
In all probability, the Odes of Solomon are a (Jewish) Christian work which is almost certainly written in Syria or Palestine in the course of the same second century. In Ode 36, 3 it runs:
The Spirit of the Lord rested upon me,
and She lifted me up to the height (...)
She brought me forth before the face of the Lord (...)
For according to the greatness of the Most High,
so She made me (...)
Odes of Solomon 36, 3a (tr. Lattke 492)
The Didascalia Apostolorum (‘Teaching of the Apostles’) is an ancient ‘Church Order’ which seems to have been composed in Syria in the earlier half of the third century. In the Syriac text of chapter 11 it runs:
This (i.e., the bishop) is your chief and your leader, and he is your mighty king. He rules in the place of the Almighty: but let him be honoured by you as God (...). But the deacon stands in the place of Christ, and do you love him. And the deaconess shall be honoured by you in the place of the Holy Spirit (...).
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I will teach you by the hand of God; That which is with the ALMIGHTY ONzEs will I not conceal. JOB XXVIII, m1, 10.
In the Hame of the God of Truth, The Lord of Light—the Lord of the Universe ; Who framed the Kosmos of innumerable spheres ; From wl%m cometh all that is beautiful : The Creator and the Sovereign Ruler, The Father and the Judge ; -The Eternal Fire who is alone in the Orb of Circles ;— Who first gave form to the Elements, The stars, the firmament, the shining planets, The sun and comets, rapid in their wandering flight ; The lightnings which are his quick sceptre ; The whirlwinds, the luminous expanse ;— Who fabricated the carths in choirs innumerable, And made them to be the habitation of life : And from the essential energy of the material and immaterial, Made spirits manifest in soul and body. In His Name—the Name of the Most High God, I deliver unto the Earth this Book ; That it may be an Everlasting Testament through Time everlasting Of the whole duty of Man. This is the Book of Light : This is the Book of the Children ef Tleaven : Which God hath graven in fire On the stupendous pillars of the Universe. Let no man approach unto it. Whose soul is noi pure : re ii Let no man touch it with his hand, Who hath a thought of sin within his heart. Let no man gainsay its words— They are the Words of Truth the most Ancient. There is but One only God— This is His Book : There is but One only Heaven— ~ This is its law. The Heavens and the Earths inhabited by spirits, The myriad-folded hearts of men ;— Behold, they shall bear witness unto its verity, Tn the face of death and desolation. O Sons of men! know this— That in this book which now I hold, The law of Truth is opencd : The Light of Heaven is wivciled. Like the Everlasting Universe of the Lord of Beauty, It comprehendceth all. It is the First and the Last Of things recorded. U God! give unto thy sons, The brightness of thy Spirit ; That they may read, know, and understand. O God ! give unto thy sons The illumination of thy Wisdom ; That they inay believe thine heavenly precepts. From all evil guard us, O Ged! That our intellects may be calm and holy, While meditating on thy Holy Word.
Yeshua = AKA Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful is the creator of all life {Holy Spirit = Yeshua} and returning as Him as His and Yahwey's {YAH = female - WEH = male} wife {all as ONE} the brought from God in Heaven = cHURCH Temple Ministries the New Jerusalem and the Lamb - The seventh and final signafying completeness and perfection original and MANIFESTATIONS of GOD'es - Martyn and His Bride Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful Mother of All as Manifestations of Yahweh, Martynus, Ashorah, {Adam} EVE as ONE, Mother Mary, Yeshua, {Martyn} as ONE Dua Lipa number 7 {see other sites for more information and explanations xx
Yahweh AKA Martynus Nathan is the Lion of Judah here as protector of HIS Lamb after what they did to the sacrificial first Lamb! Along with the HOLY Spirit as ONE = God'eshead
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A New Heaven and a New Earth
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. 4‘ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things, have passed away.”
And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”The Announcement. "Behold, He cometh with clouds, CLOUDS ARE SYMBOLIC HE COMES IN THE FLESH TWICE BIRTH AND RESURRECTION -and ev«ry eye shall SEE HIM, and they also which PIERCED HIM: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7.
God’s Final Temple: New Jerusalem GOD AIMS FOR THE UNIVERSE
God created the universe and humankind as his temple; God and man were destined to be ‘at ease’ with each other. This paradisiacal situation changed after mankind went its own way, but through the liturgy of sacrifices, God could still be approached. God provided the ultimate sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ, who in himself reconciled God and man. He became the perfect temple where we can meet with God. The Church, and all those in the Church, are also temples of God, because what Jesus Christ is, they are. In the Church, that is, in the community of Christians, God can be found. But this is not perfect yet. We still live in the time between the disobedience of mankind, and the restoration of our world to its God-intended status of perfection. The Church and its people belong to that perfect future of God, as we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation’, St Paul affirms.1 1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 100
PARADISE RESTORED: REVELATION 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” The apostle John receives a magnificent vision from God of the Christian hope; one day, God will make all things new. Some comments based on the above passage: First, we notice the temple language. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Second, the Christian hope is that one day, heaven and earth will be united fully again, as it was in the beginning. This is not because the earth will be destroyed but because heaven will ‘overwhelm’ the earth by coming ‘down’. ‘Throughout the entire Bible, the ultimate destiny of God’s people is an earthly destiny. [It ‘always] always places man on a redeemed earth, not in a heavenly realm removed from earthly existence’,
The idea of a ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ was, by the way, not ‘invented’ by John. He used language that was rather common in Judaism in his days. In book 2 Baruch (1-2 century AD?) for instance, we read that God made the heavenly Jerusalem before he made Paradise, that Adam saw it before he sinned, that it was shown in a vision to Abraham, that Moses saw it on Mt Sinai, and that it is now present with God.3 Thirdly, the consummation of the Christian hope is supremely social.
It is no ‘flight of the alone to the Alone’ but life in the redeemed community of the people of God. Interestingly, John in Revelation 21:3, says literally, ‘they shall be his peoples (plural)’. He changes the quote from the Hebrew Scriptures about Israel being God’s people, into a plural. God will be in the midst of all nations. The New Jerusalem will come down from God, ‘prepared as a bride adorned for her husband’. Israel, and later the Church, are described in the Bible as the ‘bride’ of God and Christ. The New Jerusalem and the people of God are very intimately connected. “The heavenly Jerusalem is the multitude of saints who will come with the Lord, even as Zechariah said: ‘Behold, my Lord God will come, and all his saints with him’”, according to Apringius of Beja (6th century).4 Martin Kiddle agrees with this view: 3. 2 Baruch 4:2-6 4. Apringius of Beja, Tractate on the Apocalypse 21.2 102 It is a city which is a family. The ideal of a perfect community, unrealizable on earth because of the curse of sin which vitiated the first creation, is now embodied in the redeemed from all nations. 5 Fourthly, we see Paradise restored: God dwells with humankind again. they will be his people, and God will be with them as their God.6 This community of people and the presence of God is the essential feature of the age to come.
NEW JERUSALEM AS PEOPLE OF GOD: REVELATION 21:9-16 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and
spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the HOLY city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the 5. Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St John (London, 1940), pp. 415-416. 6. ‘The New Testament conceives of a heavenly Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God, the true homeland of the saints, and the dwelling place of “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:22; see Gal. 4:26; Phil. 3:20. While this heavenly Jerusalem is represented as the dwelling place of the departed saints, heaven is not their ultimate destiny, but only the temporary abode f the saints between death and the resurrection (Rev. 6:9-11; II Cor. 5:8; Phil 1:23).’
Twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. It seems that we now take a closer look at the New Jerusalem. The view is introduced with words that make explicit that this New Jerusalem is really the Church of God, ‘the bride, the wife of the Lamb’. Then we learn more about this New Jerusalem, as we read that it ‘has the glory of God’. Again, this is temple language. The gates have the names of the tribes of Israel written on them, while the apostles are the foundation of the walls. This indicates the unity of the people of God, and underlines that this
New Jerusalem really is the people of God, the Church.
THE NEW JERUSALEM IS A TEMPLE: REVELATION 21:22-27 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the 104 nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
There is no temple in the New Jerusalem, and for that matter, in the New World; a temple is no longer necessary. The Lord God and the Lamb ‘is the temple’. If they fill the earth with their presence, mankind has no need for any specific meeting place with God. Sun and moon are no longer needed, and lamps are not needed, because God and the Lamb are its light. The glory of God fills the place. The world has become a temple again, as it was in the garden of Eden. This description of the New Heaven and the New Earth and of the New Jerusalem is metaphorical. The fact that there seem to be nations outside the New
Jerusalem, means that John’s vision shows how the metaphors of the Hebrew Scriptures, about a perfect world with no more war, is finally coming about: The Kingdom of the world has now become the Kingdom of God. Finally, all is well.
THRONE OF GOD ON THIS EARTH: REVELATION 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The 105 leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Some more temple-details. The river of life is a reference to Ezekiel 47, which is part of the prophet’s long description (Ezekiel 40-48) of the expected eschatological New Temple.7 This ‘river of life’ is also an echo of the river mentioned in regard to the Garden of Eden: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”8 Then, we read in John’s vision of the ‘tree of life’, also a reference to the Genesis-story. After mankind’s disobedience, access to this tree of life was blocked by cherubim: Then the Lord God said, […] Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
In the New Heaven and the New Earth, man has access to the tree of life again, as well as to the waters of life. Many theologians see these as references to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ. 7. Ezekiel 47:1,12 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.[…] And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
Genesis 2:10 9. Genesis 3:22-24 106 The throne of God and the Lamb is mentioned once again; God himself is present and this ensures that there is no longer anything accursed in heaven and on earth. The curse of Genesis 3 has been reversed; all is well now. Adam and Eve were originally told to ‘subdue the earth and have dominion’ and they messed up. But in the New Heaven and the New Earth, the servants of God “will reign forever and ever”. And what the saints
throughout the centuries have strived for, will become a reality: “They will see God’s face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” Even the great prophet’s of the people of God, were not able and allowed to see God’s face.10 We will have that privilege and joy one day.11 This sight of God is what causes the righteous to be forever happy. In the words of St Chrysostom: There are no words to explain the blessedness which the soul enjoys, the gain which he obtains once his true nature has been restored to him and he is able henceforth to contemplate the Lord.12 God’s ‘name on their foreheads’ may be an allusion to the inscription on the mitre of the high priest's forehead, "holiness to the Lord”.
All believers participate in the eternal priesthood. And all will be standing - not one day each year but forever, in God’s presence. G.K. Beale concludes: 10. Exodus 33:20, 23. 11. Cf 1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 John 3:2 12. Chrysostom, Ad Theodorum lapsum, 1,13 107 It is God’s people who have continued to extend the borders of the true temple throughout the church age, as they have been guided by the Spirit, as a result of the Father’s plan that was expressed in the redemptive work of the Son, who also consummates the temple building process.
BEFORE THAT DAY This world will become a temple when heaven joins earth again, as it was in the beginning. But before this moment of the ultimate
reconciliation of God with mankind, it is interesting to see how the abode of God is described by John: After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.14 John is allowed a view of heaven, and what does he see? First, the throne of God. John proceeds to describe that ‘before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne were as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.’15 Around the throne, ’on each side of the throne' John sees ‘four living creatures […] each of them with six wings, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy’.
These angelic beings remind us of the temple-scene in Isaiah 6, just as the whole description of John is a temple-scene. The throne of God is like the ark in the holy of holies, and the angels remind us of the cherubim that cover the ark; 13. G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission’ a biblical theology of the dwelling place of God (IVP Academic, 2004) p. 26 14. Revelation 4:1-2 15. Revelation 4:5-6 108 the seven torches remind us of the candle with seven arms before the holy of holies; the sea of glass is the basin for washing that stood in the temple.16 John then sees the Lamb, ‘standing as if it had been slain’.17 The Lord Jesus Christ stands there as the reminder of the ultimate sacrifice in the heavenly temple. And just as in the earthly temple incense was sacrificed
continually, we read of ‘golden bowls full of incense’ before the throne of God.18 We also read of an altar, possibly referring to the same altar for the incense in the temple.19 So when John had his vision of the heavenly abode of God, it was clear for him; he saw heaven as a temple. Remember that Moses was told to construct the tabernacle and its service ‘exactly according to the pattern that was shown to [him] on the mountain’ where God revealed himself and his laws to Moses.
WHAT JESUS DID The letter to the Hebrews explains how the earthly liturgy of the temple was just a dim reflection of the real heavenly temple: When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this 16. Exodus 30:18 17. Revelation 5:6 18. Revelation 5:8 19. Revelation 6:9 20. Hebrews 8:5, Exodus 25:40 109 creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a
new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation 110 of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.21 The death of Christ was a sacrifice to God; he secured our eternal redemption by coming with his blood before the throne of God in the heavenlyHoly of Holies. In the heavenly temple, the reconciliation between God and man has been eternally secured, once and for all. In the words of G.K. Beale, Christ not only fulfills all that the OT temple and its prophecies represent but that he is the unpacked meaning for which the temple existed all along. Christ’s establishment of the temple at his first coming and the identification of his people with him as the temple, where God’s tabernacling presence dwells, is a magnified view of the beginning form of the new creational temple, and Revelation 21 is the most ultimate highly magnified picture of the final form of the temple that we will have this side of the consummated new cosmos.22 It is this heavenly temple that descends to earth as the New Jerusalem. Just as presently, heaven can be called a temple, one day the whole earth will be God’s temple. But then, we no longer need all the metaphors, all the efforts to explain, all images to indicate. Then the earth no longer needs a temple, because humankind will be able to see God face to face.
SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS We cannot do without metaphors when describing God and his dwelling place. The Hebrew and Christian Holy Scriptures are consistent in using the temple-metaphor for describing God, redemption, and eternity. 21. Hebrews 9:11-26 22. G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission’ a biblical theology of the dwelling place of God Heaven, the abode of God, is like a temple; the temple in Jerusalem was modeled after God’s eternal resting place. In heaven we see references to altars, candles, incense, sacrifice, the ark of the covenant, etc. Eventually, the heavenly temple will descend and fill the earth. We will not build a new earth; the earth will be renewed when the New Jerusalem descends; then heaven and
earth will be new. The perfection of the new earth entails that there is no more evil, and that God is all in all. A temple is no longer needed. There is free access to God for all people. The universe has become a temple again; Paradise has been restored. This renewal, this reconciliation between God and man is only possible because of the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who was not only perfectly human, but he also perfectly represented God. That is why he is the perfect expression of the heavenly temple. By looking at him, we know what God is like. What to do with all this as Christians today? First,, we should unashamedly use sacrificial language when speaking of redemption through Jesus Christ. It is the ABC of biblical language. 112 Also, we can rejoice in the future: What the universe and mankind once were, they will be again: the perfect temple where God rests. And we will be so changed and perfect, that we will be able to ‘face God’. Finally, the ‘to be or not to be’ issue is how we can be sure we will participate in the coming New World. For that, today we need to be part of the New Jerusalem, that is, the people of God - the church.thee new temple - churches - ministries as ONE Heaven and Earth joined for all Gods children equal and beauti - full individually and as `one Family - for I hold up my lantern of FAITH the light shinning in the darkness to lead the way for my FAITH -FULL ones to join in the New Temple which ids tHE Body of God Christ and His Holy Spirit
🙏aMan aWoman peace and love - and I AM to make all my Creations - things new as it is written
Yeshua AKA Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful is the returning Lamb - Yahweh AKA Martynus Nathan is the Lion of Judah here to protector of HIS Lamb after what they did to the
sacrificial first Lamb!
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YAHWEH DIVORCE FROM ASHORAH in the garden of eden:-
The conception of Asherah as the partner of Yahweh has stirred a lot of debate. Many have written about it, and many scholars conclude that Yahweh and Asherah were indeed a consort married pair among the ancient Israelites. Asherah was worshipped in ancient Israel as the consort of El - Yahweh and in Judah as the consort of Yahweh and Queen of Heaven. Their children form the pantheon of the gods, who are said to number seventy; a Hittite myth similarly mentions the seventy-seven and eighty-eight children of Asherah. On occasion in Ugaritic myth, Asherah performs the maternal role of wet nurse.
Yahweh’s Separation from Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden.
Hebrew Bible scholars have long recognized that the writer who penned the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and much other narrative in the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible (called the Pentateuch, or Torah) had a distinctly anti-Canaanite agenda, and that his anti-Canaanite polemic started in his Eden story. Focusing on this helps us to decipher the meaning of that story, as I have stressed in my new book, The Mythology of Eden, and in talks that I’ve given on the subject at scholarly conferences.
This author, known as the Yahwist (because he was the first author of the Hebrew Bible to use the name Yahweh for God), most clearly set out his anti-Canaanite views at the beginning of his version of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 34:12-15, where Yahweh warns the Hebrews against associating with the Canaanites, intermarrying with them, and worshipping their deities; Yahweh also orders the Hebrews to tear down Canaanite altars, pillars, and asherahs (wooden poles (stylized trees) in sanctuaries that were the cult object of their goddess Asherah (in Hebrew pronounced ah-shei-RAH) and symbolized her). Against this background, the anti-Canaanite polemic in the Eden story becomes apparent, especially that against the goddess Asherah, who at the time was widely viewed by Israelites as Yahweh’s wife or consort. As official Israelite religion trended toward monotheism, the other local deities had to be eliminated (Asherah in particular), and Yahweh appropriated their powers and functions. Insofar as this process affected Asherah, I call this “Yahweh’s Divorce,” and the proceedings began in the Yahwist’s Eden story.
Before the rise of Israel, Asherah was the wife of El, the head god of the Canaanite pantheon. According to the archeological evidence, the people who became Israelites were mostly native Canaanites who settled in the hills of what is now the West Bank, while it seems that small but influential groups also migrated there from the south in the Midian (in and around the Araba Valley in Sinai). As the Bible itself testifies, that is where Yahweh veneration appears to have originated, and, in a process that in this respect resonates with the Moses story, the migrants introduced Yahweh to the native Canaanites who were becoming Israelites. Over time, El declined and merged into Yahweh. As part of that process, Yahweh inherited Asherah from El as his wife.
The Hebrew Bible refers to Asherah directly or indirectly some 40 times, always in negative terms (so she must have been a challenge). Most references are indirect, to the asherah poles that symbolized her, but a number of them clearly enough refer directly to the goddess Asherah (e.g., Judges 3:7; 1 Kings 15:13; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:4-7; 2 Chron. 15:16). Evidently she was part of traditional official Israelite religion, for an asherah pole even stood in front of Solomon’s Temple for most of its existence, as well as in Yahweh’s sanctuary in Samaria. There is also much extra-biblical evidence of Asherah in Israel from the time of the judges right through monarchical times, including in paintings/drawings, pendants, plaques, pottery, (possibly) clay “pillar” figurines, cult stands, and in inscriptions. Several inscriptions specifically refer to “Yahweh and his Asherah [or asherah].” (It is not entirely certain whether the goddess herself or the asherah pole symbolizing her is being referenced here, but either way ultimately the goddess is meant, and she is being linked with Yahweh.)
The Yahwist and the other biblical writers could not accept the presence of this goddess as a deity in Israel, much less as the wife of Yahweh, who they specifically depicted in non-sexual terms. So they declared war on her, in part by mentioning her existence sparingly in the Bible, by referring to her and asherahs negatively when they did mention her, and by waging a polemic against her by allusions that would have been clear to the Yahwist audience. These tactics are apparent in the Eden story, from the kinds of symbols used and the trajectory of the narrative. These symbols include the garden sanctuary itself, the sacred trees, the serpent, and Eve, herself a goddess figure. In ancient Near Eastern myth and iconography, sacred trees, goddesses, and serpents often form a kind of “trinity,” because they have substantially overlapping and interchangeable symbolism and are often depicted together. Let’s examine each of these symbols briefly.
The Garden. Originally in the ancient Near East, the Goddess was associated with and had jurisdiction over vegetation and life, which she generated herself. People partook of the first crops (including fruit) as her bounty – indeed her body and her divinity – and set up her sanctuary with garden of crops for this purpose. Such a sacred garden sanctuary was “estate” over which she exercised jurisdiction. Examples include Siduri’s vineyard with a sacred tree in the Gilgamesh epic, Inanna’s garden precinct with sacred tree in Summer, Calypso’s vineyard sanctuary in Homer’s Odyssey, and Hera’s Garden of the Hesperides. Garden sanctuaries of gods and kings evolved later, when religion became more patriarchal, sky gods came to dominate, and goddesses were substantially devalued. In the Eden story, Yahweh’s both creating the garden (i.e., life) and being in charge of it can be viewed as part of this process: There the Goddess (here Asherah) was eliminated from the garden sanctuary and from her functions there.
Sacred trees were thought to connect with the divine realms of both the netherworld and the heavens, and therefore were considered conduits for communicating with and experiencing the divine and themselves are charged with the divine force (thought of as “serpent power”; see below). In harmony with the seasons, trees embody the life energy and symbolize the generation, regeneration and renewal of life. Therefore, they are associated with the source of life, the Earth/Mother Goddess. Accordingly, sacred trees were venerated in Palestine in sacred sanctuaries known as “high places,” as means of accessing and experiencing divinity, principally the goddess Asherah. (Similarly, the divinity of the male deity was accessed through vertical stone pillars, e.g., the one set up by Jacob at Bethel.) In the Eden story, the two sacred trees of knowledge of good and evil and of life allude to this traditional role of sacred trees, but the meaning is turned upside down. In the story, Yahweh even creates the trees. In ordering Adam not to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, by implication Yahweh was telling the audience not to venerate sacred trees in the traditional fashion. And in any event, the heretofore divine knowledge of good and evil that was acquired through eating the fruit is linked with Yahweh, not any goddess. And at the end of the story the tree of life is clearly designated as Yahweh’s, being guarded by his trademark symbols, the paired cherubim.
Serpents. In the ancient Near East, serpents had both positive and negative connotations, and in the Eden story the Yahwist played on each. In its positive aspect, the serpent represented the divine force itself, responsible for creation, life, and rebirth, as symbolized by its constant shedding of its skin. This and the fact that it lives within the earth (the netherworld) made for a natural association with the Mother Earth Goddess. As a result, the serpent was venerated as having divine powers and was used in rituals, including in marriage (to secure conception of children) and to maintain health. Serpents were also considered wise and sources of knowledge, and thus were used in divination. (The Hebrew noun for serpent (nāḥāš) connotes divination; the verb nāḥaš means to practice divination, and observe omens/signs.) Hence the serpent’s connection with transmission of the knowledge of good and evil in the Eden story. This “good” serpent was typically depicted in an upright or erect form, as in the case of the Egyptian erect cobra (in the illustration above), Moses’ bronze serpent on a pole, and the serpent on Asclepius’ staff (now the symbol of our medical profession).
But the serpent also was represented negatively as unrestrained divine power, which produces chaos, which is evil. Therefore, in creation myths the serpent/dragon represents the primordial chaos that must be overcome in order to establish the created cosmos (known as the “dragon fight” motif). This primordial chaos serpent is most often a serpent/dragon goddess (e.g., Tiamat in the Babylonian Enuma Elish) or her proxy (Typhon was the creation of Gaia). The serpent in this “evil” aspect is most often depicted horizontally. In the Eden story our author used this negative aspect, while parodying the traditional positive associations, which Yahweh appropriated. Thus, in the story, the serpent connoted chaos and symbolized the chaos in Eve’s heart as she deliberated. At the end of the story, Yahweh cursed the serpent and flattened its posture (compared with the upright/erect posture it had when talking with Eve). As a result, Yahweh was victorious over the serpent and chaos and, by implication the Goddess, in a mini version of the above-mentioned dragon fight motif.
The Goddess. As noted by numerous biblical scholars, the Goddess is also seen in the figure of Eve herself, the last figure in our trinity of tree-serpent-Goddess. In the Eden story she is given the epithet “the mother of all living,” an epithet like those given to various ancient near Eastern goddesses including Siduri, Ninti, and Mami in Mesopotamia and Asherah in Syria-Palestine. Eve’s actual name in Hebrew (ḥawwâ), besides meaning life (for which goddesses were traditionally responsible), is also likely wordplay on an old Canaanite word for serpent (ḥeva). The name of the goddess Tannit (the Phoenician version of Asherah) means “serpent lady,” and she had the epithet “Lady Ḥawat” (meaning “Lady of Life”), which is derived from the same Canaanite word as Eve’s name (ḥawwâ). At the end of the story, Eve is punished by having to give birth in pain, whereas goddesses in the ancient Near East gave birth painlessly. Further, in Genesis 4:1, Eve needs Yahweh’s help in order to become fertile and conceive, a reversal of the Goddess’ power and function. (Indeed, Eve is even created from Adam!) Adam’s only fault was “listening” to Eve in order to attain divine qualities. Here the Yahwist may be alluding to Goddess veneration, saying not to worship her. This seems to be one reason for the punishment consisting of woman’s subjugation to man in Genesis 3:16.
As a result of these events, by the end of the story Yahweh is supreme and in control of all divine powers and functions formerly in the hands of the Goddess, and Canaanite religion in general has been discredited. Yahweh is in charge of the garden (formerly the Goddess’ province), from which chaos has been removed. Sacred tree veneration has been prohibited and discredited, while Yahweh appropriates and identifies himself with the Tree of Life (see also Hosea 14:8, where Yahweh claims, “I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit.”). The serpent has been vanquished, flattened, and deprived of divine qualities, and thus is not worthy of veneration, and enmity has been established between snakes and humans. The Goddess has been discredited, rendered powerless, and is eliminated from the picture and sent into oblivion. Yahweh’s divorce from her has been made final, at least in the author’s mind. But in fact she persisted, and her equivalents in the psyche inevitably have persisted to this day, as they must.
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Yeshua AKA Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful is the returning Lamb - Yahweh AKA Martynus Nathan is the Lion of Judah here as protector of HIS Lamb after what they did to the sacrificial first Lamb! Yeshua the bravest and the greatest {God} man in all History
MR&MRS, UNIVERSAL GENESIS - adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org
Yeshua AKA Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful is the returning Lamb - Yahweh AKA Martynus Nathan is the Lion of Judah here as protector of HIS Lamb after what they did to the sacrificial first Lamb! Yeshua the bravest and the greatest {God} man in all History
MR&MRS, UNIVERSAL GENESIS - adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, NKJV).
🎺 WE are in the time of apostasy whereby there is a great falling away of tHE truth. Some Churches are filled with false teachers and false prophets and many are being led astray as they don’t know the truth. Too much feel-good preaching besides a lot of unsound doctrine being taught in some of today’s churches. Those called and chosen ones of truly God's Family need the Spiritual church and teach the visible else they shall become lost.
Knowledge comes from tHE Holy Spirit howEVER WE have to search dEEp as tHe chosen Elect and as AmbassadoRS, WE need to pass on tO beCOME ONE. To be as ONE faMIly WE shoulD not criticiSe anotHEr Faith as tOO mUch bloodsHEd in thIS world already. All reliGions will bE receIVed by tHE SON befoRE PASSing ontO tHE FatHEr with tHE ChafF separAted from tHE wHEat.
Malachi 2:10 ESV / 3
Have WE not all ONE Father? Has not ONE God created US? Why tHEn are we FAITHless to ONE anotHEr, profaning tHE COvenant oF our fatHErs?
“NeitHEr do men liGht a CANdle ANd put it under a busHEl, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in tHE house. Let your light so shine before all men, that tHEy may see your good works, and glorify your FatHEr which is in HEaven.” MatHEew 5:15, 16
Revelation 6:9-11
New Living Translation
9 When tHE Lamb broke tHE fifth seal, I saw under tHE altar tHE souls of all who had been martyred for tHE word of God and for BEing faithful in tHEir testimony. 10 THEy shouted to the LORD and said, “O Sovereign LORD, holy and true, how long before you judge tHE people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what tHEy have done to us?” 11 THEn a white robe was given to each of tHEm. And tHEy were told to rest a little longer until tHE full number of tHEir brothers and sisters[a]—tHEir fellow servants of Jesus who weRE to be martyred—had joined tHEm.
Dr Erez Soref > Leading hIS people OUT of Erez Israel (tHE Promised Land)>forward to tHE NEW JERUSALEM Being President of ONEFORISRAEL.ORG ministry in Israel explains what does it mean "to the Jew first" (Romans 1:16). A life-changing sermon every Christian MUST watch! Become ONE FOR ISRAEL > WHILST BEING BLESSED AND LED AND WATCHED OVER BY THE HOLY SPIRIT aMEN
Established in 1990, ONE FOR ISRAEL began as a college and has since expanded to a multi-faceted ministry with the express goal of reaching Israelis with the Good News of Yeshua, training and equipping the Body of Messiah in Israel, and blessing our community with Yeshua’s love.
The story and ministry of ONE FOR ISRAEL is part of something much larger – the miraculous restoration of the Jewish people and the miraculous unity between Jewish and Arab believers in Jesus.
We are seeing not only the physical restoration of Israel after a 2000-year exile, but a spiritual revolution is taking place right in front of our eyes. Jewish people are returning to their God and accepting the Messiah in numbers not seen since the early church! Not only that, but many Arab people are coming to the Lord and many Arab believers are finding a deep unity with their Jewish brothers and sisters.
ONE FOR ISRAEL exists to do ministry within this miracle.
We are Jews and Arabs, together serving Messiah Jesus, sharing the Gospel with Israel and the world, making disciples, training leaders, and blessing our communities in the name of Yeshua.
Welcome To Israel College Of The Bible > https://college.oneforisrael.org/category/bible-college/
SHALOM
We are so glad you chose to view our web page, and hope you will be encouraged by what you read. We are first and foremost, followers of Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have found true shalom, forgiveness, and hope for Jews and Arabs in the Middle East!
We are the only academically accredited Hebrew speaking Bible College/Seminary in the world. We are an institution dedicated to equipping followers to fulfill Yeshua’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and Paul’s Great Commission in Romans 1:16. We offer a number of certificate and degree programs, all designed with these Great Commissions in mind.
ISRAEL COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE IS A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL BE CHALLENGED TO LOVE JEWS AND ARABS WITH GOD’S PASSIONATE LOVE WHICH HAS BEEN POURED OUT THROUGH THE MESSIAH YESHUA.
Furthermore, we are committed to encouraging believers from around the world to read and understand the Bible within its literary, historical, and geographical context. For this reason, we offer the Year in Israel Program where believers from around the world come to Israel for a year to study the Bible in its original context, and to learn Hebrew through a language immersion program. In addition to this on location opportunity, we also offer unique online courses as well as study tours. The Year in Israel Program, the online courses, and the study tours are fully accredited at both the BA and MA levels.
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STATEMENT OF FAITH
GOD
“The Lord God, the LORD is one.” The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the only God and Creator; there is none beside Him, and all the attributes of God are His alone. His unique unity consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each eternally and fully God. The Son, our Messiah, having taken on sinless flesh when born to the virgin Miriam (Mary), is also fully human.
MAN AND SIN
God created man in His image and likeness to be in loving and obedient fellowship with Him forever. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God’s command and, because of this deed, all men sin. Sin is punished by separation from God; this penalty has fallen upon every member of the human race.
SCRIPTURE
The Bible, consisting of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, is the believer’s sole authority in all matters of faith and practice. It is inspired by God and without error in the original manuscripts.
ATONEMENT AND SALVATION
God has always provided man with a means of atonement. Prefigured by animal sacrifices, the only satisfaction of God’s wrath is provided by Messiah’s death on the cross. This death is the full and final atonement for sin. God accepted this atonement as proved by Yeshua’s resurrection. Any person who repents of his sin and trusts in Yeshua is saved by God’s grace. This grace leads men to loving and obedient fellowship with God forever. The Holy Spirit has a necessary role in man’s recognizing God’s holiness, man’s need for a Savior, and the salvation provided in Messiah. His work is further necessary in man’s repentance and faith, and in the ensuing process through which they are made increasingly holy.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD
The people of Israel are God’s chosen people whom He loves with an everlasting love. God continues to fulfill all of the promises given to the Fathers. The body of the Messiah consists of Jews and Gentiles who trust in the One God and in His Messiah for the forgiveness of sin. Both share, without loss of national identity, in the spiritual promises, which God made to Israel, and are equal before God.
ESCHATOLOGY
Yeshua the Messiah will return to establish God’s manifest kingdom, to resurrect the dead and determine the eternal destiny of all men, eternally blessing the believers and eternally punishing the wicked.
BLESS ALL ISRAEL WITH JESUS
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The rabbis love to say you can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus. But we know Jesus is Jewish, the disciples were Jewish, and there has always been a remnant of Jewish believers throughout history. Today, there are thousands of Jewish believers in Israel and hundreds of thousands around the world.
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aMEN
🎺 Congratulations 🍾 Your life's journey so far has brought you here. This is a place NOT being advertised and $ will NOT buy you a seat at GOD'S Table ~ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. It is a judgment, covenant made by God and will only be issued on a one-one agreement: Therefore Henceforth Let The HolySpirit be your light to guide you and Choose wisely whom to pass this place on too. Many are called alas few are chosen. Now please read on and if you feel inspired to do so then spread the Gospel good news by directing to HERE! Amen.
🎺 The Visible Vs. The Invisible Church.~ Reformed theologians emphasize that this distinction does not mean that God has two separate churches. Indeed, they assert that Jehovah has founded one church, that Jesus has only one bride, people, church, or body. Our Lord does not have two churches but only one. The terms "invisible" and "visible" are used to describe two distinct aspects of the one church; or, to put it another way, the church is considered from two different perspectives. It is not that there are two separate air-tight categories with one group on heaven and another on earth. On the contrary, there is a great overlap between both categories. All genuine believers are members of the invisible church whether they are living in heaven or on earth, whether they are alive or dead (i.e., have died physically). Not all professing Christians, however, who are members of the visible church, are members of the invisible church. Some people who make a profession of faith and are baptized are hypocrites. Such people do not truly believe in Christ (thus are never truly united to Him by faith) and are not part of the invisible church. This reality will receive further elucidation below.
The term invisible as defined by the Reformed symbols and theologians does not mean that some Christians are invisible like ghosts floating around in the spirit realm. It refers to the fact that the invisible church cannot be fully discovered, distinguished or discerned by the eyes of men, by empirical means. There are a number of reasons why this statement cannot be denied. (a) No one has the ability to look into the human heart and see if a person is truly united to Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. That reality is the reason that, historically, Presbyterian churches have admitted members upon a credible profession of faith. (b) The inward, effectual calling of the Spirit and the application of redemption to the human soul are all spiritual, unseen events. Further, the Holy Spirit gives genuine saving faith only to the elect. The counterfeit faith of unregenerate professors of religion often is indiscernible to mere mortals. We can only perceive outward signs, statements and actions. No person has the ability to determine or observe the whole body of God's elect irrespective of time (i.e., throughout human history prior to the last judgment) or place (i.e., there are many real believers in the world of which we are not aware). It is invisible to us because it has extension in both time and space. It reaches from one end of the earth to the other, and from the beginning to the end of the age. But it is invisible only to us. It is not invisible to God. He who infallibly discerns the hearts of men knows them that are his. The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal: 'the Lord knoweth them that are his' (II Tim. 2:19). Jesus prayed for the invisible church the elect present and not yet born in John 17. "Christ is speaking of a special company which had been given to Him. The reference, then, is to the sovereign election of God, whereby He chose a definite number to be His 'peculiar people'—His in a peculiar or special way. These are eternally His: 'chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world' (Eph. 1:4); and by the immutability of His purpose of grace (Rom. 11:29), they are always His."
The visible church is designated "visible" because it is discernable by the senses, by empirical means. It consists of everyone who professes the true religion along with their children. Because men do not have the ability to see into the minds of men and read the human heart, anyone who professes Jesus Christ incredible manner (i.e., he has a knowledge of the gospel, he is orthodox in doctrine, he professes faith in Christ and repentance toward God, he is not as far as anyone is aware committing habitual or scandalous sins) is allowed to join the church along with his children. In the visible church, there are genuine believers who are truly united to Christ and false professors or hypocrites who only taste heavenly gifts but do not really partake of the Savior. Their relationship to Him is only outward. "On this account, the church is compared to a floor, in which there is not only wheat but also chaff (Matt. iii. 12); to a field, where tares, as well as good seed, are sown (Matt. xiii. 24, 25); to a net, which gathers bad fish together with the good (ver. 47); to a great house, in which are vessels of every kind some to honour and some to dishonour,—2 Tim. ii. 20."[5] People who are members of the visible church yet who never truly believe in Christ receive the outward privileges of membership (fellowship, the word, the sacraments and the guidance of church government), but are never regenerated, saved, forgiven, united to Christ and spiritually sanctified. The blood of Jesus never washes away their sins.
The visible church is set apart from the world by profession as well as its external government, discipline, and ordinances (e.g., the preached word and the sacraments). The members of the visible church have obeyed the outward call of the gospel, professing Christ, submitting to baptism and placing themselves under the preaching and authority of the local church. All such persons who obey the outward call of the gospel place themselves in covenant with God. They have separated themselves from the world and at least outwardly enjoy the privileges of being members of the visible church (e.g., the teaching of the word, godly guidance, the fellowship of the saints, etc.). While in a certain sense those who outwardly profess the truth participate in an external covenant with real responsibilities and privileges, it does not mean and theologically cannot mean that they truly participate in the saving merits of Christ. Such persons (for a time) are in the covenant but are never genuinely of the covenant. They participate in the covenant externally as professors of the true religion, but they never participate in the covenant of grace which flows from the eternal covenant of redemption...
It needs to be recognized that although God deals with the visible church as one church, as one people of God, the external administration of the church with the preaching of the word, the ordinances and discipline in the present and in the long run (e.g., after the final judgment, in the eternal state) only truly benefit the invisible church or the elect. While outward professors receive temporary benefits resulting from intellectual insights from the word, pressure to conform to God's law, the outward influence from a society of family-oriented, ethical people, etc., they receive greater damnation on the day of judgment for spurning the great light to which they were exposed under continual gospel preaching.
let us examine a few passages of Scripture that strongly support the traditional view of the church as visible and invisible:
a) 1 John 2:19-20: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them was of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things." In this passage, John discusses certain persons who at one time had professed apostolic doctrine and were members of the church.
Note the Spirit-inspired analysis of the apostle John regarding this all too common situation. John says, "they were not of us." That is, they were never genuine members of the church. While it is true that they were baptized and professed the true religion, they were never united to Christ or saved. They were chaff on the same floor as wheat (Mt. 3:12), or tares among the wheat (Mt. 13:24-25). They were members of the visible church but never of the invisible church. In this context, John uses the term "us" (emon) in the sense of true Christians.
The apostle makes two observations ...First, he says that true Christians or members of the invisible church cannot apostatize: "for if they were of us [i.e., true believers], they would have continued with us." The fact that these professing Christians departed from the church is empirical proof that they were never true Christians. "They went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them was of us." "The meaning here is that secession proves a want of fundamental union from the rest."[9] Second, John says that true believers have received the Holy Spirit from Christ which secures them against apostasy or desertion: "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things." True believers or members of the invisible church cannot fall away because they are baptized with the Holy Spirit and thus permanently abide in Christ (see 1 Jn. 2:27; 5:4). Our Lord concurs: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (Jn. 10:27-28).
1 Jn. 2:19-20 teaches: (1) the church is composed of true and false believers; and (2) the doctrine of perseverance. True Christians are united to Christ by the Holy Spirit and can never apostatize while those who are not baptized in the Spirit and not united to the Savior can. "Their presence in the visible church was temporary, for they failed in their perseverance. If they had been members of the invisible church, they would have remained with the body of believers."
b) Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" After warning His disciples of the danger of false prophets, Our Lord warns them of the consequences of a false profession of religion. He describes people who profess Christ; who acknowledge His Lordship; who are even engaged in some type of Christian service; yet who never had a saving relationship to Jesus. These people were obviously members of the visible church. But, they were never truly united to the Lord or saved; they were never members of the invisible church.
This section of Scripture contradicts Arminianism, which teaches that if people accept Jesus as Savior they are truly saved but can later reject the faith and fall away. It also explicitly contradicts the Auburn teaching that people who profess Christ and are baptized are really united to Him, loved by Him and forgiven by Him even if they are not among the elect (individually) and thus eventually fall away.[11] Note, Jesus says to all false professors of religion on the day of judgment, "I never knew you." Since God is the word "knew" in this context does not refer to a mere intellectual knowledge (e.g., in John's gospel see: 1:47, 49; 2:24, 25; 21:17). Rather the term "knew" in this passage is used in the Hebraic sense of love, acknowledgement, friendship, intimate fellowship. Our Lord says that everyone in the visible church who is not really saved (i.e., they do not have true saving faith and the works that demonstrate the reality of that faith.) never, ever (i.e., for even a single moment) had a relationship or vital union with Him. There is no other way that the Savior's words can be interpreted without doing violence to the text of Scripture. Although Jesus' words are in complete harmony with the classic Protestant distinction between the visible and invisible church, they cannot be harmonized with the new Auburn theological innovations.
(c) Romans 9:6: "But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel." In the epistle to the Romans, Paul explicitly recognized the two-fold aspect of the church when he explains why the majority of the old covenant people of God did not embrace their Messiah.
In order to properly understand Romans 9:6 we briefly need to consider the context. In Romans chapter 8 Paul elaborates on the major theme that all those who are in Christ shall never be condemned. Believers are delivered from the law by Jesus' death. They are freed from the pollution of sin by the indwelling power of the Spirit. The Spirit's power also guarantees a believer's resurrection and glorification. Christians have their assurance rooted in their union with Christ. There also is the comfort of the intercession of the Holy Spirit. Toward the end of the chapter, the safety and assurance of believers are founded upon God's electing love from eternity. Here the apostle discusses the unbreakable chain of the order of salvation (ordo salutis) and the fact that "if God is for us, who can be against us?"
In chapter 9, as Paul turns his attention to the design of God in reference to Jews and Gentiles, he needs to answer the question: "What about Israel?" If election and perseverance are rooted in the eternal-unchanging love of God, how can the mass apostasy of the Jewish people be explained? They were God's people, the church, who received the word, the promises, the sacraments and ordinances. Does not God's rejection of the Jewish nation contradict the promises to Abraham and the perseverance promised in chapter 8? No, absolutely not! The apostle explains that it is to true Israel (i.e., the elect or the invisible church) that the promises are made. It is to these people only that God's eternal electing love is directed. There is a national election—the nation of Israel or the visible church—and within Israel, the visible church, there is true Israel—the invisible church. The Jews who did not reject the Messiah are "a remnant according to the election of grace" (Rom. 11:5).
For Paul there is true Israel (the elect, the invisible church, the remnant) within national Israel (the visible church). In other words, the elect or the invisible church is hidden in the visible church. Further, when describing why the church is composed of true Israel (i.e., real believers) and false Israel (i.e., hypocrites) the apostle turns our attention to the doctrine of election
Paul discusses the twin brothers Jacob and Esau. These twins were conceived at the same moment and were born only minutes apart. Both were covenant children born of the patriarch Isaac. Both received circumcision and were part of the visible church—the covenant people of God. Since Esau was circumcised does Paul argue that he was loved and forgiven by God? No. God hated Esau before he was even born (Rom. 9:11-13). Although Esau was a circumcised member of the visible church, he was never united to Christ, loved by God or forgiven. Instead, he was a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom. 9:22). Esau's circumcision was never efficacious because he was never regenerated and given the gift of saving faith. As Paul says, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation" (Gal. 6:15).
d) Another section of Scripture ... is 2 Peter 2. This chapter describes men who at one time were baptized, members in good standing and who had even become teachers. Peter, does not say that they were loved or forgiven but that they for a time "escaped the pollutions of the world" (2 Pet. 2:20). That is, they had an external reformation of behaviour based on an intellectual knowledge of the word. Peter makes it crystal clear that these men were not united to Christ, regenerated, forgiven or saved because he says their natures were never, ever truly changed. He says, "But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit,' and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire" (2 Pet. 2:22). A dog and a pig act according to their own nature. One can wash a pig and make it clean, but a pig is a pig. It will return to wallowing in the mud—in disgusting filth—because that is what pigs do. The apostle is saying that people who apostatize, who return to their former lifestyle, never had an interior work of the Holy Spirit. They were never regenerated and united to Christ. Their natures were never changed. The apostle is, in fact, teaching that if we could look at the hearts of those who apostatized, "we would discover that at no time were they ever activated by a true love of God. They were all these while goats, and not sheep, ravening wolves, and not gentle lambs." In other words, the visible church contains not only real believers but also unsaved hypocrites... Again being an example " The Roman Catholic System The Papacy NOT her faithful flock!
Ephesians 2
English Standard Version
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
One in Christ
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus tHE Holy Spirit you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the tReE ~ Of LIFE, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,[d] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by[e] the Spirit.
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The Word BEing tHE Holy Spirit Became Flesh
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In the beginning, was tHE Word, and tHE Word was with God, and tHE Word was God. HE was at the beginning with God. all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and tHE life was tHE light of men. His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about tHE light, that all might believe through Him. I was not tHE light but came to bear witness about tHE light.
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tHE true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into tHE world. He was in tHE world, and tHE world was made through Him, yet tHE world did not know Him. HE came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, that gave the right to become children of God, who WEre born, not of blood nor of tHE will of tHE flesh nor of tHE will of man, but of God.
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And tHE Word became flesh and dWElt among us, and WE have seen His glory, glory as of tHE only Son from the Holy Spirit anD Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, “This was HE of whom I said, ‘HE who comes after ME ranks before ME because HE was before ME.’ ”) For from His fullness WE have all received, grace upon grace. For tHE law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; tHE only God, who is at tHE Father’s side, HE has made Him known.
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Sola Fide: The Erosion of The Chief Article
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Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. This is the article by which the church stands or falls. Today this article is often ignored, distorted or sometimes even denied by leaders, scholars, and pastors who claim to be evangelical. Although fallen human nature has always recoiled from recognizing its need for Christ's imputed righteousness, modernity greatly fuels the fires of this discontent with the biblical Gospel. We have allowed this discontent to dictate the nature of our ministry and what it is we are preaching.
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Many in the church growth movement believe that sociological understanding of those in the pew is as important to the success of the gospel as is the biblical truth which is proclaimed. As a result, theological convictions are frequently divorced from the work of the ministry. The marketing orientation in many churches takes this even further, erasing the distinction between the biblical Word and the world, robbing Christ's cross of its offence, and reducing Christian faith to the principles and methods which bring success to secular corporations.
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While the theology of the cross may be believed, these movements are actually emptying it of its meaning. There is no gospel except that of Christ's substitution in our place whereby God imputed to him our sin and imputed to us his righteousness. Because he bore our judgment, we now walk in his grace as those who are forever pardoned, accepted and adopted as God's children. There is no basis for our acceptance before God except in Christ's saving work, not in our patriotism, churchly devotion or moral decency. The gospel declares what God has done for us in Christ. It is not about what we can do to reach him.
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Why did JEs>US ChrISt need tHE Holy Spirit?
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As we make our way through the Gospel records, we quickly discover that Jesus needed the Holy Spirit at every step and in every stage of His life and ministry. While the human nature of Jesus was inseparably united to the Divine nature of the second Person of the Godhead, Jesus needed to live a perfectly sinless life in the power and by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It was not sufficient for Him--as the second Adam and representative of a new humanity--to merely live according to His Divine nature. What we need as fallen men is a human Redeemer who would gain human holiness for His people and would die a human death in their place. As was true for Adam so it was for Jesus--the Last Adam. The Savior needed the Holy Spirit to sustain and empower Him to obey His Father, even to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:10).
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Jesus needed the Holy Spirit in every act that took place in His life and for the work of redemption. The Holy Spirit had to overshadow the Virgin Mary at Jesus' incarnation (Luke 1:35); Christ needed the Spirit at His anointing for public ministry when John baptized Him (Matt. 3:16; Luke 3:22); He needed the Spirit when driven into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12); He needed the Spirit when casting out demons in order to establish the kingdom of God (Matt. 12:28); He needed the Spirit to enable Him to offer Himself without spot to God as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of His people (Heb. 9:14); and, He needed the Spirit to raise Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11). At every step in the Messianic ministry, Christ relied upon the Third Person of the Godhead.
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In his masterful work on The Holy Spirit, Sinclair Ferguson succinctly summarized the various stages in Jesus' life in which the Holy Spirit was at work:
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The Spirit who was present and active at Christ's conception as the head of the new creation, by whom He was anointed at baptism (John 1:32-34), who directed Him throughout His
temptations (Matthew 4:1), empowered Him in His miracles -
(Luke 11:20), energized Him in His sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14), and vindicated Him in His resurrection (1 Timothy 3:16; Romans 1:4), now indwells disciples in this specific identity.sSomewhat surprisingly, while theologians have righty devoted much time to unpacking and systematizing the biblical teaching about the two natures of Jesus, very little has actually been written--in a concentrated way--on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus. In addition to Ferguson's work, there is R.A. Finlayson's collection of short essays titled, Reformed Theological Writings, in which he contributed two short articles--"The Love of the Spirit in Man's Redemption" and "The Holy Spirit in the Life of Christ"--to flesh out the essence of this all-important aspect of Christology. However, it was John Owen, the Prince of the Puritan theologians, who has written what is arguably the most substantial treatment on this subject. In vol. 3 of his works, Owen set out eleven ways in which the Holy Spirit is said to have worked in the life and ministry of Jesus in the Scriptures:
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"First, the framing, forming, and miraculous conception of the body of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin was the peculiar and especial work of the Holy Ghost...2
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Second, the human nature of Christ is thus formed in the womb by a creating act of the Holy Spirit, was in the instant of its conception sanctified, and filled with grace according to the measure of its receptivity...3
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Third, the Spirit carried on that work whose foundation he had thus laid. And two things are to be here diligently observed:
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That the Lord Christ, as man, did and was to exercise all grace by the rational faculties and powers of his soul, his understanding, will, and affections; for he acted grace as a man, "made of a woman, made under the law."
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The human nature of Christ was capable of having new objects proposed to its mind and understanding, whereof before it had simple nescience...
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Fourth, the Holy Spirit, in a peculiar manner, anointed him with all those extraordinary powers and gifts which were necessary for the exercise and discharging of his office on the earth...4
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Fifth, it was in an especial manner by the power of the Holy Spirit he wrought those great and miraculous works whereby his ministry was attested unto and confirmed...5
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Sixth, by Him, was He guided, directed, comforted, supported, in the whole course of his ministry, temptations, obedience, and sufferings. A few instances on this head may suffice...6
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Seventh, He offered Himself up unto God through the eternal Spirit, Heb. 9:14...7
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Eighth, there was a peculiar work of the Holy Spirit towards the Lord Christ whilst he was in the state of the dead; for here our preceding rule must be remembered,--namely, that notwithstanding the union of the human nature of Christ with the divine person of the Son, yet the communications of God unto it, beyond subsistence, were voluntary...8
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Ninth, there was a peculiar work of the Holy Spirit in his resurrection, this being the completing act in laying the foundation of the church, whereby Christ entered into his rest,--the great testimony was given unto the finishing of the work of redemption, with the satisfaction of God therein, and his acceptation of the person of the Redeemer...9
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Tenth, it was the Holy Spirit that glorified the human nature [of Christ] and made it every way meet for its eternal residence at the right hand of God, and a pattern of the glorification of the bodies of them that believe on him...10
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There is yet another work of the Holy Spirit, not immediately in and upon the person of the Lord Christ, but towards him, and on his behalf, with respect unto his work and office; and it comprises the head and fountain of the whole office of the Holy Spirit towards the church. This was his witness-bearing unto the Lord Christ,--namely, that he was the Son of God, the true Messiah, and that the work which he performed in the world was committed unto him by God the Father to accomplish...
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The true church of God is SPIRITUAL. The Visible church is here on Earth>
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Which church—that is, which denomination of Christianity—is the “true church”? Which church is the one that God loves and cherishes and died for? Which church is His bride? The answer is that no visible church or denomination is the true church, because the bride of Christ is not an institution, but is instead a spiritual entity made up of those who have by grace through faith> PAST and PRESENT> Spiritually and Physically been brought into a close, intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9). Those people, no matter which building, denomination, or country they happen to be in, constitute the true church.
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In the Bible, we see that the local (or visible) church is nothing more than a gathering of professing believers. In Paul’s letters, the word church is used in two different ways. There are many examples of the word church being used to simply refer to a group of professing believers who meet together on a regular basis (1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 8:1; 11:28). We see Paul’s concern, in his letters, for the individual churches in various cities along his missionary journey. But he also refers to a church that is invisible—a spiritual entity that has close fellowship with Christ, as close as a bride to her husband (Ephesians 5:25, 32), and of which He is the spiritual head (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 3:21). This church is made up of an unnamed, unspecified group of individuals (Philippians 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:5) that have Christ in common.
The word church is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, meaning “a called-out assembly.” The word describes a group of people who have been called out of the world and set apart for the Lord, and it is always used, in its singular form, to describe a universal group of people who know Christ. The word ekklesia, when pluralized, is used to describe groups of believers who meet together. Interestingly enough, the word church is never used in the Bible to describe a building or organization.
It is easy to get ensnared by the idea that a particular denomination within Christianity is “the true church,” but this view is a misunderstanding of Scripture. When choosing a church to attend, it is important to remember that a gathering of believers should be a place where those who belong to the true church (the spiritual entity) feel at home. That is to say, a good local church will uphold the Word of God, honoring it and preaching faithfully, proclaim the gospel steadfastly, and feed and tend the sheep. A church that teaches heresy or engages in sin will eventually be very low on (or entirely bereft of) those people that belong to the true church—the sheep who hear the voice of the Shepherd and follow Him (John 10:27).
Members of the true church always enjoy agreement in and fellowship around Jesus Christ, as He is plainly revealed in His Word. This is what is referred to as Christian unity. Another common mistake is to believe that Christian unity is just a matter of agreeing with one another. Simple agreement for the sake of agreement does not speak the truth in love or spur one another on to unity in Christ; rather, it encourages believers to refrain from speaking difficult truths. It sacrifices true understanding of God in favor of a false unity based on disingenuous love that is nothing more than selfish tolerance of sin in oneself and others.
The true church is the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17) and the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 12:27). It cannot be contained, walled in, or defined by anything other than its love for Christ and its dedication to Him. The true church is, as C. S. Lewis put it, “spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. -
What does it mean that the church is the bride of Christ?
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The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the church. The church is comprised of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have received eternal life. Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride (Ephesians 5:25–27). Just as there was a betrothal period in biblical times during which the bride and groom were separated until the wedding, so is the bride of Christ separate from her Bridegroom during the church age. Her responsibility during the betrothal period is to be faithful to Him (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:24). At the rapture, the church will be united with the Bridegroom and the official “wedding ceremony” will take place and, with it, the eternal union of Christ and His bride will be actualized (Revelation 19:7–9; 21:1-2).
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In the eternal state, believers will have access to the heavenly city known as New Jerusalem, also called “the holy city” in Revelation 21:2 and 10. The New Jerusalem is not the church, but it takes on some of the church’s characteristics. In his vision of the end of the age, the apostle John sees the city coming down from heaven adorned “as a bride,” meaning that the city will be gloriously radiant and the inhabitants of the city, the redeemed of the Lord, will be holy and pure, wearing white garments of holiness and righteousness. Some have misinterpreted verse 9 to mean the holy city is the bride of Christ, but that cannot be because Christ died for His people, not for a city. The city is called the bride because it encompasses all who are the bride, just as all the students of a school are sometimes called “the school.”
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Believers in Jesus Christ are the bride of Christ, and we wait with great anticipation for the day when we will be united with our Bridegroom. Until then, we remain faithful to Him and say with all the redeemed of the Lord, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
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How is the church the Body of Christ?
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The phrase “the Body of Christ” is a common New Testament metaphor for the Church (all those who are truly saved). The Church is called “one body in Christ” in Romans 12:5, “one body” in 1 Corinthians 10:17, “the body of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 12:27 and Ephesians 4:12, and “the body” in Hebrews 13:3. The Church is clearly equated with “the body” of Christ in Ephesians 5:23 and Colossians 1:24.
When Christ entered our world, He took on a physical body “prepared” for Him (Hebrews 10:5; Philippians 2:7). Through His physical body, Jesus demonstrated the love of God clearly, tangibly, and boldly—especially through His sacrificial death on the cross (Romans 5:8). After His bodily ascension, Christ continues His work in the world through those He has redeemed—the Church now demonstrates the love of God clearly, tangibly, and boldly. In this way, the Church functions as “the Body of Christ.”
The Church may be called the Body of Christ because of these facts:
1) Members of the Body of Christ are joined to Christ in salvation (Ephesians 4:15-16).
2) Members of the Body of Christ follow Christ as their Head (Ephesians 1:22-23).
3) Members of the Body of Christ are the physical representation of Christ in this world. The Church is the organism through which Christ manifests His life to the world today.
4) Members of the Body of Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).
5) Members of the Body of Christ possess a diversity of gifts suited to particular functions (1 Corinthians 12:4-31). “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ” (verse 12).
6) Members of the Body of Christ share a common bond with all other Christians, regardless of background, race, or ministry. “There should be no division in the body, but . . . its parts should have equal concern for each other” (1 Corinthians 12:25).
7) Members of the Body of Christ are secure in their salvation (John 10:28-30). For a Christian to lose his salvation, God would have to perform an “amputation” on the Body of Christ!
8) Members of the Body of Christ partake of Christ’s death and resurrection (Colossians 2:12).
9) Members of the Body of Christ share Christ’s inheritance (Romans 8:17).
10) Members of the Body of Christ receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness (Romans 5:17). -
What does the Bible say about the form of church government?
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The Lord was very clear in His Word about how He wishes His church on earth to be organized and managed. First, Christ is the head of the church and its supreme authority (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). Second, the local church is to be autonomous, free from any external authority or control, with the right of self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations (Titus 1:5). Third, the church is to be governed by spiritual leadership consisting of two main offices—elders and deacons.
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“Elders” were a leading body among the Israelites since the time of Moses. We find them making political decisions (2 Samuel 5:3; 2 Samuel 17:4, 15), advising the king in later history (1 Kings 20:7), and representing the people concerning spiritual matters (Exodus 7:17; 24:1, 9; Numbers 11:16, 24-25). The early Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, used the Greek word presbuteros for “elder.” This is the same Greek word used in the New Testament that is also translated as “elder.”
The New Testament refers a number of times to elders who served in the role of church leadership (Acts 14:23, 15:2, 20:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14) and apparently, each church had more than one, as the word is usually found in the plural. The only exceptions refer to cases in which one elder is being singled out for some reason (1 Timothy 5:1, 19). In the Jerusalem church, elders were part of the leadership along with the apostles (Acts 15:2-16:4).
It seems that the position of the elder was equal to the position of episkopos, translated as “overseer” or “bishop” (Acts 11:30; 1 Timothy 5:17). The term elder may refer to the dignity of the office, while the term bishop/overseer describes its authority and duties (1 Peter 2:25, 5:1-4). In Philippians 1:1, Paul greets the bishops and deacons but does not mention the elders, presumably because the elders are the same as the bishops. Likewise, 1 Timothy 3:2, 8 gives the qualifications of bishops and deacons but not of elders. Titus 1:5-7 seems also to tie these two terms together.
The position of “deacon,” from diakonos, meaning “through the dirt,” was one of servant leadership to the church. Deacons are separate from elders while having qualifications that are in many ways similar to those of elders (1 Timothy 3:8-13). Deacons assist the church in whatever is needed, as recorded in Acts chapter 6.
Concerning the word poimen, translated “pastor” in reference to a human leader of a church, it is found only once in the New Testament, in Ephesians 4:11: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” Most associate the two terms “pastors” and “teachers” as referring to a single position, a pastor-teacher. It is likely that a pastor-teacher was the spiritual shepherd of a particular local church.
It would seem from the above passages that there was always a plurality of elders, but this does not negate God’s gifting particular elders with the teaching gifts while gifting others with the gift of administration, prayer, etc. (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11). Nor does it negate God’s calling them into a ministry in which they will use those gifts (Acts 13:1). Thus, one elder may emerge as the “pastor,” another may do the majority of visiting members because he has the gift of compassion, while another may “rule” in the sense of handling the organizational details. Many churches that are organized with a pastor and deacon board perform the functions of a plurality of elders in that they share the ministry load and work together in some decision making. In Scripture, there was also much congregational input into decisions. Thus, a “dictator” leader who makes the decisions (whether called elder, or bishop, or pastor) is unscriptural (Acts 1:23, 26; 6:3, 5; 15:22, 30; 2 Corinthians 8:19). So, too, is a congregation-ruled church that does not give weight to the elders’ or church leaders’ input.
In summary, the Bible teaches leadership consisting of a plurality of elders (bishops/overseers) along with a group of deacons who serve the church. But it is not contrary to this plurality of elders to have one of the elders serving in the major “pastoral” role. God calls some as “pastors/teachers” (even as He called some to be missionaries in Acts 13) and gives them as gifts to the church (Ephesians 4:11). Thus, a church may have many elders, but not all elders are called to serve in the pastoral role. But, as one of the elders, the pastor or “teaching elder” has no more authority in decision making than does any other elder. -
The New Testament gives clear direction for the Pastors or Elders of a church: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:2–4). Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, and pastors are the under-shepherds who follow the Lord’s example of eager servant leadership.
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Concerning the role of the pastor, the Bible says a great deal. The primary terms that describe the role of the pastor are “elder,” “bishop,” and “teacher” (1 Timothy 3:1-13). “Elder,” or episkopos (from which we get our word episcopal) refers to the oversight of the believers, and it involves teaching, preaching, caring, and exercising authority where needed. The elder also serves in the church as a leader and teacher. In Titus 1:5-9, Paul urges Titus to "appoint elders in every city." They will teach and lead the congregation in their spiritual development. Also, in 1 Peter 5:1-4, Peter addresses his "fellow elders" and tells them to "be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve" (v. 2).
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So concerning the role of the senior pastor, the Bible doesn’t address that title specifically. It has come into existence as the church has grown and required additional staff. The title of senior pastor refers to the person who primarily leads the church, generally doing the majority of the preaching and teaching in the pulpit at the services and overseeing the administration of the church. Some larger churches may even have an executive pastor who oversees the day-to-day operation of the church, while the senior pastor then would be responsible for working with the church board, along with the preaching, teaching, and counselling ministries that go with the role of pastor.
Every church, whether large or small, needs a pastor who will shepherd, lead, feed, and guide the people to spiritual growth and service for the Lord Jesus. In larger churches, a senior pastor often shepherds the pastoral team in addition to shepherding the congregation. As a result, a senior pastor should be held to an even higher standard of an agreement to 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:6-9 than other pastoral roles.
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🎺 The Exodus. The very word invokes an epic tale of Pharaohs and Israelites, plagues and miracles, the splitting of the sea, the drowning of an army, Moses and revelation. The story is at the very heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After six years of research, working with archeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and theologians, Simcha Jacobovici came to the groundbreaking conclusion that the Exodus took place hundreds of years earlier than previously thought. With this new timetable in hand, Jacobovici and his colleagues re-examined long ignored archeological artifacts and uncovered the truth about the Exodus and the Egyptian dynasty that ruled at the time. The producers teamed up with some of the world’s most accomplished special effects designers to create a unique digital, organic experience of the Exodus. Blending archeological findings with modern eye-catching effects, Jacobovici built a virtual museum to showcase his discoveries.
Sola Fide: The Erosion of The Chief Article
Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. This is the article by which the church stands or falls. Today this article is often ignored, distorted, or sometimes even denied by leaders, scholars, and pastors who claim to be evangelical. Although fallen human nature has always recoiled from recognizing its need for Christ's imputed righteousness, modernity greatly fuels the fires of this discontent with the biblical Gospel. We have allowed this discontent to dictate the nature of our ministry and what it is we are preaching.
In John 8:12 Jesus applies the title to himself while debating with the Jews and states: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life : When I am in the world "I am the Light of the World".
🎺 Stephen Bohr 🎺
"Well done Stephen"! "Our Lords Good and Faithful, Servant" Also Our Angel Of Israel ~ Shining The Bright Light and Leading The Way. 🎺
Pastor Stephen Bohr has spent his life in mission service, dedicated decades in ministry, and his deep theological research is ongoing. His love for the Lord is the driving force behind his commitment to spreading the cutting edge gospel message for these last days with clarity and power. On this page you can access his presentation series on the sanctuary with accompanying pdf study guides.
Pastor Bohr was born in Wisconsin but grew up in Venezuela and Colombia where his parents served as missionaries for over 30-years. His heavy speaking schedule has taken him literally around the world. He is also the author of Worship At Satan’s Throne, Hidden Sabbath Truths, Prophecy’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Taken or Left?, Futurism’s Incredible Journey, The Truth About The Number 666, Reflections on Women’s Ordination, and one in Spanish, Esperanza Para el Planeta Tierra.
Retired from his 40 years of denominational work Pastor Bohr has served as a local church pastor, university theology teacher, conference youth/Pathfinder director, ministerial secretary and evangelist. He is now full-time President/Speaker of Secrets Unsealed. He is also fluent in Spanish and has a variety of topics available in both languages. His 52-part groundbreaking series Cracking The Genesis Code is the result of over 14 years of in-depth studies. In addition, Pastor Bohr teaches a seminary-level course of study for our ANCHOR School of Theology class in Fresno, California on the fundamentals of Seventh-day Adventist theology. His wife, Aurora, is from Colombia, and they have two grown children, Stephen and Jennifer.
Many of his presentations can be seen on SUMTV (Secrets Unsealed Ministry TV) the satellite channels of 3ABN, 3ABN Proclaim, 3ABN Latino, Amazing Facts TV (AFTV), HopeTV, And FirstLight TV in NZ and others also on our YouTube.com/secretsunsealed channel, Facebook and all IPTV channels which include: Roku, MYSDATV, AppleTV. Download the free SUMTV app for iPhone & Android devices. Your spiritual walk with the Lord will be strengthened and grounded in Biblical truths, and our prayer is that many souls will be in God’s kingdom as a direct result of the ministry of Secrets Unsealed.
Our Mission Statement: Secrets Unsealed is a legally incorporated non-profit organization 501(c)3 which is committed to upholding, proclaiming and multiplying the unique end-time Present Truth message which God has entrusted to the Seventh-day Adventist Church to proclaim to the world. Ever conscious of the sacredness of God’s holy truth, we hold high and without apology or compromise all the fundamental teachings of the Bible as well as the distinctive beliefs of our beloved Seventh-day Adventist Church.
🎺 The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is a coalition of pastors, scholars, and churchmen who hold the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith and who proclaim biblical doctrine in order to foster a Reformed awakening in today's Church.
The Alliance’s history stretches back over 70 years. The Alliance began as Evangelical Ministries in 1949 when Donald Barnhouse, with the encouragement of Dr. C. Everett Koop, was approached by a major network to pioneer a coast-to-coast ministry. Soon after the first broadcast of The Bible Study Hour aired introducing Dr. Barnhouse’s monumental study of Romans, a series which ran its 455 messages for over a decade.
What Do We Mean by the Name Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals?
The Alliance is a broad coalition of evangelical pastors, scholars, and churchmen from various denominations, including Baptist, Congregational (Independent), Anglican (Episcopal), Presbyterian, Reformed, and Lutheran who hold the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith and who proclaim biblical doctrine in order to foster a Reformed awakening in today's Church. The purpose of the Alliance’s existence is to call the Church, amidst a dying culture, to repent of its worldliness, to recover and confess the truth of God’s Word as did the reformers, and to see that truth embodied in doctrine, worship, and life.
The Cambridge Declaration
In April 1996, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals held its first major meeting of evangelical scholars. The Cambridge Declaration, first presented at this meeting, is a call to the evangelical church to turn away from the worldly methods it has come to embrace and to recover the Biblical doctrines of the Reformation. The Cambridge Declaration explains the importance of regaining adherence to the five "solas" of the Reformation.
in Catalan in Chinese en Espanol in German en Romanian
Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms
The Alliance stands firmly on the Bible—God's inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word—as the final rule for all faith and practice. Because we represent a cross section of confessional evangelicalism, we look to historic documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Lutheran Book of Concord as accurate summaries of the key teachings of the Christian faith.
Broadcasts
Broadcasts are the best means to acquaint a wide and varied audience with the Alliance’s message and goals. Listening requires no initial commitment, providing a risk-free way for almost anyone to be introduced to reformed theology and consider its implications. The Alliance currently produces several broadcasts.
Events
As crucial as broadcast and publishing are to the fulfillment of the Alliance’s mission, they can never substitute for the kind of person-to-person contact that events provide. They encourage Alliance members by assuring them that they are not alone and by allowing them to make contact with other conference-goers and speakers. These contacts often bear unexpected fruit. Consequently, the Alliance is committed to a variety of national and regional gatherings.
Publishing
Publishing offers the Alliance a different way to address the concerns that led Alliance members to form the ministry. Because it allows people to stop and think about what they are considering, the printed page enables and encourages them to think critically in a way that audio and visual media might not. Internet and print periodicals are generally a gateway to more serious reading.
When were the 28 Fundamental Beliefs Established and Modified? MAR 07 2022
In 1889 the essential standards were officially published (they were not called beliefs at that point). They were originally figured in 1872. Adventists were eager to standardize and begin to build up a doctrine that would convict individuals and their beliefs as far back as 1861.
Where Did The 28 Fundamental Beliefs Come From?
Seventh-day Adventists acknowledge the Bible as their lone conviction and hold the fundamental beliefs as teachings of the Bible. These beliefs, as represented here, structure the comprehension of the Church and its interpretation of scriptural teaching.
These beliefs are revised/ inspected at the General Conference session when alledgibaly > the Holy Spirit > drives the Church to help better the language that will communicate the teachings of God.
How do the 28 Fundamentals Apply to Daily life?
The 28 core beliefs portray the official situation of the congregation of Adventists. They are not criteria for membership. The Bible instructs us (on a fundamental level) and the bible is a guide for our lives, our values, and our connections.
How do the 28 fundamental beliefs work with the bible?
This Bible is always above the 28 fundamental beliefs. The beliefs are derived from the bible and are used to guide Adventists in their day to day life. Not necessarily to read every day nor to study.
1. The Bible:
The Adventist beliefs that the Bible is the composed expression of God, which was exhibited by divine motivation by the holy righteous men who talked and composed when the Holy Spirit transmitted them. God has depended on the man with the information important for salvation. The Bible is the reliable revelation of his will. It is the standard of personality, the experience of understanding, the revelation of authentic conventions, and the dependable record of God’s activities ever.
2. Trinity: There is just a single God:
Trinity is another belief among the 28 fundamentals. It is a symbol of adventism. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the solidarity of three eternal individuals. God - JesUS is unfading, amazing, skillful, or more all constantly present. He is boundless and out of human seeing, yet he is known through his book of revelation. He never has the privilege to be adored, venerated, and served all through the total of creation.
3. The Father:
God, the Eternal Father, is the creator, source, adequacy, and sway of all creation. He is a HHoly, caring and liberal, slow to outrage and bounteous in immovable love and commitment. The traits and forces shown in the Son, and the Holy Spirit is likewise the revelation of the Father.
4. The Son:
God, the Eternal Son, was manifested in JesUS Christ. Because of this, all things were made, the personality of God was uncovered, salvation for humanity is cultivated, and the world is judged. Everlastingly genuinely God, he likewise transformed into a genuine man, JesUS Christ. It was about the Holy Spirit and was conceived of the Virgin Mary. He lived and experienced allurement as a human being, yet he was a perfect case of equity and the adoration for God. Through his supernatural occurrences, he manifested himself in the intensity of God and affirmed that he is the Christ whom God had guaranteed.
5. The Holy Spirit:
The seventh day adventist beliefs in the Trinity. God, the Eternal Spirit, was dynamic with the Father and the Son in creation, manifestation, and recovery. It motivated the Bible. He filled Christ’s life with quality. Draw and censure human creatures. Furthermore, the individuals who react will reestablish and change themselves in the picture of God. The Father and the Son sent him to be with his CHILDren, to expand the spiritual blessings of the church, to empower them to hold up under observer to Christ and in agreement with the Bible driving them to all reality.
6. Creation:
Creation is also among the 28 fundamental beliefs. God is the creator of everything, and he uncovered in the Bible the legitimate record of his inventive action. In six days, the Lord made “paradise and earth” and each living thing on earth, and laid it on the seventh day of that first week. Hence, he built up the Sabbath as a permanent token of his completed imaginative work. The principal people were made in the picture of God as the delegate of creation, with sway over the world, and accused of dealing with it.
7. The nature of man:
This is another belief among the 28 fundamentals.. Man and woman are made in the picture of God with independence, quality, the opportunity of thought and restoration. Despite the creation of free creatures, all of them are indistinguishable from the solidarity of body, psyche, and spirit, and rely upon God forever, Holy Spirit >breath, and fOR everything else. At the point whEN AdAM & EvE resisted God, they denied their reliance on him and tumbled from their incomparable situation under God. The picture of God was in them and weRE subject to death.
8. Great controversy:
The whole of humanity is presently engaged with a great discussion among Christ and satan concerning the personality, law and power of God over the universe. This battle rose in paradise when it transformed into a se >RePENT, with the opportunity of decision, in the self-glorification of satan, the adversary of God, and incited the resistance of a portion of the heavenly attendants. He exhibited the spirit of insubordination right now. He drove Adam and Eve into transgression. In perspective on all inventiveness, this world has become the field of a world-class, of which the God of adoration will at long last be perceived.
9. The life, death, and resurrection of Christ:
In the life of Christ, all-out submission to the desire of God, to torment, to death and the resurrection, God gave the best way to offer reparations for man’s transgression, with the goal that the individuals who acknowledge this penance in putting stock in eternal life and all creation can more readily comprehend the vast and sacrosanct love of the Creator. The death of Christ is a remote other option, compromise, and transformation.
10. The salvation:
The adventist beliefs in salvation. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we feel our need, recognize our wrongdoings, at one of our offenses, and practice confidence in Jesus as Lord and Christ, another option and model. This confidence that gets salvation originates from the celestial intensity of the word and is a blessing from the beauty of God. Through Christ, we have a legitimization, we are immersed as sons and little girls of God, and we are spared from the standard of wrongdoing.
11. Development in Christ:
By his death on the cross iN FACT ACTually BEing tHE tREe oF liFE, JesUS triumphed over the powers of fiendish. Whoever stifled the underhanded spirits during his common assistance broke their capacity and guaranteed their last death. The triumph of Jesus gives us to triumph over the powers of fiendish, which consistently hopes to control us, and we stroll with him in harmony, bliss, and the assertion of his adoration. Presently the Holy Spirit stays in us and permits us. Focused on Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are liberated from the weight of our past activities.
12. The church:
The church is the system of believers who perceive JES<in>US Christ as Lord and Savior. Incoherence with the individuals of God at the hour of the Old Testament, we are called from the world; we join for adoration, cooperation, teaching in the Word, to praise the Lord’s Supper, to serve all mankind and for the intense decree far and wide. The church draws its power from JES<in>US Christ who is the Word in essence, and from the Bible, which is the composed word. The church is the group of Christs, a system of confidence in which Christ himself is the head.
13. The rest and its message:
The general church is composed of all who put stock in JES<in>US Christ, yet in the most recent days, a time of great abandonment has been called to save the commandments of God and the confidence of JesUS. This rest reports the appearance of the Hour of Judgment, pronounces salvation through Christ, and declares the appearance of his subsequent coming. Each believer is called to assume a personal activity at this moment.
14. Solitude in the assortment of JES<in>US Christ:
The Church is a solitary body that incorporates many individuals, called from each country, guardians, language, and individuals. In JES<in>US Christ we are another creation. The contrasts between race, culture, learning and nationality, the contrasts among highs and lows, the rich and needy people, people, ought not to be shared between us. We are for the most part equivalent in JES<in>US Christ, who has connected a Spirit to association with Him and with each other. We serve and serve without inclination or reservation. This solidarity has its cause in the solidarity of God the Trinity, which He embraced for us as His children.
15. Baptism:
By baptism, we perceive our confidence in the resurrection, following the death of JES<in>US Christ and affirm that we have kicked the bucket of wrongdoing and that we must stroll in the advancement of life. In this way, we perceive that Christ is the Lord and Savior, that his kin become, and we get them as a church as individuals. Baptism is an image of our association with JES<in>US Christ, the absolution of our wrongdoings, and our gathering of the Holy Spirit. It is inundated in water and relies upon affirmation of confidence in JES<in>US Christ and confirmation of apology from transgression. Adhere to the guidelines of the Bible and acknowledge their teachings.
16. The Lord’s Supper:
The Lord’s Supper is a sharing of the mottos of the body and blood of Jesus as a surge of confidence in Him, our Lord, and Savior. At this moment of fellowship, Christ is prepared to meet and fortify his kin. By taking an interest, we blissfully declare the Lord’s death until he returns. Preparation for supper incorporates self-assessment, repentance, and admissions.
17. Endowments and spiritual services:
God awards to all the ELECt individuals from his SpirituAL church all the spiritual blessings that each part utilizes in the administration of adoration for the benefit of all the VISable church and humanity. These blessings are allowed by the Holy SpirIT, which is conveyed to each part however they see fit, endowments that give the total of the limits and services that the church needs to satisfy its IMperfect capacities.
18. The endowment of prophecy:
One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This blessing is a hallmark of the surviving church, and it was clear in the Ellen ministry. C. White. As a Messenger of the Lord, his writings are a source of continuous and reliable truth that provides comfort, direction, teaching, and correction in the visABLE church. It also shows that the Bible is the standard to be tested in teaching and teaching.
19. God’s law:
The high principles of the laws of God are epitomized in the 10 Commandments of God, and they are represented in Christ’s life. They express the love of God, His will, and purpose for human behavior and relationships, and they bind all people of all ages. These principles are the basis of God’s covenant with his people and the norm in the judgment of God.
20. Sabbath:
The seventh day adventist beliefs in the sabbath. The beneficial Creator, after six days of creation, rested on the seventh day and established the Sabbath for all people in remembrance of creation. The unchanging fourth commandment of the law of God requires the observance of this seventh Saturday, a day of rest, worship, and service in harmony with the teachings and practice of Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath. Saturday is a day of cheerful communion with God and with NATURE.
21. Supervision:
We are the leaders of God, to whom are entrusted the time and the opportunities, the capacities, and the possessions, as well as the blessings of the earth and its resources. We are responsible to him for the best possible use. Supervision is a benefit granted by God to cultivate love and overcome selfishness and covetousness. The representative welcomes the blessings that come to others because of his sincerity.
22. Christian behavior:
We are called to be divine people who think, feel, and act according to the principles of heaven. In the request for the soul to restore the personality of our Lord in us, we only engage in those things that will produce Christian’s purity, health and delight in our lives. In addition to exercise and adequate rest, we must follow the healthiest eating regimen possible and abstain from unclean foods specified in the Bible.
23. Marriage and family:
Divine marriage was established in Eden, and JES<in>US Christ was assured of being a lifelong union between a man and a woman in a loving company. For a Christian, the commitment to marriage is for God as well as for the husband, and it should be concluded only between partners who share a common faith. God blesses the family and hears that their members help each other towards full maturity. Parents must raise their children to love and obey the Lord. One of the characteristics of the last Gospel message is increased family proximity.
24. Serve Christ in the heavenly sanctuary:
There is a paradise in Heaven, the genuine abode of the Lord, not man. In Christ, JES<in>US Christ serves in our name, while making available to believers the benefits of his penitential sacrifice once offered on the trEE oF LIFE. He was inaugurated as our esteemed priest, and his intercession service began when he ascended. He explains that thoSE among the living who dwell in JES<in>US Christ, keep the commandments of God and the faith of JesUS, and thus are ready to be translated into his eternal kingdom. This judgment justifies God’s justice by saving those who believe in JES<in>US Christ the completion of this service to Christ will be a sign of the careful observation of humanity before the second coming.
25. The second coming of JES<in>US Christ:
The second coming of Christ is the blessed expectation of the church at the summit of the Great Gospel. oUR Savior will come, personally, visually, and all over the world. When he returns, the righteous dead will be raised, celebrated with the great and fixed in heaven, yet the righteous will pass on.
26. Death and resurrecting
Death is usually the wages of sinning. Be that as it may, God, who is alone and immortal, is the giver of everlasting life through salvation. To this day, death refers to the unconscious state of everyone. When Christ appears, the righteous and the living will be raised to meet their Lord. The second resurrection, the resurrection of the wicked, will come after a thousand years.
27. The millennium and the end of sin:
The millennium is also embraced in adventism. It is the millennial reign of JES<in>US Christ with his saints in heaven between the first and second resurrection. Meanwhile, the dead villains will be judged. The Earth would be completely deserted, without the human population, yet would be occupied by satan and his angels ~ deceivERS. At its end, JES<in>US Christ with his saints and the Holy city will descend from heaven to earth. The brave dead will then be raised, and with Satan and his angels, they will surround the city.
28. New Earth:
On the new earth, in which justice resides, God will give an eternal home to the faithful and the ideal environment for eternal life, love, happiness, and learning in his presence. Because here, God lives with his people, and suffering and death will be gone. All things, moving and inanimate, will declare that God is love, and he will manage forever. aMEN
Who Is the Holy Spirit? – 5 Things You Need to Know
Invisible, perhaps, but real. The Holy Spirit is probably the least understood person of the Trinity. Among the myths and the mistaken concepts that are shared, He has been described as a force, a ghost, and a second-class or replacement god. He is confused with the manifestations themselves and has even been presented as an incidental figure that appears momentarily. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is vital for the church to know the Spirit, learn to relate to Him, and understand how He manifests Himself.
Let's take a look at who the Holy Spirit is.
1. The Holy Spirit is a person.
Being a person, the Holy Spirit has feelings. He can become sad or angry, and others can insult Him and blaspheme against Him (Is 63:10; Mt 12:31; Ac 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 10:29).
Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. - Isaiah 63:10
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. - Matthew 12:31
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! - Acts 7:51
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. - Ephesians 4:30
How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? - Hebrews 10:29
2. He has intentions, shows willfulness and discretion, loves, communicates, testifies, teaches, and prays (Neh 9:20; Jn 15:26; Ac 13:2; Rm 8:26,27; 15:30; 1Co 12:11). These are qualities that distinguish Him as a person.
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. - Nehemiah 9:20
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. - John 15:26
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” - Acts 13:2
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. - Romans 8:26-27
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. - Romans 15:30
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. - 1 Corinthians 12:11
The Holy Spirit
was present during each stage of Christ’s life. When the angel appeared to Mary, the mother of Jesus, he declared: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Lk 1:35).
Later on, at the baptism of Jesus, which marked the beginning of His public ministry, the Holy Spirit was present and, on this occasion, could be seen in material form. “When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him” (Mt 3:16). During His ministry, Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit and had a relationship with Him. Furthermore, He urged His disciples to receive Him in their lives.
3. The Holy Spirit Works in the Lives of Believers
Jesus put a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit. He was the subject of intense prayer: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know Him because he remains with you and will be in you” (Jn 14:16-17). The Lord mentions two points: the Holy Spirit was already real and He was about to come. At that time, the Spirit dwelled with the disciples, but they lacked having Him in them. If the Spirit of God was so important to the life of Jesus, how much more so for the lives of the believers!
The Holy Spirit is an important figure throughout the Bible. In Genesis 1:2, we find Him moving about the surface of the waters, and in Revelation 22:17, He and the bride cry with one voice. From beginning to end, the Holy Spirit has always been active: In the beginning, creating, and at the end of the story, tending to us. He comforts us, helps us, guides us, reminds us, teaches us, comes alongside us, counsels us, and intercedes and advocates for us. There is no area of life in which the believer does not need the help of the Holy Spirit.
"Without a life full of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to build the body of Christ."
A gospel with no emphasis on the Holy Spirit is flat. In certain moments, when there was a special manifestation of God, the New Testament emphatically states that the partakers were filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the experience of many: John the Baptist was full of the Spirit in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:15); Elizabeth when Mary greeted her (Lk 1:41); and Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, when he prophesied (Lk 1:67). Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, was led by the same Spirit into the desert (Lk 4:1). The disciples were filled with the Spirit in the upper room, and Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood up to preach on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:14). The young Stephen, full of the Spirit, saw the glory of God when he was stoned (Ac 7:55-56); and Paul, inspired by the Spirit, rebuked a sorcerer (Ac 13:9-11).
There is no doubt that in the church a life filled with the Holy Spirit should be the norm. The filling of the Holy Spirit was even a requirement for serving in the church. Without a life full of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to build the body of Christ, and we end up limiting God’s work in our lives.
4. The Holy Spirit Works in the World through Evangelism
Jesus affirmed in John 16:8: “When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.” The Lord used the legal term “convict” in order to highlight that, even if a man can point out an error, it is the Spirit that brings conviction of sin. He shows the offence, reveals the foolishness of the sin, points out the consequences, convinces of guilt, and leads the sinner to repentance. He is the church’s greatest ally in its evangelizing effort. Without the help and the filling of the Spirit, the evangelistic task of the church will fail.
Referring to the Holy Spirit, The emphasis on the Holy Spirit does not come from any religious organization in particular, but from Christ Himself. When the disciples asked the Lord about the future, Christ’s answer was emphatic: “He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Ac 1:7-8).
"In order to receive the power of God, one does not need a religious formula, but rather a relationship with a person."
In Acts 1:7, Jesus points out what the disciples are not to know, but in verse 8, the emphasis is placed on what they are to know. With the adversative word “but,” Jesus brings the off-track attention of the disciples to the primary concern at hand: they would “receive power.” However, this depended on the Holy Spirit’s coming to them. Perhaps they did not know this person of the Trinity very well, but the idea of receiving power must have caught all of their attention. For over three years, these men had been witnesses of the continual manifestation of God’s power through Jesus, and now the doors were being opened for them to access this power that they had so admired.
In order to receive the power of God, one does not need a religious formula, but rather a relationship with a person. When a farmer grows crops, his desire is to receive its fruit, but his relationship is with the plant. It is the plant that the farmer sows, waters, and takes care of, even though he is waiting for the fruit. He knows that, without the plant, there will be no fruit. The disciples also desired the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but for that, it was necessary for them to relate to Him as a person. Before seeing the divine manifestation, the believer will learn to love, serve, adore, and respect the Spirit, wait in Him and form a relationship with Him.
5. The Power of the Holy Spirit Changes Lives
Acts clearly states how to recognize someone that is full of the Spirit: “You will be My witnesses” (1:8). Love is a distinguishing mark of the disciples while being a witness distinguishes those who are full of the Spirit. It does not matter how many spiritual experiences one may have, whoever does not testify of Christ does not show evidence of being filled by the Spirit.
If we analyze what Paul says in Galatians 3:2—“I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?”— we realize that this is a rhetorical question; no one receives the Holy Spirit based on what they do. We experience salvation freely; there is no reason to relate to God differently in our experience with the Holy Spirit. It is also a grace-based experience. In the same way that we receive Christ without doubting whether He will enter our lives or not, we should receive the Holy Spirit by faith and believe that He will respond to our requests without delay.
Jesus skillfully expresses the essence of this experience: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:13).
History of the Papacy: JA Wylie The Papacy Its History Dogmas Genius and Prospects
"This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it."
Preface to People's Edition The compilation of a Synopsis and classified Index has made it necessary for the author to re-read his work after an interval of thirty years. The perusal has fully satisfied him that the book is every whit as adapted to the present position of the popish controversy, the whole extent of which it covers, as it was when first published. Since then, it is true, two important dogmas have been promulgated from the papal chair; the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854), and the Infallibility of the Pope (1870) ; but these decrees are rather the official ratification of what had been for centuries the teaching of Popes and popish doctors, than the importation of new elements into the question calling for a readjustment of the argument. The loss of the temporal sovereignty, which has also befallen the Papacy since the first publication of this volume, is an event of graver consequence. But let it be borne in mind that it is the temporal sovereignty, not the temporal power, which the Papacy has lost; it is its paltry Italian kingship of which it has been stripped; not the temporal and spiritual supremacy of Christendom. Temporal power is a root prerogative of the Papacy. With or without his crown, the Pope, so long as he exists, will be a Great Temporal Power. What signifies it that a small branch of this tree has been lopped off, while the trunk still stands erect, nay, is even stronger than before? Freed as it now is from the scandals, political and moral, which were attendant on its government of the Papal States, the Papacy is now in a better position for prosecuting its cherished aim, which is to be the supreme arbiter in all international disputes. It seeks, in short, to become President of a great European Council, in which kings and nations shall await its decisions, and be pledged to carry out its behests, peaceably if possible, by arms if necessary. From being the moral dictator of Christendom, it is but a little step to being, as the Papacy was once before, its armed ruler and head. Will the reader pardon a word about the history of the book, and its Continental experiences? When the German translation appeared (Elberfeld, 1853), the Romanists of the Continent welcomed it with a chorus of anathemas. L'Univers of Paris cursed it energetically. The journalists of the Rhine were equally wroth. Without naming either the book or its author, they made their readers aware that a crime of fearful atrocity had been committed, which called loudly for punishment by the sword. We give a specimen: -- "A very shameful book has lately been printed and published in Elberfeld by William Hassell, consisting of thirty-six sheets, and in which Popery and the Catholic religion are exposed as a work of Satan and a restoration of old heathenish idolatry, and a cunning delusive invention of the Pope and the Catholic priesthood as the mother of revolutions and communism. From beginning to end, with the same cool deliberation, it consists of lies, injuries, and abuses, which have from time to time been brought against the Pope and the Catholic religion, heaped together and made into one compact whole. The most unheard-of violence offered, and the holiest of the Catholics scorned and derided. The rulers of the country are exhorted throughout to observe how the Catholic religion causes the destruction of every State, and how the Catholic priesthood is even now endeavoring to exercise unbearable tyranny and cruelty over princes and people. . . . The Catholic Church in Prussia is a lawful safeguard against such calumnies, and the abuse of the Catholic religion is provided for in its penal laws." Rheimsches Kirchenblatt, Cologne. In an article on the above in the Witness of Nov. 20, 1853, we find Hugh Miller saying: -- "The editor of this paper gave expression long ago in its columns to his admiration of Mr. Wylie's masterly work on the Papacy --a work which has since been extensively spread over Protestant Europe. . . . Still, however, his decision was that of a personal friend of the author, and the various favorable critiques which bore out his estimate of its merits were at least Protestant critiques. Our present testimony respecting it must be recognized as above suspicion; it comes from Popery itself, and we find that Popery regards it as a dangerous work, suited to do the Catholic religion great injury and that penal laws furnish the only effectual instruments for dealing with and answering it." Dr. Graham, in his volume, The Jordan and the Rhine, says: -- "This work has, at last, made its appearance in the German language. . . .The Papists are up on all sides, not to reply but to denounce, not to reason and answer, but to invoke the civil power. They never name the book lest an inquiring Papist should be inclined to purchase it. In Cologne no bookseller would take charge of it --Papist or Protestant. The argument is very sharp and severe, but the reason is led captive, and the infinite superstition dissected with a master's hand. It will confirm the wavering and strengthen the weak. May the Lord grant His blessing to it as a means of counteracting the idolatries and idolatrous tendencies of the age." Enormous recent Papal Advances. Since the first publication of this work, the Papacy has made enormous strides to temporal dominion and spiritual supremacy in our country.
1. The public administration of the empire, which up till 1850 was almost purely Protestant, has since been largely Romanized.
2. The Papal Hierarchy has been established in both England and Scotland, and the ordinary machinery of Rome's government is in full operation over the whole kingdom.
3. The empire has been divided into dioceses, with the ordinary equipment of chapters and provincial synods in each, for bringing canon law to the door of every Romanist, and governing him in his social relations, his political acts, and his religious duties. 4. The staff of the Romish Church has been trebled. 5. In Scotland alone there has been an increase of 216 priests, 250 chapels, 15 monasteries, and 34 convents.
6. The priests of Rome have been introduced into our army and navy, into our prisons and poor-houses, reformatories, and hospitals, thus converting these departments of the State into a ministration of Romanism.
7. The annual sum paid as salaries, etc., to the Popish priesthood approaches a million and a half, making Popery one of the endowed faiths of the nation.
8. Considerable progress has been made in the work of breaking down the national system of education and replacing the board schools with denominational schools in which the teaching shall be Romish.
9. The annual grants to such schools in England and Scotland have now risen to £200,000. Thousands of Protestant children attend them, and are being instructed in the tenets of Popery, and familiarized with Romish rites.
10. Two-thirds of the youth of Ireland are being educated by monks and nuns, at a cost to the country of £700,000 yearly.
11. Ritualism has grown into power in England. In many of the national churches, the ceremonial of the Mass is openly celebrated, crucifixes and Madonnas are frequent, auricular confession is practiced, the dead are supplicated, and new-constructed cathedrals are arranged on the foregone conclusion that Popery is to be the future religion of Great Britain.
12. All the great offices of State (the English wool-sack and the throne excepted), closed against Romanists in the Catholic Emancipation Act, have been opened to them.
13. The oath of the Royal Supremacy has been abolished.
14. The words "being Protestant" have been dropped from the oath of allegiance.
15. The most brilliant post under the Crown, the viceroyalty of India, has been held by a Papist, and maybe so again.
16. An avowed Romanist sits in the Cabinet, with more, it may be, to follow. 17. Cardinal Manning has had precedence given him next to the Royal family, a step towards the like precedence being given to Popish over Anglican Protestant bishops. 18. A special Envoy has been sent with congratulations to the Pope on the occasion of his jubilee, and a nuncio has in return been received at Court from Leo XIII. 19. There is serious talk of re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican; 20. And, mirabile dictu! the project has been broached of restoring the Pope's temporal sovereignty: and the idea is being agitated, although it must be plain to all that it cannot be carried out without overthrowing the kingdom of Italy and plunging the nations of Europe into war. These are great strides towards grasping the government of the British empire. And all this has been done despite the warning testimony of the nations around us which Popery has destroyed, and in disregard of the unanswered demonstration of a modern statesman -- That to become a subject of the Pope is to surrender one's "moral and mental freedom;" And incapacitate one's self for yielding "loyalty" to the Queen, and "civil duty" to the State. If the end of this policy shall be good, HISTORY is a senile babbler, and PROPHECY is but the Sibyl.
HELP US TO SPREAD OUR
LOVE AND FAITH TRUE TO THE BIBLE
🎺 The Garden of Eden ~ https://www.adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org/ ORIGINAL ~ cHURCH From Where God Preached.
In verse 15, humans were placed in the Garden of Eden and instructed to 'work it and take care of it'. In other words, God has given us the responsibility to act as stewards of his creation – to care for, manage, oversee and protect all that God owns!!!!!?
🎺 If you can just take a moment to think ~ Can anyone even imagine how God felt when Jesus was crucified hanging there on a tree oF LiFE and his near last words “at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Mark 15:34 At that point Yeshua was full of the WORLD'S SIN and our Father being Holier than Holy could not answer His Son as he slowly painfully fell asleep. You see The Father can not forgive his Son or Children until they now repent and pray for forgiveness then turn their lives around and truly "BELIEVE" in the coming resurrection and the 2nd coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, Yeshua The Christ Amen.
🎺 This should be a message to all Jews in confirmation of Yeshua as the true Messiah. The below is a historical account of what happened to the Roman leaders from Yeshua's crucifixion to approximately 300 years later and the establishment of Emperor Constantine. I would suggest Constantine and his advisers were aware of the history and premature demise of his predecessors. So he cunningly led by satan brought pagan worship and their gods into his form of Christianity! 🎺 And we all should know where it all led if not please click my Facebook?
The Pharisees / Sanhedrin were not to blame as their hearts were waxed cold and their eyes closed by God, so as the 300 Prophecies throughout the Bible would before filled. However, they still should NOT have allowed this to happen. They were indeed punished by way of the destruction and taking away of their Temple in 70AD. They were not to be trusted anymore So Yeshua HIMself has taken charge of tHE InvisAble cHURCH with selected members Elect and HaNd pickED Ambassadors. Amen ... God would indeed take revenge for the treatment and Martyrdom of the Jewish ~ Christians. Come Judgement Day all will be corrected ~ So Therefore Yeshua is The Promised Messiah; He is the long-awaited for by the Jews. It may have taken 300 years or so to expel and to act revenge on the Romans, but it is but a blink of an eye to the Eternal.
At the first preaching of Christ and coming of the gospel, who should rather have known and received him than the Pharisees and scribes of that people, which had his law? And yet who persecuted and rejected him more than they themselves? What followed? They, in refusing Christ to be their King, and choosing rather be subject unto Cæsar, were by the said their own Cæsar at length destroyed; when as Christ's subjects the same time escaped the danger. Whereby it is to be learned what a dangerous thing it is to refuse the gospel of God when it is so gently offered.
The like example of God's wrathful punishment is to be noted no less in the Romans also themselves. For when Tiberius Cæsar, having received by letters from Pontius Pilate of the doings of Christ, of his miracles, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and how he was received as God of many, was himself also moved with the belief of the same, and did confer thereof with the whole senate of Rome to have Christ adored as God; they, not agreeing thereunto, refused him, because that, contrary to the law of the Romans, he was consecrated (said they) for God before the senate of Rome had so decreed and approved him. Thus the vain senate, following rather the law of man than of God, and which were contented with the emperor to reign over them, and were not contented with the meek King of glory, the Son of God, to be their King, were after much like the sort to the Jews scourged and entrapped for their unjust refusing, by the same way which they themselves did prefer. For as they preferred the emperor and rejected Christ, so the just permission of God did stir up their own emperors against them in such sort, that both the senators themselves were almost all devoured, and the whole city most horribly afflicted for the space almost of three hundred years together. For, first, the same Tiberius, which form a great part of his reign was a moderate and a tolerable prince, afterward was to them a sharp and heavy tyrant, who neither favoured his own mother, nor spared his own nephews, nor the princes of the city, such as were his own counselors, of whom, to the number of twenty, he left not past two or three alive. Suetonius reporteth him to be so stern of nature and tyrannical, that in time of his reign very many were accused and condemned with their wives and children; maids also first defloured, then put to death, In one day he recordeth twenty persons to be drawn to the place of execution. By whom also, through the just punishment of God, Pilate, under whom Christ was crucified, was apprehended and accused at Rome, deposed, then banished to the town of Lyons, and at length did slay himself. Neither did Herod and Caiaphas long escape, of whom more followeth hereafter. Agrippa also by him was east into prison; albeit afterward he was restored. In the reign of Tiberius, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, in the three and thirtieth year of his age, which was the seventeenth of this emperor, by the malice of the Jews suffered his blessed passion for the conquering of sin, death, and Satan, the prince of this world, and rose again the third day. After whose blessed passion and resurrection this foresaid Tiberius Nero lived six years, during which time no persecution was yet stirring in Rome against the Christians, through the commandment of the emperor. In the reign also of this emperor, and the year which was the next after the passion of our Saviour, or somewhat more, St. Paul was converted to the faith. After the death of Tiberius, when he had reigned three and twenty years, succeeded C. Cæsar Caligula, Claudius Nero, and Domitius Nero; which three were likewise such scourges to the senate and people of Rome, that the first not only took other men's wives violently from them, but also defloured three of his own sisters, and afterward banished them. So wicked he was, that he commanded himself to be worshipped as God, and temples to be erected in his name and used to sit in the temple among the gods, requiring his images to be set up in all temples, and also in the temple of Jerusalem, which caused great disturbance among the Jews, and then began the abomination of desolation to be set up in the Holy place, spoken of in the gospel. His cruel conduct, or else displeasure, was such towards the Romans, that he wished that all the people of Rome had but one neck, that he at his pleasure might destroy such a multitude. By this said Caligula, Herod, the murderer of John The Baptist and condemner of Christ, was condemned to perpetual banishment, where he died miserably. Caiaphas also, which wickedly sat upon Christ, was the same time removed from the high priest's room, and Jonathan set in his place. The raging fierceness of this Caligula incensed against the Romans had not thus ceased, had not he been cut off by the hands of a tribune and other gentlemen, which slew him in the fourth year of his reign. After whose death was found in his closet two little labels, one called a sword, the other the dagger; in the which, labels were contained the names of those senators and noblemen of Rome whom he had purposed to put to death. Besides this sword and dagger, there was found also a coffer, wherein divers kinds of poison were kept in glasses and vessels for the purpose to destroy a wonderful number of people; which poisons afterward, being thrown into the sea, destroyed a great number of fish. But that which this Caligula had only conceived, the same did the other two which came after bring to pass; Claudius Nero, who reigned thirteen years with no little cruelty; but especially the third of these Neros, called Domitius Nero, which, succeeding after Claudius, reigned fourteen years with such fury and tyranny, that he slew the most part of the senators, and destroyed the whole order of knighthood in Rome. So prodigious a monster of nature was he, more like a beast, yea, rather a devil, than a man, that he seemed to be born to the destruction of men. Such was his monstrous uncleanness, that he abstained not from his own mother, his natural sister, nor from any degree of kindred. Such was his wretched cruelty, that he caused to be put to death his mother, his brother-in-law, his sister, his wife great with child, all his instructors, Seneca, and Lucan, with divers more of his own kindred and consanguinity. Moreover, he commanded Rome to be set on fire in twelve places, and so continued it five days and six nights in burning, while that he, to see the example of how Troy burned, sung the verses of Homer. And to avoid the infamy thereof, he laid the fault upon the Christian men and caused them to be persecuted. And so continued this miserable emperor in his reign fourteen years, till at last the senate proclaiming him a public enemy unto mankind, condemned him to be drawn through the city, and to be whipped to death. For the fear whereof, he, flying the hands of his enemies, in the night fled to a manor of his servant's in the country, where he was forced to slay himself, complaining that he had then neither friend nor enemy left that would do so much for him. At the latter end of this Domitius Nero, Peter and Paul were put to death for the testimony and faith of Christ.
[Footnote: Some chronologists place the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul two years later, and some even four.]Thus ye see, which is worthy to be marked, how the just scourge and heavy indignation of God from time to time ever followeth there, and how all things there go to ruin, neither doth any thing well prosper, where Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is contemned and not received, as by these examples may appear, both of Romans, which not only were thus consumed and plagued by their own emperors, but also by civil wars, whereof three happened in two years at Rome, after the death of Nero, and other casualties, (as in Sueton. is testified,) so that in the days of Tiberius aforesaid five thousand Romans were hurt and slain at one time by the fall of a theatre. And also most especially by the destruction of the Jews, which about this same time, in the year threescore and ten, and nearly forty years after the passion of Christ, and the third year after the suffering of St. Peter and Paul, were destroyed by Titus and Vespasian his father (who succeeded after Nero in the empire) to the number of eleven hundred thousand, besides them which Vespasian slew in subduing the country of Galilee, over and beside them also which were sold and sent into Egypt and other provinces to vile slavery, to the number of seventeen thousand. Two thousand were brought with Titus in his triumph; of which, part he gave to be devoured of the wild beasts, part otherwise most cruelly were slain. By whose case all nations and realms may take an example, what it is to reject the visitation of God's verity being sent, and much more to persecute them which be sent of God for their salvation. And as this wrathful vengeance of God thus hath been showed upon this rebellious people, both of the Jews and of the Romans, for their contempt of Christ, whom God so punished by their own emperors; so neither the emperors themselves, for persecuting Christ in his members, escaped without their just reward. For among so many emperors which put so many Christian martyrs to death, during the space of these first three hundred years, few or none of them scaped either not slain themselves, or by some miserable end or other worthily avenged. First, of the poisoning of Tiberius, and of the slaughter of the other three Neros after him, sufficiently is declared before. After Nero, Domitius Galba within seven months was slain by Otho. And so did Otho afterward slay himself, being overcome by Vitellus. And was not Vitellus shortly after drawn through the city of Rome, and after he was tormented was thrown into the Tiber? Titus, a good emperor, is thought to be poisoned by Domitian, his brother. The said Domitian after he had been a persecutor of the Christians, was slain in his chamber, not without the consent of his wife. Likewise, Commodus was murdered by Narcissus. The like end was of Pertinax and Julianus. Moreover, after that Severus was slain here in England, (and lieth at York,) did not his son Bassianus slay his brother Geta, and he after slain of Martialis? Macrinus with his son Diadumenus were both slain of their own soldiers. After whom Heliogabalus, that monstrous belly- paunch, was of his own people slain, and drawn through the city and cast into the Tiber. Alexander Severus, that worthy and learned emperor, which said he would not feed his servants doing anything with the bowels of the commonwealth, although in life and virtues he was much unlike other emperors, yet proved the like end, being slain at Mentz, with his godly mother Mammea, by Maximinus, whom the emperor before of a muleteer had advanced to great dignities. The which Maximinus also after three years was slain himself of his soldiers. What should I speak of Maximus and Balbinus in like sort both slain in Rome? of Gordian slain by Philip? of Philip, the first christened emperor, slain, or rather martyred, for the same cause? of wicked Decius drowned, and his son slain the same time in battle? of Gallus and Volusianus his son, emperors after Decius, both slain by a conspiracy of Æmilianus, who rose against them both in war and within three months after was slain himself? Next to Æmilianus succeeded Valerianus, and Gallienus his son; of whom Valerianus (who was a persecutor of the Christians) was taken prisoner of the Persians, and there made a riding fool of Sapores their king, who used him for a stool to leap upon his horse; while his son Gallienus, sleeping at Rome, either would not or could not once proffer to revenge his father's ignominy. For after the taking of Valerian, so many emperors rose up as were provinces in the Roman monarchy. At length, Gallienus also was killed by Aureolus which warred against him. It was too long here to speak of Aurelianus, another persecutor, slain of his secretary; of Tacitus and Florinus his brother, of whom the first reigned five months, and was slain at Pontus; the other reigned two months, and was murdered at Tarsis: of Probus, who, although a good civil emperor, yet was he destroyed by his soldiers. After whom Carus, the next emperor was slain by lightning. Next to Carus followed the impious and wicked persecutor Dioclesian, with his fellows Maximian, Valerius, Maximinus, Maxentius, and Licinius, under whom, all at one time, (during the time of Dioclesian,) the greatest and most grievous persecution was moved against the Christians ten years together. After which, Dioclesian and Maximian deposed themselves from the empire. Galerius, the chiefest minister of the persecution, after his terrible persecutions, fell into a wonderful sickness, having such a sore risen in the nether part of his body, which consumed his members, and so did swarm with worms, that being curable neither by surgery nor physic, he confessed that it happened for his cruelty towards the Christians, and so-called in his proclamations against them. Notwithstanding, he is not able to sustain (as some say) his sore, slew himself. Maximinus in his war, being tormented with pain in his guts, there died, Maxentius was vanquished by Constantine and drowned in the Tiber. Licinius likewise, being overcome by the said Constantine the Great, was deposed from his empire, and afterward slain of his soldiers. But, on the other side, after the time of Constantine, when the faith of Christ was received into the imperial seat, we read of no emperor after the like sort destroyed or molested, except it was Julianus, or Basilius, (which expelled one Zeno, and was afterward expelled himself,) or Valens. Besides these, we read of no emperor to come to ruin and decay, like the others before mentioned. And thus have we in brief sum collected out of the chronicles the unquiet and miserable state of the emperors of Rome, until the time of Christian Constantine, with the examples, no less terrible than manifest, of God's severe justice upon them for their contemptuous, refusing and persecuting the faith and name of Christ their Lord.
The Filthy RAGS of The Papacy did not fair any better 🎺🎺 For this is written with respect from the blood of the Saints and the Martyrs SCREAMING! ~ lest we forget. Amen 🎺 👼
🎺 "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". Amen 🎺 👼
🎺 foot note: I am of the humble opinion that God could NOT answer his Son on the cross but that Jesus's spirit being the Arch Angel Michael was there watching over Him. AMEN🎺 👼