Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: trinity

God our Father estranged from Trinity
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places..
Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 1:3 ESV

christianity-lite Doctrines of the Christ-less Era

WE began our series by asking, Are christian pulpits erasing Christ’s Biblical line of DOCTRINE?

The Trinity and Doctrine of the C.E. Church

‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..’
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+ FOCUS ON THE TRIUNE GOD the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? 
OR 
++ FOCUS on OUR EXPERIENCE as worshipers?
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I introduced this series on DOCTRINES of the Common Era by quoting scripture from the first letter of the Apostle Peter to the Church.

christianity-lite – ERASING Scripture, “It is written..”

Last time I strongly suggested that Scripture has NOT changed.

We looked at several Scriptures from Before Christ and in New Testaments from the years of our Lord written during the A.D. 1st century.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Second Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Church a Corinth 1:3-4 ESV
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Our overriding question is this:
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What changed in C.E. church worshipers?

‘SOMETHING CHANGED, but I’m not certain when.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

I listed some facts from the A.D. 1960’s and changes in OUR thinking as a church.
- The minimum wage was $1.00
- Farmers made up 8.3% of the U.S. labor force..
- about 65% of Americans were churchgoers.
- first commercially produced birth control pill was forbidden by many churches
  - EVEN for married couples (a man and a woman)
- Christian CHURCHES, pulpits and doctrines PREACHED, TAUGHT and encouraged:
NO SEX before marriage, Divorce is discouraged and THOU SHALT NOT ABORT a baby living in its mother’s womb under ANY circumstances!

COULD IT BE THE COMMON ERA CHURCH THAT HAS CHANGED?

Although GOD has NOT changed it seems that worship and OUR Common Era approach to worship may have.

THUS our lite approach to a cultural ME-focused church calling OURSELVES ‘christian.’

What changed (in Common Era preaching)?
- It wasn’t God.
- it was not Jesus Christ
- Neither did the Holy Spirit change in the six decades since the 1960’s.
Doctrine of God in a Common Era of christianity-lite

NO Doctrine of the COMMON ERA or any other millennia will stand the test of time without defining GOD truthfully.

Scripture of the New Testament since the A.D. 1st century Gospel always points to the Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit).

GOD IS!

The LORD reveals Himself through His creation, the Holy Scriptures, the HOLY Spirit and IN THE PERSON of His Only Son JESUS CHRIST.

WE THE COMMON ERA CHURCH drift dangerously with the chaff of every worldly sin upon prevailing cultural winds of these last days.

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Gospel of Matthew 3:12 LSB

so what must WE do?

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Gospel of Matthew 28:19-20 ESV – Commission of the crucified, risen and returning Christ to His Disciples

The Common Era challenge of Trinity

Holy & unholy ghosts & spirits

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1452049838875053

Anyone can preach!

You can preach in the Holy Spirit and shout out in the Holy Ghost! (Preach it, pastor.)

– BUT – is the word of the Spirit truly that from Almighty God?

– OR – is the preacher moved by a different spirit, perhaps a ghost of the past or demon opposed to the angels of the Lord God and Jesus Christ?
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I have witnessed the Holy Spirit for a time with a woman preaching or by a man sharing the cup of communion with the beloved saints. Yet it's mysterious power wandering flocks will follow. Beware if false preachers who also claim power from the pulpit or aisles of cloaked darkness. 

Test the spirits and quantify their truth by the Word and by Scripture. - RH
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For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7 King James Version

‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:20-21 LSB

Will preaching any imagined Jesus do?

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” – Rev. 3:22

The Apostle John preaches Jesus Christ as ‘the Word in the flesh.’

YET even from the apocalypse of the risen Word many churches of the Common Era will preach and imagine ONLY those events which draw in the crowds.

.. I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne…

What a gracious and POWERFUL KING Jesus HE is! And just so WE Common Era christians can claim our part of this inheritance.

Jesus welcomes ALL sinners with the love of a friend. This Common Era king embraces sinners of ALL cultures and beliefs without requiring any turn toward His righteousness and away from The Life of this world.

JESUS did many miraculous things for real people when He came to earth.

And now that HE is in heaven after he died on a cross for ME and MY sins, all is well with MY faith.
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In the years of our Lord prior to this Common Era a remnant of pastors
have preached JESUS in the context of Scriptural exhortation to every believer. For the 'knock at the door' passage of Christ's Revelation is a call of repentance to a lukewarm church.
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‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Revelation 3:19 LSB (the Word to those on the other side of the door)

Many worshipers lack the Spirit and christians of every era fail to have ears to hear the very breath of the Word.

Will your Common Era Pastor preach that some standing inside the door on which your ‘king Jesus’ knocks ‘do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked‘?

And there YOU stand without His white robes believing HE is ready to embrace YOU!

Through all the years and recent decades of our Lord, few 21st century christians have a problem with JESUS..

since by omitting the hard parts WE can preach his gospel with so many variations.

Our estranged Father in Heaven

Common Era christians ESTRANGED from fathers

What changed (in Common Era preaching)?

If not our worshipers lifting up with the chaff in the Holy Spirit

— if not our re-imagining a jesus to our liking —

THEN certainly our all-too-common era trouble with the Trinity must lie in a single broken relationship: that of Common Era christians with God the Father.

Revealed Honor to God the Father of Glory

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

‘You shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.
From the Book of the Law – Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:32 LSB

“I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,

And the Ancient of Days was seated;

His clothing was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.

His throne was ablaze with fire,

Its wheels were a burning fire.
Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days 7:9 LSB

a few more facts of Common Era worshipers

‘SOMETHING CHANGED, but I’m not certain when.’
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Do YOU know? Can YOU contribute a comment with YOUR opinion?
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- The 1960 Census showed a record proportion married, 67.4 percent, among persons 14 years old and over.
  - In 2022, about 132.3 million or 49.3% of Americans age 15 and over were unmarried, according to the Current Population Survey. [compared to ~33% in 1960]
- JULY 2023 C.E.
  - Of the 63.2M parents living with their children
    
    <18, 76.1% lived with a spouse,
    
    15.1% had no spouse/partner present.
    
    The rest [~ ONE in TEN PARENTS] lived with a cohabiting partner.
    
    Note: Direct identification of both parents began in 2007, resulting in the ability to identify children living with two unmarried parents.
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Source: Census.gov library
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How do YOU react to God the Father?

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“.. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
Gospel of the Apostle Matthew 7:21,11:27b CSB

“I and the Father are one.”
Testimony of Jesus from the Gospel of John 10:30 Christian Standard Bible

Do YOU have a problem with THAT, dearly beloved Common Era christian estranged from GOD our FATHER?

NEXT: More on this doctrinal challenge of the Common Era… God willing.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
November 11, 2023
Powerful Preaching to powerless Christians
Preaching the Lord Jesus

What was the difference in the preaching of Apollos and Paul?

In Acts of the Apostles 19 Luke gives it to us straight. Paul discovers some disciples who have already heard the powerful preaching of Apollos.
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Let's take a look at Luke's account translated authoritatively in the King James Version:
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And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

SO WHAT WAS PAUL’S FIRST CONCERN ABOUT AN APPARENT LACK OF ZEAL FOR CHRIST?

The HOLY Ghost, who we will return to once we examine today’s map of where Paul and Apollos have been AND when these men preached the Gospel.

Apollos – Itinerary to Corinth

Of course before he departed for home a year ago via Ephesus, PAUL had already preached in Corinth.

PLUS out of his concern for the Corinthians Paul will soon write two epistles to their church about three years from now.

Apollos and Paul – Apostles crossing paths

PREVIOUSLY Luke tells us in ACTS 18:24 – Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

Luke’s account also provides details from about three years earlier in A.D. 49 that the Emperor Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. – Acts 18:2

Consequently this was how Apollos came to meet Aquila and Priscilla, fellow Jews now disciples of Jesus Christ in Ephesus [~A.D. 52].

Alexandria, home of Apollos on the north coast of Africa, was a key Roman port as you might imagine from viewing the map in our previous post of Paul and Apollos crossing paths in the Aegean, where Corinth and Ephesus, in addition to Philippi where Rome had won a key battle, became strategic ports of Rome for their legions, navy and commerce by sea, as well as entry points to inland travel for everyone mostly on Roman roads.

Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus

Luke records that this powerful preacher Apollos had proclaimed JESUS boldly to the Jews, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. [Acts 18:26]

THEN they encourage Apollos to go on to Corinth, Achaia where he will proclaim a more accurate Gospel. Yet many have already accepted Apollos’ preaching in Ephesus, even as Paul will encounter these on his way into to city.

What preaching is POWERFUL or Eloquent?

(AND WHY did Aquila and Priscilla take such an articulate preacher of Scripture aside?)

Luke describes Apollos’ preaching as eloquent
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λόγιος, λόγιον (λόγος), in classical Greek
1. learned, a man of letters, skilled in literature and the arts; especially versed in history and antiquities.
2. skilled in speech, eloquent: so Acts 18:24
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AND mighty in the scriptures

Paul will later write to the Corinthians whom he left earlier and where Apollos now preaches:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians 15:3-4,11

Apollos preaches the (O.T.) Scriptures accurately explaining how JESUS fulfills the old covenant. Priscilla and Aquila, companions of Paul understanding the Apostle’s testimony well, point Apollos to a more accurate and complete Gospel.

Again, Paul later reminds the Corinthians to stand firm in what he has preached.

And as always, here in Ephesus, Paul tests the teachings of those the he encounters as the Apostle has always done in so many far removed places of a vast Roman Empire.

Paul – Itinerary to Ephesus

The Apostle Paul once again begins his third missionary journey across land, even as he had previously with Silas as they left their home church in Antioch Syria.

Roman cities of Syria

Luke does not detail specific stops of these apostles on the way to Ephesus, but has stated that their purpose was to build up the church where established new followers of the Lord Jesus Christ – GENTILE followers join in worship with JEWISH followers.

Have YOU received the HOLY Spirit?

As Paul nears Ephesus to the west from Laodicea and Colossae the Apostle inquires what believers truly believe.
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In fact, these might be good questions for YOU as you worship alongside followers of Christ more mature in their faith and refined in the true Gospel of Scripture.
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- If you did NOT receive the Holy Spirit when baptized, then WHAT if anything CHANGED?
- And YOU REPENTED of what?
- So are YOU permanently CHANGED from what old SINS to what RIGHTEOUSNESS in CHRIST?
Luke’s account of Paul asking such questions goes like this:

Acts 19 – Paul in Ephesis

There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them,

“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 And he said,

“Into what then were you baptized?”

They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

7 There were about twelve men in all.

A POWERFUL Sign for powerless disciples

Here in Ephesus the Lord again provides a sign through the HOLY SPIRIT by the hand of the APOSTLE PAUL!

Acts of the HOLY SPIRIT

“Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:4b NASB

This is not unlike in Luke’s introduction in ACTS of the Apostles which took place some twenty years before back in an upper room in Jerusalem where the TWELVE and other disciples had been commanded by the Lord Jesus to wait.
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Do not be sidetracked by the sign of the Holy Spirit given in these early days of the Gospel by the POWER of the laying on of hands OR the MYSTERY of speaking in tongues OR the prophesy given by God to speak what is to be in these last days. 
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These disciples of hoped-for righteousness remained powerless by their mere turning from the sin of the past to works hoping to please God. JOHN baptized JESUS and confirmed that HE IS the ONE to come!

CHRIST CRUCIFIED,

CHRIST BURIED WITH OUR SINS,

CHRIST RISEN IN THE BODY AND SPIRIT,

CHRIST RISEN AND SENDING out THE HOLY SPIRIT to those chosen before time,

CHRIST raising SINNERS forgiven IN HIM to remain with HIM always…

Rather than be raised to a JUDGMENT where the LORD could choose to say,

I NEVER KNEW YOU. Go away to ETERNAL punishment.

Luke will continue with another example of PREACHERS seeking POWER like that of Paul.

ACTS of the Apostles — To Be Continued, God-willing

Talk of JESUS .com

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September 9, 2023
What is the Chief End of Man? – Our #1 question
Perhaps you know this first QUESTION (What is the chief end of man?) of the Westminster Divines, actually a shortened version of the original.
1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
What is the Highest Goal of Mankind?
Who do you live your life for?
Answer to question #1
It is written from the Gospel:
Does GOD deserve to be #1 on your VIP list?
What IF you have the wrong ANSWER to Question #1?
I could ask the first question of the Westminster Catechism (teaching) a different way.

What is the Highest Goal of Mankind?

Mankind, of course, includes womankind, just as Scripture frequently includes women while referring to or instructing men.

What is YOUR big GOAL?

OR may I ask the chief question of every man or woman:

WHY am I here?

(You do have a purpose to your mortal life, don’t you?)
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If you don't know the ANSWER or have never considered the #1 Question of life, NOW might be the best time to carefully create your own answer to man's compelling question of purpose.
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Who do you live your life for?

IF our chief end in life relates to a person, then we must ask:

WHO is this VIP for whom WE live our lives, the one who truly deserves to be the principle person receiving the chief end of our goals of this brief mortal life?
- Our Husband or Wife?
- Our Father or Mother?
- A Son or a Daughter (perhaps all of our Children)?
- A beloved Friend or possibly a Mentor and Teacher worthy of our highest regard?
- Someone from the past or an idol of these present times?
WHO is the MOST important Person worthy of the chief end of your time?

Answer to question #1

Before I reveal the answer (if you don’t already know it) let me ask you this:

Are YOU the ONLY important person in your life OR is someone else the MOST important person in your life?

Didn’t God create you to relate to someone other than yourself?

So then shouldn’t your goals in life — especially your ‘chief end’ — relate to the PERSON of highest importance to the most important outcome or final end of your mortal life?

Consider one additional Person, an overlooked highest One most deserving to become the chief end of our earthly attention, love, praise — and yes, even worship.

It is written from the Gospel:

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Gospel of John 13:1 Legacy Standard Bible

Almost everyone knows the gospel of the One worthy of the chief end of mankind’s earthly purpose?

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Gospel of John 3:16 Legacy Standard Bible

Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’
Gospel of John 8:54 LSB

10:30 ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν

“I and the Father are one.”
Good News of John 10:30 – testimony of JESUS that he the Son is of one essence with the One God our Father

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.
Gospel of John 14:6 LSB

.. He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. – John 20:20b

.. He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. – John 20:22b

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
Answer: Question #1 of The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

Does GOD deserve to be #1 on your VIP list?

Whoever else you named as #1 on your personal VIP list, this most beloved person you view as your chief end of a purposeful life – they are NOT worthy of your worship.

HOWEVER:

IF you recognize the Eternal Person of God the Father —

IF you recognize the Eternal Person of God the Son —

IF you recognize the Eternal mysterious third Person of the TRINITY, God the Holy Spirit —

THEN you have chosen the right PERSONS of GOD to glorify.

Congratulations! You have won ETERNAL LIFE.

Recognize that the Lord God is a PERSONAL God to those He has chosen.

IF we will choose to place Him at the TOP of our VIP list, we secure His loving RELATIONSHIP for an ETERNAL LIFETIME!

God is not a man like us, yet the Lord God IS One God of THREE PERSONS, a true teaching of the Bible called Trinity.

I cannot address the deeper doctrine of the Trinity as part of this #1 answer to the teaching of a Biblical Christian Church, however you may read more about it here:

What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

.. only one God exists; there are three distinct Persons in the New Testament – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; each of these three distinct Persons is called God. Therefore the three distinct Persons must be the one God.
Don Stewart :: What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity?

What IF you have the wrong ANSWER to Question #1?

This may be a time to rethink the #1 priorities and goals of your daily and mortal life.

Maybe God has NOT chosen you for eternal life

and regrettably you accept the END of your mortal life

— you are dust and to dust you will return — .. AND then the judgment!

This is all supported by God’s written word of the Bible; but in addition to Scripture you could RETHINK your chief end through further study in the link provided earlier or by reading more about the DOCTRINES of God.
- SELF is ALWAYS the wrong answer (as frequently WE see in others)
- THINGS (like money or work or entertainment or vacations or clothes or cars or houses or politics or social clubs or sports or.. ANY other IDOL) will eventually prove to be WRONG ANSWERS.
- Your mom or your dad (present in your life, but not far distant or long passed from this mortal life), MAY be your #1 living person worthy of #1 on your human list; BUT not in the place of God.
  - Most of us know the Biblical Commandment of God concerning the HONOR of Parents, yet honor of our father or mother is less than our chief end of giving glory to the God who created us all.
- Your husband is not worthy of glory above God, though wives are commanded to RESPECT your husband.
  - And husbands, your wife is not worthy of glory above God since He commands you to LOVE her as Christ loves the Church.
  - These are God-ordained personal relationships between one man and one woman like no other, which God glorifies uniquely as ‘two become one,’ not unrelated to the Oneness of God and Christ with the Church.
- Should ANY child, infant to adult, become the chief end of purpose in the life of a parent (especially a mom)?
  - ALL biological fathers and biological mothers ought to cherish the special bond of the conception and birth of their child which God has given into your care, nurture and instruction, but NO CHILD should receive your #1 glory above God. (There are no ‘single moms,’ or at least their wouldn’t be if in the lives of both lovers God we chief end of their relationship.)
  - Adopted children with parents having chosen them by a new relationship are also equal to our biological children in our love. Like the children of our birth parents, chosen children inherit God’s love through parents who have chosen them but not in the place of glorifying God first.
- How about a FRIEND?
  - Do you value one friend above another? Are both of you not dependent on the God who knitted together the strong cord of all of your heart-held friendships? Glorify God with your friends and thank Him for each.
  - As for relationships of our past: have some become idols weighing our heart down to the darkness of the dust? You know God’s Commandment about idols, not all which are chiseled from wood or stone.
Perhaps YOU CHOSE more than one of the PERSONS you glorify for the top of your list. (None deserve #1)

ERASE your former WRONG answer[s] & REPENT.

Glorify God

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.
Answer: Question #1 of The Westminster Larger Catechism

Go ahead — repent and erase your former wrong answer.

Glorify the Lord God – the only One who deserves our highest worship.

The chief end of YOUR mortal life is to finish God’s work for His Glory.

The chief end for those who love God, mere morals made in God’s image — men, women and children who’s chief relationship is the with Jesus Christ, Son of God — by His grace is eternal life.

By the mercy of God the Father, foreordaining His Only Son to die for our sins — the end of a mortal Son of man, Jesus sacrificed for our sin on the Cross ERASES our mortal end.

Christ’s resurrection of the body to eternal life assures us of God’s mercy, grace and love of those who love Him — those of us for whom He died.

YOU and I have a #1 chief end:

In heart and in deed WE must Glorify the One Person who has saved us to eternal life;

consequently through Christ, our highest end will be with GOD to enjoy Him forever.

Glorify the Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

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February 24, 2023