Have You Been to Hell and Back? by Clifford Besson About twenty or more years ago I bought or was given a very interesting booklet about the testimony of the above mentioned man who fell dead into a pool of water at a log processing mill in Oregon on July 1, 1924. It took the other workers about one hour to find his body at the bottom of the pool, with one of those long logging poles. He was pulled out of the water with his head bashed in and with broken ribs and perhaps some other injuries from logs that hit him as he fell with a number of logs down off a chute for logs from a mountain stream. Anyways, the wife of the manager of the saw mill found out that he had been killed. She rushed to his side and prayed, telling God that they had not shared with the dead man how to get saved. She therefore prayed that God would give the man a chance of life again, so she or her husband could share with him the way of salvation. As she continued to pray earnestly at his side, suddenly his eye lids started to flicker. The man was therefore rushed to the local hospital, scull fragments straightened out and was bandaged up and left in a hospital bed to himself. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit or an angel of God spoke to him and told him why this accident and his experience in Hell or in Sheol was allowed to happen. It was because of people like you who worked at the mill and in his area who have been lied to or deceived by philosophers of religion, who thought they understood God and His mind better than the writers of the Bible. I found a web site that has a copy of that book, so that you can read it yourself, if the Devil will permit you: http://spiritlessons.com/dreams_and_visions/The_Thomas_Welch_Story.htm . If you do not check it out, you yourself are bound by a spirit of pride and of deception. Consider John Bunyan (the preacher who wrote Pilgrim's Progress)and his Vision of Heaven and Hell, where he saw the Devil chained to a real hot seat, a throne that got hotter every time he cursed God as the human being, who was given a tour by an angel, walked by and saw him during his one thousand years in imprisonment. I believe that thousand year period ended in 1926 though. I found the link to this booklet that I have had for years: http://www.hissheep.org/messages/visions_of_heaven_and_hell.html As I mentioned in my previous letter, my friend Bob Stonham felt the flames of Hell around him as he was dying. I have also met a few other people who died too but did not go to Hell but went to Heaven or hung around for a moment until doctors got their heart pumping again or something else was done or happened that they lived again. Praise God. Remember that Jesus is the one who dared to tell a story that according you was not true but just a fabricated story to make a point and that you claimed was used by the Devil to mislead people to think that people would be in a hot place of Hell thirsting for water, when it was not true. This is according to you and your philosopher friends, who may not even be born again or if so, have never been filled with the Spirit of God to speak through the Holy Ghost in tongues they did not know or see fantastic results of healing, through prayers to God in Jesus' name. I have and so have a number of my friends. You have been a blessing to me in a number of ways. Now here I am trying to be a blessing to you, to help you and your loved ones find the truth about punishment in a place called Hell for those who do not love God more than their loved ones and themselves. A punishment adjusted to fit for whatever life or crimes done by those who end up down there and as a deterrent to others so they would start living for God rather than themselves and the world. Please don't be so foolish to think you know better than those who like pastor Thomas Welch and others like George Godkin of Alberta, who I talked to on the phone many years ago and who nearly died in a house fire, trying to save one of his children. I found an article of his experience on the Internet as well and here is the link http://www.lovinglight.com/bbain/terrifying/terrifying.htm along with another article relating to G. Godkin, concerning a false doctrine of the Seventh-day Adventist, of which church I attend in Dauphin, Winnipeg. Here is that link: http://www.bibleprobe.com/SDA.htm . Last Saturday I was disgusted with them because they never mentioned anything of the Crucifixion or of the resurrection of Jesus during the last two Sabbaths. I mentioned to them about this last Saturday. Yours in Christ Jesus, Clifford
On 15/04/2012 12:07 PM, H K wrote: Hi Clifford,
Sad to see that you can not see through this old, old deception tool of the clergy to hold sway and power of the people. It also makes our Creator to be worse by a million fold (greatly under stated) then all of histories most criminal leaders. They could only torture their victims only up to the point of death. No, the wised mind in the whole universe, indeed, the very Mind responsible and designer/creator of everything is to be that stupid and cruel??? Who is perfectly just and righteous can only think of torturing people in an eternal barbeque pit is just the most heinous, blasphemous doctrine ever conceived to darken the name and character of our God.
Furthermore, He would not be able to hide that from His knowledge and sight for all eternity. You think He could look on that with the character He has??? Do some serious thinking and FORGET about church doctrine and learn the Father's true doctrine(s).
Search the net, for therein I have found excellent studies to show that this is truly as false as it appears to many people and have a number of excellent works that clearly prove that this is FALSE doctrine in the highest order.
Sincerely,
Henry
-----Original Message----- From: Clifford Besson Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:49 AM To: Subject: Well to Hell hoax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I did a search on the Internet as I asked you to do but you did not. Here is what I found on that supposed well that was drilled so deep that the sounds of hell could be heard with a microphone. Hell is part of the unseen world like Heaven and only the gifted or very sick, like one on DTs (delirium tremors) are allowed to see or hear that part of Sheol, the Unseen World. Two of my friends told of people experiencing the flames of Hell around their bed or body as they were dying and going to Hell. One was Irene Houle about her adopted devilish mother and the other was Bob Stonham when he was bad, got sick, was dying and going to Hell. As this was happening, he cried out to God and repented of his sins. God stopped the flames and his dying, He got well and now serves God beautifully in Welland, Ontario. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_to_Hell_hoax. We must check things like the above mentioned hoax better otherwise people will not believe us when we mention things that we know are so from our own experience or from reliable witnesses.
Yours truly,
Clifford
What about the Two Witnesses?
There is much misunderstanding as to who or what the two witnesses are about. We pray that we shall be able to shed much light on this subject.
Question: "Who are the two witnesses in the book of Revelation?”
Answer: It seems to me that if we were to attempt to identify the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-12, Enoch and Elijah would be the two most obvious choices. The two witnesses are eventually killed in Revelation 11:7. Since Enoch and Elijah never died (Genesis 5:23; 2 Kings 2:11), and Hebrews 9:27 indicates that a person can only die once – they would seem to be the only exceptions to Hebrews 9:27. Those who argue for the two witnesses being Moses and Elijah do so as a result of their appearing to Christ in the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3) and because of the types of miracles they perform (Revelation 11:5-6). However, Moses would seem to be eliminated as a possibility by Hebrews 9:27, since He did die (Deuteronomy 34:5). Still other interpreters think the two witnesses are simply two people God chooses to be His witnesses in the Tribulation. In any case, it is impossible to be dogmatic on the identity of the two witnesses. (http://www.gotquestions.org/two-witnesses.html) So says one of 6,620,000 sites on the internet according to a search through Google.com Truth
and Light Bible Commentary,
Endeavouring to Reveal the
Best and Most Logical Readings From Amongst the Ancient Versions of
the Holy Bible
As
indicated in the title, with God’s help, we have endeavoured to
find the best renderings in the ancient versions and in some cases,
deduce what most likely was the original reading because of slight
errors that could have occurred in transcribing. We try to prove
these points through the help of the writings of other scholars and
of their commentaries or from other ancient writings concerning
similar matters.
Book Two of Kings
18:26 *Syrian language] #0762. for 'Aramaic'
('Aramiyth') in the Hebrew. Also found at Ezr 4:7; Isa. 36:11; and
Dan 2:4. See Nehemiah 13:24.
Book of Proverbs
4:25 [CTSept. "Let thine eyes look straight
forward and thine eyelids wink justly." Sir Launcelot Lee
Brenton Sept. (BSept) "Let thine eyes look right on, and let
thine eyelids assent 'to' just 'things'." Consider this, that
the eyelids do not look, as they are blinds for the eyes. On
considering further the definition of yashar or jasher in Strong's,
quoted below, the Sept. readings are the most logical as they
indicate being "upright(-ly)".
*eyelids]
06079. Pepe
`aph`aph, af-af' from 5774; an eyelash (as fluttering);
figuratively, morning ray:--dawning, eye-lid. See Hebrew 05774
(`uwph)
*look
straight] 03474. rvy
yashar, yaw-shar' a primitive root; to be straight or even;
figuratively, to be (causatively, to make) right, pleasant,
prosperous:--direct, fit, seem good (meet), + please (will), be
(esteem, go) right (on), bring (look, make, take the) straight (way),
be upright(-ly).
5:1 [CTSept "My son, attend to my wisdom, and
incline thine ear to my {words, that thou mayst keep a good}
understanding." The words in the {...} are apparently missing
in the Hebrew and Aramaic texts.
The Book of Isaiah
9:6
CTSept. “Because for us a child is born, and to us a son is given,
whose government is on his own shoulder; and his name is called ‘The
Messenger of Great Counsel’.
For I will bring peace on the rulers and health for him.” Bsept.
has the same but with a footnote: “. . . counsel (footnote: ‘Alex.’
+ Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty One, Potentate, Prince of Peace,
Father of the age to come. Compare Heb. 2.2.”).” Lamsa’s
translation has
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the
government will be upon his shoulder: and his name is called
Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty One, The Everlasting [One of] God,
The Prince of Peace.
The Hebrew of the Masoretic text could also be
translated something like this: “For a child is born to us; a son
is given to us; and the government is on his shoulder; and his name
is called Wonderful Counsellor of God, Mighty One of an everlasting
Father, a Ruler of Peace.” (Victory Version). In other words, this
verse is no proof that Jesus is a Father at all, the Father God, or
God the Father.
The principle for translating the above, as just done
in the Victory Version is that of following the Hebrew rules of
grammar for the Genitive Case: word combinations that are in a
construct relation, which corresponds to our English expression “of”.
The first of two Hebrew nouns that are placed next to each other,
that is, to the right, is said to be a substantive in a construct
state,
while the second one is in an absolute state.
The governing substantive always stands first, never
takes the article, and must be followed immediately by the
substantive in the absolute state. They form a compound word . . . .
The word in the construct state
cannot be indefinite while the word in the absolute state is
definite. Either both states are definite or they are both
indefinite.
Note
also the minor differences between the Hebrew words for Wonderful
(אלפ)
and Messenger (ךאלמ).
Also note that the words for Wonderful Counsellor of God follow each
other like this: לאץעויאלפ,
in other words, what may have been Messenger of Great Counsel could
have very easily been mistaken for Wonderful Counsellor. All it would
take would be a poor writing of the מ
that would have made it look
like a פ.
In turn the וי could
have been mistaken for the ך.
The vowel markings that are presently in the Hebrew
texts that might try to make out something different from what we are
suggesting were just recently added since the New Testament times.
They therefore cannot be used to force the verse to say that the
child is the everlasting Father or some other wording that is not
consistent with other teachings in the Bible. They indicate that
Jesus is a separate individual from his Father but who is in a unity
with the Father as we disciples are supposed to be in unity one with
another and with Christ Jesus.
The Book of Daniel
12:7 [CTSept.> And I heard the man clothed with {the
fine robes} who was over the water of the river. He lifted up his
right and his left hand to heaven and swore by Him Who liveth forever
and ever that it will be until a time of times and the half of a
time. When {an end is put to the dispersion, they will know all
these things.} [Lamsa> And I heard the man clothed in costly array
who stood above the waters of the river. He held up his right hand
and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives for ever that
it shall be for a time, times, and a half a time; and when holy
people are delivered, all these things shall be fulfilled. *time ...
half] 3 1/2 years or 1260 days but each day may represent a year.
Gospel of John
5:2 *Hebrew tongue] In Greek 'Hebraisti'. Lamsa simply
has 'Hebrew'.
Acts of the Apostles
11:19
*Jews only] This indicates that the Gospel was being first preached
to Jews wherever they were.
C:\Users\cliff\Documents\VV Bible Commentary\Truth and Light Bible Commentary1.doc
(142A)
Proof found in the Aramaic New Testament that the Crucifixion Now Remembered was Too Soon by Clifford Besson Note that all Christendom regard that the Crucifixion of their Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah was on the first day of Passover but a clue is found in St. John 19:31 which suggests otherwise. It says,
John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high [#3173 in Strong’s Greek Dictionary] day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (KJV) Joh 19:31 The Jews, therefore, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, since it was the preparation, (for that sabbath day was a great one,) asked of Pilate that their legs may be broken, and they taken away. (Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)) Joh 19:31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn't remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (World English Bible) Joh 19:31 And because it was the eve of preparation, the Jews said: These bodies should not stay on their crosses, because the Sabbath was dawning, and the day of that Sabbath was a special [#2908 in The Way International Aramaic Dictionary] day. And they asked from Pilate that they might break the legs of those crucified, and take them down. (Joseph Pashka’s The Aramaic Gospels and Acts: Text and Translation) Joh 19:31 Now the Judeans, because it was the day of preparation, said, “These bodies should not remain on their crosses, because the SABBATH is dawning, for the day of that SABBATH was a high [#2908 in The Way International Aramaic Dictionary] day. And they begged Pilate that they might break the legs of those [who were] crucified and take them down. (Janet M. Magiera’s Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation) Dr. James Murdock’s translation from the Aramaic Peshito has great day.
Here are some commentary comments on this high day [or great, special day or one]:Adam Clark’s Commentary (ACC) For that Sabbath day was a high day] 1. Because it was the Sabbath. 2. Because it was the day on which all the people presented themselves in the temple according to the command, Ex 23:17. 3. Because that was the day on which the sheaf of the first fruits was offered, according to the command, Le 23:10,11. So that upon this day there happened to be three solemnities in one.-Lightfoot. It might be properly called a high day, because the passover fell on that Sabbath.
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible Was an high day. It was, 1st. The Sabbath. 2nd. It was the day on which the paschal feast properly commenced. It was called a high day because that year the feast of the Passover commenced on the Sabbath. Greek, "Great day."
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (JFB) on the sabbath day, for that sabbath day was an high day--or "great" day--the first day of unleavened bread, and, as concurring with an ordinary sabbath, the most solemn season of the ecclesiastical year. Hence their peculiar jealousy lest the law should be infringed.
John Wesley’s Notes on the Old and New Testaments (JWN) For that Sabbath was a great day-Being not only a Sabbath, but the second day of the feast of unleavened bread (from whence they reckoned the weeks to pentecost:) and also the day for presenting and offering the sheaf of new corn: so that it was a treble solemnity. (Above quotes are from the Power Bible CDRom)
Now take note as to what St. John 7:37 says:
John 7:37 In the last day, that great [#3173 in Strong’s Greek Dictionary] day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. [great is sometimes translated as high, exceedingly, large, loud, mighty, and strong in the AV](AV)
Joh 7:37 And on the high [#2908 in The Way International Aramaic Dictionary] day, which is the last [day] of the feast, Jesus was standing and he cried out and said, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me and drink. (Janet M. Magiera) Joh 7:37 And on the last and greatest [#2908 in The Way International Aramaic Dictionary] day of the festival, Jesus stood there and shouted: If any man thrists, let him come to me and drink. (Joseph Pashka) Joh 7:37 And on the great day, which was the last of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, and said: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. (Dr. James Murdock) John 7:37 Now on the greatest day, which is the last day of the feast, . . . (Lamsa)
Now notice that the above sentences are not from commentary guesses but from the very words of the Holy Bible through a variety of authoritative translators of the same Holy Scriptures. They basically say the same thing that that special day of the feast was either a great, greatest or high day of that festival and most likely of all the Biblical festivals. So what we are trying to point out then is that the crucifixion must have been done on the sixth day of the festival for the last day was on the Sabbath, the day after the preparation day when Jesus was crucified. Now note what Mark 14:1-2 says: Mr 14:1 ¶ And the passover and the unleavened food were after two days, and the chief priests and the scribes [like the news media] were seeking how, by guile, having taken hold of him, they might kill him; 2 and they said, `Not in the feast, lest there shall be a tumult of the people.' (YLT) In other words, after Jesus was arrested and put in prison a number of days, possibly in an underground prison cell and the feast of unleavened bread was almost over, the Judean leaders took their chances. They had by now, audiences with both Herod and Pilot and they now felt that they could safely go ahead with their original plans to kill Jesus. So they crucified him on the sixth day of the unleavened bread festival, just before the high and last day. A further confirmation of this interpretation can be found in The Lost Gospel According to Peter. Paragraph 13 And they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there; and they see there a certain young man [a previous soul from Earth but now as an angel from Heaven] sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright; who said to them, Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. . . . Then the women feared and fled. 14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. But we, the twelve [?] disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord . . . (Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden (Nashville, Tennessee: World Bible Publishers, Inc., 1927) pp. 285-6).
The Meaning of Numbers in Relationship to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection With regards to the number six, consider that the Sixth Commandment relates to the worst sin,— murder. (E. W. Bullinger, D. D. In his Number in Scripture (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publicagtions, 1973), p. 150.) With regards to the number 22 regarding the 22nd day of the month when Jesus rose from the dead has the meaning of light (Evangelist Ed. F. Vallowe) and making manifest (Don Kistler & consider that the Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters [E. W. Bullinger]) Now on making more clearly that the twenty-second day of the Hebrew month of Abib or Nisan is very significant with the meaning of light or making manifest, consider this study on light in relationship to the Jewish people and the Messiah:
Isa 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Isa 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
See "The Report of Pilate the Governor" from the above mentioned Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden which is cited below:"Now when he was crucified, there was darkness over all the world, and the sun was obscured for half a day, and the stars appeared, but no lustre was seen in them; and the moon lost its brightness, as though tinged with blood; and the world of the departed was swallowed up;
"And the terror of the earthquake continued from the sixth hour of the preparation until the ninth hour; and when it was evening on the first day of the week, there came a sound from heaven, and the heaven became seven times more luminous than on all other days. And at the third hour of the night the sun appeared more luminous than it had ever shone, lighting up the whole hemisphere. And as lightning-flashes suddenly come forth in a storm, so there were seen men, lofty in stature, and surpassing in glory, a countless host, crying out, and their voice was heard as that of exceedingly loud thunder, Jesus that was crucified is risen again: come up from Hades ye that were enslaved in the subterraneous recesses of Hades. And the chasm in the earth was as if it had no bottom; but it was so that the very foundations of the earth appeared, with those that shouted in heaven, and walked in the body among the dead that were raised. And He that raised up all the dead and bound Hades said, Say to my disciples He goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see Him.
"And all that night the light ceased not shining. And many of the Jews died in the chasm of the earth, being swallowed up, so that on the morrow most of those who had been against Jesus were not to be found. Others saw the apparition of men rising again whom none of us had ever seen. One synagogue of the Jews was alone left in Jerusalem itself, for they all disappeared in that ruin.
"Therefore being astounded by that terror, and being possessed with the most dreadful trembling, I have written what I saw at that time and sent it to thine excellency; and I have inserted what was done against Jesus by the Jews, and sent it to thy divinity, my lord." pages 274-5.
Then from "The Report of Pontius Pilate," also from Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden pp. 276-277
"Now when he was crucified darkness came over all the world; the sun was altogether hidden, and the sky appeared dark while it was yet day, so that the stars were seen, though still they had their lustre obscured, wherefore, I suppose your excellency is not unaware that in all the world they lighted their lamps from the sixth hour until evening. And the moon, which was like blood, did not shine all night long, although it was at the full, and the stars and Orion made lamentation over the (p. 277) Jews, because of the transgression committed by them.
And on the first day of the week, about the third hour of the night, the sun appeared as it never shone before, and the whole heaven became bright. And as lightnings come in a storm, so certain men of lofty stature, in beautiful array, and of indescribable glory, appeared in the air, and a countless host of angels, crying out and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men: Come up from Hades, ye who are in bondage in the depths of Hades. And at their voice all the mountains and hills were moved, and the rocks were rent, and great chasms were made in the earth, so that the very places of the abyss were visible.
And amid the terror dead men were seen rising again, so that the Jews who saw it said, We beheld Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, who died some two thousand five hundred years before, and we beheld Noah clearly in the body. And all the multitude walked about and sang hymns to God with a loud voice, saying, The Lord our God, who hath risen from the dead, hath made alive all the dead, and Hades he hath spoiled and slain.
Therefore, my lord king, all that night the light ceased not. But many of the Jews died, and were sunk and swallowed up in the chasms that night, so that not even their bodies were to be seen. Now I mean, that those of the Jews suffered who spake against Jesus. And but one synagogue remained in Jerusalem, for all the synagogues which had been against Jesus were overwhelmed.
Through that terror, therefore, being amazed and being seized with great trembling, in that very hour, I ordered what had been done by them all to be written, and I have sent it to thy mightiness."
Then from "The Lost Gospel According to Peter" from the same Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden, p.282
". And Herod said, Brother Pilate, even if no one has asked for him, we purposed to bury him, especially as the sabbath draweth on: for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death.
3 And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast. And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God, having obtained power over him.
5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judæa: and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they Then see p. 284 mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down. And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was taken up. And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.
6 And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he had seen what good things he had done. And he took the Lord, and him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him to his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.
9 And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.10 When therefore those Then see p. 285 soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders; for they too were hard by keeping guard. And as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him who was lead by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.
11 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate. And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb which they were watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was the Son of God. Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this. Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen: For it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.
12 And at dawn upon the Lord's day Mary Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord's sepulchre the things which women are wont to do for those that die and for those that are beloved by them—she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid. And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said, Although on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his sepulchre. But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre, that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due? For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us. And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring as a memorial of him, we will weep and lament, until we come unto our home.
13 And they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there; and they see there a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright; who said to them, Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place Then see p. 286 where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent. Then the women feared and fled.
14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphæus, whom the Lord . . .
Truth and Light Ministries Inc. Raised by God to “earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3d), P. O. Box 79, Ethelbert, MB R0L 0T0, truthandlight@mts.net and http://tlm55.org A Bible Version Check-List adapted from The Bible Version Check-list of Al Hughes by Clifford Besson Mr. Al Hughes mentioned that there are over 150 various versions of the English translations of the Bible. He believes the numerous versions are because of the love of money. Some people figure they can make more money making so-called improvements of the Bible over what is already available. One of the main problems for the confusion over what translations are more correct than another is due to the interference of Satan in the Roman Catholic Church to have it promote their versions of inferior Greek and Latin manuscripts. These were ones which were more supportive of their religious beliefs. In 1881 their stooges, B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort. published their New Testament in the Original Greek text from some editions of texts of the New Testament that differed quite differently from the Received Greek Text, from which the Authorized Version (King James Version) was based on. The press in those days and even today, promote the translations which are based mostly on that same different and inferior type of texts, which is promoted largely by the United Bible Society. Note too that Westcott and Hort said their N. T. Was In the Original Greek. This is another aspect of the problem about so many translations. Obviously, the New Testament would not have been originally written in a foreign language to the disciples of Jesus, that of Greek rather than their mother tongue of Aramaic or of Hebrew. Almost every Aramaic manuscript is almost exactly the same as each other, whereas the translated Greek manuscripts differ quite widely and differently from each other in a number of key passages. This thus shows the difference of opinion of the different translators into Greek from the Aramaic or Hebrew New Testament manuscripts and errors that can easily happen through copying over hundreds of years. The following table of comparisons of a number of key texts of the New Testament should help reveal the best translations and versions that uphold the real Gospel of the Saints of old and the holiness and demands of God. Note in the table below what happens to the words underlined in the A. V. Note too that the A. V. Is more similar to the translations from the Aramaic than most of the modern English translations. Truth and Light Ministries Inc. (Raised by the Supreme One “to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints [Jude 3b AV]) P. O. Box 79, Ethelbert, Manitoba, R0L 0T0 Canada Phone 204-742-3770 or truthandlight@mts.net Http://TruthandLightMinistries.org
The Corruption of 2
Timothy 3:16
Most
Christians now-a-days, think the new translations are a great
improvement from the classic King James or Authorized version of the
Bible but do not realize that even the so-called experts on
translations of the Scriptures are not all experts and do not even
realize that the original New Testament manuscripts were not in Greek
but in the very language of the writers, which was Hebrew for the
Gospel of Matthew and for the Letter to the Hebrew people by the
Apostle Paul and in Aramaic for the rest of the New Testament
writings. See our other articles on this at our website of
http://tlm79.org.
Where
do we ever read in the New Testament that the apostles studied Greek
in order to write their letters to fellow Judeans who spoke Aramaic
or Hebrew throughout the Mediterranean area? That is nonsense. Once
the Judeans or the Hebrews in the new Christian assemblies throughout
that same area got their letters in their mother tongues, they could
then translate them into the languages of their Gentile neighbours.
This is exactly what we believe happened. Common sense tells us this.
Does it not?
This
essay is also to encourage you to question all the doctrines in your
respective churches that may be questionable or do not appear to be
completely supported by the Holy Bible.
We
are therefore showing in this study or essay, a sample of ways in
which we have been deceived, with a sample regarding a very well
known verse of 2 Timothy 3:16.
Note
that from
following the two sets of Scripture, the
word for any
writing by hand in Bible times was in Greek called scripture.
In other
words that are scriptures or writings which are not inspired. The
writer Paul knew this obviously and that is why he specified what
kind of writing he was specifying. The
Greek words
for writings and their adjectives in these passages are
in the
nominative or subject case. That is, the following word after
scripture
in Greek is simply an adjective describing the subject, saying that
“Every scripture [meaning
obviusly, only writings or scriptures
which are]God
inspired.
2Ti
3:16
EveryG3956
scriptureG1124
is
God inspired,G2315
andG2532
beneficialG5624
forG4314
teaching,G1319
forG4314
reproof,G1650
forG4314
correction,G1882
forG4314
instruction--G3809
the oneG3588
inG1722
righteousness;G1343
(Apostolic
Bible Polyglot with Strong's Numbers)
2
Timothy 3:16 πασαG3956
γραφηG1124
θεοπνευστοςG2315
καιG2532
ωφελιμοςG5624
προςG4314
διδασκαλιανG1319
προςG4314
ελεγχονG1650
προςG4314
επανορθωσινG1882
προςG4314
παιδειανG3809
τηνG3588
ενG1722
δικαιοσυνηG1343
(Apostolic
Bible Polyglot Greek with Strong's Numbers)
The following
versions from the Aramaic show this
obvious true meaning:
2Ti
3:16
FOR all scripture which from the Spirit is written, is profitable
for doctrine, and for rebuke, and for correction, and for instruction
[Or, discipline.] which is in righteousness:(Etheridge)
16
All scripture, written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for
instruction in righteousness: (Lamsa)
2Ti
3:16
All scripture that was written by the Spirit, is profitable for
instruction, and for confutation, and for correction, and for
erudition in righteousness; (Murdock)
2Ti
3:16
Every writing which is written by The Spirit*
is profitable for teaching, for correction, for direction and for a
course in righteousness, (Original
Aramaic NT in Plain English)
There
are a few versions from
the Greek
which also show this same meaning:
2Ti
3:16
Every scripture inspired of God is
also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction which is in righteousness. (American Standard Version)
2Ti
3:16
Every holy Writing which comes from God is of profit for teaching,
for training, for guiding, for education in righteousness: (1965
Bible in Basic English)
2Ti
3:16
All scripture, given by divine inspiration, is indeed profitable for
doctrine, for conviction, for reformation, for instruction in
righteousness, (Charles Thomson NT)
2Ti
3:16
All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove,
to correct, to instruct in justice: (1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)
2Ti
3:16
Every scripture inspired of God is
also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction which is in righteousness: (Revised Version)
2Ti
3:16
For all scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable to
teach, to improve, to amend, and to instruct in righteousness (Modern
Spelling Tyndale/ Coverdale Bible).
2Ti
3:16
For all scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable to
teach, to improve, to inform, and to instruct in righteousness,
(William
Tyndale New Testament)
Versions from the Coptic are as
such:
2Ti
3:16
All scriptures
of inspiration of God are profitable unto [a] doctrine, unto [a]
reproof, unto [a] correction, unto [an] instruction which is in [the]
righteousness:
(Coptic NT, Northern Dialect in English)
2Ti
3:16
For
every scripture
[part
missing]
God [ part
missing]
unto the teaching [ part
missing]
unto the doctrine, unto the righteousness:
(Coptic NT, Southern Dialect inEnglish)
Tricks
Being Played in Translations
Note
that almost every other version from the Greek is distorted and
untrue except where they capitalize the word Scripture but in the
Greek there was no differentiation of that. This capitalization
should be noted as a footnote in order to be honest to the readers.
Another added word which distorts the meaning of the Greek version is
this word:
is
:
2Ti
3:16
All scripture is
given by inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, (Jubilee Bible [probably from the Greek])
Note
that in the above, the word is,
is
in italics.
In the Authorized Version this practice was to show not emphasis but
to indicate that this word was added by the translators and has no
backing in the manuscripts from which they have translated.
The
above therefore shows that the best translations are from the Aramaic
and almost every one from the Greek is distorted and not true. There
are many other distortions of the truth in Bible versions today so
please check out for the truth on doctrine from our website of
http://truthandlightministries.org
or http://tlm79.org. We may make
mistakes at times from misunderstanding God's leading, so if you find
something that may be wrong. Please let us know.
These Last Days
What Happens to People When They Die?
This essay is adapted from a Seventh-day
Adventist Bible Study Lesson 9: Edited by Cliff Besson, whose comments are in
script writing or below the quoted scriptures. (Cliff has used the World English Bible rather than the Authorized
Version which is not as accurate as the newer version. For some New Testament passages,
he has used versions from translations from the Aramaic, which is the very
language that Jesus and his disciples spoke and wrote their Gospels and
epistles, except for the Gospel of Mathew and the Letter to the Hebrews which
would have been originally in Hebrew. This would have been necessary to get the
Rabbis, priests, lawyers, and scribes to find those writings acceptable for
them to read.)
1. When a man dies, where does he go?
Job 21:32 A man’s body often goes into a grave. See below Psa. 49:14;
Ez. 32:21-32; Lk. 16:22. The Hebrew here for grave is qeber’ and is translated
graves in Young's Literal Translation and it is mentioned as such in Treasury
of Scriptural Knowledge for this verse. Consider the earlier part of this
chapter of Job though:
“Job 21:9 Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty
in power? 13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to
Sheol
(grave in the AV but as in the Hebrew it is really Sheol, the place of the
Unseen after their deaths or “place of departed spirits”(American Tract Society
Dictionary) and “It means really the unseen world, the state or abode of the
dead, and is the equivalent of the Greek Haides, by which word it is translated
in Septuagint.”(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)26 They [good and
bad] lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them. 30 that the evil man is
reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb. (World
English Bible = WEB)
Regarding this same
verse 32: from Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary grave--literally, “graves”; that is, the place where the graves
are. Remain in--rather, watch on the
tomb, or sepulchral mound. Even after death he seems still to live and watch
(that is, have his “remembrance” preserved) by means of the monument over the
grave. In opposition to Bildad (Job 18:17).
Ps 49:14 They are
appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright
shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in
Sheol, far from their mansion. (WEB)
Ezekiel 32:1 It happened
in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first [day] of the month,
that the word of [Jeh-wah][1] came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the
nations: yet are you as a monster in the seas; and you did break forth with
your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers. 3
Thus says the Lord [Jeh-wah]: I will spread out my net on you with a company of
many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net. 4 I will leave you on the
land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of
the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth
with you. 5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with
your height. 6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim,
even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you. 7 When I
shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars of it dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All
the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on
your land, says the Lord [Jeh-wah]. 9 I will also vex the hearts of many
peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the
countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at
you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my
sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his
own life, in the day of your fall. 11 For thus says the Lord [Jeh-wah]: The
sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you. 12 By the swords of the mighty
will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all:
and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude of it
shall be destroyed. 13 I will destroy also all the animals of it from beside
many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs
of animals trouble them. 14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause
their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord [Jeh-wah]. 15 When I shall make the
land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was
full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that
I am [Jeh-wah]. 16 This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the
daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her
multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord [Jeh-wah]. 17 It happened
also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, that the word of
[Jeh-wah] came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt,
and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the
lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19 Whom do you
pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. 20 They shall fall
in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the
sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty
shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are
gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 22
Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of
them slain, fallen by the sword; 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts
of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen
by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 24 There is Elam and
all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the
sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who
caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with
those who go down to the pit. 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the
slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them
uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of
the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit:
he is put in the midst of those who are slain. 26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and
all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them
uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of
the living. 27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the
uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have
laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones;
for [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28 But you
shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shall lie with those who
are slain by the sword. 29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in
their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with
the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. 30 There are the
princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down
with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to
shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and
bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 31 Pharaoh shall see them,
and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army,
slain by the sword, says the Lord [Jeh-wah]. 32 For I have put his terror in
the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised,
with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says
the Lord [Jeh-wah]. (WEB)
Lu 16:22 It happened
that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s
bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. (WEB)
1.
The
wicked are reserved there until they will be brought forth to what?
Job 21:30 a day of wraths The wicked are reserved there until they will be brought forth to
what?
Job 14:12 so man lies down and doesn’t rise. Until the heavens are
no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep. (WEB)
3. Job
said he would wait in the grave until what came?
Job 14:13, 14 (13) "Oh
that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your
wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! (14)
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait,
until my release should come. (WEB) Note that it is not waiting in the grave or
a grave but in Sheol, the unseen world.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but
we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we will be changed. (WEB)
But see 1Co 15:50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and
blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. (WEB)
4. At what event will they that are Christ's be
made alive?
1 Corinthians 15:22, 23 (22) For as in Adam
all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (23) But each in his own
order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming.
(WEB) But General William Booth of the Salvation Army was shown in two or more
visions that as Christians or Believers die and go to heaven, a moment after
they die, that they end up in heaven awaiting the coming of Jesus with his
cloud of witnesses.
2Co 5:8 We are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. (WEB) Heb 12:1
Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (WEB)
5. Has
David already gone to heaven?
Acts 2:34 For David didn't ascend into the heavens, but he says himself,
'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit by my right hand, (WEB)
(Psalm 110:1 <<A Psalm by David.>> [Jeh-wah] says
to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your
footstool for your feet." (WEB) Note that King David wrote the Psalm while
he was still living down on Earth and at that time, he had not had the
privilege of going into the Heavens. The Bible reveals though that he must be
in Heaven now, just as much as the holy patriarchs of old, for God is not a
respecter of persons ( Deut. 10:17; 2 Chron. 19:7; Job 34:19; Acts 10:34; Rom.
2:11; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; 1Pet. 1:17). Do not the Holy Scriptures
teach and reveal that holy people are in Heaven right now and that they are
lively (speaking and doing things for others and for God) and not sleeping as
some men philosophize: Moses and Elijah (Mt. 17:3, 4), like Abraham and Lazarus
(Lk. 16:23-25), an unnamed fellow servant who was a brother in the Lord to the
Apostle John (Rev. 19:10), another one who was a messenger who revealed some
things to John (Rev. 22:8,9), a innumerable number of souls or people wishing
that God would avenge the wrongs done to them (Rev. 6:9-11; 12:10-12), people
of the nations, sitting down in Heaven (Rev. 20:4), and beheaded souls or
people living and reigning (having a good time with the Messiah) for a thousand
years in Heaven (Rev. 20:4). Did not
Jesus say that his God was the God of the living (zao in Greek which has also been translated as lively [Acts 7:38)
and quick (Acts 10:42) but not certainly meaning sleepers or the
unconscious as some philosophers teach-- see Mt. 22:32; Mk. 12:27; Lk.
20:38.
6. Where is David now?
Ac 2:29 Men and brethren,
let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. {let me: or, I may}
As shown above though, from the Holy Scriptures,
David, as a holy person, one after God's own heart, must be in Heaven, reigning
with the other saints with the Messiah. The topic at hand here was not the state of people in general who get
sick and die but of the Messiah being the one who rose from the dead and is
alive at that time, in contrast to the Psalmist King David who obviously died
years ago and accordingly is still dead to them according to the evidence of
his sepulchral and the Scriptures. 1Ki 2:10 So David slept with his fathers and
was buried in the city of David. But a cross reference to this verse is Deut.
31:16 which is about God telling Moses that he is going to sleep with his
fathers. A note to that verse says that the
Hebrew for sleep here means lie down. Matthew Poole's Commentary adds this:
Deut. 31:16. The death of men, both good and bad, is oft called
a sleep, because they shall certainly awake out of it by resurrection. See Ps
76:5; Da 12:2; 1Th 4:13, &c.; 2Pe 3:4. This people will go a whoring: God
certainly foresees all things to come, yea, even those which depend upon the
wills of men, or contingencies of the things, as this unquestionably did.
The greatly misunderstood doctrine here is the timing of the
resurrection of the dead. Since the Bible teaches that the wicked go to hell
after they die and that the souls and spirit (invisible) bodies of the real
saints, being absent from their Earthly bodies are present with their Lord (2
Cor. 5:8 and Philip. 1:23) then each one’s resurrection is a moment after each
one dies. 1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed, 52 In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [our] last trump: for [our]
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. 53 For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
It is common in New Testament Greek for the definite article
before a noun or adjective to be translated as a personal pronoun, such as my
arm or my face or their food. Check and see that this is so. Therefore, the
above translation of our instead of the regular the is very plausible. Besides this, everyone who dies or lies down
for the last time will have heard his or her last trumpet, whenever that may
have been.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this
we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the
coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then
we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18
Therefore comfort one another with these words. (WEB)
Note that in verse 14 above, the ones who laid down, slept in
Christ or died, will be in Heaven at the time when God will send His son to the
Heavens above the Earth at his special coming. In verse 15, it says that those
who die before those who are still on Earth when Jesus comes again will get to
Heaven before the others (every man in his own order 1Cor. 15:23). Verse 16,
would have been better and more logically translated will have risen first rather than will rise first because the
saints go almost instantly in their “own order” to the Lord in Heaven upon each
one’s own death as explained above. In verse 17, we see that Christ Jesus will
not be coming down to the Earth at all to start a kingdom but his kingdom of
saints on Earth will be caught up by angels of God (Mat. 24:31; Mk. 13:27).
7. What has become of him?
Acts 13:36 For David,
after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and
was laid with his fathers, and saw decay. (WEB).
This is of course talking about his Earthly body but his spirit
body or invisible body and his soul (real being that continues to live after
the Earthly body dies (1 Cor. 15:35-50)) goes to live with God and the angels
in Heaven or in the holy part of Sheol.
8. How will God awaken the dead?
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet. The dead in Christ
will rise first, Mt 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds,
from one end of the sky to the other. (WEB).
The above verse is suggested in this study, but this verse does
not say anything about awakening anyone up with either a shout of a certain
archangel or with a trumpet of God. It just says that Jesus would be descending
from Heaven with the above noise or sounds. According to a number of people who
died while being awake they immediately started to go to Heaven, saw loved ones
close by or at their bedside, went to Paradise or Heaven, or went flying off
into space, pass the moon and the planets while they zoomed off towards Heaven
(Pastor Henry Gruver, who was killed during a vehicle accident). This last
person was dead at the side of the road with a bolt hole at the top of his head
where blood was pouring out as a patrol officer tried to revive him. After
about twenty minutes through the prayers of his wife and daughter, he suddenly
revived and got up to tell of his amazing trip. All these people, one was being
operated on in a hospital in Toronto when he died and started to immediately
rise slowly out of his Earthly body into a cloudy room with a number of his
friends in the spirit world, looking on very sadly at the operation that was
going on. A moment later, the doctors or nurses got his heart going again and
his soul and spirit body went back into his Earthly body. I met this man in
Toronto while working for the Salvation Army and he told me of this experience.
Several others could tell of seeing the doctors and nurses operating or
attending to their bodies while their souls and spirit bodies hovered around
near the ceilings of their operating rooms. Suddenly, they too were back in
their regular bodies. One of my friends, who backslid terribly from being a
fine Christian, was dying on his bed when he felt the flames of Hell all around
his bed. He started to cry out to God and repented strongly. The flames stopped
and he regained his health.
Besides above, there are several Scriptures that teach that the
dead are being resurrected all the time. Consider these Scriptures: Joh 5:21
(WEB) For as the Father raises {is rousing}[1] the dead and gives them
life {vivifying}, even so the Son also gives life {is vivifying}to whom he
desires. 1Co 15:15 (WEB) Yes, we are
found false witnesses of {the}God, because we testified about {the}God that he
raised up {the}Christ, whom he didn't raise up, if it is so that the dead
are not raised {being roused}. 1Co 15:23 (YLT) and each in his proper
order, a first-fruit Christ, afterwards those who are the Christ's, in his
presence, 2Co 1:9 (YLT) but we ourselves in ourselves the sentence of the death
have had, that we may not be trusting on ourselves, but on {the}God, who is
raising the dead, 1Th 3:13 (YLT) to the establishing your hearts blameless
in sanctification {holiness}before our God and Father, in the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. Mt 22:23 (YLT) In that day there
came near to him Sadducees, who are saying there is not a rising again, and
they questioned him, saying, 24
`Teacher, Moses said, If any one may die not having children, his brother shall
marry his wife, and shall raise up seed to his brother. 25 `And there were with us seven brothers,
and the first having married did die, and not having seed, he left his wife to
his brother; 26 in like manner also the second, and the third, unto the
seventh, 27 and last of all died also the woman; 28 therefore in the
rising again, of which of the seven shall she be wife--for all had her?' 29 And
Jesus answering said to them, `Ye go astray, not knowing the Writings, nor the
power of God; 30 for in the rising again [note: not in the later rising
again] they do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, but are as messengers
of God in heaven. [Did not Jesus make or let them think at that very time that
the rising again and the living like angels was happening right at that time?]
31 `And concerning the rising again of the dead, did ye not read that which was
spoken to you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob? God is not a God of dead men, but of living.' [Not
sleeping or unconscious men but of living men. This was shown in Jesus' account
of an unnamed rich man and a beggar called Lazarus:
Lu 16:19 (YLT) `And--a certain man was rich, and was clothed in
purple and fine linen, making merry sumptuously every day, Lu 16:20 And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of
sores, Lu 16:21 and desiring to be filled from the crumbs that are falling from
the table of the rich man; yea, also the dogs, coming, were licking his
sores. 22 `And it came to pass, that the
poor man died, and that he was carried away by the messengers to the bosom
of Abraham--and the rich man also died, and was buried;Lu 16:23 And in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom. Lu 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Lu 16:25 But Abraham said, Son,
remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Adam Clarke's Commentary (on the above):
Verse 19. There was a
certain rich man] In the Scholia of some MSS. the name of this person is said
to be Ninive. This account of the rich man and Lazarus is either a parable or a
real history. If it be a parable, it is what may be: if it be a history, it is
that which has been. Either a man may live as is here described, and go to
perdition when he dies; or, some have lived in this way, and are now suffering
the torments of an eternal fire. The account is equally instructive in
whichsoever of these lights it is viewed. Let us carefully observe all the
circumstances offered hereto our notice, and we shall see-I. The CRIME of this
man; and II. His PUNISHMENT.
There was a certain rich man in Jerusalem. Provided
this be a real history, there is no doubt our Lord could have mentioned his
name; but, as this might have given great offence, he chose to suppress it. His
being rich is, in Christ's account, the first part of his sin. To this
circumstance our Lord adds nothing: he does not say that he was
born to a large estate; or that he acquired one by improper methods; or that he
was haughty or insolent in the possession of it. Yet here is the first degree
of his reprobation-he got all he could and kept all to himself.
British Family Bible:
There was a certain rich man, &c. Jesus having rebuked the
Pharisees for their hypocrisy and covetousness, returns to his discourse
concerning the true use of riches, and the great evil of a worldly and voluptuous
life. To which purpose he adds the following parable. Dr. S. Clarke.
John Wesley's Notes on the Old and New Testaments:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, (according to the
Greek pronunciation) or Eleazer. By his
name it may be conjectured, he was of no mean family, though it was thus
reduced. There was no reason for our Lord to conceal his name, which probably
was then well known. Theophylact
observes, from the tradition of the Hebrews, that he lived at Jerusalem.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
Lu 16:1. A wicked man, and one that will be for ever miserable,
in the height of prosperity (Lu 16:19): There was a certain rich man. From the
Latin we commonly call him Dives-- a rich man; but, as Bishop Tillotson
observes, he has no name given him, as the poor man has, because it had been
invidious to have named any particular rich man in such a description as this,
and apt to provoke and gain ill-will. But others observe that Christ would not
do the rich man so much honour as to name him, though when perhaps he called
his lands by his own name he thought it should long survive that of the beggar
at his gate, which yet is here preserved, when that of the rich man is buried
in oblivion. Now we are told concerning this rich man,
William Burkitt's Notes on the New Testament:
Our Saviour in his parabolical history of Dives and Lazarus,
instructs us concerning the right use of riches, which is to capacitate us to
do good to others; declaring that in the life to come, the pious poor man shall
be eternally happy, while the unmerciful rich man shall be intolerably
miserable.
9. Until
then, where do the dead wait?
Job 17:13 If I wait--Sheol is my house, In darkness I have spread out my
couch. Note that it is not in a grave but in a place called Sheol which is
regarded by Job to be a house. (YLT)
10. Where did Jesus say the dead are?
Joh 5:28 Don't marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are
in the tombs will hear his voice, (WEB)
Jesus here was not talking only to theologians but to the
mankind on the streets. 5:14 says that Jesus was in the temple speaking to a man he had previously healed on the
Sabbath. The man went away and told the Judeans that it was Jesus who healed him.
The Judeans were then upset with him and wanted to kill him. So then by verse
seventeen he must have been on the street or in a field talking to them. Note
that in 5:21 he said, “For just as the Father is raising the dead and giving
them life, even so the Son is giving life to those whom he will. (VV)At 5:24
Joh 5:24 "Most certainly I tell you, he who
hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life [like right now],
and is not coming into judgment, but has passed out of death [in other words
the people were spiritually dead] into life. 25 Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead
[the previously speaking spiritually dead walking around people] will hear the
Son of God's voice; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself,
even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. 27 He also gave him authority to execute
judgment, because he is a son of man. 28
Don't marvel at this, for an hour is coming [when? 2000 years later or shortly
after his crucifixion death?], in which all that are in the tombs will hear his
voice, 29 and will come out; those who
have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to
the resurrection of judgment. [an amended version of the WEB by this writer].
Mt 27:52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of
the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared
to many.
Does not Mt
27:52 tell us when John 5:28, 29 was to happen?
On this topic why not also consider The
Gospel of Nicodemas Chapters xII:14-24 and XVI:10 (from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/lbob/lbob10.htm)?
XII:14 It is indeed a thing really surprising, that he should
not only himself arise from the dead, but also raise others from their graves, who
have been seen by many in Jerusalem. (footnote 3) 15 And now hear me a little:
We all knew the blessed Simeon, the high-priest, who took Jesus when an infant
into his arms in the temple.16 This same Simeon had two sons of his own, and we
were all present at their death and funeral.17 Go therefore and see their
tombs, for these are open, and (p. 80 in the Lost Books of the Bible and the
Forgotten Books of Eden) they are risen: and behold, they are in the city
of Arimathæa, spending their time together in offices of devotion. 18 Some,
indeed, have heard the sound of their voices in prayer, but they will not
discourse with any one, but they continue as mute as dead men. 19 But come, let
us go to them, and behave ourselves towards them with all due respect and
caution. And if we can bring them to swear, perhaps they will tell us some of
the mysteries of their resurrection. 20 When the Jews heard this, they were
exceedingly rejoiced. 21 Then Annas and Caiaphas, Nicodemus, Joseph, and
Gamaliel, went to Arimathæa, but did not find them in their graves; but walking
about the city, they bound them on their bended knees at their devotions: 22
Then saluting them with all respect and deference to God, they brought them to
the synagogue at Jerusalem: and having shut the gates, they took the book of
the law of the Lord, 23 And putting it in their hands, swore them by God
Adonai, and the God of Israel, who spake to our fathers by the law and the
prophets, saying, If ye believe him who raised you from the dead, to be Jesus,
tell us what ye have seen, and how ye were raised from the dead.24 Charinus and
Lenthius, the two sons of Simeon, trembled when they heard these things, and
were disturbed, and groaned; and at the same time looking up to heaven, they
made the sign of the cross with their fingers on their tongues.
XVI: 5 The King of Glory, dead and alive, though once slain
upon the cross? 6 Who layest dead in the grave, and art come down alive to us,
and in thy death all the creatures trembled, and all the stars were moved, and
now hast thou thy liberty among the dead, and givest disturbance to our
legions? 7 Who art thou, who dost release the captives that were held in chains
by original sin, and bringest them into their former liberty 8 Who art thou,
who dost (p. 85) spread so glorious and divine a light over those who were made
blind by the darkness of sin? 9 In like manner all the legions of devils were
seized with the like horror, and with the most submissive fear cried out, and
said, 10 Whence comes it, O thou Jesus Christ, that thou art a man so powerful
and glorious in majesty, so bright as to have no spot, and so pure as to have
no crime? For that lower world of earth, which was ever till now subject to us,
and from whence we received tribute, never sent us such a dead man before,
never sent such presents as these to the princes of hell. 11 Who therefore art
thou, who with such courage enterest among our abodes, and art not only not
afraid to threaten us with the greatest punishments, but also endeavourest to
rescue all others from the chains in which we hold them? 12 Perhaps thou art
that Jesus, of whom Satan just now spoke to our prince, that by the death of
the cross thou wert about to receive the power of death. 13 Then the King of
Glory trampling upon death, seized the prince of hell, deprived him of all his
power, and took our earthly father Adam with him to his glory.
(Joh 5:14-19) . Jesus had to speak to the
people as to how they understood things and then take them to where he wanted
to lead them. This is the same way good teachers and preachers help people to
understand things. From verse 19 and 21, we should understand that the dead,
that is, the ones whose bodies now lie in the tombs or graves are rising all
the time and are able to hear the Father or the son to whom so ever they speak.
This was shown when Jesus spoke to Lazarus and raised him from the dead
(Joh 11:11-43), a twelve-year-old
girl (Mark 5:41), a young man on a funeral bier (Luk 7:14), and a maid (Luk
8:52). Jesus, remember was doing these things as his Father was also doing
these things, that is, raising the dead (Joh 5:21). Look also at what happened
during the crucifixion of Jesus. Just after Jesus died, there was an earthquake
(Mt 27:52) and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who have
fallen asleep, arose, 53 and having come forth out of the tombs after his
rising, they went into the holy city, and appeared to many. (YLT) There are
also Scriptures of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, (Luke 16:22-30, Mt 22:32 & Mk
12:26) being alive as well as this amazing passage: (Lu 20:37) `And that the dead are raised,
even Moses shewed at the Bush, since he doth call the Lord, the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; 38 and He is not a God of dead men,
but of living, for all live to Him.' There is also Mr 12:26 `And concerning the
dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the Book of Moses (at The Bush), how
God spake to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob; 27 he is not the God of dead men, but a God of living men; ye
then go greatly astray.' (YLT) Elijah, Moses, (Mt 17:3-4; Mr 9:4-5; Lk 9:30-33)
and two Israelites (Rev 19:10 & 22:9) being all very much alive, even years
or perhaps months after they died. What about this passage:
Re 6:9 And when he opened the
fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the word
of God, and because of the testimony that they held, 10 and they were crying
with a great voice, saying, `Till when, O Master, the Holy and the True, dost
Thou not judge and take vengeance of our blood from those dwelling upon the
land?' 11 and there was given to each one white robes,
and it was said to them
that they may rest themselves yet a little time, till may be fulfilled also
their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are about to be killed--even as
they. (YLT) and Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given to them, and the souls of those who have been beheaded because
of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and who did not bow
before the beast, nor his image, and did not receive the mark upon their
forehead and upon their hand, and they did live and reign with Christ the
thousand years;
Note that as they were
beheaded they must have been reigning with Christ Jesus in Heaven. This is
believed to have been from A. D. 926 to the end year of 1926, which is a year
in the end times mentioned in a poem of prophecy by the English saint Mother
Shipton who was born around the year A. D. 1488 and died in Clifton, Yorkshire
in 1561. That year of 1926 was mentioned as a year of motion pictures, of
planning of wars, of submarines, and of airplanes .[1] The
#926 is the year in the Thompson Chain Reference Bible on the End Times.
Re 7:9 After these
things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out
of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the
throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their
hands, 10 and crying with a great voice,
saying, `The salvation is to Him who is sitting upon the throne--to our God,
and to the Lamb!' 11 And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the
elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed
before God, 12 saying, `Amen! the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and
the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the strength, are to our
God--to the ages of the ages! Amen!' 13 ¶ And answer did one of the elders,
saying to me, `These, who have been arrayed with the white robes--who are they,
and whence came they?' 14 and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and
he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation,
and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of
the Lamb; 15 because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do
service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the
throne shall tabernacle over them; 16 they shall not hunger any more, nor may
the sun fall upon them, nor any heat, 17 because the Lamb that is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
waters, and wipe away shall God every tear from their eyes.'(YLT)
Mt 27:52 and the tombs
were opened, and many bodies of the saints who have fallen asleep, arose, 53
and having come forth out of the tombs after his rising, they went into the
holy city, and appeared to many.
The Treasury of
Scriptural Knowledge on Luke 20:37 has this:
* even. Ex 3:2-6; De
33:16; Ac 7:30-32
* when.
There is a remarkable
passage in Josephus, which proves that the best informed among the Jews
believed in the immateriality and immortality of the soul, and that the souls
of righteous men were in the presence of God in a state of happiness.
"They who lose their lives for the sake of God, live unto God, as do
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs." Not less remarkable is a passage in Shemoth
Rabba, "Why doth Moses say, (Ex 32:13) Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? R. Abin saith, The Lord said unto
Moses, I look for ten men from thee, as I looked for that number in Sodom. Find me out ten righteous persons among the
people, and I will not destroy thy people. Then saith Moses, Behold, here am I, and Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar,
Phinehas, and Caleb, and Joshua; but, saith God, there are but seven: where are the other three? When Moses knew not what to do, he saith, O
Eternal God, [hayim hem ha-metim,] do those live who are dead? Yes, saith God. Then saith Moses, If those that are dead do
live, remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
The Gospel of Nicodemus mentions the names of
the sons of Simeon, who blessed Jesus as a baby. The two sons were of the ones
who rose from the graves at the resurrection of Jesus. Their names are Charinus
and Lenthius. When questioned by the high priests, they explained what was
going on in the place of Sheol where the people were not sleeping at all but
rather were living and talking to others in a dark world.[2]
Oregon's Amazing Miracle by Thomas Welch is
about the author being dead for about a whole hour at the bottom of a pool of
water at a sawmill. During that time of death the man was alive but in hell
with other people where he saw a Lake of Fire[3] until a
lady prayed for a miracle of restoration of the man's life. While in Hell he
saw an uncle of his who died years before and a boy he knew years ago that had
also died years before. Thomas never saw anyone in the Lake of Fire at that
time of his death experience (page 8).
Here are a number of
other books about people who also experienced death for a moment or more (one
or more may have also been dead as long as the above): The Evidence for Life
After Death by Martin Ebon, Bergenfield, New Jersey: The New American
Library, Inc., 1977; A Critical Examination of The Belief in a Life After
Death by C. J. Ducasse, (Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Brown
University, Providence, Rhode Island), Publisher: Charles C. Thomas:
Springfield, Illinois, U. S. A., 1961; Touching Incidents and Remarkable
Answers to Prayer, edited by S. B. Shaw, Publisher: S. B. Shaw, Dutton,
Mich. , 1894. This was has one incident ("Death of a Soul-Sleeper")
where the person, while dying saw Heaven and her Pa, who had died previously. Glimpses
of the Beyond by Jean-Baptiste Delacour, Delacorte Press, New York, 1974;
Life After Life by Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M. D., Bantom Books, 1975; Death:
the Final Stage of Growth by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1975; A Look at Life After Life by Charles C. Ryrie,
Dallas Theological Seminary, 1978. Three Worlds by H. A. Baker, Minneapolis,
Minnesota: Osterhus Publishing House, n. d.
One gospel tract had a
case of a prisoner who died the day before and was in a wooden coffin, being
carried out to the cemetery of the prison yard, when one of the guards tripped
and the two guards dropped the coffin onto the ground. The prisoner fell out
alive. He later told how his mother had been praying for his salvation but when
he died he was lost and therefore went to Hell. The earnest prayers of his
mother got God to give the young man a second chance on life, which he then
apparently, went on to live for God.
In the book, Caught
Up into Paradise, by physician and surgeon, Richard E. Eby, D. O., the
doctor tells of how he fell off a second story balcony onto a sidewalk with his
head down. His cracked open and as his feet were caught up in a bush, his blood
drained out as he died. A neighbour or
two noticed the accident, an ambulance was called, a prayer chain was started
almost immediately, and after some time in the hospital, while a priest was
saying the last rites over a corpse, the doctor came back to life. While he was
dead though, he got to experience the amazing beauties of paradise. This doctor
can verify that he certainly was not soul-sleeping until Jesus came. Jesus came
already and appeared to him while he was in the hospital and told him, "My
peace I give unto you. . . .With your hands you will heal." (p. 211).
11.
What words did Jesus use to say that his friend was dead?
John 11:11 These things said Jesus, and afterwards he
said to them: Lazarus our friend reposeth. But I go to awake him.
(Murdock) These things said he: and
after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I
may awake him out of sleep. (AV)
Jesus said that Lazarus
was sleeping but when we put it into context, we find that to him it was as if
his friend was just asleep when he was really dead., for Jesus knew he could
easily bring the man back to life again as easy as someone else might wake up
someone that was dead. He was using the word sleep as a euphemism, so it would
not sound so harsh to his disciples, when it would be no big deal to him to
revive his friend from death.
Joh 11:12 Then
said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of
taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said
Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
There are many other places
where sleep is also used figuratively of death: from the Power BibleCD[4]
-Rom we can get these enlightening comments:
* sleepeth. Joh 11:13;
De 31:16; Da 12:2; Mt 9:24; Mr 5:39; Ac 7:60; 1Co 15:18,51 1Th 4:14; 5:10 (Treasury of Scriptural
Knowledge,)
The Jews used a milder
kind of speech and called death "sleep", and this same manner of
speech is found in other languages, who call the place of burial where the dead
are laid waiting for the resurrection a "sleeping place". (1599
Geneva Bible Notes)
Verse 11. Lazarus sleepeth] It was very common among
the Jews to express death by sleep; and the expression, falling asleep-sleeping
with their fathers, &c., were in great use among them. The Hebrews
probably used this form of speech to signify their belief in the immortality of
the soul, and the resurrection of the body. (Adam Clark’s Commentary)
Verse 11. Lazarus sleepeth. Is dead. The word sleep is
applied to death, 1st. Because of the resemblance between them, as sleep is
the "kinsman of death." In this sense it is often used by pagan
writers. But, 2nd. In the Scriptures it is used to intimate that death will not
be final: that there will be an awaking out of this sleep, or a resurrection.
It is a beautiful and tender expression, removing all that is dreadful in
death, and filling the mind with the idea of calm repose after a life of toil,
with a reference to a future resurrection in increased rigour and renovated
powers. In this sense it is applied in
the Scriptures usually to the saints, 1Co 11:30; 15:51; 1Th 4:14; 5:10; Mt
9:24.{i} "sleepeth" De 31:16; Ac 7:60; 1Co 15:18,51 (Albert
Barnes’ NT Commentary)
-- Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, He
means, that Lazarus was then dead, and that He intended to go and restore him
to life; which, to the Divine power, was as easy a thing as that of raising a
man out of his sleep. Dr. S. Clarke. It is usual with the Hebrews to speak of
death under the name of sleep, not only with reference to good men, De 31:16;
2Sa 7:12; Ps 13:3; but also, to bad men, Ps 76:5; Da 12:2. Dr. Whitby. (British
Family Bible)
The symbol of
"sleep" for death is common to all languages, and familiar to us in
the Old Testament. In the New Testament, however, a higher meaning is put into
it, in relation to believers in Jesus (see on JFB for 1Th 4:14), a sense hinted
at, and clearly, in Ps 17:15 [LUTHARDT]; and the "awaking out of
sleep" acquires a corresponding sense far transcending bare resuscitation.
(Jamieson-Faucet-Brown Commentary)
Sleepeth-Such is the death of good men in the
language of heaven. But the disciples did not yet understand this language. And
the slowness of our understanding makes the Scripture often descend to our
barbarous manner of speaking. (John Wesley’s Notes on the Old and New Testament)
There is such an analogy
between death and sleep, that there is nothing more ordinary than to express
death by sleep in Scripture, De 31:16; 2Sa 7:12; 1Ki 1:21; 2Ki 20:21; Job 7:21;
14:12 Da 12:2, and in a multitude of other texts, both in the Old Testament and
in the New; so as it was evident our Saviour meant he was dead, which he knew
as he was God, though as yet he had received no relation of it from the friends
of the deceased. But I go (saith our
Saviour) to raise him up again from the dead, which he calls awaking him;
pursuing the former metaphor, where he had compared death to a sleep. (Matthew
Poole’s Commentary)
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. Jesus before
called death a sleep (see Mt 9:24; Mr 5:39; Lu 8:52), because it was only a
temporary slumber. (People’s New Testament Commentary)
12. How did David refer
to his death?
Psalm 13:3 Consider and
hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of
death. See the Gospel of Nicodemus XII:14 – 24 and XVI:10.
13. What words did Paul use to say that some of
those who saw Jesus were now dead?
1Co 15:6 and after
that, he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; many of whom
survive at the present time, and some of them sleep. (Dr. James Murdock
from the Aramaic)
14. If there were no resurrection, what would
happen to all who have fallen asleep?
1Co 15:16 For if the dead do not rise, not even Christ has been
raised. (Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation [APNT])
15.When Jesus awoke from death, how did he say
that He had not yet been to heaven?
Joh 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not
yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brothers and tell them [that] I ascend
to my Father and your Father, and [to] my God and your God."
16. How much does a dead man know?
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead
don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory
is forgotten.
Note that the writer goes on to say in verse six that this refers
to this life or area under the Sun. (World English Bible
[WEB])
17. What happens to his feelings and emotions?
Ecc 9:6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has
perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything
that is done under the sun. (WEB)
18. What happens to all his thoughts?
Psa 146:4 His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth.
In that very day, his thoughts perish. (WEB) His breath goes forth, he
returns to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. (Lamsa)
Other passages though which mention of the dead speaking to one
another as in Luke 16:24, this passage in the Psalms is just referring to the
dead body which cannot think anymore.
19. What can we do while we are alive?
Psa 146:2 While I
live, I will praise [Jeh-wah]. I will sing praises to my God as long as I
exist. WEB
20. Can dead people praise the Lord?
Psa 115:17 The dead
don’t praise [Jeh]Yah, neither any who go down into silence;
This is especially so if they were spiritually dead while on
Earth, then they would also be spiritually dead in death as well and would not
think of praising God that would put them in torment.
21. Can the dead thank God or even remember Him?
Psa 6:5 For in death
there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
As David had not died as yet (while he was writing the Psalm) he
gives his opinion here concerning his body once it dies and if he goes to
Sheol, to the bad area, he knows he would not be giving God thanks.
22. Why will many people perish?
2Th 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness that is in the
perishing [ones], because they did not receive the love of the truth by which
they should have life. (APNT)
23. If we haven’t learned to love the truth
while we are alive, can we get it in the grave?
Isa 38:18 For Sheol
can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit
can’t hope for your truth. WEB Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can
not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy
truth. KJV o AV
Note that it is Sheol not the grave here.
24. How
then should we use the short time in which we are alive?
Ecc 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your
might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol,
where you are going.
This was Solomon’s ideas for it does not say thus says God
Almighty to the people as the Bible often says through the mouths of prophets
like Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, and others.
25. Why is it so important to do it now?
Ecc 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your
might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol,
where you are going.
In the
Light of God’s Word . . . I understand that the
dead are unconscious in the grave, awaiting either the resurrection of life or
the resurrection of damnation. Yes or No?
NO, for if the living soul is in a grave, they are really dead and
cannot think, but their soul and spirit bodies go to their maker right at death
to be judged according to their works. Much of this was revealed in the above
notes.
[1]Mother Shipton's Prophecies, gospel tract, possibly by Pilgrim Tracts. Also
see the Internet.
[3]Mt. 13:40-43; Rev. 19:19,20; 20:10, 14, 15; and
21:8
[4] Power BibleCD is Copyright 2006 by Online Publishing, Inc.,128 E
Chicago St, PO Box 21, Bronson, MI 49028, bible@mail.com
[1]
Words in these kind of brackets are from the Concordant
Literal New Testament by A. E. Knoch: Concordant Publishing Concern, 1966.
[1]
WEB had Yahweh as their guess for a
translation of the Hebrew word for the Most High God but it was revealed a few
years ago through a miracle of supernatural utterance to this editor that Jēh-wah
was the proper pronunciation. The editor asked God to give the pronunciation to
a friend who was regularly hearing the voice of his guardian angel guide him
out of Roman Catholicism into becoming a good strong Bible Christian and help
him understand the Bible better. Instead, God used the editor's mouth to
pronounce God's name, which has the same initial pronunciation as Jesus' name.
Good Books to
Supplement your Bible Readings
C.
Besson
The
Book of Jasher (the 1840 edition) This is a history book
translated from one or more of thirteen Hebrew copies on the upright
people from Adam and Eve to the first Judges after Joshua died. It
mentions that Cainan, son of Enosh, son of Seth, son of Adam and Eve
was wise and when he was forty years old ruled over spirits and
demons. He also learned how to write and read. This was when his
grandparents, Adam and Eve were about 265 years old. Cainan
apparently taught them to do likewise for they wrote two books, after
their names.
The
Book of Jubilees, is said to have been written by Moses
from information provided by one or more angels. Book of Enoch
and the Secrets of Enoch plus
The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of
Eden (translations of some
books such as The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,
some of which prophesied
about Jesus; also the First and Second Books of Adam and Eve and the
Letter of Aristeas on
the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek Septuagint
Version of the Old Testament. The Fourth Book of the Maccabees is
also included in the latter half. In the first half there are
interesting accounts of Pilate, the Gospel of Peter, the Epistle of
Barnabas, and writings of other saints.
Other
writings of more recent times are The
Pilgrim's Progress.
Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is about
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a
1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. and
Foxe's
Book of Martyrs by John Foxe The Actes and Monuments,
popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant
history and martyrology by John Foxe, first published in English in
1563 by John Day.
Some very good Bible
handbooks and commentaries are Halley's Bible Handbook, Dake's
Annotated Reference Bible, and the Thompson Chain-reference
Bible. Then there is the
Nave's Topical Bible and Strong's Complete Word Study
Concordance.
Most
English Bibles and New Testaments are
translations from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek
New Testaments but there are
also available a number of translations from the Aramaic
New Testaments and two from the
Aramaic Old Testament. There
also a few translations into English from the Greek
Septuagint Old Testaments. Most
modern day English Bibles are from inferior or watered down Greek
versions of the New Testaments. I
believe the best are those similar to the Authorized or
King James Version Bibles, like
the New King James Version and those translated from the
Aramaic New Testaments.
For
a quick check up, see if your translations include fasting in these
places: Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29, and 1 Cor. 7:5. Most
modern day ones, influenced by the Devil, I am sure, leave out
fasting because he is afraid of people who regularly fast and pray.
My favourite New
Testament is the Aramaic
Peshitta New Testament Translation by
Janet M. Magiera of Light of the Word Ministry. There is the Lamsa
translation from the whole Aramaic Bible is quite nice to have as
well. Rev. Glenn David Bauscher has also translated the whole Aramaic
Bible into English with a lot of helpful notes proving the
Aramaic supremacy as the first version of the New Testament rather
than the Greek translation. See Lulu Publishing for his works at
https://www.lulu.com/.
The
Godhead
and
the
Trinity:
What
is
the
Truth?
A
Definitive Brief Study on
this
subject like No Other!
(A
Chapter of
The
Day of the LORD
is
at Hand!)
(A
Special edition in small
print
for free distribution)
By
Truth and Light Ministries
The
Godhead
and
the
Trinity:
What
is
the
Truth?
A
Definitive Brief Study on
this
subject like No Other!
(A
Chapter of
The
Day of the LORD
is
at Hand!)
(A
Special edition in small
print
for free distribution)
By
Truth and Light Ministries
P.
O. Box 79, Ethelbert, MB,
ROL 0T0
Canada
or crbesson@mts.net
No
Copyright
Truth
and Light Ministries Inc.
Anyone
may reproduce this book or transmit it in any form, even
electronically. We would appreciate it though if you would give
acknowledgment on each copy to this ministry and of its address and
phone number. Mainly, so that we can get some financial help to
spread these truths to all the churches and Bible colleges in the
English-speaking world and then to get these pages translated into
other languages and spread abroad to churches and people of other
lands. We would also like to make ourselves available to answer
questions and to pray for anyone who may need our spiritual
help. Please also consider praying for this ministry and ask God what
he would have you do.
If
one believes or finds there are any errors, please let us know with
Bible references and any other information that would be of help, so
that we could understand your point of issue and that we can come to
know the full truth. If there are any typing or grammatical errors,
please let us know so we can make the needed corrections for any
future printings. Please provide your return address.
First
Published December 2004
Truth
and Light Ministries, Inc.,
[Raised by God to earnestly contend for the faith that was once
delivered to the Saints (Jude 3b)], P. O. Box 79 Ethelbert, Manitoba,
R0L 0T0 Canada. Phone (204) 742-3306. Crbesson@mts.net
Director: Cliff Besson, Asst.: Rev. Wilhelm Janzen (Winnipeg),
Treas.: Fred McClellan.
Dedication
This
treatise is dedicated to the glory of God and for his righteousness,
to
try to correct false teachings and to help bring unity to
the
Church of God.
Acknowledgments
This
has been prepared with much guidance from God the Father; Jesus, his
only begotten son; and the Holy Spirit. This work was also greatly
aided by the many scholars who previously prepared lexicons;
concordances; commentaries; various translations from the Hebrew,
Aramaic, Syriac, and Greek texts; and other Bible helps on
understanding the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages. Much thanks
also to Mr. Fred McClellan, Gary and Sidney Chernov, and
Remi Labossière for their help when needed.
Introductory
Notes
Unless
otherwise mentioned, the English translations are from the regular
old common version, the King James Authorized Version (KJV or AV) of
1769. As was the practice in this version so it is in this treatise,
the word ‘God,’ as a rule, actually represents in the Hebrew and
Greek texts ‘the god’ or ‘the God’; the word ‘LORD’
represents the tetragrammaton, or four letter Hebrew word for the
personal name of the Living God, יהוה.
This is sometimes written as JHWH, YHWH, JHVH, YHVH, Jehovah, Yahweh,
Jehwah, and other ways.
The
use of italics in the KJV means that in the Hebrew, Aramaic (of the
Old Testament), and Greek texts that they have used, there are no
words in that immediate area of the text to substantiate the placing
or adding of that word or words. Often the meanings at these points
in the originals were just understood or inferred from the immediate
context or from a verse or more before or after. In most cases, the
words in italics are very applicable but not always.
Sometimes
though, according to Mr. Robert Young of the Young’s
Literal Translation Bible,
in the KJV there should have been words in italics but there are not.
So in important points of doctrine, where one uses certain verses of
Scripture to establish that doctrine, one should verify the meanings
of each of the words as to the original manuscripts.
Truth
and Light Ministries
P.
O. Box 79, Ethelbert, Manitoba R0L 0T0 Canada
Table
of Contents
Pages
with Subject or Topic Headings
1
Introduction; Did Not Jesus Warn of False Teachings from His
Own Church People? Later, Jesus Warned us Again through the Writings
of St. Paul; 2 Note here the Technicality in Hebrew 13:7;
Denominational Teachings; The Godhead; 3 The Real Meaning of
Trinity; Tri-unity with Angels; 5 Tri-unity with the Spirit; 6
Summary of the Above Facts; 7 Angels and Spirits; 8 God or Angels
= Voice or Holy Spirit; 9 What Can We Conclude? Problems Though!
1. Angels are Created Beings; 10 2. The Special Nature of God Most
High; 3. What about Jesus? 12 4. What is an Image? 5. Was
Jesus Therefore Really Just a God? 13 a. Examples of the
God
in the Greek Texts; 14 b. Examples of a
God
in the Greek Texts; 6. Humans are Sometimes Regarded as Gods; 15
7. Misunderstood Verses on Jesus; 16 8. A Oneness with the Father
and the Son; 9. Now No Trinity or Tri-unity; 10. What Does the
Bible Say? 17 11. Just One God! 12. Is There Only Jesus? 18
a. All Power, Better Translated as Authority; 19 b. Power is a
Good Translation in the Following Case; 20 13. Big Errors in
Doctrine? 21 14. Most Studies in Theology are Based on a Lie!
15. Honour to Jesus as to God? 16. God is Greater than Jesus; 22
17. The God Can Not Be Seen by us Mortals; 18. The God, the Father
is a Jealous God; 23 What Can We Now Conclude? Special Precautions
with Regards to the Christ; 24 Special Precautions with Regards to
the Spirit; Big Problem Though! 26 Examples of Problems: 1. A
Witch Doctor in America; 27 2. Radio Talk-show Host; 28 3.
Getting Supernatural Help with Problems; 29 4. The
Disillusioned Pastor; What Proof of Demonettes? 30 1. Do
Not Use Praise
the Lord!
2. The Nothingness of a Backslid Preacher; 31 3. A Phoney Spirit
of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; 32 4. More Unseen Fly-like
Spirits; 5. Son of Morris Cerullo; What other Forms? 1. Night
Creatures; 33 2. All Things are Parallel; 34 The Only Baptism
that Counts; More Cases of Deception: 1. Not All Voices are Voices
of God; 35 2. An Apparent Attempt at Suicide; 3. A Novice; 36 4. A
New Name for God? Insight from The
Book of Jasher;
37 5. Does God Hate or Love Piety? 39 Notice for Over Sanctuary
Doorways; Following Who and What? 40 What about Hell? Who is
Running things in this World? 41 Miracle Visitation? Bible
Knowledge and Study is Very Important! 42 Traits of False Prophets
and Spirits: 1. Pride; 43 2. More Traits of False Prophets; 3.
Detecting False Prophets, Preachers, and the Spirits of the Devil; 45
Some Types of Evil Spirits Mentioned in the Bible; 46 Medical
Problems are Sometimes Factors; Signs of the True Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Truth; 47 Some Types of Holy Spirits Mentioned in the
Bible; 48 A Special Greatness and Respect is Due to Jesus; 49 1.
Jesus as a Lord or a Ruler; 2. Jesus as King of Kings; 50 3.
Jesus
is to be Worshipped as King of Kings;
51 Final Conclusion; 52 Help Needed Please!
The
Godhead and
the
Trinity:
What
is the Truth?
Introduction
Jeremiah
28:15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet,
Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest
this people to trust in a lie. 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners,
that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your
dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Did
Not Jesus Warn of False Teachings from
His
Own Church people?
Matthew
16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired
him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and
said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather:
for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to
day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern
the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there
shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
And he left them, and departed.
5
And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had
forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And
they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have
taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O
ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have
brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the
five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10
Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets
ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it
not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that
he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
24:4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive
you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ [the
anointed one, that is, the best church leader promised by God];
and shall deceive many. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and
shall deceive many. 24 For there shall arise false Christs [Anointed
or ordained ones], and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect.
Later,
Jesus Warned Us Again through
the
Writings of St. Paul.
Colossians
2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. Hebrews 13:9, Be not carried about with divers and
strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be
established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them
that have been occupied therein.
Note
Here the Technicality in Hebrew 13:7
“Remember
them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word
of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their
conversation.”
(Be
mindful of those leading you, who did speak to you the word of God,
whose faith--considering the issue of the behaviour--be imitating,
(Young’s Literal Translation (YLT))
What
technicality? It is the one about, only the rulers who have spoken to
you the
word of God.
It is only these teachers, pastors, and church and political leaders
that you should follow.
Denominational
Teachings
The
ones who speak to you their denominational
teachings, which
cannot be found clearly or precisely in the Bible and be backed
up by two or three witnesses of its veracity as sound Bible
teaching, do
not follow.
Unfortunately,
because of many unsound teachings in the Church over the last two
thousand years, some errors have crept
into
the Bible translations. Thank God though, even though the King James
Authorized 1769 edition Bible (our common King James Version Bible
that is used today) has many words that are out of date, it still can
be used to often come to the truth of what God really meant in the
original autographs.
So
because of the many warnings of the dangers of false doctrines or
teachings coming into the Church, even from those who were ordained,
prophesied, and made out that they were scholars, all their teachings
must be re-examined for truthfulness as to the Bible. This even must
apply to all the past teachings of the Church since the closing of
the Old and New Testaments. Their teachings must be regarded as just
viewpoints or opinions of men that were fallible. Their teachings,
even of saints, scholars, and popes, could very well be just as
theoretical as any other student or scholar of any subject under
the sun. Their writings should therefore be checked out like any
other theories and opinions of other disciplines of study.
The
Godhead
Let
us first consider the term Godhead.
Is
it a Biblical term or a philosophical imaginary term? According to
the Greek, Godhead
at Acts 17:29 (θειον)
should
really be translated divine or “that ‘which is’ divine.”1
At Romans 1:20, (θειοτης)
it
should be translated as “divinity,
(the characteristic or property of Θεος).”2
At the only other place in the
New Testament,
at Colossians 2:9, the word in the Greek is θεοτος,
of
a deity, or
of
the bright ones of the heavens.
This is shown from considering the word translated Brimstone,
θειον,
“fire from heaven.”3
Notice that it is the exact same spelling as the first word
translated Godhead and the similarity to the next one.
When
one considers the words for Godhead
in
each of the above references from the Aramaic or Syriac rather from
the Greek, it is simply the word for Godhood
or
divinity.
The spelling in Hebrew letters is אתוהלא.
The same three last letters (the ones on the left, as Hebrew and
Aramaic read from right to left) are in the words for fatherhood;
essence or substance (Hebrews 1:3); brotherhood or brotherly
(2 Peter 1:7); and humanity or mankind (James 3:7), and the people
(Acts 17:13).4
The
Real Meaning of Trinity
As
seen from the definitions above, it appears that the most likely
meaning of a
trinity is
just tri-unity,
that is, three things teamed up together, like a mother, father, and
a son or a daughter. These three make up a family and provided they
all love each other and team up together at doing things, they are a
unit and make up a tri-unity. With all the divorces going on
now-a-days though, at any moment their tri-unity could break up or
later on in life, death or marriage of the child will bring their
tri-unity to an end.
According
to the theologians though, this could never happen to their Trinity
or Tri-unity or could it?
One
preacher friend of this writer, Gerald Bernard, who was a
Trinitarian, had a strange dream of seeing a triangle in a bonfire in
the middle of a circle of fire that was in a field. The triangle
itself was even being burnt and was in danger of being entirely
destroyed.
He
did not understand the dream but this preacher did and now he has
just discovered the origin of the meaning of the word bonfire.
First of all, the meaning is “an open-air fire lit to burn rubbish
or as a celebration. -ORIGIN originally denoting a fire on which
bones were burnt, or for burning heretics.” (Oxford University
Press Dictionary).
Could
it mean that the teaching of the Trinity is heretical and needs to be
destroyed for one reason or another?
Note
that with regards to the family tri-unity, they are of the same
substance, that is, all of human flesh and blood but is this so with
regards to the so called heavenly Trinity or Tri-unity?
We
must therefore study some more facts and the facts should be based on
what the Bible actually says, where it does not say it, and on
general logic as we would do with questions on science or on modern
day languages.
On
searching the Bible, on the surface, there appears to be a
Tri-unity which includes God’s Holy Angels along with God the
Father and the Son, Jesus, the Christ. So let us first check out what
the Bible has to say about this unity, a partnership, or a
team-ship that includes God the Father, His Son, and the Holy
Angels.
Tri-unity
with Angels
(1)
Matthew|16:27 For the
Son of man shall
come in the glory of
his Father with
his
angels;
and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (2) Mark
1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus
came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
opened, and the Spirit like a
dove descending
upon him:
11 And there came a
voice
from heaven, saying, Thou
art my
beloved Son,
in whom I
am well pleased. 12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him
into the wilderness. (3) 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness
forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the
angels
ministered unto him. 14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus
came
into Galilee,
preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of
God,
(4) Mark|8: 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and
of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also
shall the
Son of man be
ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of
his Father with
the
holy angels.
(5) Mark|12:24 And Jesus
answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know
not the scriptures, neither the power of
God?
25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor
are given in marriage; but are as the angels
which
are in heaven. (6) Luke| 4:8 And Jesus
answered
and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the
Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem,
and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou
be the Son
of
God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He
shall give his angels
charge
over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in ®their̅ hands they shall bear
thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And
Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God. (7) Luke|20: 34 And Jesus answering said unto them,
The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But
they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the
angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the
resurrection. (8) John| 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (9)
Acts|7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels,
and have not kept ®it.̅ 54 When they heard these things, they were
cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with ®their̅ teeth. 55
But he, being full of
the Holy Ghost,
looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, [this one could be for
the Holy Ghost too.] (10) Galatians |3:19 Wherefore then ®serveth̅
the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should
come to whom the promise was made; ®and it was̅ordained by
angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not ®a
mediator̅ of one, but God is
one.
21 ®Is̅ the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for
if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily
righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ
might be given to them that believe. (11) 2 Thessalonians| 1:6
Seeing ®it is̅ a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, (12) 1 Timothy|3:13 For they
that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a
good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ
Jesus. 14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee
shortly: 15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou
oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God [Greek
actually or literally says a god] was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the
Spirit ,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up into glory. [This one could be used for the Holy
Spirit as well.] (13) 1 Timothy|5:21 I charge ®thee̅ before
God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou
observe these things without
preferring
one before another, doing nothing by partiality. (14) Hebrews|2:9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he
by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (15)
Hebrews|2:16 For verily he [Jesus] took not on ®him the nature
of̅ angels; but he took on ®him̅the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore
in all things it behoved him to be made like unto ®his̅ brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
®pertaining̅ to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people. (16) Hebrews|12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and
church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the
Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to
Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than ®that of̅ Abel. (17)
1 Peter|3:21 The like figure whereunto ®even̅ baptism doth
also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but
the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ: 22 Who is gone
into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and
powers being made subject unto him. (18) Matthew|24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no ®man,̅ no, not the angels
of
heaven,
but my Father only. [In this one, the word ‘my’ refers to Jesus,
who is speaking and he shows that he is in a tri-unity or unity with
his father’s wishes (not with his supernatural being) or spirit,
along with the angels of heaven. There is a problem though!
Jesus appears to be more in unity with the angels of Heaven than with
his father because Jesus and the angels did not know the day and the
hour when he is to come back. The Father
then
seems to be quite independent and on his own.] (19) (19) Mark| 13:
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass
away. 32 But of that day and ®that̅ hour knoweth no man, no, not
the angels which are in heaven,
neither the
Son,
but the
Father.
[see the note in the above] (20) Matthew|18:10 Take heed that
ye despise not one of these little ones; for
I say
unto you, That in heaven their angels
do
always behold the face of my
Father which
is in heaven. [The ‘I’ refers to Jesus in this tri-unity.] (21)
Matthew|26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father,
and he shall presently give
me more
than twelve legions of angels?
(22)
Hebrews|1:4 Being made so much better than
the angels,
as
he hath
by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto
which of the
angels
said
he at
any time, Thou art my
Son,
this day have
I begotten
thee? And again, I
will
be to him
a Father, and
he
shall be to me
a Son?
[The first ‘he’ refers to Jesus.] (23) Revelation|3:4 Thou hast
a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and
they shall walk with me
in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same
shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will
not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I
will
confess his name before my
Father,
and before his
angels.5
[The
‘me’ and ‘my’ refer to Jesus.]
The
words Holy
Ghost are
just old English words for the now preferred wording of Holy
Spirit.
Tri-unity
with the Spirit
(1)
Matthew|3:16 And
Jesus, when
he
was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him,
and
he
saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove,
and
lighting upon him: 17 And lo
a voice from heaven, saying,
This
is
my
beloved Son, in
whom I
am well pleased. (2)
Matthew|4:1
Then was
Jesus
led up of the
Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he
had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was
afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to
him, he said,
If thou
be
the Son of
God,
command that these stones be made bread. [This could be regarded as
not really a tri-unity with God the Father, as he is really not
there. Just the term God,
in relation to the son.] (3) Matthew|12:28 But if I
cast
out devils by the
Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God
is
come unto you. (4) Mark|1:9 And it came to pass in those days,
that Jesus
came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens
opened, and the Spirit
like a dove descending
upon him: 11 And there came a voice
from heaven,
®saying,̅ Thou art
my beloved
Son,
in whom I
am well pleased. 12 And immediately the
Spirit driveth
him into the wilderness.[A spiritual dove is like an angel or
messenger, so this one could be used for the one for angels as well.]
(5) Luke|4: 12 And Jesus
answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from
him for a season. 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit into
Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region
round about. (6) Luke| 11: 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall ®your̅
heavenly
Father give
the
Holy Spirit
to them that ask him? 14 And he
was
casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when
the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. [The
‘he’ here is Jesus.] (7) John|3:33 He that hath received his
testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God
hath sent speaketh the words of God: for
God giveth
not the
Spirit by
measure ®unto him.̅ 35 The
Father
loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. (8) John|15:26 But when
the
Comforter is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, ®even̅ the
Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the
Father,
he shall testify of
me:
[The Comforter means one that is called to one’s aid or assistance.
Jesus is the one speaking here so he is the ‘me.’] (9)
John|16:10 Of righteousness, because I
go
to my
Father,
and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the
Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, ®that̅ shall he speak: and
he will show you things to come.14 He shall glorify me:
for he shall receive of mine, and shall show ®it̅ unto you. 15 All
things that the
Father hath
are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall
show ®it̅ unto you. (10) Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost,
looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw
the glory of God,
and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son
of man
standing on the right hand of
God.
(11) Acts|8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus
Christ is the Son of
God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down
both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the
Spirit of
the
Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his
way rejoicing. (12) Romans|15: 18 For I will not dare to speak of
any of those things which Christ
hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and
deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the
Spirit of
God;
so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have
fully preached the gospel of Christ. (13) 1 Corinthians|6:11
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus,
and by the
Spirit of
our God.
(14) 2 Corinthians|3:3 ®Forasmuch as ye are̅ manifestly declared
to be the epistle of Christ
ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of
the
living God;
not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. (15)
Acts|2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption. 32 This Jesus
hath God
raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the
right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the
Father the
promise of the
Holy Ghost,
he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and
hear.
making mention of you in our prayers; (16) 1 Thessalonians |1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love,
and patience of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God
and our Father;
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power,
and in the
Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among
you for your sake. 6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord,
having received the word in much affliction, with joy of
the Holy Ghost:
(17) 1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon
well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the
faith which is in
Christ Jesus.
14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to
behave thyself in the house of God,
which is the church of the
living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great
is the mystery of godliness: God
[the Greek here actually says a god] was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the
Spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory. (18) 1 John| 5:6 This is he that came by
water and blood, ®even̅ Jesus
Christ;
not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the
Spirit
that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is
truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father,
the Word,
and the
Holy Ghost:
and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in
earth, the
Spirit,
and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.6
Summary
of the Above Facts
Now
what do the above facts and studies reveal? For one thing, note that
exactly the same method that was used to find tri-unities with angels
was used for the finding of tri-unities with the Holy Ghost and the
Holy Spirit. Note that there were found twenty-three (23) groups of
Holy
Scripture
that prove that there is more a tri-unity of Angels with God the
Father and the Son Jesus than there is for a tri-unity with the Holy
Spirit, as only eighteen were found (18) upon using exactly the same
method.
What
else does it show? Does it not show that in the above tri-unities, or
three things or beings or groups of beings together, that as two
are always the Father God and the Son of God, that the Holy Ghost or
Holy Spirit must be the equivalent of the Holy Angels? In other
words, when the Holy Angels are invisible they are simply called the
Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost.
Angels
and Spirits
Hebrews
1:7 And of the
angels
he saith, Who maketh his angels
spirits,
and his ministers
a flame of fire. 14 Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Psalm 104:4 Who maketh his angels
spirits;
his ministers
a flaming fire: Zechariah 6:5 And the
angel answered
and said unto me, These [four chariots with horses] are the four
spirits
of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all
the earth.
Another
proof of this is shown in the experience of Philip the evangelist and
his successful efforts at winning a eunuch for Christ Jesus.
Acts
8:26 And the
angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that
goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 29 Then the
Spirit said
unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 39 And when
they were come up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way
rejoicing.
A
similar example occurs with the experience of the Apostle Peter and
the centurion Cornelius. In fact, it was this incident in the life of
Peter that God used to open this writer’s understanding about
the Holy Spirit. This happened in about the year 1968 (about
thirty-six (36) years ago). It was also this revelation that got him
expelled as a preacher and pastor from his favourite church and
denomination.
Acts
10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an
angel of God coming
in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4 And when he looked
on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one
Simon, whose surname is Peter: 7 And when the
angel which spake unto Cornelius was
departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout
soldier of them that waited on him continually; 13 And there came a
voice to
him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord;
for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And
the
voice spake
unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was
received up again into heaven. 19 While Peter thought on the
vision, the
Spirit said
unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 Arise therefore, and get
thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I
have sent them. 22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just
man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the
nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an
holy angel to
send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. 30 And
Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at
the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a
man stood
before me in bright clothing,
Once
again we have a passage of Scripture where it should be obvious that
at times an angel carries on his assignment with mankind sometimes
invisibly, so that God the Father will get the glory rather than the
angel. When an angel or more than one are invisible
or unseen, (in fact that is what is the meaning of spirit,
invisible
or unseen but usually of a real substance,
rather than just imaginary) they are simply called Spirit or the
Spirit. This last term should be the one that is used when referring
to the one Spirit that was just previously mentioned or with
reference to not just any spirit but to an invisible entity that is
holy and represents the Holy God and/or his son, Jesus.
The
word spirit
in English, simply appears to mean something or things that appear to
be real because of its force or affects on people and things but is
usually not seen, such as one’s breath unless it gets quite cold.
Our word pneumatic,
as in a pneumatic tire (a tire filled or inflated with invisible air)
is from the same word in the Greek language that is translated as
spirit and Spirit. It is the Greek word pneuma,
wind, breath, air, and spirit.
Now
when the
pneuma
or the invisible
talks and appears to be holy because it lifts up or promotes (1) the
Holy God, (2) the Lord Jesus, and (3) the reading of the Holy
Scriptures,
then it is no longer just an it
or
a force but
a
Holy
Being that
is invisible. We therefore call this type of invisible or spirit,
Holy
Spirit,
or the
Holy Spirit.
While
the Holy Spirit is invisible, rather than being visible like an
angel, God is more revered. As God’s angels, as spirits, can be
all over one’s church, city, country, and the world as God’s
messengers, they represent God to help us or to give us messages from
Him. They also pass on our messages and the requests of our prayers
to God Almighty and His Son Jesus. As they have eyes, ears, hands,
feet, or wings and they belong to God, then they are God’s eyes,
ears, hands, feet, and wings for God but they are also to minister to
us on behalf of God. Praise God.
Here
are some more examples of passages where it should be obvious that
the angel speaking is also the voice, the invisible Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, or the Holy Ghost.
God
or Angels = Voice or Holy Spirit
(1)
Judges|13: 19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and
offered ®it̅ upon a rock unto the LORD: and ®the
angel̅
did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For
it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the
altar, that the
angel of
the LORD
ascended in the flame of the altar.
And Manoah and his wife looked on ®it,̅ and fell on their faces to
the ground. 21 But the
angel of the LORD did
no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he
®was̅ an
angel of the LORD.
(3) Isaiah|63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the
angel of his presence
saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare
them, and carried them all the days of old [see Exodus 33:2, 14, 15;
Psalm 51:10-12 and 139:7]. 10 But they rebelled, and vexed his
holy Spirit:
therefore he was turned to be their enemy, ®and̅ he fought against
them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, ®and̅ his
people, ®saying,̅ Where ®is̅ he that brought them up out of the
sea with the shepherd of his flock? where ®is̅ he that put his
holy Spirit within
him? 12 That led ®them̅ by the right hand of Moses with his
glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an
everlasting name? 13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in
the wilderness, ®that̅ they should not stumble? 14 As a beast
goeth down into the valley, the
Spirit of the LORD caused
him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a
glorious name. (4) Zechariah|4:1 And the
angel that
talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out
of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I
have looked, and behold a candlestick all ®of̅ gold, with a bowl
upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to
the seven lamps, which ®are̅ upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive
trees by it, one upon the right ®side̅ of the bowl, and the other
upon the left ®side̅ 4 So I answered and spake to the
angel that
talked with me, saying, What ®are̅ these, my lord? 5 Then the
angel that
talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these
be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me,
saying, This ®is̅ the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by
my spirit,
saith the LORD
of hosts. (5) Acts| 23:7 And when he had so said, there arose a
dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude
was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,
neither angel,
nor spirit:
but the Pharisees confess both. 9 And there arose a great cry: and
the scribes ®that were̅ of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove,
saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a
spirit or
an
angel hath
spoken to him, let us not fight against God. (6) Revelation|1:12
And I turned to see the
voice
that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden
candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks ®one̅
like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and ®his̅
hairs ®were̅ white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes ®were̅
as a flame of fire; (7) Revelation|1:18 I am he that liveth,
and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast
seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be
hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my
right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches.(8) Revelation|3:1 And unto the
angel
of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the
seven Spirits of God
[see Rev. 1:4], and the
seven stars [see
Rev.1:16, 20];
I
know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
(9)Revelation|14:13 And I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed ®are̅ the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the
Spirit [this
may refer to God the Father who is invisible or Spirit to us who
are in the Flesh],
that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow
them. 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the
cloud ®one̅ sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a
golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another
angel
came out of the temple, crying with a
loud voice to
him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for
the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is
ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the
earth; and the earth was reaped. 17 And another
angel
came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp
sickle. 18 And
another angel came
out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a
loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle,
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes
are fully ripe. 19 And the
angel
thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the
earth, and cast ®it̅ into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
(10) Revelation|22:16 I Jesus have sent mine
angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and
the offspring of David,®and̅ the bright and morning star. 17 And
the
Spirit [this
may refer to God the Father] and the bride say, Come. And let him
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (13) Mark| 1:
10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the
heavens opened, and the
Spirit
[normally an invisible representative extension and
outreach of God, a messenger] like a dove descending upon him: 11
And there came a voice from heaven, ®saying,̅ Thou art my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. 12 And immediately the
Spirit driveth
him into the wilderness. 13 And he was there in the wilderness forty
days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the
angels ministered
unto him.7
What
Can We Conclude?
There
is definitely a tri-unity of spirit, goal, and team effort,
between and with each of them. Another way to look at it, is that
there is simply a holy unity of the angels and the Holy Spirit with
the Father and the Son.
Is
there a Trinity in the Holy Spirit or the heavenly realm with and
between the physical attributes of the very nature of God the Father,
Christ Jesus his son, and the invisible and seen Holy Angels? We
believe not because of the problems to this belief which are listed
and mentioned below.
Problems
Though!
1.
Angels are Created Beings
One
of the problems is that we know that angels are created beings:
Genesis
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them. Nehemiah 9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and
all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and
thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.Ps
33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host
of them by the breath of his mouth. 103:21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye
his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Lu 2:13 And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying, Col 1:16 For by [or through] him [Jesus]
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and
for him
[These
last three words are not in the Syriac Aramaic manuscripts. These
words may have been added by either the Greek translator or by a
copyist]:
2.
The Special Nature of God Most High
While
the angels can be proved to have been created by God, the Father, He
though, is an altogether different type of being. He is the most high
or supreme God and is the self-existing one, the Be-er, the always
living Superior One. In other words he was not created by any being.
This can be seen from the following verses:
“And
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus
3:14) (KJV)
“HE
who IS and who WILL BE what he IS. This is a proper characteristic of
the Divine Being, who is, properly speaking, the only BEING, because
he is independent and eternal; whereas all other beings, in
whatsoever forms they may appear, are derived, finite, changeable,
and liable to destruction, decay, and even to annihilation. When God,
therefore, announced himself to Moses by this name, he proclaimed his
own eternity and immateriality . . . .” [Adam Clark’s Commentary
at Exodus 3:22]
According
to Mr. Clark, God’s own definition of his name Jehovah
(more correctly Jehwah),
which is commonly written LORD, Lord,
Jehovah, or Yahweh, was revealed to Moses and recorded in
Exodus
34:6 And [Jehwah] passed by before him, and proclaimed, [Jehwah],
[Jehwah] God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant
in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear
the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth
generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the
earth, and worshipped.
3.
What about Jesus?
Where
did Jesus come from? What does the Bible say?
Matthew
8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God?
art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 1 Corinthians
1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the
power of God,
and
the wisdom of God.
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed
me in
the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or
ever the earth was. 24 When there were no depths, I was brought
forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 30 Then I
was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him; John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the
Word was with God,
and the Word was Divine [there is no definite article before the
theos to make it God or the God]. 2 The same was in the beginning
with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any
thing made that was made. [God the Father is excluded here] Micah 5:2
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from
of old, from everlasting [or
“From the days of all time” (Adam Clark’s Commentary = ACC).
Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Colossians
1:15 Who is the
image of the invisible God
[see 2 Cor. 4:4], the
firstborn of
every creature: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things
consist.[God the Father is not a thing so he is excluded.] 18 And he
is the head
of the body,
the church: who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the
preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all
fulness dwell; Revelation 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard
them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before
the feet of the angel
which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See
thou do it not: for
I am thy fellow servant,
and of thy brethren the prophets,
and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship
God.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this
book: for the time is at hand.11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that
is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let
him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
[Is this the angel just saying this about himself or was he as a
messenger speaking on behalf of God the Father or of Jesus? Rev.
1:11-18; 2:8; and 21:6 suggest that it was Jesus speaking of
himself.] Isaiah 11: 1 And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And
the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 43:7 Even every one that is
called
by my name
[Does not Jesus’ name include the first part of his Father’s name
Jeh?
(Ps 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that
rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH,[Just an alternative
spelling for Jeh and Yeh or Yah] and rejoice before him.)]:
for
I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made
him.
Hebrews 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed [or literally
made. The Greek here is poieo.
It was never translated elsewhere in the New
Testament
as appointed
but
very often as Made,
as in Mt. 19:4; Mk. 10:6; and Lk. 11:40.] him, as also Moses was
faithful in all his house. 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself
to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my
Son,
to
day
have I begotten thee.
Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son; this
day have I begotten thee.
89:24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in
my name shall
his horn be exalted. 25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his
right hand in the rivers. 26 He shall cry unto me, Thou
art my father, my God,
and the rock of my salvation. 27 Also I
will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth. Matthew 2:15 And was there
until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my
son.3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is
my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.12:18 Behold my
servant,
whom I have chosen;
my beloved, in
whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he
shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. Mark 1:11 And there came a voice
from heaven, saying, Thou art my
beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. 1:24 Saying, Let us alone; what have
we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy
us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God.
5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son
of the most high God?
I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. Luke 3:22 And the
Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a
voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my
beloved Son;
in thee I am well pleased. 4:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have
we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy
us? I know thee who thou art; the
Holy One of God.
{Let...: or, Away} 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out,
and saying, Thou art Christ
the Son of God.
And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that
he was
Christ.
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the
Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. {taketh away: or, beareth}
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the
same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever.
Note
the difference here with regards to Jesus of Nazareth in the last
reference as to the description of God his Father, who is said to be
from everlasting to everlasting (Ps. 90:2). Why does the Bible say
that Jesus is only the same from yesterday?
What was he like before yesterday or yesteryear? He must have been
different and before that, only in the mind of God, just like the
rest of us. Does not Ps. 2:7 say “. . . this day have I begotten
thee?”
The
verses above say that he was God’s servant, an Apostle, a High
Priest, a prophet, a beginning of God’s creation, the
messenger of the covenant, the Holy One of God, and son but of the
most high God. He is also the Christ, the head of the Body, the
Church and the Lamb of God, that God used to redeem us (John 1:29).
4.
What is an Image?
Jesus
is also said to be “the
image of
the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). What does that mean? First of all,
what is an image? Is it not just a reflection of the real
substance or being that one can see in a mirror? Do we not only see
through a glass darkly at the moment but later we shall see him as he
really is (see 1 Cor. 13:12 and 2 Cor. 3:18)?
So
Jesus is therefore not God or the God, but just an image, like a
reflection of what the real God or self-existing one is really like.
So seeing Jesus is not the Be-er or self-existing one, we must
therefore conclude that Jesus was created by God the
Father.
Perhaps
this was for fellowship as Proverbs 8:22-30 spoke about but then God
apparently had Jesus, as his Word or as a living letter sent down to
us on Earth, as a living letter like we are supposed to be for Christ
Jesus (2 Cor. 3:2,3).
God
apparently shared the creation experience with Jesus, by apparently
inviting him to speak the worlds into existence, as a Father would
most likely do. He did things in a similar way years later to Moses
to command the sea to part and water to come out of a rock and to
Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37, in the vision of the valley of dry bones.
5.
Was Jesus Therefore Really Just a God?
Let
us see what the Holy
Scriptures of
the New
Testament
has to say. Please note that in Greek as in English they use the
definite article in similar ways but originally they did not
make use of capital letters at the beginning of people’s names and
that of countries, cities, towns, and villages like we do now. They
often would therefore put their definite article in front of the noun
to indicate this nature of importance.
At
the following places the Greek Receptus Receptus literally says
“the Paul and the Barnabas” at Acts 13:43, 46, 50; 15:2 while it
has “the Paul and Barnabas” at only Acts 15:22 and then it has
“Paul and Barnabas” at only 15:35 in that area of the Bible.
Regarding just the name of Paul alone, it has “the Paul” at Acts
13:45; 14:9, 11, 19; and 16:8 while it has only “Paul” without a
definite article at Acts 14:12, 14; 15:12 and 25 in the same area of
the Bible. Of course, as mentioned above, as there was no
capitalization at first in the Greek, we added the capital letters to
the proper names. From this short example of the use of the definite
article with proper names, more often than not, the definite article
is used. It appears even more so with regards to regular nouns, such
as with the words spirit and God.
In
most other cases, they used the definite article similarly as we do,
indicating the specific animal, house, or thing just mentioned
by the use of their definite articles. They agree also in number and
in gender to the proper noun being specified. If there was to be no
specific item or thing being mentioned, then the definite
article, as a rule, would have to be left out.
At
times though, with regards to God, the definite article would be
left out, when it was obvious in general statements that it did refer
to the most high God, as in a phrase like the
Spirit of God.8
It would be obvious that most likely it would not be referring to a
spirit of a god, because everything comes from the God. At times
though, the definite article is not used in front of the Greek
word for spirit,
thereby indicating it is not a specific spirit
or the one just mentioned, like the Holy
Spirit
that was just mentioned. Sometimes it may refer to just the invisible
nature of the person being mentioned, like a spirit of happiness or
of joy. Mind you, it could also be referring to a special spirit
being from God, the Holy Spirit that was being called a spirit of
happiness or of joy.
To
understand their regular use of the definite article then, let us
examine the Scriptures to see if Jesus is ever called the God or a
god. Note here, that in the Greek they do not have a word to indicate
indefiniteness as we do in English (a
or an),
they just do so by not using the definite article to indicate this.
The ancient Aramaic language of which Jesus and all his apostles
spoke9
was different though. There is generally no use of a definite
article in their language. If it is very important to indicate some
special emphasis on a certain word, the emphatic state could be used,
which is spelled similarly or exactly like the feminine state or
gender of the word. It could be that because of this factor of no
general use of a definite article in the Aramaic, that God allowed
the misunderstanding to take place that the New
Testament was
originally written in Greek. That would have been, so that points of
theological doctrine and discussion could be decided upon much
easier and more precisely as to the point of view of the
original New Testament or New Covenant Church. In the Aramaic, one
has to really examine very carefully the context, in order to
determine whether a word was indefinite or definite but it is
not so difficult with regards to the Greek because of their generally
consistent use of the definite article or of not using it, as
illustrated above.
Paul
the Apostle and perhaps some of the other apostles and other Aramaic
Christians, that went into the Greek speaking areas, may have
eventually become quite fluent in both the Aramaic and the Greek
languages and perhaps even in the Old Latin language of Italy at that
time. We therefore can be confident that most of what we have in the
Greek Scriptures should be basically reliable. This should be so,
even though they are a translation according to the Aramaic and
Syriac speaking Christians of the middle Eastern countries.
In
many cases though, the Judaic or Aramaic speaking Christians would
probably never read the Greek Scriptures, even the Septuagint because
they were not written in their language. They would not know of any
mistakes therefore in the Greek unless someone asked them or false
doctrines started to occur in certain parts of the Church which used
the Greek translations.
a.
Examples of the
God in
the Greek Texts
In
the following places, according to the textus
receptus
or the Greek Received Text10
there are definite articles at these places, concerning the Greek
word Θεος,
for god
or
God:
Mt. 1:23; 3:9; 5:8; 6:30; Spirit
of the God:
3:16; The
God is a Spirit or
a Spirit is the God:
John 4:24; son
of the God:
4:3,6;
thy God:
4:7,10; throne
of the God:
Mt. 5:34 and “but unto the Son Thy Throne,
O God,
is for ages and ages”: Heb. 1:8.
As
far as we know, this is the only place in the New Testament where
there is a definite article before God where it refers to Jesus. If
we are wrong, please let us know? Now in this case of Heb. 1:8,
following the rules of Greek grammar and syntax, since the speaker
here, who is apparently God Almighty, is speaking to a specific god
or superior one of his created beings, it was necessary to place a
definite article in front of the word for clarification as to which
person or being to whom the God most high was speaking. He was
speaking to his only begotten son Jesus, according to most
commentators, for it is said to be a quotation from Psalm 45:6, 7, a
Messianic Psalm. Another way to look at it is if God wanted to
stipulate the word “O”, to show the vocative state, for a later
translation into our English language, he would have to use the
definite article in the Greek along with the vocative case of the
word god in the Greek, which in the Attic Greek is the same as the
nominative case11.
This is also the only way to faithfully quote “Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a
right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:
therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows..”
(Psalm
45:6).
Now
notice in verse seven above, this important one who was appointed to
be a king over God’s people, that this king or superior one has a
Superior One over him. That Superior One must be the Most Superior
One or Most High God or the Almighty God. Therefore this king is
just really a god or a Superior One over all those like you and I who
are not superior.
b.
Examples of a
God
in the Greek Texts
There
are no definite articles at these places: the
mouth of God:
Mt. 4:4; children
of God:
Mt. 5:9; serve
God:
6:24; the
Word as a god:
John. 1:1; sons
of God:
John 1:12; (Jesus, manifested as)
a god:
1 Timothy 3:16; Jesus, in the form of a
god:
Philippians 2:6; and Jesus, to be equal with a
god:
2:6.
The
above are just samples of illustrations that one can show from
perhaps 1172 places where the word for God
is
mentioned in the Received Text.
A
similar study can be done with
the
Spirit versus
a
spirit of God,
showing that the words the
Spirit in
the Bible often refers to the one just mentioned before or to the
Angel of God just mentioned.
So
the evidence from the Bible indicates that Jesus was regarded as a
god or a superior one, like the judges, kings, prophets, giants, and
angels in the Old Testament.
6.
Humans are Sometimes Regarded as Gods
Exodus
22:28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy
people. {gods: or,
judges}
“Family
Bible Notes:
“The
gods; magistrates, judges, and other civil rulers, officers under
God.
Ps
82: 1 <<A Psalm of Asaph.>> [Superior ones] standeth
in the congregation of the [Superior One]; he judgeth among the gods.
{of Asaph: or,
for Asaph}
Family
Bible Notes:
A
psalm in which unjust rulers and judges are rebuked, and their duties
set forth.
“The
gods; rulers; called gods on account of their having received from
God authority to act as his representatives and in his behalf. Ex
22:28
“Although
rulers are elevated to a resemblance in authority and power to the
Most High, yet they are dependent upon God for their influence, and
to him must render an account for the manner in which they employ
it.”
Psalm
82: 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the
wicked? Selah. 6 I have said, Ye
are gods12;
and all of you are children of the most High. Isa 41:23 Shew the
things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye
are gods:
yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it
together. John 10:33 The Judeans answered him, saying, For a good
work we do not stone you; but for blasphemy; and because that you,
being a man, make yourself a god. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not
written in your law, I said,
Ye are gods13?
35
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of the God came, and the
scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father has
sanctified, and sent into the world, you blasphemed; because I
said, I am a Son of the God?
(Victory
Version) Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods,
and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which
regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: (AV) For Jehwah of your
superior ones [their protective and guiding angels, their Patriarchs,
leaders, and judges] is the Superior of Superior Ones [or most
Superior], and Lord [ruler] of lords [rulers], a great Superior One,
a mighty, and a terrible one, who does not regard persons, nor takes
reward: (Victory Version)
7.
Misunderstood Verses on Jesus
In
the Hebrew Old Testament there are also these verses that some use to
try to show that Jesus is the God most high or something to that
effect.
Isaiah
9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace. Jeremiah 23: 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and
Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be
called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (AV) Isaiah 9:6 For a Child has
been born to us, A Son has been given to us, And the rulership power
is on his shoulder, And He does call his name Wonderful, Counsellor
of the Mighty God of the Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.
(Victory Version) 6 For a Boy is born to us; a Son is given to us,
and the chieftainship shall come to be on His shoulder, and His name
is called "Marvellous14."
Counsel to the master shall He bring, to the chief of the future,
welfare. (Concordant Literal Version). For . . . his name is called
Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty One [of] The Everlasting God, The
Prince of Peace. (Lamsa Version from the Aramaic Peshitta Version).
As
can be seen in the above three alternative versions of Isaiah 9:6,
the King James Authorized Version cannot be used to prove that Jesus
is the
everlasting Father or
God.
In the Hebrew, to show the genitive case, that is, the grammatical
case of relationship of one thing or person from or to another, one
just places one noun in front or next to the other as “son Mary
Jesus” or in English we would say “son of Mary, Jesus” or
“Mary’s son Jesus.” In Hebrew it could also be placed
something like this: “Jesus son Mary.” The context would often
have to be used though, to understand the right relationships in some
cases but in most cases it is quite clear as to what is meant.
With
regards to the phrase in the other verse of “the LORD our
Righteousness,” this is simply referring to the name of Jesus,
which means Jehwah
[is] our Saviour or
Jehwah
[is] our means of righteousness.
This is just similar to the formation of the names of many people in
the Bible, for example: Elijah (My God is Jehwah), Joab (Jehwah is
father), Nehemiah (Jehwah comforts), Uriah (Jehwah is my light),
Joshua (Jehwah is salvation), Ahaziah (Jehwah seizes), Jehoahaz
(Jehwah seized), Jehoash and Joash (Jehwah is strong), Zechariah
(Jehwah remembers), Josiah (Jehwah heals), Isaiah (Salvation of
Jehwah), Jeremiah (Exalted of Jehwah), and others.
There
is of course the fact though that Jesus said, “And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was.”
(John 17:5) indicating as other verses do in the letters to the
Colossians and Hebrews, that God created the worlds through Jesus but
as shown in other places as mentioned elsewhere in this treatise, God
first created Jesus.
So
therefore, even from the Old Testament, Jesus is still just a god or
a superior one but who has been given kingship over all rulers of the
Earth. Praise God.
8.
A Oneness with the Father and the Son
There
is another problem. Jesus prayed that we believers, even in the
twenty-first century would also be one with him and his Father, just
as he was one with his father. He also prayed that his glory would
also be in us. What did he mean by that?
John
17:11 Hereafter I am no more in the world, but these are in the
world, and I am coming to thee. O Holy Father, protect them in thy
name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
[Lamsa translation] 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me,
that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
[I with them and thou with me, that they may become perfected in one;
so that the world may know that thou didst send me, and that thou
didst love them just as thou didst love me. (Lamsa)] Hebrews 2: 11
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of
one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Do
not the above verses make it clear that Jesus is talking about a
oneness or unity of purpose and spirit of co-operation, with the
thoughts of God his Father in him supernaturally or as thought
radio waves? Then too, with his Father’s thoughts in him and
Jesus’ words, teachings, and a supernatural spirit in us from him,
by having the mind of Christ, we therefore have God the Father also
in us (1 Cor. 2:16). Also, see John 15:15; 16:13-16; 17:6-8.
9.
Now No Trinity or Tri-unity
Note
that in the above verses there is no mentioning of the Holy Spirit
but there is a mentioning that we are to be part of a Holy Unity with
God the Father and with his Son Jesus. That makes us a Holy Tri-unity
with God the Father and with Jesus or a Holy Foursome with the Holy
Spirit or a Holy Quartet. Do we therefore become a Quartinity,
Quarto-unity or would it be Quart-unity? Could it also be or rather
be a Poly-unity or Plural-unity?
10.
What Does the Bible Say?
Deuteronomy
4:35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that Jehwah15,
[it is] he of [all] the gods [literally: Elohim, which = gods or
superior ones] [that] there is none
else beside him. 6:4
Hear, O Israel: Jehwah of our Gods, Jehwah is one: 32:39 See now
that I, even I, am he, and there
are no gods
with
me
. . . . Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD [or Jehwah],
and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me,
and understand that I am he: before
me there was no God
[or Superior One] formed, neither shall there be after me. 44:6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside
me there is no God.
8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that
time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is
there a God beside me? yea, there is no God;
I know not any. 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them
take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who
hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no
God [literally:
elohim,
which is plural, so
there are no gods]
else beside me;
a just God [singular] and a Saviour; there
is none beside me. 22
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I
am God, and there is none else.
Romans 3:30 Seeing it is one
God,
which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision
through faith. 1Corithians 8:6 But to
us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one
Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him. {in: or, for} Ephesians 4: 5
One
Lord,
one faith, one baptism, 6 One
God and Father
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 1Timothy
2:5 For there is one
God,
and one
mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6:15 Which in his times
he shall show, ®who is̅ the blessed and only Potentate [almighty
God (Lamsa transaltion from the Aramaic)], the King of kings, and
Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:
to whom ®be̅ honour and power everlasting. Amen. James 2:19 Thou
believest that there is
one God;
thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
11.
Just One God!
Note
what the Bible really teaches, that there is really just one god, the
Father of all the righteous ones and one Lord Jesus, the Christ. This
one Lord Jesus is also the one mediator, between us Earthlings and
the one God.
Note
also that God does not regard Jesus as God to himself and neither
does Saint Paul. Therefore who are we and who do the Church leaders
think they are to say that Jesus is God16?
Since God the Father says that there are no gods and that there is
not even a god beside him or before him or will be after him, why
does the Roman Catholic religion and its daughters (the main line and
regular Protestant churches) insist that Jesus and the Holy Spirit
are also great or chief Gods? Are they trying to make out that they
know better and that God is a liar?
Romans
3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and
mightest overcome when thou art judged. Psalm 138: 2 I will worship
toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness
and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy
name.
12.
Is There Only Jesus?
Some
try to deny the existence of the Father and make out that there is
only Jesus. If there is no Father God, what happened to him? Do they
think Jesus swallowed up the Father in order to replace Him, or
something else, like God the Father dying? Here is what the Bible
says:
1John
2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He
is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Jude 4 For there are
certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to
this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Just
because it is said that God gave all power to Jesus, does not make
him God or the God. See the study below on this topic and this
theological error.
a.
All Power,
Better
Translated as Authority
This
phrase of all
power
is only found twice in the Holy Bible (AV). One of them is in Matthew
28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All
power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth.” In this particular case the
word all
in both places is from the same Aramaic word ‘kul,’17
that
is listed with the meanings of all
and
every.
The word power
though, are from different words. In this case, the word 'power' is
#3138, sultana18
in Aramaic. Only the meanings of 'power' and 'authority' are listed
in the Concordance to the Peshitta Version. The word power
here has the meaning of a ruler under
God
as with Moslem sultans.
Most
English translations from the Greek texts, which were translated at
times from the original Aramaic or Syriac autographs or copies of
them (the Peshitta and Peshitto Versions), use the Greek word
exousia,
the Greek word for authority.
The following English versions use this choice of authority:
Revised Version; The Emphasised Bible of J. B. Rotherham;
Today’s English Version; Concordant
Literal New Testament;
James Moffat; Amplified
Bible but
with the additional meaning of “all power of rule”; The
Sacred Scriptures, Bethel Edition of
Assemblies of Yahweh (1993); New
English Bible;
New Living Translation; New
American
Standard Bible;
King James II Version; New World Translation; Jerusalem
Bible;
Contemporary English; Numeric English (Ivan Panin’s); Numerical
Bible; Jewish New Testament;
The
Original NT (Hugh
J. Schonfield); William’s; and the New International Version
(twenty versions).
The
Greek word exousia,
is said to mean “delegated authority, liberty or authority to do
anything”19
This word is always translated as authority
in the Concordant Version.
So
here it very likely should have been translated 'authority' to do one
thing or another on behalf of God, his father, just as Joseph of
Egypt, was given all authority over the land except for the
Pharaoh's throne. So it is with Jesus. Another example is like
a secretary being given authority to sign her boss’s name on any
cheque for their company. So it was for Jesus, he was given
authority to order the services of any angels as necessary in heaven
and on Earth and to take authority over any sicknesses and over any
demons.
Acts
2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35
Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house
of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye
have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and
powers being made subject unto him. John 3:34 For he whom God hath
sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto him. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into his hand.
Note
that Acts 2:36 says “both Lord and Christ” not “God and
Christ.” As noted before, God is certainly not a thing and note
too, that there is an exception or exemption clause, as found in the
verses below:
1
Cor. 15:27 For he [God the Father] hath put all things under his
[Jesus’] feet. But when he [God] saith all things are put under
him, it is manifest that he [God] is excepted, which did put all
things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him
[Jesus], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [God]
that put all things under him [Jesus], that [the20]
God may be all in all.
b.
Power is a Good Translation
in
the Following Case
The
other instance of its use is in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “Even him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power
and signs and lying wonders.” This is about Satan's head man, "the
mystery of iniquity."21
The word power
is different though in the Aramaic from the all
power
in Mt 28:18. With
all
is #1425 (pg 169b), kul,
the same as in the above. Here in this verse the word power
is #985 pg. 120b, chaila.
It is sometimes translated or has the meaning of mighty, energy, be
able, and force.
In
Acts 6:8,
“And Stephen, full
of faith and power,
did great wonders and miracles among the people.”
The word power
is the same one in the Aramaic as above in 2 Thes. 2:9. The words in
the Greek are dunamei
and dunameos,
and in the Authorized Version these words are translated power
seventy-seven times and in forty-three other places by words of
similar meaning, such as mighty
work,
miracle, strength, and might.
13.
Big Errors in Doctrine
It
is apparent that the people that first made up the philosophy of a
Trinity did not know the Bible well enough. They may have been
converts from pagan religions who must have just adopted their pagan
ideas into their Roman Catholic religion. There were already
tri-unity beliefs in the pagan world at that time, such as in
Assyria, India, and Japan22.
Another
thing is that most theologians are just like some prejudicial police
officers or detectives, lawyers or prosecuting attorneys trying to
prove their cases in a court and sometimes like some judges as well.
In
Canada lately, it has come to light, through DNA testing that a
number of men that have been charged and jailed for murders were
totally innocent of their crimes. It has been found, for example,
that when any evidence that did not fit into the prosecutor’s
efforts to try to pin a murder case on his prime suspect, it was
being often discarded or suppressed. Often these pieces of evidence
were withheld from the court cases and the juries were not given a
proper chance to make informed decisions on the prime suspect. They
therefore found these suspects guilty when they were not. A most
recent case in Kenora, Ontario lately (November 2004), regarding the
murder of Max Kakagemic, a son of a friend of this writer, one of the
suspects of this murdered young man, was a nephew of one of the
investigating officers. So any clues suggesting this nephew got
suppressed and a wrong man went to trial for murder.
So
it has been with our theologians, rather than gather all
the evidence on
each person of the so-called Trinity, they only picked
and chose the facts that
supported
their theories of one multi-headed or multi-faceted God.
They most likely got those ideas from pagan converts that were
forced to become Roman Catholics by the Roman ruler Constantine and
by the Church leaders of the church of Rome over the last many
centuries.
14.
Most Theologies are Based on a Lie
One
other thing is that they have been basing
their theology on a lie,
that the New
Testament was
originally all written in the language of the Greeks rather than in
the language of the Hebrew people. At the time of the apostles of
Jesus, Aramaic was their language. It was the lingua franca of that
area for hundreds of years and it even went into what was called Asia
Minor, which is now Turkey. The Greek and Roman languages were the
languages of commerce at the Mediterranean and of the Roman
government but not the languages of the Hebrew people, who often did
not think much of their people who learned the tongues of the pagans
or gentiles (See the writings of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish
historian).
If
this is so, then the Greek Scriptures are only a secondary source
rather than a primary source of the teachings of Jesus and of his
disciples. The Greek manuscripts are only translations of the real
writings that had
to be written to the Jew first and
then in the gentile tongues (Mt. 10:5; Acts 1:8; Ro. 1:16; and 2:10).
Knowing
what the New Testament Aramaic Scriptures say, therefore, is one
of the keys to getting our doctrines correct. (See
our chapter “Inspiration of the Bible As Proved through Ivan
Panin’s Methods.)
15.
Honour to Jesus as to God?
John
5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son: (KJV) 22 For the Father judges no one, but he has given
all judgment to the Son, (World English Bible (WEB)) 22 For the
Father does not judge any man, but he has entrusted all judgment to
the Son; (Lamsa Version (LV)) 23 That all men should honour the Son,
even
as they honour
the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father
which hath sent him. (KJV) 23 that all may honor the Son, even
as they
honor the Father. He who doesn't honor the Son doesn't honor the
Father who sent him. (WEB) 23 So that every man should honor the Son,
just
as he honors
the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father
who sent him. (LV)
Note
that in the verses above that the Greek in verse twenty-three has
apparently they
rather than the he
of the Aramaic. When one considers that it was Jesus here speaking
and that he knows mankind better than they do themselves, he
therefore must have known how poor mankind sometimes honour the
Father. Because of this, he could not have said even
as
or just
as they honour
the Father. That would mean that he would be calling on people to
honour him just as inconsistently as they honour the Father. He would
certainly not want that nor would his Father have told him to say
that.
Jesus
therefore must have meant that his disciples were to honour him
consistently and respectfully as one greater than themselves as he
was doing regarding his Father. Remember that this must have been God
giving him those very words to say, for he said he does not do
anything without his Father telling him (John 5:19, 20, 30; 8:28;
12:49; 14:10).
One
other thing, God tells us many times to prove and verify things with
two or three witnesses. As this passage in the Greek is only found
here and no where else, as far as we know, we cannot make a doctrine
of the Greek wording, especially when it is cancelled out by the
reading in the Aramaic language, the very language that Jesus spoke
and in which that very gospel was most likely written.
16.
God is Greater than Jesus
This
is one of the facts that does not fit at all into the theory or
philosophy of three beings being equal. If God is greater than even
Jesus, he must be of a different substance or entity than Jesus,
angels, and all other things. We mentioned earlier that God’s name
of Jehwah means self-existing one. Everyone and everything else came
from him and depended on him for their very existence.
John
10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no
man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 13:16 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord;
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 14:28 Ye have
heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye
loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for
my Father is greater than I. 1 Cor. 15: 28 And when all things shall
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto
him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Note
too that Jesus said that he did not do anything
that
his Father did not show him, nor did he say anything that his Father
did not tell him to say . He was ever dependant on his Father and
without him he could do nothing (John 5:19-30; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10).
The
above verses alone should be convincing proof that Christ Jesus could
not be God but just a Son of God or just a messenger (Malachi 3:1) or
an apostle as Hebrews 3:1 says: “Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;”
Jesus
of course is more than just an ordinary apostle or messenger (angel)
for Hebrews 1:4 says that he was made “so much better that the
angels.” See the whole chapter of Hebrews one and of Colossians
one to see the superiority of Jesus over angels and ourselves but
certainly not over God his Father.
17.
The God Can Not be Seen by us Mortals
Ex
33:20 And he said, Thou [Moses] canst not see my face: for there
shall no man see me, and live. Ps 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and
shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he
withhold from them that walk uprightly. John 1: 18 No man hath seen
God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him. 1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man
hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.
Amen. 1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him,
and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all.
As
God cannot be seen while Jesus could be , they must be two different
entities and two different classes of beings. Thank God for Jesus
though, for he has declared God his Father to us to be a loving
caring God and to be greater than himself.
18.
The God, the Father is a Jealous God
Exodus
34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name
is Jealous, is a jealous God: Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God
is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. De 5:9 Thou shalt not bow
down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, De 6:15
(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of
the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off
the face of the earth. Joshua 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people,
Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God;
he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. Nathan 1:2
God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and
is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he
reserveth wrath for his enemies. {God ...: or, The LORD is a jealous
God, and a revenger, etc} {is furious: Heb. that hath fury} (KJV)
What
Can We Now Conclude?
We
had better not worship Christ Jesus as God at all nor
the Holy Spirit but give them both due reverence as they are God’s
special messengers for him and to us. They also are used of God, to
take our requests or prayers to heaven.
Special
Precautions with Regards to the Christ
Did
not Christ Jesus of Nazareth say that some would come in his own name
to deceive people that he was their Christ, Messiah, or a or the
special Anointed One? Note that the word Messiah (from the Hebrew) or
Christ (from the Greek), simply meant in those Bible days, someone
who was ordained by a prophet of God or anointed with oil by a
prophet or by one of his representatives to be a king, a priest, a
prophet, or preacher for God.
Matthew
24: 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man
deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
[the]Christ; and shall deceive many. 23 Then if any man shall say
unto you, Lo, here is [the] Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect. Mark 13: 21 And then if any man shall
say to you, Lo, here is [the] Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe
him not: 22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and
shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even
the elect. 1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as
ye have heard that [the] antichrist shall come, even now are there
many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time23.
Note
that Mt. 24:5 does not necessarily mean that people will come saying
I am Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, or the Messiah Yeshua or some other
spelling, to deceive you or I, even though that has probably been
done. It probably means that some preachers or leaders will claim
that they have come to your home through television, your computer,
your church or city in Jesus’ name to bless us and the church, when
actually they are wolves in sheep clothing to fleece the flock of our
wealth. CBC television in Canada lately (perhaps last October 2004)
had a documentary on a very well known evangelist who was living like
an earthly king in between his crusades and was not praying for the
really sick cases on the stage, lest people would see that there was
no power of God in him or in his prayers.
Please
see the context of the above verses and also see 1 Jn 4:3 and 2 Jn 7.
Note too that from the above verses, it says that false Christs were
already making their appearances in the Church years ago. What about
today? From the way the world is in so much sin and unrest, it
appears that there are plenty of Anti-christs, false prophets,
pastors, priests, and other Church leaders. We must therefore check
their fruits to see whether they are of God (Mt 7:16, 20). Every now
and then a program may be on television or someone will come to your
door saying that they are from the local Kingdom Hall or the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before you invite them into
your home for a visit, check up on their beliefs and background with
that of Freemasonry and see if there is any similarity. Check up on
the religious beliefs of their churches to see if they agree with the
Holy
Bible.
If they do not agree on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, that
of salvation by faith through the shed blood of Christ Jesus and the
necessity of living of a holy life once one has become born again,
they are not a Christian church. We should check up on all other
main line churches and religions in similar ways.
So
please read the Bible so that you will be able to very easily
recognize the phoneys. Even if you read the Bible though, you may
not be able to recognize a phoney until you repent of your sins and
become a genuine follower of the Christ Jesus of the Bible. Then you
will be given God’s Holy Spirit who will then guide you into all
truth. See below for more about the true Holy Spirit.
Special
Precautions with Regards to the Spirit
The
Holy Spirit though, seems to be due extra special reverence as well,
in fact even more so than with Jesus, for he is God’s most usual
way to communicate with us beside through the Bible. Note that as God
the Father is Spirit (John 4:24; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Tim. 1:17), that is,
invisible to us but very real, holy and awesome, so are his Holy
Spirits that represent him and talk to us as if they were God
themselves. That is why we dare not blaspheme the Holy Spirit, for
if we do so, we cut our phone line to heaven, there is no other way
then to communicate to God to be forgiven of our sins. We are
therefore in danger of eternal damnation. See the verses below.
Mark
3:27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods,
except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his
house. 28
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of
men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is
in danger of eternal damnation:
[Also in Math 12:29-33] Or else how can one enter into a strong
man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong
man? and then he will spoil his house. He
that is not with me is against me;
and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men:
but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto
men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall
be forgiven him: but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven
him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree
corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the
tree is known by his fruit.
Luke 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man,
it shall be forgiven him: but unto him
that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
Big
Problem Though!
False
and deceiving spirits can make out that they are the Holy Spirit and
deceive the very elect if possible.
1
Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now
already is it in the world. 2 Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are
entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 1 Ti 4:1 Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; Mt 8:28-34 And when he was come to the other side into the
country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with [very
small demons, like flies 24],
coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass
by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do
with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us
before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of
many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast
us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto
them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of
swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a
steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that
kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every
thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And,
behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him,
they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
Mr
1:23-26 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean
spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do
with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I
know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him,
saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean
spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Mr
16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he
appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven
devils25.
Mt
24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, [who
are being led by unclean spirits] and [they] shall shew great signs
and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect.
It
therefore can be seen from the above, there is a great danger in not
checking the spirit that might be leading us or even talking to us at
times.
In
other words, believers can have unclean and clean spirits in them at
the same time. This is a sample of what the Bible says on this topic:
1Co
5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and
such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that
one should have his father's wife. Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth
proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not
so to be.
Right
now, almost all of us have friendly good bacteria which God uses to
help break down our food in our intestines but if we get some bad
bacteria or other pathogens in it as well, a little to major warfare
will go on, indigestion happens and later, often diarrhea results. So
it is spiritually, when a person repents of his major sins but may
have forgotten about some of them, the ones that were repented and
the demonettes or spirits that specialized in them get ousted out by
the holy spirits of God. The evil filthy ones get ousted out of the
brain and other areas of the body in which they had been dwelling but
the other ones remain to still cause trouble now and then. See the
illustration below for how Jesus explained it.
Matthew
12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh
[travels (from the Aramaic in the Lamsa Version (LV))] through dry
places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will
return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he
findeth it empty, swept [warm (LV)], and garnished [well furnished
(LV)]. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits
more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the
last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be
also unto this wicked generation.
Note
that the demonette returned to find his house or home empty, warm,
and well furnished. Could that not mean that the man, woman, or older
child, the host of the body had perhaps decided to turn over a new
leaf, like to say to stop drinking or smoking but he only did it on
his own? If he had invited Jesus into his heart and mind, Jesus
would have sent in his Holy Spirits to help him clean house
thoroughly, of even other sins he did not even know he had. God’s
Holy Spirits would then remain in the host’s body to occupy and
help him make sure that the spirits of alcohol or smoking do not come
back to mess up his relationship with God and his fellow mankind and
to ruin his health.
Our
bodies are made up of millions of cells and science now knows that
microscopic organisms can get into our cells, live there for awhile
and replicate themselves or reproduce themselves to the point that
they start damaging the cell so much that they cannot perform their
regular duties. They will sometimes swell up or simply die because of
the pathogen that got into the cells. Well it appears that the
pathogens, though they live in this real world of ours, can be
influenced upon by the spirit world. The evil spirits work together
with these pathogens to make us sick.
Examples
of Problems:
1.
A Witch Doctor in America
One
medical doctor in the U. S. A., milked one family of $40,000 a year
about two or three years ago by knowing how to kill or expel
parasites and also how to give the mother and her child new and
different parasites through pills or other medication that he would
provide them. The woman started to bring her son in because of a
certain sickness of parasites. The doctor prescribed something that
appeared to eliminate the problem in a short time. About six weeks
later though, the child would come down with something else. A
similar thing would happen as before but the mother started to get
sick as well. These cycles went on for more than a year until she
met a Christian woman who directed her to perhaps a Christian
Naturopathic Physician. She gave her a certain parasite cleansing
treatment for her son and herself which never had any so-called side
effects of other sicknesses or reactions. The mother, upon becoming a
Christian herself, realized that her family medical doctor must have
been a witch or sorcerer. So evil spirits were in the doctor who knew
about this devilish game and they encouraged the doctor to take
advantage of the poor woman and child (Rick Wiles former short wave
radio program, American
Freedom News on
12.160 MHz).
In
the absence of a devilish money loving leech as that doctor was,
people who are not filled with the Holy Spirit will very likely have
evil spirits in them that will try to get people to eat certain foods
to make them more likely to eat parasites or other pathogens, or to
overeat or eat certain food that will make them fat, epileptic,
diabetic, psychotic or something else that is abnormal.
From
personal experience and reports we have heard or read, at times some
evil spirits are just like regular human beings but some can be real
big, because of puffing themselves up or something, to try to make
you think that they are all powerful but most often, they are just
the small demonettes, imps, or other small animal-like creatures.
They are of course not powerful at all, in comparison to Jesus but
without Jesus you will probably be deceived and tricked to be
destroyed or injured badly in one way or another, and worst of all,
lose your soul.
Remember
that the Bible says that one third of the heavenly beings were put
out of the heavens. As the Bible describes heavenly beings as
seraphim, cherubim, angelic looking men, birds, and other animals
(read the Book
of Revelation)
then the evil ones who were once in heaven centuries ago must be like
the heavenly ones, but not as powerful. See the incident of Moses in
the palace in Egypt with the Pharaoh and his number of magicians.
They could also make snakes or serpents (apparently spirit ones) out
of their staffs as Moses did but there was a big difference, Mose’s
staff or serpent swallowed up all the other ones (Ex. 7:9-12).
2.
Radio Talk-show Host
One
radio talk-show host, while riding his motorcycle, nearly got killed
in a terrible crash with an automobile. The radio host had thought
that he had no need to repent of his sins and submit to the kingship
of Jesus on this Earth and had made fun of two or more other
Christians that did. He also rejected the counsel of this writer. The
radio host had at times mentioned how a voice, guide, or an angel had
helped him in the past on more than one occasion in perhaps dangerous
predicaments. So he probably felt he was just as good as the two
Christians that he criticized, as well as this preacher. He may have
also thought that St. Paul made out that Jesus was God as some
Christians make out but he did not do so at all. The radio host then
put down the writings of St. Paul in the Bible as being suspect or
not worthy to be in the Bible. What an error for him to make.
Why
would this radio show host do such things, would it not be because of
spirits of pride and of stubbornness that influenced him to do those
stupid things. But do not laugh at him because we all have to fight
such spirits now and then, especially if we find God has gifted us in
one way or another, as God gifted that talk-show host. Pray for him
please.
From
all these sins that he had committed, God must have felt that he met
this criteria, that of touching God’s anointed, when the host
should have had more respect for those who love God. The Bible says,
“Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”(1Ch
16:22 ; Ps 105:15). Notice that this warning is found twice in the
Bible. This means it is very important and that a doctrine can be
made with it. God then gave the man over to Satan to smarten up but
he apparently told Satan, that you can try to kill him and mess him
up in a hospital for months but you can not kill him outright, for I
still have some work for him to do for me and perhaps he might yet
submit to my Holy Spirit and my Son Jesus.
Remember
also Ananias and Sapphira, who lied to Peter and died a moment after
(Acts 5:1-11).
3
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? {to
lie to: or, to deceive} 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?
and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou
conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but
unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up
the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
Note
that Peter must have perceived that it was Satan was behind this
deception and had encouraged the man and his wife to deceive the
disciples and then to lie to Peter. As Peter was just being an avenue
and a mouth piece for the Holy Spirit and God though, he realized
that they were lying mainly to God. Peter, being filled with the Holy
Spirit, also happened to have the Spirit of discernment, which
apparently went in for good measure plus he had the Spirit of truth,
the Comforter (see John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 Joh 4:6).
3.
Getting
Supernatural Help with Problems
Joh
14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 15:26 But when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me: 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come.
Note
that in the verses above, it says that the world cannot receive the
Spirit of truth because it does not see him. Why is that? They do
not have the faith that believers in Jesus and in God the Father do.
We see with our faith but they cannot. See the Letter
to the Hebrews, 11:1-3,
especially in the Lamsa Version from the Aramaic, which also has “.
. . as it was the substance of things which have come to pass . . .
.” We see with our faith as a blind man says, “I see what you
mean.” when we tell him something and he understands what we mean.
Whenever
people truly realize how awful sinners they are and truly repent of
all their sins of which they could think and also ask God in Jesus’
name for help and forgiveness of any other sins of commission or
omission, then God will move in with his Holy Spirit to help them
clean up. If the person also wants to really be a blessing to God and
others, he should ask God for an infilling of the Holy Spirit with
some evidence of God’s answer to prayer. He should tell God that he
would like to be able to pray better for God and others by being able
to double pray and to double sing, through the gift of tongues. “What
is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the
understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with
the understanding also.” (1 Cor. 14:15). In other words we will be
able to pray in our minds for people we know about or ourselves and
whatever needs that are known, while letting the Holy Spirit use our
tongues and lips to pray for others or ourselves about needs only he
may know. Only then can we be twice as effective as Christians in
God’s spiritual army.
Do
not be guilty though of misunderstanding this particular verse as
many tongue talking believers do:
1
Cor. 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but
rather that ye may prophesy. 2 For he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth
him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. {understandeth: Gr.
heareth} 3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort. 4
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but
he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye
prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh
with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive
edifying.
Some
people, on realizing that they are often down in spirits, they want
the gift of speaking in tongues in order to lift themselves up or to
edify themselves as the Bible says in the first part of the above
verse four (4) but what about what the rest of the verse says. Does
it not say: “but
he that prophesieth edifies the church?”
In
other words it is better to desire a gift for the purpose of edifying
the Church than in just edifying yourself. The author here is
therefore saying that it is wrong to want to get the gift of speaking
in tongues in order to edify ourselves. The Bible says that this gift
is not the best thing to pray and wish for. It is to be so holy that
God will be able to prophesy or preach through us (1 Cor. 14:24, 39).
Remember though 1 Cor. thirteen, the love chapter of the Bible. It
says that if we speak in tongues or prophecy without love, we are
like sounding brass, tinkling cymbals, or nothing at all (1 Cor.
13:1, 2). The below mentioned incident proves these points.
4.
The Disillusioned Pastor
In
the summer of 1968, this preacher was on a student internship
assignment in Nanaimo, British Columbia. He met a man who had been a
pastor up to perhaps one or two weeks before. He felt that he had to
resign his position apparently after a strange experience at his
church. After he and perhaps some others had apparently p/rayed for
three people to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to receive the
gift of speaking in tongues, it appeared that God had answered their
prayers. According to him, three people had fallen to the floor under
the power of the Holy Ghost and were now talking amazingly in tongues
or unknown languages and were rolling on the floor. He suddenly saw a
fourth person though, standing off to one side laughing at the people
rolling on the floor. There was also streaks of lightening coming
from above and was apparently empowering the people on the floor to
speak in tongues and to roll about. He also saw though, the reddish
very angry looking face of Jesus at the front of the church.
On
that particular day, some days or more after that strange event, and
having resigned his position as pastor, he still could not figure
out what he had done wrong or what had really happened. Do you know?
Some time after speaking to the pastor or as he was being told this,
these thoughts came to this born-again student preacher about this
incident.
The
pastor and his associates were encouraging the church people to seek
the gift of speaking in tongues for self edification rather than to
please God and to get more of him or more of Jesus. As they did not,
Jesus let them have a strong delusion that they were being filled
with the Holy Spirit when they were not. They were being filled with
demonettes, unclean, filthy26
parasitic spirits of the Devil. For some reason or another Jesus
decided to intervene and put a stop to that pastor’s foolishness
and also reveal to this preacher some more false teaching that was
being practised in the Church. They were the teachings that all
speaking in tongues are from God and that it is proper to seek the
gift of tongues for self edification.
The
fourth man that was laughing was probably a lord over the flies
(Baalzebub) or other small demons (demonettes) that were inside the
seekers and were ruining the lives of the foolish selfish people
rolling on the floor.
Proofs
of Demonettes?
About
twenty years ago, this preacher was called to the aid of a friend who
worshipped Mary and had conversations, at least she thought she did,
with Mary. She got a bit sick though during the night and wanted to
be taken to the hospital. Before taking her though, this preacher
wanted to know in what way was she sick and what had been happening.
She told him that she had been hearing voices and that she woke up
feeling very itchy and that she felt something else was very wrong
and unusual.
He
therefore dealt with her, concerning the voices and tried sharing the
Bible with her. One voice though, told her to not listen to her
friend who was trying to counsel her at that moment. This preacher
then started to command the false spirit of errors in her to leave in
Jesus’ name. They started to leave but because this preacher had
back slid a bit at that time, he was quite weak, like a nominal
Christian and was far from being strong in Jesus and God as he had
been in the past. There was some struggle in the spirit world and
every now and then the deceiving sickening spirits would go back into
the woman. After quite some time, this preacher finally found out
what was going on, he had been commanding the unclean spirits to
leave mostly but not entirely in Jesus’
name and
in the
blood of the Lamb.
They would only come out though, as he repeated those words but as
he got tired of saying those same words, he varied things a bit by
saying “Hallelujah,
Hallelujah!”
repeatedly for a number of times. During all this time the unclean
spirits kept on coming out of the woman, according to her feelings
and perceptions until the words were changed to something else.
Suddenly
the spirits stopped coming out and went back in. The woman suddenly
told me, “What did you say that for?” At that time, this preacher
did not even know what he had said wrong. In time, this guy figured
it out. He would have figured it out sooner but because he had back
slid into desiring the things of this world, more than the things of
heaven, it took about an hour, more or less of counselling and
deliverance time before he finally realized what he was saying wrong.
Then even once the woman and he had learned what was being said
wrong, it still came out wrong now and then from a force of habit.
This
was because the preachers of his day were often encouraging their
congregations to say things that were not really Biblically sound.
Two or more, even wrote books on it because they thought things
improved so much for them, their congregations, and people that they
had counselled.
1.
Do Not Use Praise
the Lord!
Yes,
they were teaching people to say “Praise the Lord!” and “Praise
the Lord anyhow!” when things went wrong. If they were strong
Christians, God knew who they meant and he blessed them now and then
for what they were saying and meaning, in spite of their ignorance.
It is high time now though that the Church smarten up as to what the
Bible really says and learn about the tricks of the devil.
What
was wrong you say with saying “Praise the Lord!”? Well, you are
probably forgetting that the Bible says that there are lords many? (1
Cor. 8:5). This woman had been worshipping a lord of demons and
demonettes that resided at times on a branch on a tree in her yard in
Winnipeg. She would talk to it at times, thinking it was the Lord
Jesus Christ of Nazareth. At other times she would talk to Mary and
another false deceiving lord, who would then talk to her as well. So
when this preacher and the woman would agree with the demanding of
the filthy spirits in her to leave in Jesus’ name and such other
words as mentioned above, they would leave. When this preacher though
would say even accidentally, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
the demonettes would suddenly start heading back into her mouth and
body, that is, according to the woman who was demon oppressed. She
even had a spirit snake wrapped around her left leg and another one
wrapped around her head of hair, according to her words.
2.
The Nothingness of a Backslid Preacher
At
one point, this preacher was so back slid that there must have been
next to no Spirit of God in him at all. Why? He must have just been
working so far on head knowledge for the woman saw a demon,
apparently the size of a man walk right through him. Upon hearing
this, the preacher man considered his own spiritual state. He
realized that he had back slid badly and had desired the desires of
the flesh more than the desires of holiness and fellowship with God.
He then repented right there and then and asked God to forgive him
and give him another chance to live for God.
God
answered his prayers for shortly after this, this preacher got tired
of this battle in the spirit world that was going on. He therefore
prayed and asked God to see what he was dealing with, to see some of
those things that the tormented woman was feeling and seeing. This
preacher had to patiently wait about ten minutes before he finally
saw what was going on. In the woman’s kitchen where they were
having their deliverance session at that moment, he suddenly saw a
number of speck’s of light27,
about eight or nine of them or so in about the kitchen at about eye
level over a spread of about five feet across. One of them, perhaps
the closest one to himself was screaming away as if it was being
burnt alive. Finally after some more struggles in deliverance, the
woman finally got set free, at least we thought.
3.
A Phoney Spirit of The Father,
Son,
and Holy Spirit
The
next morning, this preacher visited the lady again and saw her with
hands outstretched to her ceiling in her bedroom. Here she was
worshipping the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who she thought
had just been speaking to her. After about twenty minutes of her
prayers in the absence of no holy feelings at all (at least to this
preacher) in the room or suite, she finally got tired and put her
arms down.
As
can be seen, this woman like many Roman Catholics, realized that they
were sinners and wanted to be holy. They therefore worshipped God as
best as they could but without proper knowledge, as they hardly ever
read the Bible. They mostly relied on their priests to tell them how
to worship God and get right with God but if you speak to many
priests about their Bible readings, you will find that until just
lately, not many priests even read the Bible for they were encouraged
not to read it. They were also told to dissuade their people from
reading the Bible and especially the King James Authorized Version,
which they feared.
The
Vatican is also fearful of the Charismatic Movement, for sometimes
the truth comes out and people are encouraged to start reading the
Bible and have fellowship with real born again Christians.
After
a further talk with her, we knelt down at her bedside with a Bible
before us and read passages here and there as the Holy Spirit led
this preacher. She soon got delivered and as far as this preacher
knows, she has never been troubled again in such a like manner.
So
here we have a case where a woman experienced swarms of very small
like spirits or demonettes coming out of her at commands in Jesus’
name. A preacher that was dealing with her also saw them as small
specks of light, smaller than fire flies. There is also a verse at 2
Cor. 11:14, which says that the Devil transforms himself into an
angel of light and the Bible speaks much of a lord called Baalzebub
or Beelzebub (lord of flies).
4.
More Unseen Fly-like Spirits
A
year or more after this incident, while dealing with a young man who
had back slid badly and who wanted some help with his sinful
condition, the preacher and the younger man knelt all alone with God,
at a kneeling bench or Mercy
Seat at
a Salvation Army worship centre and prayed together. They demanded
in Jesus’ name, that the unclean spirits come out right away and
while kneeling down, they started to come right out of the back of
the man’s neck as this preacher prayed over the man and had his
hands on his back and head.
This
is possible as they are spirit beings like Jesus who was able to walk
right through walls and suddenly appear in front of his disciples
(John 20:19, 26).
5.
Son of Morris Cerullo
This
experience reminds this preacher of hearing or reading of how the son
of the Evangelist Morris Cerullo of San Diego, California, got sick
while on a mission trip with his father to India. His father must
have been more prayed up for the trip than the son, who may have been
relying on the spirituality or faith of his father for his Father did
not get sick of the air like his son. According to brother Morris, it
was demonic spirits in the air there that were making his son sick.
It was because of the presence of so many followers or believers in
the pagan religion of Hinduism. There was next to no Spirit of the
Living Superior One to drive them away or to send them to hell at the
demands of Christian believers.
Of
course there are other reasons to believe that there are demonettes
and that is because the Greek New Testament uses the diminutive tense
of the word demon.
Did you know that? If you were a Greek scholar, you should have but
because most are not, no wonder preachers and their parishioners know
next to nothing about the spirit world, how the devil has been
tricking and deceiving the Church, and how they themselves have been
deceived so much.
2
Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
What
other Forms?
This
should be an easy one to figure out. As the Bible teaches that
everything came from God, that God created the angels and that he
makes them spirits and his ministers flames of fire (Heb. 1:7), that
one third of them got put out of heaven (Rev. 12:4), then whatever
angels of God looked like then, angels of the devil must look very
similar or the same. It also must stand to reason that whatever
angels of the devil, or demons and demonettes look like, then God’s
ministers must look like them as well. Why? It is because they were
once brothers or members of the same family of God.
It
appears that the large evil spirits are lords or captains over the
small miniature ones that are small enough to indwell us like the man
who was called Legion (Mk. 5:9, 15; Lk. 8:30). Remember too about
Moses who got so much of the Holy Spirit that some of what was on or
in him, blessed seventy-two others of the Israelites in the
wilderness to the point that they were all able to prophecy for God
(Numbers 11:16-29).
1.
Night Creatures
Some
people think that many evil spirits are like the animals of the
night, like frogs, owls, vermin, as well as sneaky animals like
snakes and serpents. When this preacher was dealing with that woman,
a spirit pretended or seemed to have been speaking to the lady
through a ceramic frog in her kitchen, that was being used to hold a
pot scrubber.
In
most churches today though, most people have only some good spirits
in them along with some unclean spirits that battle things out in
their conscience now and then, trying to see who will get control of
the throne of the so-called believer or make-believer. See James
3:10-12. In other words just as the unclean or filthy spirits of the
enemy are mostly very small beings, so are the Holy Spirits of God.
That means that a lay person or even a preacher or pastor, who could
have gotten saved and born again from above (John 3:3) years ago,
could slowly allow some sinful habits or things to come into his
life, things that are even shameful.
These
sinful things come with evil devilish spirits to try to make the
saint sin to the point that they stop listening to God’s Holy
Spirit and become hopelessly lost. Some, who try to be good
Christians suddenly flare up like mad men or women for a moment or
so, because of the influence of the unclean spirits in them, getting
the victory over the few little but strong Holy Spirits. Has this
ever happened to you? Has this happened to a loved one? If so pray,
repent, and be baptized in Jesus’ name and be filled with the Holy
Spirit. “Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Ac 2:38).
2.
All Things are Parallel
One
other thing, the Evangelist Morris Cerullo once said that all things
are parallel. He may have been referring to the spirit world and our
world or he may have been referring to symbolism and patterns of
prophecies. If he was referring to the Spirit world and ours, then
whatever we find down here, then we will find things similar in the
unseen world (Sheol in the Hebrew). In heaven, it will be more
beautiful and amazing while in hell ( the bad dark part of the unseen
world) it will be likely ugly, dark, and unappealing. It means too
though, that just as there are parasites in this world under the sun,
then there are parasites in the unseen world that will try to get
into us, to live off of our energy and strength.
How
about you? Do you think you may have some parasites living in you,
from this world28
or from the unseen world? Consider this in relation to the above
section on flies and the paragraphs below.
So
when the Bible said that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus like a dove,
then there are spirit-beings in both the holy and bad spirit kingdoms
that look like doves. Some look like horses (2 Kings 2:11--Elijah and
the chariot of fire and the horses of fire) while some others look
like frogs (Rev. 16:13). In some cases though, all spirits of a
certain kind may have all decided to follow the Devil when he opposed
God in heaven. In that case, all snakes or frog like species may
have all been expelled from heaven at the same time. The symbolism
that God uses in the Bible are a clue as to what the spirit world
creatures look like and to whose side that they belong. See the books
of Daniel and Revelation for more.
The
First and Second Books of Adam and Eve also relate cases where the
demons appeared like regular people and sometimes like beautiful
maidens. The Bible says,
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light.” (2 Co. 11:14) “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Heb 13:2). In
other words you or I may have met a demon in disguise lately, who
appeared to you or me as a regular human being according to our
weaknesses. We may have also met a holy angel of God too tough.
Another
way this scenario happens is that the man, woman, or an older child
that we may have just met, may have simply been a regular human who
was indwelt by spirits of the Devil to try to trip us up or make us
sin. An example might be of someone just showing up shortly after we
made up our mind to quit over-eating, smoking, drinking alcohol,
gambling, illicit sex, watching porno movies, or whatever else has
been our hang up from being a good person. What does that person do?
He or she may even be your old buddy. He or she wants you to once
again have a great time with him or her, in that very sin that you
resolved to never do again. Has this not happened to you? We are sure
it has at one time or another. That was the devil working to destroy
you and me. He has assigned familiar spirits to us to find out our
every weakness and to play on them to destroy us (Lev. 19:31; 20:6;
Deut. 18:11; 1 Sam. 28:3, 9; 2 Kg 21:6; 23:24; Isa. 8:19; 19:3). He
especially uses your none Christian friends and neighbours to get at
you.
The
Only Baptism that Counts
What
we need to do is to repent of all our sins, whatever they are,
whatever that separates you or me from being close to God. Pray to
God the Father in Jesus’ name, ask God in faith, that through the
shed blood of Jesus and your repentance and confession of your faith,
that God would cleanse your entire body, mind, and soul through using
his Holy Spirit (the
only baptism that counts).
Ask him too, to fill you with the Holy Spirit so that there will be
no room for any spirit of the enemy. Ask him that every cell in your
body that once had an evil spirit or parasite of the enemy will now
be cleansed and occupied by holy Spirits of God instead. Then as you
obey all of God’s words of advice, love him, and try to serve him,
his holy Spirit will help you and keep you continually from the evil
ones. The Bible says: 2 Th 3:3, But the Lord is faithful, who shall
stablish you, and keep you from evil. Jude 1:24, Now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Also see Isaiah 1:18;
Jer. 4:14; John 3:5; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:25, 26; 2 Tim. 2:21; Titus
3:5; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; 1 Pet. 3:21; and 1 John 1:7 on the baptism
that counts.
More
Cases of Deception:
1.
Not All Voices are Voices of God
About
seventy years ago in Winnipeg, Manitoba, an apparently well respected
preacher by the name of Valdez had great numbers of people coming to
his meetings. At one of his meetings, a friend of mine saw a
miniature leg suddenly grow to full growth on a young boy who was
being prayed for by the preacher and the audience. Another person
that this preacher met was also at the same meetings. She was there
with her husband. They may have just become Christians during his
meetings. Upon getting home from one of the services, they apparently
both heard what they thought was God or the Holy Spirit talking to
them. He said, apparently something like this: that they were to
prove their love to God by sacrificing their son. Her husband agreed
that they should do that very thing, seeing God had just spoken to
them. It never apparently occurred to them that there might be
another spirit that could also speak to them like the Holy Spirit.
They therefore sacrificed their child. The next day or so, the
police found out about it and locked them up. After quite a stir in
the city, Valdez had to quickly leave29.
Later the married couple ended up in a psychiatric institution in the
province. After some years, they apparently were released and then
this writer met the lady at church one day and learned of this
incident.
2.
An Apparent Attempt at
Suicide
There
was another case, where a young man was in Toronto, who was possibly
on alcohol and drugs. He too heard what he may have thought was the
voice of God talking to him. The voice told him though, that seeing
things were going so bad for him, he might as well use the knife he
had in his hand and jab himself in the stomach and end his life. His
left hand that held the knife started to jab himself in the stomach.
He had to struggle terribly hard with his other hand to keep himself
from getting hurt and killed. Later this same man became a good wise
Christian believer. This writer met this person as well, but on a
street in Winnipeg.
3.
A Novice
Another
but more recent case is that of another man, who also claims to hear
God speaking to him every day. He claims that he hears God, Jesus,
or the Holy Spirit talking to him in conversational style as you and
I might talk to a friend or a family member. Quite often a voice that
he has been hearing has been teaching him things about the Bible in a
topical fashion, that is, on one topic at a time. The voice had also
been revealing Scripture references to prove or support what he was
teaching the man. When the man shared some of these supposed
revelations to this preacher, some of them definitely were consistent
with what the Bible really says and some of his revelations or
insights on how to understand God and the Bible were already known by
this preacher.
One
message he got from the Spirit about ten years ago, was most
definitely of God, that is, in the opinion of this preacher, who have
known many people who have left the Roman Catholic religion. This
novice asked the Spirit, if he should leave his Roman Catholic
religion30.
He said that the Spirit or a voice told him that if he did not, he
would likely lose his soul. On another occasion, while also being
guided by the Holy Spirit, it was revealed to him that many miracles
of bleeding crucifixes and weeping statues of Mary were miracles of
the Devil. These were being done to convince the deceived followers
of their parent’s religions 31
to keep in them and away from the true Bible-based religions and
their followers.
At
times though, he obviously had been getting messages from the spirit
of error but he is not the only one. On now seeing and hearing of so
much deception going on in different aspects of religion and life in
general, it appears that we have all been tricked at one time or
another.
Consider
the story of how Joshua and all his military men and elders got
tricked. See Joshua 9:3-27. You will see in this story that the
spirit of the devil can come in people and will speak to you to
deceive you through other people.
When
this certain novice got quite elated that he was the only one to whom
a certain bite of information or fact may have been revealed, he got
quite proud and would not take correction and started to come up with
new, supposed insights that started to belittle Christ Jesus and the
power of the blood of the lamb. He also started to see relationships
of phrases in the Bible that just were not there, in order to prove
his new pet doctrine that he had thought the Spirit of God had
revealed to him.
4.
A New Name for God?
What
was that pet doctrine? It is that the name of Melchizedek is really
God’s forgotten and real name and that it should be used in prayer
and in casting out spirits instead of the name of Jesus. This is not
scripturally sound at all, for there are no Scriptures in the Old
Testament to
support this and only possibly one in the
New Testament that
appears to suggest that it is God’s name.
This teaching was never taught or even mentioned as such in the Old
Testament.
For
a while, this preacher was not going to mention this misunderstanding
but on hearing that this new false prophet has started to spread his
false beliefs into Ontario, to a well-known preacher of that area and
to Christians, to Moslems, and possibly to Jehovah Witnesses in
Winnipeg, it was felt that this misunderstanding should be
straightened out right from the start.
Where
did this novice get such a wacky belief? He claimed that God told him
that this Melchizedek name was really God’s name but it is not even
a name. It is really just a title of the social standing of a person
who held the positions of a priest and of the king of Salem, which
later became Jerusalem.
Insight
from The
Book of Jasher
The
misunderstanding started with Saint Paul. He apparently did not know
the real name of the priest and king of Salem at that time. When he
checked out the genealogies for the word Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18;
Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6; 6:20; and 7:1), he could not find it mentioned,
though he realized that it meant “king of righteousness and again,
king of Salem, which means king of peace” (Heb. 7:2 Lamsa Version).
If Paul had only read the Hebrew
Book
of
Jasher
(see Joshua 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18), he would have read that it was
simply Shem, one of the sons of Noah, from which the Hebrew people
originated. There are copies available even today in Hebrew and in
English of this book as the Book
of Jasher,
but one has to make sure it is the one first published in English in
184032.
Saint Paul may have not read this book though, for during Rome’s
conquest of Jerusalem in seventy A. D. or C. E. there apparently were
not many copies of it around. It is mentioned in the introduction of
the English translation, that there was perhaps only one existing in
Jerusalem at that time and only thirteen Hebrew copies were known to
be existing in synagogues throughout the world.
In
this same book, it mentions that Abraham was raised in Shem’s
household until he was about twelve years of age. Shem was therefore
his well respective ancestral father who still hung to his father’s
love for God. He therefore became a priest for God on behalf of his
people in his area of Salem (later named Jerusalem). Seeing he was
their ancestral father and elder and was very likely well respected,
his family made him their king.
According
to the Bible, this same Shem lived for 502 years after the deluge of
Noah (Gen. 11:11). He must have been very much alive during all the
years of Abraham, as he only lived for 175 years (Gen. 25:7).
According to our studies and findings in Bible chronology, the deluge
of the whole world in Noah’s time started in 2225 B. C.33,
while Abraham was born in 1933 B. C. (Ivan Panin says 1939 or
possibly 1953 B. C.). So if these years are even close to the right
years, Shem must have still been alive, possibly even till
thirty-five years after Abraham died, possibly in 1758 B. C.
If
the above is true, then why would Shem not be ruler of Salem,
especially since some of the Hebrew people of Shem were destined to
live in Jerusalem and later have an everlasting king there? All the
people in that area were his and his wife’s descendants anyways.
Paul
made the following statement, as translated from the Greek: “Without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of
days, nor end of life;
but
made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”
(Hebrews 7:3) but from the Aramaic it says: “Neither
his father nor his mother is recorded in the genealogies; and neither
the beginning of his days nor the end of his life; but, like the Son
of God, his priesthood abides for ever.”
(Lamsa Version)
The
above was the result of looking up that descriptive title of
Melchizedek
rather than the name of Shem. It appears that the devil knew that the
novice would get highly elated on learning something new that no one
else seemed to know. So it appears an unclean spirit, working for the
Devil of course, told him that God had hidden his name from people
and that he would discover it under the name of Melchizedek. The
novice then found the above-mentioned description in Hebrews 7:3. He
also thought that Melchizedek was really God the Father speaking
through Jesus and that Jesus was a priest after Melchizedek or that
Jesus is that Melchizedek today.
As
you can see he is quite simple minded and acts like a mental case at
times but many might not realize this soon enough and get swayed by
his overbearing and persuasive nature at times.
It
is true though that both God the Father and his son Jesus, could
claim the term Melchizedek, to describe themselves, as they are both
kings of righteousness and of peace but again, it is not a personal
name. See our chapters on the names of God and of Jesus.
The
other part of his mixed up belief is that Jesus was a priest after
Melchizedek. No. He was a priest after the
priestly order
of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). It was a priest and kingship order and
one of righteousness. In Shem’s case, it included the position of
king of Jerusalem as well. It also appears to have been without the
many technical regulations of the Levitical order of priests. Jesus
of course was of this order because he was to become our high priest
and our king of righteous and king of the Judeans (Mt. 27:37; Mk.
15:26; Lk. 23:38; and John 19:19) and therefore over Jerusalem, just
like Shem. The Levitical order was only for that of priests of the
family of Levi and for them to only be ordained priests, not kings
as well.
5.
Does God Hate or Love Piety?
Another
false teaching from one of the voices that this same lone ranger
heard, was that God hates piety. From the many Bible stories of the
piety of Enoch, of Noah, of Jabez, of Hezekiah, of Christ, of
Cornelius, of Barnabas, of Ananias, of Timothy, and of Daniel praying
at certain times of the day and fasting and praying at other times
for specific answers to prayer, it appears that God must have loved
their sincere reverence to him. It also appears from the way many
people go to church now-a-days that they too have been listening to
the same spirit of error, for they often just go to church in casual
clothes, as if they were just going to a friend’s house for fun and
games.
The
Bible speaks of us someday going to the marriage supper of the lamb
of God (Rev. 19:9). That means dressing up for a wedding, does it
not? So it was for those foolish and wise virgins (Mat. 25:1-13). Let
us consider the case of the man that was caught at a wedding without
a special suit (Mat. 22:2-14)? It is really about someone who did
not have the clean beautiful robes of righteousness, the garments of
salvation (Isa. 61:10; Rev. 16:15; 19:8) as required to go to heaven.
He was therefore cast out into outer darkness where there is gnashing
of teeth. So let us dress up for a fitting occasion of having
fellowship with God, with his holy son Jesus, the holy angels,
and/or with departed saints (Heb. 12:1). Let us also prepare our
hearts through repentance and prayer, forgiving one another of our
many short comings, remembering that we have had either the same or
similar problems.
In
other words, when we go to church or go to have fellowship with
believers in God and in his son Christ Jesus, we should go well
dressed up, as if to meet a special person, like at a wedding.
If
we do not have any fancy or really good clothing, we should just go
as clean and as tidy as we can. God is no respecter of persons (1 Pet
1:17). He will understand. If we go in clean sharp clothing only to
show off or to make a good impression on other Church members, God
will see that and we will lose his favour and a reward. If we go
nicely dressed up and clean, out of respect of going to a house of
God or to a house of prayer, then we will receive due favour and a
blessing from him.
God
can perceive our hearts or minds and he knows whether our piety is
genuine or not and whether our casual clothing is out of disrespect
to his holiness and awesome power, whether they are the best clothes
we have, or whether through a genuine misunderstanding of what God
expects of us. God knows and understands. Just do what is right and
proper with respect to God.
Take
note of the following verses about standing on holy ground and on
being in the presence of God.
Exodus
3:5 And he said [to Moses], Draw not nigh hither: put
off thy shoes from
off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground.
Acts 7:33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet:
for the place where thou standest is holy ground. Ex 20:24 An altar
of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy
burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen:
in all places where I record my name I
will come unto thee, and
I
will bless thee.
Joshua 5:14 And he said [to Joshua], Nay; but as captain
of the host of the LORD am
I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and did worship,
and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? {captain: or,
prince} 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua,
Loose
thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is
holy.
And Joshua did so.
Mt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there
am I in the midst of them.
28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I
am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen. Hebrews 12: 1 Wherefore seeing
we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 1
Cor 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2 Now I
praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the
ordinances, as I delivered them to you. {ordinances: or, traditions}
3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ;
and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered,
dishonoureth his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth
with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all
one as if she were shaven. 6 For if the woman be not covered, let
her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or
shaven, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover
his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the
woman is the glory of the man. (KJV) 10 because of this the woman
ought to have a token of authority upon the head, because of the
messengers [or angels]; (YLT).
Notice
for Over Sanctuary Doorways
What
would happen to our churches if we had a note on our doorways into
our sanctuaries that read something like this?
“Please
remove all footwear before entering the sanctuary, our worship area.
Men, take off your hats and women wear a head covering because of the
presence of the angels and possibly of a cloud of witnesses. We also
expect to be in the presence of Jesus and to be walking and
kneeling on holy ground.”
See
the above verses. Surely on following those instructions there would
be more reverence and expectation of meeting God in our sanctuaries?
The Moslems appear to feel quite comfortable about removing
their footwear in their places of worship as did Moses and Joshua.
They also kneel down. Why do we not? Are we better than them in God’s
eyes, that we should not have to do that? Are they sinners and we are
not? Are we not just sinners saved by grace or hoping to be saved by
grace? Could God be trying to show us something through the practise
of the Moslems? Could the Holy Spirit be trying to tell us that we
are not respectful enough of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, and
of the Holy Bible, through these people who are also loved by God.
Did not Jesus die for them too?
Along
with showing greater reverence and expectation of being in God’s
presence, would come God’s power for conviction for salvation and
faith for healing. No wonder there is hardly any power and conviction
of sin in our churches today. We almost all go into church with our
shoes on, not expecting at all to be on holy ground. Some men even
wear their hats on in church, while hardly a woman wears a head
covering, not believing perhaps that there would be any angels
present or that Jesus would possibly be there at any moment. Did he
not say he would be with us? (Mt. 18:20)
Following
Who and What?
We
appear to want to follow the traditions of men about us and fear more
the opinions of men today, than the advice of holy men of God and of
Bible tradition as found in the Holy Bible. Is that right? Do we have
to continue this way? Can we not change? What good to the world has
our present practice been doing? Not much it seems? We say we are
men and women of the Bible but when do we follow it?
What
a big change in the Church during the last forty-five years or so.
Where and when are the prayer meetings and the fasting before the
weekend Church meetings? Where are the Friday evening and Sunday
evening services? Where is the Sunday afternoon praise and worship?
Do we not need them now as we did before? Should we not be praising
God in worship services as we once did? Where are the people who once
were willing to self-deny their pleasures for times of prayer and
fasting? Are there any left? We could sure use some new ones. We
need to please God and others that are worse off than ourselves. We
need to be concerned for our unsaved neighbours, our government,
people of other religions, and our land. We need more preaching from
the Bible about hell and on the need for holiness as well. When we
did have these things, people got healed right in their seats at
church or when they went up to pray at the sinners bench, alter, or
mercy
seat during
the worship services. O God help us!
What
about Hell?
Some
may mock about preachers trying to scare hell out of people by
preaching about it but it apparently worked and people stopped their
drinking of alcohol, of cheating on their spouses, of lying, of
cheating, and of neglecting God’s place of worship. Hell is
awaiting all lovers of pleasure, the preachers who do not want to
preach about it, and all who neglect to worship and obey God. As
Christ Jesus preached about it, perhaps more than any other topic,
how can any preacher, who will not preach and warn people of it, even
be considered a Christian? Could he therefore be just a hireling?
Obviously
those who do not preach about hell or sheol, or who belittle people
that do, must be either ignorant of the teachings of Jesus and the
Bible or they have more dirty evil spirits in them controlling the
throne of their life than they have holy Spirits. Whatever is the
case, they either must repent, get right with God, and then study to
see all that God has to say about hell. He should also read some of
the several testimonies of people like John Bunyan, the author of
Pilgrim’s
Progress,
who had a vision of a man going to hell and seeing the Devil chained
to a throne in the bottomless pit, cursing God and possibly the angel
that was showing John Bunyan his predicaments in hell during,
apparently the thousand years of the beheaded Christians reigning
with Christ in heaven (Rev. 20:1-4).34
If the preachers that will not preach about hell do repent and get
right with God, they should either resign or be fired. Why not get
someone is really concerned about the souls of the people in Church
and of those outside the Church?
Christ
Jesus spoke of a rich man in hell (Luke 16:23-28); of everlasting
punishment (Mt. 25:46); of everlasting fire (Mt. 18:8; 25:41); of a
furnace of fire (Mt. 13:38-42); of unquenchable fire (Mt. 3:12; Mr.
9:43-48; Lu. 3:17); of a hell for the devil (Mt. 25:41); of bodies
suffering there (Mt. 5:29,30; 10:28; 13:30); of the soul suffering
there (Mt. 10:28); of gates of hell (Mt. 16:18); of hell fire (Mt.
5:22, 29, 30; 18:9; Mr. 9:47); of children of hell (Mt. 23:15); of
damnation of hell (Mt. 23:33); of people being cast into hell (Lu.
12:5); of hell as being down (Mt. 11:23); of an outer darkness with
torment (Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:28-30). Christ Jesus must have surely
thought it was real and he must have realized that he was giving his
listeners the impression that it must be real. They must have also
believed that he was concerned for their welfare in the now and
hereafter. Are you?
As
a Christian is one who is like Christ and as Christ preached much
about hell then any preacher who does not believe in nor preach about
some kind of punishment in a hell, Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus, or
Hades, he cannot be a Christian. He should not be behind any pulpit
in any Christian Church.
Who
is Running things in this World?
By
the terrible number of crimes and murders going on in Winnipeg this
year, it is obvious that the Christians are not running things in
this city. This city has just experienced possibly its thirty-third
(33rd)
homicide. This is a record for this city and the highest rate per
capita in Canada at this moment. It is almost as if this is Sodom and
Gomorrah because of this city having had a homosexual for a mayor
lately and then so many men and women wanting to marry partners of
the same sex. Things are crazy here.
Christ
Jesus said that we are supposed to be salt and light in this world
around us. It appears we have lost our saltiness and we are either
hiding our lights under bushels or in closets. It used to be that
homosexuals used to hide their so-called sexual preferences in the
closet but it appears that we Christians are in the closet instead.
We should be getting out of our closets and tell the homosexual
community that God loves them, we love them, and that God wants to
give them a new life in Christ Jesus. It is a life where there is
next to no chance of ever getting AIDS or other sexually transmitted
diseases. It is a great life of freedom from the dangers of getting
those diseases and of going to hell.
Is
it not time for Christians in this city and in all our cities and
towns of crime and of sin to start repenting of their sins and to
pray and fast for a revival of sanity, holiness, and peace for our
cities and our land?
2
Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked
ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and
will heal their land. {which...: Heb. upon whom my name is called}
(Also see 2 Ch 6:37-39; Deut. 30:1-6; Ez.33:11; Jas. 4:9, 10; Pr.
28:13; Isa. 55:6; 59:20; Ez. 18:27-30).
Miracle
Visitation?
On
Sunday, November 28, 2004, this writer went to the same church group
in Winnipeg (they now meet in a different building) where his mother
was dedicated to God and the Salvation Army as a baby or child,
about ninety years ago (she passed away or was promoted to glory
about seven years ago). That church just happened to be having a
dedication service of a new baby boy. Well, this writer, having come
in a little late, just wanted to slip into one of the back rows
during the opening announcements. He saw a vacant seat in the second
last row. Upon sitting down next to Michael, a stranger, this writer
noticed that the lady in the seat immediately in front of him was a
Flora, the same first name as his mother, who usually was known by
her middle name Ella.
During
the opening prayer, having only about four hours of sleep, this
writer dozed off for a moment. Suddenly he saw his dear mother,
smiling very happily with bright wide eyes and looking very healthy
and young. She was apparently pleased to see her number two son still
going to the Salvation Army. She was likely very happy to see him
dressed up in a nice three-piece suit, for the purpose of being in a
place of worship where one should be expecting to meet Jesus, angels,
or members of the cloud of witnesses that are sometimes allowed to
visit us (Heb. 12:1; Moses and Elijah in Mt. 17:3,4; Mk. 9:4,5; Lk.
9:30,33; two men: Rev. 19:10; 22:8; C. S. Lewis to J. B. Phillips,
mentioned in his book Ring
of Truth; Jesus
to a Salvation Army lady, Mrs. Oaks, when she was in St. Boniface
Hospital in a burn ward, and an Uncle to Robert Brady of Winnipeg).
Could
it be that God was showing to this writer his stamp of approval of
the writer inserting into this chapter, the need to show respect in
the houses of worship and of prayer? In what better way could he have
shown it to this writer, than to be allowed to see his dear departed
mother once again? She may have also been quite concerned for her
son.
Praise
God for his great kindness.
Bible
Knowledge and Study is Very Important!
Also,
read the Bible more to understand and discover the true ways of God
and the true Spirit of God and then you will be able to please him
daily.
The
problem with this novice is that though he may have been an ardent
follower of God in the Roman Catholic religion and may have been a
true believer at that time and meant well, he was doing so without a
true knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. he had only been studying the
Holy
Bible
for about six months. As most followers of the Roman religion, he
never even read the Bible until about eight months ago, as of Nov 29,
2004, even though he is presently in his late sixties. Most people of
the Roman religion and many of other religions, usually leave it up
to their pastors or priests to study and know the Bible for them but
many of the pastors and priests often do not know enough of the
Bible for themselves, never mind enough for their parishioners as
well. He was therefore wrong to think he could be any authority on
whom or what God is and what the Bible truly teaches and says. When
the novice tried to make out that whatever he was saying was of God
and that this preacher was terribly wrong to not believe whatever God
was
saying through his mouth, this preacher had to say something like
this “I believe God but I do not believe you, for you are only
human and you are just a novice.”
Traits
of False Prophets and Spirits:
1.
Pride
When
this novice was speaking as if he was God or as a Divine messenger or
Prophet of God, he reminded me of the pope of Rome, who also claims
to speak as if he is God or God’s special representative, when he
speaks officially for his church of Rome. At that time, his church
says that he cannot be in error. In this way, is he not making
himself out to be a god like this former Roman Catholic man? The
trouble with this novice though, when he spoke proudly as God’s
spokesman, he immediately turned off the Holy Spirit, as he cannot
use a proud vessel to speak on behalf of God.
Job
37:24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise
of heart. Ps 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain .
. . . Ps 101:5 . . . The high of eyes and proud of heart, him I
endure not. (YLT). Ps 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he
respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Pr 6:16
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination
unto him: Pr 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed
innocent blood, Pr 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride,
and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Pr 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he
that refuseth reproof erreth. Pr 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh
shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. Pr 12:15 The way of a fool is
right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. 2
Thes. 2.4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God,
or that is worshipped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God,
shewing himself that he is
God.
In
the last verse, all the underlined words of God
are
without a definite article while the one in
bold print
has the Greek definite article before it. The Lamsa Version from the
Aramaic has it like this: “Who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is
reverenced; so that even in the temple of God, he sits as a god, and
shows himself, as though he were a god.” So
what does this indicate? Does it not indicate that God does not like
anyone making out that they are better than anyone else in the
Church? Every pastor then should be careful to not put themselves
higher or as more important than their congregation. If the
congregation wants him or her to preach from a higher place than the
floor of the congregation that is fine, because they want it so. It
would also be easier for people in the back rows to see the pastor in
this way and for the pastor to see most, if not all of the
congregation.
A
similar thing should be in the Church of God as a whole, no man
should be making out that he is better than anyone else in the Church
of God. If a group of churches wants to have a leadership under one
person to be perhaps their bishop or overseer of their individual
pastors and churches, that is fine if the people want it that way but
no bishop or overseer should be domineering himself or herself over
the rest. It may be best for them to be just like chairmen or chair
women, just overseeing the business of the Church.
It
would be nice also to have spiritual and wise property managers to
look after the everyday business of the church and its buildings
while leaving the pastor to handle the preaching and spiritual
aspects of the Church. Of course in small churches, the pastor has to
be almost everything. The pastors and other church elders or leaders
need our prayers and wisdom from God.
For
Church business of any type, the Church leaders should request the
prayers of their members and then pray and come to decisions as to
what they have found or believe that God wants. It of course, has to
be according to the Scriptures and as to how God’s Holy Spirit may
lead and convince them.
The
novice, therefore was speaking as a false prophet and so does anyone
else who makes out that they are better than the rest of us in the
Church. We must pray for him and all those who are proud, that they
will realize they have been deceived and have sinned.
2.
More Traits of False Prophets
A
pastor in Winnipeg, who also met this same person, pointed out that
he was un-submitted [to a church leadership perhaps] and did not
regularly fellowship at any church. When the pastor would not believe
his revelations that he had claimed had come from God, he cursed the
pastor in Jesus’ name.
This
is a bit ironic though, for this same lone ranger, as the pastor
called him, had told this preacher that we should not use Jesus’
name in praying to God or in casting out demons. The evil or unclean
spirit in him though, sure knew what name had power when it came to
cursing.
This
novice also would go to church only in casual clothes, like a jump
suit and was quite over weight, indicating perhaps that he had
disciplinary or dietary problems. It could also mean that he has evil
spirits in him that are trying to make him overweight and sick. At
times he would speak as if he was a psychiatric patient, claiming
that God was speaking when he was speaking, even though, his words
were sometimes contradictory to the Bible. He was sometimes generous
but often wanted to get things for nothing. He often seemed to expect
everybody was to serve him (see Mt. 23:11; Mt 20:26,27; Mr 10:43,44;
Lu 22:26,27; Joh 13:14,15; 1Co 9:19; 2Co 4:5 2Co 11:23; Ga 5:13; Php
2:5-8).
3.
Detecting
False Prophets,
Preachers,
and Spirits of the Devil
How
can we know when we ourselves or others are being led by a spirit of
error and when a person is a false prophet or preacher? Here are some
instruction from Jesus on this matter plus some further suggestions
from our study of the Bible and of life about us.
Mt
7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go
in thereat: {strait: or, narrow} 14 Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it. {Because: or, How} 15 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. 16 Ye
shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. 20 Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them. 21
¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
1.
Become a lover of God and study his love letters to Earth, Jesus,
and the Holy Bible. Then God will give his Holy Spirit to help and
guide the enquiring mind into the knowledge of the truth. Upon
knowing the truth then one should be able to quickly detect error. It
is like detectives who have been assigned to check counterfeit bills.
They do not study the counterfeits, they study the genuine so much,
that when a counterfeit gets into their hands, they notice right away
that it is not the real thing.
2.
A false prophet may say that God said that something would happen, a
sign or wonder but later on, it did not happen, as he said that God
said it would happen. Sometimes this is a sin of presumptuousness so
do not be afraid of him (Deut. 18:22).
3.
A false prophet may say that God said that something would happen,
a sign or wonder and later on, it does happen but then he goes on to
try to lead you from the teachings of the saints of the Bible (Deut.
13:1-5).
4.
A voice or spirit, being heard by the so-called prophet, speaks or
guides contrary to the truths as found in the Holy Bible.
5.
A person speaks or shares words given to him from a spirit of error
who also speaks contrary to the Bible.
6.
The spirit or human speaks lies, is unforgiving and spiteful.
7.
The spirit or person speaks and acts without love and compassion for
individuals and without due consideration of the overall effects his
actions may have on others. An example of this would be of a leader
who claims to be a Christian or God’s representative, but
encourages or forces his people to try to force other people with
threats of torture or death to follow his religion or his type of
philosophy
or
democracy.
The real test in things like this is to ask, “What would Jesus do?”
8.
The spirit or false prophet puts down Christ Jesus as less than what
the Bible actually says. For example, if the spirit says that Jesus
must not be even worshipped or bowed down too as a king or ruler,
then that is of the spirit of error, for the Bible says he is to be
worshipped in that way. If the Spirit says that Jesus is not to be
worshipped as God then that is according to the Bible.
9.
A false prophet will exhibit and encourage a spirit of selfishness
for things of this world. This might be seen in the emphasis of
regarding the church congregation that he helped to build or was made
overseer as
his own,
rather than that of being God’s Church or part of God’s overall
Church of the whole world, which includes churches of many
denominations and religions.
10.
One moment, the spirit of the man is kind and considerate but the
next moment, he is like a devil, as if he is harbouring guilt and
likes to entertain himself in sin while making out he is a nice guy.
When his ego his hurt though, he rebels.
11.
Bad harmful habits like smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, and
sexual permissive sins to super fussiness about being excessively
clean.
12.
Phobias and other mental disorders, though often these have been
brought about through poor nutrition and through fussiness about what
they will eat. This very fussiness may be caused by a spirit of the
devil to make the person sick. They are not stupid and they most
likely know of many foods that are good or bad for us. They then try
to get us to avoid the very foods that are good for us.
13.
Often though, a false prophet is simply someone preaching or
teaching as if he was God’s spokesman when he or she is not. This
could apply to any pastor, preacher, evangelist, prophet,
missionary,
elder,
rabbi, brother, sister, priest, bishop, cardinal, or pope who claims
to be working for God and for you, when really he or she only has
that position because he needed a job or a career. These types are
only in it for the love of money. Often members of a church become a
priest or pastor and then find out that their church or denomination
is preaching doctrines of demons or that which is not according to
the Holy Scriptures. Some stay in their church of their ancestors,
even though their religion and they are just taking advantage of the
people, playing them for suckers (1 Cor. 10:33; Titus 1:11; 1 Pe.
5:2-5; 2 Pe. 2:3).
14.
See also these references, regarding any religions, even your own
that sometimes experience wonders and miracles: Mt 7:22; 24:24; 2 Th
2:9-11.
15.
A false prophet will often lift up himself or preach himself, as if
he is more important than you or I (2 Cor. 4:5; see also John 7:18;
Ac 8:9; 1Th 2:5,6; 1Pe 5:2-5; and 2Pe 2:3).
16.
A false prophet believes and calls every other prophet, preacher, or
teacher of God as false.
17.
The one in question appears undisciplined and is unable to refrain
from many bad habits such as overeating or gluttony, carelessness,
laziness, and other annoying problems or sins.
18.
The false prophet or teacher tries to control everyone and gets quite
upset when people do not follow his or her directions. He tries to
get everyone to work but himself while Jesus taught that if we want
to be leaders in his kingdom, we have to be servants of men like he
was (Mt. 20:27; 23:11; 25:21, 23; Mr. 9:35; 10:44).
19.
The false prophet emphasizes prosperity for himself and tries to get
big offerings from the congregation or audience with an incentive
that God will bless his followers with great riches too, as they give
to him or her, in spite of Jesus’ teachings that appear to teach
otherwise (Mt. 10:38: 16:24-26;Mk. 10:21, 28; Lu. 18:29, 30; Ro.
8:13; 15:1; Ph. 3:8). Beware though that not all these instructions
may apply to you. Read them in their context and pray much as to what
God would have you do. Also speak to your pastor and loved ones
before giving all that you have to a preacher, prophet, or any
organization, for if Christ was running it, he would have made it
clear that the message was not for everybody and that it was not
meant for you or he may give it all back to you because he knows you
probably need it more than the preacher, prophet, or organization.
It is your responsibility to first look after your young children,
spouse, and home and to give away God’s tithe (one tenth), to the
Church and/or ministry that is really blessing you and your family or
to who ever may be really in need, not all your income so that your
family will have nothing.
20.
The false prophet or spirit says or suggests that there are no
spirits, demonettes or demons nor is there any hell.
21.
The prophet will also exhibit one or more of the following sins of
the flesh.
Galations
5:19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such
like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.
For
some of the above, the Lamsa translation from the Aramaic has
impurity,
enmity, jealousy, and
stubbornness.
Some
Types of Evil Spirits
Mentioned
in the Bible
These
sins and all the above mentioned traits and sins can all be caused by
evil spirits that specialize in those types of sins, for example,
these are mentioned in the Bible: a perverse spirit (Isa. 19:14),
unclean devil (Lu. 4:33), and then spirits of jealousy (Nu. 5:14,
30), slumber (Ro. 11:8), heaviness (Isa. 61:3), whoredoms (Ho. 4:12;
5:4), infirmity (Lu. 13:11), divination (Ac. 16:16), bondage (Ro.
8:15), the world (1 Cor. 2:12), fear (2 Tim. 1:7); anti-Christ (1
John 4:3), and error (1 John 4:6).
All
of us, at one time or another, have had one or more of the above sin
problems besides the poor lone ranger that was just mentioned. He
needs our sympathy, understanding and prayers and all others that
are also having similar troubles. Pray for one another, that all of
us who have the problems of sinning, will see the error of our ways
before it is too late. Pray especially for your church leaders and
the leaders and all people of influence in our governments at all
levels. Pray for our police forces and our military that all may
serve their country and God well. Pray that if any of the above have
any of the above traits, that they will seek God’s help and
deliverance, through Jesus’ name.
Medical
Problems are Sometimes Factors
The
novice and others that quite often hear voices may not realize that
there is a common medical condition whereby, when there is a simple
imbalance of potassium phosphate and sometimes other bio-chemic
tissue salts35,
trace minerals, or other nutrients, some people will often hear
voices speaking to them. The common medical term for this is called
schizophrenia. The people with this problem will sometimes become
very perceptive to the other unseen world about us and in us. They
sometimes also get their dreams, hallucinations, and visions mixed up
with reality. They will sometimes see, feel, and hear things that may
be about them that no one else can perceive. This sometimes allows
them and alcoholics and others going through delirium tremors and
other withdrawal symptoms, to see ghosts of departed people, demons,
demonettes (very small demons), weird things crawling up walls and
other strange things happening. Sometimes schizophrenia is a problem
of split or multiple personalities that are in the process of being
sorted out. Better nutrition though will speed up this process and
the person will become normalized much quicker.
If
one has any of the above symptoms, one should first pray for God’s
help in Jesus’ name and if felt led go to an alternative type of
health care professional, as most of the medical profession seem to
be clueless in cases of nutritional deficiency diseases. There are
some excellent medical doctors but they are often ignorant of the
nutritional aspects of health and wellness. See health food stores
for good books and for suggestions as to possibly good alternative
professionals or see the yellow pages of the phone books.
These
conditions appear to be just some natural phenomena from God as a
warning to the victims of such conditions , to turn from their wicked
ways and to seek God in repentance and to cry out for his mercy.
Signs
of the True Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of
Truth
Matthew
12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth
not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast
out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom
stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your
children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But
if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is
come unto you. Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God. [Thus
also showing some of the purposes of the Holy Spirit.]
1
John 3:24 And he that keepeth [God’s] commandments dwelleth in him,
and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the
Spirit which he hath given us.. 4:1 Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world.
4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They
are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world
heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he
that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth, and the spirit of error. Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the [Holy]
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Ro 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his. Ro 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. Lu 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye
shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the
unthankful and to the evil.
John
14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit
of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you. 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning. 16:7 Nevertheless I
tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I
go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you.
8
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not
on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me
no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now.
13
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it
unto you.
Some
Types of Holy Spirits
Mentioned
in the Bible
Just
as in the Devil’s kingdom, there are ranks of demons and
specialties of assignments of demons and demonettes, so there are in
God’s kingdom. The above mentioned Comforter appears to be simply a
large type of Spirit like a guardian Angel on the outside of us while
smaller Holy Spirits are in the cavities or cells of our bodies, to
protect us from parasitic evil spirits of the Devil. Here are some
sample verses that indicate different specialties of the Holy
Spirits of God:
Ex
35:31 And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom,
in understanding,
and in knowledge,
and
in all
manner of workmanship
(See also Ex. 31:3-6); 2 Ki 2:15 . . . The spirit of Elijah doth
rest on Elisha. . . . Job 20:3 . . . the spirit of my understanding
causeth me to answer. Job 32:18 For I am full of matter, the spirit
within me constraineth me. {matter: Heb. words} {spirit...: Heb.
spirit of my belly} Pr 18:14 ¶ The spirit of a man will sustain his
infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? Pr 20:27 ¶ The spirit
of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of
the belly. {candle: or, lamp} Ec 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man
that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to
the earth? {of man: Heb. of the sons of man} {goeth upward: Heb. is
ascending, etc} Isa 4:4 . . . the spirit of judgment, and by the
spirit of burning. Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest
upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
LORD; Isa 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the
spirit of deep sleep, . . . .Isa 40:7 The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: . . . Isa
57:15 . . . I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is
of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Eze 1:20 . . . the
spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. {of...: or, of life}
Da 4:9 . . . I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and
no secret troubleth thee, . . . Mic 3:8 . . . I am full of power by
the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare
unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hag 1:14 And the
LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel,. . . and the spirit of
Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all
the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of
the LORD of hosts, their God, Zec 12:10 . . . the spirit of grace
and of supplications: . . . Mt 3:16 . . . the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 10:20 For it is not
ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom
of God is come unto you. Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:
. . . 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me: Ac 5:9 . . . ye have agreed
together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? . . . 8:39 . . . the
Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, . . . . Ro 1:4 . . . the
spirit of holiness . . . . 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his. 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption
. . . . 1Co 4:21 . . . the spirit of meekness? 14:32 And
the spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets. 2Co 3:3 . . . the Spirit of the living God .
. . 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty. 4:13 We having the same spirit of faith
. . . . Ga 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 6:1 . . .
the spirit of meekness . . . . Eph 1:13 . . . holy Spirit of promise
17 . . . the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
{in...: or, for the acknowledgement} Heb 10:29 . . . the Spirit of
grace? 1Pe 1:11 . . . the Spirit of Christ which was in them . . . .
4:14 . . . the spirit of glory and of God . . . . 1 Jo 4:2 Hereby
know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God: Re 19:10 . . . the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
A
Special Greatness and Respect is
Due
to Jesus
Eph.
1:21 [Jesus is far] above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come: 1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into heaven,
and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers
being made subject unto him. Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image 36of
his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when
he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high;
4
Being made
so much better than the angels,
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they37.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father,
and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the
first begotten into the world, he saith, And let
all the angels of God worship him38.
{again
...: or, when he bringeth again} 7 And of the angels he saith, Who
maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. {And
of: Gr. And unto} 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O
[superior one], is for [ages and ages]: a sceptre of righteousness is
the sceptre of thy kingdom39.
{righteousness: Gr. rightness, or, straightness} 9 Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even
thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows.
1.
Jesus as a Lord or a Ruler
See
Isaiah 49:3-12 where it appears to speak as if Jesus is the Israel in
prophecy. The word Israel appears to mean Overcomer of a Superior
One. Jesus can therefore be our Overcomer over the Devil and
everything else that troubles us. Israel is said to be God’s
firstborn son (Ex. 4:22). This could apply to Jesus as well.
2
Corinthians|11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 1 Timothy|1:12 And
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;1 Timothy|6:14
That thou keep ®this̅ commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Revelation|19:16 And
he hath on ®his̅ vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF
KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation|22:20 He which testifieth
these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus. Revelation|22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ®be̅
with you all.
2.
Jesus as King of Kings
Isaiah
9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even
for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Jeremiah
23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Daniel 7: 14 And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed. Zechariah 9: 9 Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy
King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and
riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Matthew|2:2
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 21:4 All this was
done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh
unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an
ass. 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which
made a marriage for his son, 27:11 And Jesus stood before the
governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of
the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 27:27 Then the
soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and
gathered unto him the whole band ®of soldiers.̅ 27:28 And they
stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 27:29 And when they
had platted a crown of
thorns,
they put ®it̅ upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the
Jews! 27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote
him on the head. 27:31 And after that they had mocked him, they
took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led
him away to crucify ®him.̅ 27:37 And set up over his head his
accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27:42 He
saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
Mark|15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And
he answering said unto him, Thou sayest ®it.̅ 15:9 But Pilate
answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of
the Jews? Luke 19:38 Saying, Blessed ®be̅ the King that
cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the
highest. 23:37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save
thyself. 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in
letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE
JEWS. John|1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 6:14 Then
those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This
is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 6:15
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by
force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself
alone. 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet
him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed ®is̅ the King of Israel that
cometh in the name of the Lord. 12:14 And Jesus, when he had found
a young ass, sat thereon; 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the
Jews! and they smote him with their hands. as it is written, 12:15
Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an
ass's colt. 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again,
and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus
answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and
for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 18:39
But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the
passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the
Jews? 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about
the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 19:15
But they cried out, Away with ®him,̅ away with ®him,̅crucify him.
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests
answered, We have no king but Caesar. 19:21 Then said the chief
priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but
that he said, I am King of the Jews. 19:19 And Pilate wrote a
title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. Ac 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and
these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is
another king, one Jesus. Revelation|19:16 And he hath on ®his̅
vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF
LORDS.
3.
Jesus is to be Worshipped as King of Kings
These
verses indicate that Jesus was created: Prov. 8:22-30; Ps. 2:7;
89:27; Joh. 1:14; 3:16; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:5, 6; 3:1, 2 (appointed
though
should be read as made);
and 5:5. and these following verses indicate he was made superior to
his fellow angels and fellow sons of men on Earth (Heb. 1:4, 6, 9).
As he is just a son of God though and not the God, but one who was
given a kingdom (verse 8) on the Earth, he must be just worshipped
as a
king or ruler (lord)
over all his fellows. Remember the exception or exemption in 1 Cor.
15:27 about God the Father. Verse nine (9) reminds us that once again
he is just a lesser one than God his creator or maker. He is
therefore only to be worshipped as a king who has to be accountable
to the God like all the rest of us. The angels and us, of course are
all under Jesus. Remember what Saint Paul said, “To us there
is One God the Father”
(see Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; and 1 Tim. 2:5) and then James,
very likely one of the brothers of Jesus, said that the demons know
that there is one God but they tremble, knowing his fearfulness on
any sinner.
Regarding
Jesus, Saint
Paul says that to us believers he is not God but our Lord Jesus
Christ and our one mediator between God and mankind (see
1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:5; and 1 Tim. 2:5).
Consider
too, the verses below about whether a person should or may bow down
to someone other than God Almighty.
Joshua
5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted
up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood
a man over
against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto
him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14
And he said, Nay; but as captain
of the host of the LORD am
I now come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and did worship,
and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? {captain: or,
prince} 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua,
Loose
thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is
holy.
And Joshua did so. 6:2
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand
Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
Also
see the following about the phrase captain
of the host:
Gen 18:2; Ex 23:20-22; Isa 55:4; Da 10:13; 12:1; Heb 2:10; Re 12:7;
and Re 19:11-14. About Joshua falling on his face and worshipping the
captain see Ge 17:3,17; Ge 18:2; Le 9:24; Nu 16:22,45; Mt 8:2; Lu
5:12; Ac 10:25,26 Re 19:10; and 22:8,9. Concerning my
lord,
see Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44; Lu 1:43; 20:42; Joh 20:28; and Php 3:8.
From
reading the above, the captain, ruler, lord, or Lord of the host of
[Jehwah] must have been such a highly trustworthy representative of
Jehwah that he was given command of the military wing or all of the
heavenly beings besides God the Father. Because of his great service
and faithfulness to God, Jehwah even insists that we on Earth bow
down to or worship great heavenly rulers like this, not as the God
but just as a lord or ruler representing him. It must be because the
captain is really the general of all his military and is a Lord or
ruler just under Jehwah himself, like an archangel of God. This
general, representing God so well, then has Jehwah speak through him
to Joshua, as if he was Jehwah himself (Joshua 6:2). It has to be
this way though because the glory and light of God the Father,
Jehwah, is so bright not one of our fleshly bodies would be able to
see and even live to tell of it. We would have to be divinely
protected or be in heaven in a new body to be able to see the God and
live.
It
might be said that we would be not bowing down to the General,
Captain, or Jesus but really to the God in the general or in Jesus
but if one of us in a church assembly prophesies exact words from God
Almighty as he gives them to the person or prophet speaking them, it
would be wrong to bow down to that person. Even though the true
Spirit of God was dwelling in that person and was speaking to us as
with the prophets of old or as with the two men in Rev. 19:10; 22:9
it would be still wrong to bow down to them just as it was wrong to
bow down to those two men. That is not the case though with that
Captain of the Host of God and with Jesus as can be seen from the
previous Scripture references.
Final
Conclusion
There
is no Godhead but rather a head God or chief God of gods. There is
also no Trinity or Tri-unity of gods or Gods nor of a Quarto-unity or
Poly-unity or whatever you want to call it with God. The Bible just
does not teach those things. Instead it teaches that there is
one God, so to be true to the Holy Bible, we must teach the same
thing. What is that again? There
is only One God the Father and
one Lord Jesus Christ and
we should be in oneness or unity with them in order to have eternal
life.
Let
us therefore worship Christ Jesus as King of kings and God as God of
Gods.
Are
you a part of that Holy Unity or that Oneness with God the Father
and his Holy Son, Christ Jesus? If not, why not? Please join up
today by repenting of your sins, ask God to forgive you and then
start following Jesus and his teachings every moment, every minute,
every hour, every day.
Note
too that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and to him, it
does not matter what denomination or religion you presently belong
to, as long as you come to him as you are now, in humbleness, in
repentance, seeking his mercy and grace for forgiveness of your sins.
Remember though that God has paid for our redemption of our sins
though, through the sacrifice of his only begotten son Jesus of
Nazareth (John 3:16). Through this way, God met his requirements of
justice for wickedness of sin, in that Jesus took our punishment of
death on our behalf (Rom. 3:24). So we all owe Jesus our gratitude,
admiration, and our lives as he died that we might live. Let us all
follow and obey him as he follows and obeys his God and our God the
Father, Jehwah, the living God.
Matthew
22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first
and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets. John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto
you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love
one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another. 2 Co 7:1 Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God. Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men,
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Mt 24:13 But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Mr 13:13
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Truth
and Light Ministries Inc., P. O. Box 79, Ethelbert, Manitoba,
R0L 0T0 crbesson@mts.
net
December 9, 2004 C:\Documents and Settings\Main User\My
Documents\Day LORD book\Truth and Light MinistriesP.wpd
Help
Needed Please!
As
mentioned at the beginning of this book, we need financial help to
spread these truths to all the churches and Bible colleges in
the English-speaking world. We actually need about ten thousand
dollars or more just to print up one good printing of the book, The
Day of the LORD is at Hand!
of which this is just a chapter. The major book has many insights
and more revelations from God as to the actual truths of the Bible.
With God’s insights, we believe we have come to a better
understanding than most people, concerning a number of different
topics which have been misunderstood by the main body of the Church.
We
would also like some financial help to get these pages of this
chapter translated into other languages and spread these truths
abroad to churches and people of other lands. You may reprint these
booklets yourself but if we pool our money together, in order to get
large printings of these booklets, in the order of ten thousand
or more at a time, then we can reduce the cost of each copy and then
be able to distribute much more than we could otherwise.
Please
pray for us and consider helping us as soon as you can and in
whatever way is possible. There is a lot involved in getting a book
like this written and published. It has taken this writer forty-eight
(48) years or so of Bible study before he felt confident to tackle
this complicated issue of the Godhead and the Trinity. It is now easy
to understand but it was not for decades. It has also taken many
years of prayer, schooling, buying, and studying good research books,
translations, lexicons, concordances, computer programs, and
commentaries to be able to understand the truth about the God of
the heavens and other important teachings of the Bible.
Please
ask God what he would have you do, we cannot do it alone.
This
long period of time for production of this has been necessary mainly
because of lack of funds to work on this project full time and
because of some false indoctrination by churches about him. They
had gotten erroneous theories of doctrines from other churches and
denominations, who were in turn affected by the doctrines or
teachings of unbelieving Jews, those of the religion of Rome, and of
demons from hell.
If
it was not for God’s guidance through miracles of revelation and
insight and helps through some individuals, we would not have been
able to come to the truth about this and other important
doctrines. We therefore thank almighty God for his gracious help
and guidance. We also thank his son Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Before
sending a donation, please consider the great costs of producing our
books and studies. For all those sending a donation of at least $5.00
or more toward our nonprofit ministry and charitable organization, we
will send you a copy of another chapter of our coming book, The
Day of the LORD is at Hand!
Our next sample will be that of Why
Worship on Sunday?
along with a sample chapter or two of our Victory Version new Bible
translation. This translation is unlike any of the twenty or more
versions we have on hand and most likely, unlike any version you have
as well.
If
you would like more copies of this chapter on The
Godhead and the Trinity,
which is part of The
Day of the LORD is at Hand!
please send a donation of $5.00 to help cover the costs of writing
and editing, the printing, handling, and postage for the first copy
and $4.00 or more for each additional copy. If you cannot afford to
send anything at this time, we will send you a free copy.
God
bless. We will be expecting to hear from you.
Respectively
yours,
Cliff
Besson
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