Posted in encouragement, theology

Lord, give me strength to be valiant

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The greatest gift is Jesus and His greatest gift to us is eternal peace with Him and the right to be called His brothers. That is pretty amazing if you think about it. One of my favorite Bible books is the Book of Hebrews. In it, it is written-

“Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” ( Hebrews 2:11-13 )

I hope your week, month, life is happy because you know Jesus. If you do, I hope your walk with Him is full of Light and joy. If you don’t then I hope you consider them when you read the Word all year. It is a sweet thing to be a child of God and not an enemy of God.

spurgeon.jpg

Posted in prophecy, theology

Praises for prophecy, higher praises for the One who ordains it

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I love prophecy. In the early days of the blog I did newspaper eisegesis, where I looked at the newspaper (AKA the global news) and then looked at the Bible to see how close we were to fulfillment. I don’t mind that though, those were heady days. My eyes had been opened to all the answers I’d been seeking all my life, the reasons humankind was the way it was, the reasons why there was chaos and turmoil, and I was exploring with wonder and amazement my new Christian worldview. Suddenly everything made sense! Graciously, the Spirit grew me out of that, and I soon looked to the Bible only.

Prophecy is all about movement. The LORD’S plan is always moving toward fulfillment. The first prophecy given was the Lord’s to Adam & Eve, in Genesis 3:15. Another example of the Lord’s every move as an inching toward fulfillment of His overall plan in prophecy is the lineage of Jesus was ordained from the beginning. Each and every union resulting in a child was a movement toward Mary’s birth of the Messiah.

Sometimes prophecy seems to be fulfilled suddenly, sometimes extremely so by those who have not been following it. All of a sudden, the Babylonians were invading and carrying away the nation of Israel into bondage. Jeremiah had been prophesying this for decades, but to those who didn’t listen, the sudden appearance of the invading army seemed sudden.

Other times His prophecies seem impossible to follow, and only with the benefit if hindsight do we understand. For example, in the generations that preceded Jesus, who knew that 1300 or so years prior to the birth of the Messiah that Rahab the prostitute’s faith would save her and that she would subsequently be included in the line that would produce the Savior? Either way, God’s hand is always moving, His Divine Providence is always working in the world.

Divine providence is the means by and through which God governs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. This includes the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human birth and destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8).” (source)

So everything that happens, He is aware of, causes, or allows. And that means everything that happens is on a path toward fulfilled promises, including prophecy.

What I, and many others, notice is that the movement seems to be speeding up. I shake my head in wonder at the cruelty of abortion and yet as Romans 1:32 says, many heartily applaud this craven act, the killing of babies and selling their parts. I mourn over the constant mass shootings in America, the advance of the homosexual agenda, marriages and family units reconfigured, gender-bending, the breakdown of civility and boiling hatred of those who oppose Jesus, right here in America. Even within my own lifetime, it seems the nation has gone from activist (the 1960s) to purely insane (2000s).

And what it is speeding up toward? The rapture of the saints from the earth, the Tribulation, and the end this Church age. We are hurtling toward the culmination of all of God’s works regarding sin, with the exception of the short rebellion at the end of the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom, where the earth will be renewed. It will have no graves, bones, cemeteries, or sin upon it to mar its holiness and beauty. At last the earth will be the Garden God intended, except this time, the incarnated Jesus will bodily rule and reign in purity and perfection over His trophies of grace.

From Genesis 3:15, the promise of the coming of the savior and defeat of sin, to Revelation 22:3, the conclusion, whether it be tomorrow or a thousand years from now, will happen. Every day we are one day closer to this:

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Prophecy is grand and amazing. The God who ordained His prophecies, shared them with His people, and works every day to uphold and fulfill his promises is even more amazing. All praise for the Lord God Almighty!

prophecy.jpg

Posted in theology, word of the week

Sunday Word of the Week- Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22).

The fruit of the Spirit is singular. It’s all one fruit. It’s not like the believer works on love one month and then patience the next and then moves on to self-control. It’s all one, and the one is love. If one loves the Savior, they will be joyful, and that joy will permeate all that he or she does, including relationships with believers and non-believers. Same with peace. Peace will characterize their relationships, and patience will be a hallmark of relationships, and so on.

What IS patience? GotQuestions explains:

Answer: There are two Greek words translated as “patience” in the New Testament. Hupomonē means “a remaining under,” as when one bears up under a burden. It refers to steadfastness in difficult circumstances. Makrothumia, which is used in Galatians 5:22, is a compound formed by makros (“long”) and thumos (“passion” or “temper”). “Patience” in Galatians 5:22 literally means “long temper,” in the sense of “the ability to hold one’s temper for a long time.” The KJV translates it “longsuffering.” A patient person is able to endure much pain and suffering without complaining. A patient person is slow to anger as he waits for God to provide comfort and punish wrongdoing. Since it is a fruit of the Spirit, we can only possess makrothumia through the power and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

More here

Be patient in prayer. Be patient in sanctification. Be patient in persecution. Be patient with the children. Be patient with mockers, slanderers, and gossips.

I’ve found that praying for people brings patience, because it casts my cares and worries onto the Lord, who has His own timeline. Once an issue is on His timing, it makes being patient easier.

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. When He works through us, we can exhibit the fruit. He grows it. As the sap that runs through the tree, His growing of us will yield beautiful fruit, an honor of the King.

Spurgeon Sermon: The Pearl of Patience

Ligonier Article: The Fruit of Patience

Ligonier Devotional: Patience and Kindness

patience is a fruit of the spirit

Posted in poetry, theology

Kay Cude Poetry: Be Killing Sin or it Be Killing You

Posted on by elizabethprata

I recommend John Owen’s works. Admittedly, his writing is dense and difficult, being 350 years old. However, there are many helps available to aid understanding of his writing, many notes and modern language updates. Here is one from Meet the Puritans. It is very much worth it to pursue a study of Owen’s monumental books.

Here is Texas Poet Kay Cude with her thoughts sprung from Owen’s work Mortification of Sin. Used with permission.

kay cude mortification.jpg

 

 

Posted in theology

Blasphemy: Jesus is not Isa, Isa is not Jesus

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

For several years now we have been hearing stories of Muslim people in closed Islamic societies claiming to have had a dream of a certain person appearing to them in a white robe, sometimes introducing Himself as Isa, and variously either sharing the Gospel in the dream or saying that someone will soon come to share the Gospel with them. Missionaries have reported many Muslims allegedly coming to faith by this method.

Sadly, even former International Mission Board President David Platt repeated one of these stories in his report to the Board last summer.

Here is a full transcription of David Platt’s missions report to the IMB at the 2018 SBC meeting in June 2018.

Village in Palestine, 1890s

I explicitly said “full transcription” for a reason you’ll discover below. To read my full transcription, go here. Below is the pertinent section-

Starting at 4:18-

And here’s one fuller story: In one Muslim country in southeast Asia, one of our missionaries was with one of his national partners named Ahmad. It looked like it was about to rain, and Ahmad asked our missionary if he could borrow an old shirt to wear as he rode his motorcycle. He didn’t want to get his new jacket wet. Our missionary handed him a big, white tee shirt. It looked like it was about to rain and as Ahmad got on his motorcycle. He started on his trip though, and indeed it started raining. As many people do, he pulled his motorcycle over under an awning. As he stood there, the owners of the house nearby came out and as was their custom invited him in for tea. He went in and over tea Ahmad thought, ‘I might as well share the Gospel.’ And after he did, he asked the couple ‘Do you want to believe and be baptized?’ Without any hesitation, they said yes. Ahmad was taken back at how quickly they responded. He said, ‘Do you understand what you’re doing? You will probably be shunned by your family for this or even worse?”

“The man said, ‘You don’t understand. I’ve had several dreams over the last three nights. And in each dream a man wearing white has told me he had the way to salvation for my family and me…[interrupted by applause, Platt raises his voice]

“Last night, a man, that man, appeared to me again, and told me a man dressed in white would come to my home the next day telling me the way of salvation. When we saw you standing outside we knew we needed to invite you in and hear whatever you had to say to us.”  [rising applause].

“This formerly Muslim couple is now a follower of Isa the Messiah.”

So, if anyone asks you what’s happening at the IMB, you tell them, disciples are being made, churches are being multiplied, and Jesus Christ is being glorified among people who have never even heard his name. Mr. President that is my report on the work of the International Mission Board.

Heavy applause/ standing ovation

I transcribed this from the live video as it was being recorded by someone who was physically present. The transcription published on the IMB website OMITS that Platt had stated that the couple is now following “Isa the Messiah”, instead choosing to transcribe that Platt said the couple is following “the Messiah”. His speech was 6-minutes long and his final story about the man in the white robe began at 4:18. Unlike in past years where the full report is published on Youtube or the IMB site, this year only a recap video is available at the IMB site.

As warm and joyful as it makes any Christian to hear that many are coming to the Messiah, the method of their coming must align with the Bible. Secondly, the Messiah they are coming to must be this same Jesus. (Acts 1:11). Names are important. Count how many times in Acts, a mission-book of the Bible if there ever was one, the word “name” is stated. One must know to whom one is appealing for forgiveness of sins. Isa is not the Messiah.

Isa is a devil.

There are two issues with the Muslim dreams stories, the name and the method. First, let’s examine the issue with the name.

In Islam, Isa is a prophet of Muhammad and a messenger of Allah. In Islam, it is written that “Jesus/Isa” did not die on the cross, but was alive and unconscious, taken down and nursed in a cave.

Although this source says Christians believe ‘Isa died on a cross, and Jews claim they killed him, in reality he was not killed or crucified, and those who said he was crucified lied (An-Nisa’ 4:157). ‘Isa did not die, but ascended to Allah. (An-Nisa’ 4:158) On the day of Resurrection ‘Isa himself will be a witness against Jews and Christians for believing in his death. (An-Nisa’ 4:159).

Muslims teach that “Jesus/Isa” will arrive to break the cross and kill the pigs (Jews and Christians). (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 43, Hadith #656)

His name Isa in the Muslim world is translated Jesus in the English speaking world, but he is not THE Jesus of the Bible. Therefore he is not the real Jesus. Saying that Jesus is Isa is attributing his power to Allah, who is actually satan. Let that sink in. (Luke 12:10).

Defenders of these Muslim dreams and visions say Jesus is doing that in order to make himself known to a people who are already familiar with the name Isa and also because they readily accept supernatural dreams than Westerners. Incidentally, Muslims are not the only culture that accepts the supernatural, especially dreams and apparitions. Why would Jesus not also go to the Native American, the Aboriginal Australian, the Guajiro of Columbia, South America, or the Dene Tha of northwestern Alberta, who all also (among others) involve dreams and visions as part of daily life?

Jesus would never refer to Himself as anything but who He is, certainly He would not introduce himself as Isa, a satanic idol. He has revealed Himself in His word (Hebrews 11:1). I AM WHO I AM, He said. He is not Isa.

Now, let’s examine the issues around the method of his appearing. Would Jesus appear to Muslims and share the Gospel in this way? Or send an emissary in dreams to speak for Him?

Here is Fred Butler from Grace To You with an answer to the question:

Though it should be recognized that God can communicate the Gospel message in any fashion He so chooses, the NT teaching on evangelism involves God proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the lost world by the means of human preaching, see for example Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 1:16, 10:13-15, and 1 Corinthians 1:21.  The Gospel message comes by the preacher who preaches biblical and theological content as contained in Scripture.  The recipients hear that message and then respond to it by either rejecting the message or believing in it with a supernaturally produced faith.

If Muslims are having dreams about Jesus who then in turn directs them to salvation, such an activity would seem to have God contradicting what He has clearly ordained in Scripture as the only legitimate means of Gospel evangelism for the Church age.

It is a shame that a well-known person such as David Platt repeated these stories of dreams and visions as credible, and worse, disastrously called Jesus Isa, (which he did, edited IMB transcription notwithstanding).

We so very much want to evangelize and disciple converts to the faith, but we should not be so eager to immediately accept conversion stories of dreams and visions until and unless we compare these methods to the Bible to see if they align.

Here are further links to credible and scriptural essays on the subject.

Gary Gilley: Muslim Dreams and Visions

An Evaluation of Muslim Dreams and Visions of Jesus [Part 1] and
An Evaluation of Muslim Dreams and Visions of Jesus [Part 2]

 

Posted in end time, high priest, melchizedek, prophecy

Jesus as High Priest

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata
This first appeared on The End Time in December 2010

There are many aspects to the Lord’s personality, aspects we have been given through His grace to explore for all eternity. We will never learn all there is to learn about Him, because He is infinite, but the glory will be in the journey, drawing ever closer to Him.

The Christmas season rightly focuses attention to Him as savior, the babe born of a virgin and who lived a sinless life, died as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s Holy righteousness and fulfill the sin-debt that must be paid. We usually focus on Him as Savior, friend, father, and occasionally as judge. But there is another aspect to Him that I would like to explore today: Priest.

David refers to the coming Messiah as a priest on the order of Melchizedek. “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

Who was Melchizedek and why is his Order considered higher than Aaron’s, the first High Priest of the Levites? We read of Melchizedek when he meets with Abraham in Genesis. He is an actual King and an actual Priest, living and walking on the earth in Abraham’s day.

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.” (Gen 14:18-20).

The city of Salem was later known as Jerusalem.

In Hebrews 7:3 we read again of Melchizedek, and notice that there is an omission. Usually, especially in the Old Testament, people are introduced to the reader by their genealogy. “So-and-so who was the son of so-and-so and father of…” But it is specifically noted that Melchizedek has no genealogy, so we wonder how anyone who claims Melchizedek is actually Shem, for example, and some Talmudic scholars do, learned of Melchizedek’s lineage. No one knows his genealogy, as is stated in the Hebrews verse below.

In any case, the personage of Melchizedek is certainly righteous. Anyway, the story of the meeting with Abraham is repeated in Hebrews, and introduced this way:

‘Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s‘
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” (Heb 7:1-3).

Melchizedek is referred to again in Hebrews 5:6-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-21: “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”; and Hebrews 8:1. From his initial introduction at the meeting with Abraham it was another thousand years until David mentioned him and another thousand again until the writer of Hebrews mentioned him, and then Melchizedek disappears from the biblical record. But the notion of Jesus as Priest does not.

High Priests of the Temple died and their office was given to the son. But Jesus is perpetual and His office of High Priest will never die. High Priests in the temple managed the sacrifices, which were daily. Thousands upon thousands of lambs and other animals were killed, blood ran by the buckets all day every day, but Jesus is the once for all sacrifice. He IS our High Priest, forever.

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1-3)

So what does a High Priest do? They were compassionate about sins, being human themselves. They participated in the sacrificial system, managing others’ sacrifices. Yet being human, they also had to sacrifice on behalf of their own sins. They represented humans before God.

In Revelation 1:6 we read that we are made to be Kings and Priests. “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father–to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 

Again, in Rev. 5:9b-10 we read that

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Peter reveals that we as believers are part of a royal priesthood:

“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:5,9).

Matthew Henry writes:

“All true believers are a holy priesthood; sacred to God, serviceable to others, endowed with heavenly gifts and graces. But the most spiritual sacrifices of the best in prayer and praise are not acceptable, except through Jesus Christ. Christ is the chief Corner-stone, that unites the whole number of believers into one everlasting temple, and bears the weight of the whole fabric. Elected, or chosen, for a foundation that is everlasting.”

What Grace! What Mercy! He as the Chief Cornerstone as High Priest, elects His priests and unites us in a priesthood to serve Him! We are called privileged and we are. Our duties today and forever are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him the Most High. Is this a good gift in your eyes? Better than an X-box or a bike or a diamond bracelet? It is a tremendous gift to be called to a royal priesthood serving the High Priest in heaven. It is a high calling. Are you living a holy life worthy of Him and making spiritual sacrifices so His name is magnified? I am rejoicing! I am singing His praises!

As you ponder the mysteries of His very Being this Christmas season, ponder Him as high Priest representing us before God. What a blessed Gift to be able to serve for Him and with him!

Posted in theology

When the canon is challenged…

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Elaine Pagels book “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy & Politics in the Book of Revelation” was published in 2012. Pagels is a lifelong apologist for the secular worldview. Her 1979 book “The Gnostic Gospels” won the National Book and the National Book Critics Circle Awards, hit the mainstream, and won her a MacArthur Felowship (AKA Genius Grant).

I’ve seen first-hand the damage that her books, and other books like hers, do. They up-end the unstable, cause the believer to doubt, impugn the spotless Lamb, and draw away the unbeliever. I know a woman who was fascinated with the 1979 book, read it and re-read it. Pagels (and Bart Ehrman who wrote “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” are false teachers of the

“the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:6-7).

The woman I’m thinking of was exactly that type, always learning but never able to come to truth. This is because her fleshly mind aligned with the writers’ fleshly mind and these women want to learn, just not the truth. Anything but that. Books like Ehrman’s and Pagels have enormous appeal.

Pagels’ Revelation book is built around a simple question: What does Revelation mean? Of course, being non-Christian and lacking the Holy Spirit, she misinterprets the book and dismisses its majestic truths. She impugns its reputation by saying things like ‘people have clashed over the meaning of Revelation ever since it was virtually forced into the New Testament canon over the protests of some early church leaders.’

How does one ‘force’ a book into the canon? Was there a monk held at knifepoint somewhere, told to sew the codex into the canon or else? Were there archers pointing arrows at the participants at the Council of Hippo, intimidate their vote to get it in?

When you take Pagels’ phrasing to its logical conclusion, it’s pretty silly.

Pagels sees the book of Revelation: “As a tale of conflict where one side is wholly righteous and the other wholly evil,”

The fleshly mind cannot concieve of one side being completely evil and the other as completely holy. Writers are told by mentors and professors that their villain should not be written as totally bad, there must be included a redeeming quality about him. The same with the hero, he is not totally good, there has to be written some kind of flaw in him somewhere, “for the story to be believable.”  But of course Jesus is perfectly holy, and never wrong. Satan is totally corrupt and is evil personified. The unsanctified mind cannot grasp this.

One main way people challenge the canon, besides questioning the authenticity by direct or subtle means as noted above, is to challenge its authorship and/or its age.

“It’s just an old book written by a bunch of ignorant shepherds,” they say. Well, Moses was a shepherd, but he was also educated in Pharaoh’s courts, the highest education available at the time. Additionally, it was written by fishermen, tax collectors, physicians, and farmers etc.

“It’s old, shouldn’t be taken seriously,” they say. Matt Slick’s opening paragraph well-rebuts this issue-

The New Testament is constantly under attack, and its reliability and accuracy are often contested by critics. If the critics want to disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard other ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is because the New Testament documents are better-preserved and more numerous than any other ancient writings. Because they are so numerous, they can be cross checked for accuracy . . . and they are very consistent.

Some of the ancient writers’ works, such as Plato, Euripides, Caesar, were copied hundreds of years after the facts, and there might only be ten copies. Yet their works are used in schools and colleges to teach history and literature. The Bible’s first copies arose less than 100 years after the events, within the participants’ lifetimes, and there are 5800 copies available, with 99.5% accuracy among and between the copies.

books

These are but a bare scratch of the surface of this wonderful subject. I recommend Matt Slick’s article above, as well as these below, if you are interested in learning more about how the canon of the Bible was formed and why it is complete, with nothing missing, and lol, nothing “forced” in.

Further Resources

Canon of Scripture (explained and defended)

The Canon of the Bible Ligonier

Answers in Genesis: Why 66 Books?

Posted in theology

Prophecy shows that no matter how crazy the culture gets, Jesus is in control

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been a Christian for only 15 years, but I’ve been alive for 58. Even as a youngster, I asked the eternal question to myself, “Why is the world like this?”

Young people, the unsaved, adults, no matter your age, location, or spiritual status, anyone, can see that the world is broken. People are crazy. Just watch the news, if you dare.

An 11 year old boy who was repeatedly told to clean his room, got out the gun his grandfather had, snuck up behind his grandma watching TV, who was raising him, and shot her in the back of the head. Then he shot himself.

A Chinese woman angered shemissed her stop, and further angered when the bus driver refused to let her off between stops, began hitting her, He pushed her off, and distracted, swerved off a bridge into the Yangtze River, killing all on board.

There have been five separate stabbing attacks in South London this week.

And so on.

The world has always been filled with sinners seeking to fulfill their own desires. A sinner’s desires are completely corrupt and unholy. (Genesis 6:5). They will seek to fulfill these desires by any means they can find, and will eventually resort to graft or deception or bullying or anger, etc.

But it seems lately that the percolating anger in sinners is closer to the surface than ever. Sin makes people insane and they do insane things. That is what having a reprobate mind means. (Romans 1:28-32). I means that people are so darkened that they can’t think straight. For moral and spiritual purposes, they’re effectively insane.

It used to be that people seemed to be held in check from expressing their baser desires by cultural pressure. Even though we in America have never really been a Christian nation, people acted Christian. The veneer fo morality prevented things from being said, acts from being done.  Over time though, the social-moral fabric has frayed. Badly.

But… Jesus is alive and in control. He sees this foolishness and He will come back to take care of it.

The Great Day of the LORD
“I will utterly consume everything From the face of the land,” Says the LORD; “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, The fish of the sea,And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,” Says the LORD. “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,” (Zephaniah 1:1-4)

This was a prophecy against Judah. Do you see that? EVERY TRACE of Baal will be gone!

“Therefore wait for Me,” says the LORD, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.” (Zephaniah 3:8).

And He rose from the dead so that He could conquer death and atone for our sins and to fulfill all the promises since Genesis! He is risen! He lives! He loves! He is with us in our time of trouble and He will come for His beloved! He will rectify the wrongs and rid the world of polluted governments and wretched religions, the Baals and the Mammons will be banished from the earth forever!

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

But He IS risen, and we are with Him, “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

Mighty is our God who raises from the dead, justifies our sins through Jesus, and Who sets all prophecies down so we may see what must come to pass. Prophecy shows that no matter how crazy the culture gets, Jesus is in control

god is sovereign

Posted in christian life, theology

Clothing: Readying the outer man and the inner man

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I didn’t do laundry this weekend. I have just enough clothing to get me through the week, and then I need to do laundry on Saturday to ready for Sunday services and then the work week again. I didn’t do that this weekend. So Sunday I was sort of stuck when I was getting ready for church. What to wear for worship service?

The Pharisees were obsessed with clothing. They not only wore the biblically required garments to show their ordained position, which was being obedient, but they deliberately altered their clothes to show they were even more holy than that, which was disobedient. They sought adulation and honors and were doing it through their apparel. Jesus saw through that of course.

He accused them of enlarging the borders of their garments (Matthew 23:5-6) – This refers to the loose fringe at the borders of the outer garment. This fringe was commanded in order to distinguish them from other nations, specifically as God’s people, and that they might remember to keep the commandments of God, (Numbers 15:38-40; Deuteronomy 22:12). Adorning the fringes were bells, and the Pharisees added more than the required amount so people would hear them coming. The Pharisees made the fringe border broader than other people wore them, so people would see them coming, and hear them when they walked on the corners to pray aloud.

But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’” (Matthew 23:5-7).

They loved the trappings, but not the reason for the trappings.

Yesterday I thought about what I would wear to church, I do not think it is too good to overly dwell on our apparel, church wear or work wear, or casual wear. There is a fine line beteen carefully considereing clothing formodesty and propriety’s sake, and suing clothing to gain status or pretension. The Bible is replete with admonitions about outer wear, believe it or not. It’s also replete with metaphorical warnings instructing us on the comparison of the outer garment and the inner man.

In Zephaniah 1:8 God warns that He will strike down those wearing ‘foreign garments’, or ‘strange apparel’ depending on your translation. The pagans wore strange apparel, often an indicator of degeneracy, especially in the old days when it signified allegiance to pagan gods.

As a woman, I’ve noticed the degeneracy in women’s wear. Skirts are shorter than ever, and necklines seem to plunge lower every day. It truly is hard to find a modest shirt these days.

Paul said, perhaps with a sigh of relief, that he never coveted other apparel: “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.” (Acts 20:33). It may seem strange to us today that the list of things that were coveted in Paul’s day were not only the expected items like gold and silver, but also apparel. But clothing bespoke wealth. Remember Lazarus and the rich man. (Luke 16:19-31). In Luke 16:19 the rich man’s name is forever forgotten but his wealth is what is listed, among the riches mentioned are clothing. “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.”

Wearing purple was the Gentile way of signalling wealth and status. Pharisees might have enlarged their fabric borders and lengthened their tassels, but pagans showed off too, by wearing purple. Purple dye was expensive and only the richest of the rich could afford it.

Yet on the Day of the Lord, their wealth and clothing will not save them.

Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them. On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth. (Zeph 1:18)

It’s the inner man that counts more than the clothing of the outer man.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.” (Matthew 23:27)

I’m not saying that dressing up is a bad thing. I’m not saying nice clothes are bad, either. But if dressing up is the way we show off for church service, or to cal attention ot our bidies at work, then it is a bad thing. He knew the Pharisees and scribes were hypocrites, even though they were splendidly attired, because He could see their hearts were far from God. He knew the Rich Man was far from God too, despite the fine linens He wore to all his banquets. The poor man was justified, even though he wore rags.

Let’s think about how we can prepare ourselves inside and come to Him clean. Are we willing to examine ourselves? As we ready the outer man for church or work, let’s make sure we’re doing it correctly, not to show off wealth, status, or our bodies but as a token of our esteem to the One we worship. Even better, let’s ready the inner man for the day even more than we ready the outer man.

“For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have“. (2 Cor 8:12)

“Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” (Romans 6:13)

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15).

He doesn’t care if we have a new dress or are wearing a tie, He does care if we over-spent in getting the new dress or tie and worse, if obtaining it was for the purpose of showing off. He does see the effort we make to ready our outer and our inner selves for the day and for His worship services.

If our heart is in right standing to Jesus (repentant and humble, a servant desiring change from the inside out) He will clothe us with the best clothes of all. —

“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10).

clothespins

Posted in theology, word of the week

Sunday Word of the Week: Sovereign

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

In addition to the familiar Bible verses speaking to God’s sovereignty, one of which is at the conclusion of this essay, there is a famous quote from RC Sproul that exalts God’s sovereignty:

If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.

It is a great quote because it speaks to how God created and upholds every single atom in the universe. He is the author, architect, and absolute king over all.

Jesus, His Son, has been given all power and authority as God. (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is the exact imprint of His Father.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:3).

We Americans are unfamiliar with sovereignty. We shed our King back in 1783 when we signed the peace treaty at Paris, concluding the Revolutionary War. Today, sovereignty has changed somewhat from the kings of old. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, sovereignty means

Sovereignty, though its meanings have varied across history, also has a core meaning, supreme authority within a territory. …  Historical variants can be understood along three dimensions — the holder of sovereignty, the absoluteness of sovereignty, and the internal and external dimensions of sovereignty.

Sovereignty can also be absolute or non-absolute. How is it possible that sovereignty might be non-absolute if it is also supreme? … absoluteness refers not to the extent or character of sovereignty, which must always be supreme, but rather to the scope of matters over which a holder of authority is sovereign.

Today, many European Union (EU) member states exhibit non-absoluteness. They are sovereign in governing defense, but not in governing their currencies, trade policies, and many social welfare policies, which they administer in cooperation with EU authorities as set forth in EU law.

The major change to international sovereignty happened in 1648 with the signing of a treaty called the Peace of Westphalia. Please bear with me for a brief history lesson. The rise of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church had caused friction, Martin Luther’s theses complicated matters, and the continent of Europe had been at war ecclesiastically and politically for a very long time (Thirty Years War, Eighty Years War, etc). The Westphalia treaty effectively ended those wars, and also limited the Roman Catholic Church’s widespread and growing power. In addition, the RCC’s claim as the only moral and spiritual truth was now effectively void. Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism were officially recognized as religions, within which, an adherent could worship freely.

Henry Kissinger wrote:

The Westphalian peace reflected a practical accommodation to reality, not a unique moral insight. It relied on a system of independent states refraining from interference in each other’s domestic affairs and checking each other’s ambitions through a general equilibrium of power. No single claim to truth or universal rule had prevailed in Europe’s contests. Instead, each state was assigned the attribute of sovereign power over its territory. Each would acknowledge the domestic structures and religious vocations of its fellow states and refrain from challenging their existence

The Treaty itself is explained here–

The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster, largely ending the European wars of religion. The treaties of Westphalia brought to a close a calamitous period of European history which caused the deaths of approximately eight million people. Scholars have identified Westphalia as the beginning of the modern international system, based on the concept of Westphalian sovereignty.

The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent of peace established by diplomatic congress. A new system of political order arose in central Europe, based upon peaceful coexistence among sovereign states. Inter-state aggression was to be held in check by a balance of power, and a norm was established against interference in another state’s domestic affairs. As European influence spread across the globe, these Westphalian principles, especially the concept of sovereign states, became central to international law and to the prevailing world order.

Of course, the Roman Catholic Church was furious at this continental limit to the Holy See’s sovereignty, with Pope Innocent X calling the Treaty “null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time” in the papal bull Zelo Domus Dei.

People today aren’t aware that the Pope is the world’s last absolute monarch. In framing the concept of sovereignty, of course we understand that our nation has sovereign powers with its globally recognized borders. Every nation is recognized so, and this is codified in the UN Charter. Political sovereignty is a normal, natural concept readily understandable by even a young person learning history.

The RCC is spiritual entity as well as a global power with a territory, standing army (The Swiss), internationally recognized borders, taxes extracted, a treasury, and sovereign power, in fact, an absolute power that cannot be contested. The Pope is the last absolute sovereign power in existence on the planet today.

The Holy See is the last absolute monarchy in the world today. The pope, when he is elected, is answerable to no human power. He has absolute authority over the entire Roman Catholic Church, direct authority that reaches down to individual members.

All of the governing officers in the Vatican itself, what we call the Vatican Curia, operate on delegated authority from the pope. They speak in the name of the pope. In the Roman Catholic Church, there are no separation of powers as we know of in most democratic societies. In the Roman Catholic Church, the office of pope includes the three main offices of government. He is the supreme judge, the supreme legislator and the supreme executive, so there’s no separation of powers. There is no possibility of checks and balances. Source PBS

The problem comes in with the Roman Catholic Church’s view of supremacy and sovereignty. The Protestant Church acknowledges Jesus as Head of the Church in heaven and on earth. The RCC acknowledges Jesus as head of the Church in heaven only. The Pope is supreme on earth in matters spiritual. Vicar of Christ means the pope operates as a vicarious substitute for Christ on earth. That God has handed the Pope the jurisdiction of earth in the sovereign execution of matters spiritual.

Paragraph 937 of the Catechism of the RCC states,

Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief, “the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls.”

Of course this is wrong. It competes with Jesus’s own statement in Matthew 28:18 that all authority in heaven and on earth has been granted Him. The difference in a Catholic’s view of sovereignty of God and the Protestant’s view of the sovereignty of God is vast. It is an eternally damning error. Only Jesus enjoys, by divine bestowal from God and in conjunction by the working of the Holy Spirit in Truine unity, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls- on heaven AND on earth. What it comes down to is, do you serve a sovereign Pope, or a sovereign God?

What’s so great about the sovereignty of God?

Many people do not believe in God’s sovereignty, yet still serve the Lord. But there is a great difference. Those who see the Lord in His sovereign glory have an inward compulsion to serve this God. Serving God is the glory of their lives. Their service is measured not so much in what they achieve–or what God achieves through them–but rather in the sheer wonder of the God they serve. Like little boys dividing up into teams on the playground, being picked to play on this team is the greatest joy imaginable, especially for those who are so unworthy. “Here am I! Send me,” is not merely the response of those who see God’s sovereign glory, it is their delight. Since God is certain to be glorified, they want to be among those glorifying God.

I’ll finish with AW Pink

“What do we mean by [the sovereignty of God]? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the god-hood of God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou? (Dan. 4:35).

To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in Heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His will (Psa. 115:3). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is “The Governor among the nations” (Psa. 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the “Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). Such is the God of the Bible.” A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, chapter 1.

1 Sunday sovereignty verse