Comments February 2013
EXPLICIT BIBLE TRUTH
Jesus
Who is He
What is He
Why is He
Matthew 27:57 And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
Matthew 19:24 “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The Eye of a Needle is probably the needle gate that had limited access by which a camel had to stoop down in order to pass through. This needle gate was used at night to control access while the city slept with some men on guard duty.
From the internet
Rich men spend much of their time taking care of and increasing their wealth and may have little time for anything else including family but rich people such as Joseph of Arimathea who is an exception as are others who are benevolent and not stingy serving righteous causes, charity.
Kingdom of God is the final and eternal Kingdom.
A what not to be Rich man here is well illustrated by Luke 16:19-31.
The indictment here is not about being rich but in being self indugent, stingy. Lazaruth could have benefited from a little of the rich man’s charity, Matthew 5:7.
Agape in the KJV Bible is translated charity in 1Corinthians chapter 13 and in other translations is rendered love.
The superior Gift,
Agape, Charity, Love!
1Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal, (possibly a wind chime).
1Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
The removing of mountains here is done by the full grown tree and not by the seed which becomes the tree when mature meaning when we are fully Spiitually grown, Matthew 13:31-32.
I am nothing is again showing the gift of love as being the superior gift as all of the works mentioned in verse 1&2 are gifts of God and these nothings are regenerated believers of God with there focus being on the flashy gifts of God of which they are very proud of and probably thinking they are favorites of God, Galatians 3:28-29.
I am nothing probably means that charitable giving is something coming from our generocity meaning unbelievers do it also where as maturity is demonstraited by producing the fruit of the Spirit with the first fruit being agape, love, charity Galatians 5:22, and by which we do the good works of 1Corinthians 13:2.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit are by apointment of the Holy Spirit and are for the administration of the Church but the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not instantanious but will come in time, Galatians 5:22-26.
1Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, agape, love it profiteth me nothing.
I suspect there were some wealthy people in the corinthian Church who thought that outgiving everyone else, who were substituting generosity for spirituality was OK.
Should we be doing the works of the nothings, yes of course but the profit is in maturity, producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, so keep on reading your Bible and practicing what you are learning and realize some things of the Church dispensation meaning after the times of the Apostles of Christ are different than during the times of the Apostles meaning the Apostles of today are appointed by the Local Church and do not necessairly accurately represent the Apostles of the âLamb of Godâ, 2Peter 3:2.
Galatians, KJV!
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Agape, Love, Charity defined, KJV!
1Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Corinthians 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Corinthians 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Corinthians 13:8 Charity, (Agape) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
They shall fail here is referring to future foretelling prophecy but not to current prophecy simply meaning that at some point in the future with the time not specified but is assumed to have occurred after the book of the Revelation through the Apostle John.
The Bible context indicates that wealthy people who have been made rich by God who expects them to share with the impoverished but not with slow bellies, lazy people but some need charity, 2Thessalonians 3:10-15, Matthew 6:24-34.
1Timothy 6:8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
1Timothy 6:9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
A Psalm of Asaph, NASB!
Psalm 73:1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The pure in heart have been regenerated and purified in heart through the Holy Spirit and soul cleansing by the intake of Bible teaching which displaces the teaching’s of selfishness and evil practices.
Asaph received this from God in the Holiest of Holies and it comes to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit and Bible teaching.
This is also called the washing of regeneration, Titus 3:5 and washing by the word of God, Ephesians 5:26.
The deceit of Riches!
Psalm 73:2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; My steps had almost slipped.
Psalm 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant, As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalm 73:4 For there are no pains in their death; And their body is fat.
Psalm 73:5 They are not in trouble as other men; Nor are they plagued like mankind.
Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them.
Psalm 73:7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot.
This is not an indictment against obese folks who probably eat the wrong food and do not get enough exercise especially us older folks, Daniel 1:9-16, 10:2-3.
Food was a very scarce commodity at that time but was not excessively processed and fatness was confined to wealthy inactive people, idle gluttons with the KJV calling them slow bellies, Titus 1:12-13.
Psalm 73:8 They mock, and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high.
Psalm 73:9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.
Parades here is plural meaning they continually do that and it also means they are âknow it allsâ who value their opinion above documented factual Truth and everyone else. After all, they gained their wealth by self and superior effort even though they had to cheat, Acts 17:32. That is called arrogance.
Psalm 73:10 Therefore his people return to this place; And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
His people here are of the materialistic, profiteering and wicked people. Having things is not bad but having a focus on material wealth called coveting which makes it idolatry which is evil, Romans 7:7, Ephesians 5:5.
Being rich is not a crime. Americans are the richest people in the world and much of that wealth is from God who wants to prosper us. Americans give 25 times as much in charity as any other country in the world.
Taking money from wage earners by fraud and deceit is a crime. Jesus said “pay your taxes”. There is a strength in obedience to God that thieves do not understand including those in political office.
Psalm 73:11 And they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
These people believe there is a God but they do not know Him because they are not âPure in Heartâ Titus 1:15-16.
Yes, God does know as He is omniscience, all knowing meaning He also has foreknowledge and through His prophets He has announced things to come meaning He knows every choice and move His creatures will independently make.
No, God is not a Nail Biter and while God encourages us to live righteously and also pushes us through discipline He does not step on our volition meaning we make our own choices. If we choose righteously then we have chosen wisely.
The wicked assume because God does not immediately correct them that He has no knowledge. That is an arrogant and foolish and uninformed perspective as we know that 1000 years is as a day with God meaning that the eternal God is not a slave to time as we are and is only limited by His own righteousness and can do no Evil.
It is not just difficult for God to do evil but it is impossible for God to do evil which is why He uses Satin in teaching us the consequences of evil choices, James 1:13.
God is the only one who has foreknowledge and by means of His foreknowledge knew that Satan would rebel and usurp authority and seek to have authority over the Heavens including its creatures, the Angelic and Human races.
Satan chose to rebel and was not designed to be evil.
Satan was a thing of beauty and magnificence who was the âbright morning starâ the âanointed cherub that coversâ who was called Lucifer meaning the light bearer who became Satan, the enemy.
We are locked in conflict with Evil which is the way chosen by God to resolve the rebellion.
The Diety of Jesus Christ is the Creator, the agent of the God head who created and who is God in the flesh and the mortal enemy of Satan and will send Satan to the âlake of fireâ when the work of restoration is complete.
The Diety of Jesus Christ is omniscient and He has announced the demise of Satan and given us the time line to completion in the New Testament.
We are in the âTimes of the Gentilesâ and we do not know what hour it is but we do know the epics and seasons which tells us the Rapture is near.
The Church Rapture will show us the starting point for the final 7 years ending at Armageddon which will be the 70th week of Daniel.
God did it this way for the benefit of His redeemed creatures in a âshow and tellâ by recorded messages which is the Bible and hands on lab work meaning we are living the results of bad choices with the directive being repentance toward God which leads to forgiveness and instruction and redemption through Jesus Christ, the âLamb of Godâ.
If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the ditch meanin there are many false teachers, false prophets in the world today. We are directed to test the spirits, 1John 4:1-5,6-21
Psalm 73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
Psalm 73:13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, And washed my hands in innocence;
Vain here means emptiness or for no good reason meaning he is pondering, rethinking his choice to live righteously because of the wealth that the ungodly enjoy by means of their ungodliness.
It is important to understand here that wealth itself is not the issue as many men of God were and are quite wealthy but the issue here is ill gotten wealth through fraud and deceit which is evil and the attraction it has for people even Christians who need to make righteous choices.
Human experience!
Psalm 73:14 For I have been stricken all day long, And chastened every morning.
Psalm 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I should have betrayed the generation of Thy children.
I will speak thus probably is referring to verse 13 above meaning had he moved from righteousness to evil for money’s sake he would have betrayed the children of God because he is a teacher, Malachi 2:7 see below, and a roll model for the elect of God in Israel and for us also.
Psalm 73:16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight
Inspiration!
Psalm 73:17 until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.
The Sanctuary of God is most probably the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle first and then in the temple in Jerusalem.
Asaph is the High-Priest whose life spanned that of King David and King Solomon.
Perceived here probably should be translated âunderstoodâ as God communicated with the High-Priest above the Mercy-seat which is on top of the Ark of the Testimony. Although Exodus 25:22 is addressed to Moses it also applies to Aseph and other High-Priest and may be where Malachi is communicating with God, Malachi 1:1, 2:1.
Exodus 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Two cherubim here should be either two cherubs or cherubim as cherubim is plural.
Satan is a cherub with 2 cherubs over looking the mercy seat meaning they are gazing at God’s plan of redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
They here are believers who should be listening and asking questions. Eric Von Daniken who authored âChariots of the Godsâ in which he distorted the meaning of the Ark as many do with the scriptures and they are the subjects of 2Peter 3:16 but through repentance will be forgiven as are many of us and as the Apostle Paul was.
The completed Bible!
1Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
This is looking forward to the completion of the âWord of Godâ the New Testament giving us the complete revelation that God intended for His saints with the last book being the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”, 1Corinthians 2:9-10.
2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed, into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.
Unveiled face began with Moses whose face was veiled to cover the bright glow he received during a âFace to Faceâ encounter with God, Exodus 34:27-35.
The meaning here is the Glory of God was transferred to Moses when they were âFace to Faceâ but when Moses spoke the written word to Israel their faces did not glow.
In the New Testament the Glory of God is transferred to us by the Holy Spirit when we are âFace to Faceâ with the âword of Godâ, the Bible with unveiled faces.
When Moses talked with the Sons of Israel he wore the veil to cover his face as the Israelis were startled by the phenomenon which apparently distracted their attention from the written message on the tablets of stone when read by Moses but when he communicated with God he removed the veil.
As we grow in the Lord by means of the Holy Spirit and intaking Bible teaching our countenance even changes having a smile on our face and a song in our heart even in difficult circumstances that we have in our training toward righteousness.
Jesus on the mount of transfiguration also glowed, Matthew 17:2, Revelation 1:12-19, 2:18-29.
A mirror darkly is referring to the incomplete canon of Scripture which became complete before the end of the age of the Apostles and nothing has been added since.
The mirror here is the canon of Scripture, the Bible in which we see the glory of the Lord and we are âFace to Faceâ with God’s word. God is immutable meaning He never reverses Him self or changes as He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The Glory of God to us is what God has shown about himself in word and deed.
Same image from Glory to Glory means our image is being changed to the Image of the Glory of God.
Today we study from a grace Perspective but the New Testament method of receiving a message from God is patterned after Exodus 25:22 but with the main difference being that we have the completed and revealed in writing âword of Godâ, the Bible and we have illumination from the indwelling Holy Spirit who will indwell us for eternity, Matthew 7:7, Romans 11:29.
God has provided teachers for the benefit of all believers with teachers listening to others teachers with some believers having the âGift of Teachingâ and others who listen and study and live by what they learn and pass on what they have learned, being wise, not casting their pearls before dogs or swine.
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Dogs here are not Fifi or Butch but humans who emulate, simulate the unsavory things that dogs can do like, rending, tearing you to pieces.
Swine here have no respect or regard for Holy wisdom but this is an allegory of those who are incapable of discriminating even though swine are one of the most intelligent of the animal species. This is a spiritual matter, âyou must be born againâ 1Corinthians 2:6-10.
Many who claim to be Christians actually do not care to understand the Bible and have invented their own religion through human view point and some who are Christians have their lives focused on materialism with God as their Judge. We can pray for them and even council them being wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove as you might be bitten if not careful.
Psalm 73:18 Surely Thou dost set them in slippery places; Thou dost cast them down to destruction.
Psalm 73:19 How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors, (Daniel 5:1-30,31) !
Psalm 73:20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when (Thou are) aroused, Thou wilt despise their form.
Psalm 73:21 When my heart was embittered, And I was pierced within,
Psalm 73:22 Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before Thee.
Eternal Security!
Psalm 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou hast taken hold of my right hand.
Psalm 73:24 With Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, And afterward receive me to glory.
This means that he is being processed, being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ even though Jesus will not come for another 1000 years, Job 19:25.
Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.
Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:27 For, behold, those who are far from Thee will perish; Thou hast destroyed all those who are unfaithful to Thee.
Those who are far from thee are probably those who have no fear, respect for the âGod of Gloryâ, the works of God and who live immoral lives as measured by the 10 commandments.
Idolatry in our time would be any form of Darwinism or man made religion or materialism, Romans 1:18-22.
Hast is past tense meaning those in the past. Being unfaithful to God is not recommended and in this case is probably talking about those who moved to Idolatry and evil practices possibly dying the âSin unto Deathâ, Acts 7:2-60.
Science comes from a greek word meaning knowledge. Science is the persuit of truth but when speculation is taught as fact then their so called science is scientific nonsence, Romans 1:18-22.
Psalm 73:28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Thy works.
Ron
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