Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
More on Peace.
It's a bad person who stirs up discord and strife, isn't it? People that incite to riot, or begin fights and protests are not very popular. Though some may have just causes for which they are standing up and fighting, but if they stood up to riot or fight without any cause other than their own need to cause disturbance, it'd be this sort of person we're all for locking up in prison for a bit, aren't we?
We don't want discord. We don't want people attacking others. We have laws against such people, against such things. We have laws and we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_officer
A law enforcement officer (also called peace officer), in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.
Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to include every public-sector person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.
Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" instead of "police-officer status". For example, in New York, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as peace officers who can carry a firearm both on and off duty.
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Yes, we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace alright and we see them about us on a daily basis- just drive about a city and you'll more than likely see a police car of some sort.
We are very adamant about wanting peace in our lives. We want peace in the stores we go to shop at, the restaurants we go to eat at, the cinemas we watch movies at, the schools we send our children too or those of higher education we might even go to ourselves. We want peace all around us and when someone disturbs that peace they need to be taken to task for it and we have laws to make sure that they can be taken to task.
Privately in our own homes we desire peace don't we? Who actually wants to live in constant turmoil? Maybe there are some who have a warped sense of living who actually feel best when there is some sort of upset going on, but usually they're those who want attention and find bad attention is better than no attention at all.
As a general rule most people would rather get along with those about them than fight with them.
It's no wonder that there is such a huge push for World Peace, for an end to the discords between countries, between tribes, between all. We can't dispute that peace is something people should desire. We claim that God wants peace don't we?
It's true.
Who can imagine a God that wouldn't want peace?
The push for Peace is growing stronger and stronger and will continue to gain momentum and strength so that it will make it next to impossible for people to stand up and shout they don't want peace, it will make them appear to be troublemakers, dissidents, strangely abnormal and completely against the good of all mankind and their own people.
Are these people troublemakers? Are they strange and abnormal? Are they really against the good of mankind wanting fighting and not peace?
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What does the Bible say about peace? What does Jesus say?
Matthew 10:34
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Isn't that contradictory? Surely Jesus wants peace on earth! This has to be wrong, right? What about this...
Luke 12:51
51Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.
He's saying no peace but division!? But...but...He is the Prince of Peace!
Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See it says so right there. How can Jesus not want peace for the world? It's impossible- or is it?
Luke 19:38
38Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
Peace where? Heaven.
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
His peace, Jesus' peace, not the peace that the world can give. Yes, He is the Prince of Peace but it's a Heavenly peace, it's His peace.
John 16:33
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
In Jesus we have peace. In the world tribulation. Yes, Jesus promotes peace in HIM, only in Him. That's not to say He wants us to fight and war with each other, but it is to say that He wants peace on His terms. Peace through Him. Not peace at all costs setting aside God's moral law to obtain a peace accord. Never did Jesus want that, never would he approve of peace by capitulation to other gods. No, our God has made it very clear that there will be NO other gods before Him. To create a peace accord with the world by given in to others that worship other gods is very, very wrong. Of course in many of our world governments today they have taken God out of it all and some never put Him in there to begin with so they will have a much easier time of just being able to say yes, to peace. Others will look for common ground and set aside the less common ground focusing on making things work with what they can agree upon.
Even now in the Mideast there is a lot of discord over the Peace they are trying to find. Is it because some refuse peace at all costs? That they stand by principles, by their religoius laws rather than give in? Maybe, maybe not. People are determined that there will be peace in the Middle East, peace in the world and on the surface that seems like a grand thing.
However, there is a danger, subtle and hidden for those who would worship world peace, they are really worshipping the beast but to tell people such a thing is to risk their wrath. Of course God wants us to have peace and love and all that so no one should say otherwise. Well, I'm saying otherwise. When peace is formed at the expense of belief the peace is a false peace. God will not and has not ever accepted other gods before Him. So while you say it's only good and right, it's only love and peace, you have to ask yourself if it's at the expense of compromising God. If we ignore that it is a compromise and shove aside the exacting God of truth we will be held accountable for our actions and all the supposed peace we've garnered in the world will mean nothing.
Romans 5:1
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:6
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Spiritually minded...peace.
Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
The gospel of peace is salvation through Jesus! Peace in Jesus.
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Peace...in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Joy and peace in believing! Believing in whom? Jesus through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 14:33
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
God the author of peace.. God's peace!
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Live in peace. Living in Jesus, the love of Jesus.
Galatians 5:22
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
The fruit of the Spirit is... peace. Christ's peace!
Ephesians 1:2
2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace from God!
Philippians 4:7
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Peace of God passes all understanding.
Colossians 1:20
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Peace through the blood of his cross! Reconciling all things to himself.
Colossians 3:15
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Peace of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
When they shall say peace and safety--- what, then destruction?!
People are saying peace and safety and they're saying it very loudly, and getting louder all the time.
Sudden destruction.
They shall not escape.
But all they were doing was touting peace.
No, they were touting peace and abandoning God in the process while claiming to be following His will.
God cannot be fooled. Man can and will be fooled but God will not be deceived. He knows what is happening, He's watching over it all.
2 Peter 1:2
2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Grace and peace multipled how? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Not grace and peace by making nice with those who do not believe in God or Jesus Christ as their Savior.
As the world watches in wonder and a great peace descends brought about by satan transformed into an angel of light deceiving the whole world only those clinging to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus will understand the deception.
Keep our eyes and our hearts open Lord please!
By Your Mercy and Grace we cling to You, Jesus!
You, who told us we have seen the Father when we've seen You, we know His ways are Your ways and Your ways His. You who did not come to destroy the commandments but to have them realized in Your perfection, it is You we cling tightly too and plead for forgiveness and ask for grace and mercy. It is Your peace we desire, not the peace that is in the world.
In your Love, in your Name!
Amen.
3/15/10
For today's study I'm going to copy parts of a thought paper and we're going to delve into more about what I was talking about yesterday, the Godhead and eternal truths. I'll interject it with my own thoughts and probably end up breaking it up into digestable pieces, meaning give it bit by bit so it's not overwhelming and gives us time to think about what's being presented. If you're reading this you'll have access to the internet and as such it's easy to check various facts such as the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words. Don't hesitate to take time to check things for yourself. We are accountable for what we can do and that means seeking the knowledge where we can. In our time we live in something called the 'Information Age' and it is. Information is right at our fingertips and we have to avail ourselves of it.
May God bless us as we seek to understand more fully His will, His way, the truths that we need to know and believe as this world becomes more and more deceptive.
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3/14/10
1998 Jan -- XXXI -- 1(98) WWN
The Eternal Verities - Part 1 -- THE GODHEAD -- The great divide between two eternities; the great divide in time, and in the chronological reckoning of time, was the Incarnation.
3/15/10
Yesterday we talked a bit about the 'great divide in time' being the birth of Christ. Almost universally we use this time reference most people without nitpicking at it at all, but accepting it at our great time divider. Life before our Savior's birth and life after our Savior's birth. Amazing and wonderful.
Let's continue with the thought paper.
'THE GODHEAD -- The great divide between two eternities; the great divide in time, and in the chronological reckoning of time, was the Incarnation.
However, had there been no God, there would have been no Incarnation; and if no Incarnation, there would have been no atonement; and if no atonement, no Intercessor. Thus the "eternal verities" - the Godhead, the Incarnation, and the Atonement - are inseparably linked as a chain connecting and reconnecting earth with Heaven, and Heaven with earth.'
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My thoughts- there really is no arguing with this at all. The truth of it is undeniable. Without a God there is no God to become incarnate-
Dictionary Def- 1. a. Invested with bodily nature and form: an incarnate spirit. b. Embodied in human form
Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary
A God had to become incarnate, a spirit form of a God chose to embody a human form. Without a God there could have been no incarnation, without the incarnation, no atonement. We need atonement to be made one with God again because we began estranged to Him through sinning. The only thing that can bring us back to that - at - one - ment is the Intercessor- the incarnate God in human form - Jesus Christ our Savior.
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Let's continue with the thought paper.
As we study the Godhead, we shall note various verses of Scripture and seek to exegetically analyze them. Having done so, we shall draw certain conclusions, and where there is apparent mystery in reconciling the revelation, we shall leave it as a mystery until other texts which we will consider illuminates that mystery. It will be a progressive study with the sole objective to comprehend truth as far as a mortal can.
Luke 1:35 The angel [Gabriel] answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy [One] which shall be borne of thee shall be called the Son of God.
{The word, "thing" is not in the Greek text, and we have substituted the word, "One" inasmuch as the word, "holy" is an adjective, and requires an object to modify. The word, "Spirit" could just as well be substituted. Such usage is found in the Writings. See 4BC:1147}
This text reveals the following data:
1) To speak "after the manner of men," the Holy Spirit was paternally related to Jesus Christ; thus the Holy Spirit pre-existed Bethlehem.
2) The "Holy One" born of Mary "shall be called the Son of God." Twice Gabriel reiterated this fact. In Luke 1:32, he declared that this Holy One "shall be called the Son of the Highest." Gabriel, who had "firsthand" information of relationships involving God, did not say, "was" or "is" the Son of God, but "shall be" called the Son of God.
3) There was to be conceived in the womb of Mary a unique Being, never before known in the Universe from all eternity - a God-man. Yet this unique Being inherits eternity through the Eternal Spirit. He had a pre-existence in Spirit, and now would become "flesh."
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My thoughts-
Let's really get what this is saying to us. An exegetical study is what?
exegesis (èk´se-jê´sîs) noun
plural exegeses (-sêz)
Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text.
Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary
As it's been explained to me, exegesis is letting a text speak for itself- letting the analysis say what it will without reading anything EXTRA into a test that isn't there. When we deal with language translations it becomes necessary to revert to the original language and render from that the meaning, the grammar, the form all of it is different as it is translated. It'd be foolhardy for us to believe that every translation is exact because it isn't and where we have the know-how to find out the literal translations and recognize where things have been supplied and such we should do so- not just believe it doesn't matter. We are accountable for our knowledge, for our ability to study and learn. I'm not a scholar in Hebrew, nor Greek but I recognize others who are and I do have the ability to use the Internet to help me compare what they are saying to true translations in different languages. So as the author of the thought paper says- we need to study to understand as much as we are able and leave the mysteries to God until things unfold so we have understanding.
'Luke 1:35 The angel [Gabriel] answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy [One] which shall be borne of thee shall be called the Son of God.
{The word, "thing" is not in the Greek text, and we have substituted the word, "One" inasmuch as the word, "holy" is an adjective, and requires an object to modify. The word, "Spirit" could just as well be substituted. Such usage is found in the Writings. See 4BC:1147}'
The KJV does say 'also that holy thing' but as explained satisfactorily- the word 'thing' is a supplied word, the word 'thing' does not actually exist in the Greek text. Holy being an adjective needs an object to modify as adjectives do, however the choice of the object to modify could be something other than 'thing' it could be 'one' or 'spirit'. The Writings spoken of here aren't something I'm going to be too concerned with, wanting to use the Bible and the Bible only. Those who believe in the Writings can use it as a reinforcement of the truth, but those who don't wish to really don't have to as the Bible speaks for itself. The reason we are seeking understanding of this supplied word is because the idea of God before being incarnate as a 'thing' doesn't necessarily sit well. Holy 'One', Holy 'Spirit' these are more likely words for the God who took on flesh and Jesus was a God with God in the beginning. A God who became the 'Son of God'.
'This text reveals the following data:
1) To speak "after the manner of men," the Holy Spirit was paternally related to Jesus Christ; thus the Holy Spirit pre-existed Bethlehem.
2) The "Holy One" born of Mary "shall be called the Son of God." Twice Gabriel reiterated this fact. In Luke 1:32, he declared that this Holy One "shall be called the Son of the Highest." Gabriel, who had "firsthand" information of relationships involving God, did not say, "was" or "is" the Son of God, but "shall be" called the Son of God.
3) There was to be conceived in the womb of Mary a unique Being, never before known in the Universe from all eternity - a God-man. Yet this unique Being inherits eternity through the Eternal Spirit. He had a pre-existence in Spirit, and now would become "flesh."
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The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, the power of the Highest overshadowed Her. Mary knew no man and therefore understood that she could no be with child without a man. The promise of the Holy Spirit fulfilling the role in a miraculous manner and the power of the Highest would overshadow Mary was the role a man would normally play but this was NO normal conception. The Holy Spirit was paternally related to Jesus of this there is no doubt. Mary was the maternal relation, the Holy Spirit the paternal relation. Those who try to explain that the Holy Spirit didn't exist before Bethlehem would have trouble explaining this verse.
Luke 1:32-
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
We know it was the angel Gabriel - Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Twice Gabriel did say the child born of Mary 'shall be called', 'shall be called' the shall be is indicative of future tense not present. When a woman gets pregnant people ask what are you going to name the baby, very seldom if ever do they say what is the baby's name as if it's a given. Of course nowadays with ultrasounds and the ability to know the baby's sex prior to birth does have people naming the child before birth yet sometimes there is that little tidbit of doubt where the ultrasound could be wrong and people will pick out names for both sexes- just in case. God incarnate was to be called the Son of God. It's plain fact that Mary wasn't told that the child in her womb *is* the Son of God, but rather *shall be called* the Son of God. A minute distinction but one that must be noted. Spirit would take on flesh. The Spirit form of who would become the Son of God existed before conception.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
I'm going to stop here for now and we'll recap tomorrow before continuing. These truths are important to realize and while they might seem simple and obvious and something that doesn't bear repeating or reviewing, they do. The pre-exisitence of Jesus was in spirit form. God is spirit so it could be nothing else. God took on flesh, yet it wasn't God the Father who took on flesh, it was God taking on flesh to become known as the Son of God. The Holy Spirit was to come over Mary, the power of the Highest overshadow her and the result was the conception and ultimate birth of the Son of God. Such an amazing mysterious act, eternal spirit taking on flesh in a miracle.
More tomorrow.
May God continue to bless us as we study His Word, as we speak to understand more fully His truths. Please, open our hearts and minds to all that is You now and forever. By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Amen.
3/15/11