Latest Audio - 2019-08-17
Jesus warned the disciples about end time religious deception… about wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes… and then He added…
“As It Was In The Days Of Noah”
Privately to His disciples, Christ explained:
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)
Jesus warned them against religious deception… about wars and rumours of wars, nations rising against nation, about famines, pestilences and earthquakes… ending this section by saying that;
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:4-14)
What Jesus warned them about were upcoming events. When the religious leaders of the day also asked Christ about the timing of the coming of His kingdom, He gave them a very different answer!
We must keep in mind that the religious leaders were always trying to trap Christ so that they could accuse Him before the Romans and get rid of Him. They saw Him as a threat to their leadership position.
The interesting point is that He then said to His disciples, apparently in the presence of the Pharisees…
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” (Luke 17:26-30)
In other words, to most of those alive at the time of the end of this age, the end would be sudden – and total - just as it was back in Noah’s time, and in Sodom and Gomorrah!
But people had been warned. Noah was around 100 years building the ark. He was a preacher of righteousness. God always warns.
God had His prophets warn both ancient Israel and Judah of their impending destruction but they would not listen - because all of mankind has been deceived by the god of this world, Satan the devil!
Right now, the warning is still available on several websites. We still have the warning given by Jesus Christ to His end time Apostle.
The Days Of Noah?
So what was life like just before the flood? Why did God destroy everything, except Noah and his family?
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart…
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:5-6, 11-13)
Dispelling The Myth
Education in our modern world aggressively promotes a totally materialistic view from evolution. According to this theory, man “emerged” in the dim and distant past from a monkey, shaking off the earlier green slime by a series of lucky mutations, to gradually become more and more “human”. His primitive way of life changing gradually over millions of years, to culminate in our “wonderful” society today!
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Man was created, a perfect physical/mental specimen. Since then, mankind has been steadily suffering detrimental mutations from what God created – DE-volution both physically and mentally – to end with this civilisation today, the final “de-generation”.
They might have had different technology pre-flood, but think: Our world today and its technology has all come about in the last 200 or so years.
The pre-flood era lasted for 1656 years. Back in pre-flood times people lived for around 900 years. They all spoke the same language. They were physically and mentally superior to us. Note what God said about people just after the flood, when they were building the tower of Babel:
“Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” (Genesis 11:6)
Remember what God said about their way of life…
“…every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
“The earth also was corrupt before God”
“…the earth was filled with violence.”
The whole earth itself was corrupt… the animals were corrupt…
“I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air;” (Genesis 6:7)
Had they been dabbling with genetic engineering?
The land, the animals and the people were corrupt – and the world was full of violence. Sounds a lot like our world today!
Corrupt Minds
Looking at today’s politically correct world, we can start to understand how corrupt things are. God created man, then He created woman. Simple. Two sexes. Not so today. Apparently people can now choose their own sex – even children as young as just three years old. Criticize the “politically correct brigade” at your peril, as the following entertainer soon found out.
“Mario Lopez is feeling the wrath of the outrage brigade after suggesting that kids as young as three years-old shouldn’t be deciding their own gender. He was instantly pronounced ‘dead’ by those for whom PC culture is a religion. The entertainer was forced to apologize on Wednesday, telling NBC his comments were ‘ignorant and insensitive’.” (rt.com)
Pornography: Corrupting Sex
The saying goes that our bodies are what we eat. On that basis, we will become mentally what we allow into our minds!
“Porn website visitors dominate that of Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined, a new survey has revealed. According to the infographic by new porn website Paint Bottle, around 30% of all data transferred across the Internet is porn, the Huffington Post reported.” (dnaindia.com)
Pornography: Corrupting Minds
Child trafficking is going on - and as the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein appears to reveal, at the highest levels of society!
Why? The following article provides the link;
“Given the ever-growing body of research, it can no longer be denied that repeated porn exposure has a tangible effect on consumers, and is connected to declining relationship satisfaction as well as various forms of exploitation. This isn’t a moral argument, it’s simply something to consider given the facts. There isn’t pornography over here, and trafficking over there… they’re interlinked.” (brainheartworld.org)
With A Perverted Mind, Anything Goes!
Now its “acceptable” for your daughter to be advised to get a job in the sex industry as a prostitute, according to this politician.
“A Liberal Democrat councillor said schools could suggest prostitution as a career choice for pupils, at a party conference. Dennis Parsons, chairman of the Cheltenham Lib Dems, made the off-hand suggestion at a special session in Brighton on sex work.
The father-of-five said school career advisors are currently not allowed to mention prostitution as a line of work, then added: ‘Why shouldn’t they?’ He also compared prostitution to accountancy in a debate to combat the stigma attached to sex work. Mr Parsons said: ‘The fact that we are asking “should we seek to prevent people entering sex work?” is part of the problem.’
‘You wouldn’t ask the question “should we prevent people becoming accountants?” You’d just take it for granted’.” (metro.co.uk)
Corrupt Science
The genetic engineering craze goes on and on. Having genetically modified much of the food we eat, now we start on the animal world!
“Scientists have successfully created the world’s first human-monkey embryo, paving the way towards using animals for human organ transplants. The experiment was conducted in China to avoid legal issues. If left to its own devices, the embryo would have grown into a monkey with human cells. However, in keeping with ethical standards, the scientists stopped the process long before the embryo was able to develop a central nervous system.
Still, the team had to travel to China to conduct the procedure, as it was in violation of Spanish law. Estrella Núñez, who collaborated on the project, told El Pais that ‘the results are very promising,’ stating that the experiment was a necessary first step towards developing human organs in animals that could be used in transplants.” (rt.com)
Corrupt Food
According to some, eating meat is unethical, ecologically selfish and unsustainable. “It’s wrong to eat meat” they cry, “eat vegetables”.
“Plant-based burger ‘Opens a New Window’ makers say their burgers are better for the planet than beef burgers. But are they better for their consumers’ health? The Meatless Farm claims its products are ‘almost indistinguishable from meat in terms of taste and texture’ and are 100 percent plant-based, which is basically the same thing that Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods say about their burgers.
“The trick to all of these meatless burgers is they want them to taste like real meat in order to convert traditional meat-eaters.
When they do that, they add processed chemicals to them, they add high sodium content to them because if something doesn’t taste salty, it doesn’t taste like real meat. From a nutritional aspect: this is still an indulgence. This is a processed food. This is a junk food. It just happens to be a vegetarian or vegan junk food.” (foxbusiness.com)
Corrupt Religion
It is hard to comment on the following article – it is so way off the scale. But as it is claimed that the writer is a “leading New Testament scholar” there is one point we need to notice, and that is the conclusion. She calls for… “a ban on all Bible reading until the Lord agrees to revise history to conform to her standards.”
This takes religious corruption to a whole new level.
“A leading New Testament scholar working at Unified Unity Divinity School has published a paper criticizing Jesus for a lack of diversity among the apostles He chose in the gospel accounts. The woman, Dr Diana T Manger, pointed out that Jesus only chose Jewish males, refusing to implement diversity quotas for his group of disciples.
‘Jesus chose all Jewish, cisgendered, able-bodied males: white supremacy, much?’ she said as she presented her paper before a group of progressive scholars who had promised not to disagree with her. ‘It’s obvious that Jesus was a nationalistic, xenophobic, hate-filled fearmonger.’ Dr Manger suggested that Jesus should have chosen more women, more transgender disciples, a disciple in a wheelchair, and at least one woman who is 1/1024th Native American.
Here is what God has to say…
“…this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” (Isaiah 30:9-11)
‘The sickeningly homogenous group of disciples should have looked more like the Burger King Kid’s Club,’ she said to applause. ‘It really hurts Jesus’s witness that he did not enforce 21st-century diversity quotas on his disciples,’ she said. Manger has called for a ban on all Bible reading until the Lord agrees to revise history to conform to her standards.” (12160.info)
Destroy The Family – Destroy The Nation
“Once upon a time, you had meaning. You knew you had meaning because you had a mom and a dad who told you so, a God who loved you, and a community that needed you. With the destruction of the family, the church, and the community, the reasons people have traditionally had for their very existence are in danger of receding into the past.
And the outcome is predictable: isolation, depression, anxiety, despondency, drug abuse, and death. Destroy the family, abandon the community, raze the church to the ground.
What could go wrong?
Everything!” (thefederalist.com)
An Epidemic Of Violence
“Whether administered by the knife or the gun, the UK and US are both experiencing epidemics of violence. However, the responses are the same on each side of the Atlantic: lots of finger pointing and few actual solutions. In the US, a pair of deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio killed more than 30 people over one weekend.
Across the Atlantic, the UK is grappling with an epidemic of its own. A routine traffic stop in London on Wednesday night turned bloody when a driver turned on police officers and allegedly hacked them with a machete, an incident becoming more familiar to the city’s law enforcement officers.” (rt.com)
Minds – Corrupted By Medical Drugs
“If you want to know the real reason why mass shootings are taking place, this is the ‘inconvenient truth’ the media won’t cover. Nearly every mass shooting incident in the last twenty years, and multiple other instances of suicide and isolated shootings all share one thing in common, and it’s not the weapons used. The overwhelming evidence points to the single largest common factor in all of these incidents is the fact that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point in the immediate past before they committed their crimes. Those focusing on further firearms bans or magazine restrictions are clearly focusing on the wrong issue and asking the wrong questions…” (patriotrising.com)
Corrupted Education
“We have raised an entire generation of Americans that have no respect for the law, and now we are reaping what we have sown. All over the nation young people are brazenly flouting the law, obstructing and assaulting law enforcement officers, and committing criminal acts in large groups. I think that ‘lawlessness’ is perhaps the best word to describe what is happening, and many believe that what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning”. (endoftheamericandream.com)
Corrupted Entertainment - ‘Demented And Evil’
When “entertainment” sinks to this level, it takes violence to a whole new level.
“A controversial movie about privileged vacationers hunting ‘deplorables’ for sport is ruffling feathers more than a month before its scheduled release and after tragic mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. ‘The Hunt’ is billed as a satire that follows wealthy thrill-seekers taking a private jet to a five-star resort where they embark on a ‘deeply rewarding’ expedition that involves hunting down and killing designated humans.
DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall told Fox News, ‘It says something sad about the state of the “entertainment” industry that this movie ever got conceived and produced. Hollywood clearly thinks it is OK to stereotype so-called deplorables and set them up for a hunt,’ McCall said.
Political satirist Tim Young said, ‘Why would anyone think it’s a great idea to have a movie about hunting down someone who doesn’t agree with them politically? It’s remarkable to me that the left blames Donald Trump’s rhetoric for violence, then literally spends millions to normalize the killing of people based on politics,’ Young told Fox News.” (foxnews.com)
“The Hunt involves hunting down and killing designated humans. The violent, gun-toting film revolves around a group of people from predominately Republican states being kidnapped and hunted for sport by liberal elites.
…characters in the film apparently refer to the victims as ‘deplorables’ - a term that Hillary Clinton infamously dubbed Trump supporters during the 2016 election.” (dailymail.co.uk)
USA: Destroyed By Civil War?
According to the following article, civil war in the USA is a distinct possibility.
“Renowned geopolitical and financial cycle expert Charles Nenner thinks the probability for war and civil unrest is coming around in an intense cycle not seen for decades. Nenner says, ‘Years ago when we talked about my war cycles, I said I am more worried about internal social war in the United States than outside wars. I think there is a bigger chance in the United States than in Europe. So, there is a cycle of social unrest in the United States, which is 60 years old. So, you go back to what happened in the 1960’s. It could explode, and I think it is going to explode, and there is going to be a major problem’.” (zerohedge.com)
The 1960’s - Human Nature – Minus Purpose!
Writing back in the 1960’s, Mr Armstrong explained why they were having all of these problems back then. We are now 60 years on and there is yet again an outburst of corruption and violence, but far more serious than back in the 1960’s. What Mr Armstrong wrote back in the 1960’s certainly applies to our world today – a world full of corruption and violence – just as it was in the days of Noah!
“Let’s understand the real basic reason for these present problems. Basically, it is simply human nature. Yet God endowed man with MIND power, capable of recognizing the error of this WAY, if willing. Adam could have obeyed God, resisted Satan and qualified to replace Satan as earth RULER, administering the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. But Adam disobeyed God, succumbed to Satan. His children have done so ever since.
Jesus Christ obeyed God, kept God’s Commandments, resisted Satan, never allowed what we call ‘human nature’ to enter Him. He conquered the devil, and qualified to administer the world-ruling GOVERNMENT OF GOD. Then He ascended to heaven to officially receive this world RULE. The heavens have received Him UNTIL – notice it, Acts 3:19-21, only ‘UNTIL the times of RESTITUTION of all things’ – that is, the RESTORING of what had been taken away – THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD!
That time is almost upon us NOW!
This very outburst of universal VIOLENCE is one of the signs!
‘As it was in the days of Noah,’ said Jesus, ‘so shall it be,’ just before the days of Christ’s return to RESTORE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and bring us PEACE! Just before the Flood, there was illicit sex and VIOLENCE! It was not thus sixty years ago (1900’s). IT IS A TIME OF ILLICIT SEX AND VIOLENCE TODAY!
Can’t we see the handwriting on the wall?” (The Missing Dimension in Sex - Chapter 12)
A Mighty Vision Statement
"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." (Acts 26:18)
The road to Damascus:
In almost all managerial goal setting sessions, two vital tools are invariably used: the mission and vision statements. These two statements largely define 1) what the company is there to do and 2) what it wants to achieve in the longer term. The vision statement in particular describes where the company aspires to be upon achieving its mission. This statement reveals the "where" of a business – but not just where the company seeks to be. Rather, a vision statement describes where the company wants a community – or the world – to be as a result of the company's services.
When the apostle Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus, it was a moment of profound readjustment in the direction his life was to take from that point forward. And what is fascinating is that within the vision he experienced that day is a statement – very much a "vision statement" – that not only clearly set out the focus of his future actions... but goes well beyond that! Not only does that statement accurately articulate the process God and Jesus Christ planned for Paul nearly 2,000 years ago, but it's very much for all who have ever lived, and also a statement that can give us now – the potential firstfruit teachers – the global vision we are going to need in the future.
To open their eyes:
The crucial factor to begin this entire vision of the future is that initial opening of the mind to God's truth. How many times have we heard Mr. Armstrong emphasise the fact that "no man CAN come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:" (John 6:44) So the initial stage of this future vision is to 'open their eyes' through the action of the Holy Spirit.
We can see this with the apostle Paul when he was sent to Corinth. No doubt this was a rough area, being a port city, and Christ had to initially encourage him before He explained that He had a considerable work for him to do, as the eyes of a significant number were to be opened:
- Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
- For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
- And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (Acts 18: 9-11)
But it is clear that the "much people" specified by Christ was a mere fraction of the population at large. The vast majority remained firmly uncalled – waiting for their initial chance, far into the future, when their teachers – having gone through the same process – will have qualified to fulfil their destiny with an identical vision statement… this time to be applied in a global manner:
- And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
- The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:18,19)
and to turn them from darkness to light:
On the other side of the Aegean sea from Corinth was the port city of Ephesus. Having been blinded himself by Christ on the road to Damascus, left in darkness for 3 days, as well as previously having been very much in the dark spiritually, you cannot but wonder whether these words of Jesus Christ at the onset of Paul's conversion – were in his mind when he wrote the following to the Ephesian church from Rome:
- For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:...
- ... And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
- For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
- But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
- Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:8,11-14)
As Paul mentions to the Ephesian church, the repentance required means a real change in direction in their lives – a complete turn-around, an opposite way, as opposite as light is to darkness, as give is to get. This was also brought out in the discussion with king Agrippa:
- Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
- But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. (Acts 26:19,20)
But this part of the 'vision statement' given to Paul will be very much part of what we'll be teaching in the future. Turning "from darkness to light" is the very essence of repentance – and a repentant mankind is the thrust of this whole 6,000 years of aversion therapy, why God planned it that way in the first place:
- Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4)
and from the power of Satan unto God:
Until Paul (then called Saul) was dealt with by Christ on the Road to Damascus, his personal 'vision' was to imprison as many of "the Way" that he could find:...
- And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
- And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1,2)
But once dealt with by Christ, his world was turned rightside up, resulting in a totally different goal! This experience undoubtedly helped him in dealing with others, whose eyes had been opened and had turned from their former satanic lifestyle to the loving government of God.
As brought out by Mr. Armstrong in A World Held Captive:
"Adam had been created with the potential to be born a son of GOD. Even though not as yet even a begotten son of the GOD FAMILY, he had been created as potentially just that. Once he succumbed to Satan’s WAY of choosing to “do his own thing,” in rebellion against a deliberate command of God, he became spiritually the property of Satan. He actually had succumbed to the GOVERNMENT of Satan, choosing the LAW of that government, leading automatically into attitudes of self-glory, coveting, competition, desire to GET rather than God’s way of GIVE.
All humanity came out of Adam and Eve. The present world was FOUNDED in them. The WORLD has ever since been HELD CAPTIVE! The world had thus chosen THE WAY of the kidnapper, rather than of the potential Parent!
But God the Father was to pay the ransom price and even yet bring his potential spiritual children back to him." (A World Held Captive)
that they may receive forgiveness of sins:
And central to this desire to bring "his potential spiritual children back to him" is the forgiveness of sins in the past. But note carefully the word "that" in the above heading. This forgiveness is very much linked to what comes before within the vision statement – the repentant attitude that turns from darkness to light and from the power of Satan, unto God. This is something the apostle Paul well understood from a personal perspective:
- Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
- The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
- Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
- But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. (I Timothy 1:13-16 NIV)
This vision of forgiveness is something we should all be grateful for on a day-to-day basis and will be something central to the conversion of our currently wayward and stiff-necked nations of Israel in the future. Just as the apostle Paul had to first recognise that the direction he had previously been going was utterly wrong, so God's desire is that all mankind will do the same – starting with modern day Israel following Christ's return:
- Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
- And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
- And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. (Jeremiah 33:6-8)
It is God's desire that this awesome forgiveness of sin will be made available to all mankind ... but it has to be coupled with repentance!
- Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. (Ezekiel 36:31)
and inheritance:
Towards the end of his life Paul could foresee his imminent execution but his vision of the future remained strong. Undoubtedly he would have passed a similar assurance on to all those he taught:
- For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
- I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
- Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (II Timothy 4:6-8)
That crown of righteousness is something we all aspire to, but it is more than just being a king and a priest in the kingdom of God, but real-life family members within the God kingdom – part of the very God family, with God as our father and Christ literally as our elder brother.
- But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- Which were [begotten], not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12,13)
But it is also an inheritance that applies to all repentant mankind! Not just the faithful of Hebrews 11, not just Paul and the early church, not just the firstfruits, but all who turn to the Way of God:
- And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
- And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:2-4)
among them which are sanctified:
Crucial to achieving this future inheritance is a begettal, during this life, via the Spirit of God – for it is only those who are led by that Spirit that are indeed the children of God (Romans 8:14). But sanctification, like conversion, is not only a one-off occurrence. It is also a process. Initially, sanctification is that moment of "being made holy" at baptism, when our past sins are wiped clean upon repentance. But it doesn't end there. Thereafter God's spirit must bear a living witness – with our human spirit – that we do indeed remain as children of God (Romans 8:16). The apostle Paul saw this process taking place in the transformed lives of those called within the nations he was sent to – as he explained to the gentile converts in Rome:
- Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,
- That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy [Spirit]. (Romans 15:15,16)
The word translated as sanctified is hagiazo which is from the same root as the Greek word for holy. (Strongs 37 and 40), and it is something that must be on-going throughout our lives, as we grow in understanding and desiring the Mind of God. taking on His character, being fuelled by the same goal that king David had: As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Psalm 17:15)
But of course that is not an end in itself either, as applying Paul's vision statement to ourselves means we then have the spiritual tools to work with the rest of humanity, seeing them too sanctified upon repentance, and watching and guiding their growth through their physical lives during the Millennium and the Last Great Day.
by faith that is in me.
Receiving "inheritance among them which are sanctified" requires one other absolutely vital ingredient. It can only be done "by faith that is in me." – living faith of the kind found within Jesus Christ Himself – something the apostle Paul certainly recognised in his own life:
- I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
When Adam took to himself the right to decide good from evil, placing humankind under the government direction of Satan, a Plan was laid down by two eternal Beings whereby one of them would give up His eternal existence for a period of time and not only become a temporary, physical flesh and blood man, but also die at the end of His time on earth.
He didn't "go off somewhere at death" as some schools of thought have it, but having been murdered on the stake, He died the same death as all human beings – losing consciousness as His life blood drained from Him. Throughout His human life, He exhibited total, undying and unquestioning confidence in His Father ... even trusting the other member of the Godhead to resurrect Him back to eternal life, and setting us an example of faith for our lives also.
Faith to do the impossible:
The gospels are replete with eye-witness accounts of Christ's acts of "the impossible"...from feeding multiple thousands from a handful of bread and fish, to walking on water, to raising the dead and virtually everything in between! He had complete assurance that His Father would back Him up with whatever was needed. He regularly admitted He could do nothing of Himself, but such was the closeness of their relationship, that He exhibited total faith both throughout His life and right through death itself.
This is the kind of faith we need – not mere human faith, but the kind of faith that Christ Himself had and exhibited every day He was on earth. It's not even 'just' faith in the hope of being resurrected from the dead, or that this carnal, troublesome fleshly mind can be changed into a mind "after the God kind" – humanly, a total impossibility – but also that GOD WANTS TO! And with our cooperation both intends to and will accomplish the impossible:
- Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
- If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit [a downpayment on eternity] to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)
A mighty vision statement:
- "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." (Acts 26:18)
The job Christ called the apostle Paul to accomplish was a major role in the early new Testament church. From the onset – within the vision itself on the road to Damascus – Jesus Christ laid out His truly mighty "vision statement", both for the apostle Paul, yes and also ourselves on whom the ends of the age have come.
Understanding this foundational truth: "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:30) should inspire us with great confidence – knowing it's a vital part of our personal vision statement, and with God's help, be able to pass on with full assurance to those we'll be working with in the coming Millennial age - and beyond.
- What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
- He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
- Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
- Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
- As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
- Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
- For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
- Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)
Latest Transcripts:
| The Faith for Salvation | WT 1980s |
| Two Questions | UB 29 Mar 1983 |
| Other Speakers: | |
| What is an Apostle NEW! | 2 Apr 2002 (JB) |
| Dying to Live NEW! | 2 Jan 2010 (JB) |
| Why Understanding the Elijah to Come is Vital NEW! | 21 May 2011 (JB) |
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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