R.D SOUZA Saved by faith

Acts of God in the OT and NT

Acts 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the 
ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

We see in the Old Testament there were so many incidents where people 
did mistakes and God took immediate action on them. But in the New 
Testament we see very few incidents of such kind happening. When you ask 
Christians why? They would say the word GRACE.

Christians believe they live in the time of grace while the people of 
the Old Testament did not, this is a misunderstanding. Like the Old 
Testament even the New Testament records incidents where God has 
immediately punished or responded in harsh manner, today's message talks 
of one of those situations, and there are other such situations recorded 
in the Bible where God directly or indirectly shows to have taken off 
His kid gloves.

Our God is an eternal God, He was, He is and He will be. What He was, He 
is and what He is He will be and like His Word He too does not change. 
His grace was there from the beginning and that is why He prepared a 
sacrifice even before He created mankind.

Grace is received by faith, when we have faith we have grace i.e. we 
were set for destruction due to sin but when we believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ as our Savior we receive the grace to be saved from eternal 
death. Similarly as we believe the Word of God in any area of our lives 
we receive the grace to overcome in that area. Grace is not a blanket 
cover over every area or every purpose of our life, grace is given for a 
specific purpose or area as per our faith.

If grace existed from before then why do we see mostly in the Old 
Testament and rarely the New Testament the judgment of God being quick 
or harsh?

We need to understand when the glory of God increases His judgment also 
quickens. When we were ignorant God was patient but as we experience His 
glory (in that area) His expectations also with us increases. Therefore 
what we could do before when we were ignorant we cannot expect to 
continue to do the same and expect God to be silent as before.

When the Lord came as man Jesus He manifested the Truth thus faith 
(believing in the Truth) increased in leaps and bounds that is why grace 
also increased in leaps and bounds. New Testament scriptures do talk of 
abundant grace in Jesus Christ but this grace is still only by faith. 
Can we expect to have the grace of being saved if we stop believing in 
the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior?

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You have always been a merciful God and a loving Father always 
ready to forgive and bless. Lord in the OT people saw your abundant 
glory yet they failed to believe and walk your way for their hearts were 
hard. Lord we thank You for making us in this times of the manifestation 
of the Truth in your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord You know our hearts 
and we thank You that You have not hardened further our hearts and 
helped us believe and receive your grace.

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with 
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Genesis 19:18-19

18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast 
magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; 
and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

Exodus 33:12-13

12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this 
people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet 
thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in 
my sight.

13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew 
me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy 
sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

John 13:27-29

27And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, 
That thou doest, do quickly.

28Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

29For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had 
said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; 
or, that he should give something to the poor.

Acts 19:13-20

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such 
fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one 
should have his father's wife.

2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath 
done this deed might be taken away from among you.

3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged 
already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this 
deed,

4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, 
and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, 
that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:6-9

6For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will 
say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above 
that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the 
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger 
of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength 
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory 
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Zechariah 12:9-14

Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give 
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk 
uprightly.

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Beheading

Matthew 14:3,4 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put 
him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John 
said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

We see in the Bible according to the Law the Jews / Israelite never 
crucified or beheaded any human the gravest act of death punishment for 
them was to stone a person to death which according to the Law of the 
Lord given through Moses was symbolic and thus when some Jews bought a 
adulteress (elderly) woman (who is believed to be Mary Magdalene) before 
Jesus to be stoned to death Jesus refrains from doing it and also did 
not allow others to do it, thus saved the woman from death. Jesus did 
not break the Law for that would have made Him a sinner but gave the 
right understanding of what the Lord spoke to Moses.

The act of crucifying was done by the Romans who learned from Greeks who 
in turn learned from the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were a barbaric 
race and the Phoenician language belonged to Semitic languages which 
include Arabic and Aramaic (which was Babylonian). All these races tried 
to terrorize others therefore used the most gruesome means of punishment.

We all know John the Baptist who was the son of Mary's cousin was 
beheaded and today's message states the reason why. John did not approve 
the relationship of Herod with his sister in law (his brother Philip's 
wife).

If one studies the Greek word used for beheading, it is a compound word 
meaning to separate and to take siege. Beheading is not normal killing 
it has significance. If a person wants to kill he or she does not need 
go to the extend performing this gruesome act which requires skill. The 
act of beheading has significance since it is performed not just to kill 
but to prevent the person from speaking. The people who do it do more to 
suppress the opponent from speaking against them.

In today's time we see those who follow Muhammad are once again like him 
using means to suppress the voice of others (especially Christians) by 
beheading them. These who are led by Satan may think by beheading they 
can suppress Christians from speaking, they are mistaken. They do not 
know our voice becomes louder every time they behead a Christian.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray your people understand that this natural death is not the 
end of life it is only an exit from this world. Lord You have made us 
and sent us in this world to do a mission and if we fail this mission 
then the purpose of our life fails. Lord we pray we do our mission 
faithfully and do not fear any one even at the cost of death by any 
means. We know the enemy of Truth does not want us to speak the Truth. 
They use all kinds of means to stop us but we know Lord they will not 
succeed and what is written will come to pass for You are Jehovah (God 
who keeps His Word)...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 14:3-12

3For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison 
for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.

4For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

5And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, 
because they counted him as a prophet.

6But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced 
before them, and pleased Herod.

7Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

8And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John 
Baptist's head in a charger.

9And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them 
which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.

10And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

11And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and 
she brought it to her mother.

12And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went 
and told Jesus.

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What is your talent made of and how much?

Matthew 25:16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded 
with the same, and made them other five talents.

The Jewish currency was made of gerah, bekah, shekel, maneh and talent. 
People liken it to the American currency of dollars and cents which 
previously also had pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters or the Indian 
currency which has Rupees and paisa.

Our modern currency is more of mint / mark based and value is given to 
the mark, not to the material or size of that currency. But unlike our 
currency the Jewish currency was made of metals like silver and gold and 
these terms gerah, bekah, shekel, maneh and talent were measures and not 
just a product of as mint. No doubt the coins of Jewish / Roman currency 
did have some marks but they were more for identification of which 
Kingdom/rule. Some years back someone did a calculation of converting of 
these ancient Biblical currencies into dollars and found a talent of 
silver was approximate 1,650 dollars and a talent of gold was 
approximate 26,500 dollars (I stated here so as to make you understand 
the difference not the actual value). So even though the measure was 
same the material it was made of changed the value.

Today when we use the term talent we speak of the skill a person has 
also what is interesting is we use the term ‘my talent’ or ‘your 
talent’. Let me ask you can a plane say ‘I have the talent to fly’ or a 
car say ‘I have the talent to race on a road’ or a ship say that ‘I have 
the talent to sail on the seas’? Understand God has designed us with the 
ability and the skill is not ours but that what the Lord is made us of. 
What is ours is the measure which we can increase or reduce. Have we 
increased, or reduced, or not at all changed the measure which the Lord 
has given us, this is what we need to introspect and ask. It is when we 
put to good use we can increase our measure.

In the Bible natural riches were symbolized with the metal silver and 
spiritual riches symbolized with the metal gold. The Tabernacle 
contained both silver vessels as well as gold vessels, along with the 
vessels of other metals and all were precious for the Lord. But when we 
see in Heaven there is no other metal but only gold.

We are made of many abilities including natural abilities and spiritual 
abilities we can choose which ability we want to increase more. All can 
serve the Lord but the spiritual riches are the ones we carry ahead when 
we leave this world.

The Lord is telling us today unlike the currency of that time which was 
made of one type of material (Jesus does not mention the kind of talent) 
we have many and it is up to us which talent material we need to 
increase and thus increase our value in the Kingdom of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we know we are nothing of ourselves what we are, is what You have 
made us. Lord forgive us for the times we try take credit for what You 
have us by saying my or our talent. We pray Lord we do not insult the 
ability You have given us by not putting it to use or by misusing it. We 
pray we give glory to You alone for what we are and what we become. Give 
us the sense to value and use the ability You have given us so we are 
blessed more in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Revelation 16:21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, 
every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because 
of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

1 Peter 4:11If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if 
any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that 
God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be 
praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Joshua 6:19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, 
are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the 
LORD.

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Do not take the love or grace of God for granted

Luke 20:13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will 
send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

We find many 'grace preachers' today and Christian TV channels are full 
of them. Yes it is true only by God's grace that we are saved, it is 
only by God's grace that we who hated Him once and made Him an enemy, 
yet He reached out to us to make us His Sons. But then since this grace 
is misunderstood it is abused, in today's message we see the Lord 
telling us about this.

In Greek the word translated as grace is 'charis' which comes from the 
word 'to be glad' or 'to rejoice'. But when you read this word in Hebrew 
we find the word grace is 'chen' and comes from the word 'chanan' which 
means 'mercy'.

Jesus rarely spoke to His people in Greek. He spoke mostly in Aramaic 
and Hebrew. We also see He used mostly Hebrew terminology when He tried 
to explain the meaning of anything. Like 'eat my flesh' in Hebrew the 
word flesh comes from the root word 'message'. So grace is related to 
mercy and is short a collective noun / term. It speaks of the mercy 
required to get the job done, so when we receive mercy, it does not mean 
all that we require will be met, but when we receive grace it assures us 
of the need being met.

In today's message in the parable we see Jesus refers to Himself as the 
son of the vineyard owner who was sent and whom the former worker 
killed. Then the scripture says later the vineyard owner takes account 
of them who killed his son and thus gives the vineyard to others.

The people initially referred to laborers of the vineyard are the Jews 
and the people referred to as others are the gentiles. The promised was 
first to the Jews but when they rejected Him the promise went to the 
gentiles. The people of Israel had received the grace of God and thus 
God tolerated them time and again but when they rejected His Son they 
lost the promise and the promise went unto those who believe for grace 
is received by faith.

Today everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ or has faith (means 
believing in the Truth which is God and His Word) receives grace. Since 
this grace came through faith it is therefore connected to faith. That 
means if faith exist grace exist and if faith is lost then grace is 
lost. We read John 3:16 and 17 but do not read John 3:18 or 36.

No one must think 'I once believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then all will 
be well forever since I am under grace'. Grace is not a free ticket 
since it is connected to faith, that person must keep the faith to be 
always under grace. One cannot just say verbally 'I believe' and receive 
grace. To receive grace one indeed needs to believe and this has to be 
more than words. Unless we do not put our faith in action it is not 
considered faith. We may fail time and again like Abraham took 25years 
to believe God for a son but then he did succeed and perfect his faith.

Let us not take grace for granted, if we want to be under grace let us 
work on our faith.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we thank You that we who were not recipients of the promise have 
now receive the promise by grace through faith. Lord we pray that the 
Jews who were holders of the promise may accept You and by faith receive 
the promise again. We pray we keep our faith and always remain under 
grace...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 20:9-16

9Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man 
planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far 
country for a long time.

10And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they 
should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat 
him, and sent him away empty.

11And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and 
entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.

12And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.

13Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my 
beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

14But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, 
saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance 
may be ours.

15So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore 
shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?

16He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the 
vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

John 3:16-18,36

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that 
the world through him might be saved.

18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not 
is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the 
only begotten Son of God.

36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth 
on him.

Jeremiah 31:2Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the 
sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause 
him to rest.

Romans 3:29Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the 
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

Romans 4:16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the 
end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is 
of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is 
the father of us all,

Romans 5:2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein 
we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of 
yourselves: it is the gift of God:

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Worship not the Sun and Moon but understand them

Habakkuk 3:11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the 
light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

We see in the Old Testament the moon was given great importance for 
instance the calendar was moon based - like month and year (12 months) 
was calculated on basis of the moon cycles. No doubt the day was based 
on the Sun but further than the day they had to depend on the moon since 
they could see further than that.

When we go into secular history and biblical history we see long before 
even the year was Sun based that is why we have the 360 degrees, the 
problem came after the Noah flood when the great earthquake caused the 
axis of the earth to tilt by 5 degrees. After the tilt complications 
came and we started having 365.25 days in a year. Today we do not follow 
the Moon for our calendar we follow the Sun completely but we still have 
months of approximately 30 days, which reflect the lunar cycle ( 29.5days).

Biblical symbolism is a very important part of Bible study and they give 
great insight into understanding the Kingdom of God. One has to have his 
or her foundation strong since these symbols cannot be taken literately 
for they at time have multiple representations. Let us take the Sun for 
example in today's scripture the Sun represents Christ [Lord] and the 
Moon represents the Men of God. We also see the Sun at times have other 
symbolism like in Ephesians 4:26 it represents grace. The scripture 
tries to tell us it is only by the grace of God we can forgive so till 
we have the grace of God on us we can forgive, the moment we reject the 
grace our hearts will harden and we will not be able to forgive and we 
will be in greater problem than the person who hurt us or has sinned 
against us.

Let me take today's scripture and expound on it before getting to 
today's message.

Habakkuk 3:11 [removing the italics] The sun, moon stood still in their 
habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, at the shining of 
thy glittering spear.

Habakkuk 3:11 [expounded] The Sun, Moon set in their dwelling: at the 
light of their division they went, at the brightness of thy lighting 
authority and mercy

[The word arrows comes from the root word division]

[A spear has 2 parts the staff which symbolizes authority and the spear 
head 'chaniyth' which comes from the word 'chanan' meaning mercy or favor].

In today's message the Lord is telling us as Men of god we should know 
where we stand and where Christ stands. When we dwell in our place we 
will do well and the Body of Christ (Church) will shine and will grow 
for His mercy / grace will increase.

We see when the opposite happens like written in Ecclesiastes 5:13-15. 
Men of God who do not dwelling place and gather riches for the efforts 
they do, then not only these riches do not stay in their hands or the 
hands of the children but these riches cause diseases unto them.

Let us remember the Moon has no light of its own for it is like a dead 
rock; but when it stands in the right place it comes alive with the 
light of the Sun.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we were dead in sin and set for destruction, it is only by your 
grace we are dead to sin and alive in You. Lord we pray we always 
remember we are nothing without You and it is only by grace and your 
plans in our lives we live and bloom. We thank You Lord for your mercies 
and for finding us worthy for the great riches of Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Psalms 72:17His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued 
as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall 
call him blessed.

Psalms 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give 
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk 
uprightly.

Ecclesiastes 5:13-15

13There is a sore evil [which] I have seen under the sun, [namely], 
riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and 
[there is] nothing in his hand.

15As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as 
he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away 
in his hand.

Ephesians 4:26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon 
your wrath:

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Who seeks glory, who judges?

John 8:50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and
judgeth.

In the Gospels we see Jesus never did anything to glorify Himself. As man
He knew it was not right for Him to seek glory. He always glorified the
Father and never Himself. He knew He will be glorified in the Father.

There is only one incident where Jesus did something and people glorified
Him and that was at the wedding at Canna. At this wedding He was obliged or
more of forced by His mother to do the miracle of turning water to wine. He
Himself would not have done the miracle but understood the desperation of
His mother therefore obliged her, that to with a reproof so that it gets
noted.

People think it was faith of Mary but if one understands whose wedding it
was then they would know it was not faith but desperation of Mary that
forced Jesus to turn the water to wine.

Understand the following situation

1) Mary was already at the marriage 3 days before Jesus and His disciples
arrived at the wedding. If she was guest what was she doing 3 days before?

2) Knowing the timid nature of Mary she would not have the person to order
people around at someone else’s marriage and also why would the laborers
listen to a guest.

3) How come Mary knew the viability of the huge jars which were necessary
for washing of the guest’s hands and feet as they enter the wedding, unless
she knew all who had to come had arrived.

4) The Bridegroom was not present at the table but was called for by the
governor of the feast.

5) Though many translations state both Jesus and His disciples were invited
to the wedding, but when we see the verb translated as ‘invited’ is
actually ‘called’ and is written in the 3rd person singular.

If one does an interlinear translation of each word then we see the
following

John 2:2 called but also the Jesus and the disciples himself into the
wedding.

So the literate meaning would mean Jesus was called to the wedding and He
took His disciples along which an invited guest does not do.

If ones studies Jewish culture with regards to wedding then one would know
it is the bride’s family which goes to the groom’s house and helps in
organizing the wedding banquet. In other words this was a marriage of one
of Mary’s daughters (she had more than one).

In today’s message we see Lord does not seek glory for Jesus says He does
not seek glory and He does what He sees His Father do.

Glory belongs to the Father and no one else. It is only those who are in
the Father will be glorified. The one who seeks glory is the one who is not
in the Father and it is that one who seeks division of the Kingdom of God
(judges).

Let us not be the ones who seek glory for ourselves, if we do then we are
not in the Father but in the one who is against the Kingdom of God. We
should always remember we will indeed be glorified but not on this earth
but in a much higher place that is in Heaven when we are in the Father by
our marriage in the Son.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You alone are worthy of glory and all glory belongs to You. We pray
we do not seek worldly glory but remember when we return to You we will
indeed be glorified in You and that glory is way beyond the glory on this
world. We pray Lord we always work to give all glory unto You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

[KJV] John 2:1-11

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the
mother of Jesus was there:

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have
no wine.

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is
not yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled
them up to the brim.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the
feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and
knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the
governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good
wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast
kept the good wine until now.

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

*[NAB] John 2:2* Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

John 8:49-51

49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do
dishonour me.

50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never
see death.

John 17:4-5

4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do.

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was.

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Who spoke to Paul?

Acts 22:8,9 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am
Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw
indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that
spake to me.

(Please bear this long mail for I had to give a lot of necessary references
since they are very important)

We see Jesus appeared as a bright light and not as a human unto Paul when
he was yet Saul. Even today we have Christ appearing to people especially
Muslims, and He has always been coming as a spirit being as in a bright
light with an outline of a human.

We also see Paul had not just one encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ even
in one of his other encounters where the Lord appears to him we see Paul
says an Angel of God appeared and yet says ‘whose I am, and whom I serve’ -
implying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again in the book of Revelation we see there are 3 places (in 1 chapter
noted twice) where the term Alpha and Omega (Beginning and End) is used.

In chapter 1 it shows the man Jesus Christ (hands pierced) as being the one
who states He is the Alpha and Omega. Here He states it twice.

In chapter 21 we see a Being seated on the Throne says He is the Alpha and
Omega and He also says He will be their God and they who overcome will be
His sons, thus indication God as Alpha and Omega.

Later in chapter 22 we see John was conversing with an Angel and was going
to bow to Him but this Angel forbids him and later it is this same Angel
who states He is the Alpha and Omega.

When I was reading the Dake’s Bible study reference book I read a comment
where Dake gave of the Lord Jesus Christ as being referred to an Angel,
when I read this sentence at first I thought this man was a heretic and I
almost stopped reading that Bible. I know of Jehovah Witnesses also
thinking in that direction. Later as I was doing my study I too saw that
the Lord Jesus Christ referred man, as Angel and also as God. This
tri-character of Him stands right from Genesis to Revelation thus caused me
to think, then came many questions but later the Lord answered all my
queries (over 2 years).

We need to keep certain fact on the Lord Jesus Christ:- He is God, He was
Son (yet unlike the Angels who were also called Sons of God), He was man,
He was not created, He existed from the beginning (like the Father), He has
life in Himself (eternal life exist in Himself while we get from Him), He
is Alpha and Omega, He humbled Himself and became our sacrifice, He was our
sacrifice from the beginning of the foundation of creation, He awaits when
He will return to the Father and when He will be again glorified in the
Father, He will come again for us and we will be in Him.

When we take all these factors we can start to understand the Lord Jesus
Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ was not created like other life beings for He came
from the Father and thus being God yet He called the Father God. He is from
the beginning as the Father is, since He has all the characteristics of the
Father (since He came from the Father). He humbled Himself and became man.
In His second coming He will return as He went (as man) and will take us to
the Father. We will be in Him (Heavenly marriage) and He in the Father
(return to His glorified self before He humbled Himself).

My next question was when did He humble Himself and when did He become man?
We all know when He became man. But yet there were questions when did He
humbled Himself and what did be become when He humbled Himself and had not
yet come as man in the flesh? Then I came across the scripture ‘the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world (creation)’ pointing to His humbling
and becoming a willing sacrifice even before man was created or sinned.

My further questions got answered easily when I understood man and what man
is - a spirit being having a soul and living in a body of flesh. Jesus said
when we die we are (as) like the Angels. We also see in Revelation man and
Angels are equated as same. Angels as called Sons of God and we await the
moment when we become Sons of God (it is a process wherein the image of God
is perfected in us).

When we understand this we will understand why Angels call themselves our
brethren or fellow servants. We also understand as human how the Lord was
truly human and when He said He overcame as human, He meant it.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we cannot comprehend the things that You have done for us. It is so
true when John wrote that if all that You did is written there would not be
sufficient writing material in the whole world to hold it. Your love O Lord
is manifested on the cross but what we see on the cross is not even a
portion of your love. We pray Lord You open the eyes of your people and let
them know You and have power in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto
me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that
have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.

Revelation 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.

Revelation 1:7-8,10-18

7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of
him. Even so, Amen.

8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great
voice, as of a trumpet,

11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou
seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in
Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira,
and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I
saw seven golden candlesticks;

13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with
a golden girdle.

14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his
eyes were as a flame of fire;

15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice as the sound of many waters.

16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a
sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength.

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right
hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for
evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Revelation 21:5-7

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and
he shall be my son.

Revelation 22:8-13

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and
seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me
these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant,
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of
this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this
book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every
man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel,
removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before
their face, and stood behind them:

Acts 7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the
wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

Daniel 12:5-9

5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on
this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank
of the river.

6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of
the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the
river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and
sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and
an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the
holy people, all these things shall be finished.

8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be
the end of these things?

9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed
till the time of the end.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first:

Daniel 12:1-4

1 And at that time shall Michael [means ‘one who is like God’] stand up,
the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there
shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even
to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every
one that shall be found written in the book.

2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the
time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased.

Revelation 20:7-15

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number
of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire.

Revelation 12:7-9

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that
are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Acts 10:3-4

3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of
God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial
before God.

Acts 27:23-24

23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom
I serve,

24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo,
God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Revelation 10:1-3

1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a
cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the
sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot
upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had
cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

Revelation 4:2-5

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in
heaven, and one sat on the throne.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and
there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the
seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and
they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices:
and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the
seven Spirits of God.

-- 

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

O Theophilus

[KJV] Acts 1:1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that 
Jesus began both to do and teach,

In different translations we see this scripture written differently. 
What I stated above is the KJV AV version.

[NASB] Acts 1:1The first accounts have I composed, O Theophilus, about 
all that Jesus began to do and teach,

[ESV] Acts 1:1In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all 
that Jesus began to do and teach,

[ASV] Acts 1:1The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all 
that Jesus began both to do and to teach,

What we see in all the versions even though they translate the sentence 
different yet the Greek word 'Theophilus' they do not translate thus 
projecting it as a title or status. This word is a compound word made of 
2 words 'Theo' and 'Philo'. Theo means God or accurately Deity (Greeks 
had many gods so their term is likewise) and 'Philo'. This word 'Philo' 
/ 'Phileo' (together occur in the NT 54 times not counting the compound 
usage of these words) has been translated in many ways in the Bible 
sometimes as friend (29 times), to love (22 times) and to kiss (3 
times). But this word has another meaning which is not projected that is 
associate. In Greek friend or mate is written 'hetairos' and is used in 
4 scriptures.

To understand what meaning is to be used friend or love or kiss we need 
to understand the terms. Here we see 3 terms friend, love or kiss [they 
project the same emotion] and associate [which is not used]. The problem 
in scriptures is between usage of the term friend and associate for 
there are some scriptures where in instead of using associate they have 
used the term friend. The only way out is to take the meaning of the 
word from where they come from.

When the Lord made me understand friendship I was surprised. Friend is a 
social relationship between two people who are not related. It talks of 
the coordinal or good relationship between 2 people. There are some 
problems with this relationship. This relationship is not forever and 
till the two are on the same grounds or mindset the relationship exist. 
The moment one of the parties thinks likewise this relationship shakes 
and may even break. It is unlike being a brother or sister or brethren 
which is not something that can be broken unless the person leaves that 
family.

If you see in James 2:23 we see it is translated as Abraham is called 
friend of God. Now this scripture is referring to Isaiah 41:8 and 2 
Chronicles 20:7 which uses the Hebrew word 'ahab' which means lover or 
love. So we see in all these 3 scriptures Abraham is not called 'friend 
of God' but 'lover of God'. We are called His Bride because or spiritual 
father is also called His lover.

Now coming to John 15 where the word 'friend' is used. If you look at 
the context of the topic Jesus is talking about growing fruits and His 
Fathers business (growing fruits). Now business is not something you 
discuss or involve friends in. We may consult them only if they have the 
required experience, wisdom or knowledge or understanding but not every 
friend is discussed on business matters. If a friend is part of our 
business he becomes our business partner or associate but not business 
friend.

When we understand the meaning of an associate in business we will 
understand our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In an associate 
company the company is headed by an individual under whose name the 
company is primarily registered under. He provides all the main 
resources to that organization. The associate partners work under his 
name. Even though they work under his name yet they are themselves 
owners of that company and the profits of that company are divided 
between the main owner and the associates as per the business the 
associate brings in.

In the Bible we are called Israel which means Princes of God and we see 
Jesus is also referred as Chief Prince ('archegos' [occurs 3 times] but 
translated as 'prince' which is actually 'archon') . As man He was the 
corner stone and chief or head of us.

Under God's Kingdom is serious business and good harvest [fruits] is our 
business aim. We work under the Name of Lord Jesus Christ and yet we all 
are co-owners of this business. When time comes in Heaven we will all 
receive the riches of the business we do here on earth.

So if we translate today's scripture it stands as

Acts 1:1The true words have I recorded, O Associate of God, of all that 
Jesus began both to do and teach,

In today's message we see Luke uses the term Theophilus meaning 
Associate of God. He does use this term for himself but states the book 
of Acts is for those who are associates of God, so as to know of the 
business of the Kingdom of God. Luke, Paul and the other disciples 
listed in Acts did a good job as associates, can we call ourselves 
Theophilus?And if we do let us look at what mission we are assigned in 
the business of the Kingdom of God, and are we doing well in the business?

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You made us beautiful and in your image. Even though we are like 
minute worms compared to You yet called us to be Sons and Partners of 
the Kingdom of God. Lord we pray we know what it means to be your Son, 
Lover, Bride and Partner...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

2 Chronicles 20:7Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the 
inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the 
seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

Isaiah 41:8But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, 
the seed of Abraham my friend.

James 2:23And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed 
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called 
the Friend of God.

Acts 3:15And killed the Prince ['archegos'] of life, whom God hath 
raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Acts 5: 31Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince 
['archegos'] and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and 
forgiveness of sins.

Revelation 1:5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and 
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the 
earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

-- 
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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

You too!

Matthew 23:27,28Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye 
are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, 
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so 
ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of 
hypocrisy and iniquity.

There was one lot of people whom Jesus could not stand and that were the 
religious people, He reached out to the sinners, robbers, murders etc. 
but religious people just got to His nerves so He would always answer 
them with questions. Jesus in this scripture compares the religious 
leaders as white wash tombs.

Visit a cemetery and you will see graves dressed with beautiful looking 
statutes and gardens. When I was not in the Lord and my father had 
expired I designed his grave on computer using CAD software and did it 
more of a modern design (since I did not have the money to buy huge 
statues to decorate it). It was so good that the person doing it himself 
took extra interest to make it and show everyone (many copied it); even 
after it was done he would visit and update me if any issue every time I 
would visit there. Everyone though it was my great love for my father, I 
too thought so but later I knew it was my ignorance and lack of 
knowledge. Once I understood life and death, and things of the kingdom 
of God I realized no one is any one's once a person dies and what 
remains with us is just the life story of that person. All our earthly 
relations perish with our bodies and only what exist is our relationship 
in Christ if we are in Christ.

When I came to understand the truth I stopped visiting the grave. Some 
thought because I was no longer Catholic I had become hard and was 
ungrateful to my father. But had I continued to do what I did then what 
would have been buried there would not be my father's remains but the 
truth and that would have hardened me from inside and soon I would have 
been the greater grave and not those stones.

All ignorant people who practice religion are not religious people but 
those who are aware of the truth and due to worldly reason continue 
doing the traditions of man which are contrary to the truth are 
religious people. The Sadducees and Pharisees did not know God but were 
people who had some knowledge of the truth but for worldly reasons 
became like graves, outside clean and beautiful and inside spiritually 
dead. To start with they were not like that, they may have had a genuine 
thirst for the Lord but some religious person caught them and over a 
period of time made them like them or worse than them. You may say they 
would be innocent; sure they will be till the time they realize they are 
wrong and yet choose to continue.

Take for example yesterday's mail I had people (some Catholics) respond 
to it with justification or attacking me even though they read it and it 
convicted them yet they replied to suppress their gilt. If they continue 
doing what they are doing even after knowing the truth do they have a 
justification towards God? Can they say to God they were innocent and 
did not know? Would not God be justified to call them 'God haters'?

Today the Lord is telling us it is not just those who wear white robes 
and show they are doing God's work but in reality are inside spiritually 
dead like graves, but also those who follow them and do not inquire with 
the Lord get counted as dead graves.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray that people have a living conscience and that they do not 
kill this conscience doing religious activity. We pray the fear of God 
in their lives. We pray they seek You in Spirit and truth and not in 
traditions or praises of men...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 22:29-30

29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the 
scriptures, nor the power of God.

30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, 
but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Revelation 21:17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty 
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Matthew 23:15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye 
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make 
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Why cover our nakedness?

Mark 14:51, 52And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen 
cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: And 
he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

There are people who promote showing skin as not bad since God created 
us beautiful being. There is this worldly saying 'if you have it flaunt 
it'. In some countries Christians have gone overboard that they hold 
service in the name of worshiping God where the congregation attends in 
the buff, wearing nothing.

There is also the larger question of how much skin to show? What is 
decency and what is indecency?Where does man draw the line and say 
enough? These questions cannot be answered by moral rules or laws but 
only by the Word of God for nakedness came into existence due to the 
existence of the Law of God (you may wonder how?).

When God created man and woman there was no sin in them and they did not 
wear clothes and never felt naked basically because flesh had no hold on 
them. But when sin came in them they realized they were trapped in the 
body of flesh and because flesh had a hold of them they tried to cover 
certain parts of their body, it is then the term nakedness came into 
existence (every part /organ of the human anatomy is made according to 
design understanding it will reveal spiritual things). Jesus showed He 
overcame sin by transfiguring and this was also the reason He was 
crucified on the cross without clothes. We cannot use the word 'naked' 
for Him on the cross even though there was no clothes on Him since no 
sin was / is in Him.

We see in the book of Moses the Lord tells the priests not to make steps 
to the tabernacle but make a sloping ramp so that their nakedness was 
not seen. God was not man to peek from below to see their nakedness. 
There are 2 dimensions to this verse, one natural and one spiritual.

In the natural at that time the men wore a gown same like the women but 
the gown of the men were slight shorter to the women. God said this so 
that the people do not see the nakedness of His representatives as they 
climbed the height. In reality we hide our nakedness from each other and 
not from God because God can see through anything and through time.

In the spiritual dimension steps symbolize prosperity and God knew 
worldly prosperity brings out the carnal nakedness of man. That is why 
God set a long duration of time for man to gradually grow and come to 
Him for if He had shorten this man would have spiritual nakedness. When 
man knows something a little quickly, he thinks he knows all and then 
shows his spiritual nakedness.

When we dress are we fully covered or party covered is not the question 
we should ask but we should ask is our nakedness visible to others? Let 
us also remember other than our natural nakedness let us cover our 
spiritual nakedness more. The Lord says on Judgment Day those who show 
their spiritual nakedness to their brethren will be cut off (will not 
enter Heaven).

[Prayer Starter]

Lord people do not understand nakedness since they do not know the 
meaning of righteousness. We pray Lord that they do not go the norms of 
modesty but spiritually open their eyes and see even if they are fully 
covered they could be showing their nakedness. We also pray they more 
cover their spiritual nakedness and have fear of Hell fire...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Corinthians 4:10-13

10We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are 
weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

11Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, 
and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

12And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being 
persecuted, we suffer it:

13Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and 
are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

2 Corinthians 5:2-3

2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our 
house which is from heaven:

3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

Exodus 20:26Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy 
nakedness be not discovered thereon.

Exodus 28:42And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their 
nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:

Leviticus 18:6-18,29

6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to 
uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

7The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou 
not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

8The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy 
father's nakedness.

9The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of 
thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their 
nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

10The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, 
even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own 
nakedness.

11The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, 
she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

12Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is 
thy father's near kinswoman.

13Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she 
is thy mother's near kinswoman.

14Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou 
shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

15Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is 
thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

16Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy 
brother's nakedness.

17Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, 
neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, 
to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

18Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover 
her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

29For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls 
that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Yet a lot to be known of Him and His Kingdom

1 Corinthians 13:12 - For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face
to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

When I came into the Lord, the Lord started teaching me through dreams and
vision and being spiritually immature at that time, every time I used to
get a revelation I could not hold back so the people I met that day I would
share with them and they not being rooted in the Word or in His Spirit
would be shaken. Time and again I would get nasty comments like stones
thrown at me calling me crazy, heretic, having another spirit etc... But
the strong passion for the Lord which was in my bones did not let these
people dismay me and their insults bring me down. Although at times they
did manage to discourage me for a short time but then my God who is
faithful in those moments would give a super boost in way of revelation or
great miracle and I would be on double fire for Him.

Today even though many appreciate the knowledge, wisdom and understanding
the Lord has blessed me with, with regards to His Kingdom and Him yet all
is not well. I do hear some times (though very rare) those same comments.
Of late a few weeks back a brother told me ‘are those Bible scholars
fools?’. Because I admired his knowledge I was setback but then my Lord
gave me a super dose of revelation of something which I was pursuing to
know form many years and then I was back on super fire for Him.

If someone tells you, you need to only follow what the church teaches you
or that which is already written by Bible scholars then that person does
not know the Word of God and is a religious person not led by the Spirit of
God. The Spirit of God being one is still 7 and the Spirit promised to us
when we are baptized in Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Truth. As we are
baptized in the Spirit of God and grow we get more of Him and also of the
other Spirits of 7 Spirits. It is the Spirit of the Lord who reveals the
Word, who Jesus Christ is and who the Father is.

Take for example the fact Jesus Christ is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord and
the Father is Lord yet God is only one (there is nothing like triune God in
Heaven). Till date I have not come any person who has been able to
understand this for they did not know the difference between Son of God and
God the Son, they did not know what son means in spirit, they do not know
the meaning of spirit and they do not know how God being Spirit yet He has
given His Spirit to us (how could Spirit have a Spirit).

Men have been doing pick and choose what to believe and what not to
believe. Scriptures that do not get digested from scriptures he ignores or
overlooks as tradition or casual comments.

In today’s message Paul a man firmly rooted in the knowledge and
understanding of the Kingdom of God and admired even by the other apostles
for his knowledge and understanding, himself says he was on the learning
process. Paul knew but also knew what he knew was too little to the things
that were to be known of the Kingdom of God.

Understand one thing the day we fully know the Word of God and the Truth is
fully revealed to us, man will transfigured / rapture and the end will
come. If we are not transfiguring or rapturing then we are far from the
Truth. So let us pursue the Truth and not let people discourage us in our
thirst of the knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray we have a fire in our bones like Jeremiah had in him. Let
that fire not be quenched by the discouragement of others or their insults.
Lord until our eyes close permanently to sleep in You, let them always seek
to see more and more of You and your Kingdom...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Revelation 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings
and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the seven Spirits of God.

Zechariah 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have
looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of
it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which
are upon the top thereof:

Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently:

1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not
by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Ephesians 4:4-6

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of
your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, and tremble.

Revelation 22:3-5

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb
[the word used here is not lamb as in an animal but speaks of man] shall be
in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign
for ever and ever.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Being one from within

Philippians 2:2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same 
love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Last weekend I was ministering to a youth fellowship of a Gujarati 
Church and I was so touched by their love and respect for each other. I 
would not say they were perfect but what I saw in them is they came to 
the level of the other in every way, thus they could relate to the other 
as their own.

We Christians have true knowledge and understanding of the Truth yet the 
way of life of the west has got fused into us and we have associated 
western culture or way of life to the belief like the Jews did. The Jews 
had a way of dressing of living their life and they hated those of north 
Israel (whom they called Samaritans) since they did not follow 
traditional Jewish culture or beliefs.

We as Christians think being Christian means being independent and open 
minded. We get so independent that we land up being prisoners of our own 
selves. Our thinking gets open and open that we land up almost 360 
degrees than later we realize we do not think at all (0 degrees).

No one can be converted to become a Christian. Christianity is not 
change of religion but change of life. That does not mean we need to put 
on something new. The word used as 'new man' or 'new creation' does not 
talk of new but talks of a renewed man, a man reconciled to God to 
become again what God made him in the beginning. It means we need to 
remove the garbage, directly or indirectly induced in us by this world, 
via us or via our forefathers, for when God created us we were made in 
the image of God and this image got corrupted.

We do not need to look to others for perfection but look within 
ourselves and to know what this perfection looks like, we can see Jesus 
Christ.

Do we discard furniture which has dust collected on it? Then why do we 
dislike people? Are people worth less than objects?

Let us look inside people and see that which is created by God in them 
and love them for who and what they are inside, not trying to make them 
like ourselves or like people we look up to.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord God when You created men and women in the beginning You said You 
created them in your image and they were identical. It is only in the 
flesh we have differences or gender and physical looks. Lord when we 
look at our brethren let us not go by what we see but go by what in 
within them that which is not visible...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 1: 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 
created he him; male and female created he them (male gender plural).

Matthew 9:16-17

16No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that 
which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is 
made worse.

17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, 
and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine 
into new bottles, and both are preserved.

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we 
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things 
are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, 
not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the 
word of reconciliation.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

The day Mary's faith was shaken

Mark 3:30, 31Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. There came 
then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, 
calling him.

We all have been told about the faith about Abraham and the faith of 
Mary. But faith just did not come easy, Abraham was a person who 
suffered 25years so that his faith was made strong and Mary the mother 
of Jesus too was not perfect in her faith even though she sacrificed her 
reputation of becoming a mother for the Lord before married (she was 
encouraged with the testimony of her cousin for God knew her weakness).

In today's message we read the lowest point of her faith in her Lord and 
son whom she knew so well. Even though she had personal visitation of 
Angels and she saw the great miracles that her son did and personally 
spend more time with Him in his childhood than anyone else yet the 
gossip of people did affect her.

You may think I am misconnecting the scripture. If you take the 
following points:-

1) Mark 3:30 talks of people accusing of Jesus operation or having a 
demon in Him

2) Mark 3:31 starts with 'there came then'. The word 'then' shows a 
continuation of flow of events.

3) Mary comes not alone but with her sons may be two or three (for the 
word is plural).

4) Mary came to meet / see Jesus and was restless to see Him so much so 
she does not wait for Jesus to finish His teaching but goes to the 
extent to disturb Him by sending a word inside that they are waiting 
outside.

5) Jesus does not respond to this message immediately by going out. In 
fact Jesus questions who is His mother and His brothers, almost 
disassociating Himself with them in anger (like He got angry when Mary 
asked Him for a miracle at the wedding of Canna).

I am not trying to belittle the mother of Jesus but understand she was 
as weak as any woman. Secondly she was chosen to bear the child for God 
(like a surrogate mother). She was indeed a pious woman dedicated to 
God, but then she was not Woman of God evangelizing or having a Calling 
in the Lord like the Prophets or Apostles or Teachers or Evangelist etc. 
We see in book of Acts she is hardly mentioned, either she may have died 
(she has a tomb still existing today) immediately or she took the back 
seat due to old age.

If you compare between the various Marys that were with Jesus during His 
ministry of 3 years (as recorded in the Gospels) we see Mary the 
Magdalene had more affection and love for Jesus (mind you she was not a 
young woman she had a history of many marriages, a life of prostitution 
and had suffered of many spirits before Jesus saved her from being 
stoned by the Jews). Jesus called her 'Mary' in an affectionate way 
giving her the respect of a mother like He also did to Salome His 
mother's sister.

Compared to Mary we see Abraham was made perfect in his faith and did 
not fail the test that is why he is called father of (and by) faith. 
Abraham is called the father of nations but Mary is neither referred to 
in any way or given any title by the Apostles or writers of the Bible, 
other than recordings of the Gospels, nor was she involved in the 
building of the Church in any way.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord let us not lift people up before, for You Lord bring down those who 
are lifted up above You. You Lord knew what people would do and like You 
hid the body of Moses from the Jews, so also You made sure these 
incidents were recorded where a human would be made into a goddess by 
people who call themselves your people. You Lord also spoke through the 
Prophet Simone how people would the soul of Mary (after her death) would 
be pierced by the spiritual fornication that people would do in her 
name. You Lord allowed this to expose the 'Christian' idolaters. Lord we 
pray these people know no one was and is perfect other that You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Mark 3:22-35

22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath 
Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can 
Satan cast out Satan?

24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, 
but hath an end.

27No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, 
except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of 
men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never 
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, 
sent unto him, calling him.

32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy 
mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, 
Behold my mother and my brethren!

35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my 
sister, and mother.

Romans 4:3-5,16-18

3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted 
unto him for righteousness.

4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the 
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the 
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the 
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the 
father of us all,

17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before 
him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth 
those things which be not as though they were.

18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of 
many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

Luke 2:35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the 
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Continuing on Lord Jesus Christ

Luke 20:40And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

In my last message I spoke on who Jesus Christ is and about man. Today 
the Lord is continuing on that topic and we need to read Luke 20:34-47 
to get the background of today's message.

Jesus points to certain facts

Our earthly relationships are attached unto this world only and after 
death / resurrection our earthly relationships do not continue. That 
means when we die we are no man's father, mother, sister, daughter or son.

Jesus justifies this understanding by saying we will become Angels and 
Angels do not have any internal relationship other than brothers 
(brethren) for they have no genders other than Sons (not to be confused 
with earthly male gender). Since we will be Angels which have only one 
spirit gender that is male (Sons of God) that means when Mary the mother 
of Jesus resurrects (note she has a tomb in Israel and has not ascended) 
she too will be a Son of God (an Angel) and no mother or daughter or 
wife of any man.

When Jesus said God is God of the living and not the dead it does not 
mean the dead have other gods or Satan is their god. The word spirit 
means life and when Jesus said God is Spirit it means God is Life and 
the source of all life. The life we have comes from God and our lives 
have a time span and cannot live forever, but Life of God is forever. 
For us to live eternally God made provision in Heaven via the Tree of 
Life (which gives a renewal of life span) thus only those who enter 
Heaven are the ones who get to live eternally and those who do not are 
set to perish slowly, suffer and die. These are the ones whom God says 
He is not their God since He has disconnected life feed from them (what 
they have they use up).

Coming to Himself as human (Son of David), although He was 100 percent 
human on earth yet the Spirit that dwelled in that body was the Part of 
God that humbled Himself, so He was Son of Man as man yet Lord of all 
mankind in Spirit (glorified Being). But since He humbled Himself He was 
void of any divine powers. So Jesus born of Mary can be understood 
clearly by understanding a surrogate birth, thus even though she was 
virgin and with sin yet nothing of her influenced the child in her womb 
(that is why Jesus directly referred to her as 'woman' and indirectly as 
'mother', also when He died and went to Hell she was not referred as 
mother of Jesus but mother of Joses and James).

We see Jesus in all boldness in front of the scribes and other people 
warns His disciples to beware of the understanding of these so called 
religious people. Here we see no word Pharisees or Sadducees is used but 
the word scribes for they came together (Chief priest was part of this 
team even though not physically present). Pharisees were people who 
worked on signs and wonders and the Sadducees of knowledge and 
understanding and both of them were far from God and far from His 
understanding.

In today's world we see the same situation among Christians. A part of 
them run after signs and wonders and another part after 'Bible' 
knowledge but both sadly are far from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and 
the Kingdom of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord in the Old Testament You spoke to the Prophets and your people 
through dark clouds and thus even though they communicated with You yet 
they did not know You fully nor know your plans in their lives. We pray 
Lord You remove these dark clouds and may your people know You and know 
your plans in their lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 20:34-47

34And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, 
and are given in marriage:

35But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the 
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and 
are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

37Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he 
calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God 
of Jacob.

38For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

39Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

40And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

41And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?

42And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my 
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

43Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

44David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

45Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love 
greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and 
the chief rooms at feasts;

47Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the 
same shall receive greater damnation.

John 2:4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine 
hour is not yet come.

Mark 15:40There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary 
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

Matthew 27:56Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of 
James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Revelation 21:17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty 
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Revelation 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto 
me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that 
have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is 
the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 22:9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy 
fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep 
the sayings of this book: worship God.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Do you know Him?

John 9:9 - Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he 
said, I am he.

I got this message 2 days back and thought of sending a short message 
but then that would please but not edify anyone. So I took the courage 
to try and picture who the Lord Jesus Christ is in an as short as 
possible message (I know it is a little long please read carefully and 
also do not skip the scriptures).

In Bible study there are 4 stages or levels (Isaiah 28:9-11 Commentary, 
Cross Reference, Word and the Advance level). Most are in the first 
stage and few are in the second stage and even fewer are in the third 
stage. Most Bible colleges teach the first and second stage and rarely 
touch the third stage and it is very rare I find anyone in the fourth 
stage of Bible study.

Some time back I was very happy to meet a brother who has immense 
knowledge of the Bible and was touching on the fourth stage of Bible 
study. When I interacted with him, he told me he loved to study about 
these aspects of the Bible which gives a bird's eye view of the Word of 
God and true direction of His plans. But then one day we were discussing 
some topic and then this brother stumbled on who Jesus was? (This sadden 
me so much) He had the understanding Jesus was God as well as man when 
He was man on earth for there was scriptures where He is declared Lord 
and there are scriptures which state Him as Son of Man. But then there 
is also the scripture if we do not declared Him as being (fully) man in 
the flesh then we do so by the spirit of the antichrist. Now all cannot 
be true together.

The biggest problem I see is, Christians do not have a clear definition 
of what man is and due to that they stumble on who Lord Jesus Christ is. 
In simple words a human is a spirit being living in a body of flesh and 
the moment the spirit comes alive in the flesh so does his soul 
(inner-man) come alive (become moldable).While the spirit is in the body 
till then the inner-man is moldable like clay on a potter's wheel. The 
understanding of this world can shape this clay or Satan or God can 
affect the shape of this clay. The moment a person dies the spirit 
remains alive but the inner-man freezes or stiffens like a dried clay 
pot. We are all judged according to what we do with our inner-man.

The day man overcomes in other word get back the image of God which was 
lost due to sin (we overcome collectively not individually like Jesus 
did) man will be able to go to Heaven. Bible says the spirit being in 
man is the same as the Angels, so each and every one of us are angels 
waiting to be set free from these corrupt bodies. Those whose inner-man 
is shaped in the image of God will become like the Angels of Haven - 
Sons of God. Those who do not have the image of God become like the 
fallen angels and thus see destruction on Judgment Day.

When defining the Lord Jesus Christ I simply put as God who humbled 
Himself and came as man. Paul put the definition also in Philippians 
2:5-11.

We need to account this one fact - Jesus was God yet as man. That means 
He was 100percent man as man even though He was God and this was 
possible because He humbled Himself. Almost all do not take into account 
the fact as to when He humbled Himself. Bible says He became a sacrifice 
in the beginning of creation. That means even before we or this universe 
was created God was aware man would sin and He needed to prepare a 
sacrifice for the sin and return of man. Now if anyone as an idea of 
creation then one would have a true account of the love of God. The love 
manifested on the crucifix was not even a part of the love of God and 
this love cannot be conceptualized.

So even though Jesus was like us 100 percent in the flesh yet His Spirit 
was not human spirit but a part of God which had humbled Himself. So 
being God in the flesh yet He was void of divine powers. That means He 
lived on earth as man, overcame as a man, suffered and man, died as man 
and resurrected as man and awaits us until Judgment Day when He will 
come again as man to take us to Heaven where He no longer continue to be 
man but will be God again (united back to the Father and us in Him).

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, Your Word is called the instructions of life and was given to give 
life unto us. Lord your Wisdom and Love is un-comprehendible. Lord the 
wise cannot and will not be able to know you, it is your grace that 
comes through faith that allows us to know You and be blessed in You. 
Lord we pray you open the eyes and touch the hearts of your people that 
they may know You and be blessed in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Isaiah 28:9-11

9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand 
doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon 
line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

Philippians 2:5-11

5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a 
servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which 
is above every name:

10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, 
and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father.

1 John 4:3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, 
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in 
the world.

John 5:26-29

26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to 
have life in himself;

27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is 
the Son of man.

28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are 
in the graves shall hear his voice,

29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection 
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

John 20:28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

John 10:30I and my Father are one.

Matthew 25:34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, 
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world:

Ephesians 1:4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation 
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Hebrews 4:3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As 
I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the 
works were finished from the foundation of the world.

1 Peter 1:20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the 
world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Revelation 13:8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, 
whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world.

Revelation 21:17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty 
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Luke 20:36Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the 
angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Exodus 3:2And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire 
out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned 
with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

Exodus 3:4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called 
unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he 
said, Here am I.

Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, 
and whom I serve,

1 Thessalonians 4:16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with 
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Revelation 22:6-13

6And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord 
God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the 
things which must shortly be done.

7Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the 
prophecy of this book.

8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and 
seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed 
me these things.

9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, 
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book: worship God.

10And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book: for the time is at hand.

11He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, 
let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous 
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every 
man according as his work shall be.

13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

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Love the flag of a Christian

Philippians 2: 4,5 Look not every man on his own things, but every man
also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus:

Jesus said to be His disciples we need to follow Him, and in today's
message Paul points to one of the most important factors of Christ Jesus
that is love. Paul in his letters always projected love as above all the
other Fruits of the Spirit and even goes to the extent of seeming to say
all others are in this one Fruit.

When we use the word fruit we use it as if it is an adjective meaning
the 'outcome' or 'result' like beauty, height, built etc... But the word
'fruit' is a noun it means an object as in that which grows on trees. In
scriptures the Greek word is 'Karpos' here also is a noun. So when a
tree is known by its fruit He did not mean the results but a product,
something that exist and is there. The Greek word 'Karpos' comes from
the root word 'Harpas' which means 'to catch up', or 'seige', or 'take
by force'.

In spirit world Fruits of the Spirit are not abstract but more real than
objects of this world. Objects of this world can change form like mater
to energy or vice-versa but in spirit world Fruits of the Spirit are
constant even though they increase or decrease. Fruit does not change
from one Fruit to another. Fruits of the Spirit are mentioned in the Old
Testament as well as the New Testament. In the Old Testament since the
Spirit of God was not given to mankind (Church but few did have) thus
details was not revealed fully but was in shadow. Paul understood them
well thus did not put all together in Galatians 5:22-23 but listed 3
separately in Ephesians 5:9. Revelations goes on to reveal Heaven is
made of the 12 Fruits.

Now coming to this Fruit named love, due to world programing we
associate love to emotion or feeling or compassion, but we see in some
Bible translation this very word has been more appropriately translated
as 'charity'. We are always told the Greek words Agape as 'God kind
love' and Agapo / Philo as 'human kind love', which is wrong. Agapo is a
conjugation of Agape and means 'I love', Philo on other hand mean more
as friend / associate and may be used also as like.

In simple terms the world did not know love until God humbled Himself
and came as man and showed us the true meaning of love. Even though we
claim to love people, we need know love is not about pleasing people or
making them happy. Love is not love if it does not edify or build people
and to do that one needs understanding of the Truth. Therefore it is
impossible to love a person without the power of the Holy Spirit (the
Spirit of Truth).

Love of Christ was manifested on the crucifix but understand the
crucifix did and does not please man in fact it has become the greatest
stumbling block to mankind also the true love of Jesus Christ is really
known by the fact that He humbled Himself and became a sacrifice for us
from the beginning of creation. It does not mean that He just
volunteered to suffer and die for us on the crucifix. When we read in
books of Moses when an animal was marked for a sacrifice it was not
allowed freedom and was separated from the rest. You will understand
what happened with the Lord Jesus Christ from His prayer in John 17. So
we see since the Fruit of love is manifested most and we have salvation
due to this Fruit although the Fruit of Righteousness, Holiness and
Truth have greater value in Heaven.

Today's message tells us if we have love in us we should be like Christ,
we should reach out to others and live less for ourselves.

Yesterday India celebrated its Independent and the flag of the country
was hosted in many places. The flag handled with respect and raised high
up declaring our pride as Indians I a free country. When any Indian goes
abroad and has this flag displayed, people know that person is most
probably an Indian. In a similar way love is the flag of Christians. Let
us show we are Christians by raising the flag of love for all to see and
know us.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray Christians understand that the meaning of love and that how
it is the flag that identifies us from the rest of the world. Lord we
pray your people reach out to others. We pray Christians do not be
misguided in thinking by pleasing people they love them...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 7:17-20

17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.

18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.

19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast
into the fire.

20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Galatians 5:22-23

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,

23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Ephesians 5;9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness [holiness]
and righteousness and truth;)

Revelation 22:17-20

17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four
cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was
pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all
manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second,
sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the
eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the
eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Exodus 28:15-22

15And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work;
after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of
purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

16Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length
thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

17And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones:
the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall
be the first row.

18And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

19And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.

20And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be
set in gold in their inclosings.

21And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel,
twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every
one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

22And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of
wreathen work of pure gold.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Sin, death, light and darkness

Romans 5:11,12And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as 
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death 
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

As Christian we have no problem about believing that by the sacrifice of 
one Man our sins (sins of all those across thousands of years) who 
believed in Him are forgiven, but when a Muslim who believes in every 
man pays for his or her sin (even though their books say contrary), it 
causes one to think how is it possible. Jesus died and paid for our sins 
as man and not as God, so how does one man's sacrifice give atonement to 
billions?

As a Christian I would not dare to raise this question to any other 
Christian or elder, but I believed they knew and therefore if they are 
right then I too should be right. But as I grew in the Lord I realized 
most have no understanding of it and in the name of 'faith' they swallow 
this. It is good I did not sit on this 'faith' of others, I did take 
this up to the Lord and He did open my mind to understand it.

My questions got answered one by one. It all started with knowing God is 
Light and He existed from the beginning so how was there was darkness in 
the starting of the Bible? From where and how did this darkness come?

Secondly what does Son of God mean and why Jesus at times called Himself 
Son of God and at times also Son of Man even though Bible says it is the 
spirit of the antichrist which causes us to think Jesus was not 
100percent man when He was on earth.

Thirdly why were the fallen angels called Sons of God even though they 
had done wrong and only after Noah's flood were they called demons or 
Satan (its plural)?

Fourthly, how come one man's wrong doing affecting all generation? Is 
not God unjustified in imputing one man's wrong unto all generation? We 
may say okay God also justified many through one man's righteousness. 
Does that mean God corrected Himself therefore He is now ok?

Will we see Jesus in Heaven after He has redeemed man and returned to 
His glory which was before creation?

Lastly how are those before the Lord Jesus became man saved?

Let us not believe for the sake of believing. Faith does not mean 
blindly believing in something, hope does, but faith requires us to have 
understanding. And when that understanding gets firmly rooted in us then 
faith becomes authority. Jesus was not called man of faith but a man of 
authority.

Let us pursue understanding of the little things and these little 
understandings will make us understand the larger things of the Kingdom 
of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray your people stop behaving like the story of the ten blind 
men who went to know what an elephant is like. This is the reason why 
there are doctrine issues and why there is division in the Church. Lord 
we pray your people do not behave like cattle but the glorious creatures 
You designed them to be...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 1:29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, 
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1 Corinthians 15:45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a 
living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [produce life / alive] 
spirit.

1 John 4:3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, 
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in 
the world.

Matthew 7:21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father 
which is in heaven.

Matthew 10:22And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he 
that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Matthew 24:13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

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