Concordances:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/
http://godsview.com/
http://bibletab.com/
A Major, Spiritual Step to Understanding the Complete Bible: The Walk - (Read it)
XI. How long Father?
For years, my good friend and Christian Brother, Dick Hodge would say that, "God would not allow an adversity to stay on His child, one second longer than was needed to accomplish its task".
At the same time many preachers boldly announced that, God has no control over adversities. In as much as saying, "The devil is in control, cause God wouldn't do such a thing."
Here's what Rev. Charles Stanley says about that: "God has designed hardship to become a turning point from which we take our greatest leaps forward in spiritual growth. He allows adversity to remain in our life only until it has enabled Him to accomplish His purpose in us. He will not let it linger one second longer than necessary. What benefits can trials produce in our lives? For one thing, difficulties show us where we stand in our faith. Do we doubt God? Are we thankful for His faithfulness in stormy times? Can we trust Him when He says, He'll never forsake us?"
What I have seen in the Scriptures is that adversities cause us to learn how to use the Word. It causes us to cast out demons and lay hands on the sick. Check out the story of Job. A great story, as are all God's stories or the Word as we are familiar in saying. Satan was only allowed enough power as God allowed him. The story gives us an understanding of God's methods.
So when you are feeling down and yell at God, "How long Father?" Remember what Brother Dick said, "God would not allow an adversity to stay on His child, one second longer than was needed to accomplish its task" and Brother Charles said, "He will not let it linger one second longer than necessary."
Do I hear an AMEN?
X. Explaining the Scriptures: Knowing the Difference
Many things are occupying my mind lately. Keys to the Kingdom and Gods Promises are on the top of the list.
It is explained to us in 1 Cor. 12:12-27, that as parts of the Body of Jesus Christ we are different. Just as the different parts of our body are different so are the parts of The Body of Jesus Christ.
In saying that I want you to picture the ‘toe’ saying to the ‘ear,’ “Did you feel what I just felt?” Or the ‘ear’ saying to the ‘toe,’ “Did you hear what I just heard?”
So it is with us as parts of the Body of Jesus; the Holy Spirit teaches me, from my perspective, things that He does not teach you, from you’re perspective and He teaches you, from your perspective, things not taught to me.
It is our job to teach, or share with, each other the things He teaches us; thus, the church, and the need for the Church. One of the major problems of the religious churches is that the leader thinks that he knows it all and that the born again Christians have nothing to share.
If the Church remains “In the Spirit” and not “in the religious realm”, then we remain Christian. However, once man gets a hold of or control of the Body then it goes back into bondage. The church becomes a religious entity, an individual entity. We should know by now what God thinks of individuals.
Remember: Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a relationship with God (God rules.) Religion is mans way of trying to rule people that are trying to be one with God. Not one religion, not one church, not one preacher or priest or man (except Jesus) has ever or can ever save you or bring you to God, ONLY JESUS can do those things.
Advancing the thought a little further; our fore fathers wanted God in the schools and government. What they didn’t want is religions in the government or in the schools or government in the religions.
These things we left Europe to get away from. The Supreme Court and the news media need to take lessons in European History, American History and Religions. Then they may qualify to make decisions regarding school prayer, providing the Spirit helps them to understand the difference.
IX. Explaining the Scriptures: Religions vs. Christianity III
Religions Need to Complete the Program (But they won't.) If you ever read the Bible, realizing that it is one story repeated over and over, you come to realize that religions play the role in the story that John the Baptist played. They explain sin and that you are a sinner. They hold a water baptism, of repentance, and basically go no further.
The story just mentioned is explained in the book “The Walk”, sold elsewhere in this web-site. It is also given freely as an e-book that you can down load to your computer at no charge. In “The Walk” the story is repeated over and over, just as a movie is reproduced over and over, having different actors and different settings but basically the same story. King Kong is an example.
The following verses, from Acts, further explain or demonstrate what happens in their (religious people’s) roles. All preachers, priest and ministers need to go to a Spirit filled Church, led by a born again preacher and receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the teacher and He will take over from there by taking what the preacher, priest or minister already knows and giving it Spiritual meaning. These leaders can then use this Spiritual gift and information to start or expand their congregation’s growth.
Briefly I’ll say that when you are born again and believe that Jesus is the promised prophesied Son of God you receive the Spirit of Jesus as a gift, complete with all the trimmings. Your spirit is made new, Satan’s spirit has to leave and your new Spirit is Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19:1 - And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found some disciples,
2 - and he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 - And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 - And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
5 - And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 - And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
7 - And there were in all about twelve men.
8 - And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 - But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
10 - And this took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
11 - And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 - so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
Most religious churches are not born again. In fact I’ve never seen one that was. If they were born again they wouldn’t separate themselves from the body of Jesus and give themselves a name other than Jesus.
The verse almost always missed used, regarding individuals, is referring to individuals and groups that are separate from the body.
Eph. 4:14 - As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 - but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
16 - from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
17 - This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 - being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
19 - and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
Pride is what separated us from God in the first place. We wanted to be our own person. The same pride gives us separate names for our separate religions. It gives us names other than being part of "The Body of God".
Acts 10:34 - Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 - But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
It has been prophesied that in the end times there will be one religion and that religion will further seperate man from God.
VIII. Explaining the Scriptures: Religions vs. Christianity II
To explain, it has been said that more wars have been started or fought over or because of religion(s) than any other cause. I’ll expand on the subject.
So what good are religions? They play the role of Moses and John the Baptist and should be recognized as such.
Look back in history:
• A sizeable number of Christians lived in Rome until the government tried to exterminate them. They couldn’t, so when the Roman government weakened they took control of the people by taking control of and organizing their believers into a government controlled religion.
• This is the same religion that sent or organized the crusades, for Rome’s control of the area. The crusades, that resulted in hundreds of thousand of men dying for their religious cause.
• This is the same religion that killed 13.5 million native Mexican/Americans that would not join their religion.
• This is the same religion that killed and tortured hundreds of thousand Europeans, in The Spanish Inquisition, because the believers in Christ wouldn’t turn to their religion.
(Sounds like the Muslims teachings now, if they won’t believe put them to the sword.)
Another group of Christians, the Lutherans. Once the Martin Luther died they organized into a religion with all the doctrines and laws, and to this day most of them are living by the law, not grace.
The Christians in England, once their leader died the followers organized into a Church of England religion and the true church was lost. In every case the religion took control of the government or the government took control of the religion. In every case the result was persecution of the Christians.
Americans are arguing now over church and state. If our Supreme Court judges knew their European, American and religious histories they wouldn’t have to interpret the Constitution. They would simply tell people what and why it says what it does.
Our fore fathers wanted God in the government and schools, but they did not want religion in the government or schools. They also did not want government control of religions or religious control of the government. They just didn’t understand the difference between religions and Christianity. Many letters from our fore fathers plainly stated that they wanted God in the government and schools. One such correspondence from Ben Franklin stated that two books that should be required in schools were the Bible and the “English” dictionary. The vast majority of our fore fathers were Christian.
To summaries:
Religion is mans way of trying to be one with God or the universe or what ever they consider their god. Most religions help organize people into a way of life that gives them some type of a spiritual leadership. An earthly leadership that is an earthly god. We know him as Satan. All men are of Satan until they are born-again. The light comes on, the darkness leaves.
Christianity is a relationship with God. A son-ship, a part of the body of Christ, a oneness with the Father, none if which we can earn. It’s a free gift from a loving Father.
VII. Explaining the Scriptures: Religions vs. Christianity
It has been said that more wars have been started or fought over or because of religion(s) than any other cause. That’s true. So what good are religions? (Not a short subject, but I’ll make a novel into a short story.)
Where to begin and how to organize it? The Holy Spirit has been showing me this subject over the years, so I’ll start with “church.”
God’s church is His “born again sons;” you know the ones that believe that there is one God, creator of the universe, God of Abraham, Isaiah and Jacob, to name a few. These sons believe (know) that Jesus is the prophesied savior or mankind as explained through the scriptures over the past six thousand years. They are the body of Jesus and will live forever with Him in Heaven.
The church that most people recognize is the buildings that religions hold there meetings in on their chosen day(s). I have attended many over the past six decades, to include various religions. The Spirit that lives within me has taught or shown me that religions play the part in the Bible as did Moses or John the Baptist, same character. Follow me now as you think back over your church experiences. Religious churches invite you in, explain the Ten Commandments and then explain to you that you are a sinner and water baptizes you. From there on they do their best to put together stories of the Bible as if God was an unorganized, random thinking, luck be with you type of overseer of the universe. When in fact God has one perfect plan that everyone fits into; for example; their part in a remake, of a remake, of a remake of an old movie; different location, same characters different actors, different times but the same story.
Don’t get me wrong, religions are supposed to exist, as did Moses and John the Baptist. They play a very important part in the story or they would not exist. But as Paul said to the Ephesians and others you must move on, you must be born again. There are many verses that explain why and in what sequence but I’ve listed a few to get you started: Acts 19:1-6, Acts 2:4+, Romans 7:6, Hebrews 5:11-14 and Eph. 2:8-9.
Churches need to extend their teachings to include Spiritual Rebirth, the Gifts of God (especially the gift of Jesus) and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This would give them a legitimate reason to keep people coming to their building. They also need to teach people that the Holy Spirit that dwells in them after they are born again is the true teacher and that only He can give them true insight into the Scriptures. They should explain that all men are of their father the devil until they are born again. At that time the Spirit has a relationship with them, a seed in planted and they are born of God (and they have the gift of Jesus).
Most preachers that read this will get all prideful and get nothing from it’s meaning as in: II Corinthians 4:3-5.
VI. Explaining the Scriptures: God's Love Takes Care of Us
We’ve learned to say thanks in all things. That means, that what we use to consider bad and things we normally considered good are all good.
When we put our lives in God’s hands we know that our best interests are all being taken’ care of and we call it good.
Rom. 8: 28 - We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
1 Th. 5:15 - See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
16 - Rejoice always,
17 - pray without ceasing,
18 - give thanks “in” all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Speaking of “evil for evil,” God says revenge is mine.
Rom. 12:19 - Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
I’ve found that over the years this is true. By loving your enemies you give God a path to work with them through you. He can’t or doesn’t work through hate and unforgiving. There’s a reason He says, “Love your enemies.” Another quick thought, hating and not forgiving someone is like drinking poison to get even with them. It ain’t going to happen.
This is a strange thing to be talking about on Christmas, but God gave us Jesus, and therefore He gave us everything that Jesus is and everything that Jesus says. Isn’t life neat when you know how God work’s. He gave us the Bible to guide your everyday living. Now that’s a lot to be thankful for. The faith and the promises are yours’.
I asked Him to explain “faith” and He showed me that I was to look at His Word and believe it emphatically and without question. One preacher said that there are over 7,000 of God’s promises in the Bible. Knowing that they will all come true if you only have faith, the promises are yours’.
I then asked for faith, to make the promises become a reality, and He said “I already gave more than enough to you when I gave you Jesus.” Mat. 26:26, John 4:10 and 6:32, Acts 2:38 and 11:17, Rom. 3:21 – 26 and 5:15 – 17 and 6:23, 1 Cor. 1:4 - 8, to name a few. By giving us Jesus, He gave us “everything” that Jesus was and is. We are heirs to everything. Rom. 4:13 - For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith, (in Jesus).
It’s interesting just how we can overlook the obvious. Keep asking the Teacher, Counselor and Comforter to reveal all things to you, and He will.
V. Explaining the Scriptures: Lifes too Short
I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't, and die to find out "there is a God."
IV. Explaining the Scriptures: SHORT GOSPEL
The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:
1 cross
+ 3 nails
------------------
4 given
That's the whole gospel message simply stated
God Bless
III. Explaining the Scriptures: PETER GETS THE KEYS
There are many keys to understanding the scriptures. An example of Jesus giving us knowledge is when Peter showed that he was a Son of God by stating his belief, that Jesus was the prophesized son of God and Jesus gave Him the keys.
The keys of course are not the metal keys as some religions teach. They are mental keys, as in the keys to understanding the Word. We get the keys by asking. The Scriptures say, "If you lack knowledge just ask." The Holy Spirit will give it to you.
Mat. 16:15 - He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 - Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (The blessing is an anointing of the Holy Spirit.)
17 - And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in
heaven.
18 - And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. (Jesus was pointing at Himself as the Christ, because He is the rock and the rock is the Christ. The anointing or power from God is the foundation of the Church.)
19 - I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (The keys are the understandings of the Word. They open up the meaning to the Word or examples of
what the Anointing/Christ/Messiah is and how you use it.
Eph. 6:11- Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 - For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (The anointing is the armor.)
It's all one story, written by the Holy Spirit through men. It is so perfect that the parts in Revelations dovetail with the parts in Genesis. It is a pure miracle. Some stories are chapter 1, 2 and 3, some are chapters 1, 5 and 8 and some are complete stories. If you can distinguish the different allegories, parables and actual happenings from each other you can fit the story together.
This explanation actually takes several chapters in "The Walk" by Chaplain Roger Lainson.
II. Explaining the Scriptures: THE GARDEN'S MEANINGS
Some stories are allegories, some parables and some actual happenings.
The Garden of Eden in Genesis is an allegory. We actually live each story in our walk with God.
Gen. 2:9 - Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life is also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is in the garden.
The story of Adam in the Garden of Eden is a story about the fallen angels, before they fell. The trees in this allegory are angels in Heaven. These angels, destine to fall, could eat (or share) the bread of life from all the others (trees), except the tree that represents the law/death. These trees (angels) give each other the bread of life, from the Word. (Ezek. 28:13 - You were in Eden, the garden of God, explains where we came from. This is an example of the scriptures repeating themselves.)
The tree, that is of the knowledge of good and evil, is "the law". Satan uses the law to cause us to know death. Satan represents death just as the law is death.
1 Cor. 2:14 is part of a parable
1 Cor. 2:14 - Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
The body parts in 1 Cor. are examples of how different parts of the Body of Christ work together even though they are different. Actually the Sons of God are in this parable to explain how we can be one with Jesus but different in the body. This is just an example of how we are different and how important each part is to the Body. The truth is that the Sons of God are the head not the body part because we are one with Jesus.
It's all one story, written by the Holy Spirit through men. It is so perfect that the parts in Revelations dovetail with the parts in Genesis. It is a pure miracle. Some stories are chapter 1, 2 and 3, some are chapters 1, 5 and 8 and some are complete stories. If you can distinguish the different allegories, parables and actual happenings from each other you can fit the story together.
This explanation actually takes several chapters in "The Walk" by Chaplain Roger Lainson.
I. Explaining the Scriptures: THE BIBLE REPEATS ITSELF
The Bible repeats itself many times because our Heavenly Father has one plan, one perfect plan and it doesn’t change. There is one story that is repeated over and over. The conclusion, to this I will show you, is that we as brothers in Christ all walk the same walk.
By comparing your walk with stories in the bible you can see approximately where you are in your walk back to our Father’s domain. Domain is called, depending on the story: Fathers house/Heaven/the Promise Land/ the Garden of Eden/Eden the Garden of God/Canaan/etc. You will also be able to recognize the role of the various characters in the scriptures and the role of the various characters in your life.
I remind you that we should not judge these characters but instead, as the scriptures say, Matthew 7:16 - "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? It is good to know them because it is easier to love them if you know them.
Some stories are allegories, some parables and some actual events that have, are happening or will happen. Interesting enough in Luke 8:10 - He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.' However in Matthew 10:26 - "Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. In other words He, His Spirit, will show you all this if you just ask.
The plan He used yesterday is the same plan He uses today.
Mal. 3:6 - "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Heb. 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.
So when you read the scriptures, with the Holy Spirit, keep in mind the basic facts. Use these basic facts to stand on, like on the rock. The rock gets bigger as your understanding increases.
A detailed explanation actually takes several chapters in “The Walk” by Chaplain Roger Lainson.
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