Dear Abba
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Dear Abba

Page updated 08/02/06 12:54:53 AM.


Someone asked a question of Dear Abba:

Q. What is the difference between soul slavery and body slavery?

A. When you are in prison, your body is in slavery. When you are taken prisoner in war, your body is enslaved. When you are kidnapped, your body is enslaved. But because your body is enslaved, it does not mean that you soul is enslaved. Your soul can operate when you body is in slavery, like the Apostle Paul when he was in prison.

You can be free physically and your soul can be in slavery, either as an unbeliever or as a believer out of fellowship, controlled by your old sin nature. That is soul slavery.

When Christ sets you free, you are free indeed, in prison or out of prison.

Q.  What has God promised us along with our so great salvation?

A. First, I have this listed on our web site, under 34 Things God Wants to Give You. You can check it out there.

But He wants to give you peace of mind.
He wants to share His happiness with you.
He wants you to share in His election.
He wants you to be joint-heirs with Him.
He wants you to share His priesthood.
He wants you to be His ambassador.
He wants you to receive a resurrection body exactly like His.
He wants to share His home with you.
He wants you to rule and reign with Him.
He wants you to judge angels.
He wants you to receive the same love that God the Father has for Him.
He shares His anointing with you. You are also anointed.

I hope this will be a source of encouragement for you, and if you need more don’t hesitate to turn to the web site. Thank you!

Q. I divorced my first wife and I married my second wife. Now I’ve realized the mistake I made. Can I go back to my first wife? (The names are kept private.)

A. You can’t go back to your first wife if she has married another. This is found in Deut 24:1-5.

Secondly, the question comes up of what were the conditions of the first divorce. Was it a bonafide Biblical divorce or not? If not, then you are still married to the first and now involved in a second. Which means no domestic tranquility for you. But you haven’t lost your salvation.

I hope this helps with your question.
From Grace to glory …

Q. What about courtship?

A. That is a word that is rare today – courtship – when a man asks a girl out on a date. Well, you don’t meet her at the mall, or some other nondescript place. You call on her at home. You’re not afraid of her parents seeing what you look like or don’t look like. Then the time you spend with her is totally your responsibility. You pay the way. You don’t go dutch treat. You pay the way and pick up the tip, too. If you can’t then don’t go out. She may or not be your Right-Woman so you have the responsibility to see to it that you protect her soul and body from being violated even by you. Tou control the relationship so that it doesn’t get out of hand, and out of your hand, too. You are the bishop of her soul, the overseer, and you may be protecting her for her Right-Man which may not be you. Courtship is foreign to our thinking today.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Q. If I divorce my wife and marry someone else and my first wife doesn’t marry anyone, can I go back to her?

A. If you have a bonafide reason for your first divorce and for your second divorce, which seems highly impossible – you would have to be the innocent party in both divorces, and with men today I personally doubt it. Too quick and too young to marry even though you may be older chronologically.

I hope this helps some. It seems like jumping in and out of marriage shows a great deal of instability. I don’t think I would be comfortable marrying a man like that.

Q. How can I tell the man that the Lord has designed for me?

A. A very simple way is this:

They opened up a new airport in Miami and I was in charge of the lounge. I was to hire the help for the lounge. So, I interviewed many men. One man came in and told me that he was the one I was looking for because he had worked all the best spots in town. And I didn’t hire him. Why? He is what I called job-hopping. He couldn’t keep a job.

What this means for you - If the man you are dating or planning to marry doesn’t have stability when it comes to his job and can’t be stable in that area, then you know that is not the man the Lord has for you. He telegraphs his instability. But he is sooooooo cute.

Q. All the girls are crazy about this guy and I want to marry him. He is a prize package.

A. If all the girls want to marry this guy, this guy must be spreading his love all around.
If he doesn’t have the capacity to love one woman, then he is not for you. If he spreads his love around, it loses its force and you need all the force and concentration of one love.

In regard to Christ, we love Him, and we are occupied with Him and no one else. There is no other.

Love capacity must have concentration. But who can concentrate on one thing today??  Especially on a woman! Football maybe. Beer for sure!

Q. I am interested in this man. Does his appearance mean anything?

A. Yes appearance means something. It shows what he is thinking. You can usually tell what a man is thinking by the way in which he dresses.

I remember when we first went out on a date, now there is a word, not used today, a date. Well, when we went out on a date, we even brushed our teeth and put on foo foo water, so that we would smell nice to our lady.

Clothes don’t have to be expensive (or designer) but they can be clean and neat. The
way in which men dress today is unbelievable.  No ties, no jackets, etc. And then when you add tattoos and rings and etc. Well, it is easy to tell by the way in which they turn out.

Have you ever noticed how sloppy men and women dress today who are involved in sports? Or haven’t you lived that long?

I remember watching tennis players with long white flannel pants. And white shoes and a nice white sport shirt. Even if they couldn’t play well, they looked good. Today what athlete looks good striking out?

Grooming is important! Sloppy dressers are sloppy thinkers. And they have no respect when being seen with you. You should be proud to be seen with someone.

I always wanted white hair so I could like the man of distinction, but it never happened.

Q. If a man is complimentary to me, does that mean he is my Right-Man?

A. Not necessarily. If a man compliments you and tells you how beautiful you are and describes some of your feminine pulchritude, that is not your man. If a man compliments you and expresses how much he loves the real you, not the body, but the soul, then you have something to think about.

But most of the guys you date, or I should say, that you meet at the mall, don’t even know if you have a soul or not – and don’t care. What it is that they care about? Easy! What they compliment. That is what they are after.

Many people get into bodies today but hardly ever does any one get into your soul. Soul what??

Q. What about double dating (i.e., dating more than one man)?

A. If you are dating someone and you have thoughts of other men, then that is not your Right-Man. Your Right-Man will so totally occupy your mind that there will be no room for anyone else. If he is fulfilling you, then there is no room for even thoughts of others. The same is true when he double dates.

It’s not having a lot of love for a lot of people. It is the capacity and concentration and occupation of loving only one person. “We love because He first loved us.”

Q. Is it right for my date to run me down in public?

A. No! A man in your soul is the best protection a woman can ever have. He will not put you down in private or in public. He will not make fun of you or razz you or embarrass you in any way. This indicates immaturity and that he is not right for you, and he is trying to build his happiness on someone else’s happiness.

Q. The man I am dating us very forceful and pressures me into having a relationship with him. Is this indicative of a Right-Man?

A. No it is not. Love comes from human volition. Anything that coerces your free will will destroy your ability to recognize the man the Lord has for you, and even to respond to your Right-Man.

Women will not respond as slaves, but only as a free soul. Men may try to stupidly destroy the freedom of the woman but when Christ sets you free, you are free indeed. And the Word of God stored in the soul promotes freedom for every one.

What isn’t freely given isn’t worth having.

Q. Will you go into more detail about how a man dresses?

A. Yes. A man can be poor and not have very expensive clothes. But they can be clean, and they can be neat. In other words, the best that he has, that is the way that he will want to be seen with you, to enhance your beauty and not to distract from it.

He can wear jeans – I wouldn’t. I think they are overalls and working clothes but not for dating. That is just me. – But the jeans do not have to be cut with your knee sticking out and also your gluteus maximus.

He can cut his nails and get the dirt out from underneath them. He doesn’t have to wear after shave lotion because he probably doesn’t shave. But he can wear underarm deodorant. To smell like an Arab is not masculine. That is simply bad hygiene. He can brush his teeth and get a decent hair cut and not wear his hair like that which the Lord calls an abomination. These are very simple principle of hygiene which I guess are
no longer simple. When he goes out with you he wants to enhance your appearance and have a favorable turn out so that people don’t say what in the world is she with?

Q. How flexible should a Christian be?

A. You can be as flexible as you want to be and have a relaxed mental attitude about anything and everything. But there are certain things we can’t be flexible about. I cannot be flexible when I am told there is another way of salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ. I cant believe when I am told that Mary is a co-redeemer. I can’t believe that when you pray to Mary she will make Jesus Christ give you what you want, when we are told to pray to God our Father. I can’t believe when I am told that people go to  Purgatory and the Church prays you out after they have a high mass. No, I am not flexible when it comes to what Christ has said. I think we are still PROSTESTANTS. Now, that is a word you don’t hear anymore. We can’t compromise the Word of God.

Q. When I date some man, what should he know about the Word of God for us to have any kind of a relationship?

A. He would have to be a believer first of all.
Secondly, he should know what spirituality really is.
And when it comes to the two of you making any important decisions, they should be made based on the Word of God.
When it comes to raising your children, you should both agree on what the Bible says about raising children and what the world says to do. Like, for example, if you spank your kids you will hurt his psyche, when the Bible says “if you spare the rod you spoil the child” over and over again.

Q. When a man picks me up for a date, should it be my decision how we are to spend the evening?

A. No. If a man is dating you, he should arrive and have the evening planned for the both of you and take responsibility for the evening and should know what it is that would please you and the type of evening you would be happy with.

For example, he wouldn’t take you to a basketball game if you were not interested in basketball. That would only please him and if you watched some of these basketball games they would disgust you.

It is not what pleases him but what pleases you and in pleasing you he is pleased, because he pleased you.

”What is your pleasure, treasure?”

Q. Don’t you think if they put Christ back in the schools it would stop all this shooting?

A. First of all, you started with a false premise. Christ is always in the school.  Christ is omnipresent and you can’t take Him out of the schools. Tthere never was a time nor will there ever be when He is not in the schools.

The problem is not with Christ being in the schools, but it is with parents who are not raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The parents won’t take in the Word of God and don’t discipline their children and the delinquency is with the parents.

Q. I am a single lady waiting for my Right-Man from the Lord. What can I do to sustain myself while I am waiting on the Lord?

A. There are two marvelous provisions for single ladies:

One is the Word of God.
While you are waiting for the Lord to supply your Right-Man, take in the Word of God on a daily basis so that you will be able to recognize the man He sends and also prepare yourself for him.

Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bishop of your soul will be your Right-Man until your Right-Man comes along.
So, you have the Lord and His Word and the teaching of the Word of God in Bible classes as expressed in Heb 13:7, 17, those who teach the Word of God are bishops of your souls also.

This is called single bliss.

Q. Someone told me that the UNPARDONABLE SIN was adultery. Is that true?

A. No, that is not true.

Jesus Christ died for all the sins of the world — past, present, and future.
The issue in salvation is not sin but what think ye of Christ. The only sin Christ didn’t pay for was the sin of unbelief.

”The Holy Spirit shall come and convince you of sin,” of unbelief in Me.
The unpardonable sin cannot be done by a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The unpardonable sin is unbelief in Christ. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, you cannot commit the unpardonable sin.

There is one thing God can’t do and that is save a person who will not accept His Son as their personal Saviour.
That is impossible for God.

Q. How will my Right-Man fulfill me so that I can know?

A. One: When he is absent from you, he will leave behind and provide for you fragrance of memories.
Two: He will provide for you soul stimulation that is the basis of all love.
Three: He fulfills your norms and standards of your conscience.
Four: He gives reality to your romantic dreams and imaginations.

The knight in shinning armor, but not like the knights of ancient times, they fit into their armor,

Most people kiss a lot of frogs before they kiss their knight.

Q. Will my Right-Man be aggressive?

A. Yes. Your Right-Man will not be passive. He will be aggressive and masculine. A woman is never told to love her husband in Scripture, for the simple reason is that the man is the aggressor and initiates love.

”Herein is love. Not that we love Him. But that He loved us and gave Himself for us.” ”Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”

Man is the initiator and the woman is the responder. She responds to his love and reflects his love. Like we do as the Body of Christ for Christ.

Q. What about companionship when it comes to courting or marriage?

A.  Your Right-Man will enjoy your company over and above anyone elses, and the same thing will be true with you. So, it is not “where do we eat” or “what do we eat.” Eating is an opportunity to be with the one you love and want to be with. Because you would rather be with him, or her, more than anyone else.

If you can’t be together, then the fragrance of memories will fill your soul until the next time you are together again. Your memory center will be filled the fragrance of him and/or her.

When you go into a restaurant where you once ate together, you will remember that time and a smile will come on your lips. Which means that man is not from Mars and the woman is not from Venus. But they are a part of God’s gracious gift to you.

”He who receives a woman from the Lord receives Grace.”

Q. Will you please explain what you mean by norms and standards?

A. We all have a conscience and in our conscience we have norms or standards which means there are some things we will do and something we won’t do.

For example, beer and drugs, etc. are not for me. So I wouldn’t be interested in anyone associated with the same. I don’t believe for example in kissing and telling, where some guy goes out with you and you hug and kiss and he tells all the boys on the corner, etc.

Your Right-Man will have the same norms and standards as you do if you are both Christians and in the Word of God because then both of you will have Divine norms and standards set up by the Lord in His Word. And you will not have a seared conscience, which is a Biblical term for the destruction of your norms and standards.

Q. Does water baptism save?

A. Paul didn’t think so. He said he only baptized two people, that I could remember, Crispus and Gaius. Baptism was a confusion then and it still is.

There are seven baptisms in Scripture and they are not all water.  One is a cloud, with Moses. One is with fire at the Second Advent. Then there is the baptism of the Cross and there is the baptism of Jesus Christ, and John’s baptism, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and believers’ baptism.

The only thing that saves you is not water but it is Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Being baptized is you doing something. The sign over Heaven is “NOT OF WORKS LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.”

You couldn’t take a fatally ill person confided to bed in a hospital and baptize them for their salvation. In bed, while dying, the promise is “WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.”

Q. If I, as a Christian, went on the show to become a millionaire, would the Lord give me the answers to win?

A. Why try to win a million? For what reason? What do you need a million for? Why not just trust the Lord for your needs and be content with what you have?

What you are saying is. “Father, you can’t take care of me so I am going to Satan and his world system so that I can become rich.”

Most Christians along with most people don’t know how to handle money and they all fail the prosperity test. Check our the richest man in the world, Solomon, and what happened to him ...

”The deceitfulness of riches.” Money talks, it says goodbye. You can’t built your happiness on the details of life.

Q. All I am hearing today is about equality. Are we all equal?

A. No, we are not all equal. We are only equal in one sense, that we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God. In that we are equal. Other than that we are not equal.

Politicians try to legislate equality, but the only way to do that is to lower us all to the lowest common denominator. And then we will all say, “Duh!”

But God in one second can make us all equal. But not by bringing us all down to the lowest denominator. He makes us equal by lifting us up to the highest denominator. How? “We are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now that is equality!

Q. I was told that I had to acknowledge that I was a sinner and confess my sins before I can be saved. Is that right?

A. No, that is not right for the simple biblical fact that Christ died for the sins of the whole world, even those who would not believe in Him.

God the Father judged all our sins in Christ Jesus.
Sin is no longer the issue. The only issue to the unbeliever is the question Christ Himself asked, “What do you think about the Lord Jesus Christ?”

Saviour. And we accept Him as our personal Saviour.

”Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath eternal life.” You, Me, life!

I have received questions addressed to me as DEAR ABBA. And I have answered them with the best of my ability by using Scripture for my answers.

Now, Dear Abba has a question for you.

Q. What do Peter and John and the angels have in common?

A. 1 Pet 1:12, “Which things the angels desire to look into.”

The word here for “look” is one of 18 words used for looking in the New Testament. It is the same word used for Peter and John looking into the sepulcher of Jesus Christ. The word is PARAKUPTO, which literally means, “to stoop down and peer into, peering with your eyes popping out.”

John and Peter and the angels are all interested in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. John and Peter were peering in. The angels are peering down learning from the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And every time a person accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, there is joy in Heaven and the elect angels clap their hands, and the fallen angels are losers.

Q. Are drinking and smoking some of the worst sins in the Bible?

A. No, there are seven worst sins listed in Proverbs and only one of them is overt and that is MURDER. Murder is a sin. The other six are mental attitude sins and sins of the tongue, like hatred, jealousy, pride, judging, gossip, and maligning, etc.

Did you know that playing marbles is a sin? Yes, Christ said it over and over again, “Marvel not.”

Q. What about accusations that are made against me as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?

A. Believers are prohibited from judging other believers. Judging always has a bad connotation in Scripture. However, a believer is to discern. Matt 7:1-2, Rom 14:4-10, 1 Cor 2:15.

A believer in fellowship can evaluate, especially on the basis of a frame of reference and knowledge in the human spirit. But a believer out of fellowship will always be judging, his own sin nature will control his thought and speech pattern. Every believer must live his life as unto the Lord, however parents have jurisdiction over their children. Every believer has the right of privacy before the Lord.

God judges believers for judging and carnality. Heb 12:6. A believer is to leave all discipline in the hands of the Lord.

Rom 8:33, corrected translation, “Who shall bring any accusation versus the elect of God.”

The answer: No one!

Q. I hear so much today about loving everybody and I am confused because I honestly don’t love everybody. Can you help me?

A. Love is at its maximum after the point of propitiation, God being satisified, to every believer.

The believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore, because of propitiation, God can love the believer with maximum Divine love. Eph 1:6, 1 John 3:2. God can love every believer with maximum love regardless of the spiritual status because of the following doctrines:
    A. Positional truth.
    B. Application of propitiation.
    C. Concept of God’s love. Grace depends upon the character of the One initiating love.

Love is exhaled in three areas when the believer is functioning under the principle of growing in Grace:
    A. Towards God.
    B. Toward a member of the opposite sex.
    C. Friendship.

In addition to the above, there is a Greek word, ASTROGOS, and this word occurs in the negative sense in Rom 1:31, 2 Tim 3:3 and this is the relationship love between parents and children.
 

AGAPE love is produced by the filling of the Holy Spirit in the mentality of the soul only. And when this love is produced, there is the absence of mental attitude sins. It also respects the volition of the individuals and also respects the privacy and property of others. This is the “love everybody” concept.

PHILOS love is the filling of the Holy Spirit plus doctrinal information. This is a total soul love. There is an exhale from every aperture of the soul.
AGAPE love is commanded toward God and all believers. Gal 5:22-23, Rom 5:5, 1 John 4:7-10

The source of PHILOS love is the application of the Word of God.

The difference between AGAPE and PHILOS love:
AGAPE is specialized, always mental.
PHILOS is general and total a total soul rapport that comes through knowledge of doctrine to certain members of the human race and the Lord only, John 29:15-17

Total soul rapport with the Lord:
Self consciousness: You are aware of the Lord
Mentality: You are thinking about the Lord
Volition: You are making decisions for the Lord
Emotions: You appreciate the Lord.
Conscience: You share His norms and standards.

That is a total soul rapport with the Lord and with only a few selected people.

Q. I am a believer and I am single and I am waiting for my Right-Man. What principles can I claim?

A.  If you are a believer and you are single, remain in that status and take the waiting time to grow in Grace. Learn the doctrine of Right-Man/Right-Woman until your position of being single changes.

It is much better to be single than being married to the wrong man!!!!

If you cannot live with yourself, you cannot take your problems and live with someone else. And changing from single to married status is the most insane thing you can do because you make your problems worse.

If a man cannot support himself, then he cannot support others who are dependent upon him, i.e., “He that provideth not for his own family especially those of the house of God.”

As a believer, it is better first of all, to understand pertinent doctrines on the subject of love, sex, and marriage before any change is made from being single to becoming marriage. 1 Cor 7:8-10.

When you study the doctrine of Right-Man/Right-Woman you may come to the conclusion that you are married to the wrong person. This is not an excuse to break up the marriage. Keep growing in Grace and lean heavily on the Lord.

You can turn an unhappy marriage into a happy one by:
Accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Your domestic problems are secondary to your relationship with the Lord.
Get with the filling of the Holy Spirit and grow in Grace and move into maturity. Plus having a relaxed mental attitude and having the mastery over the details of life with a capacity for love and life, and this will do wonders for your marriage.
If, as a believer, you go against God’s will and marry an unbeliever or a wrongly divorced person, remain in status quo marriage. You are not to break it up. Get back in fellowship and never look back. God has forgiven you and so should you.

You will have problems and the natural repercussions of a mixed marriage, but your responsibility is to stay filled with the Spirit and learn the Word of God and use the principles of winning the unbelieving mate to the Lord … by your manner of life.

Q. Do you know of any Scripture that relates marriage to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

A. Yes I do, and that is a great question. I have tapes on that and literature from some of our Bible classes. Once you understand your relationship with the Lord as the Bridegroom and you as the bride, you will be able to apply that in marriage and even with your children. We are the bride of Christ and we are also the children of God so that is a great application there.

Here are some of the verses that you asked for: Isa 54:5, Isa 61:10, Isa 62:5, Eph 5:25, Mark 2:19-20, John 2:9-11, John 3:29, Jer 7:34, 16:2, 25:10, 33:11, Joel 2:16, Psa 19:5, Psa 45:1-15, Rev 21:2, 22:9, 22:17

Q. What is Category Two love?

A. Category one love is toward God. Deut. 6:5, Rom 8:35, 1 Jn 4:19.
Category two love is towards a member of the opposite sex, specifically Right-Man/Right-Woman. One and only one. S.O.S. 8:6-7.
Category three love is toward friends, John 15:13, 2 Sam 1:26

The strength or fortification of Category two love, is mentioned in S.O.S. 8:6-7. It is said to be as strong as death and cannot be extinguished by the pressures of life.

S.O.S. 8:6, “Love is as strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” Literally, a flame of Jehovah.

That is the force of the love of Right-Man and Right-Woman.
However, death destroys pseudo love as well as mental attitude sins, Ecc 9:5-6.

The exclusiveness of Category two love is extended to one person, even one person of the opposite sex. All others are excluded, therefore happiness in sex is found in one person only. Prov 5:18-19.

This excludes the following as a basis for sex happiness, which are being taught now in Red Book magazine and on the Internet:
    A. Auto-erotism
    B. Homosexuality and/or lesbianism
    C. Promiscuity and/or adultery
    D. Bestiality

Category two love produces an exclusive and perfect happiness which is self-sustaining and partner sustaining.

There is a sex happiness which cannot be known apart from Category two love. Prov 15:17. It does not depend upon anyone or anything else. This is the whole doctrinal basis for the honeymoon.

Therefore, Category two love is protective under two situations:
    A. In the absence of the loved one. S.O.S. 1:13, 4:6, there is fragrance of memories.
    B. Also protection in the presence of the loved one, S.O.S. 2:4

Category two love illustrates relationship with the Lord:
    A. The Right-Man is the Lord and the Right-Woman in the Old Testament was Israel. Jer 2:2, 33, Isa 54:4
    B. In the New Testament, the Right-Woman is the Church. Eph 5:23-31

Q. Can you help me? Every time I confess my sins, then I do the same thing over again and then I confess again. I can’t believe that God will forgive me all the time.

A. The very verse that you use for confessing you sin answers your doubts.

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God is faithful – He will constantly forgive you. God is just – He is justified in forgiving you, your sins, because He died for them on the Cross. He even forgives the ones you don’t mention, based on the ones you do mention.

The problem is that we all have an area of weakness and they differ. When you are out of fellowship you go to your area of weakness.

”Lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us.” That is the area of weakness.
Since you know and acknowledge your area of weakness, then when you are tempted in that area, remove yourself from the temptation. Being tempted is not a sin but when you succumb to the temptation, then that is a sin. So stay away from that which is the one things that so easily besets you.

You know there is a promise that says that “God will not test you above what you are able but will provide a way for you to escape.”

Sometimes the way of escape that He provides is a good pair of shoes, and you should leave the area of temptation.

I will follow this up with the principle found in the Bible of how to isolate your sins and not light one sin on another which is what you are doing. I call it chain-sinning, like chain smoking, lighting one cigarette on another.

More to come …

Q. Can you help me? I am having trouble with confession of sin.

A. When you sin and confess your sin, that sin is forgiven, 1 John 1:9.

God is faithful, which means He will always do what follows. God is just, which means that He is faithful to do what He is about to promise and He is right and fair in doing it. ”To forgive us of our sins.” When God forgives it, He forgets it and puts it “as far away as the East is from the West.”

Since God has forgiven the sin, we are to forget it. Phil 3:13, “Forgetting those things which are behind.” You have to look at that sin from the Divine Viewpoint and what is the Divine Viewpoint? Forget it!

If we remember a sin we have confessed, it becomes the basis of perpetuating that sin and perpetuating Divine discipline. Now, when you confess the sin, three things may happen:
    A. Divine discipline may be removed.
    B. Divine discipline turns into one of the other reasons for suffering, so Divine discipline is turned to blessing.
    C. Divine discipline is lessened, the principle of cursing turned to blessing.

If you remember a confessed sin, you create, or sprout, a new sin from a dead sin. The word is “seed” in Heb 12:15. Now you may be under Divine discipline, but not for the confessed sin, but from new sin. Perpetuated Divine discipline is caused by perpetuating sin. Heb 12:15, looking diligently.

Constantly ride herd on yourself. Check yourself that you don’t perpetuate your confessed sins. Put your faith in and claim the promise of 1 John 1:9.

Heb 12:15, “Fail of the Grace of God.”
Failing to use the Grace of God. Don’t miss using the Grace of God, by allowing one confessed sin, dead sin, to be the basis of another new sin.

Heb 12:15, “Any root of bitterness spring up.” New sin from dead sin,

Heb 12:15, “Trouble you.”
Remembering past sins gives you a guilt complex.

Heb 12:15, “Thereby many be defiled.”
When you carry a guilt complex, others are affected.

If you don’t isolate your sin, all other doctrines will not get you out of sin. So this is an important doctrine.

Next time we will take up what happens when you are chain sinning – adding one sin to another.

Don’t forget when you are out of fellowship you are under Divine discipline and you are grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit. Your prayers are not heard and the Holy Spirit, who is your Teacher, cannot teach you the Word, and if you stay out of fellowship long enough, you go home through the sin unto death.

Q. Will you explain chain-sinning further?

A. The principle of converting sins or sprouting new sins from a dead seed, which is confessed sin. There are three areas of converting sins:

A. Mental.
    1. Hatred: If you have confessed a sin involving you and someone else and when you see this person you have mental attitude hatred, you have sprouted the sin of hate, a new sin from a dead sin. Result: Divine discipline for the mental attitude sin of hatred.     2. Guilt complex; “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” Rom 14:2. We are forgiven on the basis of God’s Grace and what the Bible says, 1 John 1:9, not on the basis of our faith. If we confess, we are forgiven.

B. Tongue.
    1. Gossip: Running someone down and it is not true.
    2. Maligning: Running someone down and it is true, Rom 12:19, “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord. I will repay.”
    3. Public confession of sin: Which often passes for revival.
    4. By blaming others for your sins: Operation patsy.
    5. By discussing past failures with people in order to get their sympathy.

C. Overt activity: Harassment, violence, revenge activity.

All believers fail. We all have an old sin nature and we must:
    A. Confess our sin, 1 John 1:9
    B. Forget it, Phil 3:13
    C. Isolate it, Heb 12:16
    D. Move on, Phil 3:14

Q. Could you give me some Scriptures on unlimited atonement?

A. Yes. Here are some:

1. Definition: Unlimited atonement means that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
    1 John 2:2. And He is the propitiation, satisfaction, for our sins and not for ours alone,  but also for the sins of the whole world.

2. Jesus Christ paid for the sins of all members of the human race, not just for the redeemed ones who accept Jesus Christ.
    2 Pet 2:1. Even in dying the Lord that bought them, talking about the false prophets, teachers, etc.

3. He died for all.
    1 Tim 2:6, Heb 2:9, Titus 2:11, 2 Cor 5:14, 15, 19, Ezek 18:4

4. Application of unlimited atonement to salvation:
    A. Jesus Christ died for all.
    B. Why? Because of Rom 3:23, “All have sinned.” All are spiritually dead, imputed sin. All sinned when Adam sinned. All were counted guilty because Adam was guilty. In Adam all died, in Christ all are made alive.
    2 Cor 5:14-15, “If one died for all, then all were dead.”

5. The volition of man is the issue in salvation. Will man choose for Christ or against Christ?

6. If man chooses against Christ, he stands on his own good works against the good work of Christ, the Cross.

7. The issue in the last judgment, the great white throne judgment, is human good vs. Divine good.

8. Unlimited atonement in the Old Testament.
    Isa 44:22-23. Jacob, the unbeliever, Israel the believer. This doctrine comes under the title of “Basic Bible Doctrine.”

Before you go into combat you need basic training.

Q. What does the Bible say about people retiring as senior citizens? And what does the Bible say about handicapped people?

A. I will answer both of these questions as I prefer always to do so that the Word which is alive and powerful will be able to illuminate the particular subject in view.

First, I can quote the verses for old age and I can also give a personal testimony about old age. I never like to teach experience for Doctrine, but in this case my experience is a result of Doctrine. I am only saying this so that you will know that I am not 19 years old, and may have some credibility with you aged ones. May 20th, 2000 I will become 78 years young, and it will be 40 years now that I have been studying and teaching the Word of God.

So, briefly, and I will go into detail, because I think it is important, I have not retired, and I will never retire. I see too may old people walking around or crawling around bemoaning their fate. Get a life and be somebody.

Here is one verse, of which there are many, and with which I will continue this subject of retirement and handicapped people. Psa 92:14, “They shall bring forth fruit in old age and they shall be fat and flourishing.”

You don’t retire. You serve the Lord now even though you don’t have a 9 to 5 job, and you bear fruit in old age. It is easier than when you wee younger.

I will explain next …

Q. What advantage does a handicapped person have?

A. 2 Cor 5:7, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”

If a person is blind, they can’t see this world around them, and so the principle is they walk by faith and not by sight. Most people go astray when they walk by sight. 2 Cor 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

So, a blind person has an advantage, especially in this day because they cannot be influenced by what they see in the world system under Satan. When you can’t see, you walk by faith. And when you can see, then we are the seeing sightless instead of sightless seeing.

Q. Can handicapped people serve the Lord?

A. Surely, probably more so than a so-called person who is not handicapped. When a person is handicapped, they know they are handicapped. And so then they know there are certain things they can’t do. So they are half way home. Now since there is something they can’t do, now is their opportunity to call upon the Lord and put their situation in His hands and take it out of their hands and stop using handicapped parking places as a sign of sympathy.

Handicapped people have a great advantage knowing they are handicapped as opposed to some one who thinks they can do anything and everything.

More next time with Biblical illustrations ...

Q. What is the difference between human good and Divine good?

A. We come into this world physically alive and spiritually dead. When a person rejects Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, they have no relationship with God for God is a Spirit and they must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

So, the unbeliever can only produce human good, coming from their own energy.

But, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, in fellowship with God in time, controlled by God the Holy Spirit can produce Divine good, the fruit of the Spirit. The distinction is made in 1 Cor. where we have gold, silver, and precious stones (Divine good) and wood, hay, and stubble, which is human good, which will be burned up. Rev 20 tells us we are judged according to our works. All human good is no good and will be all burnt up.

Now, if a believer is out of fellowship with God in time, he is quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit and he, too, then produces human good and acts as an unbeliever even though he is still saved.

Q. Where do you find Right-Man/Right-Woman in Scripture?

A. 1. The pattern and the precedent of Right-Man and Right-Woman was established at the creation of man, Gen 2:21-25.

A. Adam and one Eve. Not two Eves, or five.
”A godly seed” comes only from the Right-Man/Right-Woman. If otherwise, then only the Grace of God, Mal 2:15.

B. In the one man/one woman concept, the woman was “brought” to the man, Gen 2:22. When a Christian woman or man conducts the “big search” instead of trusting the Lord in guidance when it comes to marriage with the right one, difficulties result. We trust Him for salvation, but why not for marriage?

C. A Christian is to get his or her life partner on the basis of Grace, not human hustle and panic, i.e., “looking for Mr. Goodbar.”

D. Sex was introduced in marriage long before any children were born. Sex within marriage is not for having children only. Notice the word “cleave,” Gen 2:24, which is soul and body contact.

E. According to Gen 2:24, Mama and Papa interfering with the marriage of their children is wrong and disastrous.

Q. Does a mature believer have his prayers answered more than an immature believer?

A.  Whether you are a mature believer or an immature believer, your prayers will not be answered as a believer if you are out of fellowship.

Psa 66:18. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Also found in Isa 59:1-3.

A mature believer, therefore, should be spending more time in fellowship than an immature believer. So, he should be at the throne of Grace more than an immature believer. Secondly, a mature believer would know what not to ask for and what to ask for. You don’t ask for things which are given in another way. For example, you don’t pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on you, or the church. Every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. Now the believer has to stop quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit by confession of sin and then the Holy Spirit can control them.

So, the mature believer is in fellowship more than an unbeliever and knows more what not to pray for than a immature believer. Some people don’t ask and others ask amiss centered on their own lust pattern. And so they ask amiss.

Q. I don’t understand my wife. Can you help me?

A. Women are not hard to understand. The Bible tells you all about them. Instead of going to the bar looking for women, why don’t you go to the Book?

1. God demands that believers marry believers, those who have personally accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. 2 Cor 6:14 ff

    A. Believers are never to marry unbelievers, no matter how nice the unbeliever may be. It is prohibited. Well, what about people who disregard this principle and marry anyway? The results include misery, unhappiness, and every problem imaginable along with suffering.
    B. Since marriage is a Divine Institution, two believers may marry. Unbelievers, those who have not personally accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, are not to live like animals. They too are to keep sex within the bounds of marriage.

2. Even in the empty life of the unbeliever, when the Right-Man is married to the Right-Woman, he derives great happiness from her, even though his life is empty.
    Ecc 9:9, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity,” empty useless life. “For that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.”

The one good thing this unbeliever did in his useless life was marry his Right-Woman. Why is this point so important? This is the emphasis. If the unbeliever with the right unbelieving woman can be happy, just think what you can enjoy as a believer when both are saved and are living the Christian way of life!

Q. Part Two, I Don’t Understand Women

A. Eve is the first woman and so we begin with dealing with her.

Eve was deceived by Satan.
She was equally guilty with Adam.
Adam deliberately sinned. 1 Tim 2:14
He saw Eve spiritually dead before he sinned.

The only way that Adam and Eve could sin, without an old sin nature, was by the use of their negative volition. And this caused spiritual death. This brought into existence the old sin nature.

Eve could have fellowship with Adam after sinning in her soul. She lost fellowship with God. She died spiritually and her human spirit died.

Q. I don’t understand women. I can’t figure them out. Can you help me?

A. The Word of God is very clear on what women are like. Of the two, man is more complicated than the woman.

Let’s take the first woman for example:
    Eve was created by God.
    Eve was created a grown woman.
    Eve was made from the rib of Adam.

Adam lost something when the rib was taken from him. But God gave it back to him in the form of a beautiful woman. Now that is what God can do with a rib. Can’t you take a rib?!

The Hebrew word for man is ISH and the Hebrew word for woman is ISHAH.
Eve was brought to Adam to be a help to him.

Principle: The woman does not have to hunt for the Right-Man. God has the Right-Man for you.

“Eve” – this help was from his own species and not from lower creation. Gen 2:20. Lower creation is not compatible with human beings eliminating the concept of common original evolution.

Eve was made for Adam. Body, soul, with the ability to have fellowship with Adam. In her soul she had:

Self-consciousness – she was aware of Adam
Mentality – she thought about Adam
Volition – she decided to please Adam always
Emotion – she appreciated Adam
Conscience – her norms and standards were like Adam’s

She had a human spirit and that gave her the ability to have fellowship with God.

Q. What then is a woman like?

A. The woman was originally created for the man, and Adam was created in the image of God. She was created for man because he was lonely. A woman than is basically a responder, and only in that situation is she truly happy. She is a helper of the same species.

Then in the marriage relationship, the woman fulfills the man and the man is complete by having the woman. Gen 2:23 Note that a woman’s capacity to respond is hindered by many things.

Basically, a woman is beautiful because of what she thinks. As a woman thinketh in her mind so is she. An inner mental attitude of love minus envy, jealousy, hatred, bitterness, and implacability. Beauty on the inside survives the attacks of time, 1 Pet 3:1-7

If the woman does not have something to which to respond, she becomes bitter, frustrated, and/or practices some form of escapism, such as clubs and drinking, etc. Therefore, the interrelationship between husband and wife must be one of co-operation rather than of competition.

The woman’s stability, believer, comes from the daily function of taking in the Word of God and growing into maturity and keeping away from an emotional revolt in the soul.

 

Q. What part does morality have in the Plan of God?

A. Morality is absolutely necessary for the orderly function of the human race under the Divine Institutions.

    1. Divine Institution # 1: Free will, volition
    2. Divine Institution #2: Marriage
    3. Divine Institution #3: Family
    4. Divine Institution: # 4: Nationalism

Therefore, morality is for the whole human race for it makes the Divine Institutions function smoothly. For example, unbelievers are to be legally married to unbelievers. They are not to live like animals. But, it must be understood that morality does not save.

Thus, Christianity is not a morality, but a living, dynamic relationship with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.

Morality, even to believers, has no dynamic in itself. It cannot save or manufacture spirituality. The dynamic is found in the filling of the Holy Spirit and maturity.

Morality must be distinguished from human good.
Morality is bona fide, which stems from respect for authority and for keeping the law of the land, and of the family unit, respect for property, and the rights of others, and the privacy of others. “Live and let live.”

Human good is religion. Asceticism. Trying to pull you up by your own boot straps.
Going through ritual to gain brownie points with God. And it is phony, hypocritical,
socialistic. And all of these are covered with a coat of being nice, sweet, patronizing. etc.

Human good proceeds out of the strong area of the old sin nature and it is never acceptable to God.

In the unbeliever, morality and human good can overlap. But in the believer, the Holy Spirit in control produces Divine Good, and in this case, morality is Divine Good because of the production of the Holy Spirit.

What makes the difference in the believer between morality and human good is the source — either the old sin nature or God the Holy Spirit.

The human good that comes from the old sin nature is inconsistent and often becomes a facade for the hidden sins that are the worst sins, and sins of the tongue.

Parents should teach their children what morality is and the principles regarding the Divine Institutions of free will, marriage, family, and nationalism.

Q. Can you break down the Mosaic Law so I can understand it?

A. There are three sections in the Mosaic Law:

A. Codex A. This is the moral code, the commandments of Exodus 20, Deut 5,
which shows that I am a sinner and need a Saviour. This refers to the 10 basic commandments and the ramifications of them.

B. Codex B. The spiritual code. These are the ordinances. And these picture a complete Christology, the feast days, Levitical offerings, modus operandi of the priesthood, organization, and material for the Tabernacle. They present the Saviour. Exodus 24-31

C. Codex C. Social code, the judgment of the dietary laws, marriage, taxes, etc. It presents a way of life for the Jews, and norms and standards for stability in any national entity. Exodus 21-33
1. The Mosaic Law was given to Israel only. Ex 19:3, Lev 26:46, Rom 3:19, 9:4
2. The Mosaic Law was not given to the Gentiles. Deut 4:8, Rom 2:12-14
3. The Christian way of life is not under the Mosaic Law. Acts 15:5, 24, Gal 2:19, Rom 6:14
4. Christians operate under a higher law, the law of spirituality. Rom 6:2-4, Rom 10:4,  Gal 5:18-23
5. The present purpose of the Mosaic Law is to convince of sin by the Word. The Holy Spirit only convicts of one sin – the sin of unbelief. Rom 3:20, 1 Tim 1:9-10, Gal 3:23-24
6. Limitations of the Mosaic Law:
    A. The Law cannot save, no justification. Gal 2:16, 3:10
    B. The Law cannot give life. Gal 3:21
    C. The Law cannot provide the Holy Spirit. Gal 3:2

”The Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ and after Christ came, we are not longer under the schoolmaster.”

Q. What about mother nature?

A. Who is mother nature? I didn’t know nature had a mother. Neither does God have a mother. God has a Father.

1. The present state of nature.
Rom 8:20, for the creation was made subject to vanity.

2. Nature was originally good and not subject to uselessness, Gen 1 and 2
Sin, Gen 3, destroyed that which was good, and always does.

3. Any good that comes from nature today, comes through man’s work. Gen 3:17-19

4. This situation that nature can be advantageous does not exist because of the desire of nature. But God brought it to pass, Gen 3:19, so that the subjection of the nature would be compatible with the fallen state of man. It is advantageous for man to be occupied with work. Rom 8:20

5. Thus, Adam was to have dominion over nature but by the fall, nature was cursed.

6. As the second Adam, the last Adam will bring peace to nature.

7. The hope of nature, creation, is the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. Then the Earth
will be compatible with man on Earth. All regenerate at the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ. Rom 8:21

8. There will be future changes in the status of nature.
    A. At the Rapture, there will be no change.
    B. At the Second Advent, a change takes place. Isa 11:6-9, 35:1, 2, 7, 65:26
    C. However, Earth will be in all its glory in eternity. Rev 21:1
    ”I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more sea.”
        1. This is the ultimate glory of the Palestinian covenant.
        2. In that covenant land was promised to the seed of Abraham, Israel, forever. Gen 17:8

Please don’t tell the environmentalists.
  

Q. What part does God the Holy Spirit have in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ?

A. 1. The Holy Spirit did not come to indwell all believers until the Lord Jesus Christ had ascended and was glorified. John 7:38-39

2. The purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation is not to glorify the Holy Spirit. but to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, John 16:13, while Jesus Christ is absent from the Earth. John 16:14

3. The purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the body of the believer is to glorify Christ and we are so commanded, 1 Cor 6:20. This is accomplished by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Eph 5:18 with 1 John 1:9.

4. The believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19. This glorification occurs on the inside of the believer. 1 Cor 3:16

5. When the believer is filled with the Spirit, in fellowship, his life is written by the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor 3:3. Declared to be the epistles, or letters, of Christ written by God the Holy Spirit.

6. When the believer is filled with the Spirit, Christ is at home in his body. Eph 3:16-17, “That Christ might dwell,” literally, be at home, “in the soul.”

7. Therefore, the transitional command in Rom 13:4, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The filling of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit and makes no provision for the flesh, the old sin nature. The use of 1 John 1:9 provides cleansing. Then the Holy Spirit controls, then the use of growing in Grace operates unto maturity and Christ is glorified. John 16:14

8. When the believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Lord is glorified. Phil 1:20 with 1 Cor 6:19-20

9. When the believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s character is formed in the life. Gal 4:19, Gal 5:22-23

10. The fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23, is the character of Jesus Christ as He walked on this Earth.

11. All believers are ambassadors for Christ, 2 Cor 5:20. But when a believer is out of fellowship, his representation of Christ is not Christ glorifying.

12. The carnal believer is commanded to wake up and let the Holy Spirit glorify Christ, “be filled with the Spirit,” Eph 5:14-18

13. The glorification of Christ is done through the shining forth of the maturity of the believer. Believers are lights, reflectors.
 

Q. Do you think we are headed for another crash?

A. I remember very clearly even up to today seeing the results of the crash in the twenties. I remember seeing soldiers sitting on orange crates on the corner with a cup in their hand and inside was an American flag and pencils which they were selling. I have never forgotten that sight.

What possessions do we have that we can’t lose them? And, if we can lose them, are they really our possessions? There is only one possession that we have that we cannot lose.

Psa 16:5, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup Thou maintainest my lot.”
He is our Portion. And He, our Portion, maintains, Him, our Portion. That is a possession we can never lose, if he maintains it. Maintains Himself?

Put the possessions that you can lose second and put the Lord first and then you’ll have no problem if there is another crash.

Q. Someone came to my door and asked me to fill out this questionnaire on what I thought it took to get to Heaven. See if you choose the ones I chose.

A. Which of the following will get you into Heaven?

1. Church membership.
2. Tithing.
3. Water baptism.
4. Working around a church
5. Witnessing to five people a day
6. Praying.
7. Not missing a prayer meeting.
8. Confessing your sins.
9. Good works.
10. Giving money
11. Walking an aisle
12. Speaking in tongues
13. Fasting.
14. Reading your Bible every day.
15. Singing in a choir.
16. Teaching a Sunday School class.

The answer: None of them will. Only one thing will get you into Heaven:
”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Q. What do you think of horoscopes in line with the Word of God?

A. One time I was asked what signed I was born under and I said I was born under a sign that said No Vacancy.

But I can tell you from Scripture what you life was in the past and what it is now and what it will be in the future without knowing what day you were born. Your physical birth is not important, but your Second Birth is!

Christians are born under the sign given by Isaiah:

Isa 7:14. “Wherefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall  call His Name Immanuel, which means God with us.”

Here is your past ... Eph 2:1-3, “dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, children of disobedience, lust of the flesh, children of wrath.”

Here is your present ... Eph 2:5-9. “Quickened us together with Christ and has raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ. Saved by Grace through faith and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”

Here is your future ... Eph 2:7, “That in the ages to come, He might shew the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

What sign are you born under? No Vacancy to the sign of the virgin birth. Now you can celebrate two birthdays. Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Q. What does the Bible say about Easter?

A. There is a passage in Acts 12:4 that says “Easter” in your English Bible. But it is not “Easter.” It is the Greek word PASCHA, which is Passover.

The phrase, “after the Passover” signifies after the festival was at an end. The term “Easter” is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven.

The festival of Pascha held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast, but was not instituted by Christ, nor was it connected with Lent. For this Pascha, the pagan festival of Astarte was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate western religion, as proof of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity.

Q. Should we, as Christians, celebrate Easter?

A. “Some esteem one day over another and we esteem all days alike.” We can celebrate Easter every day. Remember it is not a rabbit that we are celebrating but a Lamb.

”Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.”

Since we are talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can celebrate that every day.

Here is a good way to celebrate Easter: Give some one the Gospel because in the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is another way in which you celebrate Easter – by living the Christian way of life, which is the life of the resurrected Christ.

Q. Are Christians religious?

A. No! Definitely not! If someone calls you that, well that is an insult. “Religion” comes from a Latin word RE LEGGIO, which means to turn back. And that is exactly what religion does. Religion is man trying to work his way to Heaven and Christianity is Christ giving you a gift of Heaven and you either receive it or you don’t.

I know the word “religion” appears in the Bible, but the translator didn’t know what to do or how to translate the Greek word.

James 1:26-27, says “pure religion.” The Greek word there is THRESKEIA, which is literally “worship.”

”True worship is visiting the widows and the fatherless.” It is used of the Jews worshipping angels in Acts 26:5.

The worst thing a Christian can be called is religious – which means you are lost and are in formalism and overt-type activities.

Q. What is the condition of little babies who are born into this world?

A. We all come into the world lost, without Christ, and without hope, and we are enemies of God and alienated from God. Babies are so cute and precious we forget all about their condition. We are all born with an old sin nature.

1. The old sin nature is passed down through the man. Rom 5:12

2. Satan attacked the woman instead of the man because Satan had to make the woman sin in order to trick the whole human race.
If the man had sinned and then told the woman to eat and she did, she could have said, “Well, I only obeyed my husband.” And she would not have been guilty.

    A. The woman sinned first. She was deceived. 1 Tim 2:14
    B.  The man sinned secondly, deliberately, Titus 2:14, and he acquired an old sin nature
    C. Both were now guilty before God.

3. The human race is counted guilty because Adam sinned. Everyone sinned when Adam sinned, retrospective. When Adam was condemned, Adam’s progeny was condemned.

1 Cor 15:22, “For as all in Adam die,” spiritually, imputed sin, “even as in Christ shall all be made alive.” “So, by one man sin came,” Adam, “and so by one Man salvation came, the Second Adam,” Jesus Christ.

Q. What does it mean when it says “Greet every one with a holy kiss?”

A. The word “kiss” is PHILEMA, which means to kiss. It was a token of Christian brotherhood, whether by way of welcome or farewell.

A “holy kiss,” is  HAGIOS PHILEMA, which means free from anything inconsistent with that calling as a saint, which is a believer. Which means kissing only saints. Which makes sense. So, we don’t kiss frogs and hope they become saints.

There was to be an absence of formality and hypocrisy and a freedom of prejudice arising from social distinctions, from discrimination against the poor partiality toward the well to do. In other words, we are all one in Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free.

 A holy, separated kiss.

Q. Is perfect environment the answer to man’s problems?

A. No! At the beginning of man’s history, there was perfect environment for an unknown length of time. At the end of man’s history, the Millennium, we have perfect environment for 1,000 years.

In the Garden, Satan came into man’s perfect environment and helped to destroy it. Found in Gen 3. At the end of the Millennium, Satan comes into perfect environment and stirs up a revolt. Found in Rev 20:3, 7-10.

Man’s volition was involved in the destruction of perfect environment in the Garden. Perfect environment will not solve man’s problems in the Millennium.

The only answer is regeneration– and then the intake and application of the Word of God.

At the end of the Millennium, unbelievers, with old sin natures, will join Satan’s revolt even though they had 1,000 years of perfect environment. Perfect environment does not improve the old sin nature.

It is possible that Adam and Eve lived 1,000 years in perfect environment before Eve got around to sinning along with Adam – negative volition toward the Word of God.
 

Revolt at the beginning of time was on a personal basis – Adam and Eve.
Revolt at the end of time will be on a mass basis.

The reason for the Millennium is to prove again that perfect environment is not the answer.

Unbelievers cannot appreciate or enjoy perfect environment. 1 Cor 2:14. The Word of God inside of you creates a perfect environment for you.

There will be perfect environment in eternity. And it will be beneficial because there will be believers in resurrection bodies minus the old sin nature.

In order to start out with perfect environment, there must be

1. The removal of religion.
2. The removal of Satan, the father of religion.
3. The removal of demons.
4. The removal unbelievers.

Q. What part do emotions play in Christianity?

A. The emotions are the appreciators of the soul. Emotion is a response to something in the thought pattern, it is a result of what you think.

1 Pet 3:8, “Finally be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.” The word “pitiful” means good emotions.
    A. One mind. The standard is the Word of God.
    B. Compassion, using the Word to help others.
    C. Love, a rapport through the Word of God.
    D. Pitiful, good emotions influenced by the Word of God.
    E. Courteous, a mental attitude of Grace.

Good emotions means an appreciator of the finer things or enjoyable things of life on the basis of who and what the Lord is – Gracious. Phil 4:8-9.

The Word of God is the criterion for emotions, but emotion is not the criterion for the Christian way of life. You are not saved because you feel saved. You are not spiritual because feel spiritual. The norm or standard for the Christian way of life is the Word of God, never the way in which we feel. How you feel does not determine whether you are saved or not. Or whether you are spiritual or not.

Your status depends on what the Bible says, therefore, good emotions are based on the Word of God flowing from the human spirit to the mind and from the mind to the emotions. The emotions of the soul must be channeled through the Word of God.

The human spirit sends the Word of God to our emotions and we have an appreciation of God and we are not dominated by our emotions. Now, the Word of God sent to the emotions and we have on appreciation for God. When emotion is made the criterion, we get into false doctrine which appeals to the emotions.

When you take this appreciator, the emotions, and try to make it a standard or a norm for the Christian way of life, you are not only in trouble, but you become a trouble maker. Rom 16:17-18. “Belly” refers to emotions.

Bad emotions are described in 2 Cor 6:11-12 and Rom 16:17-18.

Q. What will eternity be like for the believer?

A. The believer’s hope is that we know facts concerning eternity:
    A. Absent from the body and face-to-face with the Lord. 2 Cor 5:8, no Purgatory.
    B. No judgment. Rom 8:1.
    C. The appointment of the second death is cancelled. Heb 9:27-28.
    D. We have a new home, a new dwelling place. John 14:1-3.
    E. We have an eternal inheritance. 1 Pet 1:4-5.
    F. We have no more tears and no more sorrows. Rev 21:4
    G. We will have a resurrection body with which we will live with Jesus Christ forever. 1 Thes 4:13-18, Phil 3:21, 1 John 3:1, 2, 1 Cor 15:51-57.
    H. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” Phil 1:21.

What the saved soul anticipates (John 5:29):
    A. A resurrection to life.
    B. Good. The good, acceptance of Jesus Christ.
    C. Evil. The evil, the rejection of Jesus Christ.
    D. A far better place. Phil 1:23
    E. Eternity in the very presence of God. 2 Cor 5:8
    F. An inheritance reserved in Heaven. 1 Pet 1:4
    G. Reunion with loved ones in the Lord. 1 Thes 4:13-18

What the lost soul anticipates:
    A. A Christless eternity which is separation from God.
    B. Resurrection of damnation. John 5:29
    C. The Lake of Fire. Matt 25:41, Rev 20:15
    D. Fear. Rev 21:7

The soul of the believer is:
    Saved, 1 Pet 1:9
    Stablized, Acts 14:22
    Delivered, 2 Cor 5:8, Phil 3:21, Resurrection body and no old sin nature.

Man’s initial relationship to God is one of the creature to the Creator. God is the God of the whole race by virtue of creation, whether acknowledged or not. Jer 32:27. But He is not the father of the human race, only those who believe, Gal 3:26

Man is a living soul, Gen 2:7. All souls belong to God, Ezek 18:4, Dan 5:23.
Man’s eternal relationship to God is determined by his response to God’s offer of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:36.

There are two kinds of people in the human race, believer and unbeliever –
    Saved soul and
    Lost soul.

There are two destinations.
    A. A place of bliss, John 14:1-3, Rev 21-22:7
    B. A place of torment, torture, Luke 16:19-31, Rev 20:15

Q. Is it wrong for my wife not to go to church with me?

A. Yes, it is wrong, not only for her not to go to church with you, but for her not to go to church – period. We are told as Christians not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. This is what Christ is talking about when He says the Word of God divides a house, and He said He would send a sword and not peace. I would continue to go to church if I were you, and possibly if she sees that this is important in your life, she may change her mind if she wants anything with you. You have to be sure if she is a believer or not, for if she is a believer she is to “grow in Grace in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Q. What is the footstool in Scripture?

A. The footstool is mentioned in Heb 1:13, 10:13. The footstool is an idiom in the ancient language, representing the fact that your enemies are conquered.

This footstool operation refers to Jesus Christ in His humanity having victory over Satan at the Cross and Church Age believers in Christ bump one demon each. One on one at the Second Advent.

”Operation footstool” is prophesied for us in Psalm 110:1. The following steps are necessary in dealing with Satan and his demons.
    A. The virgin birth
    B. The Cross, death, and burial of Jesus Christ
    C. The resurrection of the humanity of Christ
    D. The ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ
    E. Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father
    F. The formation of the body of Christ
    G. The rapture of the Church
    H. The cleansing of the bride of human good, preparing to return with Christ.
    I. The Second Advent.
    J. Satan bound and demons bumped.

Q. What is the Angelic Conflict?

A.
1. God created angels with free will, volition.
2. Satan acted independently of God, i.e., Satan’s five “I wills.”
3. God sentenced Satan. Matt 25:41
4. Satan impugned the character of God.
How can a loving God cast His creatures into the Lake of Fire? This is human viewpoint. It does not consider all of God’s essence, but only love and not righteousness and justice.

5. God’s answer:
God created man with volition. Every time a member of the human race, created a little lower than the angels, chooses for God, the character of God is vindicated and Satan loses the argument.

This resolves the angelic conflict and answers the questions:
Why man? Why sin? Why suffering?

Q. What is God like?

A. God is sovereign, righteous, justice, love, eternal life, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immutability, and veracity.

We will take these characteristics one by one and apply them to our life.

Sovereign:
God is the Supreme Being of the universe. Heb 6:13. Therefore He is the highest King. Psa 47:7
God has absolute will and does whatever He pleases. Psa 115:3
In His sovereignty, He pleased Him to give free will to man. “Whosoever.” The meeting place of the two wills is the Cross. God’s absolute will meets man’s free will at the Cross.

God’s sovereign plan for the human race was this:
    A. Stage one: Salvation. Acts 6:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
    B. Stage two: The believer in time. Eph 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
        How? 1 John 1:9, Witness, Acts 1:8, using Gospel information, John 3:36
    C. Eternity. The believer has eternal life in Heaven.

Both “believe” and “confess” are non-meritorious. Therefore, it is Grace all the way.

Next time, the righteousness of God. I know you can’t wait.

Q. What is God like?

A. Righteousness:

God is absolute righteousness, Psa 145:17
Man is minus absolute righteousness. Rom 3:10-12, Isa 64:6. Man’s righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight.
God’s absolute righteousness cannot have fellowship with man and his filthy rags, who is sinful, Isa 59:2
God demands the same righteousness in His creatures that He, God, has. Rom 3:23
God’s righteousness was satisfied with Christ’s work on the Cross. Therefore, the meeting place is the Cross, where absolute righteousness is imputed to man. 2 Cor 5:21

The Grace of God at the Cross meets the faith of man and there is a marriage of Grace and faith. And this wedding of Grace and faith causes conversion.

Q. What is God like?

A. The Justice of God:

God is just and cannot be unfair. 2 Chron 19:7
His justice demands that disobedience against His laws be punished. John 3:36
God is a judge that placed a penalty on sin. Psa 50:6b, Rom 6:23, death
God’s justice is satisfied because of His provision. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for spiritual death, Col 2:14

Therefore, God is:
    1. Just to forgive, Rom 8:1
    2. Just to condemn, John 3:18

Next time we will take up the love of God. I hope you can wait!

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Love

God in His sovereignty decided to treat man in Grace. Eph 2:8-9. Love is the motive of Grace. Righteousness and justice stand in the way because sin is a barrier between man and God.

God’s righteousness cannot have fellowship with man’s filthy rags. Isa 59:2. Justice demands a penalty for sin. Rom 6:23.

In His love, God the Father sent His Son to go to the Cross to die for the sins of the whole world. John 3:16.

So, righteousness and justice are solved and love and eternal life can get through the “Grace pipe” to man. The barrier is removed and the issue is now the Lord Jesus Christ.

The alternative to God’s love is wrath, which is righteousness and justice. John 3:36. If you do not accept Christ, who satisfied the righteousness and justice of God, then you are subject to His righteousness and justice, which is His wrath.

Our next characteristic of God will be eternal life.

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Eternal Life

God has eternal life, which has neither beginning nor ending. Psa 90:2

To share His eternal life with us, God the Eternal Son was willing to leave Heaven and become humanity and die for the sins of the world, John 10:17-18

His Deity could not provide eternal life. Therefore, He became true humanity, the God-man, in order to die. Heb 2:14-15

God will share His eternal life with believers. John 10:27, 28, 1 John 5:11, 12a

Conversely, the unbeliever does not share God’s eternal life, 1 John 5:12b.

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Omniscient

God is all knowing. Col 2:3. Therefore, He reads our minds. 2 Tim 2:19. He knows who is born again and who is not. God does not use His omniscience to be unfair. Example: in the exodus with Pharaoh and Judah.

Therefore, Rom 8:28, God in His omniscience works all things good and bad together for them who belong to Him.

Knowledge is imparted to the believer through the Word of God. 1 Cor 2:16, Heb 4:12. By means of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 2:9-12, 2 Tim 2:15.

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Omnipresent

God is everywhere at the same time. Prov 15:3. We cannot hide ourselves or our sins from God. Psalm 139:7-12

We can put our faith and trust in Him and His Word in any situation in life because
of God’s omnipresence. Matt 28:20. “Lo, I am with you always.”

He even speaks to the Chinese ... Notice, He calls them by name, “Lo, I am with you always.”

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Omnipotence

God is limitless in ability and authority. Matt 28:18. He upholds all things by the Word of His power, Heb 1:3.

He has power to save. Salvation, Heb 7:25
He has power to keep you as a Christian, 1 Pet 1:5
He has power to raise in resurrection in eternity, 1 Cor 15:43
He will share His power with the believers, Phil 4:13

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Also Immutable

He is neither capable nor susceptible to change, Matt 3:6a, Heb 13:8

Because He is immutable, He always keeps His promise.

Immutability plus omnipotence, equals faithfulness.

When we read that God repented, or changed His mind, it is an anthropopathism, which doesn’t mean that God has changed, but the people have changed and that God must treat them differently.

Num 23:19, “God is not a man that He should lie, neither the Son of man that He should repent. Hath He said and shall He not do it? Or, hath He spoken and shall He not make it good?”

Q. What is God like?

A. God is Absolute Veracity

”Veracity” means that He is perfect truthfulness. There never is a time when He is in error. God cannot lie.

A. Titus 1:2, “Which God that cannot lie.”
B. Heb 6:18, “Impossible for God to lie.”

His veracity, truth, is eternal.
Psa 117:2, “Truth of the Lord endureth forever.”

There is veracity in our salvation.
John 14:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

We can depend upon His veracity to sustain us.
Psa 91:4, “His Truth, His Shield, His Buckler.”

His veracity provides Truth for us in His Word.
”Sanctify them with Thy Word, Thy Word is Truth.”

Q. Who are the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6?

A. First, remember the principle that the Bible interprets the Bible.

Gen 6:1-2, “And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of
Earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of god saw the daughters of men, that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose.”

”Sons of god” is the issue here. We find this same expression “sons of god” in Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 38:7. The Hebrew word is BENI HA ELOHIM, which is the Hebrew word for fallen angels.

Next, the verse says that the women were fair. But they weren’t fair in any sense of the word because the Hebrew says they were beautiful.

”The fallen angels took the daughters of men.” This is an angelic infiltration into the human race to corrupt the human race so that Christ could not come into the world as our Saviour.

The word “wives” is plural, which means they had more than one. The fallen angels are Mormons.

Now, this was the beginning of Satan’s plan. In the angelic realm marriage was stopped after this judgment from God as now angels are no longer married or given in marriage. Matt 22:30

Apparently angels, even though a superior type of creation, procreated in a manner similar to members of the human race – just as animals, the lower creation, procreate and produce their own kind.

Satan’s master plan was to cut off the Cross by infiltrating the human race with some angelic males finding human females and procreating – thereby developing a race that was not true homo sapien.

We will find out next what was the result of angels cohabiting with women. Can’t you just wait to find out the sex life of angels? That would make a good book! But there is already one written – it is called the Bible.

The result of the satanic angelic infiltration into the human race, Genesis 6

Noah’s line remained true humanity, Gen 6:9. The rest of the race was infiltrated by angels which resulted in supermen, i.e., Hercules, Atlas, Caster, Pollox.

God’s reaction to Satan’s plot:
Gen 6:3, “My Spirit,” the Holy Spirit, “shall not always strive to make the Gospel clear to the unbeliever in spiritual death,” convince them of the sin of unbelief in Christ.

Gen 6. That He also is flesh as long as man is alive. He has a choice.

The application of verse 3 today. Man’s life span is 120 years at most.

Gen 6, “Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” They heard the Gospel for 120 years. For 120 years God the Holy Spirit evangelized through various people: Enoch, Methusaleh, and Noah.

Note: The human race gets its old sin nature from the man and the super race got its old sin nature from the fallen angels, the fallen angels being male.

The only people who accepted Christ as their personal Saviour were eight humans who remained true humanity, and were in the ark, starting the new civilization called postdiluvian.

Next time, the result of angelic infiltration, Gen 6:4-5. I know you just can’t wait.

Result of the Infiltration of Angels into the Human Race

Gen 6:4, “There were giants in the Earth in those days.” The word “giants” is NEPHALIM, literally, fallen, corrupt ones.

Gen 6:4, “The same became mighty men.” Literally, heroes.
Gen 6:4, “Men of renown.” This is supermen. This is the hero phase of Greek mythology.
Gen 6:5, “Wickedness of man.” A concentration of wickedness along with the destruction of true humanity.
Gen 6:5, “His heart was only evil continuously.” The heart is the mind, the thinking part of the soul. We know that mental attitude sins are the strongest and greatest source of wickedness.

These fallen angels are in prison now. Jude 6, 1 Pet 3:19-22, 2 Pet 2:4-5. The angelic hell is called Tartarus in the Greek. These angels are not operative now. They continue to be in prison till the middle of the Tribulation, at which time Satan is cast to the Earth and is denied access to Heaven.

The events of Rev 9:1-11: Demons are released from angelic hell called the Bottomless Pit.

But notice Gen 6:8, “Found Grace.” Salvation, Gen 6:9, Just, justified.
Perfect in his generation true humanity. He walked with God, in fellowship with God.

Q. As a believer I have failed. How do I recover and move on?

A.
1. Use 1 John 1:9, which is to confess and name the sin or sins.
2. Phil 3:13, Forget those things which are behind.
3. Heb 12:15, Isolate the sin. Don’t chain sin.
4. Phil 3:14, Move on.

Q. I am having trouble with Heb 12:15. Can you help me?

A. Sure. Heb 12:15, “looking diligently.”
This means to constantly ride herd on yourself and check out that you don’t perpetuate your confessed sins. Put your faith in the promise of 1 John 1:9 and rest in it.

”Fail of the Grace of God.” This is failure to use the Grace of God. Don’t miss using the Grace of God by allowing one unconfessed sin to be the basis for another new sin.

”Any root of bitterness springing up.” This is new sins coming from dead sins.

”Trouble you.” Remembering past sins gives you a guilt complex.

”Thereby many be defiled.” When you carry a guilt complex, others are affected around you.

If you don’t isolate your sin, all your other doctrines will not get you out of sin.

Q. Will you please explain Heb 6:1-6?

A. In Hebrews 5:1-10 Paul is giving the doctrine of the high priesthood of Christ. Then he stops and tells them why he is going to do chapter 6 before he continues.

They cannot take it in because of lack of growth and they are out of fellowship. They should be teachers but they still do not understand the basics.

Heb 6:1, “Knowing what you are leaving, let us go on into perfection.”
Keep moving towards maturity. Not laying again the foundation, the basics.

And then the verse gives a list of the basics. These basic doctrines are:

1. Repentance from dead works. This is human good. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of not producing dead works/human good.
2. Faith toward God. This is faith in the Word of God as believers.
3. Doctrine of baptisms. There are seven baptisms in Scripture.
4. Laying on of hands, which is identification.
5. Resurrection of the dead, the doctrine of resurrection.
6. Eternal judgment.

When this list is referred to again as in verse 6, only the first is mentioned but all six are referred to. This can be seen in the Greek grammar.

One of the laws of interpretation of Scripture reads, “The use of a word in context is determined by the first use of the word.”

Repentance was used in verse 1 as the head of the list of basic doctrines, the ABCs.

Q. Are there any descriptions of Heaven in the Bible?

A. Yes. There are some and the one I like best I call “the Heaven of no more.” Rev 21:4, perfect happiness in eternity.

”Wipe away all tears,” t