And so the sympathetic high priest is Jesus Christ, who in the days of His flesh felt what we feel. And of course, the climax comes when He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. What incident in His life does that speak to you about? Does that remind you of the Garden of Gethsemane? Sure. That was the greatest climax of His suffering for there He began to bear the sins of the world didn’t He? There He began to feel the crush of sin upon Him. He began to feel Satan bruising Him, and it hurt. Do you remember the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He went to the cross? He went into the Garden to pray and He agonized there and He sweat as it were great drops of blood and He cried to the Father. And His heart was grieving and broken at the prospect and the pain of bearing sin. And He felt the power of sin and He felt temptation. He felt everything Satan could throw at Him, and He got it all even on the cross. He felt everything you’ll ever feel.
THIS is what makes Jesus the perfect High Priest. Fully God and fully man, He knows the pain, sorrow, temptation, and devastation of sin, closely and intimately.
Ligonier: The Intercession of Christ A time would come when Satan would sift Peter, and he would fall under the weight of temptation and deny his Lord. But what did Jesus say about that time? He comforted Peter by assuring him that he would not lose his faith. And the reason his faith wouldn’t fail was that Jesus had prayed for him. Peter would not fall away from the faith because Jesus had interceded for him.
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Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King Day 19: He emptied Himself Day 20: Jesus as The Teacher Day 21: The Good Shepherd
How can we know God unless He reveals Himself to us? The creation confirms His existence, but what does the creature know of His attributes, Person, or Power? Unless He teaches us about Himself, we will not know. God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a born-babe, to live the full life of sinlessness under the Law, and to teach us about Himself. He was prophesied to die as the atoning sacrifice, and then rise again to receive His people through His work on the cross. Grace abounds.
The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, except in the passage before us. The essential idea is that of bringing to emptiness, vanity, or nothingness; and, hence, it is applied to a case where one lays aside his rank and dignity, and becomes in respect to that as nothing; that is, he assumes a more humble rank and station. In regard to its meaning here, we may remark:
(1) that it cannot mean that he literally divested himself of his divine nature and perfections, for that was impossible. He could not cease to be omnipotent, and omnipresent, and most holy, and true, and good.
(2) it is conceivable that he might have laid aside, for a time, the symbols or the manifestation of his glory, or that the outward expressions of his majesty in heaven might have been withdrawn. It is conceivable for a divine being to intermit the exercise of his almighty power, since it cannot be supposed that God is always exerting his power to the utmost. And in like manner there might be for a time a laying aside or intermitting of these manifestations or symbols, which were expressive of the divine glory and perfections. Yet,
(3) this supposes no change in the divine nature, or in the essential glory of the divine perfections. When the sun is obscured by a cloud, or in an eclipse, there is no real change of its glory, nor are his beams extinguished, nor is the sun himself in any measure changed. His luster is only for a time obscured.
The Greek verb translated “emptied” (keno[ma]o) is where we get the theological term kenosis: the doctrine of Christ’s self-emptying as a part of His incarnation. The verb expresses Christ’s self-renunciation, His refusal to cling to His advantages and privileges as God. The God who has a right to everything and who is fully satisfied within Himself emptied Himself.
Notice that Philippians 2:7 does not specify what the Son of God “emptied” Himself of. And here we must be careful not to go beyond what Scripture says. Jesus did not empty Himself of His divine attributes—no such attributes are mentioned in the verse, and it is obvious in the gospels that Jesus possessed the power and wisdom of God. Calming the storm is just one display of Jesus’ divine power (Mark 4:39). In coming to earth, the Son of God did not cease to be God, and He did not become a “lesser god.” Whatever the “emptying” entailed, Jesus remained fully God: “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
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Thirty Days of Jesus Series, Overview-
Introduction/Background
Prophecies:
Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son
Birth & Early Life-
Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son
The Second Person of the Trinity-
Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence Day 18: The Highest King
One night, Nikos Politis was asleep. He began dreaming. He dreamed he saw a warrior angel from heaven in full armor and regalia. Nikos was entranced by the fact that the ‘angel’ had perfect hair. Soon myriads of angels joined the first angel. They began to sing. This song is supposedly to summon angels to fight demonic forces. In the singer’s own words, we read-
This hymn was given with power to break chains and set the captives free and destroy from Jesus Christ! For this reason the words of the hymn are influenced by the Holy Spirit, and convey a message of liberation! They are instruments of divine restoration on the lips of whoever sings them with faith in his heart!
Politis is a Greek man, and part of the worship team at a church in Greece called All Nations Church Thessaloniki. This church is part of the global denomination of a church started in Nigeria by a man named Prophet TB Joshua. The church and its satellites – including the branch in Thessalonica – are all false.
His song “You Are the Almighty God” was published in 2022. Since then it has gained worldwide attention, mainly from the more charismatic quarters, but also elsewhere. If you go to Politis’ Youtube to find the song, these title cards appear before the song begins:
If you go to Politis’ Youtube to learn more about this song, you will see the ‘SCOAN’ logo on older videos. It stands for Synagogue Church of All Nations, the name of the mother church in Lagos, Nigeria and all their satellite branches. In Greece they recently changed their church’s name to ‘Christian Church of All Nations’ Thessalonica, dropping the term synagogue due to Greek government “suggestion”.
Scenes below are screen shots of Politis’ church members’ reaction when hearing or singing this song. The author and the church itself attributes the physical and emotional reactions to the fact that the Spirit supposedly “influenced” the lyrics. No.
If this is what singing that song does to a person, count me out
Insensate on the floor (but carefully holding his glasses after remembering to remove them first…?)
People have been making all sorts of outlandish testimonies and claims of visions when listening to or singing this song. People in the Youtube comments make all sorts of claims in their comments, too. Here is one man interviewed who made a claim of a vision while the congregation sang Politis’ song-
From THE ANCIENT OF DAYS VISITS CHURCH WHILE THE CONGREGATION SINGS ANOINTED SONG!!! Last Sunday, when our brother Nikos Politis was singing the hymn, as I was praying, all of a sudden, I lifted my eyes and I saw an angel on that corner flapping his wings very powerfully! At first, I thought it was my imagination, but then I realised it was real! How did you feel that moment when you suddenly saw an angel before you? I really wanted to jump out of joy, but I restrained myself. I felt calmness…
Do angels even HAVE wings? No. Do people feel calm when an angel appears? No. Scripture reports they are greatly troubled, fearful, or fall to their feet. (Luke 1:12, Luke 1:29, Revelation 22:8). The first thing an angel usually says to the person is “Fear not”.
From Youtube comments:
One day my son was crying non stop, he wouldn’t stop screaming uncontrollably, once I played the song for the first time, he instantly stopped and started smiling.
I listen to this song on a loop every night and I am convinced that I am being healed from an incurable cancer.
I can’t speak for others but my first experience of singing along was walking into his throne room where he is sitting. Seeing him on his throne… I never had this experience with any Christian songs ever. What I heard was ‘you finally came.’ Thank you.
There are a number of things to be aware of here regarding this song and its ever-widening impact. Of course, false churches and false pastors have been present on earth since the beginning. That is not new. But it is good to remember that they are part of the spiritual warfare Jesus said would occur. The people in those churches are not the enemy, but the power behind them is. The doctrines they put forth are.
Below is a link to a BBC news investigation that exposes the many corruptions of this Synagogue Church of All Nations and its now deceased leader, TB Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet with a “prophetic birth.”
God did not add to His closed canon by ordering an angel to deliver this song to Politis. The lyrics have no power. The enscripturated word on the page has no power, but the Holy Spirit behind God’s inspired words does. That is why unsaved people who read the Bible do not understand it, (1 Corinthians 2:14). Only the Spirit can illuminate it to minds. The Spirit uses God’s words to transform minds.
So in like manner Politis’ lyrics have no power in and of itself. However, the power behind the words does have a spirit, the demonic, and that IS a force that will alter people’s minds. From the screen shots above and the claims of people in the Youtube comments, we can see how people predisposed to the demonic are affected. If a person is unsaved, you are predisposed due to a sin nature to believing what satan wants you to believe, including things like angels with wings and perfect hair appear randomly to a man and tell him to write a song that will be an ‘instrument of divine restoration’.
Didn’t God already deliver to us an instrument of divine restoration? Yes. That instrument is God’s Son Jesus.
Anything that competes with Jesus as the SOLE deliverer is false. Anything that competes with the Bible as sole word from God is false.
Thirdly, music contains doctrine. We can sing and play solid songs like O Holy Night, or we can play songs that purport to have doctrine but it’s weak or twisted. Or we can play or sing songs that are obviously demonically inspired, like Politis’ You Are the Almighty God.
Here is an extra sad thought- I became aware of this song because a student wanted me to play it. He explained that an angel from heaven gave the song. I demurred, because I always vet anything I play for my students at school, and also because it’s ingrained in me through years of training in discernment (Hebrews 5:14) to check first.
What a tragedy that a child grows up thinking these false things! It’s almost worse than not knowing anything of God at all.
I’m glad I checked. Though the song title initially had me hopeful, upon seeing the first title card above, I shut it down. I never listened to the song, I do not want what it says nor what it stands for entering my soul.
Beware of false doctrine, which can come via any method- sermons, Bible studies, books, youtube or podcasts, and music. God IS the Almighty God and He will judge the people who claim to say things He did not say. (Jeremiah 23:21). It will be a painful judgment.
We are flowing through a section of verses which focus on Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity.
Further Reading
Though the verse is literally speaking about King David, the relation of David to Christ means the verse also prefigures the preeminence of King Jesus. The throne, through David’s line, would last forever through Christ.
Verse 27. Also I will make him my firstborn. Among the kings the seed of David were to be most favoured and indulged with most love and paternal regard from God: but in Jesus we see this in the highest degree verified, for he has preeminence in all things, inasmuch as by inheritance he has a more glorious name than any other, and is higher than the kings of the earth. Who can rival heaven’s Firstborn? The double portion and the government belong to him. Kings are honoured when they honour him, and those who honour him are kings! In the millennial glory it shall be seen what the covenant stores up for the once despised Son of David, but even now faith sees him exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords. Lo, we bow before thee, thou Heir of all things! Our sheaves do obeisance to thy sheaf. All thy mother’s children call thee blessed. Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Jesus is no servant of princes, nor would he have his bride, the church, degrade herself by bowing before kings and eating the bread of a pensioner at their hands. He and his kingdom are higher than the kings of the earth. Let the great ones of the earth be wise and submit to him, for he is Lord, and he is the governor among the nations.
Also I will make him my firstborn,…. Or, “make him the firstborn”; make him great, as Jarchi interprets it; give him the blessing, the double portion of inheritance: so Christ is made most blessed for ever, and has all spiritual blessings in his hands; and is heir of all things, and his people joint-heirs with him. Christ is God’s “firstborn”, or “first begotten”, Hebrews 1:6, being begotten by him, and of him; … even him the Father promises to make “higher than the kings of the earth”; having a kingdom of a superior nature to theirs, and a more extensive and durable one; and even they themselves shall be subject to him; hence he is called “King of kings”, Revelation 19:16.
The King of Kings shall reign forever, His Kingdom shall endure.
Thirty Days of Jesus Series-
Introduction/Background Day 1: The Virgin shall conceive Day 2: A shoot from Jesse Day 3: God sent His Son in the fullness of time Day 4: Marry her, she will bear a Son Day 5: The Babe has arrived! Day 6: The Glory of Jesus Day 7: Magi seek the Child Day 8: The Magi Offer gifts & worship Day 9: The Child Grew Day 10- the Boy Jesus at the Temple Day 11: He was Obedient Day 12: The Son! Day 13: God is pleased with His Son Day 14: Propitiation Day 15: The Gift of Eternal Life Day 16: Kingdom of Darkness to Light Day 17: Jesus’ Preeminence
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, this section of the Advent flow of verses I’ve selected focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. Christ is preeminent. Always and forever.
Let us exult in verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God. He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, was reared in obscurity, and only once crossed the boundary of the land in which He was born, and that in His childhood. He had no wealth or influence, and had neither training nor education in the world schools.
His relatives were inconspicuous and uninfluential. In infancy, He startled a king. In boyhood, He puzzled the learned doctors. In manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows, and hushed the seas asleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the country could not hold all of the books about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters together.
We should talk about Jesus often and be clear about his identity, resisting every temptation to make him peripheral, secondary, or assumed. And we may find that talking about Jesus often brings his preeminence to have a deeper bearing on our lives. It helps to remind us of his role in two things we deeply care about — the gospel and the glory of God.
Institute for Creation Research devotional: Preeminence of Christ Christ is also preeminent in our reconciliation, “having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself” (1:20), so that He can “make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).
CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL! Below, Chapter 4 excerpts from Warren Wiersbe’s “BE” series
Colossians 1:13–20
The false teachers in Colossae, like the false teachers of our own day, would not deny the importance of Jesus Christ. They would simply dethrone Him, giving Him prominence but not preeminence. In their philosophy, Jesus Christ was but one of many “emanations” that proceeded from God and through which men could reach God. It was this claim that Paul refuted in this section. Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than this one. We can keep ourselves from going on a detour if we remember that Paul wrote to prove the preeminence of Christ, and he did so by using four unanswerable arguments. He holds all things together (v. 17). “In Him all things hold together” (NIV). [T]he Christian has an answer: Jesus Christ! Because “He is before all things,” He can hold all things together. Again, this is another affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. Only God exists before all of Creation, and only God can make Creation cohere. To make Jesus Christ less than God is to dethrone Him.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 114–116). Victor Books.
This is a great sermon during this Advent season about angels called “The Ministry of Angels”. The pastor began by saying how many times angels are sung about in our traditional Christmas Carols. If you stop to think about it, they really are mentioned a lot.
Hark, the herald angels sing: Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King
All is Well: All is well, all is well, Angels and men rejoice
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold:
The First Noel The first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay,
Silent night with the angels let us sing “Alleluia” to our King: “Christ the Savior is born!
O come all ye faithful Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation; sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above!
O holy night Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
Angels, we have heard on high Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
Angels from the realms of glory Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all the earth; ye who sang creation’s story now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
EPrata photo
The study of angels in formal doctrine studies is called Angelology. It is one of the fundamental doctrines usually listed by most theologians in systematic theology. These doctrines are-
Theology Proper. Doctrine of God the Father. Christology. Doctrine of Christ. Pneumatology. The study of the Holy Spirit Bibliology. Doctrine of the Bible. Anthropology. Doctrine of Man. Angelology. Doctrine of Angels. Hamartiology. Doctrine of sin. Soteriology. Doctrine of salvation. Ecclesiology. Doctrine of the Church. Eschatology. Doctrine of Last Things. Soteriology. The study of salvation. Cosmology – The study of creation
Angelology is a fascinating study, and there is much in the Bible about angels. But like most doctrines, it can and often is twisted by the unstable. It is a target for fringe theologians who spout fanciful theories and supposed visions. As Phil Johnson has said, “Few biblical topics have provoked more wild speculation and fruitless debate than the topic of angels.”
Because of this I am providing what I have found to be safe and solid material on angels for further study. After listening to the sermon I linked above, there are other great resources that explore the facts about these incredible beings.
By Gustave Doré, Elijah nourished by an angel, 1866
Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached two sermons on angels in his Great Doctrines series. One is called Good Angels. Sadly, there is no recording of his subsequent lecture titled “The Devil and the Fallen Angels” but there is a transcript you can read which I uploaded for the public. Here is the link to the transcribed sermon The Devil and the Fallen Angels by Lloyd-Jones.
“The Last Angel,” painted by Nicholas Roerich in 1912, is a powerful, symbolic artwork depicting the Archangel Michael, often interpreted as a premonition of impending war and destruction, with imagery inspired by the Book of Revelation, where the “last angel” is described as a fearsome figure heralding the end times; it showcases Michael as a warrior angel with a spear and shield, surrounded by flames, echoing Byzantine artistic traditions.
Pastor at First Baptist Church of Jackson in Jackson, Alabama, Philip McDuffie said, “Christians should have a healthy fascination with angels. These disembodied, spiritual beings are remarkable. They have extraordinary power and amazing intelligence. They are so radiant with the glory of God that godly men foolishly feel the need to bow down and worship them (Rev. 22:8-9). They appear all throughout the Bible, especially at major redemptive events. You will find them in the Garden of Eden, with the Patriarchs, with Moses, Joshua, and David, at Mount Sinai, all throughout the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Acts of the Apostles, and at the consummation of all things.”
McDuffie says that Spurgeon was also fascinated with angels, and had a few thoughts on these beings grounded in scripture but launching from there into the mildly speculative. His and Spurgeon’s thoughts are here: Spurgeon’s Angelology: A Speculative Thought.
In this sermon, Charles Spurgeon discusses the angels who ministered to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness. Satan departing, angels ministering
RC Sproul preached a two-part series simply called Angels.
Now here’s a little debate for you: do angels sing? I wrote about this a few years ago. Despite the hymns and carols noting that angels sing this or that, there is very little scriptural evidence that they do sing. But no scriptural evidence claiming they unequivocally do not sing. Hmmm.
The End Time: Do Angels Sing? In which I look at the stances of some theologians who believe they do or do not, as well as offer some food for thought.
In the end, lest we fall guilty of what Phil Johnson said above, that we engage in wild speculation or fruitless debate, let me end here with a link to a page listing scriptures in which angels are mentioned, and it says there are 499 scriptures (but 25 are noted here).
Enjoy! Angels are fascinating and never forget, we will meet them one day!
People who are unsaved have no idea that they live in the kingdom of darkness. They believe all is well and go on with their lives, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Once a person is given the grace of becoming aware of their sin, and the spirit of repentance is bestowed upon them, their eyes are opened to the reality of their pitiful state. Without Jesus, there is no hope. All is dark, because HE is the Light.
Grace Gems: Deliverance from the power of darkness What is the power of darkness, and how God delivers us from it. The Apostle speaks of “the power of darkness.” I shall, therefore, with God’s blessing, explain first what “darkness” is, and then enter into the meaning of the expression “the power of darkness.”
Today is a pause for a moment in the progression of verses showing the Life of Jesus from inception to second coming, in order to ponder the incredible gift of eternal life his work from manger to ascension gives us. Christmas means many things. Today let’s think about His eternality.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. Jesus co-existed in eternity with God, perfectly self-sufficient and satisfied with His communion with the other two persons of the God-head.
But God…loved us and He sent His Son Jesus to seek and save the lost, enacting this magnificent plan of the sacrifice, the cross, the resurrection- the Gospel.
Jesus was and is and is to come. He existed before time and He will be living after time ends. His incarnation and life on earth, death, and resurrection means He will be bringing his people into eternity with Him, to live as co-heirs of all there is. Angels aren’t eternal, they had a moment when they didn’t exist but then were created. Humans aren’t eternal either, we have a moment when our own creation begins (Adam then Eve, then all of us formed in the womb by the hand of God.)
The verse today affirms these truths. Jesus said “Before Abraham was, I AM.” I am, meaning He is always in the present. All of those who are in Christ Jesus are also given the gift of eternity…to be with Him, to dwell with Him in joyous worship, to serve Him forever.
the-end-time.org 