Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 136

Gen.11.1 "One language"

" And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech."

Here we another example of the 'pure words' that marks Gen.1.1

The whole earth as made to appear had one language,- faith it is called. One speech, " Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,/I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." (Ps.40.7-8). This forms the basis for our prayers, and it has never changed. The Holy Spirit the third office in the Trinity heps with our infirmities considering that we are oof dust, and St Paul refers to it, "6 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered./ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." (8.27-28)

'According to the will of God',- when we place it in the FatherSon context we have the verse,"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This was without form and the divine Will alone consisted. 'In the beginning' gives it a context, bringing in the Son who in the fulness of time shall be sent to the world. " There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard./ Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." (Ps.19.3-4)

The Holy Spirit repeats the same forrmula in the ch.10.5.20 "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations".Similarly we have the formula stated in the Covenant, 'And the evening and the morning were...'

John 12:45

"And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me."

Blessings

Gen.10.32 "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood."

Here we have members of three sons of Noah and they entered the new earth while yet in the loins of Noah. " When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel./For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance."(Deut.32.8-9)

The Lord's portion is his Son. The decree like that of the Medes, " according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not"(Dan.6.12)What takes precedence in the case of Medes and of his Son Jesus Christ. The Spirit sets him in very number of Three so the sons of Noah and their descendants are restricted by the decree If God. Psalm 2 refers to these kings, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."(Ps.2.7-8)

This being the case what significance shall we attach to v.31? The expressions 'after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations' serves a purpose as caretakers appointed for the sons of Adam. The number Twelve does not mean the twelve tribes but to the Gospel of God whose decree shall make his Will as the last word."The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool./The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."(Ps.110. 1-2)

"The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath."(v.5) Satan gathers the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle" and it is against the Lord, and against his anointed. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." His decree alone shall prevail.

Gen.10.1-5 "Nations"

" Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood./ The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras."

The youngest son is Japheth but in this list of nations he set down as first. 'So the last shall be first, and the first last.'(Mt.20.16). The Spirit explains nations after the sons of Noah, or generations of Shem Ham and Japeth in direct frame of reference to the generation of Jesus Christ. It is thus the prophet foretelling the apostasy of Israel refers to daughter of Zion,"And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city."(Isa.1.8) We need see thus the names from the standpoint of God. "And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: And the highest himself shall establish her. The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, That this man was born there."(Ps.87.4-6)The Spirit is not giving us a lesson on ethnography but of one speech that brings both heaven and earth in one name of Jesus Christ.

" By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."

Jesus asks who is my brother? "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said,Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."(Mt.12.48-50)

(3 John Part 6):

3 John 1:11 - Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

John says, beloved, follow not that which is evil. The word follow is this word for mime, MIMETAI, which I have shared with you before. In Greek theater, a person would come out in a costume and a painted face and would act out a message. Paul picks this up from a theatrical language and applies it to the believer as far as representing the word expression, so that Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

It doesn't mean copy. That's not what he's talking about. MIME means the expression of Christ. That's why Paul says, be the expression of me, as I am in Christ. Do you see Christ through me? Do you see Christ live through me? Do you see Christ express Himself through me? Let it be the same expression in your life!

He says, do not express that which is evil, but that which is good. And the word good is not good in the human, but good spiritually. It is the word AGATHOS. God is good! Someone came to Jesus, and they said good teacher, and Jesus said wait a minute, before I answer your question, why did you call me good teacher? Because there's only one that's good (AGATHOS), and that's God.

Jesus used the word AGATHOS. There's only one that is AGATHOS in the whole universe, and that's God. So, he was pointing out to him that you just called me God. Do you realize that? Now I'll answer your question for you.

He that does good, literally, the one who is practicing the good, is from out of God: but he that practices evil has not even seen God. And again, we're not talking about good and evil from a human standpoint. We're talking about the good of God that's produced by His Spirit. Diotrephes was displaying that he was not from God.

This is all I have for 3 John. I will be going through Jude next which is another short book and should go fairly quick!

God Bless!!!

(3 John Part 5):

3 John 1:10 - Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he is doing, prating, or braiding against us with malicious words: Literally, evil words. Not just bad words, but evil words (PONEROS). And he's not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren, the ones that come from out of town, especially from John.

And forbids them that would, that is, have a desire to receive them, and he casts them out of the church if they do. Someone once said every church has a Diotrephes. But John says you have to watch out. These types of leaders are in the church. John says that if I can make it over there, and remember he's in his 90's, but he says I'm going to deal with him!

(3 John Part 4):

3 John 1:7 - Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

It says, "Because that for his name's sake," but literally in the Greek text, it's on account of (the name). And you might even hear that phrase in and amongst Jewish people today, HASHEM. As you might know, the Orthodox Jews do not say the name God. And when they write the name God, it will be G-D, so that they're not even writing the word.

They will call God ADONAI. They will not call Him by His name YAHWEH. They will call Him ADONAI which means Lord. What is happening now is that more and more of them are calling God HASHEM, which means The Name. And when they say HASHEM, everybody knows what they're making reference to.

Because of the name sake, these travelers went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

3 John 1:9 - I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

We just saw the commendation of Gaius. Now in Verses 9 and 10, we see the Condemnation of Diotrephes. It's interesting that his name, DIOS, which was the word for the Greek god Zeus. That was the main god. And TROPHE means to nourish. They named him "nourished by Zeus." You can tell by his name that everywhere that he went, he expected to be put in charge, having the special blessing upon him.

But John says in Verse 9, I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence, literally the first place among them, receives us not.

(3 John Part 3):

3 John 1:3 - For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

Walkest, or walking is a biblical term that represents a person's conduct or lifestyle. All day long, we're walking. We're taking steps. It denotes our direction. It denotes how we conduct our lives. It's not just knowing the truth, but walking in the truth!

3 John 1:6 - Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:

But he says these brethren, and these strangers have born witness of your charity, that's AGAPE love, before the church: They got up and gave a testimony of this man, and of the love and the truth that is in this man's life. Whom if you bring forward, that is, these people, on their journey after a godly sort, you shall do well:

So, he's encouraging him to bring in these brothers and these strangers who have a good testimony about him, but he says it's important what you do. That is, not only do you house them, but you send them on their way with the things that they are going to need for their traveling, and for their trip.

A very generous man!

A Correction:

"3x100+50 is how the Spirit tells us that God walked with God."

Read as

"3x100+50 is how the Spirit tells us that Noah walked with God".

Gen 9.28-29 "Before and After"

The generation of Adam ends in disaster. Does 600 years tell any thing? The Spirit set the tag 6x100 indicating the fall of man, where the old world did not enter into the rest of God mentioned in Gen.2.1. Everlasting Covenant is the rest frame for the nations covering the ends of the earth. Similar to the term in Astrophysics this rest frame tellls how far stars move away or come closer to the earth. Such red shifts or blue shifts in the lives of nations we see carrying on till the day of the Lord. For instance the name Magog is listed here,"The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras."(10.2) Satan enters into their midst since lure of wealth sure replaced them. "And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle:"(Rev.20.8)

Six hundred year refers the entire generation of Adam against the generation of Noah who is set down as the double for the Generation of Jesus Christ. Therefore we have this verse in v.28

" And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 3x100+50 is how the Spirit tells us that God walked with God. Fifty extra refers to his soul was in his safekeeping The Command number Three is the number for the Son.

29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

10.1 "Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah" Their generations are what they make of the Covenant, by their own individual choices. Once saved is not always saved' is the case we see over the tower of Babel.

God Bless you Too Ron

Thankyou very much..

Dear Row,

I will be praying for your friend who is facing so much uncertainty due to the news she received. God sees, God hears, God answers. Praise the Lord for He is good!

John 12:25

"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

Blessings

Gen.9. 20-27 "In his tent" (2 of 2)

Noah cursed Canaan that does not connect Ham's gossip over his father's drunkenness. "and knew what his younger son had done unto him./And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren./And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

First we shall give a scriptural basis for singling out Ham's stock. Noah as set by the Spirit is perfect. God himself testifies, "for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." (7.1) He is also double for the Father in heaven, resting literally from his labour. "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without." Ham merely spoke what was not his business in the first place nor in a manner to give honour to his sire. Is it any different that TV evangelists who gloat over their 'prosperity' and celebrity status than truth of the word?

Had the nation heard Christ past 250 years the nation should have been the radiant city on a hill.Do we find rest in soul there? "For I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Instead we have a bigot in WH ambushing a visiting dignitary, an African to hear his lies. The same lies the preachers over there peddled over slavery question, have spawned yet another imbecile. It is how Ham carried tale to his brethren. Noah from foreknowledge spoke how wealth shall turn up to trouble the history of man. " For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:/But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." This is what we see there.

The Spirit is not telling us stories to keep the narrative flowing from cause to effect. Here we shall see nations, for instance "These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations," has a bearing on the tower of Babel.

Please read the first para as follows:

"Here we have a passage that has been a proof simple telling us where Christianity has been hijacked to foist a sham version of the body of Christ. Lately we have had in March 2024 the news item: the Church of England should pay 1 billion pounds in reparations to the descendants of slavery. The report was the result of multi-generational response to the appalling evil of the transatlantic chattel enslavement ' said by the former Archbishop of Canterbury.For almost 500 years the priests across the Atlantic have been justifying slavery because the Africans were descended from Canaan the Son of Ham. The curse of Ham was thus hijacked to serve the interests of traders who stood to benefit rather than truth.This appalling moral blot in the founders of the nation was the root cause of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Both sides enrolled God's authority in their cause. In the south this involved a literal reading of the Curse of Ham."

Sorry for the errors in the first.

Gen.9.20-27 "Noah in his tent" (1 of 2)

"And he planted a vineyard."

Here we have a passage that has been a proof simple telling us where Christianity has been hijacked to foist a sham version of the body of Christ. Lately we have had in March 2024 the news item: the Church of England should pays 1 billion pounds in reparations to the descendant of slavery. The report was the result of multi-generational response to the appalling evil of the transatlantic chattel enslavement ' said by the former Archbishop of Canterbury.For almost 500 years the priests across the Atlantic have been justifying slavery because the Africans were descended from Canaan the Son of Ham. The curse of Ham was thus hijacked to serve the interests of traders who stood to benefit rather than truth.

Consider Gen.10-.15-18

We shall consider verse by verse "And Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and Heth,

What was Sidon? Sidon, situated on the sea-shore, about thirty miles north of Tyre, became thus early a settled community and the seat of social life, because of its advantages for fishing (whence its name is derived), and also for commerce." Ezekiel ch.28 tells us, "By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:/ Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;"(vv.5-6) This resonates in the fall of Babylon because they were corrupted by the multitude of merchandise."Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate."(Rev.18.19)

9.16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, Jerusalem was formerly belonged to the former. As for the Amorites God tells Abram why the lands promised to him shall not be given, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."(Gen.15.16).

Nowhere we have a reason justifying the slavery. They were corrupted to be of blessing, as we have

Thank you for your consideration of my understanding leading to your reply, DSCY222. May God's Peace rule in your heart always. Every blessing.

Gen.9.2-3 "Into your hands"

"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered./Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you."

This is part of the blessings so in the light of the fall of man what fear man shall instil in them? 'Behold your redeemer! As Job would comfort himself,' my redeemer liveth'. ( Job 19.25). There is a curious passage in the first book of kings, "And when he (man of God) was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase."( 1 kgs 13.24) The beasts stood as mute witness to the disobedience in man. The limit of time and space does not permit me to dilate upon it.

The ravens feeding Elijah by the ravine, " And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there./So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan./And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening"( 1 Kgs.17.4-6) Those whom God called to be the double for his Son ought to witness their faith. The latter man of God was obedient to word and God preserved him.

God had prepared a large fish in the case of Jonah and does it not tell how this blessing of God work? God had prepared an ass, "Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me./And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them."(Mt.21.2-3) and "and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."(Mt.17.27) How do we serve them

many reasons Jesus said 'Be Glad that I return to the Father'

one was to pave the way, clear the path,from here to there

like highway construction making new roads, God n Son construction co.

another one

took he with him

keys to the gates and doors of deth n hell

Dear Chris.

After all these years, finally I have the most satisfying answer from you. Thank you.

The fact that many tried to give their opinion but along the way, they engineered the answers to their personal choice rather than stating it as "too hard tray". Then these same folks will go on a long winded tirade that it is sin and abormination to be cremated. The explanation of those that were martyrs didn't really have a vote nor a say as how their bodies going to be treated, is a gem.

Turning to this forum for answers so far has not failed me. May our LORD bless you and your family, all the way.

Dear Free,

May God bless you and keep your world, I suppose, in Norway safe. May the word of God daily nourish you,

Hi DSCY222. This is a matter that would fall into the "too hard tray", for giving the right answer that applies to everyone. It is true that those deceased of Israel in the Old Testament & believers in the New Testament are said to be buried (e.g. Genesis 25:10; Genesis 35:19; Numbers 20:1; Deuteronomy 34:5,6; Joshua 24:32,33; etc. and Mark 6:29 (John the Bapt); Acts 8:2; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4); for this was the common practise, as opposed to how the heathen dealt with their dead. And so it is understandable for believers today to follow that pattern of treatment and respect for their dead as well.

Yet I'm sure, there would be many instances over the ages where believers have met their fate as martyrs at the burning stake, or in horrible fires or crashes, where whatever remains existed were treated as such & burned off in totality. And of course, some, for financial reasons & their own perspective & belief from the Word, have elected cremation over burial; or even relatives of the deceased have decided not to abide by the departed one's wishes for burial, opting for cremation. So, we have all sorts of situations in this regard, which should lead one to decide for themselves on how their remains are dealt with, knowing that the body returns to the earth anyway (whether to dust or ash), but the spirit of the person can never die and God is well able to effect a resurrection with or without whatever remains in the earth.

Both my wife and I have decided for burial when that time eventuates, following the pattern of those gone on before & for giving due respect to the life lived; but if that shouldn't happen (because of unexpected events leading to our demise), then would we be held in contempt of the Word & God's Will? This then becomes a very personal matter & decision, which no one should oppose you on, as you affirm it in all good conscience before God & from His Word.

Luke 13:1-4

At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2To this He replied, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? 3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Continuing on the idea of prayer; we see of course that some things can't be explained. The first passage is as close as I can see to people being killed by Satanists as to what happened to the Galileans through Pilate clearly influenced by the Devil.

The second passage here shows what appears to be a "happenstance" event that killed 18 people. Jesus shows this theme of destruction coming for all unrepentant sinners either now or at the judgment immediately upon death.

More generally; we see that certain things are going to happen and no doubt this isn't exclusive to unsaved individuals. Again; however we CAN avoid certain fates if we don't have destructive lifestyles such as the Word suggests about the adulterous woman (see Ecclesiastes 7:26). The same can be said; of course of a substance abuser; gambler; etc.

I am hoping and praying our church will continue to trend toward more prayer and this will occur in more churches nationwide.

I can pretty much guarantee accelerated moves to destruction if not. We have no guarantee that our nation will even exist or in what form by the time of the Rapture and onset of the Tribulation; although it seems total destruction won't occur of any nation before that. Let us redeem the times for the days are evil. We need to continue to spread the Good News and count the cost as no doubt Christian persecution is to come after the Jews are attacked.

Continuing on the subject of prayer from the last post; again finding the truth through our media is difficult at best; and I always recommend alternative news sources along with several more reliable "mainstream" ones. IF we are to successfully navigate what is coming shortly in our nation we must strategically act and pray with a discerning spirit and wisdom. We should do what we CAN in regard to preventing further decay to; or probably most often delivering those from churches teaching falsehood to the true Gospel. The whole decay in society is certainly traced to God's judgment beginning on churches; and that is largely due to the moral decay and lack of respect for covenant marriages and the whole family structure falling apart. These sort of things were planned by our enemies as well as enemies within the church to begin with then spread to the rest of society. We must bring back the God given authority while we can to the church and claim legitimate promises of the gates of hell not prevailing against her. Also we must not "declare" things that are either spurious or downright blasphemous from lifestyles of sin or greed or any other vice that dominates our souls.

As was stated in our evening service by one of our elders the Gospel must present the bad news before the good. Some things clearly are at least indirectly due to this societal decay and the increasing wickedness overall of the last days. We also must preach God's love to balance out the message once the sinner is trembling before a Holy God. That's proper evangelism.

If the church displays a lack of respect for God how can we expect the world to be affected? Also if we don't warn of judgment to come and the possibility to escape it involving salvation first then escape from the Tribulation judgments then how will they know to flee from the wrath to come? We have to believe in the reality of hell and the nearness of the hour by displaying genuine conviction with actions also.

Let us be in prayer about the situation with the Russian attacks today at the airfields. Our days may be numbered at this point as to how long we will be able to have internet use or count on basic things such as food and supplies as peace may be about to end in this country as things escalate. Of course we have the attack to day once again targeting the Jews in Colorado as another issue.

I am not feeling the best qualified here to even know how to start praying; but I am hoping to involve my own church as I get to lead Sunday school Lord willing in a few weeks on different kinds of prayer; namely that for God to have mercy on the sins we have piled to heaven in this country specifically. In terms of what is called "impreccatory prayer" when it is hard to determine the innocent or guilty parties with so much wickedness and confusion knowing the players involved it seems best to pray against the plans of the enemy primarily. Much of what is going on involves military contracts and profiteers from all sides.

We certainly should be praying our President continues to make the right moves despite certain advisors I won't mention at present and those wanting to perpetuate endless war.

Another thing is missionaries throughout the world embroiled in helping suffering kids in particular in some of the war torn areas. We see Gaza in the news most often but Africa; particularly Nigeria is an ongoing spiritual battle with many deaths from continuing persecution particularly in the north and east parts of the country There are certainly many other conflicts there not often covered by the media. Our own church right now has seen great success with new converts and large congregations through 3 missionaries in the islands of the Caribbean; southern South America and the Czeck republic.

As our evening service emphasized it is one on one evangelism that often does more than a few preaching to the masses. It certainly must be in conjunction with it.

(3 John Part 2b):

3 John 1:2 Continued...

Now here's the literal translation: even as your soul is prospering.

The tense of the verb in that last phrase tells you that he is prospering in his soul. But he's praying for his circumstances and his health to hold up, to support the good that he's already doing in the Spirit realm for Christ. So, it's not a health and wealth gospel thing. It's John saying that God's people have been so blessed by your hospitality, and I can only pray that your journey and your health will hold up so that you can continue to minister to God's people.

It's just the opposite of how the "health and wealth" people take this verse. His soul is already prospering. He's praying his journey and his health, that it would hold up, as his soul is already prospering.

The reason is given to us in Verse 3.

(3 John Part 2a):

3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

He says, beloved, again the word AGAPE, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. This verse alone has been taken out of context, and it has been a springboard for the "health and wealth" teachings, that your physical circumstances act as a barometer as to your spiritual condition.

That is to say, that if you are sick, or if you're in hard difficult circumstances, that means that you have sinned, and you need to repent and get yourself right with God, because John prayed "Above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

They are making the connection there that the material realm displays your spiritual condition, because God wants you to be healthy, and God wants you to be wealthy. So, if you're not healthy and wealthy, then you're sinning against God and being disobedient.

Well, as you could imagine, that's not what the verse says! He says I wish. In fact, that's the word for prayer. I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. The word prosper is not associated with material gain, such as money or material objects. It means to have a good journey. And that you be in health. This is where we get our word hygiene from. That you be sound, wholesome, and your health holds up.

(3 John Part 1b):

3 John 1:1 Continued

God's love in John was directed towards Gaius. And you can understand why, if indeed he has been kicked out of his church because he showed genuine hospitality to the traveling Christians. And the testimony of him said that he took care of you if you stayed at his place. He was genuinely generous and hospitable.

So, you can understand why John would write him a letter and say to the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, just like he said in 2 John. And again, John's emphasis is that love and truth are inseparable. When I say love, I mean AGAPE love. There are other forms of love that we're all familiar with. But God's love is not separated from the truth. You cannot compromise with love for the truth, and you also cannot with truth for love. You just can't do it. They go hand in hand.

So, when I take into consideration that if I tell the truth to the people around me, that they are going to reject me, so I will not tell them, that's not love, that's compromise! But we sometimes cannot come to the point where we can accept the fact that God would put us in a position that if we obeyed Him, somebody's feelings might get hurt, or somebody might get angry.

Biblical Greek Perspectives:

(3 John Part 1a):

This letter was written to instruct the church about the responsibilities of genuine hospitality.

3 John 1:1 - The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

He says, the elder (PRESBUTEROS), which is where we get our word Presbyterian from. But PRESBUS means an older person, an elderly person. And it was used to designate both age and position. I would emphasize to you that an elder in the church is somebody who is older in the Lord.

There are church committees that vote in new elders, and some of the elders who get voted in are new believers. In one religious group, there are elders who are 16 years of age. It's like "Hey, you want to take a shot at it for a year? Okay, you're in."

That is not what the scriptures teach about elders. We know from 1 Timothy Chapter 3, all of the maturity and the standing testimony that a person must have in order to be an elder, and even a deacon. But an elder is somebody who is older. John is both. He is an elder in age because he's probably in his 90's at this point. I believe there's a document that tells us that he died at about 98 years of age.

And he's also an elder in the church. He is the last surviving apostle in the church. All he says is the elder. And everybody knows who the elder is. There's only one left of the group. So, the elder, unto the wellbeloved Gaius, and wellbeloved is the word AGAPE in adjective form. This is to Gaius, the beloved brother. And beloved has to do with being the object of God's love.

Blessed Day to All.

I have a nagging question with regards to burial or cremation. I have been told that Bible believing Christians should opt for burial and best not to be cremated. Frankly, i preferred to be just turn to ash in a jiffy and life goes on. However, many are stressing that the biblical way is only burial which I find it hard to justify. Maybe I missed the verse. Can help me. Thanks.

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