In spite of the Biblical fact that Jesus calls Himself Lord of the Sabbath most Christian people worldwide believe that Sunday, first day of the week, is the Lord’s Day. We learn from Acts 2:36 that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. Read also Luke 2:11 and Phil.2:11. This same Jesus, who is Lord, calls himself in Mark 2:28 “Lord of the Sabbath”. Read also Math. 12:8 and Luke 6:5.

For Bible believing Christians that should be sufficiently convincing that not the first day of the week is the day of the Lord but the Seventh-day Sabbath which is called on the common English calendar Saturday.

In both Roman Catholic and Protestant literature there is plenty to find admitting that the Seventh-day is the Biblical Sabbath and not Sunday and there is not one word in the Bible supporting first day Sunday observance. It would not be difficult to find this via a computer Google search.

But still in spite of what Jesus has said and what has been said about it by ministers of different denominations, there are theologians still of the opinion that there is Biblical support for Sunday observance, as the Lord’s Day, instead of the Seventh-day Sabbath.

This time we will deal with the so-called Bible passages which are used in favor of Sunday observance. Which, as is assumed, supports the idea to call the first day of the week The Lord’s Day and that the Seventh-day Sabbath has been abolished. There are 8 first day texts in the Bible, which we will deal with first.

1. Matthew 28:1. At the end of the Sabbath at dawn sunrise some women went to the place were the body of Jesus was laid to rest, after He had died on Friday afternoon. These women did not yet know that Jesus had been raised from the dead and was alive. This text cannot be used as evidence that the first day of the week had become the Lord’s Day instead of the Sabbath.

2 .Mark16:1, 2. Here we find the same thing stating as in the previous text. And thus for the same reason does not qualify to use as evidence that first the day of the week, our Sunday had become the Lord’s Day. Yes it proves that Christ had risen on the first day of the week, but the day was not made special.

3. Mark 16:9. This is a report about to who Jesus appeared first after His resurrection on that particular first day of the week after the Sabbath had ended.
Mary also did not know that he had risen, read John 20:1 and 11-16. Again it is no reason that a change had taken place from the Seventh-day Sabbath to the first day, Sunday as the Lord’s Day.

4. Luke 24:1-6. We have here a repeat of what we have read already in Matthew 28:1 and Mark.16:1, 2. It is reported that people went to the burial place of Jesus to do for Jesus’ body for which they had no time on Friday afternoon because the Sabbath was coming on. Another failed reason for Sunday observance as the Lord’s Day.

5. John 20:1.Mary arrives at the burial place and discovers that the stone is removed. She was not aware that Jesus had risen from His grave. Again we deal with a failed text to be used that now the first day of the week, Sunday is the Lord’s Day instead of the Seventh-day Sabbath.

6. John 20:19. It is still the same first day but at evening, could be at sunset. The disciples are assembled and the reason is given, for fear of the Jews. They were not assembled to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Fear of the Jews was the reason and is clearly stated as such. We discard this text also as evidence for a change from Sabbath to Sunday as the day of the Lord.

7. 1Cor.16:2. This text deals with church offerings on the first day of the week. The question is where should these offerings be taken or kept or laid aside? The text reads in the KJV (All scripture quotations are from the KJV, if not it will be so indicated) Let every one of you lay by him in store”. “By him” reads in the NKJV “aside”. In the NASB it reads to put aside and save the church as the place to bring the offering is not mentioned at all.. The common and logic understanding is that people were admonished to save up money at home in order that when Paul would pass through they had money ready to give him to be taken to Jerusalem. We conclude this from 1Cor.16:2, 3. No evidence at all that we deal with first day Sunday observance as the Lord’s Day.

8. Acts 20:7, 8. This text becomes more involved and is used by many as clear evidence that the church in Jerusalem had changed from Sabbath worship to first day, Sunday, worship. We have to unpack this step by step in order to know what we are dealing with, also because the breaking of bread is mentioned.
First we have to establish the timing. It is an evening meeting. Evening meetings are not general for worship, not then and not today. Some argue that it was an evening worship meeting to celebrate the Lord’s Day because people may have had to work during the daytime. This argument can be disqualified when we learn from the text why they were together at evening time and how long this meeting lasted. We read in Acts 13:42 that a daytime Sabbath meeting was conducted and the gentiles asked for a meeting for them the next Sabbath. If Sunday worship had been established they could have been told, come back tomorrow, you don’t have to wait for a full week till the next Sabbath. But Sunday was not yet a regular worship day, they had to wait till the next Sabbath, Acts 13:44.

Next point is, which day of the week was it actually? The text reads “first day of the week and it was evening. Did Luke use Jewish time or Roman time. Jewish time for a day was from sunset to sunset. This has originated from creation, read Gen.1: where the creation days started with evening followed by day. Roman time was from midnight to midnight as we still have today. Theologians and Bible commentaries are not sure. Most go for the idea that it was what we would call Saturday evening. Anyhow the text mentions that it was first day of the week.

Now we should ask the question why they were gathered together for an evening meeting, which lasted until midnight. This in it self is unusual for a regular worship meeting to last until midnight. Paul preached so long because he had plans to depart in the morning for his next destination. It was a farewell meeting and we know from the rest of the story in Acts that it was Paul’s last meeting for that church. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem he was arrested which eventually took him to Rome to appear before Nero the emperor.

Such Christians using this passage to support Sunday observance for church service, say, but there was the breaking of bread. And that’s true. However we do not find a set time given for the breaking of bread, the communion service. We read in Acts 2:46 they continued daily and breaking bread from house to house. So they conducted house services with the breaking of bread, indicating communion services. Paul writes in 1Cor.11:26 “as often as you eat”, not indicating a set time. Even today communion services are conducted at different times and days.

We must conclude that also Acts 20:7 is not a clear support for the change of the Seventh-day Sabbath in favor of the first day, Sunday as the Lord’s Day. We learn the opposite from the book of Acts that right through the time of the apostles, first century, Sabbath meetings were faithfully conducted. Read Acts 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4. In Acts 17:2 we read about Paul and his keeping of the Sabbath as his manner was. In NASB it reads according to Paul’s custom. This establishes the fact that both Jesus in Luke 4:16 and Paul had the same custom in regard to the Seventh-day Sabbath.

The next argument people assume is in favor of a change from Sabbath to Sunday is taken from Revelation 1:10. John on the isle of Patmos is in the spirit, in a state of divine vision. The timing is given as being on the Lord’s Day. On the Lord’s Day John received the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Rev.1:1, 10. Pro Sunday keeping Christian say here is a strong indication that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. This is an assumption. Nowhere in the scriptures we find that the first day of the week, Sunday, is called the Lord’s Day. It is generally believed that it was the year AD 95.Some says AD 90. That is still in the first century. It is very difficult to find any historical documentation that during the first century the first day of the week was called the Lord’s Day. Historically that started in the next century after the apostles and not in the Jerusalem church. In the NASB Bible the foot note by Revelation 1:10 reads likely not a reference to Sunday which is called first day of the week in the NT”. Some argue that it could have been the emperor’s day. The emperor was also called Lord and had his day on Sunday. We do discard this idea because John being exiled by a Roman emperor would not use the emperor’s day to report about a revelation of Jesus Christ. Also it is difficult to believe that God would give John a vision about Jesus Christ, who is Lord, on the day, which is dedicated to a pagan emperor. We can be sure that John was aware of Mark 2:28 where Jesus declares that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week. John was also well aware of Acts 2:36 that God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ. Later he writes in Revelation 19:16 that Jesus is Lord of Lords. Also in the fourth commandment it is stated that the Sabbath is of the Lord thy God.

We are told in 2Timothy 2:8 to remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. But nowhere in the scriptures are we told that the first day of the week, Sunday, has been set aside for that purpose and that the Seventh-day Sabbath has been abolished in order for that change to take place.

The Seventh-day Sabbath also is not by nature Jewish, but was made for man according to Jesus in Mark 2:28. This making of the Sabbath for man took place at the end of the creation week, Gen.2:1, 2.

The late Dr. Samuel Bacchiocchi an Italian minister of the Seventh-day Adventist church got his PhD in church history from the Gregoriana University in the Vatican. He has uncovered documentation giving clear evidence that Sunday observance in place of the Seventh-day Sabbath did not start in the Jerusalem Christian church but in the Christian church of the city of Rome. This can be found in his book FROM SABBTH TO SUNDAY based on his dissertation and available from ADVENTIST BOOK CENTRES. A Google search will assist the reader of this website to find where an Adventist Book Centre is located.

However, after all what has been written so far people may still think that there are biblical theological reasons for a change from Sabbath to Sunday and even that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment has been abolished. Such a person who believes this will turn to Col.2:14-16. They think that based upon this scripture passage that the law or at least part of it has been nailed to the cross. The law they have in mind must be the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, which contains the fourth commandment about the Seventh-day Sabbath. Before we deal with this particular scripture passage we like to find out what was the attitude of Jesus and later the apostle Paul towards the law of the Ten Commandments? If we can establish that from the scriptures then we will know what Paul is writing about in Colossians 2:14-16 and what he is not writing about. We must avoid creating a contradiction in the scriptures

David wrote about the coming Messiah in Psalms 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is written in my heart. Isaiah writing about the Messiah as the Servant of the Lord reveals the following in Isa.42:21 He will magnify the law and make it honourable. The Messiah, Jesus would have the law in His heart, magnify it and make it honourable. What do we find in Jesus life and teachings? In Luke 4:16 we read it was His custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. From Matthew 5:16,-18 we learn that He not had come to change not even the tiniest particle of the law and that it all would remain till the end of time. He had come to fulfil or to practice the law. That he had no change in mind is later confirmed in Hebrews 13:8 where we read that Jesus is yesterday, today and forever the same. Regarding the Father of Jesus we learn from James 1:17 that every good gift and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness or turning. This is in harmony with Ps.89:34; Mal.3:6. This shows clearly that a change in the Decalogue, the Law of God is not possible. In regard to the Sabbath Jesus foresaw that the Sabbath after His resurrection would still be kept. He says in Matthew 24:20 that they should pray that their flight should not happen in winter or on the Sabbath. To have to run away for something in winter would be very inconvenient weatherwise and to have to do the same on the Sabbath would also be not very pleasant. Jesus said this in connection with His prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem. History confirms that Christians in Jerusalem took their chance to leave Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Romans and escaped to the town of Pella

Now let us test Paul’s teachings and attitude regarding the law of God. From Romans 3:23 we learn that righteousness or justification is by faith not by the deeds of the law (3:28). It is also stated in 3:20, no justification by the deeds of the law. Does that mean Paul does disregard the law? Read 3:31 where Paul hastens to write Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea we establish the law. No abolishing or disregarding of the law in Paul’s mind. Read more in Romans 7:12 the law is holy, good and just. The law reveals sin, 7:7. Without the law no knowledge of sin, if we don’t know what sin is, we are not in need of a saviour. And if we do not need a saviour then Jesus is not needed in our lives. After we learn this from Paul it is impossible to believe that he writes to the Christians in Colossi that the law or part of it is nailed to the cross. Both Jesus and Paul had a positive attitude towards the law and both had the same custom to honour the Seventh-day Sabbath. With this background we can turn to Colossians 2:14-16

We should pick it up from verse 13, where it is stated that those who were dead in sins have been quickened or made alive , which means they have received the forgiveness of their sins.. Then follows what it means, the blotting out of the handwriting or ordinances which was against or contrary us and nailing it to His cross. What is nailed to the cross has to do with the forgiveness of sins, not with what reveals sin. What were the ordinances, handwritten and dealing with the forgiveness of sins and which had come to an end because of the cross? In the time before the cross we notice two laws. One law is the Ten Commandments written by God and engraved in stone, Deut.10:1-5. This law is of such an importance that it was laid in the ark of the testimony or covenant. Then there was the law of ceremonies dealing with forgiveness of sins. The sacrificial activities, because without the shedding of blood no remission of sin, Hebr.9:22. Read also Leviticus 1-4 how this took place and was administered for different cases. The total complex of that ceremonial law was handwritten by Moses in a book and placed not in the Ark of the Covenant but outside on its side, Deut.31:24-26. This book was there as a witness against thee. However these ceremonies could never take away sins, Hebr.10:4.They only served as a shadow of what was to come, the Messiah, Jesus who would take away the sins of the world and be the Saviour, Matth.1:21; John 1:19,36..
Now Christ has come, and has died on the cross these ceremonies have become useless. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, Eph.1:7; 1 Peter 1:18, 19.The veil in the temple has been torn apart from top to bottom, Matth.27:51. The ceremonial service lost its significance and has been terminated. The Jews did not understand this and continued till AD 70 when the Roman army destroyed the temple and bringing these services to a final end never to return. What follows in Col.2::15, 16 has definitely no reference to the Ten Commandments, revealing what sin is, but deals with the ceremonies which in the past dealt with sanctuary activities for the forgiveness of sin. Those ceremonies included also certain special Sabbaths feast days and Paul says let nobody judge you regarding these things because they acted as shadows of things to come. Now we have the body, the real one which is Christ. In the plural word Sabbaths or Sabbath days is not included the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments written by God engraved in stone and laid down inside the ark of the covenant or testimony. If the Seventh-day Sabbath would be included then Paul would have created a contradiction in his own writings and contradicting his own custom of Sabbath keeping as we have learned from the book of Acts.
Paul writes, now we have the body, which is Christ, and we have learned that Christ and Paul later, had as their custom to observe the Sabbath, not Sunday.

What was the reason for the battle Paul was facing all the time? He was facing the battle with the legalistic Judaisers who followed him wherever he was preaching and who told the new Christians that they had to be circumcised and keep the Jewish feast days and ceremonies. We learn much about this in his epistle to the Galatians. He was very upset with them that they had turned back from what he had been teaching, read Gal.1:6-9. He writes to them that even if an angel would come down and teaches differently from what he had been teaching such a one be accursed. We know what Paul taught about the law, which reveals sin, and about his own custom to observe the Sabbath. Nowhere in Galatians Paul is teaching the abolishment of the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Decalogue. He writes against the Jewish days of ceremonies, which are of no value, and he writes against circumcision, Gal.6:15. The Seventh-day Sabbath comes to us from Creation, Gen.2:1, 2 and Exodus 20:8-11. This was before the time of the Jews and before the time of the need for ceremonies to get forgiveness of sin.

As forgiven people by the grace of God and through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, we are saved, not by works, and thus created unto good works. Eph.2:8-10. This means we are under grace, we have peace with God, Rom.5:1 and not under condemnation 8:1. Does that mean we are free from keeping the law including the fourth commandment? The answer is NO and always will be NO. Read John 14:15 where Jesus says, “If you love me keep my commandments, same in 15:14 and 1John 4:3. Those who are saved and now live under grace will have the law in their hearts as Jesus had. They will have a delight in God’s law, Psalms 119:70 as Jesus had a delight in God’s law, They will accept God’s law as God’s instrument for converting us and believing that the law is perfect, Psalms 19:7.. We look in the law as in a mirror (James 1:23 NKJV) and discover we are sinners and in need of a Saviour, the law cannot cleanse, so we turn to Jesus who cleanses us, 1John 1:9.

Let me close with this. God is Holy, residing in the heavenly temple, which is holy. In that temple is the Holy place followed by the most holy place. In the most Holy place is the Ark of the Covenant which contains God’s law which is holy and on which is also written the Seventh-Day Sabbath which is holy of which we have been ask to remember to keep it holy. Exod.20:8. Those who by God’s grace will make it to the Kingdom and there be before God will find that the Sabbath is there, Isaiah 66:23.Why should you not follow Jesus and make it your custom, as Jesus and Paul did and now start to keep the Sabbath, the day of Which Christ is the Lord? Why wait till you are with Jesus and before the Lord in heaven?

November 2011
Jan T. Knopper

The latter part of Daniel 11:40-45 has been declared to be unfulfilled prophecy. This warns us to be cautious in its application and not to be overly speculative.
However we may have some clues that will help us in understanding this prophecy today better than we have in the past. At the same time we have to be careful not to be too dogmatic and try to avoid speculation. We will see more clearly when we come to the real end of times.

The late George McCready Price wrote the following in his book THE GREATEST OF THE PROPHETS pp.322/3:
As it would be quite impossible here to trace a full history of the ways in which this eleventh chapter has been interpreted down through the centuries, it may suffice to call attention to the fact that Elder James White and some others of the Adventist pioneers applied the last part of this chapter to the career of the papacy.
If this is so and I see no reason for it not being so, then this part of Daniel’s book should be linked with the book of Revelation, written by John the Apostle, in particular to that part of the Revelation in which the last day role of the papacy is mentioned in prophetic terms. To arrive at a satisfactory view of this part of Daniel, I propose that we follow the Historicist Christo Centric method of prophetic interpretation.

McCready Price describes this method as follows:
Moreover it is a principle of universal validity that all other prophecies of Old testament, if they reach to the period this side of the cross, always become more abstract and spiritual; for the concrete, objective things of the Old testament have now become spiritualized; what was local and nationalistic now becomes world-wide and universal Literally hundreds of terms, like Zion, Israel etc., have since the cross come to us with wider and more spiritual connotations.” ib.314

Ellen G.White in Test. to Ministers pp.112-118 counsels strongly to study Daniel and Revelation together, one complements the other.

The late Dr. Mervin Maxwell seems to follow this principle, as explained by McCready Price, correctly when dealing with Daniel 11 and in particular regarding the Kings of the South and the North.

Dr. Maxwell let Daniel 11 start with Medo/Persia followed by Greece and then Pagan Rome starting with Papal Rome as from verse 31. See GOD CARES I p.295.

Dr. E. Thiele in his OUTLINE STUDIES IN DANIEL follows a similar line of thinking. Also I have found a similar line by Dr.Bill Shea in his latest book DANIEL.
The point of clarification is that under one symbol referring to Rome we have its two phases Pagan part and Papal one. In Daniel 8 both Roman parts are under the LITTLE HORN and here in Daniel 11 under the KING OF THE NORTH.

However not all agree on the point where Pagan Rome develops into Papal Rome in Daniel 11 But one thing seems to be clear when reading various authors dealing with this part of Daniel that by the time we reach Daniel 11:40 it is well established that the King of the North is Papal Rome and should be treated as such till the end, vs.45
When we are ready to accept this we can pay more attention to what we are dealing with in Dan.11:40-45

THE TIME FACTOR
The text reads in vs.40 that in the time of the end………. (NKJV) Which point of time in history may we have here in prophetic terms?
With confidence we may say it points to the time of 1798. SDA bible commentators do agree on this point and we find this also by Ellen G.White in her book GREAT CONTROVERSY, pp 267-9

Other end time signs took place around the same time, as signs in the Sun and Moon and the Great Earthquake of Lisbon
It takes us also to the time of the French Revolution. Did the French Revolution have anything to do with Papal Rome? Is it possible that this fits the description of the king of the South shall attack him (King of the North).

In the times before the cross (OT) Egypt is frequently called king of the South being located south of Israel. We also know Egypt from the time of Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt’s slavery. At that time Egypt was a God defying nation, completely denying the God of Israel, a kind of Atheism.

The French Revolution is prophetically mentioned in Rev.11 two symbols are used, a beast from the bottomless pit making war against the Word of God and also under the
names of Sodom and Egypt spiritually, (vs.7-8).

In the book Great Controversy p.267-9 we find this applied to the French Revolution by Ellen G.White,
We are on solid ground if we say that here in Dan.11:40 the French Revolution under symbol of King of the South is in action against Papal Rome under symbol of him being the King of the North. We may also say that in Daniel’s terms we have the same picture as in Rev.13:3 where the beast (Papal Rome) receives a deadly wound. Who inflicted the deadly wound? History confirms that as a result of the French Revolution Papacy lost its power and the Pope was taken captive and died in captivity. But we also find that almost with one stroke of the pen as in Rev.13:3 the deadly wound is healed. Daniel does something similar with his pen and writes: and the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind. This is saying the same as in Revelation that the wound will be healed. A counter attack would take place. It is all in one verse.

But as in other prophetic writings in the scriptures time must be given to develop such an event. A classic example is Gen.3:15 two major events in one sentence, but in between a long stretch of time.
Between the giving of the deadly wound or the attack by the King of the South, in 1798, and the healing of that wound later, there is a stretch of time. The wound occurred at the end of the 18th century, but it would take about another 200 years before we would see clear signs that the wound is in process of healing. Clearer even than what took place in 1929 that may have been the beginning of the healing of the wound. When Mussolini restored certain Papal rights, which it had been lost in the French revolution, Papacy did not gain at the same time its popularity as seen 60 years after 1929.

But let’s go back to the French revolution. History tells us that the teachings of the revolution did not die with the end of the French Revolution. Others took its principles and developed them into a worldwide program. It became the Marx/Lenin program/manifesto for world communism. This started in the middle of the 19th century. It took firmly hold in the Russian Revolution of 1917. This became a worldwide movement in disseminating these teachings of the revolution via atheistic evolutionism. At one time this covered about 70% of the world, not only in countries governed by communism but also in western or semi western countries. Notice Ellen G.White in her book Education p.228
At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defence of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, or riot and bloodshed; the worldwide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution – all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France

Most of us have seen this taking place after WWI, in Russia becoming the Soviet Union and after WWII expanding into many countries around the globe. What happened to Papal Rome through the French revolution has taken place again. Through communism Papacy has suffered much from communism.

But Papacy, King of the North, would make a counter attack like a whirlwind. The events of the late 1989/1990 have taken place almost literally like a whirlwind. Some news writers have used the exact term for the fall of the Wall of Berlin. The USA government in combination with Papal Rome have played a major role in these events. Not only regarding the fall of Berlin’s wall but the fall of the Soviet Union and global communism as well. The popularity of Papal Rome became a strong rising star and a voice to be listened to worldwide. Most of us will remember Time magazine’s front page picture and written on it HOLY ALLIANCE. Daniel 11:40b-43 paints a picture in words how wide spread the renewed influence of Papal Rome would be. Rich and poor countries all alike would come under its influence.

There also would be a move towards the Glorious Land. Here we strike in the mind of some a problem. In pre-cross times, Old Testament, the Glorious Land stood for national Israel. Jer.3:19; Ps.87:3; Dan.11:16. But some think that when the same term is used in vs.41 it should apply to the USA-America. For these people America may be the glorious land and we won’t dispute that. Others may think the country of their living is a glorious land. But is that in harmony with the Historicist Christ Centric interpretation as we have mentioned here above in this paper. According to that principle the NT church takes over from OT Israel and becomes the Glorious Land.
Remember what Christ said about Israel in His time by way of his parable in Matth.21:33-43. Their Kingdom would be taken away. Further in ch.23:38 your house will be left desolate. In ch.21:13 Jesus called it first My house, but now it has become your house. Even the state of modern Israel of today is not God’s house, it is their house.

Dr. J. Doukham of Andrews University in his book SECRETS OF DANIELp.176 writes regarding Da.11:40/41 historically, it means that the politico-religious power will triumph over the atheistic and political movements. During the heat of action, attempts will be made against the people of God.

Some saw the fall of communism, Daniel’s King of the South, already years before it took place, like George McCready Price in his book TIME OF THE END.
According to what we read in Daniel11:41 not all will fall under the influence of the papacy. Some will escape, symbolically under the name of Edom, Moab and Ammon. Does this refer to God’s faithful remnant? Or could we apply here Hosea 1:10 that some who were not God’s people will be of God’s people for reason of salvific divine grace?

I like to mention that not all translations are the same in regarding to what follows after the glorious land in vs.41a. According to some translations it could mean that a number of God’s people would suffer physically from a Papal Rome counter attack
KJV many countries shall be overthrown (countries is a supplied word)
Jer. Bible: many will fall
NEB: tens of thousands shall fall victim
Moffatt: he shall also invade the fair land of Palestine and myriads shall be killed
Dutch N.Tr. many shall fall
German (Luther) many will fall or suffer (die)
French ,Louis Segond same as Luther, and using the same word as in vs.33 where our KJV reads they shall fall by the sword, by flame, by captivity.

Daniel 11:33 clearly points to the time of the 1260 years of Papal supremacy and its vicious persecution. Could it be that we have here, in 41a, a similar situation as an end time persecution, like described in Rev.12:17; 17:14; 19:19 and that Dan.11:41a is a flash-forward of what is mentioned in Dan.11:45 where Doukhan sees the battle of Armageddon. A united world in the setting up of a new world order against God and His people, His temple, His Mountain. Mt. (Har). Mageddon against Mt. Zion. Ib.177-179
It is clear when we compare last day events as described here by Daniel, with last day events in Revelation to God’s people, as described by John on the Isle of Patmos in the Revelation, that the glorious land being America does not fit at all.

It was James White who suggested the idea of the USA being the glorious land, in an article published in the Review and Herald Nov.29, 1877, but without any proper Biblical reference. So we must drop that thought altogether.

According to Rev.13 the second beast being America, will set up an image of the first beast, or creating a mirror situation of Papal Rome during the 1260 years and many of God’s remnant people could fall victim of that situation and again others escape, as described by Daniel here in 11:41a -45.
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If the entering of the Glorious Land, God’s People, by the King of the North-Papal Rome as mentioned in Dan.11:41a is a flash-forward of what is written in vs,45, let’s look at it.
It is generally agreed upon by those commenting on Daniel, like Dr.Doukhan that we have here a similar description as in vs. 41a, except that in vs.45 we have in 44 the reason for this entering or attack, tidings (news) from the East and the North. “tidings” Hebrew = shemu’ôth = ‘reports’ (in context: ‘reports of an invasion’) [for this sentence credit to Dr.Eric Livingston]. Could this be the coming of the Kings of the East, whose way will be prepared by the drying up of the Euphrates, Rev.16:12? If we are dealing here with an end time scenario in apocalyptic terms, we need to consult other end time scenario descriptions to get the picture clear.

Vs 43 ends with stating also ………….shall follow at his heels .In other words all the nations mentioned before will follow the King of the North, Papal Rome. Does that not sound the same as in Rev.13 that after the healing of the wound the whole world will follow in wonder and worship its image, except God’s faithful remnant that will come under a death sentence?

Could it also be that as a result of the plagues poured out over the world that the world powers combined under Papal Rome are getting more furious against God’s commandment keeping people? That at such time the death penalty will be announced as mentioned in Rev.13?

We need to study carefully what Ellen G.White has to say about this in her book Gr. Controversy chapter of “God’s People Delivered”
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Could it be that the united/confederated powers of the world are becoming shocked, arrested (using EGW wording), drying up as it were. The Euphrates dries up in the 6th plague, because of what they see happening in the East, the first tokens of the glorious coming of our Lord who is sent to planet Earth from the real true King of The North the Creator of Heaven and Earth, Psalm 48:1an 2, to deliver His people.(EGW in Gr.Contr.p.640).

Could it be that at such time the nations, who have joined in with the papacy turn against it, the papacy, seeing they have been deceived, as is described more in detail in the latter part of Rev.17 and thus the King of the North comes to his end, lonely or with no one to help or broken without hand Dan.8:25; Job 34:20

But for God’s people it is delivery time as mentioned in Daniel 12:1 the Kings of the
East (and from the real North) the glorious coming of Christ and His angels will take place to make this great delivery a reality. Dan.12:1-3 speaks about and at that time Michal stands up. Some say this must refer to the immediate event mentioned in Dan.11:45 the time when the false King of the North comes to his end without helper. It does not have to be that way, it can also be that we have here a flash backward or the standing up of Christ, our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary standing up from His High priestly duties ,closing the sanctuary/temple and making ready to come down to planet Earth. This takes place when immediately thereafter the 7 plagues will be poured out, the time of trouble as never was. By the end of the 7 plagues the glorious coming of our Lord will be seen in the heavens which will make the warring multitudes against God and His remnant to stand still, be arrested, using again EGW wording. They will see that they have been deceived and turn against their papal leaders Rev.17:16. Also at this time the special resurrection may take place, as described in Dan.12:2. So the standing up of Michal does not have to be His visible appearance in the clouds of heaven. There may be time in between. Again read in GC ch.40 God’s PEOPLE DELIVERED.

May we all be found ready at that time or be among the ones to be resurrected in that special act of resurrection.

Pastor Jan T. Knopper
Cooranbong, February 16, 2006
Minor correction February 2009
Edited October 2010

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/daniel-1140-45/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/hell-what-is-it-what-is-it-not/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/hell-what-is-it-what-is-it-not/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:03:03 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=342 Hell! What is it? What is it not?

Most people in Christianity, protestant or Roman Catholic Communities and in other religious societies when asked, “What happens after death”, would answer, “The good go straight to heaven and the bad go to a never-ending burning hell fire”. This is also advocated in certain secular communities and in the New Age movement worldwide.

This idea is based on the concept that humans have an immortal soul or spirit that leaves the body at the moment of death. It is disembodied, but still has personality, is conscious and able to watch and participate in what happens here on planet earth. It will be able to enjoy the pleasure of heaven or paradise and in hell will physically suffer the pain of a never-ending burning fire.

This belief causes suicide bombers to sacrifice their lives for their cause and in the Second World War gave Kawasaki pilots to sacrifice their lives as well. In Africa we have found tribal fighters to do the same because of the same belief system. It is all based on the belief that man (generic for male and female) has an immortal soul or spirit and possesses a personality.

We have to answer the question, is it true that man has an immortal soul that leaves the human body at the moment of death? If they are right then the Bible is not telling us the truth. If this is based on other religious literature then we have to investigate if the other literature is trust worthy and of a clearly proven divine origin.

As far as the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, is concerned we can state categorically that nowhere in the Bible came we find a text which indicates that man has an immortal soul leaving the body at time of death to enter heaven or a burning hell. The Bible is of divine origin and has self declared authority. We read about this in 2Tim.3:16 ”All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (All Bible quotations are from the KJV if otherwise it will be so indicated).

When Jesus was approached by the Devil, Jesus used for His defence the scriptures and answered the Devil with” It is written”. Such a statement made the Devil to back off from Jesus. Read Matthew 4:4, 7 and 10.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, who had drifted away from Paul’s teachings based on the scriptures, that even if an angel would come down and teach differently such a one would be accursed. Read Gal.1:8.

We will do the same in this study and use the scriptures to find the truth about life after death and what HELL is all about.

It would be wise to start at the beginning, Genesis, where we find the record about the creation of man, male and female. That will solve already much of the problem, misunderstandings and incorrect interpretations. We turn to Gen.2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” Some other translations like the NASB read “…..became a living person”.

Man, male and female, made in the image of God, Gen.1:26, 27, not as an animal, and made from the dust of the ground and receiving from God the breath of life. The dust of the ground plus the breath of life from God put together results in a living soul or person. Notice very clearly that man did not receive a soul, but became a soul when dust of the ground and the breath from God were put into one. Man did not receive anything that is immortal. Man is not immortal and has nothing in his body or person that is immortal.

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 2:7 “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life”. If we do have immortality then we do not have to seek for it, but because we do not have it, now we have to seek for it. In 1Timothy 6:15, 16 Paul writes: “Which in his times shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only has immortality”. If God only has immortality than humans and nobody else has it. Remember what Paul wrote to the Galatians, if even an angel would teach differently from what he has been teaching such one is accursed.

Man is still seeking immortality and will find it in the day of glory when the trumpet shall sound, then in Christ all will be raised, 1Cor.15:22, 23. Then mortal shall be changed for immortality, 1Cor.15:53. Jesus spoke about two resurrections, one for the saved in Christ and the other for the lost, which turned their back to Christ, read John 5:28, 29.

THE FIRST LIE.
How did this idea enter the mind of the human race? Again we must go to the beginning. God told Adam and Eve that if they would eat from the forbidden tree they would surely die. This would mean their bodies would turn back to dust; the ground, and their breath would turn to God from whom they had received it. This is later confirmed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:7 “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit, (breath of life) shall return unto God who gave it”. Breath is often also called spirit. At point of death the reverse will take place what is described in Gen.2:7. However the Devil entered the Garden of Eden and by the medium of a serpent told Eve that surely she would not die when she would eat from the forbidden tree, Gen.3:4. Now a choice had to be made, believe God or the Devil. The Devil was believed and the result has been as we still see it all around us, death. But man has twisted Satan’s lie that it means an immortal soul will leave the body and either enters heaven or a burning hell. This is the man made extension of the first satanic lie, for which there is no ground at all in the scriptures anywhere between Genesis and Revelation. Satan is the liar and the father of lies, John 8:44.

What more does the Bible teach regarding what happens at the point of death? Before we answer that question we will add a few more scripture passages regarding death and eternal life or immortality. In Rom.6:23 we read “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Eternal life is a gift, which we do not have as yet. It is the opposite of death. If death means a two way direction, life in glory or life in a burning hell,
then everybody has eternal life and cannot be called properly a unique gift of God. But it is not like that.
Death means to perish, destruction, not continually living in a state of misery or painful burning in fire. Read John 3:16 “Whosoever believes will not perish but have eternal life”. Perish means annihilation, to turn into a state of non-existent. Death, to perish, is the result of unbelief in Christ, of sin and Ezekiel 18:4 teaches that the soul that sinneth shall die, read also 18:20. If the soul is inherently immortal then it cannot die, but it reads, “it shall die”, conclusion: it is not immortal and man has not something like immortality. Soul(s) are people for we read in Gen.46:26 that the number of people leaving Canaan with Jacob to join Joseph in Egypt was three score and six souls. In Exodus 1:5 the figure is given as seventy souls. The point is Jacob’s family members were called “souls”. We read the same in Gen.12:5; Exodus 12:15; Leviticus 4:2; 7:27 and Revelation 20:4 souls which have been beheaded. In all these cases and more in the Bible soul stands for the person or a human, not something separate from the human. Joshua 10:28, 30 and 39 speaks about all the souls destroyed. In Revelation 16:3 every living soul died. If you take a concordance and look up all scripture references you will never find a soul that lived forever in glory or in a burning hell, or that the soul is immortal and cannot die

Now we will turn to our question, what happens when man dies? This is a crucial question. When man breathes his last breath does he or she go immediately, that very same moment, into glory or hell fire?
What really happens, what does take place at that moment? One answer is found by the pen of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:3-6. First he gives a description of what takes place during old age time and then he speaks about the golden bowl broken and in verse seven we read, “then shall the dust return to earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it”. Dust means of what man has been made according to Gen.2:7 and spirit, means breathe of life, because that is what God gave to man as recorded in Gen.2:7. Solomon describes the reverse situation of Genesis 2:7. From dust and return to dust, what received from God returns to God.

We read in Psalms 104:29 “Thou taketh away their breath they die and return to their dust”. And in Ps. 146:4 “His breath goes forth, he returns to this earth and in that very day his thoughts perish.” Read also Job 7:9, 10. At the moment of death man discontinues being a living soul and turns into complete unconsciousness, called sleep as we will learn later. All human functions have come to a full stop, read Eccl.9:5, 6.

In Job 3:11 we read about giving up the ghost at point of death, which means to perish (see NKJV). In Job 17:1 we read about breath being corrupt, which means spirit and In Ezekiel 37:5 spirit will be given to the bones and bring them to life which means breath given to the bones. The Hebrew “Ruach” is alternatively translated as “spirit” or “breath”. The context must decide the meaning.

We read in Genesis 7:22 that at the time of the flood all died in whose nostrils was the breath of life. In the Dutch Bible translation it reads “In whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life”. The same is in the French Bible. Breath and spirit are used in one expression. The breath we breathe and which we received from God is God’s life giving spirit, but not to be confused with the Holy Spirit.

What is death called in Biblical terms?
Jesus has the answer to this question in John 11:11. Jesus is informed about the sickness and death of His friend Lazarus and says “Lazarus sleepeth”. In Matthew 9:24 Jesus states the same about the daughter of Jairus and the people laughed in His face. Read also Mark 5:38-40. In Lazarus case Jesus adds later that Lazarus is dead, John 11:14. This is a clear categorical statement by Jesus that death equals “sleep”. The reason for this is that after death follows resurrection, as we have quoted here above, also from the word of Jesus in John 5:28, 29 and the well known scripture passage by the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians 15. In the resurrection day the dead are not called from heaven but to come forth, from where they have been laid to rest Notice what happens to Lazarus when Jesus was standing at his tomb where he was laid four days before. With a loud voice Jesus cried, come forth, John 11:43, 44. And Lazarus came forth. Lazarus as a friend of Jesus would have been a good candidate to go to heaven after he died, but apparently he was not in heaven, he was called from the tomb where he was laid after he died. For Jesus, and all over the Bible, the dead sleep in their graves.

David with all his sins, but forgiven (Psalms 132: and 51) also would have been a good candidate to go to heaven at the time of his death. However we read in 2Samual 7:12 that he is told he would sleep with his fathers. David went to dust, Acts 13:36, and there he sleeps and waits the resurrection day. Peter declares the same in Acts2:29-31 that David is both dead and buried. Not one word, as people would say today, that he is in heaven and praising God. That is false a assumption based on the first lie spoken in the Garden of Eden to Eve by the Devil through the serpent.

Regarding Jesus and what happened to Him after he died we read in Acts 2:31 that the soul of Christ was not left in hell and His flesh did not see corruption. So Jesus did not go to heaven on Friday afternoon when he died. Jesus was laid in the tomb, His grave for that weekend. There He was till resurrection morning after the Sabbath. Peter equals “hell” with “grave” the resting or sleeping place for the dead. Jesus was not in heaven but in the tomb or grave of Joseph of Arimathaea, read Matthew 27:57-60. Peter also equals the person of Christ or His body with soul. In Luke 23:46 we read that Jesus commended His spirit to His father and that He gave up the ghost. This relates clearly to His breath of life, but not going into heaven at that time. Even on the resurrection morning Jesus had not yet gone to heaven as we will notice later in this study.

What about Abraham, he is another very good candidate to go to heaven immediately after his death. But it did not happen. We read in Genesis 25:8-10 that Abraham gave up the ghost, as Jesus did, gave up his breath of life, Abraham died and was gathered to his people and buried in the same place where his wife Sarah was laid to rest. No mentioning of going straight to heaven. We read in Hebrews 11:8-13 that Abraham looked for a future city. Then we read in Hebr.11:39 that all those mentioned in this chapter and who died received not the promise. The promise is still a future event, we still pray in the Lord’s Prayer ”Thy Kingdom come”. All are still sleeping and waiting for that Kingdom and to hear the call to come forth.

It should be clear to the reader of this study at this point that all that died, and will die, do not go directly to heaven or to a burning hell. There is a future resurrection day when all in the graves will hear his voice, John 5:28, 29. Which voice will they hear? The heavenly voice to wake up, Isaiah 26:19. Read also Paul’s word in 1Thess.4:16, 17. The dead in Christ will rise first. According to Jesus’ word in John 5:28, 29 there will be two types of resurrection one for the good and the other for the wicked. The wicked will rise later, read Revelation 20:5. We have the certain assurance that all will be raised, 1Cor.15:22, the good and the bad.

In the mean time while sleeping and waiting for the resurrection day they know nothing, have no knowledge of what happens on planet earth and do not see what happens on planet earth. It is total and complete unconsciousness. Read Job 14:11, 12; Psalms 146:4 and Eccl.9:5.

What about eternal life? John 3:16 holds the assurance; all who believe in Christ will not perish, not be destroyed in the last day, but have eternal life. John 17:3 teaches us that to know the true God and Jesus Christ who was sent, is eternal life. We find the same 1John 5:11, 12. To believe in Jesus Christ means to accept all of His teachings and doctrines. We do not loose eternal while we sleep in the grave it is only an interruption. While we sleep our name remains in heaven in the book of life. Read Luke 10:20 and Phil.4:3. Our born again experience takes us into the Kingdom of God, John 3:3, 4. Read also Hebr.12:22, 23 it is here on earth that we have come to the church of the first born with names written in heaven. Those who have their name not in the book of life will perish in the lake of fire, Rev.20:15. In that same lake will perish death and hell (Hades=grave) Rev.20:14; 19:20 Read also Ezekiel 28:18. This burning to ashes will take place on the earth. Read again Mal.4:3. Eternal life is God’s gift, Rom.6:23 and we will not loose that gift when we die in Christ. But we will rest of our labours Rev.14:13. Job writes his grave will be his house and rest in the dust, Job 17:13, 16. As long as we remain faithful to Christ our names will remain in the book of life. Those who turn away from Christ into sin again they will loose their name from the book of life, read Exodus 32:32, 33.

What will happen ultimately to the wicked?
We have already answered that question here above, but will add a few more scripture passages. 2Thess.2:8 the wicked shall be destroyed. 2Thess 2:12 the wicked shall be damned. They will be like Sodom and Gomorrah suffering the vengeance of the eternal fire, Jude 7. Not eternally burning fire, but as these two cities being burned up and then the fire stops. They shall be destroyed and consumed, Isa.1:28.Also in Psalms 37:38 and 92:7. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that the wicked, the unsaved will be burning throughout eternity. If that were the case the wicked also would have eternal life but in misery. This is not true. There is only one kind of eternal life and that is life in glory on a restored new earth, Revelation 21:1. Sin, sinners and all that results from sin will be done away with for ever and ever. Rev.21:3-5

Some problem scripture passages.
There are some passages in the Bible that cause trouble in the mind of some people. One is in Revelation 20:10. The wicked will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. We must not use this passage and create contradiction in the Bible. We must understand this in the context of what we have read in Jude 7 that it will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. We do not know how long these cities have been burning and we also do not know how long the last fire will be burning. But while it is burning it could be several days and that is called, for ever and ever, till all is burned up and turned into ashes as we have learned from other passages in the Bible.

Another passage is in Isaiah 66:21 and Mark 9:44, 45. It will be a place where the worm does not die and the fire will not be quenched. But when the worm has nothing more to eat from dead carcases and when the fire has nothing more to burn, the worm will die and the fire will be quenched by itself. Again it will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, which does not burn anymore. We read in Jeremiah 17:27 that if Israel/Judah would not listen to the Lord Jerusalem would be devoured by fire and it (that fire) shall not be quenched. In 2Chron.36:18-19 we read that it happened that way. When all was devoured by fire stopped and quenched by itself. When Ezra and Nehemiah later visited the city they found ruins but not a still burning city.
The wicked will be destroyed and their name done away with, Psalms 9:5; 73:27.

Often Matthew 25:46 is quoted where it reads that the unsaved, the unrighteous shall go into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life eternal. It is the punishment that is everlasting, not the punishing. Sodom and Gomorrah suffered ever lasting punishment, but the burning has stopped. There is no everlasting life in being punished in a burning hell. The burning will stop when everything is burned, destroyed by fire and totally consumed. But the righteous, as the text says, will go into life eternal, and that is for ever and ever and ever.

Then there is the case of the thief at the cross. He repented and asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus would come in His kingdom, Luke 23:42. Jesus answered “verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise”. 23:43. Jesus died that day and was buried, but did He go into paradise? On resurrection morning Jesus told Mary:”Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father”. John 20:17. Also Jesus died that Friday afternoon, but the two thieves did not die. Their bodies were taken off the cross and their bones or legs where broken so they could not escape. John 19:32.
The problem in Luke 23:43 is the punctuation. Punctuations have been added later to the scriptures and this comma is in the wrong place. The comma should be placed after today and then it would read “verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise”. We are still praying in the Lord’s prayer Thy Kingdom come”. It is still future, but in the resurrection morning this thief will be among the ones who will inherit eternal life in paradise.

We also have a parable that causes people a problem. It is the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. First of all a parable can never be used for constructing a Biblical doctrine, they always illustrate certain things. The parable states that when Lazarus dies he finds himself in the bosom of Abraham and when the rich man dies he finds himself in hell fire. The distance between the two is not so big that they cannot talk to each other, but too big to grant the rich man a bit of water he is asking for. Will that be reality in eternity? Any reasonable thinking person must admit this is not illustrating reality. It illustrates that rich people have no first right to the Kingdom; poor people may go ahead of them. The rich man asks for someone to be sent to his relatives to warn them. But the answer is they should listen to Moses and the prophets. That is another lesson from this parable, we must not ask or wait for some miraculous event to learn about God’s salvation but take the scriptures and accept its message for our salvation. For the wicked there is no place from where they will be able to communicate with those who are saved. The wicked will be destroyed, Psalms 37:34-38. The destruction of the wicked will be seen, Palms 91:8; 58:10 and Isa.66:24. This will cause crying. Relatives saved may see relatives unsaved and that’s why we read that God will wipe away all tears, Rev.21:4.

Finally we have Revelation 6:9 souls under the altar of the martyrs killed for their faith in the Word of God. This is not an altar in heaven. In heaven there is no altar of sacrifice. If that were so, how big an altar it must be, because through the centuries millions of martyrs have lost their lives. They were killed for their faith in God and Christ on earth. It is here on earth where their blood is shed for their faith. Blood represents life, Lev.17:11. Soul stands for a living person, Genesis 2:7. Revelation 6:9 speaks about the martyrs who have given their lives for their faith, their blood poured out on earth the altar of sacrifice and that blood speaks. In Hebr.12:24 we read that blood speaks. The blood of Jesus shed for our salvation at Calvary speaks, but it speaks better than the blood of Abel which cried to God after Abel was slain by Cain, Gen.4:10. The blood of Abel cried for justice and so do the souls of the martyrs, their blood also cries for justice, Rev.6:10.

CONCLUSION
From this study it must be clear to the reader that hell is not a place where fire is burning for ever and ever non stop throughout eternity, and souls are tormented in that fire throughout eternity. Hell is the place where the dead will sleep in their graves till the day of resurrection and then death and hell (grave) will be done away with at the same time when the unsaved will be consumed or destroyed by fire until they become ashes. In the kingdom of glory, there is no death, no grave. It is also not a place from where throughout eternity the wicked or unsaved will be seen suffering. We have read that the unsaved will be punished here on earth and when that process is finished then the Lord will recreate this planet into a new earth with new surrounding heavens.

The challenging message is for each one of us to accept God’s plan of salvation as stated in John 3:16 and Titus 2:11-15. Choose ye today to listen to the inviting voice, come unto Me and find rest, Matthew 11:28 and come today to have eternal life, Revelation 22:17.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/hell-what-is-it-what-is-it-not/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-30-life-after-baptism/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-30-life-after-baptism/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:04:54 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=334 BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 30

Life after Baptism

In this lesson we will talk about discipleship after baptism, our spiritual growth and maintenance program. In other words how to be a genuine follower of Jesus Christ our Lord. All that lives and moves needs maintenance, the same is true for our spiritual life, our walk with Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, 19 teach first towards baptism and then teach after baptism to observe the teachings which have been learned. It means there are two teaching periods, one before baptism and the other after baptism. The second one will last till we meet Christ in glory, which is called our sanctification.

In lesson 29 we dealt with baptism our gateway into the Kingdom of God, our born again experience. We have noticed that Jesus in His talk with Nicodemus explained that it is comparable to a natural birth. We learned from the apostle Peter that it does not take place from human corruptible seed but from the divine incorruptible seed, the Word of God, 1Peter 1:23.

Dear reader if you have been reading these29 Bible teachings, the incorruptible seed, the Word of God, it should have been planted into your life and not remain on the outside. Now it should be the time to let it bear fruit, the born again experience, your baptism should take place. May I call upon you as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to consider this seriously? In natural life sometimes birth takes place too early before the nine months of inner growth have been completed and that is dangerous, but equally dangerous after the nine months have passed. Some time birth does not come and has to be induced and that can be dangerous. In the kingdom of God we do not induce the born again experience. Baptism has to be voluntarily, by freewill of choice. Read Joshua 24:15 “Choose you today whom you will serve”. You must ask yourself if you believe the Word of God which you have been reading in these 29 Bible teachings. Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour, acknowledging that you are a sinner and that you need a Saviour, which is Jesus? If your answer is “YES”, then your birth through baptism should take place. In my case I never asked for baptism or studies, a minister asked me and I agreed and after 3 months studies he asked me for baptism and I did not say “NO”. I was 15 years at that time, but I am still happy that a minister had an interest in me and asked me. We can only ask you and do what Jesus did, to invite you to come. Read Isa.1:18-20; Matth.11:28; Rev.22:17.

In lesson 29 we discovered a number of people who received the Word of God and confessed their faith in the Word of God and were baptised without any delay and rejoicing much there after. The same will be your experience. If you have a problem in believing seek help from a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We may be able to help you if you let us know and if you so wish.

Now let’s turn to our topic for this lesson, what to do after baptism to maintain our life in Christ as a true disciple. As I mentioned here above it needs to be maintained. Too many are baptised and do not maintain their spiritual experience and loose it. This is most unfortunate and does not have to happen. Spiritual maintenance is three ways, daily, weekly and quarterly. We will start with the quarterly. In Matth.26:17-30 we have the event that Jesus instituted what we call today “the communion service” or ‘the lord’s Supper”. It was time for the annual Passover feast. The Passover feast was instituted when Israel was ready to leave Egypt. The tenth plague was about to take place, the killing of all first born of men and beasts. Israel was told in order to protect their first born they had to put blood of a lamb at the outside of their home door as a sign of protection. In that case the angel would pass their house over. You can read the story in Ex.12. Afterwards they were told to keep the Passover feast annually as a memorial to their Exodus from Egypt, Lev.23:5-7. At the same time this feast made them to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, the true Lamb of God, Isa.53 and John 1:29, 36.

Now Jesus is sitting with His disciples for this Passover feast just one day ahead of His own death. Jesus takes the same Passover bread and gives it a different meaning. Read Matt.26:26 and 1Cor.11:24 where Jesus says “this is my body broken for you, eat and do this in remembrance of me”. Then He takes the cup of the table holding the wine, unfermented, and says “Drink, this is my blood of the New Testament (or Covenant)”. Matt.26:27, 28 and 1Cor.11:25. This also had to be done in remembrance of Jesus. What the covenant or testament is all about you learned in lesson 15. It is the covenant of grace by which we are saved provided we have accepted Jesus as our personal saviour. In the Seventh-day Adventist church we have this service on a quarterly basis, to keep it fresh and meaningful. It helps us quarterly to renew or affirm our faith in Jesus as our Saviour. But it also makes us to look forward to His coming back in glory. 1Cor.11:26. Now Jesus is our Passover 1Cor.5:7 and the communion service a memorial to our born again salvation experience and a looking forward to His glorious return. Each quarter it is made clear again and fresh to our mind that Jesus died in our place and we are saved by grace and through faith in Him and have eternal life because of Jesus.Eph.2:8-10; John 3:16. The communion service does not save us. Jesus is our Saviour, but this service is a memorial to His saving grace and sacrifice for our salvation.

We also know that when Jesus held the Passover feast with His disciples He did something else. It was custom in those days that before entering a room for a feast or a visit a servant would wash the dusty feet of the visitors. At this time this had not taking place. Jesus stood up from the table and started to wash the feet of the disciples. Peter was embarrassed and refused. Jesus said if you refuse you have no part with me. Then Peter responded “wash me all”. But Jesus said if you are washed you only need to have your feet washed. Then Peter agreed and Jesus washed Peter’s feet also. You can read the whole event in John 13:4-15. When Jesus mentioned, “If you have been washed”, He referred to the washing of baptism. The ceremony of humility, as we call it today is a memorial to our own baptism. Therefore it is important to attend that service as Jesus said in John 13:13-15. This also is done quarterly before the communion service. It is done male to male and female to female.

Then there is the weekly spiritual maintenance activity and that has to do with the weekly Seventh-day Sabbath, Ex.20:8-11. We have to remember to keep the Sabbath Holy from sunset to sunset, Lev.23:32. In lesson 17 we discussed this carefully. The Sabbath is for going to church as Jesus did in Luke 4:16 and the apostles did as we read per example in Acts 13:14; 16:13; 18:4. We read that we should not forsake to come together, Hebr.10:25. It is necessary for our spiritual fortification to come together to study the Word in Sabbath school and receiving the Word in the worship hour. This should not be neglected. The fellowship with believers is also important to be bonded together as the family of God. The weekly Sabbath is a memorial to our Creator God and we come together to worship Him to focus on God not on ourselves. We should not go to church with the idea how much do we get out of it, but how much can we bring to God to honour and glorify Him. That in return will become a blessing to us. But the Sabbath is also in memory to our deliverance from our spiritual Egypt, the bondage of our former life outside God. The world outside God is called spiritual Egypt where Jesus was crucified, Rev.11:8. The weekly Sabbath reminds us of what we have found in Jesus as our Saviour and Deliverer from Sin, John 1:29. There are other things we can do on the Sabbath, coming together privately for Bible study and prayer, doing well to people, Luke 6:6-11. We should not do manual labour for other people, which can be done during the six days of labour, but visiting the sick, the lonely, doing missionary work to spread the Good News about Jesus and His coming, are acceptable Sabbath activities.

In the Seventh-day Adventist church as part of their weekly Sabbath service there is what is called Sabbath School, a weekly Bible study usually in a class setting. To make this meaningful a Bible Study Lesson pamphlet is being prepared quarterly. This takes the church member on a systematic plan through the Bible. It is divided in 13 weekly lessons with the idea that the church member studies these lessons on a daily basis at home and thus being prepared to participate in the Bible Study discussion in the weekly Sabbath School. This is also a very good plan for daily spiritual building and strengthening of our faith and connection with God as a part of life after baptism.

If you are or become connected with a Seventh-day Adventist church which holds midweek, Wednesday evening prayer meetings it is strongly recommended to attend these meetings for your spiritual growth and up building.

Finally there is the daily program or activity. Our walk with Jesus in our new-born-again experience must become a daily walk with God as Enoch did, Gen.5:24. When we wake up in the morning our first thoughts should be to thank God awakening us for a new day. Then we should take a few moments for worship, read from the scriptures or a worship book and have worship prayer. You may also choose to do the daily part of the Sabbath School lesson for the week as mentioned here above. When the day ends before we fall asleep for the night we should take a few moments of worship, thank God for the day and ask for a good refreshing sleep. During the day our mind should be in touch with heaven. We know from Daniel he prayed three times a day, Daniel 6:10.David did three times per day Ps.55:17. Peter went on the roof at midday to pray, Acts 10:9 Jesus prayed early in the morning, Mark 1:35; 6:46. We read that we should pray always, 1Thess.5:17 and continue to pray Rom.12:12. God and Jesus should never be out of our mind and the Holy Spirit be our constant Guide. As our loved ones are never out of our mind the same must be in higher form with our Creator and Jesus our Saviour. Unless we set for ourselves such a spiritual maintenance program we will grow cold and loose it altogether and it will be difficult to gain it back. Prayer and Bible reading are very essential for maintaining our born again experience and to remain constantly in touch with our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Life after baptism is not a life under law but under grace. Turn to Titus 2:11-15. When God’s grace has appeared to you by accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour it becomes your teacher. You are not taught by law what to do, but by grace, because you are now living under grace. Grace will teach you to keep the law out of love to God. John 14:15. Grace will teach you how to live godly in your daily life, Titus 2:12 and 2 Peter 3:11-14. Read also Micah 6:8. Grace will give you a focus, to look for the glorious coming of Jesus Christ and be ready for that event, Titus 2:13, 14 and 2 Peter 3:13 by grace we have found something to look forward to. The reason is, because Jesus gave himself for us, His sacrifice for us on the cross which was a love action, John 3:16, and should create in us a love reaction towards God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dear reader we encourage you to have your baptism arranged as soon as possible and start your spiritual maintenance program and walk with God without delay and you will rejoice over it all the way and all your life. God loves you, Jesus loves you, He died for you, and they aim to see you happy and rejoicing and be in close touch with you as a father is with his children. God bless.

Commitment: By God’s grace I will commit myself that after my baptism I will walk with God as Enoch did, Gen.5:24, and maintain my new spiritual experience by prayer, reading God’s word and having regular fellowship with God and fellow believers.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-30-life-after-baptism/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-29-biblical-baptism/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-29-biblical-baptism/#comments Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:22:28 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=318 BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 29

Biblical Baptism

Lesson number 28 was about our future heritage we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, a new earth and a new heaven. We learned also that a certain number of people will not inherit eternal life and others who have their name in the book of life will inherit eternal life and live for ever on this new earth surrounded by a new heaven.

In a previous lesson we have mentioned how our name will be written in the Book of life in heaven. It has to do with the spiritual experience of being born again. As we mentioned it is a spiritual experience not a return to the mother’s womb, as Nicodemus responded to Jesus in John 3:4 and 9.

Jesus said in John 3:3 “Except a man (woman) be born again he (she) cannot see the kingdom of God”. To be born again means being born from above, from heaven. Then in John 3:5 Jesus repeats again. “Except a man is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God”. Jesus talks about Spirit and water as necessary for the born again experience.

In a natural, biological birth we have also different elements working together in order to have a birth of a new person. There is the mother and the father and seed being planted from one into the other. This will take time to mature before the birth will take place. When the time comes for the birth it is also out of water, we call this birth water.

Something similar takes place in the spiritual experience. Read 1Peter 1:23 “being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God” From corruptible seed we are born into this life which is towards death. From incorruptible seed, the Word of God, we will be born into the Kingdom of God, towards eternal life

Who is the incorruptible seed, the Word of God? Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the incorruptible One, the one without blemish, 1Peter 1:19, who has never sinned, 2Cor.5:21. He is also the Word of God, John 1:1-3 and 14 and He is also the promised seed, Gal.3:16 and 29. Jesus Christ must be accepted as our personal Saviour, which means to call upon Him, Acts 2:21, read also Joel 2:32, because there is no other name by which we will be saved, Acts 4:12.Jesus Christ must be accepted and be planted into our life as a seed is planted into the earth. It is by grace, that is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is God’s gift, John 3:16, and through faith, that is in Jesus we will be saved, Eph.2:8-10. When we accept this it means that the Seed, Jesus Christ, is planted within us and will start to mature towards the born again experience.

The outcome will be children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, Gal. 3:26 read also John 1:12 and 1John3:1 and don’t forget to read John 3:15, 16. Not believing or accepting Jesus Christ means being condemned, but by believing in Jesus Christ we are not condemned, Rom.8:1. All this is the work of the Holy Spirit moving upon our hearts and mind. As the Holy Spirit moved upon the waters in Genesis chapter 1:1 and creation took place, so the Holy Spirit moves upon our hearts and when we let Him it will bring about a new birth or the born again experience. Where does the water come in about which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John 3? That has to do with baptism, read Gal.3:27. We accept Christ and then be baptised which means we make Christ a part of our life. It is the natural result of accepting Christ, without delay. Read Acts 8:36. The man from Ethiopia asked what would hinder him to be baptised, Phillip answered “if you believe with all your heart” Acts 8:37. The Ethiopian man responded with his confession of faith and was baptised and he continued his journey rejoicing.
This is the process Jesus has left us in Matth.28:19, 20 and in Mark 16:16, first a time of teaching, then believing what we have learned from the scriptures followed by baptism. Then follows teaching under grace, Titus 2:11-15, to learn to observe or to practice to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We will learn more about in part 30.

Dear reader if you have been through the previous 28 teachings, now you should give serious thought of seeking to be baptised. Do you believe what you have been learning in these 28 lessons? Out of baptism comes then a new life, a born again life in Christ. The apostle Paul in Romans 6 explains what baptism is in reality. Read Romans.6 the first verses 1-8. Jesus Christ died, and rose the third day, so we in a spiritual manner die to our former life which is buried in the waters of baptism, and we are raised up from the waters of baptism to start a new life in Christ. The result will be what is called in 2Cor.5:17 a new creature in Christ or a born again person. We become a citizen of the Kingdom of God and have our name written in the book of life. Dear reader do you desire to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God?

From the time of our baptism we live with Christ as Paul writes in Gal.2:20, crucified with Christ now we live the life in and of Christ and as the Ethiopian man we will do this rejoicing because we have entered into the Kingdom of God, eternal life is assured.

The people who were baptised on the day of Pentecost also rejoiced, Acts 2:46, 47 and so did the jailor in Acts 16:34

Dear reader God is looking to you, He loves you deeply and He desires to see you rejoicing in your salvation found in Jesus and making the decision to be baptised without delay. Baptism means even more. It is not only being baptised into Christ but also into His body, the church. Christ is the head of the body, the church. Eph.5:23; Col.1:18. It is impossible to be baptised in Christ and not accept the body of Christ which is His church

After you have gone through these 28 lessons you will agree the church of Christ means the Seventh-day Adventist Church, God’s last day Remnant Church. This church only has the identifying marks of the remnant which are mentioned in Rev.12:17 and 14:12. It is a commandment keeping church which must include keeping holy the seventh day Sabbath; it has the Testimony of Jesus which is the Spirit of Prophecy, Rev.19:10 and it has the faith of Jesus which indicates it is a Christian church.

There are many Christian churches, but not many do keep the seventh day Sabbath. There are also a number of Christian churches keeping the seventh day Sabbath but do not claim to have the Testimony of Jesus. Only the Seventh-day Adventist church does claim, on biblical grounds, to be the remnant of Revelation 12:17 and 14:12. Remnant means the last day church, the last of the Seed which is Christ, Gal.3:16, 29, which is under attack of the dragon, the Devil.

Baptism means following in the footsteps of Jesus who also was baptised, Luke 3:21, 2 and Matth.3:13-16. If Jesus found it necessary to be baptised, who had never sinned, then it is more necessary for you to follow Jesus also in baptism. Dear reader don’t you want to follow Jesus now?

Dear reader may I suggest that you kneel down now and wherever you may be and turn your life over to Jesus who died in your place and accept Him as your Saviour and Lord for the rest of your life. Jesus loves you which is the motive that He died for you, in your place. He is knocking at the door of your heart right now, Rev.3:20. You will never regret but rejoice always. God bless and be a follower of Jesus also into the waters of baptism. We suggest the following commitment.

Commitment: Having accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour and having decided to follow Jesus all the way the rest of my life I now commit myself to seek opportunity to be baptised in Christ and also into the body of Christ His remnant church of this time.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-29-biblical-baptism/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/313/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/313/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:53:25 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=313 BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 28

New Heaven and a New Earth

From the beginning in the Bible we learn that when Adam and Eve sinned they were taken out of the Garden of Eden and not to return anymore. Read Gen.3:22-24.An angel was placed at the entrance of the Garden to make sure nobody could enter and eat from the tree of life. How long that situation has lasted is not known, but it is assumed that the Garden has been taken up into heaven before the flood could destroy it.

When we read the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22 we learn that access to the tree of life has been restored. 22:2. In between these two scripture passages of Genesis and Revelation we have the sad and tragic story of the human race on planet earth. But we also have the revelation of the divine plan of salvation through which what was lost will be restored and humans will be able to have part in that restoration, have eternal life on a most beautiful renewed earth.

In our studies of the past lessons at length we dealt with this divine plan which is encapsulated in the beautiful text of John 3:16 In a more practical manner it is stated in Matthew 28:18-20 which means to accept Jesus Who has all the power, learn about His teachings, be baptised and then start a new life of a faithful and true disciple of Jesus. You will read more about this topic in the next lesson, part 29

This time we will learn more about this restored place, a new earth and a new heaven. With heaven is not meant the vast universe, but what surrounds planet earth or our solar system. Why does that need renewal as well? Over the last decades the heavens surrounding planet earth or space have been loaded with electronic communication junk and even the Moon has been contaminated and Mars as well. We won’t find that stuff anymore once it is all over and sin and sinners are no more. I don’t think it will be difficult to see the need for a renewal of the heavens (space around planet earth) as the Bible teaches. Sin and its result are confined to planet earth and its immediate surroundings. Read Rev.12:9 and 12. When Satan lost his rebellion he was cast out to planet earth. For sometime he had still access to heaven as earth’s representative. Read first part of Job 1 and 2. But when Christ gained the victory and came forth from His grave the Devil lost that position as well and Christ is now earth’s representative and our only mediator, 1Tim.2:5.We have an advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ, 1John 2:1. The Devil is the accuser, but Jesus Christ is our defender, if we confess to Him and accept Him as our personal Saviour.

When creation was finished God declared that all was very good. Gen.1:31. But sin changed it, vegetation was changed, animal character changed. Human life and character also changed, Gen.3:16-19

But it will all be renewed, through Christ we will be changed already in the here and now, 2Cor.5:17 “In Christ we become a new creature” and read also Eph.2:6-10 In Christ a new creation and sitting with Him in heavenly places, Eph.2:6 Dear reader that can be your privilege now and today if you accept John 3:16 individually. For the sake of your eternal salvation and because Jesus loves you and gave His life for you in your place, accept Him today as your personal Saviour and the Lord of your life.

What will the new earth be like? We have not been left to guess work, read Isa.11:6-9 and Isa.35:1-10. What a delight to read such scripture passages. The Lord makes it very attractive to create a desire in our hearts to be part of it. Read also Isa. 33:24 where it read no one will say “I am sick”. How often do we say now, “I feel sick”, but not on the new earth, physicians will be out of a job and hospitals are not needed any more.

Then go to Isa.65:17-25 another beautiful description of what the new earth will be like. Verse 20 is a bit difficult to understand with our present situation. It is Hebrew poetry and the translators had a difficult time to put it in good English for us. I have found another translation which reads as follows:” There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days, or an old man who doesn’t live a long life. Whoever lives to be a hundred years will be thought as young. Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.” (God’s Word, translation) The last sentence is to be understood as in case that would happen, but it will not happen because sin is eradicated from the earth.

Another scholar reads as follows: “Never again will babies die or infants need to be buried who live only for a few days. Those who reach a hundred will have just begun to live but sinners will be no more.” (Dr.Jack Blanco).The Hebrew writer Isaiah took samples from this life to indicate what will not be on the new earth.

Read more about the new earth in Isa.66:22, 23 and learn that we will also go from Sabbath to Sabbath to worship the Lord our Creator and Redeemer and what a pleasure that will be and listen to angelic heavenly choirs.

Now we turn to Revelation 22:1, 2 and we are told that the tree of life is back on earth with its restoring and healing power. Healing is not in the sense of being healed from sickness, because nobody will be sick. But it will be healing in the sense of further restoration and growth. Turn also to Rev.21:2-7 a summing up of what will not be on the new earth

Two questions remain, who will not be there and who will be there. First who will not be there, read Rev.21:27 and 22:15 and check with Isa.35:8 where it says “the unclean will not pass there”. Unrepented sinners will have no place in the new earth. Those who refuse to accept Jesus as their Saviour and to make Christ the Lord of their lives will not be found on the new earth.

But who will be there? Isa.33:24 has the answer, people who have their sins forgiven. How do we get our sins forgiven and be made clean? Read 1John 1:9. Read also Ps.37:9, those who wait upon or serve the Lord will be there. Read also Ps. 25:12, 13; 37:11 and 69:36, the meek and those who love the Lord. Meek is the opposite of being stubborn or rebellious against God. We must surrender and give our heart, soul and mind to God, Rom.12:1, 2, and that is reasonable. Not to do it is unreasonable.

In Revelation 7:14 we are given a vision of the people who will be in that renewed place, they are the ones who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, which means who accepted Jesus Christ. Read Isa.1:18, 19. The same people are described in Rev.14:1-5, they are the people who live by the grace of God, Titus 2:11-15, they are clean and pure, thus made by Christ and through faith in Christ and His sacrifice.

Dear reader this is the day to accept Jesus and surrender yourself to Him. I invite you in Christ’s name to kneel down and make that surrender, which you will never regret once you walk the streets of gold in the New Jerusalem, but by faith it can be yours already today and right now.
Read 1John 5:11 and 12 if we accept the Son, Jesus Christ, we have eternal life already now, if we refuse we do not have life. God bless you in making the right decision now. We invite you to accept the commitment here below.

Commitment: By God’s grace and through faith in Jesus I do accept Jesus as my personal Saviour and thus will prepare myself to have eternal life and a place in the new earth.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/313/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-27-two-resurrections/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-27-two-resurrections/#comments Sun, 17 Jul 2011 02:31:53 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=309 BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 27

Two Resurrections

Last week in lesson 26 we dealt with the state of the dead and in the end we said something about the first resurrection. We quoted the words of Jesus in John 5:28, 29 that there will be two resurrections, one for the believers in Christ and the other one for the unbelievers. The believers in Christ will receive eternal life, the other group eternal damnation. Between these two resurrections is a period of one thousand years which is also called the millennium. This will be the topic for this lesson, what will happen at the beginning of this period of time, what will happen during that time and what will happen at the end of that time. If we know the answer to these questions it should urge us to make a decision today for Christ and to be His follower.

The chapter in the Bible dealing with this matter in particular is Revelation 20. So let’s turn to that chapter. We will analyse this chapter and become acquainted with its contents. In 20:1-3 we find that Satan is bound; 20:4 is a judgment scene and those who have been resurrected are in charge of the judgment, during the one thousand years, 20:5, and this is declared to be the first resurrection. Then in 20:6 those who have come up in the first resurrection are called blessed, because they will not die a second time which is called second death, they will reign with Christ for a thousand years. The ones not resurrected will come back to live after the one thousand years.

20:7 after the one thousand years Satan will be loosed, unbound again. This gives a bit of a clue what his binding was like. From 20:4 we have learned that those who have suffered death, for Christ’s sake and are now alive and with Christ in heaven We learn the same from 1 Thess.4:15-17 When Jesus comes He will send His angels the world all over to gather together the living saints, and the dead saints will be resurrected. Together they will meet with Jesus in the air and go with Him into heaven, and be there with the Lord. They will have new bodies coming out of the grave and those living have been changed, read 1Cor.15:42, 43 and 51-54, the change will be from corruptible bodies to incorruptible ones. All those who had accepted Christ as their Saviour and Lord and had died in Christ, called saints, are now in heaven with Christ
.
What about the ones who are left behind on earth? Read 2Thess.2:8 they will be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. Read also Rev.6:16, 17 and 1Thess.5:3. There will be sudden destruction for those who are not ready, 2 Thess.1:7-10.

Let’s stop here and make a conclusion. All the believers in Christ are in heaven; all those who were not ready are dead bodies on earth, how much work is left for Stan to do? Before this happened he went around as a roaring lion seeking to destroy,
1 Pet.5:8. But now there is nothing to do, he is so to speak imprisoned by loneliness and bound by circumstances. What he is bound with is stronger than iron which he could break before, read Luke 8:26-29. The earth surrounding the Devil and his angels is also changed in a wilderness. The seventh plague was with hail stones of a weight about 150 kg. You can imagine what kind of damage that will do and may well be described by Isa.24:3, 21, 22 and also Jer. 4:13-26. To be gathered in the pit means in their graves. In Rev.19:17, 18 it is called the supper of the Great God, all the vultures having a feast on the dead bodies. Better make a decision today to have part in the marriage supper of the Lamb, Rev.19:9.

What is happening in the mean time in heaven? We go back to Rev.20:4, judgment is given to “them”. Who are the “them”? They are the saints to whom judgment is given as we read in Dan.7:22. You will notice that other translations read, “in favour of the saints”. The saints are judged first in the pre-advent judgment before the return of Jesus Read Hebr.10:30 and 1Pet.4:17.When they have been found to be in Christ, Rom.8:1 they have nothing to fear and will be given the task to judge during the thousand years. Who will they judge? Read 1Cor.6:2, 3 they judge those who are lost, the world, and even angels. Books are opened before them, Rev.20:12 and they will learn the reason why these people are lost
You read in the same text that also the book of life is opened, be sure your name is in the book of life by choosing Jesus today and make plans to seal it in baptism. Those who do not have their name in the book of life have their record in the other books and they are the ones coming up from all places in the second resurrection, after the one thousand years, Rev.20:5 and 12, 13, and will than be judged according to what is written about them in the books. You will notice this is pretty serious business. But at the same time it is a true vindication of God the He is just and true and also that He is just in justifying those who believe in Christ, Rom.3:26. God can not be accused of doing something in the dark or mysterious, it is all open and transparent for the universe and everybody. Satan’s accusation will fall on dead ground. Read Rev.15:3.

What will the saints judge about regarding those who are lost? Most likely the measure of punishment they will get. Read Luke 12:46-48. It will all be according to what is written in the books, Rev.20:12, 13. When this is all finished the second resurrection can take place and Satan will be loosed from his prison situation or circumstances.

Read 20:5 and 7. When Satan sees all these people alive again he immediately returns to his old job of deceiving the nations, 20:8. What else has also happened in the mean time? God’s Holy City, New Jerusalem has descended from haven down to earth,
Read 20:8, 9 and 21:10. It is not an empty city but is inhabited with the saints whose names are written in the book of life, Rev.21:27. It is another strong and urgent reason to have your name written in the book of life.

Satan sees the city and deceives the nations that they will be able to conquer it and invade it for their own habitation, Rev.20:8, 9. He goes into organising an attack, but when they are ready for the attack fire and brimstone comes down from heaven and destroys them all, 20:9b, 10, 14 and 15. When that is all done John sees in Revelation 21 a new earth and a new heaven which will be our topic for next part. In conclusion of this lesson we put it all in proper order.

What happens before the one thousand years start?
1. Jesus comes down from heaven with all His holy angels, but He stays in the air.
2. Angels are going around the earth to awake the sleeping saints.
3. The living saints, believers in Christ will be changed.
4. The two groups go with the angels to Jesus in the air and are with Him in heaven
5. The unbelieving ones whose names are not in the book of life are killed.
6. Satan is now bound by circumstances he cannot change, and is in loneliness
7. The earth is left behind in a state of chaos and wilderness and the vultures having
their feast.

During the one thousand years the books are opened and the saints are getting insight why the left behind ones are lost, and will judge them in regard to the measure of their punishment, some receive more than others.

After the one thousand years:
1. Jesus descends with the saints in the Holy City, New Jerusalem, down to earth.
2. The dead unbelievers are now resurrected.
3. Satan gets out of his loneliness with which he has been bound.
4. Satan sees the Holy City and marshals all the nations together and deceives them
again, making them believe that they can invade and occupy the city.
5. Fire and brimstone comes from heaven to destroy and burn them to ashes.
6. The earth is made new with a new heaven surrounding the earth.
7. The gates of the Holy City are opened and the saints inherit the new earth and are
there for ever and ever.

Dear reader, don’t you like to be there? I am sure you will like to be there. Jesus loves you to be there. He died for you in your place and if you accept Him now, today, by His grace you will be there. Be ready for the first resurrection and accept John 3:16 now and make a firm commitment to Jesus and have it sealed in baptism
In the next lesson we will go through the Bible and learn more about this new earth and heaven and what it will be like. The Lord has made it very attractive for us to be there and nowhere else, and to make the right decision for Him and our salvation.
God bless and choose today whom you will serve, Joshua 24:15

Commitment: By God’s grace and through faith in Jesus I commit myself and will seal it in baptism, to be ready when Jesus comes and have my name written in the book of life which will assure me to be a dweller for ever on the new earth.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-27-two-resurrections/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/speaking-in-tongues-2/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/speaking-in-tongues-2/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:40:51 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=275 SPEAKING IN TONGUES

This study Speaking in Tongues will mainly focus on the Biblical side of the question. What do tongues mean in the Old Testament (OT). What is the meaning of tongues in the New Testament (NT) and its use? What does the apostle Paul say about use and misuse?

The “Tongues Speaking” practice/phenomenon is universal. In 2006 about 600 million Pentecostal types of people worldwide celebrated 100 years of Pentecostalism in modern days. We will not deal with its origin in modern days or how it was practiced in past history. If you go to Google Information Service and ask for Tongue Speaking in History you will get plenty of information.

However we will quote some statements from a document which was published by the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church as a report of a special committee meeting dealing with this subject and which was held in 1973.
We also like to refer to an in-depth study done by the late Dr.Gerhard Hasel and which was published by the Adventist Theological Society under the title” Speaking In Tongues”

Pentecostalism/the Charismatic Movement and speaking in tongues is found throughout Protestantism and also in some places in the Roman Catholic Church.

We will also refrain from using Bible Commentaries because they are so different one from the other. Occasionally we may refer to a Bible Commentary. But we will mainly let the Bible text speak for itself and in which context tongue speaking is used or referred to.

The usage of tongues in OT times.

According to Theological Wordbook of the OT, linked to Strong’s Concordance
the Hebrew word for tongue is lashon. We quote the following from this source:

“This word occurs 117 times in the OT. The God-given organ of communication with one’s fellowmen and God, the tongue to be at once the source of much good and evil.”
(Vol. I, p. 484)

The following are a few samples of passage where the physical tongue is used. Judg.7:5 men lapping with their tongue; Lam.4:4 tongue in relation to thirst.

By extension, it (the tongue) carries geographical meaning such as the “tongue” of the land which protrudes into the Dead Sea (Josh.15:2, 5; 18:19; Isa.11:15) or a tongue shaped wedge of gold (Josh. 7:21, 24)

Not once do we find in the OT a reference to any kind of tongue speaking as in the modern day Pentecostal movement.
Before we turn to the NT times we give here the full text from Dr.V.Norskov Olsen in regard to pre-Christian origin of so-called modern day “tongue speaking”. This is taken from the previously mentioned General Conference document, page 1
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“Ancient sources tell of ecstatic language from the lips of worshippers of pagan gods, suggesting that ecstatic sounds can be simulated by human endeavours or performed by satanic activity. In the ancient Byblos (1100BC) we have record of ecstatic utterances.
The dialogues of Plato (429-347BC) reveal that he is well acquainted with the same. He informs us that a person under divine possession received divine utterances accompanied with visions not understood by the receiver and therefore needed interpreters. Some engaged in prayer began to utter inspired utterances accompanied by physical healing to some persons present. He also refers to the maidens of the Dionysian cult and the
Corybantian revellers who made ecstatic sounds. Virgil (70-19BC) tells us that the Sibylline priestess when (in prayer) her spirit was united with the god Apollo she spoke with tongues sometimes incoherent and ecstatic. There is good reason to believe that among the many mystery religions in the Graeco-Roman world the phenomena of speaking in tongues (lalein glosais) in its ecstatic form was not unknown. Gerhard Kittle tells us, ‘The unintelligible lists of magical names and letters in the magic pap (voces mystical) , which are used in the invoking and conjuring of gods and spirits, may also be analogous to this obscure and meaningless speaking with tongues. With these mystical divine names, etc., in which there are echoes of all the various oriental languages, we may certainly couple the view that they derive from supraterrestrial tongues used by the gods and spirits in heaven, each class having its peculiar phone or dialektos”.

(Dr.Olsen was a historian in Church history and in the footnotes of these statements he refers to the various resources he has used.)

It could well be that the Corinthian Church has been influenced by these mysteries, but we are not sure if that was the case. We will deal with the Corinthian church later in this study.

The usage of Tongues in NT times.

In Strong’s Concordance we do find 33 references to the word tongue in the singular and 27 references in the plural. That gives a total of 60 references.

Not all have the same meaning. 50 references are under number 1100 which is normal tongue in the Greek glossa; by implication a language (especially naturally unacquired) (See “A Critical Lexicon and Concordance” by Bullinger.)

5 are numbered 1258 and refer to tongue as a dialect, language or tongue.
4 are under the number 1447 and are in the meaning of Hebrew Tongue.
1 under number 2084 and relates to the tongue of a foreigner, a person of another tongue
or language.

Where do we find these references in the scriptures?
Under number 1100 we have the singular use in Mark 7:33,35; Luke 1:64;16:24;Acts 2:26; Rom.14:11; 1Cor.14:2,4,9,13,14,19,26,27; Phil.2:11;James 1:26;3:5,6,6,8; 1Peter 3:10; 1John 3:18; Rev.5:9;14:6.

In the plural the following: Mark 16:17; Acts2:3,4,11; 10:46; 19:6; Rom.3:13; 1Cor12:10,10,28,30;13:1,8;14:5,5,6,18,22,23,39; Rev.7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 16:10; 17:15.

The 5 under number 1258 can be found in Acts 1:19; 2:8; 21:40; 22:2; 26:14 and these are all in the singular

The 4 under number 1447 are in John 5:2; Rev.9:11, 11; 16:16; and also in singular.

The 1 under nr.2084 but in the plural is found in 1Cor.14:21;

How is tongue or glossa used in these references?

Is there any trace to find or the slightest indication which would support a charismatic modern Pentecostal use of tongue speaking?

The one under nr.2084, tongues in the plural, Greek heteroglossos in 1Cor.14:21 refers clearly to foreigners, people speaking a different language. We will say more when later we will deal with 1Cor.14 separately
.
The four under 1447, Greek hebraisti, refers to the use of the Hebrew language.

Then we have the five under number 1258 and they refer to the speaking of a dialect spoken by people from a certain province. Greek dialektos (See “A Critical Lexicon and Concordance”, section under tongue nr.2)

In all these ten cases nothing indicates something which would support a charismatic modern Pentecostal use of the tongue as evidence of being baptized by the Holy Spirit.

We will now examine the use of tongue(s) under nr.1100 glossa –singular or glossai plural.

Mark 7:33, 35; 16:17; Luke 1:64; 16:24; Rom.3:13; 14:11; James 1:26; 3:5, 6, 6, 8; 1Peter 3:10; 1John 3:18; Rev.5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:19; 13:7: 14:6; 16:10; 17:15.

All these texts clearly indicate that the tongue spoken of is the organ of the physical body. Nothing like usage in a charismatic modern Pentecostal manner
.
In Phil.2:11 tongue is used in a personified manner “every tongue (person,JTK) should confess….”

The remaining texts are in the book of Acts and 1Cor.12-14 and need some closer examination.

We will start with Acts 2:3, 4, 11, and 26.

In verse 3 something appeared like cloven tongues. This is clearly symbolic for the apostles having been filled with the Holy Spirit, these tongues did not speak. The apostles using their physical tongue did the speaking later in clearly understandable language.

In verse 4 the apostles are found to speak in other tongues. The people who heard them made it very clear in verse 11 “we do hear them speak in our tongues (language,JTK) the wonderful works of God”. Empowered by and filled with the Holy Spirit they became suddenly equipped with the gift of speaking in a foreign language other than their own.

Where we have to go to a language school, most likely was not readily available in their time,the Holy Spirit was able to do in the fraction of a moment what normally would have taken years of learning and practice.

The use of tongue in Acts 2:26 again refer clearly to the physical body organ for communicating. It was David’s tongue which he used to express his gladness.

The next one is in Acts 10:46. After Peter’s talk to Cornelius explaining the good news which came through Israel re Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36) and even while he was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard him speaking (Acts 10:44).
Then they heard them speaking with tongues and magnify God (verse 46).The people present heard them speaking their tongue or language.

What is the meaning of tongues in this case?

The NIV places a footnote which reads: or other languages
Goodspeed translation reads: speaking in foreign languages and declaring the greatness of God
The 17th century Dutch translation reads: they heard them speak in foreign languages.
God’s Word (a modern translation) reads; they heard these non Jewish people speaking in other languages

However using a modern translation we have to take care because some tend to be more interpretations than translations.

For instance the NEB reads “for they could hear them speak in tongues of ecstasy. Ecstasy is an interpretation of tongues which is difficult to maintain based upon the original Greek word for tongue glossa. It looks like that the NEB tries to support modern day Pentecostalism.
The NLT which is a paraphrased Bible still reads plainly they heard them speaking in tongues. (Languages JTK)

In conclusion to Acts 10:46 a number of Bibles with margin references and also by Acts 2:4; 19:6, refer to Mark 16:17. We do find this in the KJV, the NASB and the German Lutheran Bible.

With confidence we may say that the people in Acts 10:46 had the same gift bestowed upon them as the apostles received on the day of Pentecost. They became equipped to be able to give the good news to people speaking another language then they themselves did.
At this point we like to bring in a statement from the late Dr.Gerhard Hasel in regard to
Acts 10:46.

The gift of tongues signifies that both Gentiles and Jewish Christians share alike in the task of evangelizing the world. Both have also been endowed with the same spiritual gift which breaks down the language barrier and makes possible fluent communication of the Good News among all men. (Speaking in Tongues, p.94)

The last text in Acts is Acts 19:6. Here we have the same Greek word glossais as in Acts 2:4; 10:46 and also in Mark 16:17. Logic and consistency requires treating Acts 19:6 as Acts 10:46.

Some translations have done the same as they did with Acts 10:46 adding to it other or
foreign and even ecstatic. These additions are not in the Greek, but impressions of the translators. The Greek states plainly glossais which, when properly translated, indicates
tongues (languages JTK). The NIV has here also a footnote reading other languages.

The context informs us that Paul upon arriving in Ephesus found people who said
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost Acts 19:2. They had been baptized according to John’s baptism. Paul then gave them additional spiritual information and knowledge regarding Jesus Christ. They accepted this from Paul and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ib.vs.5 The Holy Ghost came on them and the twelve gave evidence of this by speaking in tongues. They had become empowered to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with people speaking a different language than their own natural language.

There is nothing in this event which gives proof that they became engaged in a form of tongue speaking as is practiced by modern day Pentecostalism.

The following commentary of Matthew Henry is may be of interest to the reader:
This was intended to introduce the gospel at Ephesus, and to awaken in the minds of men an expectation of some greater things from it; and some think that it was further designed to qualify these twelve men for the work of the ministry, and that these twelve were the elders of Ephesus, to whom Paul committed the care and the government of that church.
(Matthew Henry vl.VI p.245)

SDABC vl.6, p.137 states the same that the ability to speak foreign languages was a gift given to the disciples for the special purpose of carrying the gospel message into all the world.

Those of you interested in what Ellen G.White has to say regarding this matter, we found the following statement in RH Aug.31, 1911 and quoted in SDABC vl.6 p.373 Thus they were qualified to labour as missionaries in Ephesus and its vicinity, and also to go forth to proclaim the gospel in Asia Minor.

We like to mention that not everyone being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit is spoken of speaking in tongues. The 3000 in Acts 2:41 were baptized after receiving gladly the Word, but we do not read that all of them started to speak in tongues.
The Ethiopian in Acts 8:38-39 was baptized and went his way rejoicing. Paul in Acts 9:17, 18 was baptized, but not one word that he started to speak in tongues. Paul would have been a very appropriate candidate to receive the gift of speaking in tongues, because of his mandate to be the apostle to the gentiles. (Acts 26:17; Rom.11:13) We have no record anywhere which indicates that Paul had this gift from the Holy Spirit after his baptism. We read this in other cases like in Acts 10:45. 46 and in 19:5, 6, but this was not the case when Paul was baptised. Go to Acts 9:17-20.Pul preached Christ after his baptism but no word that he spoke in tongues. Read more by 1 Cor.14:18 here below.

Lydia in Acts 16:15 was baptized but no word that she started to speak in tongues. Same with the jailor in Acts 16:33, baptized with his family but no report that he or his family started to speak in tongues.

What we have examined so far from the OT and the NT gives us no reason or clue that the gift of speaking in tongues, in one form or another is a must-to-have in order to give evidence that one is baptized with or has received the Holy Spirit.

It remains for us to have a close look at the Corinthian church and what Paul wrote to the members of that church, in his first epistle, in regard to speaking in tongues.

The chapters 12-14 of first Corinthians are usually used as the main information to support modern day speaking in tongues in Pentecostalism, particularly in chapter 14.

Dr.Gerhard Hasel spends 45 pages to deal with these chapters in his book SPEAKING IN TONGUES. This book is issued by the Adventist Theological Society. The reader of this study should make an effort to obtain that book. We will not go that far, this study will be for about 50% about 1Cor.12-14.

As we have discovered and stated before the Biblical text and in particular the book of Acts have nothing on record which supports modern day speaking in tongues in Pentecostalism or making it the ultimate evidence to show that one has been baptized by the Holy Spirit..

The eminent church historian, the late Dr.V.Norskov Olsen, writes in the 1973 issued Special Committee Report on the Charismatic Movement, on page 2 regarding an Apogryphal Acts of the Apostles. It is from the Second Century. Dr.Olsen’s evaluation of these documents is as follows:

While they must be considered as fiction in religion, they do reflect certain concepts and types of Christian beliefs. However, there are no indications in these writings that the apostles had learned to speak a foreign language in an extra ordinary way through a special gift of the Holy Spirit or gave ecstatic utterances in unknown tongues.
In Acts of John, the apostle gives a list of the ‘powers’ given by God, but the gift of tongues is not mentioned.

Dr.Olsen mention also an Apocryphal called the Acts of Thomas. The book tells about a story of Thomas attending a wedding ceremony in India. During that wedding Thomas spoke in Hebrew which the people did not understand. Then follows this statement by Dr.Olsen: In the rest of the book there is no clue to whether or not Thomas learned to speak the Indian language or not. In the Acts of John and Thomas subject matter could have led to a discussion of the gift of tongues, if that gift had been known. ibid.
This information calls us to be cautious how we treat the matter of speaking in tongues in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthian Church. However having said this we must also keep in mind that the Corinthian Church was not without serious problems or irregularities of some sort.

We will mention some before we deal with chapters 12-14.

The apostle Paul starts in chapter 1 with some good and commendable things that were present in the Corinthian Church.
Vs. 2 they are sanctified in Christ and called saints.
Vs. 5 they are enriched in Christ in all utterances and knowledge.
Vs. 6 even the Testimony of Christ (Rev.19:10) was confirmed in them.
Vs. 7 not coming behind in any gift. Does this include the gift of speaking in tongues?

But then as from vs.10 he turns the coin around and shows the other side of the Corinthian Church.:

That ye all speak the same thing, apparently they didn’t
That there be no divisions among you, apparently there were divisions among them.
That ye be perfectly joined together, apparently they were not.

In verse 11 he speaks about that there are contentions among you The NASB reads here there are quarrels among you, and TCNT reads that party feelings exists among you

From verse 3 we learn what kind of party feelings. They had grouped under different persons, like Paul, Apollos, Cephas and Christ.

In chapter 3 Paul deals with their spiritual weakness:

Vs.1 I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ NASB reads as to infants in Christ.
Vs.3&4, he mentions that there is strife, envy and division among you, for that reason he says are ye not carnal and walk as men, margin according to man

In chapter 5 Paul touches on their moral behaviour. Fornication was among them worse than among the gentiles.

In chapter 6 he talks about a case where one brother takes another one to civil court, instead of sorting the problem out among them.

In chapter 11 as from verse 17 he deals with irregularities in re to the Lord’s Supper and divisions and heresies among them see vs.17-19.

While Paul calls the members of the Corinthian Church saints in their behaviour they did not act very saintly. Could it be that there was also unsaintly behaviour in regard to the gift of speaking in tongues?

Chapters 12-14 may reveal a certain answer to this question.

Ch.12 deals with spiritual gifts and positions in the church.
Ch.13 excellent exposition regarding true love, more important than speaking in tongues
Ch.14 speaking in tongues and how it should be used properly.

We start with chapter 12.

This chapter contains a listing of spiritual gifts and positions in the church, vs.4-12 & 28-30. But this is not the only listing of gifts. There is also Rom.12:4-8. Here we find a listing of different ministries, but the ministry of speaking in tongues is not mentioned. In the Biblical line up we may call this one in Rom.12 the first listing.
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The second listing by Paul is in 1 Cor.12:4-12. In vs.10 tongues are mentioned. The literal Greek reads: to another kinds of tongues and to another the interpretation of tongues.

To make the meaning of “kinds” clearer some translations have added a word
:KJV divers kinds; NKJV different kinds; NIV to speak in different kinds; NASB various kinds.

Kinds is from the Greek word genos and carries the meaning of races ,descent, class, sort It is clear from this Greek word study that this kinds of tongues relates to human beings and not to emotional ecstatic utterances of sound from the mouth.

Paul mentions in his listings also the gift of interpretations of tongues. Some in those days as in ours today are gifted in speaking a foreign language and others are gifted in translating a foreign language. Speaking a foreign language doesn’t make that person gifted in translating that language. I know that from experience.

The third listing is found in the latter part of 1Cor.12:28-31. In vs.28 Paul lists as last diversities of tongues.
Remember Paul writes that God has set in the church a variety of offices or ministries performed by some members of the church. The Greek here reads geny glosson same as in vs.10 and should be treated same as in vs. 10. But here again Bible translations do differ:

KJV reads plainly diversities of tongues
NKJV varieties of tongues
NIV those speaking in different tongues
NASB various kinds of tongues
The German translation by Martin Luther and three Dutch translations read variety of languages (in German sprachen). Natural languages, no ecstatic utterances

Some other translations tend to give it the meaning of spiritual languages ecstatic utterances. We find this in NEB, Charles Williams; also in a modern Dutch translation by Prof.Brouwer. There may be more. Such translations are more interpretations than translations provided by the translator according his theological understanding.

The fourth and last listing in Paul’s epistles is found in Ephesus 4:11-13. But not one word about the gift of speaking in tongues or the interpretations of tongues. Paul does give clear information re the purpose of gifts and ministries in the church. It is for
Perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ,
(Eph.4:12)

An unintelligent ecstatic utterance of ‘sound’ from the mouth can hardly be called a divine gift for the perfecting of the saints or to assist in the ministry or to edify the body of Christ.

After examining these four listings we must conclude that the gift of speaking in tongues
is not of such an importance that it finds its place in all four listings. We do not find it in Romans 12:4-8 and not in Eph.4:11-13. Only in the listings of 1Cor.12:.4-12 & 28-31.

Is this because of certain problems re this issue in the Corinthian church? Was there an overemphasis in the Corinthian church in regard to the gift of speaking in tongues? In preparation for what Paul has in mind to write in chapter 14, is he preparing the church members for the fact that these gifts are God given through the Holy Spirit?

The Greek word genos (KJV kinds/diversities) in vs. 10 and in vs. 28 points into the direction of people’s languages and not unintelligible ecstatic utterances. Also we have to
conclude that different gifts are for different people. Not all are endowed with the same gift, which means that not all in the church have to have the gift of speaking in tongues.
In other words not all members of the church have to give evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit by way of speaking in ‘tongues’ as the modern charismatic Pentecostal movement tries to get across and urging people to believe.

Before Paul gets into the topic of speaking in tongues deeper, he leads the readers of his epistle into another more important topic and that of the meaning of love which touches on the spiritual experience of everybody in the church.

We enter now into chapter 13

Reading this chapter carefully we conclude that Paul is dealing with agape love. It is the real divine love from a deep Christian, spiritual salvation experience. Also that it doesn’t matter what kind of gift or position in the church we have without this agape love/charity
it all means nothing and the person is reduced to nothing, see vs.2.

What is more, it is worth noting that in the beginning of this chapter when Paul writes though I speak with the tongues of men, he does not say though I speak with tongues, but he qualifies it by adding of men indicating normal man’s language. We better keep that in mind when we go into chapter 14.
Chapter 14

We like to suggest that the main thrust of Paul in chapter 14 is that all things be done to edify the church not the person self who is endowed with a gift, in this case the gift of
speaking in tongues. See 1Cor.14:3, 4, 4, 5,12,17,26. Seven times Paul refers to this word of edifying or edify. He does the same as for the members of the church of Ephesus in
4:12 it is all for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Another thing we have noticed is that whereas Paul out of four listings of gifts and church ministries only in two listings, and that is in 1Cor.12, he mentions the gift of speaking in tongues. But the gift to prophecy or being a prophet is mention 4 xs, in all four listings.

Paul closes chapter 14 with the words covet to prophecy and forbid not to speak in tongues. The first is receiving preference over the latter.

The gift to prophecy is ranking higher in Paul’s mind. Prophesying is to be understood in its widest meaning of the word, not just talking about a future event.

The emphasis on the gift to prophecy is already noticeable in the vs.1 of 1Cor.14 There may be a desire for spiritual gifts but I have rather that ye may prophecy. So at the beginning and the end, vs.39 of chapter 14 Paul is very keen to underline the importance of the gift to prophecy. May we see here a connection with what Paul writes in chapter 1 of 1Corinthians.We read in vs.6 that even the Testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. When we ask for explanation what the Testimony of Christ is, we refer to Rev.19:10, same as we do for Rev.12:17 If somebody has problems with this point check the book PROBLEMS IN BIBLE TRANSLATION pp.244-256

In his introductory remarks of 1 Corinthians 1 Paul does not say one word about the gift of tongues, unless somebody likes to relate the word utterance (1:5) or speech as in NASB to the gift of tongues. But that would be a bit far fetched in my opinion. Because the Greek word in that verse is logos and we are all familiar with that word.

We conclude from Paul’s writings regarding tongues in chapter14, that something had gone wrong among the Corinthians and moved into the extreme.

In one way or another Paul mentions the word tongues 15 times 1Cor.14:2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 39.

Before we enter into a section by section discussion of this chapter we like to notice that Paul has a very strong burden that all things are done in the church orderly, with understanding and for the edifying of the church. No confusion should take place

1Cor.14:2 If a person speaks in a certain (difficult JTK, unknown in KJV) tongue, only God understands, he speaks in mysteries. The Greek uses only the word glosse no qualifying word to indicate what kind of tongue. But because it says further that he speaks but to God and not to men it must be something foreign to humans. But it is not edifying to the church while the one who does prophesy edifies the church.

This is made clear again in verse 4, does it benefit or edify the church, that’s what counts in Paul’s understanding.

Again in verse 5 it is prophesying versus speaking in tongues, unless it receives interpretation and all understand and are edified.
In verse 9 let words easy to be understood used in order that all know what is spoken. Again the unknown is a worry to Paul and may create confusion.

Vs.11 if it is unknown Paul says the person may be compared to a Barbarian (foreigner)

Vs.13-15 if not understood by the people let it be interpreted. We should not only talk or pray with the spirit but with understanding as well.

Vs.16 if not understood nobody will say Amen as an expression of agreement, because it is not understood.

For verses 17 and 18 read here below.

Vs.19 five words spoken with understanding are better than 10.000 in an unknown tongue.

Vs.20 be mature, do not act like children.

Vs 22 difference again between tongues and prophesying.

Vs.23 if an unbeliever enters the church and notice this disorderly behaviour of speaking in an unknown tongue/language, he may conclude you are all mad.

Vs.27 if still an unknown tongue needs to be used let it be done by a few and be interpreted.

Vs.39, 40 Paul still prefers to prophesy but to speak in tongues should not be forbidden as long as everything is done decently and in order. According to vs.37 Paul adds that these words are the commandments of the Lord.

What we have discovered so far from 1 Cor.14 is not in favour of what we find in the charismatic/Pentecostal churches. It even discourages strongly that kind of spiritually confusing behaviour.

Let’s now see what we can learn from 1 Cor.14 when we take it section by section.

a. vs.1-5 Paul compares here the gift to prophesy with speaking in a tongue people do not understand unless it receives interpretation. To prophesy is placed above speaking in tongues, greater is he or except he interprets.

Paul seems to leave the door open for somebody to speak in an unknown tongue,
but must provide interpretation at the same time. If I would speak some words in
my mother tongue Dutch or say something from Africa in Kiswahili I must
provide interpretation at the same time otherwise it would be no use to the
hearers.

b. vs. 6-17 In this section Paul makes it clear again, with strong emphasis, that
speaking in a tongue which is not understood by the believers is of no use. He
takes the example of a trumpet giving a wrong sound, but which is good to
nobody. No one will prepare for the battle, vs.8

So it is with speaking in an unknown tongue, no one will receive a blessing,
or respond properly to the message

c.. vs.18, 19 Here Paul takes himself as an example and that he speaks with
languages/tongues more than ye all. The Greek word used here is from glossa
which relates to “languages”. As an itinerating missionary he may
have become acquainted with a number of languages but it would not be wise
to use them in places where they are not understood
As a scholar he also may have learned languages like Hebrew, Greek and the
Roman language because he was a Roman citizen by birth, Acts 22:22-30. In Acts 21:49 he addresses the people in Hebrew, but he wrote his epistles in Greek language. In my home country, Holland I learned three foreign languages apart from my country language, Dutch. Later in Africa I became acquainted with Swahili in East Africa.
d. vs.20-28 Again the emphasis is on order, for the edification of the church and a
sign to the unbeliever that God is in you of a truth (25)or according to the ASV declaring that God is among you indeed . I have come across cases in my ministry where the public evangelist delivering God’s message of salvation in English and some listeners hearing it in their mother tongue. That became a sign that God was working in such a meeting

e. vs.29-35 Again Paul tries to get his point across regarding all things to be done in order and no confusion to take place. In vs.35, 36 he throws in the matter of women speaking in church. Apparently there was a disorderly behaviour in that respect as well. Paul is not showing an anti-women attitude. That is clear from scripture passages where Paul speaks very highly about the ministry of women.
But again order in the house of God is his burden. Vs.33 for God is not author of confusion or as Moffatt translates it for God is a God not of disorder but of harmony.

f. vs.36-40 These are Paul’s closing remarks underlining that what he has written
is not his private opinion but are the commandments of the Lord. In this day and age we should keep that in mind as well. We are dealing with the Word of the Lord and not any human mind or opinion. Paul is not reflecting the culture of that time. God is above culture and time. But if anybody does not want to pay attention vs.38, remain ignorant of it, let it be. If you are ignorant of this stay in
your ignorance. This is for people who wilfully do not want to hear of it. “The God’s Word” translation reads: but whoever ignores what I write should be ignored.

Then follows in vs.39 what is discussed before that Paul recommends to covet
to prophesy but speaking in tongues not to be forbidden. Again in vs.40 let all things be done decently and in order.

This is Paul’s main thrust throughout 1 Cor.14 order and decency, no confusion, but let it all be of an edifying nature to all who are present, believers and unbelievers.’

Conclusion of this study.

Nowhere in the scriptures OT or in particularly in NT or in Paul’s writings do we find any reference or encouragement to practice modern day charismatic Pentecostal Movement use of tongue speaking as a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The real fruit of the Spirit, evidence that we have been filled with the Holy Spirit for all believers is found in Gal.5:22, 23 May that be the sign of evidence that we are Spirit filled followers of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/speaking-in-tongues-2/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/one-will-be-taken-the-other-left/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/one-will-be-taken-the-other-left/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:30:17 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=21 ONE WILL BE TAKEN -THE OTHER LEFT

There seems to be difference in the understanding of who the ONE WILL BE TAKEN is and who is THE OTHER LEFT.
Some say this is a secret rapture, while others say THE ONE WILL BE TAKEN are taken into destruction leaving the other group to be those who are saved into the Kingdom
This Bible essay attempts to give the clear picture as we find it in the scriptures, comparing text with text and scripture passage with scripture passage.

The two scripture references where we find the issue under consideration are found in:
a. Matthew 24:40,41
Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left; two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left

b. Luke 17:34-36
I tell you, in that night there will be two (men) in one bed; the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two (women) will be grinding together the one will be taken and the other left. Two (men) will be in the field; the one will be taken and the other left.

All scripture references are from the NKJV, if not it will be indicated.

Note in the Greek men and women are not mentioned, it reads only duo. Two are in bed, two are grinding, and two are in the field.

From the context we know that the setting is the second coming of the Son of Man, Matthew 24:39 & Luke 17:30.

The first thing we will settle is the visibility or no visibility of the coming of the Son of man. Will it take place in secret or in public, visible for all?

In Jude 14 we have the testimony of Enoch saying, behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints.
In Isaiah 25:9 we read and it will be said in that day: behold this is our God; we have waited for Him; and he will save us.
We have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
Then in Joel 3:16 we read The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake;
From Christ Himself we learn in Matthew 24:23-26 that it will not be in secret:
Vs 23 Do not believe when they say Christ is here or there
Vs 24 Do not become misled by signs ands wonders; believe them not.
Vs 26 Do not believe when they say He is in the desert or an inner room.

But how will it be? Ib.vs.27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
And in vs. 30: Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Not just with glory, but with GREAT Glory.
Mark confirms the same in 13:26: then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Luke follows with the same in 21:27 then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

The coming of Christ will be a glorious event and appearing. Not secret or noiseless. It will be in the same manner as He ascended into heaven. Acts 1:11 this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. As He left this earth, so He will return.
Titus 2:13; 2Peter 3:10 glorious and with great noise
Rev.1:7 all eye will see Him.Rev.19:11-14 in glory with the armies of heaven, His angels.

What do we know about what will happen when Christ returns?
According to Christ’s own words angels will be send to gather His elect, Matthew 24:31
And he will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His elect….. Mark confirms the same in 13:27.
The apostle Paul divides this gathering together in two parts. One part will be raised and the other will be changed. Also with the sound of a trumpet as Jesus mentioned.
1 Cor.15:52
In 1Thess.4:14-17 we find the same. The Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice. of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then the living saints will join them and together be caught up in the clouds. Those who are not ready and the dead wicked ones will not be in this group. We discover here a certain order of events to happen. What will happen first and what will follow after.

Some conclude from reading in Matthew 24:40, 41 & Luke 17:34-36 that the” shall be taken” ones are first and are taken into destruction.
The Greek word for taken in Matthew and Luke is paralambano which means to take with or to one’s self, take from beside another, from him.
The SDABC vl.5 p.504 reads: paralambano, meaning literally, “ to take to oneself” used in the papyri of receiving to oneself articles that belong to him.

We will go through some Biblical examples to find the order of events when Christ returns.
Jesus refers to the time of Noah and Lot, Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27 as it happened in those days so it will be in the time when Christ will return. We read in Genesis7:1-7 Noah his family and the animals were taken first and told to go into the ark. Not by their volition, as some think. The Lord commanded them to go into the ark. As the Lord also had commanded Noah to build an ark.
See Gen.6:14; 6:22; 7:1; 7:5; 7:16; 7:17-24 contains the record of what happened thereafter and vs.23 giving the summary of events and stating that Noah remained alive (in the ark).
Then 7 days later the flood came and the ones outside the ark, left behind, perished in the flood waters
This is what Jesus confirms in both scripture passages of Matthew 24 and Luke 17, The people were living it up until the day that Noah entered into the ark and they knew it not until the flood came and took them all away. “So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Luke states it clearly that they were living it up until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Some read into Matthew 24:39 that took them all away applies to Noah and his family taken into the safety of the ark. The Greek word for took is from airo not from lambano as in 40 & 41. The meaning is also the opposite. It means to take away, to lift up for destruction, for death .This is in harmony with Luke 17:27 the flood came and destroyed them all. The “took them all away” as in Matthew 24:39 is the same as “the flood came and destroyed them all” of Luke 17:27. The people of that time saw, visible, Noah and his family and the animals going into the ark. They, Noah and his family and the animals were taken first.

The same happened with Lot. The angels came to Lot in Sodom. People saw these angels.
Lot was told to go out and warn the people. The next day Lot and his wife and daughters were taken out of Sodom. Then came the fire from heaven for Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed those who were left behind.
Jesus refers to this in Luke 17:27-30 the people were living it up but Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. We read in Genesis19: 16 they were taken by the hand of the angels and brought out of Sodom. In terms of Matthew and Luke we may say they were taken.

We look at some parables of Jesus in regard to His coming.
Matthew 25:1-13 the parable of the ten virgins. The wise ones, ready for the coming of the Bridegroom went in first. The foolish ones were left behind and arrived before a closed door.
Matthew 25:31-33 Separation of two groups, sheep and goats. The sheep are mentioned first to be put on the right side, and then follow the goats.

John sees a similar order of events written in his book The Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Rev.14:14-20 we see first the harvest of the good stuff then follows the harvest of what is for the great winepress of the wrath of God. Here again the saved are taken first and what is left goes into perdition.
In Revelation 19 also it deals first with the ones called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and then in vs. 19 we learn about the ones called for the supper of the great God where the birds of the air will feast on them that are left.

We have one parable where it looks like that the events will be in reverse. Matthew 13:24-30 the parable of the tares sowed into a field by an enemy at night-time. In vs.30 it reads that tares and wheat will have to grow together till harvest time. Then the reapers will gather first the tares and bind them together in bundles to burn them, but the wheat will be gathered in my barn. Some may deduct from this parable that the wicked will be dealt with before the righteous are taken into heaven. But the reading does not indicate that the burning of the tares will take place immediately. If my reading and understanding is correct it means that the tares are bundled together for the purpose of being burned. “To be burned”
Comparing various translations we may be correct to read “to be burned”
NIV reads to be burned
NRSV same
RSV same
Jer.B. same
NEB in bundles for burning
Moffatt to be burned
5 different Dutch translations all read to be burned
German Luther translation same as dutch
French for the purpose to be burned
French N.Tr. to be burned
All these translations indicate that the tares will be bundled together to be burned in a future time, not immediately. The wheat is brought in or taken into the barn first. In the barn of safety before the burning of the tares takes place.

It seems to be clear that this is the correct order of events at the time of the coming of the Son of Man. Those who are ready will be taken first and then the ones left, to perish.
Noah and his family were taken into the ark first; Lot and his family were taken out of Sodom first.

Let’s have a closer look at the expression of the other left. In Luke 17:37.Some think this applies to the ones not taken into destruction but into safety. We have discussed the meaning of taken. What is the meaning of left? The Greek word in this passage is aphiemi, which means to send forth or away, to let go from one’s self. In SDABC Vl.5.p.504 we have this in addition: “to dismiss. The Greek precludes the idea that it is the righteous who are” left” The righteous are literally” received” and the wicked “sent away”.
The expression “received” (taken) is correctly translated as such, in the various Dutch translations, by Luther in German and Louis Segond in French

After Jesus said the one will be taken and the other left, the disciples raise the question, where Lord? And Jesus answers wheresoever the body is; there the eagles will be gathered together. Luke 17:37. It looks reasonable and logic to conclude that the question of the disciples refers to Jesus’ statement of the other left. The disciples having in mind ‘where left? Jesus answers, in the place where the eagles are. A number of translations have the word vultures in stead of eagles. A vulture is more a bird of prey than an eagle.
We find vultures in Moffatt, NASB, NRSV; Berkeley; NEB; NIV; Jer.B. That should be pretty convincing that the word vultures is the more preferred one.

This connect properly with Rev.19:17,18 where the birds of the sky have a feast on the dead bodies left behind, after the saints, who have gone into the marriage supper of the Lamb, as mentioned first in Rev.19:9.

We also like to mention that when a word study is being done of the Greek word used for
shall be taken (lambano or paralambano) as in Matthew and Luke is similar in meaning as used for be caught up. In 1 Thess.4:17 Greek arpadzo . They overlap one another. The word used in 1 Thess. 4:17 is of a stronger nature, being caught by force. But both have the meaning included of being taken/caught up to one’s self or to take from beside another. This Greek word paralambano is also used in John 14:3 where Jesus when He will return receive you unto myself or NIV translation and others take you to be with Me

(I have found this in “A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek NT”, by Bullinger
and Greek-Dutch dictionary).

When Christ appears in His second coming as the Son of man He will take the ones ready to Himself away from the other who is not ready and will be left. The ready ones will be taken/caught up with Christ in the cloud. To be with the Lord where He is, 2Thess.4:17; John 14:1-3

We may also conclude safely and convincingly that all this is not done in secret, thus strongly negating the unbiblical doctrine of a so-called secret rapture.

One question remains and that is, the various places where we read that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, as in 1Thess.5:2, 4; 2 Peter 3:10; Reve.3:3; & 16:15.

We must ask ourselves: what will be as a thief in the night? Is it the actual coming in glory or the timing of His glorious coming?

We read in Matthew 24:42 for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming. In the same chapter vs.44 for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. In Matthew 25:13 for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Mark 13:32 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
And in vs.33 take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.
Luke 12:46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware.
Noah was commanded to build an ark. He knew that destruction was coming, but he did not know the day or the hour.

We learn from these scripture passages that it is the time which will be as a thief in the night, unknown, not the glorious and visible event of the coming of the Son of Man itself.
For that reason we are admonished over and over again to watch and pray in order to be ready when the glorious visible return will take place and when all eyes shall see Him.

Summary.
The one taken, are the ones ready for His coming and ready to be taken to Him self.
The one left, are they that will be food for the birds of the sky.
The actual coming of the Son of Man will be glorious, with the sound of a trumpet and be visible for all eyes. He will return in like manner as He ascended into heaven.
The thing that is secret and unknown is the timing, the day or the hour of His coming.

APPENDIX
There is a statement in Testimonies to Ministers by Ellen G.White using the one shall be taken scripture passage. It reads as follows:
Those who have been obedient to God’s commandments will unite with the company of the saints in the light; they shall enter in through the gates, and have right to the tree of life. The one shall be taken. His name shall stand in the book of life, while those with whom he associated shall have the mark of eternal separation from God. TM p.234/5
This favours the idea that the one be taken is not taken into destruction but into safety.

]]> http://bereanbiblecorner.com/one-will-be-taken-the-other-left/feed/ 0 http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-26-death/ http://bereanbiblecorner.com/bible-teachings-made-plain-part-26-death/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:03:24 +0000 admin http://bereanbiblecorner.com/?p=301 BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 26

What The Bible Teaches About Death

In this lesson we will turn to the question of death. Is death real or is it a change from one situation to another. The vast majority of people do believe it is the change of one existence to another real existence. They do believe that death is not real full stop living. This belief is based upon the first major lie spoken by the Devil in the Garden of Eden through its medium the serpent. “Ye shall not surely die.” Gen.3:4 Eve believed it and switched her allegiance from God to the Devil and millions of people believe the same to day in one form or another. God had told Adam and Eve if they would eat from the forbidden tree thou shalt surely die, Gen.2:17. Eve did eat from the tree under deception of the serpent’s (devil) saying ye shall not surely die, Gen.3:4. After she had done it, she confessed the serpent has beguiled me, Gen.3:13. The millions who follow in this believe are beguiled as well by this lie from the father of lies, the Devil, John 8:44

The Bible is very clear on this matter and still even believers in Christ are so entrenched by this false conception of death that their eyes are completely closed and blinded for the plain teachings of the Bible. We must be clear on this subject in order to have no fear for death. True and sincere believers in Christ accept the Bible regarding this matter and have no fear for death.

Turning to the beginning, as we have done so often, we find the truth about it. We find that all things have been created by the Word of God.
God said and it was there, Gen.1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20 and 24. Seven times “God said”. Read Psalms 33:8 and John 1:1-3

However in creating a human God did it differently. Read Gen.1:26. God again said but then followed “Let us make man in our image”. Male and female have been made by God; He did not speak them into existence. The Psalmist says “We are fearfully and wonderfully made”. Ps.139:14
Man (human) has been formed by the hand of God out of the dust of the earth. After this formation He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and so man became a living soul or being, Gen.2:7. Man did not get a soul which later at time of death returns to God. The breath of life from God has made us into a living being/soul. This breath of life is never a personified soul, as most people do believe. There is no place in the scriptures anywhere to support this idea. Nowhere in the scriptures is “soul” associated with immortality. Only God has immortality, 1Tim.6:15, 16. Man seeks immortality because he or she does not have it, Rom.2:7. What we do have we do not have to seek, but because we do not have immortality in any shape or form we have to seek it.

When the human race was destroyed, except for Noah and his family, it reads “All died in whose nostrils was the breath of life.” Gen.7:21, 22. Some times this breath of life is called spirit. Read Eccl.12:7. The NKJV also reads in Gen.7:22 in whose nostrils was the spirit of the breath of life”.

In death the body returns to dust and the breath of life or spirit of life returns to God who gave it to us, but it is not a personified substance. Only what we have received from God can return to God. This knowledge and revelation how we have been made should be sufficient
to convince us that at the time of death we do not go immediately to heaven or any paradise like place and also not to hell for burning as people do believe. What burning hell is like we will learn in our next lesson. To keep us surely away from all false conceptions about death we will explore some other scriptures passages as well. Man is made from the dust of this earth. Dust plus the breath of God creates a living soul, Gen.2:7. Dust minus breath of God is death or a dead “soul”

Job 10:21, 22 at the time of death we go to the land of darkness that is the grave in the earth.
Job 14:1012 we go down not up into heaven. Job speaks about it as a sleep. It is returning to dust, Ps.104:29. Breath goes forth, to God and he or she returns to dust, the earth, even the thoughts perish.
Eccl.9:5, 6 the dead know nothing at all, a total full stop of all their activities.

Jesus affirmed the position of sleep in death. Read Matt.9:24. The ruler’s daughter had died, but Jesus said she sleeps. People laughed about it. But later when Lazarus was dead already four days, Jesus said Lazarus sleeps,
speaking about his death, John 11:11, 14.. Remember Job in 14:10-12.
When Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus, Lazarus was not called down from heaven, but called to “come forth” from where he was in the grave tomb, behind the stone where he was laid. John 11:43. The stone was rolled away to give room for Lazarus to come out. John 11:39, 41

In Old Testament times when somebody died it was commonly stated “and he slept with his fathers”. 1Kings 2:10; 1Kings 11:43 and many more they all died and slept with their fathers.

The expression of “sleep” is used because it indicates a resurrection, an awakening from the sleep, Isa.26:19. Those who go to the dust of the earth are called to wake up. Jesus spoke about that day in John 5:28, 29
and in John 11:25 also in John 6:39, 40, 44. They will be raised in the
last day. About this resurrection we read at length and in detail in
1Cor.15 and you may take the time to read that whole chapter, but read especially verses 21-23. All will be resurrected, because all have sinned and will die, Rom.5:12.Read also Ezekiel 18:4, 20 and Rom.6:23, the soul that sins shall die. But not all will be resurrected the same day and for the same purpose, read again John 5:28, 29. The believers in Christ will be resurrected and go into eternal life and the unbelievers will be resurrected and go into eternal death, regarding this point more in our next lesson.

According to 1 Corinthians 15 death is like being sown in the earth as a seed, from where new life will sprout, verses 35-38. The dead who are saved in Christ will be resurrected with new bodies, changed bodies. Some will be found alive on that day and they also will be changed,
1Cor.15:51 and 52-54. Read also 1Thess.4:14 the living will not go up before those who are asleep but both will be grouped together and meet Jesus in the air because at that time Jesus will not touch the earth. Read further in 1Thess.4:15-17. The living changed ones and those resurrected from their sleep in Jesus will go with Jesus for 1000 years into heaven.
The 1000 years period in heaven we will discuss next in lesson 27

One more point is left and that is about the question what is left when we die, something is. Our bodies return to dust, our breath goes back to God from whom we received it, but something remains and that is our name in the book of life. Here on earth our names are taken out, but not in heaven. Read Luke 10:20; Ps.69:28, Isa.4:3 and Phil.4:3. Names of the believers in Christ are written in heaven in the book of life and only those fallen away from Christ their names will be blotted out. Moses asked for his name to be blotted out, but the Lord said, NO, read Exod.32:32 and 33. Those who die in Christ as far as God is concerned they belong to Him and are resting, sleeping till the day of resurrection. They sleep from their labour, Rev.14:13

How do we get our name in the book of life? By natural birth we get our name in the earthly civil register. By rebirth accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour and being baptised into Christ we become part of His kingdom, citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, children of God, John 1:12; John 3:1-5; Hebr.12:22, 23 and 1John 3:1.That takes our name into the heavenly register, the book of life
.
For that reason it is very important to make a decision today not tomorrow or some time in the future to accept Christ as personal Saviour and Lord of our life and be baptised into Christ.. Today is the day of salvation.
Come now says Jesus in Matt.11:28-30 and also in Rev.22:17. God loves you, Jesus loves you and the Holy Spirit calls you, they knock at the door of your heart, open it and let them take possession of your life, Rev.3:20.
If we come to the point to love God and Jesus because of what they have done for us in saving grace, in such love for God is no fear, for sure no fear for death or dying, read 1John 4:18, 19

Commitment: At this time again I confess Jesus to be my personal Saviour and Lord of my life and for that reason I commit myself to him by faith and be baptised into Christ, and when I die I will sleep till the day of resurrection when Jesus will appear in glory to wake me up.

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