Jude {1:17} But, beloved, remember ye the words which were
spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
{1:18} How that they told you there should be mockers in
the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
{1:19} These be they who separate themselves, sensual,
having not the Spirit. {1:20} But ye, beloved, building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Ghost, {1:21} Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
{1:22} And of some have compassion, making a difference:
{1:23} And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the
fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
{1:24} Now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy, {1:25} To the only wise God
our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen.
Are there mockers today? Many of them, a lot of them.
mock (mòk) verb
mocked, mocking, mocks verb, transitive
1. To treat with ridicule or contempt; deride.
2. a. To mimic, as in sport or derision. See synonyms at ridicule. b. To imitate; counterfeit.
3. To frustrate the hopes of; disappoint.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Mockers- ridiculers frustrating the hopes of those who would be God's.
Mockers '...who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. {1:19} These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
Has it ever been more blatant that mankind would walk after their own ungodly lusts? Selfish lusts, selfish desire, are glorified today. If it feels good, do it is the motto. Take care of self first. We grow up on this, it's fed to us in our lives- schools, television, movies, magazines, promoting self above all.
They separate themselves, sensusal having not the Spirit.
sensual (sèn´sh¡-el) adjective
1. Relating to or affecting any of the senses or a sense organ; sensory.
2. a. Of, relating to, given to, or providing gratification of the physical and especially the sexual appetites. See synonyms at sensuous. b. Suggesting sexuality; voluptuous. c. Physical rather than spiritual or intellectual. d. Lacking in moral or spiritual interests; worldly.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Sensual having not the Spirit.
Take away the spiritual and we are left with trying to live a life solely based on the pleasure we can extract from all that is around us. Does the spiritual offer pleasure? The spiritual offers pleasures unlike any we'll ever know on earth now. Seriously, we can't comprehend the joy of the future and it's not a selfish pleasure, it's not a self-seeking pleasure. Joy found in Christ is beyond imagination and yet for those who want pleasure now, for those who are mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts, for those who are sensual they can't imagine sacrificing self because they believe self is all they have.
Jude {1:17} But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; {1:18} How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. {1:19} These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
{1:20} But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, {1:21} Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
{1:22} And of some have compassion, making a difference: {1:23} And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
{1:24} Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, {1:25} To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Building ourselves up on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
Keeping ourselves in the love of God.
Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Are we to shun those who are mockers, those who are sensual and not Spiritual? No, not entirely because there are some that is if we have compassion upon them it will make a difference. Some will be saved with fear- hating that which keeps them from God, from being spiritual.
Christ alone is able to keep us from falling, Christ alone saves us by His mercy, by His love, by the Love of God. We must pray in the Holy Spirit, pray...pray. Keeping ourselves in the love of God, looking to His mercy always!
Senusal or Spiritual.
There is a fight between the two.
One is for self, the other for God.
We are carnal by nature and yet offered Spiritual through Christ.
We have to cling to Christ, look to Christ, pray in the Holy Spirit, resist temptations, resist the devil, resist self and all things sensual.
Luke {9:23} And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.
Sensual or Spiritual.
Self or denying self?
Mockers or Christ's?
We have choices to make, that cross is to be taken up daily...daily.
May God help us, may the Holy Spirit live within us, may we pray in the Holy Spirit keeping ourselves in the love of God, through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior without Him we are nothing!
Amen.
8/12/10
Exo 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Exo 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Exo 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Exo 15:10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
Exo 15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Exo 15:14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Exo 15:15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
Exo 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Exo 15:17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
The story of the Ten Commandments, who doesn't know about it? Most do even if it's from the movie that is played on television every year around Easter time. The Exodus, Moses delivering the slaves of Egypt- God's chosen people the Hebrews, the Jewish people, the Israelites. People enslaved by a ruler who resisted so many entreaties to free his slaves that many suffered, many of Pharoah's own people died because of his resistance to God's commands. The journey from enslavement to freedom was intense. Bogged down, feeling forever enslaved yet longing for a deliverer God's people were finally sent a deliverer but the deliverance didn't come instantaneously. The deliverance didn't happen overnight. Suffering increased for all. There he was, the deliverer- Moses. But deliverance was kept out of reach. The promise was there, the hope was there, the disappointment was there, the pain, the heartache, the trying of the soul, it was all there. Picture it, picture the pain, feel it…imagine it…
More currently we've had the enslavement of the African people, I'm not saying the African Americans just the Africans because from the start they were a people brought from Africa- they were African's displaced and enslaved and forced to live in a land they didn't want to live in, torn from their homeland, ripped from their families, suffering conditions unimaginable. We can relate to this slavery because our history here in the United States is entwined with it. Our land holds many marks of that slavery. Did deliverance come to the African's easily? No. Quickly? No. They suffered horrifically. Was there a deliverer- like Moses delivered God's people? No, one man did not lead the enslaved Africans to freedom- many had a hand in the fight for freedom.
Enslavement and freedom. We can all relate to it, can't we? In some way we can. We are slaves to sin made free in Christ.
Reading the above verses from Exodus the related story tells us of God's power on behalf of His chosen people. This part below tells us something more...
Exo 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Exo 15:17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
God has purchased them. God brought them in. God planted them in the mountain of their inheritance. God put them in the place HE would dwell- IN THE SANCTUARY- which He established.
The Sanctuary- a place made for God to dwell in and yet…
1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
The earthly sanctuary was symbolic in so many ways. God didn't need a place to dwell on earth, we needed and need to understand God's ways- which are in the Sanctuary- the heavenly, the earthly. We will continue to study this, we will keep on studying it and praying for understanding. God delivered people enslaved and gave them freedom, freedom to worship Him, to learn of Him, to be God's. We all need this lesson. We all need this freedom that is only found in Christ.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, in His amazing love may we be free, all in Christ and through His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
8/12/10 B
The heavenly sanctuary.
The earthly sanctuary.
Man is made in the image of God.
One thing reflecting another.
We know how inferior we are to God in reflecting His image. Sin has destroyed so much of what we were originally supposed to be. God's sanctuary on earth was in place for a long, long time before Christ came and revealed that salvation is found in Him- all the symbolic elements of the earthly sanctuary pointing towards that end. So if the Messiah's life and death took over the purpose of the earthly sanctuary why is it important for us to know more about the sanctuary? Because even though the earthly sanctuary culminated in our Savior, our Savior's death and return to life and to the heavenly sanctuary only makes it that much more important for us to understand. The heavenly sanctuary exists and will exist until…
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Out of heaven God's city descends- until what is in heaven comes down to earth, a new earth, a sin free earth- the need to understand the sanctuary, to understand God's temple, to understand and learn all we can of our Lord and Savior is paramount.
The temple - the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of the New Jerusalem on earth- but that new Jerusalem isn't here yet and the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are in heaven. The Lamb - the great sacrifice- the great redeemer- is in the heavenly sanctuary ministering there.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Do you see? Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary and all its implements and services were based upon the example of the heavenly. By studying the sanctuary and all we know of it on earth we can learn so much.
Remember- Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
May God continue to bless us and open our hearts to all His truths. Through the mercy of our Lord and Savior, by His grace, His love, His righteousness, His all in all.
8/12/11
Dan 11:36 And the king shall do according to his
will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall
speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the
indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Dan 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his
fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all.
The Papacy did
according to its will.
The Papacy
exalted itself.
The Papacy
magnified itself above every god.
The Papacy spoke
marvelous things against the God of gods.
The Papacy
prospered.
The Papacy did
not regard the One True God- the God of those first Christians.
The Papacy makes
the desire of women of no regard.
The Papacy
recognizes no other god but itself.
The Papacy
magnifies itself above ALL.
Do we have any
doubt at all whatsoever what power this is speaking of?
Remember this--
Dan 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a
little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east,
and toward the pleasant land.
Dan 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them.
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the
prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place
of his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not
by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and
practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Dan 8:25 And through his policy also he shall
cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart,
and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
We've studied
this already, remember? This power was the Papacy beyond any doubt! And the
Papacy would exist in some form or another until when? Until the very end of
time, until that Stone destroys all earthly kingdoms ushering in His heavenly
kingdom. So until the very end of
this prophecy, from here until the end we will be discussing the Papacy along
with other powers, other interactions the Papacy would be involved with, other
powers in play as this Papal power - the false religion- continues onwards just
as our God told us it would.
Now let's take a
little bit and look at some of the outrageous- scripture perverted beliefs and
rites of this little horn power, this power that places itself above all.
Papal Supremacy
- Please read this all through -
and make note that it brings us right up to our day!
'Papal supremacy
refers to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of
his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has
full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can
always exercise unhindered:[1] that, in brief, "the Pope enjoys, by divine
institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of
souls."'
'Urban II's
launching in 1095 of the Crusades, which, in an attempt to liberate the Holy
Land from Muslim domination, marshaled under papal leadership the aggressive
energies of the European nobility.
The
Papacy determined whom they wished to be the king of various lands by the
crowning by Pope Leo III of Charlemagne, first of the Carolingian emperors,
rather than a man proclaiming himself king.'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_supremacy>
*
'Rome's role as
arbiter
This passage in
Irenaeus [from Against Heresies 3:4:1] illuminates the meaning of his remarks
about the Church of Rome: if there are disputes in a local church, that church
should have recourse to the Roman Church, for there is contained the Tradition
which is preserved by all the churches. Rome's vocation [in the pre-Nicene
period] consisted in playing the part of arbiter, settling contentious issues
by witnessing to the truth or falsity of whatever doctrine was put before them.
Rome was truly the centre where all converged if they wanted their doctrine to
be accepted by the conscience of the Church. They could not count upon success
except on one condition -- that the Church of Rome had received their doctrine
-- and refusal from Rome predetermined the attitude the other churches would
adopt. There are numerous cases of this recourse to Rome…'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_the_Roman_Pontiff>
'First Vatican
Council
The
doctrine of papal primacy was further developed in 1870 at the First Vatican
Council where ultramontanism achieved victory over conciliarism with the
pronouncement of papal infallibility (the ability of the pope to define dogmas
free from error ex cathedra) and of papal supremacy, i.e., supreme, full,
immediate, and universal ordinary jurisdiction of the Pope.
The
most substantial body of defined doctrine on the subject is found in Pastor
aeternus, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ of Vatican Council
I. This document declares that “in the disposition of God the Roman church
holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches.” This
council also affirmed the dogma of papal infallibility, deciding that the
“infallibility” of the Christian community extended to the pope himself, at
least when speaking on matters of faith.
Vatican
I defined a twofold Primacy of Peter — one in papal teaching on faith and
morals (the charism of infallibility), and the other a primacy of jurisdiction
involving government and discipline of the Church — submission to both being
necessary to Catholic faith and salvation.[27]
Vatican
I rejected the ideas that papal decrees have "no force or value unless
confirmed by an order of the secular power" and that the pope’s decisions can
be appealed to an ecumenical council "as to an authority higher than the Roman
Pontiff."
Paul
Collins argues that "(the doctrine of papal primacy as formulated by the First
Vatican Council) has led to the exercise of untrammelled papal power and has
become a major stumbling block in ecumenical relationships with the Orthodox
(who consider the definition to be heresy) and Protestants."[28]
Forced
to break off prematurely by secular political developments in 1870, Vatican I
left behind it a somewhat unbalanced ecclesiology. "In theology the question of
papal primacy was so much in the foreground that the Church appeared essentially
as a centrally directed institution which one was dogged in defending but which
only encountered one externally," [29]
Second Vatican
Council
At
the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) the debate on papal primacy and
authority re-emerged[citation needed], and in the Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on the authority of
the Pope, bishops and councils was further elaborated. Vatican II sought to
correct the unbalanced ecclesiology left behind by Vatican I. The result is the
body of teaching about the papacy and episcopacy contained in the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.
Vatican
II reaffirmed everything Vatican I taught about papal primacy and
infallibility, but it added important points about bishops. Bishops, it says,
are not "vicars of the Roman Pontiff." Rather, in governing their local
churches they are "vicars and legates of Christ".[30] Together, they form a
body, a "college," whose head is the pope. This episcopal college is responsible
for the well-being of the Universal Church. Here in a nutshell are the basic
elements of the Council’s much-discussed communio ecclesiology, which affirms
the importance of local churches and the doctrine of collegiality.
In a
key passage about collegiality, Vatican II teaches: "The order of bishops is the
successor to the college of the apostles in their role as teachers and pastors,
and in it the apostolic college is perpetuated. Together with their head, the
Supreme Pontiff, and never apart from him, they have supreme and full authority
over the Universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the
agreement of the Roman Pontiff".[31] Much of the present discussion of papal
primacy is concerned with exploring the implications of this passage.
21st century
Relation with
other Christian denominations
In
the document Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the
doctrine on the Church of 29 June 2007 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith reiterated that, in the view of the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian
communities born out of the Protestant Reformation and which lack apostolic
succession in the sacrament of orders are not "Churches" in the proper sense.
The Eastern Christian Church that are not in communion with Rome, such as the
Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East,
are Churches in the proper sense and sister Churches of the Catholic particular
Churches, but since communion with the Roman Pontiff is one of the internal
constitutive principles of a particular Church, they lack something in their
condition, while on the other hand the existing division means that the fullness
of universality that is proper to the Church governed by the successor of St
Peter and the bishops in communion with him is not now realised in history.'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_the_Roman_Pontiff>
Is this, or is
this not proof that the papacy- that the pontiff- has placed
himself as supreme- above all other men, as ONE holding supreme religious
power upon earth? It is proof. This man has exalted himself above all.
Yet, this isn't a single man, it is a power that transcends a single person; a
power that continues, passed down from one man to the next over the ages- this
is the papacy, the papal power, the little horn. Just because all do not bow to this
papal power does not mean for a single second that the papal power does not
believe in his supremacy. Those
who do NOT believe are to them those that are lost, those who are in need of
enlightenment and conversion to what they call the one true church, the Roman
Catholic church.
We can't
close our eyes to these truths! We can't claim modern enlightenment. We can't
claim intellectual superiority. We cannot hide from the truth or else we will be
blind and those blind to God's truths will be lost eternally.
By the grace of
God may we continue to delve deeply into the truth and always seek to do so.
More tomorrow by
my Savior's grace!
All through His
love, all through His righteousness, His mercy!
Amen.
Exo 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Exo 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Exo 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Exo 15:10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
Exo 15:13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Exo 15:14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Exo 15:15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
Exo 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Exo 15:17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
The story of the Ten Commandments, who doesn't know about it? Most do even if it's from the movie that is played on television every year around Easter time. The Exodus, Moses delivering the slaves of Egypt- God's chosen people the Hebrews, the Jewish people, the Israelites. People enslaved by a ruler who resisted so many entreaties to free his slaves that many suffered, many of Pharoah's own people died because of his resistance to God's commands. The journey from enslavement to freedom was intense. Bogged down, feeling forever enslaved yet longing for a deliverer God's people were finally sent a deliverer but the deliverance didn't come instantaneously. The deliverance didn't happen overnight. Suffering increased for all. There he was, the deliverer- Moses. But deliverance was kept out of reach. The promise was there, the hope was there, the disappointment was there, the pain, the heartache, the trying of the soul, it was all there. Picture it, picture the pain, feel it…imagine it…
More currently we've had the enslavement of the African people, I'm not saying the African Americans just the Africans because from the start they were a people brought from Africa- they were African's displaced and enslaved and forced to live in a land they didn't want to live in, torn from their homeland, ripped from their families, suffering conditions unimaginable. We can relate to this slavery because our history here in the United States is entwined with it. Our land holds many marks of that slavery. Did deliverance come to the African's easily? No. Quickly? No. They suffered horrifically. Was there a deliverer- like Moses delivered God's people? No, one man did not lead the enslaved Africans to freedom- many had a hand in the fight for freedom.
Enslavement and freedom. We can all relate to it, can't we? In some way we can. We are slaves to sin made free in Christ.
Reading the above verses from Exodus the related story tells us of God's power on behalf of His chosen people. This part below tells us something more...
Exo 15:16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Exo 15:17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
God has purchased them. God brought them in. God planted them in the mountain of their inheritance. God put them in the place HE would dwell- IN THE SANCTUARY- which He established.
The Sanctuary- a place made for God to dwell in and yet…
1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
The earthly sanctuary was symbolic in so many ways. God didn't need a place to dwell on earth, we needed and need to understand God's ways- which are in the Sanctuary- the heavenly, the earthly. We will continue to study this, we will keep on studying it and praying for understanding. God delivered people enslaved and gave them freedom, freedom to worship Him, to learn of Him, to be God's. We all need this lesson. We all need this freedom that is only found in Christ.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, in His amazing love may we be free, all in Christ and through His righteousness now and forever!
Amen.
8/12/10 B
The heavenly sanctuary.
The earthly sanctuary.
Man is made in the image of God.
One thing reflecting another.
We know how inferior we are to God in reflecting His image. Sin has destroyed so much of what we were originally supposed to be. God's sanctuary on earth was in place for a long, long time before Christ came and revealed that salvation is found in Him- all the symbolic elements of the earthly sanctuary pointing towards that end. So if the Messiah's life and death took over the purpose of the earthly sanctuary why is it important for us to know more about the sanctuary? Because even though the earthly sanctuary culminated in our Savior, our Savior's death and return to life and to the heavenly sanctuary only makes it that much more important for us to understand. The heavenly sanctuary exists and will exist until…
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Out of heaven God's city descends- until what is in heaven comes down to earth, a new earth, a sin free earth- the need to understand the sanctuary, to understand God's temple, to understand and learn all we can of our Lord and Savior is paramount.
The temple - the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of the New Jerusalem on earth- but that new Jerusalem isn't here yet and the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are in heaven. The Lamb - the great sacrifice- the great redeemer- is in the heavenly sanctuary ministering there.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Do you see? Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary and all its implements and services were based upon the example of the heavenly. By studying the sanctuary and all we know of it on earth we can learn so much.
Remember- Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
May God continue to bless us and open our hearts to all His truths. Through the mercy of our Lord and Savior, by His grace, His love, His righteousness, His all in all.
8/12/11
Dan 11:36 And the king shall do according to his
will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall
speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the
indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Dan 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his
fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all.
The Papacy did
according to its will.
The Papacy
exalted itself.
The Papacy
magnified itself above every god.
The Papacy spoke
marvelous things against the God of gods.
The Papacy
prospered.
The Papacy did
not regard the One True God- the God of those first Christians.
The Papacy makes
the desire of women of no regard.
The Papacy
recognizes no other god but itself.
The Papacy
magnifies itself above ALL.
Do we have any
doubt at all whatsoever what power this is speaking of?
Remember this--
Dan 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a
little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east,
and toward the pleasant land.
Dan 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them.
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the
prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place
of his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not
by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and
practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Dan 8:25 And through his policy also he shall
cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart,
and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
We've studied
this already, remember? This power was the Papacy beyond any doubt! And the
Papacy would exist in some form or another until when? Until the very end of
time, until that Stone destroys all earthly kingdoms ushering in His heavenly
kingdom. So until the very end of
this prophecy, from here until the end we will be discussing the Papacy along
with other powers, other interactions the Papacy would be involved with, other
powers in play as this Papal power - the false religion- continues onwards just
as our God told us it would.
Now let's take a
little bit and look at some of the outrageous- scripture perverted beliefs and
rites of this little horn power, this power that places itself above all.
Papal Supremacy
- Please read this all through -
and make note that it brings us right up to our day!
'Papal supremacy
refers to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of
his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has
full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can
always exercise unhindered:[1] that, in brief, "the Pope enjoys, by divine
institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of
souls."'
'Urban II's
launching in 1095 of the Crusades, which, in an attempt to liberate the Holy
Land from Muslim domination, marshaled under papal leadership the aggressive
energies of the European nobility.
The
Papacy determined whom they wished to be the king of various lands by the
crowning by Pope Leo III of Charlemagne, first of the Carolingian emperors,
rather than a man proclaiming himself king.'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_supremacy>
*
'Rome's role as
arbiter
This passage in
Irenaeus [from Against Heresies 3:4:1] illuminates the meaning of his remarks
about the Church of Rome: if there are disputes in a local church, that church
should have recourse to the Roman Church, for there is contained the Tradition
which is preserved by all the churches. Rome's vocation [in the pre-Nicene
period] consisted in playing the part of arbiter, settling contentious issues
by witnessing to the truth or falsity of whatever doctrine was put before them.
Rome was truly the centre where all converged if they wanted their doctrine to
be accepted by the conscience of the Church. They could not count upon success
except on one condition -- that the Church of Rome had received their doctrine
-- and refusal from Rome predetermined the attitude the other churches would
adopt. There are numerous cases of this recourse to Rome…'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_the_Roman_Pontiff>
'First Vatican
Council
The
doctrine of papal primacy was further developed in 1870 at the First Vatican
Council where ultramontanism achieved victory over conciliarism with the
pronouncement of papal infallibility (the ability of the pope to define dogmas
free from error ex cathedra) and of papal supremacy, i.e., supreme, full,
immediate, and universal ordinary jurisdiction of the Pope.
The
most substantial body of defined doctrine on the subject is found in Pastor
aeternus, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ of Vatican Council
I. This document declares that “in the disposition of God the Roman church
holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches.” This
council also affirmed the dogma of papal infallibility, deciding that the
“infallibility” of the Christian community extended to the pope himself, at
least when speaking on matters of faith.
Vatican
I defined a twofold Primacy of Peter — one in papal teaching on faith and
morals (the charism of infallibility), and the other a primacy of jurisdiction
involving government and discipline of the Church — submission to both being
necessary to Catholic faith and salvation.[27]
Vatican
I rejected the ideas that papal decrees have "no force or value unless
confirmed by an order of the secular power" and that the pope’s decisions can
be appealed to an ecumenical council "as to an authority higher than the Roman
Pontiff."
Paul
Collins argues that "(the doctrine of papal primacy as formulated by the First
Vatican Council) has led to the exercise of untrammelled papal power and has
become a major stumbling block in ecumenical relationships with the Orthodox
(who consider the definition to be heresy) and Protestants."[28]
Forced
to break off prematurely by secular political developments in 1870, Vatican I
left behind it a somewhat unbalanced ecclesiology. "In theology the question of
papal primacy was so much in the foreground that the Church appeared essentially
as a centrally directed institution which one was dogged in defending but which
only encountered one externally," [29]
Second Vatican
Council
At
the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) the debate on papal primacy and
authority re-emerged[citation needed], and in the Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on the authority of
the Pope, bishops and councils was further elaborated. Vatican II sought to
correct the unbalanced ecclesiology left behind by Vatican I. The result is the
body of teaching about the papacy and episcopacy contained in the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.
Vatican
II reaffirmed everything Vatican I taught about papal primacy and
infallibility, but it added important points about bishops. Bishops, it says,
are not "vicars of the Roman Pontiff." Rather, in governing their local
churches they are "vicars and legates of Christ".[30] Together, they form a
body, a "college," whose head is the pope. This episcopal college is responsible
for the well-being of the Universal Church. Here in a nutshell are the basic
elements of the Council’s much-discussed communio ecclesiology, which affirms
the importance of local churches and the doctrine of collegiality.
In a
key passage about collegiality, Vatican II teaches: "The order of bishops is the
successor to the college of the apostles in their role as teachers and pastors,
and in it the apostolic college is perpetuated. Together with their head, the
Supreme Pontiff, and never apart from him, they have supreme and full authority
over the Universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the
agreement of the Roman Pontiff".[31] Much of the present discussion of papal
primacy is concerned with exploring the implications of this passage.
21st century
Relation with
other Christian denominations
In
the document Responses to some questions regarding certain aspects of the
doctrine on the Church of 29 June 2007 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith reiterated that, in the view of the Roman Catholic Church, the Christian
communities born out of the Protestant Reformation and which lack apostolic
succession in the sacrament of orders are not "Churches" in the proper sense.
The Eastern Christian Church that are not in communion with Rome, such as the
Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East,
are Churches in the proper sense and sister Churches of the Catholic particular
Churches, but since communion with the Roman Pontiff is one of the internal
constitutive principles of a particular Church, they lack something in their
condition, while on the other hand the existing division means that the fullness
of universality that is proper to the Church governed by the successor of St
Peter and the bishops in communion with him is not now realised in history.'
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_the_Roman_Pontiff>
Is this, or is
this not proof that the papacy- that the pontiff- has placed
himself as supreme- above all other men, as ONE holding supreme religious
power upon earth? It is proof. This man has exalted himself above all.
Yet, this isn't a single man, it is a power that transcends a single person; a
power that continues, passed down from one man to the next over the ages- this
is the papacy, the papal power, the little horn. Just because all do not bow to this
papal power does not mean for a single second that the papal power does not
believe in his supremacy. Those
who do NOT believe are to them those that are lost, those who are in need of
enlightenment and conversion to what they call the one true church, the Roman
Catholic church.
We can't
close our eyes to these truths! We can't claim modern enlightenment. We can't
claim intellectual superiority. We cannot hide from the truth or else we will be
blind and those blind to God's truths will be lost eternally.
By the grace of
God may we continue to delve deeply into the truth and always seek to do so.
More tomorrow by
my Savior's grace!
All through His
love, all through His righteousness, His mercy!
Amen.