THIRD HARBINGER: AMERICA IF WE CAN KEEP IT

 

AMERICA: IF WE CAN KEEP IT

A Commentary on Cahn’s Third Harbinger 

  The “Body of Christ” is Jesus, but the “Body of Christ” is also the Church. The Church is not about buildings of brick and stone, but of Living Souls. By coincidence, I began to read Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Harbinger, last evening. His third and fourth “harbingers, result from, “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones… (Isa 9:10). I want to focus on “the bricks are fallen down.”

  Throughout my commentaries, I write of the “hedge of safety” that Satan knew God had around faithful Job (Job 1:10). People who live in African savannah’s put a hedge about them to keep the beasts out because feral animals must have nourishment. They are willing to kill to preserve their own lives.

  My contention has always been that Christians live surrounded by a spiritual hedge. Just like in Africa, where survivors first build a boma of thorns, once Christians are part of the Church, God puts a “hedge” about them. A sinner becomes part of the Church when they see the light — that they cannot save themselves, but God can (John 3:14).

  The “beasts” at the crucifixion put a crown of thorns on Jesus (John 19:2-5). The centurions diminished Jesus from a King in purple to merely a man. No longer would this mere man be able to provide safety to His Kingdom!

  By placing a crown of thorns on Jesus head, two things are implied: (1) That Jesus is a fake King and false God, and (2) that He could no longer keep anyone safe. His crown was a hedge of thorns and Jesus would not even save Himself, according to the mob (Mark 15:31)

  The hedge of safety was taken from around the Christians and placed on the head of Jesus. No longer would God’s “hedge” keep Christians safe, but Jesus took on their safety. Of course, the chief priests and scribes scoffed at that, but wherever Jesus is, now Christians are kept safely by the Holy Ghost of Jesus. However, a hedge still protects Christians, but it is no longer a hedge of thorns, but a river of Living Waters. In other words, the Holy Ghost is the “hedge” of Christians.

  Cahn, interpreted the third harbinger as the “hedge of safety” taken away from the Jews, and now with the falling of the towers of the World Trade Center, the “hedge” of Christian America has fallen down and thenceforth, we must protect ourselves by becoming one of the many arrogant beasts. Cahn’s fourth harbinger was the hewn stones which are better than brick. He contends that building back better is an act of defiance. Rather than build back to what was there before, America would build back “better.”

  I have just started Cahn’s book and have no idea what he proposes, but I do know what is happening in America right this moment. Trump’s slogan is, “Make America Great Again,” and part of his “rebuilding” is using the same “bricks” on which America was built. On the other hand, Biden’s motto, is “Build Back Better.” Better is not with the same bricks but building back better with “hewn stones” provided by socialism and the Democrats.

  Bricks in ancient times had a special ingredient — straw. Straw reinforces brick and is a natural material. Building with bricks with straw represents the Work of God’s Hands. Hewn stones, according to scripture, represents works of men’s hands, “And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it” (Exod 20:25). Building again with bricks is how God would rebuild, and that is what Isaiah had in mind; Israel would be rebuilt by God if they were true to God according to the one condition of the Abrahamic Covenant.

  The idea of rebuilding with the fallen bricks was what God had in mind. God had given, without struggle, a Jebusite City. The exact material was likely bricks because Nehemiah rebuilt the walls from the “rubbish” (Neh 4:10). He did it using the materials that God had provided.

  For his rebuilding, not replacing, Nehemiah used bricks and not hewn stone. Of course, later builders replaced what was there with hewn stone. Rather than depend on God for safety, they built to insure their own safety. That was akin to the poisonous vipers that Jesus referred to (John 3:14). Rather than depend on Jesus, the Hebrews depended on their own devices. For those who trusted Moses holding the “staff” of Jesus, although they had been bitten by poisonous vipers, merely keeping their eyes on “Jesus” was their renewal and safety.

  The brazen serpent on the pole did not represent Jesus per se, but Judas Iscariot. The same day that Jesus died on His “Tree’ (Act 5:30), Judas hanged himself on a tree in a futile attempt to end his guilt. Jesus could have done that, but he “hewed his own stone” with the wrong tree. What Moses held up was not Jesus on His Tree, but Judas on his. Judas had Satan in him (Luke 22:3) and it was Satan as if dead that Moses held up.

  Again, the real King wore a crown of thorns, but it should have been on Judas because he depended on himself for safety.

  The point to all this background is that the spiritual hedge of safety is the Holy Spirit in patriarchal times, and the Holy Ghost after Jesus gave up His Ghost. The Flesh of God is on His Throne, but His Ghost is with Christians. We are the Church, and the “hedge” is around us awaiting the day that Christians are saved by glorification — when they are regenerated back to their innocent condition and glorious flesh as in the Garden Paradise! The Pardise encircled by a hedge of safety to keep the Way to the Tree of Life (Gen 3:24). That is what rebuilding with bricks is all about.

  The Church has several “layers” that I have mentioned in earlier commentary:

¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ²⁰ And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ²¹ In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. (Ephes 2:19-21)

  Christians are of the “household of God” and that is the invisible Church made by God’s hands, and not buildings hewn by the hands of men. Jesus is the “Corner Stone” or the “datum” on which the Church was built, not from a stone hewn by men as is the custom.

  The Church was built from the Corner Stone (Jesus). The prophets knew Jesus. Isaiah and Nehemiah were two of the layers of “foundation stones,” but Nehemiah used brick! Indeed, the First Temple was built with materials that God provided, not by stone shaped by men. They knew the “Rock” personally before he put on “Flesh” hewn by women (Mary).

  That flesh of “stone” fell, but the Church was rebuilt with God’s material — the “brick” of the Holy Ghost.

  God continued with the construction of the Church with the apostles. They knew the Corner Stone and built to Him. The invisible universal Holy Church is not the building, but the people. Paul mentioned some of the “construction” materials:

²⁷ Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. ²⁸ And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. (1 Cor 12:27-28)

  The “members” (structure) of the Church were the prophets and apostles as the foundation, and “lively stones” (1 Pet 2:5) were the pillars, consisting of those who work miracles, have gifts for the good of the Church, help the Church grow, are the governing body of the Church, and all others having the Holy Ghost. “Diversity of tongues” is not speaking in unknown tongues but speaking the Comforting Words of the Holy Ghost plainly to encourage the members of the Church.

  Jonathan Cahn used the “prophet” in his book to reveal the Mystery of God. Paul, I believe, used those with understanding of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the “Hedge of Safety” until the real glorious Church is completed in Heaven. I believe that my revelation was because of the Holy Ghost. Who else would have my daily Bible study coincide with the third harbinger?

  Cahn had the spirituality of the Israelites and Americans in mind when he wrote of the third harbinger. He had it correctly, it seems. Trump wants to rebuild American like Nehemiah — from the ruins with the materials it was first built. Arrogantly, Biden wants to “Build Back Better” than that. “Better” for them, or better for Christians and their God? Trump desires to rebuild America to the Doctrines of God. Biden wants to build back better (sic) to the tenets of Karl Marx.

  Ironically, the Israelites chose the seemingly better stone. They chose foreign gods and corrupt kings until God had enough and the protective hedge all fell down along with the Temple when the Babylonians hewed away at the bricks of the Jebusite walls.  Jerusalem was chipped away until the “hedge” was gone except for the Wailing Wall where there should be repentance, not to build back better with stone!

  The Israelites “voted” for hewn stone when they rejected the bricks that God had provided. They still look to rebuilding Israel’s land and the Temple, but not with “bricks” that God provides but cut stones shapened by themselves.

  Socialism is the hewn stone. It is the “religion” and “church” built by the wiles of men. Building back better is destroying what God built and build according to Marx’s form of charity (sic) — America without love. We find out in subsequent verses of 1 Corinthians that “love” was always the mortar that held the Temple and the Holy Church together. Herod rebuilt the Second Temple with hewn stone, but it failed. All the while that building was being added onto, Jesus was busy building the True Church with true materials.

  Biden may think that he would build back better, but he will soon pass just as Herod did, and shortly the Temple itself fell in 70 A.D. The Church is eternal and will last forever because it is built with spiritual materials. Our desire is that America be made great again and rebuilt with the same “bricks” that was used in the first place by our own prophets. Franklin said that we had a republic, “IF WE CAN KEEP IT!” Right now, the Assyrians (Muslims) are adding the pagan socialists to make sure that America’s foundation not be kept!

  Mob socialists, like feral beasts, are willing to kill to protect their own vision of the world. They too are willing to kill to preserve themselves. With the boma down, the beasts are free to kill for their cause. The mob are “useful fools” for crony socialism, and Trump the “useful tool” of God to put that hedge back up again using the same sound Doctrine (boiler-plate) as before!

(picture credit: News Thump)

ON SELF-ESTEEM

   “Esteem” is mentioned one place in the Bible, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device” (Act 17:29). It is not plainly there in English, yet it is there. It comes from the Vulgate (common Latin and the word used is “aestimare”). The meaning is not only “think” but an “estimation of oneself.” Hence, the psychological trait, “self-esteem” is an estimation of one’s own value. Psychology teaches that one’s self-estimate should be that he or she has high value, not to God, but to themselves.

  People should not estimate their self-worth highly. In the verse above, the idea is not to estimate God according to our own devices of which the metrics are given by the gold standard, the silver standard, the stone standard, or even by the arts. God should not be estimated by any standard but His own! God’s “worth’ is to be estimated by things unseen. As such “glorification” of God is the standard that must be used. “Glorification” is perfection, purity, truth, and eternal among other things. (Sinners are none of those things.) Not even the gold standard is one of them, although gold does represent God’s Kingship.

  God’s “worth” should be estimated highly. How much is God worth? He paid the price of the sins of all mankind of all time. He paid by His very life. God came in the Flesh as Jesus to redeem sinners with His own blood. How much is God worth? More than all his creatures ever to exist combined. And you, the highly esteemed one, did not do that; Jesus did!

  God experienced death, but He will never die. What will satisfy Satan? That God be diminished. There are many ways to diminish the value of God and Satan has tried them all. In all cases, sinners are the “useful fools” who do the diminishing for him.

  The first case of diminishing God is listening to the voice of Satan coming from the Serpent. God had said, “Do not eat or you will die.” Satan said, “No you won’t.” Adam and Eve believed Satan over God and all mankind would die thereafter, if not for one thing — the grace of God. He knew that Adam and Eve’s futile attempt at redemption would fail, and he discarded their aprons of fig leaves and replaced them with coats from the skins of lambs. Those coats would keep them safe in the world until the God would give His own Flesh for their ultimate protection. By placing an animal over their flesh, they were humbled and their esteem of themselves was diminished.

  The Serpent understood the dilemma. If they ate, Adam and Eve would perceive themselves as Gods, not false gods but as Elohim, God’s in the plural sense. Suddenly with the first sin, God was diminished and the two themselves elevated.

  Their self-estimation (Latin; aestimare) had changed. Before the two were creatures of God and afterward, God became their creature to serve them handsome food, beauty, and pleasure. Although sex was for procreation alone, I have heard many people say that sex cannot be wrong because God made the genders and ordained their intercourse. That “fruit” is readily consumed because it is twisted fruit from the Tree of the Limb of the Tree of False Knowledge.

  The intent, after original sin, is for people to humble themselves, as is written, “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord… and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord” (2 King 22:19). God does not hear the arrogant or proud. He hears the humble. He hears those who have a right estimation of themselves. Just what should sinners think? I have diminished God by sinning, and I deserve death. How is that done? By estimating one’s own value over God, or better said, to think not that, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes” (Prov 21:2). Rewritten that is, Every way of a man is how he estimates himself. Eve estimated herself above Satan’s delusions and Adam, knowing the Law, estimated his version more than God.

  What did Adam and Eve gain by their wrong estimation? A fig. They satisfied their egos with a mere fig! Egos? Yes, they became the “I AM” (God) in His face. As the Face of God (John 1), Adam became “Jesus” in his own eyes. I know Jesus, and Adam was no Jesus, to paraphrase Loyd Benton’s remark about John Kennedy.

  However, Adam was an antitype to Jesus:

¹¹ And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. ¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Rom 5:11-14)

  Adam was not God. Jesus was. Again, the younger Son would inherit the identity of God rather than the older as would be the case with primogeniture. Adam would have been esteemed over God by being the “first born” but had to submit himself to his younger “brother.” Primogeniture in ancient times made the eldest son superior to the younger. Throughout the Bible, Jesus diminished the elder brother in favor of the younger as with Isaac and Ishmael and Jacob and Esau. God diminishes those who are esteemed more highly, and in the case of primogeniture it would be by natural selection, not God’s election! God put the esteemed in their right place as He humbled them.

  The humble do not esteem themselves; they esteem God and others. How much? Greater than their estimation of themselves! Moses failed to esteem himself, and God elevated him. If he had been proud of that, and he was not, then Aaron, who was three years older, would have been the patriarch of the Jews. Aaron was humbled when he was made to serve Moses, and his children, as priests, to serve the Lord and the other Hebrews.

  The reader should get the point; that God diminishes those who estimate their value too highly. In fact, Lucifer’s problem was self-inflicted: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (Isa 14:12-13). Lucifer esteemed himself so highly and God cut him down. Lucifer, as Satan, cares little whether others esteem him or not, because of his great self-esteem.

  Could Lucifer have been redeemed? Not with all that self-worth. God cut down Lucifer from his self-esteem, and look what James said, “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas 4:9-10). To “humble” means to have a modest opinion, or to assign oneself a lower rank (Merriam-Webster). Humbleness means to have an accurate perception of oneself. The attitude of a Christian is servant to God and others. That is lowering their own value. Why would a Christian need to do that? To elevate God by diminishing themselves. What should have Adam said? “I am dresser and keeper of God in service to God” (Gen 2:15). Jesus was a carpenter. Adam was a vinekeeper. He should have estimated his value to what he was. Instead he made himself the “Carpenter” in that the Hebrew meaning for “create” means “cut wood” (Strong’s Dict.).

  Adam did not cut wood or create anything, but he estimated his authority higher than it was! The Devil did not make him do it, but Adam did so with eyes wide open. He assumed authority over God and estimated his importance beyond God’s will for him. Thus, he followed the law of sin and the doctrine of Satan.  The point is that the concept of “low self-esteem” is not mankind’s problem, it is too high an estimation of themselves.

  People do not even own their own bodies. They belong to God to use as His House. Jesus asked, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:19). Christians do not know that they are that low! They think of themselves as royalty — priests of the royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9), not knowing that royal priests’ roles were to serve the common man!

  The concept has invaded the Christian Church. Mankind’s problem is high self-esteem. The answer to that is to crucify their own flesh and esteem Jesus; to not worry about their own high positions as the disciples did, but focus on Christ-esteem. The modern Church with the new doctrine of self-esteem has become the Antichurch because it teaches Satan’s will while ignoring God’s Will.

Below I show a Hindu woman esteeming herself unto self-actualization

(picture credit: amazon.com)

HEAVEN AND EARTH - Part 1

 

HEAVEN AND EARTH - Part 2

 

THE HOLY CROSS: RECOGNITION OF GOD

 

  Jesus was crucified, but not yet dead. He had a “reputation” to maintain. Even skeptics knew that Jesus had saved others. He had brought many from death back to life. Surely, they had assumed that He was mimicking Simon the Sorcerers magic. They needed proof that He is the Christ. Th chief priests may have secretly wondered, but if they confessed Jesus as the Christ, then their own power as priests in charge would have been diminished. There was a power struggle in progress, and vulgar tactics would be used. The chief priests mocked Jesus with their taunt: “He saved others; himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the Cross, and we will believe him” (Mat 27:42).

  Now consider that scenario if done their way: Jesus just walks off the cross toward them. Salvation would be by the “way” of the priests rather than the Way of Jesus. If Jesus had stepped off the “throne,” removed His feet from their “foot stool” (more on that tomorrow) and saved Himself, then neither the chief priests nor anyone else would have been saved! In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, the latter thought that hearing about Moses and salvation by water, that would prove to his brothers that God is for real. Jesus said this about that: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

  Provenance that Jesus is God is that he died and was raised from the dead on the third day. Simon Magus failed that feat although he levitated. Simon remains in the grave to this day, but Jesus has arisen and is alive to the present time. The chief priests may have had an inspiration; that if Jesus overcame his adversaries on Earth, that they just might believe in Him. They laughed at that thought, but when Jesus arose it was no laughing matter. They came up with ridiculous accusations and conspiracy plots. Although Jesus defeated death His Way, just like Jesus predicted, they would not believe.

  The Holy Cross is proof that Jesus lives up to His Name. Jesus means, “Yahweh saves.” He did not save Himself, but he saved some. We think that Jesus saved all men, but he did not; he paid the price for all (redemption). His death was so that none should perish, but most still choose to perish. Undoubtedly, the chief priests chose to perish. If Jesus had not agonized because of His grace, He could have had the “last laugh.”

  Because the Cross is empty provides the proof. Because Jesus died and yet lives is the ultimate proof. Jesus suffered death, but he did not die because His soul is immortal. (Remember that “death” is isolation from God). He suffered death to demonstrate that if He could do that, all who accepted that proof would be persuaded that the Cross is the Way to salvation. Stepping off the Cross would not be sufficient. Jesus had to die, then His Ghost “step off,” and that is exactly what happened!

  Oddly enough, the chief priests, if they had truly been priests of Yahweh, should have recognized this event because prophecy was all about this day. The Romans knew little of the strange religion of the Jews, but look who was convinced — “When the centurion, which stood over against Him, saw that He so cried out, and gave up the Ghost, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.’” In his “blindness,” the centurion saw Jesus “walking” His Way off the Cross. (It was not by walking, however, but flowing). God’s Holy Ghost just went off, but not toward the priests, but toward the repentant thief on the other cross. The Holy Ghost performed His first “magic” that day, and saved the thief from perishing, not because he deserved saving, but that He saw that Jesus IS Yahweh. In like manner, the centurion saw that Jesus IS God by the Holy Ghost.

 The Son of Man — the Flesh of God — had been sacrificed, but the very Soul of God — the Son of God — had been preserved. The chief priests were too smart for this “trickery” because they had all the knowledge of scripture. The centurion was like a child and believed what he had just witnessed!

  If Jesus had come down and saved Himself, few would have believed that He IS God. Jesus did it His Way, and as a result, billions of people have believed in Him. Whose way was best? His Way or the way of the priests? To this day, the point of the Cross is that is the Way to enter Paradise. Doing it the way of the priests would have not been by sacrificing Himself but saving Himself.

  What do you think of when you see the Holy Cross? Catholics still see Jesus, and Him crucified, as if there was no Way to defeat death. Most protestants look at the Cross and see it empty. It is not empty because Jesus pulled the nails and walked away, but because He suffered the nails and was carried off!

  Normally, portions of sacrifices were given to the priests for their consumption. The other centurions divided Jesus’s clothing. If he had been a lamb, the priests would have divided His flesh. They failed to realize that Jesus is the precious perfect Lamb of God promised to them for centuries. If so, they would have shared Him, not His Flesh but His Spirit. That did not happen. The Spirit of God walked off, or perhaps flowed off as a dove. However, the centurion surely recognized that the Holy Ghost of Jesus had been given up!

  The very idea that the centurion would have realized that seems ludicrous; as if he had seen the Ghost of Jesus! That is not so questionable if the others had opened their eyes and saw what the centurion saw.

  What do you suppose he saw? The same things witnessed when Jesus was baptized, but in reverse: “The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a Voice came from heaven, which said, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I AM well pleased” (Luke 3:22). The people baptized by John saw that; not a dove coming down but a Ghost in the shape of Jesus, flowing like a dove. The centurion, perhaps, saw the Holy Ghost descending like a dove. 

  The Chief Priests did not see that because they had never truly repented through the baptism of John. However, the thief repented right there, and the centurion was “born again” because the Cross persuaded him that Jesus is God. Right there on the spot, Caesar was no longer king and “god,” but Jesus had proven Himself TO BE God, not by escaping the Cross but suffering it!

  This commentary was intended to be about the characteristics of the Cross, but it turned out to be more about the character of Yahweh. That “Character” is the Person of God, Jesus. Tomorrow, God Willing, I will write more about the Cross.

  It is my bet that you have not ever heard the Purpose of the Cross in this manner before, but it is not my thoughts, but thoughts given to me by One whose thoughts are greater than mine. The Lord said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa 55:9).

  It turned out that God’s Way was higher than the Chief Priests’ ways, and His thoughts not their thoughts, and before I considered the Cross, that was true for me as well. Jesus did not escape death using the power of His Flesh, but the Power of God — the Holy Spirit. Yahweh was there with the escape Plan, and that was escaping in stealth as the Holy Ghost of Jesus. That was according to Plan, to wit:

³⁸ He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water. ³⁹ (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) ⁴⁰ Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, “Of a truth this is the Prophet.” (John 7:38-40)

  The process of glorification was in progress: Jesus had been transfigured as His identity as God was manifested, and then on the Cross, His identity as the Holy Spirit had been revealed. The Cross changed Jesus. Not that His Flesh had changed. That would happen when he went to His Father and the glorification process finished.

  The Spirit in Jesus changed. His Spirit suffered death and as the “spirit of a dead Man,” that Spirit was transformed into the Ghost of Jesus, and the centurion saw that transfiguration. The “Godhead” had been revealed to him.  The Cross was a significant event in the glorification of Jesus. His Holy Ghost did not truly descend alive as a dove, but flowed out of His belly as Living Waters.

  With the water mixed with blood (John 19:34), Jesus’s identity was revealed on the Cross: “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). Apparently, the centurion did not see merely water and blood, but the Blood of the Son of Man, and the Living Water of the Son of God. The Spirit bore witness to the centurion by the Water, and with that manifestation, the centurion realized the truth.

  True to His Words to the rich man in Hades, the chief priests who knew the water of Moses, [1] did not recognize the Living Water of Yahweh.

Neither was it the moving water of John!

(picture credit: "Divine Mercy;" Doug Lawrence's Catholic Weblog - Wordpress.com)

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[1] Moses means “water.”

ON HOMOSEXUALITY

 

  Today’s commentary is a hard teaching because the world has replaced “obedience” with “tolerance” and “love” with “hatred.” Now examine the supporting scripture along with commentary.

  The Church at Corinth became despicable when Paul was away. “When the cat is away, the mice will play” rang true even in that day. God calls sinners to repentance, but Satan calls Christians to iniquity. Since original sin, the nature of fallen man is to answer the call of Satan and have deaf ears when God calls. Thus, few will enter Heaven; albeit everyone who claims to follow Christ think themselves as one of the chosen few.

  First off, “chosen” has qualifiers; the “chosen” answer God’s calling, reject the call of Satan, and trust God and not Satan for safety. God calls by conviction. Satan calls by apathy, or as scripture calls it, “vanity.” Vanity is caring not for the things of God but whatever pleases the self. The self, or ego, is the god of sinners, and its idol is the flesh. The flesh must be appeased, or the “god” gets upset. Satan knows that and offers tantalizing temptations. Things are not really idols; they are temptations.

  The original sin was not the pleasant appearance of the fruit of the forbidden tree. That was temptation to sin. The sin was not even eating the fruit. That was a mechanical and natural thing to do. The original sin was being “as God” in that the desires of Adam and Eve were more important than God’s Will. Inevitably any “sin” is desiring “to be” as God, and iniquity is living as if a person is God.

  Yesterday I wrote of fornication in the Corinthian Church. Other sins of the flesh were in that Church as well, and maybe in some of the others. Some in Corinth had a problem with sin. Paul wrote:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)

  Paul began in the previous chapter by talking against defrauding others by suing, then in chapter six, the subject changed to defrauding themselves. He gradually moved from extortion to sexual sins, likely so as not to anger, but to present the truth gently.

  In years past, preachers could have well just screamed, “You are all sinners!” There are two reactions to blatant accusations: (1) It must be all the others who are, or (2) How dare the preacher accuse me! Since Paul’s day, the entire world has mellowed. At the present time, sexual sins are seldom preached against because to do so would deplete the Church. Just who in the Church has never sinned? Just who has never sinned sexually? Few if any.

  By coincidence one Sunday, the daughter of one of the Christian parents was in church with her boyfriend. God had a plan that day; the preacher preached against fornication and abortion. The Christian parents, rather than pleased, were angered. The preacher had offended their daughter and her boyfriend. It was not the daughter that complained but the Christian parents. Perhaps the daughter was convicted. To be truthful, conviction is upsetting and one can either change the situation or rebel. I am sure that the parents made feeble excuses for the preacher’s insensitivity, and the daughter never returned to our church.

  Sexual sins are serious business! “The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” What will they inherit, then? The realm of Satan, or Hell. Are temporary sexual gratifications worth eternal torments in Hell? Most people evaluate that premise and choose damnation. They are fools.

  Fools have the attitude that It is my body and I will do with it as I please. Paul pointed out that it is not your body, but a body on loan from God and when the lease expires, he wants the body as it was when he built it.

  Sexual sins indicate that it is my body and I will do with it as I please. The outcome of sexual sins, for heterosexual sex, is pregnancy. With continuity of thought, the irrational person will say, “It is my body, and I will do with it as I please,” notwithstanding that there is another body involved!

  The placenta is single-use tissue. It does not belong to you. Once the fetus matures enough birth ensues and the placenta is discarded. The placenta is not the mother’s; it is a nurturing and protective haven on loan from God. The soul belongs to God and Paul referred to it as the “Temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor 6:19). With that said, the womb is owned by God because your body is not your own. Allegorically, the womb is the unborn child’s “Garden of Eden” for nine months. God guards the gate to life, but intruders always seek to enter in, just as for the Garden!

  The “effeminate” in the list of unrighteous activities are homosexuals (Strong’s Dictionary). Like PauI, I will be careful to not offend. He used a gentle term, but he was firm in the consequences of the effeminate — they shall not enter the Kingdom of God. Have you heard your preacher preach that? Most preachers do not; they would rather have homosexuals in Hell than offend them. The secular world, thanks to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), refer to disagreement with homosexuality as “homophobia.” Rather than abnormal behaviors being wrong, normal behaviors are. Historically, homosexuality had always been abnormal until the APA was picketed by homosexuals.

  The APA declared, without provenance, that they are born that way. Lady Gaga validated that disinformation in the song, “Born This Way.” Who could possible doubt the credentials of Lady Gaga? Who could doubt the mostly atheistic members of APA?

  What is the condition in which everyone is born? King David called it “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5). Original sin is a deviation from the Will of God, and Paul listed many deviations. Enlightened (sic) churches are most often the darkest places and seminary-trained theologians the “darkest angels.” Most seminaries teach psychology. Any rational person can see that psychology, “the study of the soul,” is a religion in competition with Christianity. That is evident because their theories are most often at odds with Holy Scripture. Psychology is an irreligion with atheist “theologians.” (My graduate studies were in the field of psychology and much of it were attacks on Christian principles.)

  We are all born prone to sin. Soon after crowning the newborn child begins the rebellion. It cries for food and attention, then throws tantrums if they do not obtain what they want. (Ironically, children are born inclined to be socialists. Humor is intended, but it is true!) Before long, children steal, and lie about stealing. Only correction can change their attitudes, but even children do not want to be corrected, and more anger ensues. Adults, if they have not been remolded by Christian parents, retain those attitudes.

  Homosexuality is based on the scenario that It is my body and I will do with it as I please. Again, your body is on loan from God. It is intended for the living space of God. God despises sin, and certainly will not live in it! Nobody is born a homosexual and there is no evidence to support the “born this way” mantra.

  Psychologists say that their brains are different, but if so, are they different because of genetics or because they have been remolded. Psychology remolds more than teach. They have an agenda, and if thinking does not fit their theories, they make them fit. Different brain features do not even hint at causation. “Born this way” is a lie to make one comfortable with their stronghold.

  As you can see, the Church at Corinth had numerous sins in which they were comfortable: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, the effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, the covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. Were they all born that way, or were they born with those propensities? Paul, inspired by God. condemned those who extort as unworthy of salvation. That is the “born this way” sin of usurers. Others have a propensity to steal. Were they born to steal or is it that they learn to steal?

  None of those sins are genetic; only the inclination to be drawn toward evil. In other words, all those sins are learned behaviors that the world has taught them and remolded them to accept as just fine.

  Should the behavior of stealing be tolerated? Only socialists could believe that, and Black Lives Matter transparently tolerate theft and destruction. Civil people, however, would not tolerate stealing. The mob that steals are barbarians; they do as pagans would do.

  The same holds true for any sin. Even secular society does not tolerate most of the sins that Paul listed, so why should God? Well, He does not. There is a great and terrible penalty. Why should society tolerate homosexual behavior? Truly, none of us can change it, but they can with the assistance of God. God, however, is tolerant to a degree in that He is patient, but when change does not occur, His wrath is exposed. God does not teach tolerance, but obedience.

  Christians may not be able to change the behavior of others, but Scripture is to reprove and correct (2 Tim 3:16). The invisible government controlled by the “political correctness” (PC) police forbids anyone from correcting the wrong behavior of homosexuality. Their “bible” does not expect obedience to God but liberation from Him. Ironically, those who claim the most tolerance are those most intolerant. What they say goes, and damn those who disagree.

  What is godly love? “That none should perish” (John 3:16). Why do Christians teach against homosexuality? Christian want that they never perish. Why does the world tolerate homosexual behavior? They care not whether they perish or not because they think that there is no penalty. Many liberal churches would consider God a homophobe. That is a great challenge to God! Those preachers and teachers are “the word” in their minds, and they consider themselves “gods.”

  Christians are accused of hating homosexuals by the PC Police. Who are they true haters? Those that do not care whether homosexuals are saved or not. Christians care! That is loving them as part of the “whosoever” in John 3:16.

  Many Christians have relatives that have choose that lifestyle. They know in their hearts that they are not hated. Some may hate their sin, but sin is hard to change without Jesus washing it away! Some sins require additional “scrubbing” as the dirt is hard to wash out, not for God, but by the stubbornness of people. They must truly desire a new attitude, but some love the way they are because the pleasure is worth the gamble. They gamble that either there is no God, no judgment, or that God is more tolerant than He is.

  Hard to release sins are called strongholds. Who has the hold? Satan. He must be denied. But many churches teach that Satan is not real, he is only a boogeyman to scare Christians into compliance. How can anyone deny Satan? By denying themselves (Mark 8:34). That is denying yourself the pleasure that you enjoy more than trusting God.

  The sorriest thing is that churches fail to teach the truth. They fear the world more than the Church fears God! Paul condemned the Church at Corinth for tolerating sin. The modern Church remains condemned.

  And as for the government; teaching the truth is a hate crime. Oh, how cunning the Devil is!

CARNAL BAPTISM

 

  “Carnality” in the Christian lexicon is certainty that only one’s own belief is the correct one. It is dogmatism — that your own principles are incontrovertibly true. Denominations were formed for two reasons: (1) Dogmatism or (2) heresies. Oftentimes heresies are dogmatism that divides but at other times it is just misunderstanding of the Doctrine of Christ.

  Paul pointed out to the Corinthians that he had no doctrine of his own and neither did Apollos. Both were Doctrines of Christ, apparently presented in different ways. It was about baptism. First off, Apollos was knowledgeable, and Luke described him:

²⁴ And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵ This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. ²⁶ And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. (Act 18:24-26)

  Apollos taught what he had experienced, and that was the baptism of John — repentance for the remission of sins. “Repentance”  is both turning from sin AND dedication to refrain from further sinning. It is what the person does. “Remission” is negating the punishment for wrongdoing. It does not make the sin as if it never existed, which some misconstrue as “justification,” but that the sin is cleansed from the conscience of a believer. The person cannot do that. That is a teaching of psychology. God does the remission, and the cleansing agent is not just water but the “water and blood” of Jesus, to wit:

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. (1 John 5:6)

  Jesus baptized one time, but He was only with them when others baptized (John 3:22-23). When He died, He “gave up the Ghost” and with one breath He remitted all the sins of mankind and baptized them with His Holy Ghost (Mark 15:37). How was the baptism accomplished? The Holy Ghost of Jesus performed the rite. As the Ghost of Jesus was released, the “detergents” flowed freely when, “One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34).

  The Holy Cross was the baptism of Adam. His dust is said to be at Calvary, aka Golgotha — the place of the skull. Whose skull? Adam’s! [1] When the blood and water flowed down the cross, indubitably, it washed the sins of Adam away. “Adam” is man. Consider what Paul told the Romans:

As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned …For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Rom 5:12,19)

    Jesus, “God’s Flesh,” seemed to have baptized one “man” for all since by that one man, sin entered unto the world. He washed away Adam’s dust, and because all men, not just the Hebrews, are his “seed,” the death of Jesus was the Baptism with Jesus’s Holy Ghost.  Because Christ was made “obedient” as the second Adam, and because Adam is the father of all men, many shall be made righteous.

  Some distort baptism of the water and the blood. As I wrote recently, there are only two baptisms: Baptism of John  and by those who did the ritual as John did, and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost whose Baptism only the Ghost of Jesus was able to do, as is written on the synoptic gospels about John: “I indeed have baptized you with water: but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mark 1:8). Just what then is the baptism by the apostles? It is baptism by water representing water and the blood. Why “representing?” Because Jesus had not yet baptized the “whosoever” in John 3:16 by shedding his blood and emitting the water from within Him. Just what kind of water was that flowing from the Savior’s abdomen?

  Remember that God breathed the Holy Spirit into Adam but did not Eve? (Gen 2:7). When Eve was generated, she came not from Adam’s “rib” as is translated, but from the Hebrew, the “side chambers” (Strong’s Dictionary), much as in the Temple. Adam was the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and Eve surely had the Spirit breathed unto her through Adam. Like Adam who surely had God’s Spirit flowing from him unto Eve (the mother of all), the Second Adam had His Spirit flow from His abdomen to the souls of Eve and her seed. With His death, “Living Water” flowed from Jesus. Now consider this:

³⁸ He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹ But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:38-39)

  John defined “Living Waters” as the “Holy Spirit.” In the KJV only, the Greek word, “pneuma,” is used for both “spirit” and “ghost.” The difference is one of experience. The Spirit of God (Jesus) at His death became identified as the Holy Ghost of Jesus.

  The question is, when was Jesus glorified? It may have commenced at the Transfiguration of Jesus but was “finished” as Jesus Himself acknowledged when He “gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). With that information, there were two events available for Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The first event was for the man from whom all sin came to all. The Father made the Holy Ghost available to His first son, Adam, by the blood of His Second Son, Jesus. That was the first occasion, and the second was in Acts 2 when the Holy Ghost was made available to all who trust the blood and water of Jesus for the remission of sins.

  Remember the story of Esau and Jacob? Esau is symbolic of Adam and Jacob (Israel) symbolic of Jesus. Esau should have been heir to Isaac by the law of primogeniture as the first-born son. But Israel was, although he was the second son. His inheritance was by the grace of his father, Isaac, who represents the heavenly Father.

  It turned out that the birth of the twins (Esau and Jacob) was a preview of what the Cross would do. It rejected the first son in favor of the second but blessed the first son (Adam) just as Esau had been blessed. Where was the symbolic blood and water with the birth of Esau and Jacob? The natural birth of blood and water, signifying that only rebirth in the same manner could be accomplished. Hence, baptism by water is not rebirth, but baptism by the Holy Ghost which is the Living Water and the Blood (Purpose) combined.

  No one baptized before the Holy Ghost ascended were properly baptized. The water was no more effective than with the baptism of John. Even after the Holy Ghost came, some had the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, but not the baptism of John. Others had the baptism of John but were later baptized by the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.

  Christian baptism is more like the baptism of John but for one thing — rather than for repentance of remission of sin, it is symbolic of the remission of sins. Since the believer has trusted the water and the blood, the Holy Ghost flows, not from the preacher, but from the God unto the believer just as it did from the Word, Jesus, unto Adam.

  Now back to the problem in Corinth. Apollos seemed to have a wrong viewpoint about the efficacy of water baptism since he only knew the baptism of John However, he already had a “fervent Spirit.” Apollos had received the Holy Ghost when he first believed but thought it when he was baptized by John. The Baptism of John allowed the Holy Spirit to reside on one person only — Jesus (John 1:33). All that happened to any of the others was no more than Jewish ceremonial cleansings as with the Molten Sea in the Temple of Solomon. That was a Temple built carnally by hands of men. Now consider that the Baptism of John (in moving water) was not the same as the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in Living Water:

² He said unto them (in the absence of their teacher, Apollos), “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” And they said unto him, “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” ³ And he said unto them, “Unto what then were ye baptized?” And they said, “Unto John's baptism.” ⁴ Then said Paul, “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” ⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Act 19:2-6)

  Apollos had been teaching them the Baptism of John in water as efficacious, but rather, it was Baptism by the Holy Ghost alone as in Galatia where the, “The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost” (Act 13:52) without water baptism as with John.

  Paul (above) understood the error of Apollos. Paul did things right. The baptism of John had been for repentance. Now it was for remission. He then baptized with the Baptism of Jesus (aka, Baptism of the Holy Ghost since Jesus has been glorified at that time.) Paul baptized them, but it was not water that brought forth the Holy Ghost; it was Paul’s hand that had virtue flow onto them. How was that possible? Just like Adam with Eve, “Living Water” flowed from Paul to the believers, just as Jesus said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). That’s how Eve received the Holy Spirit from Adam in the early glorious times.

  The Holy Ghost of Jesus flowed from the soul of Paul to the believers. It was not the Spirit of Paul as he told the Corinthians, but the Ghost of Jesus. Neither had Living Water flowed from Apollos because he performed only water baptism. That was an issue in the Church of Corinth. They followed Apollos, but Paul insisted that neither could he be followed. The Baptism of Paul was not effective; it was always and only Baptism in the Name of Jesus and washing by His Water and Blood — the Living Water of the Holy Ghost of Jesus. With that said, why baptize believers with water at all? Because those who live in the tents (Tabernacles) of Jews, require a sign (1 Cor 1:22).

  Apollos still had the Holy Ghost without further baptism. Whether Apollos was ever rebaptized or not is unknown, but it seems that his water baptism was enough because it was symbolic. What was important for Apollos? He had the Holy Ghost. Note that Paul never said that Apollos was not a Christian, but that the doctrine of Apollos was divisive. Whether water baptism was effective or even required divided the Church at Corinth.

  Paul made a point there — that the teaching of Apollos was carnal. He inferred that baptism with the hands of men was not efficacious just as the works in the Temple with the Molten Sea was ineffective and carnal. Apollos was a minister in the Church of Christ, but his doctrine of baptism was carnal and wrong. He was not an evil person, but only misunderstood the Doctrine of Christ.

  The Church at Corinth was dogmatic. There were divisions. The dividers were endeavoring to restore the doctrine of the Jews, thinking that washing by the hands of men is effective in the remission of sins. In like manner, the modern-day “Church of Christ” is dogmatic on that point and is more like the Synagogue of the Jews than the true Church of Christ. The doctrine of many in the  “Churches of Christ” damns those who are not baptized their way, without regard to the Way of Jesus. It was not Paul’s “ghost” that the Spirit delivered through his hands but the Holy Ghost of Jesus flowing freely without water.

  What I write is not my own belief but what the Holy Ghost led me to believe. The Holy Ghost leads those in the Churches of Christ as well as long as they have Him within. Like Apollos, they merely misunderstand. Aquila and Priscilla taught Apollos better, and that is what I am attempting; not to offend but to eliminate discord and to have accord within the universal Church of Christ. Please consider this message worthy of consideration and do not be like the disciples at Corinth — the “Church Not of Christ,” but the “Church of Apollos.”

  So, what is carnal baptism? It is that baptism performed by men is saving. That is  not damnable doctrine, but wrong doctrine. It is due to misunderstanding, not heresy.

(picture credit: YouTube; O Brother Where Art Thou, "Sins Being Washed Away")

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[1] For more refer to my book, The Skull of Adam, and why it is believed to lie under the cleft at Golgotha. To this day, that cleft exists and is a shrine to Adam. His burial there is acknowledge in sacred literature.