₦airaland Forum

Henrygirl:
Wow! Just awesome! I received a revelation through this teaching. It leaped into my spirit! I have always understood this passage of scripture in the former context, the traditional teaching. But, I must applause you for sharing this perception of interpretation. I am forever changed! Thank you my brother for this divine revelation. It makes more sense this way. Praise be to God for you and this thread! Wow!

Glory be to God.  And I thank God for your love of His Word.  This is a blessing to me as well and it is what we need to be effective in our spiritual warfare.   I believe that it will help the body of Christ to be more focussed on what we are up against.     

The first part of the text (Matthew 16:18) also shows us that Jesus was not saying that Peter is the "rock" upon which He will build His Church, as that would contradict Scripture.  1 Corinthians 3:11 makes it clear that Jesus is the only foundation, and the "rock" is the revelation that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

This is food for thought for both the religious and non religious. It calls for sober reflection.

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Continued.

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Watch the Gospel of Jesus Christ as told by Paul Washer. Many of us who think that we are Christians are in for a shock.

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The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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He "nearly" got those predictions right, it's just that "nearly" won't kill a bird.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Rather, we should all endeavour to emulate the perfect example of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, who is the author and finisher of our faith!

dexmond:
[size=18pt]Still waiting for Darwins missing link [/size]

Darwin's missing link has been identified! Has it?

"Charles Dawson, a British lawyer and amateur geologist, announced in 1912 his discovery of pieces of a human skull and an apelike jaw in a gravel pit near the town of Piltdown, England . . . Dawson's announcement stopped the scorn cold. Experts instantly declared Piltdown Man (estimated to be 300,000 to one million years old) the evolutionary find of the century. Darwin's missing link had been identified.

Or so it seemed for the next 40 or so years. Then, in the early 50's . . . scientists began to suspect misattribution. In 1953, that suspicion gave way to a full-blown scandal: Piltdown Man was a hoax. Radiocarbon test proved that its skull belonged to a 600-year old woman, and its jaw to a 500-year old orangutan from the East Indies."

-- Our Times: The Illustrated History of the 20th Century

The Piltdown Man fraud wasn't an isolated incident. The famed Nebraska Man was derived from a single tooth, which was later found to be from an extinct pig. Java Man, found in the early 20th century, was nothing more than a piece of skull, a fragment of a thigh bone, and three molar teeth. The rest came from the deeply fertile imaginations of plaster of Paris workers. Java Man is now regarded as fully human. Heidelberg Man came from a jawbone, a large chin section, and a few teeth. Most scientists reject the jawbone because it's similar to that of modern man. Still, many evolutionists believe that he's 250,000 years old. No doubt they pinpointed his birthday with carbon dating. However, Time magazine (June 11, 1990) published a science article submitted, "Geologists show that carbon dating can be way off." And don't look to Neanderthal Man for any evidence of evolution. He died of exposure. His skull was exposed as being fully human, not ape. Not only was his stooped posture found to be caused by disease, but he spoke and was artistic and religious.

"Shells from living snails were carbon dated as being 27,000 years old." Science magazine, vol. 224, 1984 (emphasis added)

Evolutionary fraud indeed.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ by Paul Washer

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The Gates of Hell
November 19, 2009

"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

Many take this verse to teach security, that although Satan and his henchmen are attacking, the church and the Christian are safe within their fortress.  In fact, many commentators and translators understand "gates" metaphorically, feeling that since gates are strong and important, they can be viewed as synonymous with "power," implying that the "power of hell" is marshaled against the church.

But this is not the case.  The Greek word appears only a few times, and in no case can it be understood to mean power.  It always means gates--either literal gates in a literal wall or a figurative entryway.  Our text is not talking about the "power" of hell, but the "gates" of hell.  The picture is not one of Christians cloistered within their castle while Satan attempts to destroy them, but one of Christians on the attack.  The forces of evil are the desperate ones huddled within their stronghold, while the church is battering down their gates!

The same teaching is found elsewhere: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).  These verses sound the battle cry, and the battleground is the minds of men. We are commanded to cast down (literally, demolish) improper reasoning and arrogant philosophy, capturing every thought (literally, mind) for Christ, thereby destroying the bastions of evil.

Christian, there is a time for defense, but let us never forget we are to be on the offensive as well.  The Christ who leads us into the fray will surely lead us to victory! JDM

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

-- Hebrews 12:5-6

Christ and the Writings of Moses
November 18, 2009

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)

This sharp rebuke by Jesus to the Jewish leaders who were seeking an occasion to have Him executed came as the climax to a long message following His miracle at the pool of Bethesda.  These Jews always made a great show of allegiance to the teachings of Moses in the Pentateuch, so Jesus pointed out that this was hypocritical, since Moses "wrote of me"--[/i]yet they refused to [i]"believe my words."

There are many "Christian" intellectuals today who are, if anything, involved in even greater hypocrisy, professing to believe in Christ while rejecting the plain teachings of Genesis and the other books of Moses.  The Lord Jesus, for example, taught that "from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female" (quoting Genesis 1:27) and also that, therefore, "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (quoting Genesis 2:24).  But these compromising Christians insist that He was quoting from two contradictory accounts of creation, and also that men and women were there not at the "beginning" of creation, but came along about 4.5 billion years after the creation of the earth and about 15 billion years after the beginning of the cosmos.

The Lord also taught that the Genesis Flood was global and cataclysmic (Luke 17:26-27), whereas the compromisers argue that it was either local or tranquil or both.  They also commonly seek to explain away the miracle of the Red Sea parting, the daily bread from heaven, and other mighty miracles recorded in the books of Moses.  Rejecting Moses and his teaching to their shame, how can they really believe in Christ when they reject His words? HMM

Christ and the Writings of Moses
November 18, 2009

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)

This sharp rebuke by Jesus to the Jewish leaders who were seeking an occasion to have Him executed came as the climax to a long message following His miracle at the pool of Bethesda. These Jews always made a great show of allegiance to the teachings of Moses in the Pentateuch, so Jesus pointed out that this was hypocritical, since Moses "wrote of me"--[/i]yet they refused to [i]"believe my words."

There are many "Christian" intellectuals today who are, if anything, involved in even greater hypocrisy, professing to believe in Christ while rejecting the plain teachings of Genesis and the other books of Moses. The Lord Jesus, for example, taught that "from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female" (quoting Genesis 1:27) and also that, therefore, "shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (quoting Genesis 2:24). But these compromising Christians insist that He was quoting from two contradictory accounts of creation, and also that men and women were there not at the "beginning" of creation, but came along about 4.5 billion years after the creation of the earth and about 15 billion years after the beginning of the cosmos.

The Lord also taught that the Genesis Flood was global and cataclysmic (Luke 17:26-27), whereas the compromisers argue that it was either local or tranquil or both. They also commonly seek to explain away the miracle of the Red Sea parting, the daily bread from heaven, and other mighty miracles recorded in the books of Moses. Rejecting Moses and his teaching to their shame, how can they really believe in Christ when they reject His words? HMM

@Mr blazer,

If your story was true it only reflects the state of church goers regarding thanksgiving day.  Read this e-booklet to know the historical background of thanksgiving Day and see what it is all about.

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[flash=500,400]http://media.chick.com/tract_5.swf[/flash]

The historical background of Thanksgiving Day

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Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

-- Hebrews 12:4

Flowing Faces
November 17, 2009

"They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed." (Psalm 34:5)

This is a fascinating verse, speaking of the wonderful afterglow on a believer's countenance when the Lord has answered an urgent and specific prayer.  The previous verse contains such a testimony: "I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." So does the following verse: "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles"(vv. 4, 6).  The answered prayer had been so remarkable that it had even required angelic intervention (v. 7), prompting David to exclaim, "O taste and see that the LORD is good" (v. .

As a result, their very faces, instead of exhibiting shame in defeat, had become "lightened" in triumphant joy.  This unique adjective, normally used to describe a fast-flowing stream of water, has a root meaning of something like "sparkle."  As applied to flowing water, the picture is of a fast mountain stream tripping over the rocks in a cascade of jets and bubbles--a "sparkling" stream.  When applied to individual believers, it tells us that their faces became "sparkling," or "radiant."  The King James rendering of "lightened" is as good as any, speaking of such a wonderful deliverance that their countenances seemed actually to "light up" with joy.

Every Christian can also have such a lightened countenance, for the same God who answered their prayers will answer our prayers today when we pray according to His will and ask in faith.  "Ask, and ye shall receive," says the Lord, "that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).  As the Lord's blessing becomes more real with each prayer answered, our countenances may become flowing countenances, and glowing countenances, like a sparkling mountain stream. HMM

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

-- Hebrews 11:6

The Shining Path
November 16, 2009

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18)

This beautiful promise is inserted in the midst of a sober warning against taking the broad, well-traveled path of the ungodly. "Enter not into the path of the wicked. . . . Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. . . . The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble" (Proverbs 4:14-15, 19).

In contrast to the path of darkness, there is the shining path of the just, leading all the way to "the perfect day" where there is no more night (Revelation 22:5).

And what is the light that keeps the pathway shining? "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). "The LORD is my light and my salvation. . . . lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies" (Psalm 27:1, 11). It is a frightening experience to drive a dark highway or walk a treacherous pathway on a dark night when there are no lights to shine on it, but that is exactly the peril of the soul without Christ. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

The longer and farther we travel in the light of His Word, the brighter grows the path. How vitally important, therefore, that we keep in His Word and to His Word, for this is our one light in this dark place. "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (Proverbs 6:23). "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). HMM

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

-- Hebrews 11:1

Instant Creation
November 15, 2009

"Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together." (Isaiah 48:13)

This is one of many passages in Scripture which not only tells us that God is Creator of both heaven and earth, but also that He created them instantaneously. Creation is not a "process," but a miraculous event! With a wave of the hand, so to speak, God simply called them into being.

This is also the testimony of the incomparable account of creation in Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). This primeval testimony does not say: "From the beginning, God has been creating heaven and earth" as theistic evolutionists would say. Creation of all things was an event completed in the past.

The divinely inspired psalmist agrees: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . . For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:6, 9). "For he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever" (Psalm 148:5-6).

Furthermore, according to our text, when God spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, they both proceeded to "stand up together!" He did not create the heavens 15 billion years ago, then the earth only about five billion years ago, as some creationists allege. They stood up together! "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Exodus 20:11).

It is important to recognise the recent creation of all things, not only because God said so, but also because the multi-billion-year framework of cosmic evolution, pushing God as far away and long ago as possible, is merely the modern pseudoscientific way of getting rid of Him altogether! Christians should not compromise with such a system! HMM

Mister Osi:
Yea I meant Father, sorry for that and If you looked at my last post it would've answered your question. Jesus is God.

Thanks for the clarification.  The diagram (Trinity shield) in your post #1938 says it all.  Good job.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

-- Hebrews 10:25

Priestly Intermediaries
November 14, 2009

"And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office." (Exodus 28:1)

God granted Aaron and his descendants authority to "serve" as intermediaries between God and the people. The priests had no authority to forgive sins (forgiveness comes only from God), but they were given authority to oversee the sacrificial process. The high priest had additional duties, most notably offering "an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year" (Leviticus 16:34).

The Bible teaches us that "without shedding of blood is no remission" of sin (Hebrews 9:22), but also that "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). Forgiveness is based on repentance, recognising that one has offended God and turning from that sin. The very fact that blood sacrifices continued on a daily basis and by the high priest for the sins of all the people once a year, proves that those sacrifices were imperfect and insufficient. Moreover, since repentance was seldom a part of Israel's sacrifice, and even though the sacrifices continued, God judged the nation's sins by sending the people into captivity.

Thankfully, Christ acted to fulfill the law and eliminate the sacrificial system with the final sacrifice. "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). "There is no more offering for sin" (v. 18). He has assumed the office of High Priest, administered the final sacrifice, and made priests of all His followers. Just as the Old Testament priest, we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (v. 19). We have no need for human intermediaries; we are believer-priests with a High Priest who has made it possible for us to come on His merits to the Father. Just as He gave certain authority to the Old Testament priests, He has given us this authority. JDM

Priestly Intermediaries
November 14, 2009

"And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office." (Exodus 28:1)

God granted Aaron and his descendants authority to "serve" as intermediaries between God and the people. The priests had no authority to forgive sins (forgiveness comes only from God), but they were given authority to oversee the sacrificial process. The high priest had additional duties, most notably offering "an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year" (Leviticus 16:34).

The Bible teaches us that "without shedding of blood is no remission" of sin (Hebrews 9:22), but also that "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). Forgiveness is based on repentance, recognising that one has offended God and turning from that sin. The very fact that blood sacrifices continued on a daily basis and by the high priest for the sins of all the people once a year, proves that those sacrifices were imperfect and insufficient. Moreover, since repentance was seldom a part of Israel's sacrifice, and even though the sacrifices continued, God judged the nation's sins by sending the people into captivity.

Thankfully, Christ acted to fulfill the law and eliminate the sacrificial system with the final sacrifice. "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). "There is no more offering for sin" (v. 18). He has assumed the office of High Priest, administered the final sacrifice, and made priests of all His followers. Just as the Old Testament priest, we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (v. 19). We have no need for human intermediaries; we are believer-priests with a High Priest who has made it possible for us to come on His merits to the Father. Just as He gave certain authority to the Old Testament priests, He has given us this authority. JDM