Creation of the earth and man #23 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #7 Corporeal and spiritual change

In the previous chapters we have looked at the corporeal change of those, who have first been morally renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that had created them from “sinful flesh” into spirit, which is an absolute necessity, before they can inherit the Kingdom of God. After people get to know God’s Word and come to understand Who created the earth and Who had sent His son for the good of man they shall have to come to see that even when we still have to face death in this system of things we may live by the hope of something better to come.

Though we have the sleep in death and shall perhaps have to face very difficult times, even facing persecution we should be convinced not to sorrow as the others. We should not react like the unbelievers, who may react heavily because they do not have such a hope the followers of Jeshua have.
For if we have given ourselves to become disciples of the sent one from God believe that this son of God, Jesus, died and rose again, we do have our hope in him because knowing that God can not die, but the son of man Jesus really died, we have hope in this example God has given the world. This man of flesh and blood is really take out of the dead and taken up in the skies to sit next to God, not on God’s throne, but at His right hand.

These who take Jesus to be their god and think no man is capable to be sinless and doing God’s Will, make from God a cruel God Who created beings who were not capable to follow His commandments. They deny the resurrection of the dead and are refuting God’s Power to have man following His commandments. Those gainsayers are as such believing that man can only do his own will and not believing that man is capable to transform and to become changed into spirit, or immortalized, by the Son of Man, doing God’s Will.

The believers in Jeshua, him being the son of God and not making him into a god son, may comfort one another with the words which are given to us in the Bible.

It will be seen from this, that survivors of the dead were not consoled in the first age of Christianity for the loss of their friends as they are now by those who “improve the death” of the influential among them. In “funeral sermons”, the “immortal souls” of the deceased are transported “on angels’ wings to heaven”, and the living are consoled with the assurance that they are singing the praises of God around the throne; feasting with Abraham, and the prophets, with the saints and martyrs, and with Jesus and his apostles in the Kingdom of God; and they are themselves persuaded, that the souls of their relations, now become angels, are watching over them, and praying for them; and that when they die their own souls will be re-united with them in the realms of bliss.

Need I say to the man enlightened in the word, that there is no such comfort, or consolation, as this in the law and the testimony of God?

A Goblin or legendary evil or mischievous grotesque dwarf-like daemon or monster that appeared in European stories and accounts during the Middle Ages. – Goblin from Warhammer

Such traditions are purely mythological; and come of the Nicolaitan dogma of saved “ghosts, and goblins damn’d” which has cancerously extirpated “the truth as it is in Jesus”.
No, the apostles did not point men to the day of their death, and its immediate consequents, for comfort; nor did they administer the consolations of the gospel to any who had not obeyed it. They offered comfort only to the disciples; for they only are the heirs with Jesus of the Kingdom of God. They taught these to look to the coming of Christ, and to the resurrection, as the time of a re-union with their brethren in the faith. At death, they should

“rest from their labours, and their works should follow them”;

and

“to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”. {a Heb. 9:28.}

Such were the practical and intelligible “words” with which the apostles comforted their brethren; but words which have become sealed and cabalistic, both to the unlearned and “the wise”.

The Unisphere, attributed to “uribe”/Uri Baruchin

In conclusion, then, as far as power is concerned, God could have created all things upon a spiritual or incorruptible basis at once. The globe could have been filled with men and women, equal to the angels in nature, power, and intellect, on the sixth day; but the world would have been without a history, and its population characterless. This, however, would not have been according to the plan. The animal must precede the spiritual as the acorn goes before the oak. This will explain many difficulties which are created by systems; and which will for ever remain inexplicable upon the hypotheses they invent. The Bible has to do with things, not imaginations; with bodies, not phantasmata; with “living souls” of every species; with corporeal beings of other worlds; and with incorruptible and undying men; but it is as mute as death, and silent as the grave, having nothing at all to say about such “souls” as men pretend to “cure”; except to repudiate them as a part of that “philosophy and vain deceit”, {b. Col. 2:8} “which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” {c  1 Tim. 6:21}

– Thomas, D. J.; Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 45–46). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

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Notes & quotes

a Hebrews 9:28 (ESV): 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

b Colossians 2:8 (ESV): See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

c 1 Timothy 6:21 (ESV): 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Grace be with you.

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Preceding article:

Creation of the earth and man #22 Man in the image and likeness of the Elohim #6 Spirits, spiritual bodies and illusory perception

Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God

Bible, God speaking words profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correction

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Additional readings

  1. Bible, sword of the Spirit to come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man
  2. The truth is very plain to see and God can be clearly seen
  3. The chosen ones to fear or not to fear
  4. God won’t ask
  5. Kingdom of God, a journey
  6. The one who set the standard
  7. Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
  8. Signs of the the last days when difficult times will come
  9. After the Sabbath after Passover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
  10. Jesus is risen
  11. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus
  12. Exceeding Great and Precious Promise
  13. Invitation to all who believe
  14. Dying or not
  15. Immortality, eternality – onsterfelijkheid, eeuwigheid
  16. God’s wrath and sanctification
  17. With God All Things Are Possible
  18. The world is but a great inn
  19. A concrete picture of what is to come in the future
  20. Empire with Jesus the emperor
  21. The builder of the Kingdom
  22. Not all will inherit the Kingdom
  23. Receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
  24. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
  25. Elul Observances
  26. January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works
  27. Salvation and Righteousness
  28. We are redeemed; we are “bought with a price”
  29. Failing Man to make free choice
  30. Knowing where to go to
  31. A Living Faith #1 Substance of things hoped for
  32. Faith and trial
  33. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
  34. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  35. A Living Faith #6 Sacrifice
  36. First man’s task still counting today
  37. He who knows himself, is kind to others
  38. Luther’s misunderstanding
  39. January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works
  40. Our life depending on faith
  41. Romans 4 and the Sacraments
  42. Is Justification a process?
  43. Letter to the Romans, chapter 3
  44. Letter to the Romans, chapter 4
  45. Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans
  46. Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4
  47. Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works
  48. Be holy
  49. Those who make peace should plant peace like a seed
  50. Times of the Gentiles
  51. How do you keep people from stealing your joy?
  52. Learn how to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of the coming Kingdom
  53. Bringing Good News into the world
  54. United people under Christ
  55. The work of the angels in guiding national affairs

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Further related articles

  1. You believe in one God? Good, so do the other gods.
  2. Weeping and gnashing of teeth
  3. Bible, God speaking words profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correctionSatan in the New Testament (2)
  4. Satan in the New Testament (3): The Devil and his angels
  5. Angels and Princes in Daniel 10
  6. Bible, God speaking words profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correctionWas David “a man after God’s own heart”?
  7. Jesus on hell (1)
  8. Waiting
  9. Kingdom Timing
  10. …as is Israel’s eternal duty…
  11. …as is Israel’s eternal duty. part 2.
  12. On the Joy Train I Go!
  13. Kingdom of God – river of lifeThe Kingdom of God and Non-Violence (Part 2)
  14. The kingdom of heaven is the Christian disciple’s true home
  15. The Kingdom’s Authority
  16. Why We Shouldn’t Call Ourselves Born-Again Christians
  17. New Creation: Here, But Not Yet
  18. The Return of The Native
  19. Next Scheduled Stop: The Judgment Seat of Christ (Part 3)
  20. The faithful remnant
  21. Unseen Servants
  22. You’re not a Slave, You’re a Son
  23. Have Courage!
  24. Jesus’ First Sermon (Mark 1. 14-15)
  25. Politics, Christianity, and the End of the World
  26. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
  27. Rhymer of God series (#3)
  28. Not a Christian Bubble
  29. The Poor in Spirit (Matt. 5:3)
  30. (In)justice and (in)action
  31. Kingdom of the Son
  32. Go with the Flow
  33. A Bus Called Heaven. Bob Graham
  34. Stand Up For Jesus
  35. Third Friday in Ordinary Time
  36. Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Are you Working to Fulfill Scripture?
  37. Going Home
  38. Quaker Faith & Practice for the 21st Century: IIj
  39. God is Jehovah Jireh – The LORD Will Provide
  40. Lay Your Burden Down And Let God Be God And Just Be Yourself
  41. Michael Horton Differentiates Law and Gospel
  42. The Subnormal Christian Life
  43. 14 How to Work Your Way to Hell

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Creation of the earth and man #9 Formation of man #1 Cure of souls

The Formation of man

“Out of the ground wast thou taken; for dust thou art.”

1980 Soul Note Recording
1980 Soul Note Recording (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath”, is a truth of general application to all the institutions of God. Upon this principle, man was not made for religion, but religion was made for him. If this be true, then it follows that it was adapted to man as God had formed him. Hence, the institutions of religion, if it be of God, will always be found in harmony with his constitution and not at variance with it. They are devised as a remedy, for certain irregularities which have invaded his intellectual and moral nature; by which, phenomena have been superinduced which are destructive of his being. Now the exact adaptation of the Bible religion to the curative indications suggested by the intellectual, moral, and physical infirmities of human nature, which everyone who understands it cannot fail to perceive, proves that the mind which framed it is divine; and that the religion of the scriptures, and the constitution of man, are the work of one and the same Creator. God is truly the only wise physician, whose practice is based upon perfect knowledge; for He alone (and they to whom He hath revealed it) knows “what is in man”. [(John 2:24-25)]

Hence, no incongruities are discoverable in “His way” when His method of cure is understood.
In medicine, a scientific practice is directed, and founded, upon a knowledge of the structure or mechanism of the body, the motive power thereof, and of the functions which are manifested by the working of this power on its several parts. The absence of this knowledge in a professional, constitutes empiricism*; and is one cause of such vast multitudes “dying”, as it is said, “of the doctor”. Being ignorant of the motive power of the living creature, they are as unsuccessful in correcting its irregularities as a watchmaker, who was ignorant of the principles and laws by which a timepiece was moved, would be in rectifying its errors. Now this may be taken in illustration of the predicament of others who undertake the “cure of souls”. To treat these as “a work-man that needeth not to be ashamed”, a man should be acquainted with “souls” as God hath formed and constituted them. He should know what “a living soul” is; what its condition in a healthy state; what the peculiar morbid affection under which it languishes; what the nature of the cure indicated; and what the divinely appointed means by which the indications may be infallibly fulfilled. An attempt to “cure souls” without understanding the constitution of man as revealed by Him who created him, is mere theological experimentalism; and as bootless, and more fatally destructive than the empiricism of the most ignorant pretenders to the healing art. What! men undertake to “cure souls” and not to know what a soul is; or to imagine it a something, which it is admitted cannot be demonstrated by “the testimony of God”. This is like pretending to repair a timepiece without knowing what constitutes a watch or clock, or while imagining it to be a musical box, or any other conceivable thing.

Seven Souls
Seven Souls (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Speculation has assumed that the soul is something in the human body capable of living out of the body, and of eating, drinking, feeling, tasting, smelling, thinking, singing, and so forth; and of the same essence as God Himself. In times past some have busied themselves in calculating how many such souls could stand on the point of a needle; a problem, however, which still remains unsolved. A vast deal is said in “sermons” and systems about this idea; about its supposed nature, its wonderful capacity, its infinite value, its immortality, and its destiny. I shall not, however, trouble the reader with it. We have to do with “the law and the testimony”; and as they are altogether silent about such a supposed existence, we shall not occupy our pages in superadding to the obsolete print concerning its attributes, which has already merged into the oblivion of the past. I allude to so much as this, because it is made the foundation corner-stone, as it were, of those experimental systems of spiritual cure, which are so popular with the world, and so utterly exclusive and proscriptive of the divine method.

Upon the supposition of the existence of this kind of a soul in the human body are based the current notions of heaven, hell, immortality, infant salvation, purgatory, saint-worship, Mariolatry, spiritual millenniumism, metempsychosis*, etc., etc. Its existence both in the body and out of the body being assumed, it is assumed also to be immortal. An immortal disembodied existence requires a dwelling place, because something must be somewhere; and, as it is said to be virtuous or vicious according to its supposed life in the body, and post mortem rewards and punishments are affirmed — this dwelling-place is exhibited as an elysium, or, as an orthodox poet sings, “a place of goblins damn’d”.

– Thomas, D. J. (1990). Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 27–29). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

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Notes:

Empiricism: the doctrine that all all ideas and categories, knowledge of matters of fact derives from experience and that the mind is not furnished with a set of concepts in advance of experience or that knowledge cannot extend beyond experience, including observation, experiment, and induction. Compare intuitionism, rationalism

Metempsychosis:  [Late Latin metempsȳchōsis, from Greek metempsūkhōsis, from metempsūkhousthai, to transmigrate : meta-, meta- + empsūkhos, animate (en, in; see psūkhē in Indo-European roots).] = the migration of a soul from one body to another or the entering of a soul after death upon a new cycle of existence in a new body either of human or animal form; the transmigration of the soul, esp. the passage of the soul after death into the body of another being; the rebirth of the soul at death in another body, either human or animal. Cf. creationism.metempsychic, metempsychosic, metempsychosical, adj.

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Preceding:

Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 3

Creation of the earth and man #8 Of the Sabbath day #6 If it be necessary to keep Sunday

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Additional reading:

  1. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
  2. Is God behind all suffering here on earth
  3. Looking at three “I am” s
  4. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
  5. The Soul confronted with Death
  6. Souls and Religions with Nirvana and light
  7. All Souls’ Day
  8. Fear and protection
  9. What is life?
  10. Cosmos creator and human destiny
  11. What happens when we die?
  12. I Can’t Believe That (1) … God would send anyone to hell
  13. Paying vows to Jehovah God
  14. Are you religious, spiritual, or do you belong to a religion, having a faith or interfaith
  15. Dying or not
  16. Is there an Immortal soul
  17. Immortality, eternality – onsterfelijkheid, eeuwigheid
  18. How are the dead?
  19. What happens when we die?
  20. The Soul confronted with Death
  21. Dead and after
  22. Destination of righteous
  23. Destination of the earth
  24. Sheol or the grave
  25. Soul
  26. The Soul not a ghost
  27. Human Nature: What does the Bible teach?
  28. The soul has no rainbow if the eyes have no tears
  29. Let not sin reign in your mortal body
  30. We will all be changed

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Further articles on the internet:

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Necessity of a revelation of creation 14 Searching the scriptures

English: Diagram of the Holy Trinity based on ...
Diagram of the Holy Trinity based on the Hebrew word רוח “air, wind, spirit” having feminine grammatical gender in the Hebrew language (though in fact in a significant minority of its occurrences in the Hebrew Bible, the word actually has masculine grammatical gender). Could be considered “non-orthodox” by the criteria of the traditional mainstream of Christian doctrine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Search the scriptures with the teachableness of a little child, and thy labour will not be in vain. Cast away to the owls and to the bats the traditions of men, and the prejudices indoctrinated into thy mind by their means; make a whole burnt offering of their creeds, confessions, catechisms, and articles of religion; and, after the example of the Ephesian disciples, hand over your books of curious theological arts, and burn them before all. These mountains of rubbish have served the purpose of a dark and barbarous age; the word, the word of the living God alone, can meet the necessities of the times.

Let the example of the noble-minded Bereans be ours. They searched the scriptures daily to see if the things taught by the apostles were worthy of belief; “therefore they believed”. If, then, not even the preaching of an apostle was credited unaccompanied by scriptural investigation, is it not infinitely more incumbent on us that we should bring to a like test the opinions and precepts of the uninspired and fallible professional theologists of our day? Let us believe nothing that comes from “the pulpit”, “the altar”, or the press, not demonstrated by the grammatical sense of the scriptures. Let us be contented with nothing less than a “thus it is written”, and a “thus saith the Lord”; for He has laid it down in His law, that no one is worthy of belief who does not speak after His rule.

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to THIS WORD, it is because there is no light in them.”

If then their light be darkness, how great is that darkness.

English: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ...
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (ca.245-313), Roman Emperor Diocletian. Marble bust, XVIIth century, Florence, Italy. On display at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, France. Français : L’empereur Dioclétien (ca.245-313). Buste de marbre sculpté au XVII e siècle à Florence, en Italie, exposé dans le château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, en France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The scriptures can do everything for us in relation to the light. This is known, felt, and keenly appreciated by all interested in the support of error. Hence, in the days of Diocletian, one of the pagan predecessors of Constantine, a decree was issued commanding the surrender of all copies of the Holy Scriptures: for it was found that so long as they obtained circulation the Christian doctrine could never be suppressed. The Popes, as deadly, and more insidious, enemies of the truth than the pagan Roman emperors, followed the example of Diocletian. The Bible and popery are as mutually hostile as the light of the sun and the thick darkness of Egypt that might be felt. But it is not paganism and popery alone that are practically hostile to a free and untrammelled investigation of the word of God. The Protestant world, while it deludes itself with the conceit that “the Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants”—while it spends its thousands for its circulation among the nations in their native tongues — is itself hostile to the belief and practice of what it proclaims. The “Bible alone” is not its religion; for if it were, why encumber its professors with the “Common Prayer”, Thirty-nine Articles, and all the other “notions” of a similar kind? To believe and practise the Bible alone would be a sufficient ground of exclusion from all “orthodox churches”. When Chillingworth uttered the sentiment, there was more truth in it than at this day; but now it is as far from the fact as that Protestantism is the religion of Christ.

To protest against an error, such as Romanism, and to affirm that every man has a right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, is a very different thing to believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and walking in all the institutions of the Lord blameless. To do this would unchristianize a man in the estimation of State churches and sectarian denominations; for the Bible religion requires a man to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints”, which in these times cannot be done without upheaving the very foundations of the self-complacent, self-glorifying, and self-laudatory communions of the antipapal constitution of things. It is true that no man or power has a right to interfere between God and the conscience; but it is also true that no man has a right to worship God as he pleases. This is a Protestant fallacy. Man has a right to worship God only in the way God has Himself appointed.

“In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

This is the judgment pronounced by the wisdom of God upon all worship which He has not instituted. He declares it to be vain worship; concerning which the apostle to the Gentiles says:

“Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath; let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels. Be not subject to dogmatisms (δογματίζεσθε) after the commandments and traditions of men; which things have indeed a show of wisdom in WILL-WORSHIP and humility.”

These exhortations apply to all faith and worship, Papal and Protestant. If Popery judges men in meats, Protestantism doth the same in drinks, and in the Sabbath; they both judge men in holy-days and “movable feasts”; and though Protestantism repudiates the worshipping of angels, it proclaims in its “fasts”, “preparations”, “concerts”, etc. a voluntary humility, anti celebration of “saints and martyrs”, renowned in legendary tales for “the pride that apes humility”. Let the reader search the scriptures from beginning to end, and he will nowhere find such systems of faith and worship as those comprehended in the Papal and Protestant systems. The gospel of the Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus is not preached among them; they are communions which are uncircumcised of heart; theological dissertations on texts, called “sermons”, are substituted for “reasoning out of the scriptures”—for “expounding and testifying the Kingdom of God, and persuading men concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets”. Puseyism*, Swedenborgianism*, and all sorts of isms, to which in apostolic times the world was a total stranger, run riot among them; the lusts of the flesh, of the eye, and of the pride of life have extinguished even the energy and zeal of the antipapal rebellion out of which they have arisen; they are dead, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, and therefore the time is come to cut them off as a rotten branch from the good olive tree. Let therefore every man that would eschew the wrath which is begun, and who would become an heir of the kingdom of God, save himself from the unholy, lifeless, and effete denominations of these “Latter Days”. By remaining in them, a man partakes of their evil deeds, and subjects himself to their evil influences. The word of man has silenced the word of God in their midst; and religion has degenerated into a professional commodity sold for cash according to the taste which most prevails in the soul-makers of the world.

Let us then “cease from men, whose breath is in their nostrils; for wherein are they to be accounted of?” “They be blind leaders of the blind”, in whom is no light, because they speak not according to the law and the testimony of God. Let us repudiate their dogmatisms; let us renounce their mysteries; and let us declare our independence of all human authority in matters of faith and practice outside the word of God. The scriptures are able to make us wise, which the traditions of “divines” are not. Let us then come to these scriptures, for we have the assurance that he who seeks shall find. But we must seek by the fight of scripture, and not permit that fight to be obscured by high thoughts and vain imaginations which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Great is the consolation that “the wise shall understand”, and “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament”. Be this then our happiness, to understand, believe, and do, that we may be blessed in our deed, and attain to the glorious liberty and manifestation of the sons of God.

To the Bible then let us turn, as to “a light shining in a dark place”, and, with humility, teachableness, and independence of mind, let us diligently inquire into the things which it reveals for the obedience and confirmation of faith. The object before us then will be, to present such a connected view of this truthful and wonderful book as will open the reader’s eyes, and enable him to understand it, and expound it to others, that he may become “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”; and be able intelligently to “contend for the faith”; and by “turning many to righteousness, to shine as the stars for ever and ever”.
In effecting this purpose, we must proceed as we would with any other book, or in teaching any of the arts and sciences; namely, begin at the beginning, or with the elements of things. This was the method adopted by the spirit of God in the instruction of the Israelites by Moses. He began His revelations by giving them, and us through them, an account of the creation of the heavens and the earth; of animals; and of man. This then would seem to be the proper place for us to start from; and as we have the system completely revealed, which they had not, we may extend our enquiries into the reason, or philosophy of things farther than they. Be this, then, our commencement; and may the Lord himself prosper our endeavours to decipher and understand His word, and to disentangle it from the crude traditions and dogmatisms of contemporary theologies, useful in their beginnings as “oppositions” to the Mystery of Iniquity, but now “waxed old and ready to vanish away” with the thing they have antagonized; but which, though consumptive of the civil and ecclesiastical tyranny of the Image of the Beast, have by their glosses in effect taken from the people “the Key of Knowledge”, and thus shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men. Our endeavour will be to restore this “Key”, that they may understand “the mysteries of the kingdom”, and “have right, to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city”. And this we will do if God permit.

– #13 + 14: Thomas, D. J. (1990). Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., pp. 3–9). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

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Editorial Notes:

1: Puseyism or tractarianism from the first stage of the Oxford movement, with the English clergyman and scholar Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882) fellow of Oriel College (1823) and canon of Christ Church. Late in 1833 Pusey gravitated toward the Oxford Movement. He wrote tracts on the advantages of fasting (1834) and on baptism (1836) in the series Tracts for the Times. From 1836, Pusey was editor of the influential Library of Fathers and contributed several studies of patristic works. When Newman withdrew from the Oxford movement in 1841, Pusey became its leader. His influence in the High Church party was widened when he was suspended from preaching for two years because of the ideas expressed in his sermon, “The Holy Eucharist, a Comfort to the Penitent” (1843). He advocated the doctrine of the Real Presence, which holds that the body and blood of Christ are actually (and not symbolically or figuratively) present in the sacrament. From the standpoint of public prestige, his adhesion to the Oxford Movement, Newman said, supplied it with “a position and a name.” Pusey fought a rearguard action to prevent others following and his supporters, dedicated to restrained and respectable high churchmanship, became known as ‘Puseyites’. He refused to be drawn into the ritualism which for many was the natural consequence of the Oxford movement, but supported the revival of Anglican monastic life, particularly for women. He was unique in England in his deep knowledge of contemporary German theology and was also a prodigious scholar of Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Tractarians insisted on the church’s authority to teach catholic truth to the English as the divinely commissioned agent of Christ and his apostles, and their exploration of this authority began a movement which decisively affected English Christianity’s understanding of sanctity, worship, and religious practice. The furore provoked by Newman‘s Tract 90, on the Thirty-Nine Articles, ended the series and his reception into the Roman catholic church closed the tractarian phase, but their influence set the Anglican pace for the rest of the century. {Clyde Binfield, The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002}

2: Swedenborgianism blended Christianity with pantheism and theosophy after the teachings of the Swedish scientist, philosopher, and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). In his writings, he predicted that God would replace the traditional Christian Church, establishing a ‘New Church’, which would worship God in one person: Jesus Christ. The movement was founded on the belief that God explained the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures to Swedenborg as a means of revealing the truth of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Swedenborg claimed divine inspiration for his writings and followers believe that Swedenborg witnessed the Last Judgment in the spiritual world, along with the inauguration of the New Church. {Doc. II, page 404}

Researcher D. Michael Quinn suggests that Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, was influenced by the writings of Swedenborg. {Early Mormonism and the Magic World View}

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Preceding articles:

Necessity of a revelation of creation 1 Works of God and works of man

Necessity of a revelation of creation 2 Organisation of a system of things

Necessity of a revelation of creation 9 Searching the Scriptures

Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God

Necessity of a revelation of creation 12 Words assembled for wisdom and instruction

Necessity of a revelation of creation 13 Getting wisdom

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Additional reading:

  1. To mean, to think, outing your opinion, conviction, belief – Menen, mening, overtuiging, opinie, geloof
  2. Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up
  3. Why can’t Bible scholars agree on how to interpret the Bible?
  4. Communion and day of worship
  5. The Immeasurable Grace bestowed on humanity
  6. Blind leading the blind
  7. Problems correspondents have with the Trinity Doctrine
  8. People are turning their back on Christianity
  9. Christianity without the Trinity

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Further reading on other websites:

  1. God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will
  2. Inquest Into Identifying Irreverent Inequality
  3. Why Prioritize the Pursuit of God’s Wisdom?
  4. #975 Wisdom – God’s Strategy
  5. The ‘Residual Income’ from Having God’s Wisdom
  6. June; Proverbs 6
  7. June; Proverbs 27
  8. June; Proverbs 30
  9. Eastern Lightning]|God’s word “Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God”
  10. True Wisdom
  11. Romans 11:33-36: The Mystery of God
  12. A Word to the Wise

Bible, God speaking words profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correction

 

 

“« To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” (Psalms 19:1 AV)

“1  And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. {bondage: Heb. servants} 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3 AV)

“Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” (Isaiah 7:7 AV)

“Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:9 AV)

“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” (John 14:10 AV)

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17 AV)

“Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” (Exodus 3:6 AV)

“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20 AV)

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11 AV)

“2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I [am] the LORD: {the LORD: or, JEHOVAH} 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3 AV)

“13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? {How: or, What} 14 Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.” (Job 22:13-14 AV)

“5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 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. 7 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;” (Nehemiah 9:5-7 AV)

“7  Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I [am] God, [even] thy God. 8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, [to have been] continually before me. 9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, [nor] he goats out of thy folds. 10 For every beast of the forest [is] mine, [and] the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field [are] mine. {mine: Heb. with me} 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world [is] mine, and the fulness thereof. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 16  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or [that] thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.” (Psalms 50:7-17 AV)

“11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: {in: or, into} {stature: or, age} 14 That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” (Ephesians 4:11-14 AV)

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1 AV)

“9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 AV)

“14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. {judgeth: or, discerneth} {judged: or, discerned} 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. {may: Gr. shall}” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16 AV)

“Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor hath taught him? {his … : Heb. man of his counsel}” (Isaiah 40:13 AV)

“5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:” (Ephesians 3:5-6 AV)

“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;” (Colossians 2:2 AV)

“Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.” (Proverbs 23:9 AV)

“1  Now these [be] the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man [who was] raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:1-2 AV)

“Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.” (Acts 1:16 AV)

“And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,” (Acts 28:25 AV)

“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (1 Peter 1:11 AV)

“20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost. {in old time: or, at any time}” (2 Peter 1:20-21 AV)

“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.” (John 14:26 AV)

“16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. {throughly … : or, perfected}” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 AV)

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received [it] not [as] the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13 AV)

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 AV)

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. {ensamples: or, types}” (1 Corinthians 10:11 AV)

“49  ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. 50  This [is] my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” (Psalms 119:49-50 AV)

“7 Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. {a crown … : or, she shall compass thee with a crown of glory}” (Proverbs 4:7-9 AV)

“The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:14 AV)

“But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:23 AV)

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. {of full age: or, perfect} {use: or, an habit, or, perfection}” (Hebrews 5:14 AV)

“As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. {Daniel … : or, he made Daniel understand}” (Daniel 1:17 AV)

“[There is] no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.” (Proverbs 21:30 AV)

“Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” (Proverbs 19:20 AV)

“7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 8  Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: 9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, [even] unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:7-10 AV)

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” (John 17:2 AV)

“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20 AV)

“2 For kings, and [for] all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. {authority: or, eminent place} 3 For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:2-4 AV)

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Authorized 1648
Authorized 1648
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Preceding articles:

Necessity of a revelation of creation 3 Getting understanding by Word of God 1

Necessity of a revelation of creation 4 Getting understanding by Word of God 2

Necessity of a revelation of creation 5 Getting understanding by Word of God 3

Necessity of a revelation of creation 6 Getting understanding by Word of God 4

Necessity of a revelation of creation 7 Getting understanding by Word of God 5

Necessity of a revelation of creation 8 By no means unintelligible or mysterious to people

Necessity of a revelation of creation 9 Searching the Scriptures

Necessity of a revelation of creation 10 Instructions for insight and wisdom

Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God

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Additional reading:

  1. Bible, God’s Word to edify (ERV)
  2. Looking for wisdom not departing from God’s Word
  3. The holy spirit will bring back to your minds all the things told
  4. True God giving His Word for getting wisdom
  5. Words to inspire and to give wisdom
  6. Eternal Word that tells everything
  7. Bric-a-brac of the Bible
  8. We should use the Bible every day
  9. Feed Your Faith Daily
  10. May reading the Bible provoke us into action to set our feet on the narrow way
  11. Hearing words to accept
  12. Genuine message of salvation

  13. God who knows the heart
  14. Het woord van de Ware God gegeven voor wijsheid te vergaren
  15. Bijbel, Gods Woord tot opvoeding (NBG51)
  16. De heilige geest zal alle dingen welke gezegd zijn in herinnering terugbrengen
  17. Die helper, die heilige gees sal julle alles leer en julle herinner

  18. Der heilige Geist wird euch an alle Dinge erinnern

  19. Wahren Gott gibt sein Wort für immer Weisheit

  20. Bibel Gott redet Worte zu unserer Belehrung geschrieben
  21. Hele Skrif deur God geïnspireer om in die waarheid te onderrig en dwaling te bestry

  22. L’esprit saint vous rappellera toutes les choses dites
  23. Vrai Dieu donne Sa Parole pour obtenir la sagesse
  24. La Bible, Parole de Dieu poussés par l’Esprit-Saint pour enseigner, pour convaincre et pour corriger

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Necessity of a revelation of creation 9 Searching the Scriptures

When we go looking for the truth,trying to get to know the Divine Creator, His Plan and the one He send to the earth to bring salvation, we should study the Word which God has given Himself to the world.

Let the example of the noble-minded Bereans be ours. They searched the scriptures daily to see if the things taught by the apostles were worthy of belief; “therefore they believed”. If, then, not even the preaching of an apostle was credited unaccompanied by scriptural investigation, is it not infinitely more incumbent on us that we should bring to a like test the opinions and precepts of the uninspired and fallible professional theologists of our day?

Otto Günther, Disputatious Theologians [Disputierende Theologen] (1876)
Otto Günther, Disputatious Theologians [Disputierende Theologen] (1876)
Today we do find too many people who are more interested in what theologians have to say than what the Bible has to say. Lots of people also prefer the words of those theologians instead of taking the words of the Bible like they are written. They prefer to read only parts or some verses of the book with the dogmatic teachings as background and as foundation for their study.

Though such triplex plates are useless and are nothing compared to the concrete piles of the Biblical teachings in the Book of books, a Best-seller of all times. It is wholesome to read regularly and have the words come into your heart as spiritual food, beneficial for your mind and making you to grow in knowledge. Smart people let the knowledge of God come to them in the first place. They do not prefer to say

“it came from the pulpit, therefore I like it”

Everything that they hear coming from the pulpit they want to check with what is written in the Bible.

Let us believe nothing that comes from “the pulpit”, “the altar”, or the press, not demonstrated by the grammatical sense of the scriptures. Let us be contented with nothing less than a “thus it is written”, and a “thus saith the Lord”; for He has laid it down in His law, that no one is worthy of belief who does not speak after His rule. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to THIS WORD, it is because there is no light in them.” If then their light be darkness, how great is that darkness.

Today the world is in a stage of darkness with lots of people who do not want to pay attention to what Jehovah God says. There are not many who are willing to keep the way of Jehovah to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

Many say

Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now.

and forget it is there for everybody to read in the language they prefer. The world has seen many Bible translations and in a way in the Western world nobody can have an excuse for not being able to get an eye on it.

English: Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition Bible
Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The world does not love those who are willing to learn more about God’s Word and about the Messiah. Many may mock those searchers but they should know that Jehovah is stronger than us. Many may also cry that they have cried out, cried violence and spoil; because the word of God was made a reproach unto them, and a derision, daily. Therefore they ask why that Messiah did not come back and ask for let him make speed, and hurry his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!

We should know that there shall none of God His Words be prolonged and all the words which God has spoken shall be done. Man is best to prepare himself for the Day of God, because it could well be that such day would be one of darkness, and not light. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying,

Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:4

In case they would have studied the Word of God, they would have had more insight. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive instruction in wise dealing and wise behaviour, in righteousness and justice and equity; we best look into that Book of books provided by the Divine Creator. With awe we best value highly His Words and His advice.

Pro 1:7 NHEBJE The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

Pro 4:7-9 NHEBJE Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding. (8) Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her. (9) She will give to your head a garland of grace. She will deliver a crown of splendor to you.”

Pro 21:30 NHEBJE There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Jehovah.

Pro 19:21 NHEBJE There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Jehovah’s counsel will prevail.

God shall know when we seriously want to look for truth and want to come to know Him. He shall listen to our call and see what is in our heart. Light and understanding shall come to those who seriously read and study the bible.

The scriptures can do everything for us in relation to the light. This is known, felt, and keenly appreciated by all interested in the support of error. Hence, in the days of Diocletian, one of the pagan predecessors of Constantine, a decree was issued commanding the surrender of all copies of the Holy Scriptures: for it was found that so long as they obtained circulation the Christian doctrine could never be suppressed. The Popes, as deadly, and more insidious, enemies of the truth than the pagan Roman emperors, followed the example of Diocletian. The Bible and popery are as mutually hostile as the light of the sun and the thick darkness of Egypt that might be felt. But it is not paganism and popery alone that are practically hostile to a free and untrammelled investigation of the word of God.
The Protestant world, while it deludes itself with the conceit that “the Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants”—while it spends its thousands for its circulation among the nations in their native tongues—is itself hostile to the belief and practice of what it proclaims. The “Bible alone” is not its religion; for if it were, why encumber its professors with the “Common Prayer”, Thirty-nine Articles, and all the other “notions” of a similar kind? To believe and practise the Bible alone would be a sufficient ground of exclusion from all “orthodox churches”. When Chillingworth uttered the sentiment, there was more truth in it than at this day; but now it is as far from the fact as that Protestantism is the religion of Christ.

Thomas, D. J. (1990). Elpis Israel: an exposition of the Kingdom of God (electronic ed., p. 6). Birmingham, UK: The Christadelphian.

Theologians -Pier_Francesco_Sacchi_-_Dottori_della_Chiesa_-_ca._1516-Modified
Theologians or learned in Theology, the knowledge of the Theos, the Godhead, who as members or masters of the theological schools which came into existence after the patristic era, taught and handed down Catholic doctrine on strictly scientific lines of their time, in obedience to and under the supervision of the bishops. – By Joseph Wilhelm, D.D., PHD. And Thomas B. Scannell, D.D. (based on Rev. Matthias Scheeben’s “Dogmatik”)

 

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Preceding articles:

Background to look at things

Gone astray, away from God

Necessity of a revelation of creation 6 Getting understanding by Word of God 4

Necessity of a revelation of creation 7 Getting understanding by Word of God 5

Necessity of a revelation of creation 8 By no means unintelligible or mysterious to people

To be continued:

Necessity of a revelation of creation 10 Instructions for insight and wisdom

Necessity of a revelation of creation 11 Believing and obeying the gospel of the Kingdom of God

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Additional reading:

  1. People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions
  2. Looking for wisdom not departing from God’s Word
  3. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation
  4. You shall howl in your latter end
  5. All things written aforetime for our instruction
  6. God’s forgotten Word 5 Lost Lawbook 4 The ‘Catholic’ church
  7. Challenging claim 4 Inspired by God 3 Self-consistent Word of God
  8. Creator and Blogger God 10 A Blog of a Book 4 Listening to the Blogger
  9. Eternal Word that tells everything
  10. Words to inspire and to give wisdom
  11. Bible in the first place #3/3
  12. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #5 To meditate and Transform
  13. Colour-blindness and road code
  14. Hearing words to accept
  15. Missional hermeneutics 5/5
  16. Fools despise wisdom and instruction
  17. Determined To Stick With Truth
  18. Pulpit reserved for the pastor
  19. I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !
  20. Wisdom not hard to find nor hiding in remote places
  21. Wisdom lies deep
  22. Increased in wisdom in favour with God
  23. Happy who’s delight is only in the law of Jehovah
  24. Materialism, would be life, and aspirations
  25. A Bible Falling Apart Belongs to Someone who isn’t
  26. Book of Common Prayer short form BCP: The book used for public worship by Anglican Christians for over 400 years, and regarded as authoritative for doctrine.

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  • A Dialogue with Derek Flood: Is the Bible Infallible? (reknew.org)
    I noted in my review of Disarming Scripture, the primary reason I feel compelled to affirm biblical infallibility is because I’m convinced this was the view of Jesus, and I have good reason to believe he is the Son of God. Yes, Jesus placed his authority over Scripture and thus declared some Scripture to be rendered obsolete with his coming (e.g. Mt 5:38-9, 43-5). And yes, Jesus rejected the legalistic and harmful way some of his contemporaries interpreted and applied Scripture. But while Derek often says Jesus and/or Paul rejected harmful interpretations of Scripture, he also often claims that Jesus and/or Paul rejected passages of Scripture that they deemed harmful (e.g. 42-4, 69) and that we should do the same.[2] I grant the former, but cannot grant the latter.
  • Do you search the scriptures? (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
    Some people say they want to get ‘closer’ to God and to achieve this they subject themselves to extreme levels of fasting, self-flagellation and other penances but they still feel they are lacking in something.
  • “Heart knowledge” of Scripture’s Self-Attesting Evidences Persuades of Its Divine Inspiration and Authority (capthk.com)
    this word brings along with it such light, such authority, and such sanctifying and comforting power, that there is no shutting our eyes nor hardening our hearts against it; no possibility of continuing stupid and concerned under it: but the whole faculties of our soul are necessarily affected with it, as indeed marked with divine evidence, and attended with almighty power
  • How to Read the Bible and Love It (aprilyamasaki.com)
    How could I keep reading and rereading the Bible even when I didn’t feel like it? How could I keep reading and rereading the Bible, and love it?
    +
    Make your Bible reading active. Underline or highlight key words. Keep a journal to record your own thoughts, feelings, questions, and prayers. If you’re reading a psalm, write your own poem in the form of a psalm. If you’re reading a Gospel story, draw a picture. If you’re musical, write a song based on your Scripture reading.
  • Idols (Elements of Existence) #AtoZChallenge (psalmsunday.blogspot.com)
    Have we made ourselves stronger by taking the law out of God’s hands and placing it into the hands of men and government bodies? Instead we may be weakening our position as a nation of strength and opening ourselves up to Godless chaos.
    +
    Already we have become overly focused on money and material possessions. We often revere celebrities, politicians, and leaders to a point of near idolization. In modern culture we admire those whom we consider to be idols and may even long to become idols ourselves. Even the heads of the religious bodies are placed on thrones that at times seem to put them on an equal footing with God. Instead of actually placing our trust in the Supreme Creator we have relegated the concept to slogans like “In God We Trust” while debating whether it is time to eliminate those slogans in fairness to others.
  • Conversation with God (societyinchrist.com)
    For the Lord speaks, I must obey. The Lord speaks I must listen. As the Lord Speaks I desire only to do as the Lord directs. I must no do as the world shows.
  • Two excellent Notre Dame profs are teaching a free online course this summer….. (edx.org)
    The Bible says that Jesus was identified as God’s beloved son at his baptism. The same identification was made about Israel in the Old Testament and the disciples of Christ at their baptism.
  • Jesus Went to Hell: The Christian History Churches Would Rather Not Acknowledge (gunnygbb2.wordpress.com)
    This is one phrase that Christians, whether mainline or evangelical, Catholic or Protestant, will likely not hear from the pulpit this week. And yet the story of Christ’s descent to the underworld has deep roots in tradition.
  • Romans 15:5-6 – May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind (church4u2.wordpress.com)
    remember that God wants to give us a spirit of unity, that is, a sensitivity to our brothers and sisters that will cause us to encourage them and call them to stay faithful to the call of God on their lives
  • April 8 – sinful (cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com)
    The biggest secret a lot of Jesus followers have is not that they are looking at porn or secretly hate their mother or they never give any offering — it is that they are having a terrible time being saved. They mock the work of Jesus because they will not be forgiven, not really.
  • Second Sunday of Easter (emmanuelchatham.typepad.com)
    Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith
  • The Expansion of Christendom: Crusading in Northern Europe, 1147 – 1415 (medievalists.net)
    On the sixth day, the Germans asked: ‘Do you still resist and refuse to acknowledge our creator?’To this they replied: ‘We acknowledge your God to be greater than our gods. By overcoming us, He has inclined our hearts to worship Him. We beg, therefore, that you spare us and mercifully impose the yoke of Christianity upon us.’ ~ The Estonians, Siege of Fellin, 1210
  • In with the New (joyfullnuggets.wordpress.com)
    Change is coming into the hearts of God’s people. Some of these changes are intense and will lead us into paths we never thought possible. Others are smaller, but they will still produce some type of change in our lives.
    +
    Your Promise Land is just ahead. It might be something major or a dying to self, but the outcome will spring forth. He has promised it and He always keeps His promises. Yep, change is on the way. Get ready for it.
  • Psalm 89 (embodiedtorah.wordpress.com)
  • 4/23 (bernicium.wordpress.com)
  • Another word not to use carelessly (blcasey.wordpress.com)
    We learn from ancient history — from Moses, Uzzah, and others — that God is not to be treated carelessly. Most of my readers would affirm this idea today, and it surely seems unlikely that God in more contemporary times would suddenly come to appreciate flippancy.
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    One could needlessly argue about the supposed list of “names” for God, i.e., whether we need to treat the word “yhvhGod” as carefully as the word “Elohim” or “Yahweh” (or “Jireh” or “Nissi,” for that matter — and these are less “names” than descriptions). One could further argue about euphemisms such as “gee” and “gosh.” We can all grow in terms of treating God both intentionally and reverently. The primary point to be made is that God deserves all the reverence we can summon, and more.
  • I’m So Grateful To Be Living My Life In This Place (brandinicolejm.wordpress.com)
    Here is described in what assurance he liveth, that putteth his whole trust in God, and commiteth himself wholly to his protection in all temptations. A promise of God to those that love him, know him, and trust in him to deliver them, and give them immortal glory.
  • For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. (1956msbess.wordpress.com)
    To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
  • Sermon: God Works through Man, Second Samuel 5 – 6 (grantspasschurchofchrist.com)
    How can I know that God is guiding me in a certain direction?
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    God Works through Man