A Sure Word of Prophecy?

Who is willing to admit error? In recent months we have heard that the world was about to come to an end—at least as we know it. Well May 21^st has come and gone, but no one is willing to admit error. It seems the prognosticator was only a few months off, it is really October 21^st! So, did he really make an error? Well, yes he did, and the Bible tells us about folks who do this kind of thing, but that’s another subject perhaps for another blog.

 

Will You Be Made Whole?

In John 5:6 Jesus asked an impotent man if he wanted to be made whole. On the surface, this is almost a silly question. Why wouldn’t the man wish to be made whole? Well, Jesus’ question goes much deeper than this simple observation. The man was crippled for 38 years. He claims he had no one who would help him (John 5:7), but obviously his basic needs were met by someone.

 

Inspired—But not Without Error!

Many folks believe that the Bible is both inspired and without error, and I agree. However, though most folks who believe in the inspiration of Christian literature would say it is not on equal terms with the Bible (i.e. not without error), many of them would bend over backwards to keep from admitting error in Christian literature, as long as that literature says what they have always believed. In other words, the Christian literature that “I” consider inspired is without error. My question would be—is there any difference in saying this and elevating otherwise normal Christian literature to the status of the Biblical manuscripts?

 

Did Mary Believe in Jesus’ Ministry?

This posting represents another in my ongoing discussion with a gentleman by the name of Arthur. He takes the position that Mary didn’t believe in Jesus’ ministry and withdrew her support for him. While I believe it was difficult for Mary to understand all that was occurring and everything that was said about her Son, I don’t believe she was unsupportive. She did what she could. It would be wrong of us to expect more than that from her. Other posts in this discussion can be found HERE, HERE and HERE. Below you will find Arthur’s words in bold italic to distinguish them from my replies.

 

Was John the Baptist Literally Elijah?

This will be the third posting for the discussion I am presently having with a young man by the name of Arthur. He holds to a teaching that considers the ministry of John the Baptist a failure, and that because John failed to prepare a people for Jesus, Jesus had to go to the cross. Our discussion began HERE, and I have posted my replies in the form of blog postings HERE, HERE and in this posting as well. I will put Arthur’s words in this discussion in bold italic, so that no one will confuse his words with my reply. In my earlier reply I made the statement that when asked whether or not he was literally Elijah, John replied he was not. Arthur responded with:

 

Is John Least in the Kingdom of God?

At the time of this posting I am involved in a discussion with a young man named Arthur who adheres to the teaching that John the Baptist failed in his ministry to prepare a people for Jesus, the Messiah. This post is part two of my reply begun HERE. The claim is that because John failed, the Jews were not prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, Jesus was rejected and had to endure the cross. This is his stand, as I understand it. His remarks to me will be found in bold italic, so they won’t be confused with my replies. Concerning my original reply that Jesus defended John’s ministry in Luke 7:24-28 [see HERE], Arthur asked:

 

Who or What Are Demons?

I have often thought about demons and how and why a person would become possessed. I’ve seen movies that traded on this subject, and Hollywood has made a lot of money producing films that exploit our fear of an unknown and unseen world. However, I have not found Hollywood an accurate commentator on God’s word. Going to the world for my information about the Bible is like asking Pharaoh about the God of Israel or Herod about Jesus Christ. They have heard about what God has said, but they really don’t know what is true and what is not. Recently, I’ve exchanged some commentary on my blog with a gentleman concerning the existence of Satan. As we discussed what I believe about this being, the subject of demons came up. At that point I hadn’t written anything on this subject, and to merely offer some thoughts seemed to me to be insufficient. I promised that I would write about my understanding after the Christmas holidays, and so here we are.

 

To Seal up the Vision and the Prophecy

I now come to the fifth work of God as prophesied by the angel in Daniel 9:24. Each work, thus far, we have found has been finished in Christ and there remains nothing more to fulfill at a later date, showing the future fulfillment of the final seven years of this prophecy is a false doctrine. By believing that there remains seven years to be fulfilled before completion of this prophecy has kept us from the truth that this prophecy reveals in Christ. We need to examine our understanding of these things to assure ourselves that what we believe is sound and taught by the original Apostles (cp. 2Corinthians 13:5).

 

To Bring in Everlasting Righteousness

As I look at it, to look for everlasting righteousness to be brought in at some future date is to deny the work of Christ, which he clearly claimed was finished (John 19:28, 30). This is the fourth work of God as prophesied by the angel in Daniel 9:24 and is complete in Christ. God does not give us anything apart from Christ. Christ is the ‘treasure house’ of all we need in our walk with God (Ephesians 1:3). In other words, all of what God gives us comes through his new creation in Christ not through the rebellious old creation in Adam. In Adam we have God’s wrath, the reward of sin, but in Christ we have all the wealth of the Firstborn, the Son of God (Colossians 3:10). All that is Christ’s has become ours as part of the riches within the new creation (Galatians 3:26-29). Christ is our all in all, and God causes Christ to be my Righteousness.

 

How Can Darkness Comprehend Light?

If the world, including God’s people, lived in darkness at the time of Jesus, how could God expect anyone to comprehend who Jesus really was? Is darkness able to comprehend light? Can both exist together? Reason alone would tell us that darkness exists where there is no light, and where light exists, there can be no darkness. This is a paradox. Is it not? History shows that men did believe Jesus, but not all. Nevertheless, how could any have believed in him, if the tools of understanding whereby we could recognize our Savior were taken away by a wrong worldview?

 

The Great Conspiracy of the Last Days

Jude was the brother of James, and from the tone of his letter, I believe James was dead at the time of Jude’s epistle. There was no reason at this time for Jude to hold back, so he more or less laid everything on the line for all to consider. The trial that came upon the Messianic believers was one that tried their faith (Jude 1:3), because ungodly men had secretly crept into the ranks of the flock and were in some fashion tempting the brethren (Jude 1:4). How were they going about this? First of all, they slandered the present leaders (Jude 1:8), because the unbelievers despised the leadership of God’s Spirit. Secondly, they first mumbled to themselves or in whispered to others, then openly complained and finally spoke against the Gospel of Christ in a manner that appealed to the desires some within the body and exalted their own authority (Jude 1:16; cp. verse-4).

 

Spiritual Warfare in the End Times

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In the final chapter of his epistle, James addressed the troublemakers, the false teachers that had arisen and divided the churches. He foretold their judgment (James 5:1), because they held back what they could have offered to help their brethren (James 5:2-3). James implied that these false teachers worshiped among the brethren for some time, because he claims they held back the “hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields.” In other words, they had been helped by true leaders of the churches. Their lives were better, because of the Gospel that was preached to them, yet they held back the “wages” of those who labored on their behalf (James 5:4-5), and not only so, but they had lifted up their voices against the very ones who had labored to make their lives better (James 5:6). Using encrypted language, James says the false teachers had condemned and killed the just (or the true leaders of the churches) and they have not resisted. That is, they have not responded in kind, but had prayed to the Lord (cp. Jude 1:8-9). While the false teachers slandered the true leaders of the churches (cp. James 4:7 where devil really means slanderer—then compare this with Jude 1:8). The leaders that God had set up in the churches didn’t respond in kind, but prayed that God would rebuke the evil workers, knowing the Lord is the true Ruler (Jude 1:9).

 

The Deceptiveness of the Prosperity Gospel

Either Christians throughout the Empire were murdering one another and stealing from one another in order to satisfy their own selfish desires to obtain what others possessed (James 4:1-2), or James wrote his epistle at least partially in code. The fact is, the churches of God were at the very time of James’ epistle experiencing and empire-wide trial in the form of a conspiracy (James 1:1-2) coming out of Jerusalem, intended to destroy the Messianic wing of Judaism.

 

Be Not Many Teachers

In the third chapter of his epistle, James gets down to the nitty-gritty. The empire-wide trial that had come upon the churches of God had to do with false doctrine spread by false teachers. This was an organized conspiracy begun by Annas, the High Priest of Jerusalem, the very same who had Jesus crucified. It was a secret plan whereby he had planted false brethren throughout the Christian assemblies in Asia, Galatia and Greece (cp. Acts 5 and the Ananias and Sapphira incident). Paul knew about the plan, but, of course, was not privy to the identity of the false brethren. He told the churches in Greece that the conspiracy was already at work (2Thessalonians 2:7), but Paul’s presence among the churches in the area was enough to keep secret evil plan from gaining a strong foothold among them.

 

Endurance is the Key to Victory!

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Thus far in James’ fiery epistle we have seen that he had addressed an empire-wide trial that had come upon the churches in the Diaspora sometime after Paul’s imprisonment. Paul had warned the brethren when he was with them that the man of sin would be restrained, until he (Paul) was taken out of the way (2Thessalonians 2:7). The “mystery of iniquity” or the secret (plan) of wickedness was already working, but Paul was able to keep it at bay while he was free. Now, however, he was in prison, and no man had the clout Paul had with the churches in Greece and Asia.