Jesus

The Divine Vine – A new and deeper in-depth look into John 15:1-12

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Why is this needed? It is needed because it is my belief that the message within this message from Jesus Christ is not being taught correctly. As we go through this I hope this comes to light and helps those of you reading to awaken to this and help spread it to those that need to hear this and come to a new level of understanding in their relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the True Vine
John 15
1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. (NLT)
I read through several commentaries on these verses and each amazed me on how they twisted the words of Jesus to suite their own desires of not be cut off from God. It was shocking to say the least. That is why I am here writing this. So we will go at this verse by verse, because the true meaning of these words of the risen Christ are extremely important to know and understand.
Verse 1: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (KJV)
I – ego – a primary pronoun of the first person. I (only expressed when emphatic.) [Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 2010] {Strong’s}
a – emphatic – done or said in a strong way and without any doubt [Cambridge Dictionary] {CD}
Here is where we need to go deeper though. For John, especially when quoting Jesus, there is a more profound and powerful imagery that comes out. With the simple word “I” Jesus shows His resurrected form. In these teachings that are given they do not follow the normal syntax. They reach to a new level like saying: “He is light. But He is the true and proper light which alone deserves this name.” [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament] {TDNT}
The true – alethinos – truthful – “true” which denotes the sense of real, ideal, genuine. [Strong’s]
In this deep look we see here Jesus saying “the true” is not just speaking of “true” or “genuine.” He is actually saying “divine.” [TDNT]
a – divine – connected with a god or like a god. [CD]
Vine – ampelos – deeply though we find that there were others that called themselves the vine. Examples: the Dionysus cult, the Mandaean religion. [TDNT]
Just in these four words Jesus is showing that He is the true and divine vine, and no other can come to God except through being a branch upon His vine.
Father – pater – a nourisher, protector, upholder; of the nearest ancestor. [Strong’s]
In the deeper study within TDNT it is showing us the “harmony of the Father and the Son.” Of the two working together for the good of those that are on the vine which is Jesus. {book V p. 999 – 1001}
The husbandman – georgos – a land-worker, i.e. farmer, a vinedresser [Strong’s]
a – vinedresser – a person who cultivates and prunes grapevines [Dictionary.com]
Verse 2 – Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (KJV)
Every – pas- all things [Strong’s]
To quote the TDNT:
“The uniqueness of the NT view is that here all ideas of totality relate to a specific history of creation and salvation. As compared with the OT, the NT is distinguished especially by a richer soteriology.”
Soteriology – theology dealing with salvation as effected by Jesus Christ.
Branch – klema – a limb or shoot [Strong’s]
a – shoot – the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant [CD]
b – limb – a large branch of a tree [CD]
Shoot, young twig, branch, shoot of the vine [TDNT]
So this means “Every branch both young and old upon the vine which is Jesus Christ,” as the next words state.
In – en
“The ‘en’ of Fellowship in John. Exclusively in John’s Gospel and 1 John. We have a distinctive ‘en’ of religious fellowship.” [TDNT]
Meaning a free will relationship between the branch (humanity), the Vine (Jesus Christ), and the Vinedresser (God).
Beareth – phero – bear, bring forth [Strong’s]
Fruit – karpos – of works or deeds [Strong’s]
“This power is fellowship with Christ.” [TDNT]
a – fellowship – a friendly feeling that exists between people who have a shared interest or are doing something as a group [CD]
he taketh away – airo – to take up or away; to take away what is attached to anything, to remove [Strong’s]
It is here that we come to an issue. In the many commentaries I read they go with the definition of “lift up,” which doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t even flow with the words of the Bible itself. When they translated the Bible to English in the early 1600s and then finalized it in 1611 they agreed upon the wording “he taketh away,” not “he lifteth up.” Those that made these commentaries made it sound as if they were lifting up to God those committing sin. This is contrary to the teachings within the Bible. We do not raise up the sin, we raise up ourselves to the altar seeking the removal of sin. Jesus Himself knew that this day would occur. So he repeats Himself in verse six and clarifies His meaning with more detail, which we will get to later. Their interpretation implies raising oneself up before God. If their intent to say that unfruitful are seeking forgiveness and wish to receive forgiveness and to try to bear fruit. There can be some merit to that. However Jesus made Himself clear on this matter elsewhere in the Bible as well.
Revelation 3:15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”
In John, Jesus states that God Himself will remove the branch that does not bear fruit. Not all branches that do not bear fruit lay upon the ground, but are a part of the vine itself.
Here in Revelation the Glorified Christ is making it clear that he will spit those out that are lukewarm. Using Christ’s words in John those that bear fruit would compare to those that are hot in the Revelation. So those that are cold in Revelation equates to those that deny Jesus altogether and live in sin. So that would mean that those that are lukewarm would be those that acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior and so are a branch upon the vine, or were attached to the vine that is Jesus Christ. However, they bear no fruit and so are living in sin. So God takes them away in John and Christ spits them out in Revelation. Thus removing them from His fellowship cutting them from the vine. For very few fall upon the ground. Most stay on the vine unless they are cut off from it.
He purgeth – kathairo – to cleanse, to prune, to expiate – purge
a – cleanse – to make something completely clean
b – expiate – to show that you are sorry for bad behavior by doing something or accepting punishment
c – purge – to make someone or something free of something evil or harmful.
That – hina – in order that [Strong’s]
More – pleion – more in quality, number or quality [Strong’s]
Verse 3 – Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Now – ede – at (or by) this time [Strong’s]
Ye – hymeis – yourself, you [Strong’s]
Clean – katharos – free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless [Strong’s]
“In both John and 1 John the question of the full purity of Christians is discussed. It is affirmed absolutely in theory in John 15:3.” [TDNT]
Through – dia – denoting the channel of an act [Strong’s]
The word – logos – the teachings of Jesus to the disciples that eventually became the gospels.
“But the person who receives and keeps” the teachings of Christ (the word) is now clean [TDNT in quotations]
I have spoken – laleo – the use of this word was to show that Jesus was like a parent talking to His children, at that point the disciples.
Verse 4 – Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (KJV)
Abide – meno – remain, dwell, continue [Strong’s]
“…… God abides in Christ. Believers abide in Christ, and Christ in them. God abides in believers, and believers in God. The eschatological promise of salvation becomes immediate possession in virtue of this statement in the present tense.” [TDNT book IV pg. 576]
Cannot – ou, dynamai
a: ou – also [Strong’s]
b: dynamai – to be able or possible, can, cannot, to be able to have power [Strong’s]
Bear – phero – to bear, carry, being moved, borne along [Strong’s]
“The term has the special sense of bearing fruit…… the vine with branches that bear fruit.” [TDNT]
Of – apo – off, away (from something near) [Strong’s]
Except – ean me – unless, except [Strong’s]
It abide – meno – to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy) [Strong’s] See meno above for TDNT
No more – oude, houto
a: oude – nor however, neither, nor, not even
b: houto – in this way
Verse 5 – I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (KJV)
And I – kago – from kai and ego: likewise me
Much – polys – much, many, great, abundant
Without – choris – separately or apart from [Strong’s]
Me – emou – of me, mine, my [Strong’s]
Do – poieo – to make or do [Strong’s]
The use of this word “poieo” had it usage done primarily to the actions, works and miracles of Jesus Christ. [TDNT] The use here stating that only with Jesus in and with you can you do holy works.
Nothing – ou, oudeis
a: oudeis – not even one, none, nobody, nothing [Strong’s]
verse 6 – If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (KJV)
If – ean me – see “except” above.
A man – tis – some or any person or object [Strong’s]
Me – emoi – to me [Strong’s]
He is cast – ballo – to throw [Strong’s]
“To throw” or “to cast,” “to cast off fruit. ‘Often in the NT “boallo” is used in different ways in connection with the thought of judgement, partly as a committal to the element which exercises it. Partly of expulsion from the community of salvation, when used with “exo.” [TDNT]
Forth – exo – out [Strong’s]
As – hos – in that manner [Strong’s]
And – kai – and, also, even, so, then, too. [Strong’s]
Is withered – xeraino – to desiccate, to shrivel [Strong’s]
Men gather – synago – sunago – to lead together, collect or convene, to entertain [Strong’s]
Them into – eis – to or into [Strong’s]
The fire – pyr – pur – fire [Strong’s]
A judgement [TDNT]
They are burned – kaio – to set on fire, consume [Strong’s]
With the TDNT the emphasis of this word is keyed to self-burning. Voluntarily giving oneself over to be burned.
The main takeaways from the translation of this verse is if you accept Christ as your Savior and you choose not to follow his teaching and live a truly Christian life. You instead choose to live in the world of man which entertains you. You are broken off from the Divine Vine that is Christ and you are cast willingly into the fires of judgement. Which agrees with Revelation 3:15-16.
This also shows that we must actively and with full knowledge follow the teachings within the Bible and if it is called a sin in the Bible and we are told not to live in this fashion. Then that is what we MUST do as our part of this relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not a one-sided relationship. We have an active part within it, which we need to do or we volunteer to lose our salvation and to be removed from Jesus and His Heavenly Father. This is verified in the next verse.
Verse 7 – If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (KJV)
Verse 8 – Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (KJV)
Herein – en, touto
a: touto – to (in, with, or by) this (person or thing) [Strong’s]
Glorified – doxazo – to render (or esteem) glorious [Strong’s]
Shall ye be – ginomai – to cause to be, to become [Strong’s]
Disciples – mathetes – a learner [Strong’s]
Verse 9 – As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. (KJV)
As – kathos – just (or inasmuch) as, that [Strong’s]
Hath loved – agapao – to love (is a social or moral sense) [Strong’s]
“In brotherly love the circle of the Father, the Son and the people of the Son constitutes a fellowship which is not of this world. The love of God is the final reality for life if the fellowship, and abiding in His love is the law of its life” [TDNT]
Love – agape – affection or benevolence [Strong’s]
Verse 10 – If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. (KJV)
Here Jesus makes it very clear. We are to follow the teachings within the Bible and to follow the commandments. What most don’t realize is that the original Ten Commandments are not all the commandments. There entire book of Deuteronomy contains commandments that we should also take into consideration. Should we follow all of them? In certain situations I would say not fully but as closely as possible keeping the ten in mind. In addition Jesus himself added 2 more commandments:
Mark 12: 28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. (KJV)
Verse 11 – 12: These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. (KJV)
Here in verse 12 Jesus says basically the same thing He said in Mark 12:31. For if we treat everyone as we would treat ourselves how can we commit any sin? The problem is we live in a corrupt body and we listen to the world more than we should. That is why we should strive follow all of the teachings within the Bible. To call what is a sin a sin. For when we sin we place ourselves before God and do not love the Lord God with all our heart.
What many do not realize, especially those that label Christians as “bigots” and “racist” that they are the ones that are being the “bigots” and “racist.” For any who truly seek the love of God and Jesus Christ could never look down upon any other human being. Those that look down upon others are living in sin, by the very fact that they think themselves greater than another human being of any race, creed, gender, or religious belief. For all humanity is our neighbor. We are all equals, we all sin. However, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and strive to live our lives as we are taught by the Bible. We live in a relationship with Jesus, which is all He is asking of us. So we will be a part of the Divine Vine and bear much fruit that is Holy and wonderful and a sweet sent unto God our Father.
So obey the laws of the road, for when you speed you sin.(Titus 3:1) Treat all others as if they are a child of God. Because you know what they are. Even if they choose not to follow the Bible and live in sin. That is their choice. Not yours, but they are still a child of God. And one day, for many it will be too late though, they will see that God is real, and His Son is our King the Lord Jesus Christ.
All we can do is endeavor to live our own lives in a full relationship with Jesus, by following the twelve commandments and doing our best to turn away from sin. However, when we stumble, which we all will. We acknowledge this sin and ask for forgiveness and challenge ourselves not to repeat it. To turn it over to Jesus to ask Him to take it from us.

Context, context, context

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This is one of the most misunderstood elements of coming to know the teachings within the Bible.
Here is a prime example. An atheist Jew once confronted me one time due to the fact that I was Christian. Over and over again she would spout out “Go sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor!” She was stuck on this like listened to a scratched vinyl record. In her mind all Christians were hypocrites and liars because they had not sold all their property and were living in poverty.
In some aspect she was correct. However to be fixated upon this one line from the Bible taken totally out of context, is something that not only is a problem with those like this lady that have no knowledge of the Bible. It is also to those that state they are Christian, but do not follow the teachings that are within this Holy Book.
Now just for clarification. This verse she was referring to had to do with the young rich man. (Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18-23)
Mark 10:17 – As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. 27 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” 28 Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said. 29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
You can see that when taken in context it is not a statement for all that call themselves “Christian” to go and sell all their possessions. It is showing that those that cherish the riches of this life over the eternal reward that is to come when we enter into the next life. That those who cling to wealth here in this temporal time have their reward, and that it is hard for someone with wealth to enter into heaven. That is why more than once the Bible says you cannot worship God and money. It must be one or the other.
Does this mean that those with money cannot get into heaven? That is a complicated question believe it or not. That is why I said to a degree the woman was correct. Those who are rich and buy multiple homes, travel extensively and in turn do not share their wealth to those in need, are worshiping money and not God. Even if they profess to be “Christian,” then their odds of entering heaven decreases.
This is just one example of knowing the context of the Bible. There are many other things that come out daily that are not in context. Most of these out of context statements come from those that wish to deceive and lead those that are unknowing down a path to destruction.
A very recent example was done by the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate. She said:
“The greatest commandment is to love.”
This is a lie, this is false. This is not only out of context but an outright lie. I will show the following verse first. Then I will show what the greatest commandment is.
Galatians 1:6 – I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
When someone changes the Bible for their own reward and glory they are cursed, destine to damnation and any that listen will join with them.
Now this is the Greatest Commandment of all:
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
So you see why it is important to know the Bible and to read it in context. You must stay in context and you must not change it, remove from it or add to it. For when you take it out of context you run the change of falling into this curse. A curse that will not lead to God but to the pit of fire and eternal damnation.

Where is the word “prosperity” in the New Testament?

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Here is the short answer: ZERO, NONE, NOT THERE.
So after thinking on that a few moments what does that mean?
That Jesus never taught prosperity? That would be a yes.
That we are not to seek to be prosperous? I would say yes to this as well. In fact Jesus says it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven then a poor one.
Then why would you seek to be prosperous? ………………………………………………
You should not.
So why would you listen to someone that says we should seek to be prosperous? Again you should not.
Seeking to be prosperous is seeking to be a part of the world. For being prosperous will only do you any good in the world. Since the world is temporal and not everlasting why even seek it. All we are required to do is seek enough to get us fed today, that is in the Lord ’s Prayer. This is what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount about prosperity:
Matthew 6: 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?……………… 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness then he will reward you. Isn’t seeking after prosperity placing that before God? The answer is yes.
Then it is not Biblical to seek out prosperity and any that teach otherwise does not serve God but the world.

You made the baby now what are you going to do? (By the way this is not about giving birth, but about salvation)

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Too many say we need to bring people to God. Why do I say too many? Because they don’t follow through.
So you lead someone to Jesus. They accept Him as their Savior and wish to learn how to be a good and honorable “Christian.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I left the line blank for a reason. For those within the “Church” that just lead people to God and then nothing else is actually walking a dangerous path.
When someone come to accept God they are truly born again. They become a newborn babe to a faith they have no true understand of how it works. Most of the time they are left at this point alone and wondering. How do I know this? This is what happened to me in 1986. I was left to fend for myself. No one was there to lead me down the right path. No one was there to teach me the correct things I needed to do to grow in my faith.
First and foremost no one told me to read the Bible nor taught me how to read it and learn from it correctly. God does not instill this knowledge automatically to you it is the job of someone within the Body to tell you this. Yet most of the time what happens is people are left to try and learn all they need to know on their own.
This is something that needs to change immediately. When people are asked if they wish to have Jesus as their savior the pastor, preacher, priest needs to then say this.
“For those that just asked Jesus into your heart if you could please stay behind so that we can help you in your next steps toward servanthood as a child of God.”
Then a group within the church go one on one with those that did. They offer them a Bible and suggest they get a concordance and other tools that will help them grow. They should at this time also offer a Bible study class for the newly saved so they can learn as a group about their faith.
I have NEVER heard of this ever being done and all I can say is: Why not???

Without Christ

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In the Bible verse to follow it shows what is in a human’s heart. What is found within it is not the things of beauty, but the things of ugliness. Jesus makes it clear humans at this time are no better than any other animal that walks or swims upon this planet. Why is this? Because Eve and then Adam ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Again why? For Lucifer does not wish to be governed by humans. At this time he governs most of the human race. So for that reason alone in most cases only the worst can be seen within most of the human race.
Now God has made it clear that at one time there are those that have had a conscience and did what was right without realizing it. This affirms the beliefs of those that deny God that they too can be good, but that is not how it works at this time. Most within the world have heard of the Bible and thus they have heard of God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This negates their desire to live without God, for once you know there is a God even though you may deny He exists you are held accountable to the teaching of the Bible.
So you must follow its teachings out of obedience to Jesus Christ who died upon a cross and then came back to life allowing you to stand proudly before God if you accepted His Son into your life. This is required now in this time. It is shown vividly what happens when you reject God. The most innocent of the human races is torn from a woman’s womb and torn to pieces the one wishing to pay the most gets these destroyed children, the true martyrs of this world for they never had the chance to be blemished by the world.
When those that see this horror and call those that say it is horrible and wrong the ones that have lost their “moral compass” then it is clear that their “moral compass” points not upward to God but downward. This is what happens when there is no Christ in their lives, when there is no God in their lives. That which is precious to God is seen as nothing more than an animal for the slaughter.
When a human being is reduced to being treated as an animal then you may as well raise the swastika over the stars and stripes for that is what humanity has become The Fourth Reich, the children of their father. Lucifer the father of all lies. Deny it all they wish, but that is what happens when you take God out of your lives.

Mark 7: 21- For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jesus is REAL

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re-post (2015)
The Bible states to mark those that divide and cause conflicts. They are said to use sweet words that will entrap the simple minded and their goal will be to satisfy themselves and no others. (Romans 16:17-18)
“Mark” is skopeo in the Greek and means to consider, take heed, look at (on); regard attentively, take heed, beware.
Due to the administration of Obama this nation is in dire straits. A prime example of this behavior and since people did not “mark” this person as a problem we now find this nation in the worst state it has ever been. Even the depression years were better than the state of this nation today. This occurred because people stopped learning from the Bible. They turned for a solid foundation to a foundation built upon sand.
A prime example of building upon sand can be traced to the 1906 earthquake. Most the damage was due to a major section of the city being built upon landfills. It caused what is called liquefaction of the ground beneath these builds which cause their destruction, then the fire occurred which did even more damage.
This is the fate of many these days. They are the simpleminded allowing others to do their thinking for them and not thinking for themselves, nor learning for themselves. They take the word of others, which those that wish to cause conflict use to their own needs and desires, for from selfishness comes all evil.
This nation will either go through a revival like no other that has ever occurred in the past or it shall parish. My personal believes lead me to think for the worst and this nation will soon fall into further disarray. Too many have surrendered their freedom thinking they are sticking to the system when in fact they are enslaving themselves and being used as pawns in a game that will result in the death of millions.
I wish someone to prove me wrong and cause this nation to enter into a great revival, but that would mean many have to suddenly see the truth for what it is and who the truth really is. That would be Jesus Christ by the way. (John 14:16)
When someone truly follows Christ the scales fall from their eyes and they see the world as it truly is. They know through His death upon the cross for them that they have sinned against the Creator and they have a truly repentant heart and abandon their sin. They start to strife to do what is right and what will give glory and honor unto God.
There are many that think they are one with Christ and with God, yet they live in sin. They say that the Body of Christ must change and accept them. This is not how it works. They must change, not Christ. Those that think this way truly do not understand. To them the “Church” is something that is holding on to ancient believes and values and they must change and embrace the future.
They do not think Jesus or even God is real, but a creation of man. This in itself shows that they are blind. Jesus DID walk the earth when He was called to do so by His Father the Creator of this universe, God. Jesus never sinned and was unblemished. Jesus did perform miracles, even the Pharisees agree to this by calling Him a sorcerer. Jesus DID die upon the cross, for no Roman solider would jeopardize their own life for someone they thought to be a common criminal. Jesus did rise from the dead on the Third day for again the Pharisees try to say the guards they ordered to watch the tomb had fallen asleep and that the disciples had stolen the body. The very same disciples that were in hiding and sorrow over the death of Jesus. So they could not have stolen the body and so yes Jesus Christ did return to life and is alive to this very day. “But where is he” many ask, Do not scientist believe in multiple universe? Yes they do, the thing is the Bible has said there is such a thing for over two thousand years, for is not heaven another reality? Yes it is.
So again and again more evidence points to Jesus as real, as alive and as the Son of God. Yet people wish to change what the Creator said must be. They wish to life in their sin and be one with God, however the Glorified Jesus Christ made it clear to John in Revelation. You can either be hot for God or cold for God, but you cannot be both for it is better to be cold for God then to be lukewarm. In other words living in sin and saying you are one with Jesus.
It is now you must chose. You are either for Jesus WHO is REAL and ALIVE, or you are for sin. Pick now, for time is running out.

The feet of iron and clay

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re-post (originally posted in 2015 before the Daniel Dilemma posts)
What is to follow is supposition. What I am going to say I have not heard or read before from anyone else that has studied the book of Daniel. What I do want to make clear is a do agree that Daniel like the rest of the entire Bible is real, that God is real and the book of Daniel was written in the sixth century B.C.
Those that agree that Rome is the legs of iron and that is divided into two separate kingdoms. One based in Rome the other based in what once called Constantinople and is now called Istanbul. There are those that say the Roman Empire ended, but that is not what is started. It is saying that it broke apart. This has come to pass this is the present form of what was the Roman Empire.
The important line is “but they shall not cleave one to another.” So we have an empire that was once whole and became divided in half. One having adopted Christianity, the other half adopted Islam. Within both these religions are different factions that do not mix together, they do “not cleave one to another.” It also states that the cultures within them will not get along with each other as well. Again this describes how things have been since that empire broke apart. We have been in wars for centuries.
In essence the entire world structure we now live within is formed from the former Roman Empire, both the Christian as well as the Islamic side. Everything fits this scenario. So what is holding back the return of Christ? The saints are. God is waiting for those that were chosen before the very creation of this planet. God has always known who will accept Him and those that would deny Him.
Does this negate free will? By all means no. It is still within our control if we decide to accept Him or deny Him, He just knows the outcome, but He is not going to tell us, because for us to come to Him willing and with a fully open heart is the only way we can come to Him. It is black and white, right and wrong, no middle ground.

The echoes of Isaiah

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In the sixth century B.C. it is said that the second part of the book of Isaiah is said to have been written. So six hundred years before Jesus Christ walked amongst us, learning of us, and coming to offer the promised kingdom to the people of Israel, these words were put together to make this book.
In the fifty-third chapter something amazing was given to the Jewish people. I have heard it said that this book is not allowed to be read within the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. If it is true I understand why this could be. Why? For it would mean they must accept the fact that they didn’t see Him for who He was. Even though He did many, many miracles. Even though He said the words that would cause them to awaken to the truth, but it is a truth they did not want to hear.
I then look about at what my eyes and ears perceive in what is called the church today and I see a community that is a reflection not of Jesus, but of the people of Israel in the years that Jesus walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. I see them rejecting Jesus Christ and I know that His return will be soon and it will be to the sorrow of thousands if not millions that assumed that they were right with God.
In reality though they have become the Pharisee, the Sadducees and the Herodians, yet they are too blind to see this as fact. Yet if they even suspect it in their hearts they lie to themselves saying this is the furthest thing from the truth, when it is all too real.
Below you will see a key part of Isaiah 53 and remember these word were inspired six hundred (600) years before Jesus was amongst us:
1 Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.”

Through willful ignorance a nation shall judge itself

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re-post (originally posted 3/22/16)
It is nearly twenty years since Jesus Christ emerged from the tomb alive to walk amongst us once again for a short time and to give His final instructions to those disciples that were still alive in the forty day window.
Now Christ’s last known hand chosen disciple, Paul, once Christ greatest enemy and now one of His greatest servants in the New Testament was in Athens. His teachings had caused a great stirring throughout the people of this city. He was taken to the council of the city and here he spoke to them of the teachings and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Within these words came a reaffirmation of a truth that many in today’s world wish to forget, deny or in many cases have really never even thought about, and here is that teaching:
Acts 17:22 – So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
Some laughed when He mentioned the resurrection of Jesus, but others did not and became saved, and so the great tree of Christianity grew that day and has continued to this day.
In March of 1944 the Second World War still continued, but within Washington D.C. someone listened to God and stood before the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. His sermon this late winter day was like all true messages; it is black and white and never grey (the full transcript will be included at this end of this article). His opening statement set the context of his message. A message that today few want to hear let alone listen to: “My text is taken from the first book of Kings, Chapter eighteen and Verse twenty-one. If the Lord be God, then follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him.”
Dr. Peter Marshall saw within this nation, caught up within a war against evil, the same corruption that had plagued Israel when Elijah was that nation’s prophet. At the end of his sermon the pastor of the church in this nation’s capital made a very clear pronouncement:
IF THE LORD BE GOD, THEN FOLLOW HIM!

BUT IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM . . . AND GO TO HELL!

Now also in this message was the following statement:
“Now, I suggest to you that America needs a prophet today – a prophet that will set before the nation the essential choices. In the words of that great poet and essayist, J.D. Holland, ‘God give us men – men whom the lust of office does not kill – men whom the spoils of office cannot buy – men who have honor – men who will not lie – men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking – tall men, sun-ground who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking.’”
But why the need for a prophet? Dr. Marshall explains in the part of his sermon:
“Millions of people in America live in moral fogs. They move in a sort of spiritual twilight. Modified morality; modified dishonesty is the practice of millions more. Surely the time has come for us to be honest about it. If we have thrown away our national heritage. If we no longer believe that this nation was founded under God. If contrary to what is stamped upon our coins, our trust is not in God, but in Baal, LET US SAY SO!
Let us at least not be hypocrites. Yes, like the ancient Hebrew nation, America needs a prophet like an Elijah – a prophet who will have the ear of America and will say to her now:”
These are the word that led to the two sentences above in all capital letters. The thing is most never listened, and many more never knew these words were ever spoken. Living in blissful ignorance and their fates they were making for themselves.
Five years after this sermon though. The same year this man passed on to be with our Lord (January 26, 1949), a prophet did come into recognition upon September twenty-fifth upon the opposite side of the country in Los Angles. His name is Billy Graham, even though I feel he will not acknowledge this title.
Millions over the years listened. Yet, still, as was pointed out by Dr. Marshall many continued to live in a moral fog moving in a spiritual twilight lost within the grey, the lukewarm. In all honesty it can be stated that the moral decay within became self-evident to those with eyes just after the First World War. A time that came to be known as the roaring twenties. This resulted in the wrath of God that came to be known as the Great Depression.
It took another World War to awaken many and so this nation partly got back on the right track, but as we can see from Peter Marshall we did not full accept God. So a Prophet was sent to us and due to this prophet many listened and this nation started down the right path, for a while.
Most though did not listen to the prophet, and so God once again sent His wrath upon this nation which came to full awareness in an act that all knew, but few realized the full meaning of on September 9, 2011. This was the wakeup call sent by God, but still the nation did not listen. So more trials hit all within this nation.
Now it is here we must come to an important understanding from the talk that Paul gave to the council at Athens in the winter of 51-52 AD. That being this:
Acts 17:26 – From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
God, through His servant William Penn, granted this one nation, which is different than any other throughout history. Gave this nation, the second nation created for those that call God Lord; not for His bride, which is Israel, but for His Son’s bride, which are the Christians. Gave this nation, the one thing He gave no other nation. The true ability for each adult within this nation to pick it leaders. This did not happen at first and was not fully realized until August sixth in 1965.
It is a gift that most do not fully understand and many do not participate in due to this lack of knowledge and so as is all that come from the heart of humanity in their ignorance becomes corrupt and evil.
In 2008 God unleashed His judgement upon this nation to see if we would awaken from our materialist ways, but as a whole this nation still continued in its depravity. So His judgement was released upon the United States and we began to go into decline faster than what occurred during the great depression.
In 2012 God gave the people of this nation the ability to show their repentance, but this required that they show true humility and surrender the power of this nation over to someone that followed the teachings of a known false prophet. They had forgotten the words of Daniel though, that being:
Daniel 4:17 – For this has been decreed by the messengers; it is commanded by the holy ones, so that everyone may know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. He gives them to anyone he chooses— even to the lowliest of people.”
And so in pride and arrogance, as well as ignorance they left this nation in the power of the one that God has sent as His wrath upon it. So the wrath continued and became even more severe. So acute in fact that those that the nation itself was given to came under attack to the point that it was obvious that God was displeased with the bride of Christ.
In fact, so upset is God that the wrath left the boarders of this nation and spread throughout the entire world. It grew to the point that martyrdom and genocide of those that called Jesus Savior became more evident than it had ever been in centuries.
To a degree many have awaken to the truth, yet again God sends us a test to see if our awakening is real or is laced with ignorance.
As of the writing of this article the answer is it is still filled with ignorance. For we are again in the cycle given unto us by God to pick the top leader of this nation. It is again time to see if this Christian nation, yes CHRISTIAN NATION, has truly awaken to the fact that we that live in this nation are here by God’s design, not fate, but by and for His glory and His glory alone.
So our vote is to reflect the glory, and for the honor of God. It is to be given not for our materialistic gain, but to show that we are His children, His servants.
What many do not realize is that these temporal riches they seek after are nothing. For they are only here at this moment and tomorrow they will be gone. So why seek them at all? The answer is they should not, but they do.
They listen to someone that fully fits the description of a false prophet from 2 Peter 2, but they forget or do not know what else this chapter states, which is:
2 Peter 2:18 – They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
“And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.”
Our task as servants of God is not to follow after the lusts promised unto us by false prophets, or after the lies of those that love and prefer sin over their Creator.
Our task is to look and support that person that best reflects the Son of God. Will that person be perfect? No, but they will acknowledge and say in knowledge that God is first. They will know that materialism is a path to destruction. If any promise you things of the world then they love the world, and any that love the world hate God.
The time for willful ignorance is gone. It is time to live in full awareness of the facts that were stated in that sermon in 1949. It is time to remember those words spoken by Peter Marshall and the true black and white choices that are open to us and to accept our fate that we not only chose in our hearts but in the ballot box as well. It is:
IF THE LORD BE GOD, THEN FOLLOW HIM!

BUT IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM . . . AND GO TO HELL!

“Trial By Fire” Sermon “America Needs A Prophet”
By Dr. Peter Marshall (1902- 1949)
Pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
Washington, D.C.
My text is taken from the first book of Kings, Chapter eighteen and Verse twenty-one. If the Lord be God, then follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him.
The leaders of ancient Israel (including the king) had come together to make a great decision. It was a national emergency. Elijah the prophet had summoned them to meet on Mt. Carmel to settle no less a question than whom they should worship.
William Penn has said that men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants. Here then was a Hebrew prophet facing the very same issue and making his people face it with him. They all knew the history of their nation. How God had led their fathers out of bondage into a new land as pioneers. How His Holy Law had been written into the nation’s Constitution. How The Ten Commandments had become a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Dependence. But something in the nation’s life had begun to fade. Moral decay had set in. They had begun to love things more than principles. They had become materialists. And materialism had a god – a god of the flesh. And his name was Baal.
Now Elijah saw the danger. He saw what would happen to the nation when its moral fiber was weakened. So he summoned the 450 prophets of Baal, the king and the nation’s leaders. It HAD to be either/or. They had to get on one side or the other.
You remember the dramatic test – the trial by fire. How on the parched, sun-baked slopes of Carmel, Elijah announced his proposed test. Let sacrifices be laid upon the altar. Let him be god who would send down fire and consume the offerings. And let Baal and his priests have the first inning.
Then began the weird, pagan performance. With Elijah jibing at them with pointed sarcasm, “Cry louder why don’t you? Cry louder! He is a god you’re crying to isn’t he? Perhaps he’s gone for a walk. Perchance he’s asleep. Cry louder! Wake him up!”
All day long he taunted at them, until hoarse with their shouting, wearied with their paganistic dancing, they were exhausted. Yet no voice spoke. No voice answered.
Then Elijah went over to an abandoned Jehovah altar, set upon it a sacrifice, and offered his prayer to Jehovah – not ranting or foaming or shouting. And the answer came in fire, which consumed the offering. Then the people looking on cried as they fell on their faces, “The Lord! He is God! The LORD! HE is God!”
Now, I suggest to you that America needs a prophet today – a prophet that will set before the nation the essential choices. In the words of that great poet and essayist, J.D. Holland, God give us men – men whom the lust of office does not kill – men whom the spoils of office cannot buy – men who have honor – men who will not lie – men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking – tall men, sun-ground who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking.
Millions of people in America live in moral fogs. They move in a sort of spiritual twilight. Modified morality; modified dishonesty is the practice of millions more. Surely the time has come for us to be honest about it. If we have thrown away our national heritage. If we no longer believe that this nation was founded under God. If contrary to what is stamped upon our coins, our trust is not in God, but in Baal, LET US SAY SO!
Let us at least not be hypocrites. Yes, like the ancient Hebrew nation, America needs a prophet like an Elijah – a prophet who will have the ear of America and will say to her now:

IF THE LORD BE GOD, THEN FOLLOW HIM!

BUT IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM . . . AND GO TO HELL!

The Daniel Dilemma – Part six – the prophecies made history

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The book of Daniel as I related in part one of this series was written approximately around 530 B.C. which is close to 2555 years ago. Some of the visions shown actually came true during Daniel’s lifetime as was recorded within the book of Daniel itself upon the fall of the Babylonian Empire to the Medo-Persian Empire in 619 B.C.
Why this book is so important to Judaism and Christianity is that it first shows that prophecies that come from God are fulfilled. It shows that God’s Word is accurate and true. So none can question it if they translate it correctly. This is why when you look to Galatians 1 it is extremely important to heed this warning.
Galatians 1:6 – I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
In the perfect world we would be reading the Word of God in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. In a perfect world the Latin version of the word of God would not have been perverted and changed so badly that the scholars throughout the centuries would turn to the Greek version for its purity to the original translations of the Word of God.
But back on topic:
The book of Daniel even though prophecy in 530 B.C. become history when first Medo-Persia conquered Babylon. It became history when Alexander the Greek swooped through Medo-Persia and then died at thirty-two. Leaving his conquest to be broken up between four of his generals.
It became history upon the rise of Antiochus Epiphanies to come into power and adopted not only the name “Antiochus” after his father who was the third of that name, but also “Epiphanies” meaning “manifest god.” The telling of his story is covered as a prophecy in chapter 8 and chapter 11 of the book of Daniel.
Now it is history. Yes there are parts of the book of Daniel that are not yet fulfilled and that in itself should serve as a warning. This book above all other books within the Bible shows that the Word of God was true, is true and so will be true. The fact that we can look back into history and say yes there was a Nebuchadnezzar, yes there was a Daniel known as Belteshazzar. That there was a man that though himself as a living god that defiled the second temple in the 160s B.C.
Yet when this last was first mentioned he would not be alive for almost another four hundred years. Shows that the Bible is true and accurate. Not only as a historical document, but as the word of God. So when we are told to study the Bible. To come to know the Word of God we are doing so to not only know what was, and what is, but what will be. And we will know that God is real. That His Son is real, and that His scarifice upon the cross was for our salvation. So when what was prophesied by Daniel, by Isaiah, by Ezekiel and by Jesus Christ Himself will be. For even now we live within the last days of this world as we now know it. For Israel is once again a nation and His soon return was foretold to be preceded by Israel’s return to this status.