peter

dorcas, jehoram, peter, resurrection, service

Jehoram and Dorcas: A tale of two deaths

Posted on March 4, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Jehoram:

He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. (2 Chronicles 21:20)

Left, The Royal Sceptre of Boris III of Bulgaria

Dorcas:

Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. (Acts 9:36-39)

In the first case, a sinful king. He served satan, and practiced wickedness. He was still a human, yet not one person lamented his passing. Not even his wife. He was a king, touching the lives of each and every person in his kingdom. His influence as a king was the largest a man’s could be, and yet not one person in an entire kingdom or beyond mourned his death. He was not regretted.

In the second case, a woman. Her sphere of influence was small. Her reach was especially small because she served widows, nearly the lowest of the low in terms of cultural power at that time. At her death, relatives are not mentioned, it would seem that it was her friends the widows who washed her and laid her in the upper room. And yet, she was beloved. Usually the ritual was to immediately rub the body with spices and lay the death cloths on and bury immediately. Yet these women did not. They loved Dorcas so greatly they sought a different way.

They sent men to find Peter. They did not want to let her go. Dorcas’ life was regretted. They lamented and cried and presented her works to Peter. One can visualize wringing of hands and weeping and wailing of many. Dorcas was loved and lamented.

Dorcas: “who with her needle embroidered her name ineffaceably into the beneficence of the world.”~Unknown

Why was Jehoram immediately forgotten and Dorcas never forgotten? I cannot say definitively or exclusively, but one reason surely must be that Dorcas was in Christ, and Jehoram was in Satan. The verse says that Dorcas was “a certain disciple” so she was a believer. She must have been beautiful in Christ, bearing the fruit of His love and grace and joy and peace, all the while serving tangibly with her needle.

Who can say what influence a loving submissive disciple of Christ will have for His kingdom? Jehoram was given Christ’s kingdom (Judah) and he served satan with it. (2 Chronicles 21:6). Dorcas was given Christ’s kingdom and served Jesus with it. Both have everlasting eternal consequences but both have earthly consequences too.

As for the eternal consequences of their deaths, Jehoram’s life was snuffed out and the spiritual repercussions were zero. It seems that nobody was the better for Jehoram having lived. As for Dorcas, she was raised bodily from the dead but the effect of that was many were saved. They were raised from the dead, too! Their spiritual deaths were now over and many became alive in Christ! The effect of that was Peter stayed and nurtured the new church in Joppa, personally discipling many converts. What an eternal effect Dorcas had on the lives of the people there, personally and spiritually!

The question is, what kind of death would you have? Or me? Would my own death be unlamented? Unremarked? Or would it cause distress and weeping? The key is serving, and the fruit we bear. Dorcas served the people in Christ’s name. Jehoram expected to be served, and was one of satan’s. Dorcas served with her needle. Jehoram expected to be served with his scepter. Dorcas loved Christ and thus she loved her neighbors. And they noticed. Boy, did they notice. Jehoram loved satan and thus he hated his neighbors. And they noticed. Boy, did they notice.

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Love, serve, produce fruit. It will have an eternal effect.

dorcas, jehoram, peter, resurrection, service

Jehoram and Dorcas: A tale of two deaths

Posted on March 26, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Jehoram:

Left, The Royal Sceptre of Boris III of Bulgaria

Dorcas:

In the first case, a sinful king. He served satan, and practiced wickedness. He was still a man, however, and yet not one person lamented his passing. Not even his wife. He was a king, touching the lives of each and every person in his kingdom. His influence was the largest a man’s could be, and yet not one person in an entire kingdom or beyond mourned his death. He was not regretted.

In the second case, a woman. Her sphere of influence was small because of her gender. Her reach was especially small because she served widows, nearly the lowest of the low in terms of cultural power. At her death, relatives are not mentioned, it would seem that it was her friends the widows who washed her and laid her in the upper room. And yet, she was beloved. Usually the ritual was to immediately rub the body with spices and lay the death cloths on and bury immediately. Yet these women did not. They loved Dorcas so greatly they sought a different way.

Dorcas: “who with her needle embroidered her name ineffaceably into the beneficence of the world.”~Unknown

Love, serve, produce fruit. It will have an eternal effect.

bible, discernment, false teachers, peter

Ongoing prophetic fulfillment of Peter’s prediction of false teachers

Posted on October 31, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I have studied the last days prophecies since almost the moment I was born-again. It was obviously and most certainly the niche the Holy Spirit placed me in. I have an earnest and never-quenching desire to learn the word of God, and especially to learn the prophecies in the word of God.

Often when people hear about prophecy, they think of the prominent ones, like the rapture, the Tribulation (AKA Time of Jacob’s Trouble), or the antichrist.

We are in the midst of a last days prophecy being fulfilled. Before I continue explaining which one, I want to make clear that the last days began with the ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This opened the Age of Grace. However, the Age of Grace is a period which is foretold to be like birth pangs and to hurtle toward its climactic and chaotic conclusion at Armageddon and the coming of Jesus Christ the second time. As a pregnancy gestates and then concludes, the water breaks and the pains come, at first far apart but then closer together and in more painful and bloody form until the new birth arrives. The new birth is the Kingdom on earth AKA the Millennium Era.

So we have been in the last days for 2000 years. However the prophecies foretold of events occurring at the last 7 years necessitate Israel being reformed, globally instant telecommunications, technologies which support the mark of the beast, Damascus being destroyed, the rise of Russia, etc. and we see infrastructure that align with those prophecies now. Therefore we know that the rapture is even closer and the other prophecies which are not as prominent are being readied to be fulfilled and are being fulfilled in the present day and moment.

The prophecies I’m speaking of today which I see being fulfilled, are 2 Peter 2:1-2 and 2 Peter 2:3. Here they are

GA pastor Creflo Dollar’s house

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)

“And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3)

Please note that Peter makes a distinction between the times of old when false prophets trampled the way of God, and today when Peter says false teachers are the ones to watch out for.

Secondly, note that Peter says false teachers will be “among you.” Jesus warned they will wear sheep’s clothing. (Matthew 7:15). When you put on clothes in the morning, you’re hiding the flesh, hiding who you are, covering up. These prophesied false teachers will not be immediately evident as false. They will be among the believers, and they will not be teaching not spouting easily identifiable false teachings at first. They are double agents, infiltrating inside to do their deathly work.

Third, note that Peter said they will secretly bring destructive heresies. They will hold secret blasphemies in their heart, and these heresies and blasphemies will slowly and gradually filter out and permeate the faithful. The false teachers spout poison gas. They don’t spout cyanide or sarin gas, because in using the metaphor, those odorless and colorless gasses kill instantly. No, these false teachers spout carbon monoxide, which takes a while to do its deadly work, lulls the unwary to sleep, and then death comes. “Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect. Symptoms of mild acute poisoning include lightheadedness, confusion, headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects; larger exposures can lead to significant toxicity of the central nervous system and heart, and even death.” (source)

See? It takes a while to build up in the bloodstream, but all the while the poison is in your blood it is warping your mind and causing you to not be able to think straight. And note that carbon monoxide poison is “initially” non-irritating. This is exactly how false teachers operate. Eventually the poison’s buildup reaches its critical mass and you fall spiritually.

Beth Moore (and others) at Passion 2012
performing the Catholic mystical Lectio Divina (source)

Fourth, the verse says that followers of the false teachers are in fact following their sensuality. The prosperity gospel false teachers promote the original sin that satan offered Eve, which was lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh. (Genesis 3:6).

My contention is that false teachers and acceptance of their teachings are becoming so common that it’s obvious the prophecy is being fulfilled now, today.
There are so many false teachers who are obvious and rank heretics, but masses and multitudes of ‘Christians’ follow them. Have they all gone mad? Yes. The carbon monoxide buildup in the blood has almost reached its death point. Let’s look at some real examples.

Joseph Smith was the founder of Mormonism (Latter Day Saints). He lived from 1805 to 1844. In his day, he was seen as a madman, a heretic, and a false teacher. From the beginning, Joseph Smith and his followers provoked ridicule for Mormonism’s seemingly magical if not superstitious origins, and opposition as a heresy that dared to claim itself “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.” (source)

Though he had gained a few thousand converts, once a newspaper article was published exposing his promotion of polygamy and other aberrant “Christian” doctrines, this caused him to be jailed and even then, an angry mob stormed the jail and killed him outright. The men of the area were outraged at Smith’s corruption of marriage, sullying of women by seducing them into polygamy, and exaltation doctrine (humans become gods). Of course I don’t advocate lynching, but it is interesting to note that false prophet Joseph Smith’s blasphemies caused outrage and action. Today we are told to tolerate them.

The United States Congress opposed Mormonism in the form of vigorous opposition to their main tenet at that time: plural marriage. This battle squelched Mormonism’s growth for a long time. By the 1890s the Latter Day Saints movement banned plural marriage so as to escape this opposition in political and secular quarters.

So how does a ridiculed and obviously ridiculous religion in the 1840s, with a disgraced and dead founder, grow in size to 14 million members today?

Joseph Smith,
1st Pres. of Latter Day Saints

After Smith’s death, the cult selected Brigham Young as its leader, and they regrouped, trekked out to Utah’s desert, and became insular and economically self-sufficient. When they finally relinquished its stance on polygamy in the late 1800s, they became poised to grow. Even at that, “Throughout the nineteenth century and most of the twentieth, Mormonism has been viewed as an aberrant, bizarre, isolated, and largely self-contained religious movement cut off from the mainstream of American society.”

Until recently. How is it that a hundred and fifty years ago, an aberrant cult poised to die in the desert, can become the fastest growing faith sector in the United States today?

This 2012 study states there are “reported 2 million new adherents and new congregations in 295 counties where they didn’t exist a decade ago, making them the fastest-growing group in the U.S.”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)

In the 1800s, people knew their bible. They could not be fooled. And they not only knew their bible, they lived it, so they could not be drawn away into spiritual lusts like exaltation and fleshly lusts like polygamy. Not so today.

Joyce Meyer used to travel in this Canadair Challenger 600S;
seen here in Sydney, when she was speaker at Hillsong, ’05.
Since then she’s gotten a Gulfstream G-IV. Source Wiki

Today, people are so foolish they are exploited at every turn. The Charismatics are bursting on the scene so fast that they make the Mormon’s growth over a hundred years look like a turtle’s.

For example, Charismatic preacher and heaven tourist Jesse Duplantis has fooled his congregation so well they built him a 34,000 s.f. parsonage. Joyce Meyer fools the deceived so well they give her a jet and multiple homes. Jentezen Franklin supposedly pastors two churches, one in GA and one in CA. In order to get from one to the other on Sundays, his congregation gave him a jet.

“And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3)

And now the people will believe almost anything. They believe Beth Moore when she says Jesus spoke to her in a vision and told her to teach that the bride is doesn’t believe in Jesus. They believe that barking like a dog in worship is holy. They believe Sarah Young has Jesus Calling on the phone line. They believe Don Piper spent 90 minutes in a heaven where he ‘saw’ people in actual bodies (Remember, no one in heaven has a glorified body yet!). They believe four-year-old Colton Burpo when he (or his father) say that everyone in heaven has wings and Jesus rides a rainbow horse. They believe that drawing a circle on the ground and sitting in it makes you spiritual. They believe “worshiping” to songs like Highway to Hell and Michael Jackson’s Thriller is, well, worship. They believe they are living their best life now. For most of them, they are right. Things will only get worse for them after death.

“The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.” (Proverbs 10:21)

Most don’t even look for truth anymore,
but just for “encounters”, most of which are unbiblical

Lack of discernment is the biggest problem in the church today. Personally, I believe we have passed a tipping point. Now that satan knows how many lack discernment, he is flooding the church buildings, the bookstores, and the television with false teachers and the gullible who don’t know better are building up carbon monoxide by the bucketfuls. To cement his position, satan is teaching that “doctrine” and “theology” are dirty words and all you need is an “encounter” with God. Satan has sifted the wheat and planted enough tares so that that today’s Christian church looks exactly like the chaotic and ridiculous church at Corinth that Paul rebuked.

“They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.“ (Ezekiel 44:23)

Pastors no longer fulfill their duties as overseers. Pulpit Commentary explains the Ezekiel verse above where there were four fundamental duties of the OT priests, three of them relevant to pastors today.

Education: “The education of the people in the fundamental principles of their religion, viz. that a distinction existed between the “holy” and “profane,” or “common,”

False teachers today deliberately blur that line, teaching that it is ‘tolerant’ and ‘loving’ to accept all teachers and doctrines, and thus they blur the theological lines and Christian distinctives.

Discernment: “and in the practical application of that principle, the art of discerning between the “unclean” and the “clean.”

In promoting that dreams and visions should be expected of the “sincere” Charismatic person, that extra-biblical revelation via audible encounters or tongues should be common to their faith, they in effect teach that the bible is not sufficient and the word can and should be added to. Without the word, no one knows what is true and what is not. There is little discernment any more.

Church Discipline: “The administration of justice in all disputes arising out of and connected with the practices of their religion.”

Some true sheep are no longer willing to do the hard work of protecting the body by confronting false ones in the congregation. Or, Pharisee overseers use church discipline as an excuse to rid themselves of the faithful discerning sheep, leaving them space to operate among the goats they attract. (John 7:13, John 9:22)

In other words, pastors abandoned their duties, and the sensuous people, all too willing to follow their lusts, accept false teaching readily.

Jentezen Franklin has mastered the trick of being in two places at once.

All you need is a jet and a rich congregation to pay for the jet, pilot, and fuel.
Every Sunday.

“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)

The very fact that a Strange Fire conference rebuking the Charismatic movement was necessary in the first place is indicative of the prophecy’s continuing and rapidly advancing fulfillment.

The antidote to carbon monoxide poisoning is to wear a filter that keeps your head clear of the poison. That mask is the bible. Breathing the holy air of truth will always fill your brain and your lungs and your body with a freshness that keeps your mind clear and heart pure.

Meanwhile, know that even as these false teachers are coming on like a flood, Jesus was kind and gracious to tell us in advance. (Matthew 24:25). As we see the flood of falsity and the tragedy of so many who fall, cling to Him who is our faith (Hebrews 12:2)… and soon will be sight. (Luke 21:28)

___________________

If Joel Osteen gave the sermon at Pentecost…

Posted on September 12, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Joel Osteen: “Removing negative labels” speech was delivered to 43,500 attendees at Lakewood Arena on March 2013.

“I want to talk to you today about removing negative labels. Throughout life, people are constantly sticking labels on us, telling us what we can and cannot become. Sometimes this is good, people speak faith into us, they encourage us. But then there are times that people put negative labels on us. You cannot stop the negative comments. You can’t prevent the negative labels but you can choose to remove them.”

“As a teenager, Walt Disney was told by an art instructor that he wasn’t creative. That he didn’t have any imagination. Disney was smart enough to remove that label. He went on to do pretty good. Lucille Ball was told that she didn’t have any acting skills. She should try a different profession. She removed that label, and starred in I Love Lucy for many years.
…
“The common denominator of the success of these people is that they chose to remove negative labels. It’s the same way today. People put labels on us. My father went to be with the Lord in 1999, and I stepped up to pastor the church. I had never ministered before. One Sunday after the service, I overheard two ladies talking in the lobby. One said, ‘He’s not as good as his father. The other answered back, ‘Yes, I don’t think the church is going to last.’ I was already insecure, I already felt unqualified. And boom, another negative label. Not good enough…not up to par…inferior. That’s the way the enemy works. He would love to put labels on you to keep you from reaching your highest potential… He’ll try to intimidate you, fight you, make you feel inferior.”

“Words are like seeds. If you dwell on them long enough, they will take root and become what was said. I tried to remove that negative label, but it wasn’t easy. Those thoughts would play in my mind again and again. It was like trying to peel a bumper sticker off of a car that’s been there a long time…you peel it and it tears, and you got to work and work… If I had made the mistake of wearing that wrong label, I don’t believe I’d be standing here today. Wrong labels can keep you from your destiny.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now here is Peter preaching the first sermon of the first day of the Church, at Pentecost, 2000 years ago. It was given in Jerusalem, and the crowds were enormous. It may have reached the same size as Osteen’s stadium attendance. We know that 3000 were saved that day.

“But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who

Masolino da Panicale,
Peter Preaching at Pentecost, fresco,
Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:14-24, 34-35)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I transcribed the first 375 words of the Osteen speech, and of that first portion, it is about 95% complete. I posted the first 377 words of Peter’s sermon and it is about 95% complete.

You see the difference, I hope. In Joel Osteen’s sermon, Osteen talked about reaching career success and personal potential by our own works. Osteen lifted up himself as an example. He used two (in the sermon, three) cultural icons as successful examples of the career tips he was giving. He reiterated that it is by own own steam we achieve earthly success. He warned that our destiny is in our own hands. And last but not least, Jesus is not mentioned (except for one verse where he said that removing negative labels is hard but we can do all things by Christ who strengthens us). It is a speech filled with prosperity, legalism and blasphemy.

Peter opened with wrath. He referred to the Old Testament prophet Joel. He named Christ, Christ’s work, God and God’s work, the resurrection, and salvation. And that is a sermon full of conviction, glory, and truth.

Christ did not live on earth for 33 years and die an agonizing death on the cross, enduring all of God’s wrath, so that we could remove a negative label from our psyche like a worn out old bumper sticker.

John MacArthur said in his sermon this week, “Testimony to the Deity of Christ“,

“They were unwilling to glorify Christ. It’s about Christ. I wish the evangelical church would get this right, and quit selling the benefits and start selling the benefactor. It is so important that the issue is Christ. I was telling some seminary students last week, how many preachers I listen to who have all kinds of things to say, but never talk about Christ. They use His name…but it’s almost in vain.”

In the fresco above, it is reported that the “The scene refers to Peter’s sermon, as recounted in the Act of the Apostles, which he preaches in Jerusalem after the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost. The fresco actually illustrates the final part of the sermon, when Peter says: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Remove the negative label and be something or other; or repent, be saved, and receive the gift of God’s Spirit. It is the broad way or the narrow way. (Matthew 7:13-14).