Tag: death

  • and fear fell upon them all – Phobias from the enemy

    and fear fell upon them all – Phobias from the enemy

    FEAR descends upon us without warning when we least expect it. This is what has just happened in places distant from our secure homes and times more near these last days.

    TODAY we return to Ephesus in the first century of our Lord and then quickly jump forward to fearful times ahead and even now in this 21st century of the Common Era.
    
    IF you missed the account of Paul's previous preaching of Jesus Christ you might want to look back first.

    What do we fear?

    Disgrace, as these men ran away from a situation over which they claimed to have power?

    DEATH perhaps, IF the enemy should prevail?


    The Apostle Paul [Saul of Tarsus] was a RELIGIOUS man once feared by Christians as he pursued the unrighteousness of men and women turned from Almighty God.

    But a more powerful JESUS and the Holy Spirit had intervened most unexpectedly. NOW Paul in Christ demonstrates God’s POWER!

    6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them..

    .. some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude..

    11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul..and the evil spirits went out of them.

    16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them..

    Acts of the Apostles 19:16a NKJV

    PAUL HAD POWER! Unseen power. The Jewish priests observed reactions of people who had witnessed this mysterious unseen power and sought such control of the crowds as well.

    18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.

    We may safely suppose that their confessions included the ordinary sins of every man and woman and their deeds being the evil against God and others so common in our everyday lives.

    19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

    Fear of the unseen enemy

    The LORD GOD is your enemy when YOU SIN against HIM!

    Satan and unseen spirits in which many of you do not believe are ENEMIES of the LORD GOD and His only SON JESUS CHRIST sent to SAVE you from the Judgment of your SIN.

    This CHOSEN NATION of GOD had sinned and fallen many times.

    AND they continued to deny Christ’s grace and power over sin demonstrated in JESUS.

    Priests and preachers had sinned against the SON of GOD sent to HIS OWN for forgiveness of SINS.

    The King of the Jews was sacrificed on a Roman Cross in Jerusalem.


    Paul who by now has confessed Christ witnesses to the gentiles of first century Roman Asia Minor. The Apostle once again demonstrates the power of Jesus Christ OVER sin.

    AND as always, there arose a great commotion about the Way. [v.23b]


    מָשִׁיחַ מָשִׁיחַ talk of jesus dot com
    מָשִׁיחַ מָשִׁיחַ
    PHOTO above from the 3-part Gospel Series: 12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches

    a Common Era parable – phobomai

    We interrupt these ACTS of the first century for 
    BREAKING NEWS from Israel in this 21st century of the Common Era
    and a parable of current events.

    A man with seven sons and seven daughters whom he had set over an inheritance of great wealth and influence sent them out to build new settlements for his grandchildren. One day his oldest son gathered all of their brothers and sisters for a great music festival of songs celebrating the culture of their fathers.

    So as a trumpet sounded from the besieged holy hill beyond the locked gate they departed toward this rave for the ages led by local guides into the valley of the shadow near the salt sea.

    In the diaspora, the first day is known by its biblical name, Shemini Atzeret. We still dwell in the sukkah, but without a blessing.

    To be continued…


    In the diaspora, the first day is known by its biblical name, Shemini Atzeret. We still dwell in the sukkah, but without a blessing. Yizkor, the memorial for the departed, is also said on this day.
    
    The second day is known as Simchat Torah, during which we complete and immediately begin the annual Torah reading cycle. - source: Chabad.org
    Photo via brand X
@visegrad24
·
Oct 7
BREAKING:

The woman whose body was seen on video in the back of a pick-up truck driven by Palestinian terrorists to Gaza has been identified. 

30-year-old Shani Louk was a German citizen visiting Israel to attend the music festival for peace held near the Gaza border fence.

    7 October, 2023 of the Common Era

    At the RAVE of the enemy in the valley of the shadow many fall victim.

    It was NOT a festival to the LORD God and the enemy provokes the spirit of evil in any who seek pleasure in sin and death.

    May God have mercy on their lost souls.


    FEAR

    φόβος phobos – From a primary phebomai (to be put in fear)

    • Fear, dread, terror
    • that which strikes terror

    And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. And fear [G5401 – phobos] gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying,

    “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

    Gospel of Luke 7:15-16 Legacy Standard Bible

    “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars,
    and on the earth anguish among nations,
    in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
    men fainting from fear [G5401 – phobos]
    and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world;
    for the POWERS OF THE HEAVENS will be shaken…

    Gospel of Luke 21:25-26 LSB
    We return now from the 21st c. C.E. to a FEAR in those witnessing GOOD in the Name of JESUS in the first century of the Lord in Ephesus recalling:

    And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear G5401 fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

    Acts of the Apostles 19-17 LSB

    Reaction against the Power of God

    IT ALWAYS HAPPENS THAT WHEN GOD WORKS MIGHTY ACTS OF POWER THAT UNGODLY MEN WILL DO EVIL AGAINST THE WITNESSES OF GOD AND CHRIST JESUS.

    ACTS 19:23 NKJV

    And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said:

    “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”


    Some men FEAR disgrace, most men and women FEAR death, yet many cling to tradition forged into idols of culture condoning our sin and denying our mortality.

    These would lead the leaven of life into a pit of eternal punishment.

    “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

    Paul later writes to the ROMANS, quoting PSALM 36

    Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying,

    “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

    29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.


    third missionary journey of Paul from Acts of the Apostles

    The Apostle Paul’s ACTS in Ephesus – To Be Continued, God-willing…


  • Death, Judgment and Resurrection in light of your own

    Death, Judgment and Resurrection in light of your own

    For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

    Acts of the Apostles 17:31 NIV – the Apostle Paul to the men of Athens at Mars Hill

    The Good News of Death!

    The Apostle Paul has just proclaimed Jesus Christ to a LARGE PUBLIC gathering of Greeks in Athens as an unknown god.

    ..  but now he commands all people everywhere to repent – Acts 17:30 ESV

    Had this been the 20th century you might have expected an altar call at Mars Hill as public witness of the Apostle’s anointed mission. But that’s not what he did.

    In fact, Paul left town and headed for a new province of Achia and the larger city of Corinth (for Athens was now but a rebuilt remnant of its former ancient glory).

    Acts 17:

    • 16b his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.
    • 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons,
    • and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

    Just like in most cities and towns the Apostle has already engaged various groups of listeners in the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

     “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

    And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus [Mars Hill], saying,

    “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

    Acts of the Apostles 17:18b-19 ESV

    AND as often happens, once Paul proclaims Christ at the risen Son of the Living God the Apostle’s preaching this Good News to the intelligentsia of Athens yields mixed results. The truth of the Gospel sows more seeds of controversy into the hearts of sinners who must confront our own mortality, death and judgment.

    Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.

    But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

    Acts 17:32 ESV

    Resurrection

    What else could Paul have said?

    The philosophers among the learned men of Athens had already chosen sides in their entrenched idolatries of self. These men suggesting a willingness to hear more from Paul only sought to use this preacher of foreign gods to support their own unending philosophical debates.

    The Apostle must have also wondered if the Jews of Athens might soon provoke discord in the crowds as had happened recently as the Paul and Silas had fled Thessalonica then Berea?

    (Many of the Jews did not believe in resurrection or apply the prophesies of their own Scriptures to the leaven of culture in their daily 'better-than-thou' lives.)

    To the Jew who does NOT believe in resurrection death is the end of life — the end of a brief mortal time God gives to Jews and Gentiles alike. DEATH may come as a penalty of righteous men to put an END to the unrighteous. But even the righteous will expire once the LORD has blessed their mortal days.

    The pagan Greeks and pagan Romans, however, worshipped idols of their own making and mythology, molded by the manifold desires of their creatively sinful flesh and guiltless justification of their wicked minds.

    The GREEK and ROMAN gods were DEAD monuments of STONE with no authority over the living worshipers of the temples who willfully indulgenced in wickedness.


    So Paul went out from their midst.

    But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

    Acts 17:33-34 ESV

    18:1 Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα χωρισθεὶς ὁ Παῦλος ἐκ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἦλθεν εἰς Κόρινθον

    After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth.

    Acts 18:1 LSB

    Mars - God of War - bringer of death
    Statue of the goddess Athena - powerful namesake of Athens

    Judgment on Mars Hill

    It seems rather ridiculous to look upon a copper Mars (Ares) or stone statue of Athena as gods mortal men should worship. [v. 29]

    Paul points out that the Living God does not live in temples. [vs. 24-25]

    The Living God made man — men and women of every place and nation; therefore we ought to see ourselves as sons and daughters of God. [vs. 26-28]

    (God knows that you didn’t know better — that is, before now) v.30a

    but NOW God COMMANDS you to REPENT!

    Paul did not side with the Stoics.

    At Tarsus, Paul certainly had opportunities for hearing Stoic lectures on philosophy. .. Although not a Stoic technical term, syneidēsis, which Paul used as “conscience,” was generally employed by Stoic philosophers. In 1 Corinthians 13 and in the report of Paul’s speech at Athens (Acts 17), there is much that is Hellenistic, more than a little tinged by Stoic elements—e.g., the arguments concerning the natural belief in God and the belief that human existence is in God.

    Britannica – excerpt on Roman Stoicism

    Neither did the Apostle side with the Epicureans.

    As part of his Physics, Epicurus’s psychology held that the soul must be a body…

    “The gods are not to be feared. Death is not a thing that one must fear. Good is easy to obtain. Evil is easy to tolerate.”

    Britannica

    And as we know well from his persecution by the Jews, Paul’s Gospel was not seen as good news to many Jews to whom the Apostle to the gentiles generally sought to convince first in a new town that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ predicted by Scripture.

    The JEWS know God’s LAW and read the Prophets who warned them in the past to REPENT.

    NOW, the Apostle provides the same proof of the LORD’s COMMAND to Jew and Gentile alike.

    Proof of Judgment (and the One to Judge)

    The Apostle Paul has no reason to return to the centuries-extended debates of Greek philosophers or Jewish parties to traditions formed when God kept silent after speaking through His Prophets.
    

    πίστις

    Pistis – a word Paul uses here translated in the English Standard Version of the Bible as PROOF – provides an insight into his closing of a logical argument stated before his listeners in the areopagus.

    The same Greek word is translated in the New Testament (King James Version) can also be translated as assurance or belief, even as fidelity; but beyond our limited English understanding most times [239x in KJV] pistis is translated as faith.

    Our 21st century faith seems to lack assurance and proof, let along fidelity to the One God our Lord. Never-the-less, study from Strong's definition Lexicon :: Strong's G4102 - pistis
    the better understanding of Paul's audience of first century philosophers.
    1. conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
    2. fidelity, faithfulness – A. the character of one who can be relied on

    What had happened back in Lystra?

    Acts 14:

    And Paul, looking intently at him [a man lame from birth] and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”

    19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 

    This incident of PROOF had occurred on the Apostles' first missionary journey and Paul had returned to them on this current mission.
    
    Same word -- and just after this listen to how Paul uses it in witnessing the PROOF of the Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit to the church.

    27 And when they arrived [returned to the church in Antioch Syria] and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

    Acts of the Apostles 14:27 ESV

    πίστις – Lexicon :: Strong’s G4102 – pistis

    • in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things
      • relating to God
    • the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
      • relating to Christ
    • a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God

    NOW, Paul uses this same word [pistis] referring to Jesus Christ as PROOF even to the Greeks. And how is CHRIST PROOF?

    In act and deed GOD has provided the PROOF by the resurrection of Jesus — an act of FAITH proven which NO MAN could do (who is not God). AND by this PROOF men must believe the command of GOD TO REPENT.

    because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.”

    Acts of the Apostles 17:31 LSB – from Paul’s speech at the areopagus in Athens

    Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead..

    God IS.

    God excused your ignorance (as your philosophers sought to argue for or against the Him who created the heavens and the earth and all mankind.

    God now commands all men to repent, for He as set a day to judge the world in righteousness. (Of course NO man is righteous, no not one.)

    God appointed a righteous JUDGE to judge YOU and the world.

    (NOT by condemning you to death which is inevitable for moral beings, but after YOU die! (No human EVER escapes DEATH! — that is, except the One Man anointed by God to JUDGE our faith in Him.)

    PROOF TO ALL:

    the RESURRECTION of Christ Jesus!


    ἀνάστασις (anastasis) νεκρός (nekros)

    Resurrection of the dead

    Paul could have returned to Mars Hill to debate with philosophers who continuously look for a new argument about life, death, resurrection, God or gods and how we should live in some semblance of righteousness. Even twenty-one centuries later the debates of the philosophers still seek their own new truths.

    Some will respond to the GOOD NEWS of God. MANY will continue the debate in unbelief.

    The Apostle, therefore, journeys on to ACHAIA and Corinth where they will nurture and build yet another church for more than a year before Paul’s return to SYRIA.


    ACTS of the Apostles [18] – To Be Continued… in Corinth

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • He Leadeth me beside still waters – Psalm 23

    He Leadeth me beside still waters – Psalm 23

    He leadeth me beside the still waters.

    He restoreth my soul:


    Psalm 23 – a song of calm confidence

    Many of us know it well. Perhaps we even recite the six verses of Psalm 23 even as I learned in the melodic flow of the King James Version of the Bible.

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    David’s focus introduces his encounters with death. Believers and unbelievers alike frequently hear his psalm in the context of a life already lain down in the stillness of death.

    No more want then…

    So why would today’s want worry me today?


    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

    I will fear no evil: 


    Questions from fear

    These are the words of Psalm 23 we know so well, yet in our DOUBT we do fear the death casting a deep shadow upon our days ahead.

    We walk quickly along in our quickened last days of a mortal life spent yet not finished, an ending of struggle along a ledge between Light and complete darkness.

    • Have I missed the table which the LORD hath prepared for me?
    • Hath the LORD anointed me with prosperity?
    • Doth the LORD overfill my cup with abundance?

    Goodness and Mercy?

    Surely goodness and mercy seem NOT to have followed me in these last days of my mortal life!

    Certainly the LORD did bless King David all the days of his life, BUT what is missing in mine?

    I walk in the shadow looking to my end in the valley, yet David seemed rested even before those somber last words:

    May he rest in peace.


    • WHAT have I missed that David seems to sing in this 23rd Psalm?
      • REST and PEACE along this treacherous path toward the VALLEY of the SHADOW of DEATH.

    He Leadeth Me

    The reaffirming metaphor of the still waters assumes the still waters assumes the same role as that of the green pastures. Just as the grass of the green pastures is deep enoughto lie in, so also we must understand that still waters rund deem. Any deep experience with the Shephers can only be accomplished by time spent with the Shepherd, as the words lie down indicate.

    King James Bible Commentary Psalm 23, p534

    In addition to my memory of Psalm 23 in the King James, a 19th century hymn sung frequently by our local church encourages believers both corporately and individually.

    Many may sing He Leadeth Me from the shadowed hillsides of our own valleys.

    “He leadeth me, he leadeth me, for by his hand he leadeth me..

    He Leadeth Me from Psalm 23

    YET in our DOUBT and FEAR, let us remember the place of peace by which we may have quickly passed in Psalm 23.

    for Thou art with me

    I cannot cross into the Light with you.


    The lonely lament of this shepherd so accustomed to the place of darkness in many fields of so many sheep among wolves does not lift me.

    David was a king 3000 years distant from my own walk in the fields of death’s fear. He does not comfort me and my most beloved ones cannot go to the place where I must go in a time unknown to any of us.

    Yet David’s Psalm was not addressed to ME, but to the LORD as well as his own beating mortal heart.

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃

    Yᵊhōvâ LORD rāʿâ my shepherd

    תְהִלִּים (Psalm) 23:1

    It is THE LORD who David asks to lead him.

    And how?

    By the LORD’s own actions this mortal shepherd will follow and obey the Shepherd of shepherds and the LORD of Lords.

    We all like sheep have gone astray.


    So ask Him: Where will He lead you?

    Like me, you may have missed this:

    He maketh, he leadeth, He restoreth, he leadeth

    Do you see a tread of connection here in David’s Psalm?

    He, THE LORD, leads — that is, IF we will humbly allow Him. BUT like sheep WE don’t particularly like to follow any lead other than our own.

    AND we may have missed yet another comfort to David due to our own rebellion again the leadership of God (or anyone else, for that matter).

    thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

    OUCH!

    Authority? Bowing down humbly to the LORD because HE IS more powerful than YOU?

    Yet in death as in life, we remain powerless.

    THY ROD speaks more to our relationship as people of the Shepherd than to the power and authority capable of beating us into obedience (which is not like the Lord who called us).

    His staff which pulled you into mortality will lead you into eternity.

    Therefore David concludes his Psalm from the valley of the shadow of death with a first person assurance with the LORD.

    Where is the house of the Lord?

    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

    Thank you Lord.

    thou anointest my head with oil;

    Thank you Lord.

    my cup runneth over.

    Thank you Lord.

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life


    David concludes with confidence of good in God’s mercy — why he trusts in the LORD and does not fear the evil of death — death before the Lord’s own appointed time. His confidence speaks forward to where he shall dwell once the LORD does raise him up from the valley of the shadow of death into the Light of the LORD’s own presence.


    Where are YOUR still waters when you consider the valley of DEATH?

    How do you envision this place beyond the deep waters and above the highest heavens of this temporal mortal place?

    Who do you trust to lead you into the house of the LORD, forever?

    Please SHARE your COMMENT or Questions about Psalm 23
    
    AND
    
    Look for my Part 2 New Testament take on Christians humbly helping each other to navigate this shadowy path where sheep of the Lord should fear no evil.

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • What does the Bible say about Death?

    What does the Bible say about Death?

    QUESTIONS about Death

    from our 52 TOPICS list – RH

    Do you have Bible verses to comfort family and friends of a man who died last week?

    How can we answer questions about death they will pose at his ‘viewing‘ or funeral service?

    What Scripture about Death and Resurrection comforts you most?

    Please comment. RH

  • GOD’S WORD for His Church

    GOD’S WORD for His Church

    IN THE BEGINNING

    God created the heavens and the earth.

    IN THE BEGINNING

    was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


    A 21st c. RECALL of the CHURCH + church bell tower overlooking horizon + Is OUR church Christian?

    ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

    in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

    Gospel of Mark 7:6b-7a RSV

    Doctrine for lost sheep of Christ’s Church

    Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

    For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

    Proverbs 4:1-2 King James Version


    From a chief of sinners zealous for the Word of Scripture:

    To my beloved fellow believers of our Lord Jesus Christ:

    Why must a believer study doctrine?

    In the scriptures of the New Testament the Apostle Paul encourages the Romans of the church, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    • Since I have shared several studies of Doctrine from the Bible I will not rehash these in today’s conclusion to this study of Church Doctrine; however if you would like to learn more click continue reading below.
    https://talkofjesus.com/what-is-doctrine
    • My more recent concern for Church doctrine addressed deconstruction of Bible-based Doctrine presented as a new way to make the church relevant.
    These include: Did God really say, Church?, Everythingology for an all-inclusive church & several more..

    Why should the sheep become theologians?

    • In this current series we have glanced at doctrine from several esteemed theologians, pastors of different churches.
      • Disclaimer: I am NOT a pastor but a church member zealous for the word of the Lord God and Jesus Christ.
      • To any extent you seek to study God from Scripture you become a theologian studying the will of the Lord.

    “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

    Gospel of Luke 6:46 Legacy Standard Bible – Question of Jesus Christ to his followers

    Can our Pastor Preach a self-defined Jesus?

    For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. – 1 Cor. 3:11

    And I might add from the Apostle’s letter to the church at Corinth quoted in this previous post:

    Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

    1 Corinthians 3:18

    Why YOUR shepherd should preach Scripture

    sola: only Grace only Faith only Christ only Glory of God only Scripture

    In Paul’s letter to Timothy about preaching the Apostle says:

    .. you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

    2 Timothy 3:15b Legacy Standard Bible

    All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness

    [Therefore, I ask, what justification can any shepherd of the church offer for correcting God’s word while preaching ‘the bible says..?’]

    Applying Scripture to the Church

    • Scripture may apply only to the time in which it was written OR
    • Old or New Testament Scripture may apply to these last days since the Apostles OR
    • a Scripture may apply only until a day it is fulfilled.

    But the BIBLE says what God says; nothing more, nothing less and certainly not anything other than the Scripture you may read for yourself.

    Whenever the written word of God points to the church the godly must humbly obey. But of course you must know your Bible in order to apply God’s inspired word appropriately.

    (Don't just take some preacher's word for it that 'the Bible says' what he says.)

    In the Apostolic Age

    Scripture of Christ by the hand of His Apostle John:

    from The Apocalypse of John from Jesus Christ writing to seven churches:

    Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come..
    • God WAS and IS and WILL BE–the Father of all, the Son Christ Jesus the Ever-living Word of Salvation to redeemed sinners and the Holy Spirit of the Holy God who breaths life into the lifeless souls of sinful man.
    • The Lord speaks to His Church through the Spirit and the Word of Scripture.

    Scripture of Christ by the hand of His Apostle Paul:

    Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things,

    not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.

    But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

    For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.

    Second letter from the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth 4:2-5 Christian Standard Bible
    • How many Christians are there in your local VISIBLE CHURCH?
      • NOT as many as most claim.
        • For many are perishing, blinded by the god of this age.

    In earlier centuries of these last days

    .. the Bible possesses reproving power to correct all error unaligned with its teaching.

    The Bible Convictions of John Wycliff
    MORE about the Bible translator John Wycliff
    
    A Doctrine to Die for (as Christ also died for His Church)

    No human leader–not even the Pontiff of Rome–can claim to be head of the church on earth. Sovereign headship belongs to Christ alone. “The greater part of the clergy is heretical and the highest are the worst.”

    John Wycliff , who hand-copied the first version of the Wycliff English Bible in the year of our Lord, 1382 – source

    While it is yet today–until the day of reckoning

    For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning
    Against everyone who is proud and high
    And against everyone who is lifted up,
    That he may be made low.
    - Isaiah 2:12 LSB

    Once more I will defer to the theological trumpet of John Stott from THE RADICAL DISCIPLE

    But fundamental to Christian behavior is the lordship of Jesus Christ. “Jesus is Lord” remains the basis of our life.

    .. Is the church the lord of Jesus Christ so that it has liberty to edit and manipulate, accepting what it likes and rejecting what it dislikes?

    The Radical Disciple on the challenge of ethical relativism

    “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

    Gospel of John 14:21
    Commandment of Jesus Christ CHURCH "love one another

    Christ’s Commandment for the Church

    And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. – Acts of the Apostles 11:26

    Search the Scriptures and you will find this the only place followers of the way of Jesus Christ, disciples of His teaching and doctrine are called ‘Christians.’

    ἐκκλησία – ekklēsia or church is used 114 times in the New Testament.

    • If you are a disciple of the teachings (doctrines) of the Lord Jesus Christ do you suppose God’s inspired word chooses to call us out as a church rather than referring to a building for Christians?

    What must we do?

    Conclusion: Christ’s Doctrine for His Church

    The Gospel of Matthew 22:

    “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    And He said to him,

    “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

    • Do you do that, my fellow disciple of the doctrines of Christ Jesus?

    And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, 

    “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

    Gospel of Matthew 12:49-50 LSB

    Matthew 18:

    “Now if your brother sins against you,

    go and show him his fault, between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

    • My beloved brother or sister of the Church, do you do that?

    “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.

    • Do you, my fellow disciple of Jesus, call upon one or two other followers of Jesus from your church to witness such a word against a member of the Lord’s body broken for you?

    “And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;

    • Can you, my fellow brother in Christ, actually take such a serious division of doctrine or belief to your church?

    and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector.

    Of course this analogy of Jesus spoke to times before the risen Christ baptized gentiles into the Church. 
    The charge of Jesus is to throw him out and have nothing to do with this unrepentant sinner who would lightly claim to be a christian.
    
    Church doctrine a line in the sand
    The DOCTRINE of the CHURCH is a life and death issue.

    “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

    Gospel of Matthew 19:16
    • Do you, my fellow disciple of Jesus, know what happened to the man who asked our Lord this question?

    Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” .. he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.


    And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

    For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

    And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.

    Colossians 1:18-20

    The Doctrine of the Church is a LIFE and DEATH issue. And also at issue is not only death, but JUDGMENT.

    We are NOT SAVED simply by calling ourselves ‘christian,’ clinging to grace yet hiding from God.

    “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
    “This I command you, that you love one another.

    Gospel of John 15:14,17

    God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.


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