Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 145

Free,

I agree that the Scriptures speak of the Holy Spirit baptizing us with fire, and that should be the usual interpretation of it. I cannot say that I can actually give a definite meaning of this action by the Holy Spirit because the Scriptures do not define it. However, we do know that the Holy Spirit used flames of fire (along with rushing wind) to bring God's power to them for the work of spreading the gospel, building the communion of believers, for performing miracles and signs, and for fighting against the enemy, along with some other purposes for this new power promised by Jesus to the disciples. ( Acts 1:5, 8).

Many people have their interpretation of what this baptism of fire means. I am glad to read their perspectives. I just added the very ancient teaching of the Church Fathers that it refers to martyrdom because it was a how some understood it to mean in the early centuries of the church. I cannot say if this is a correct definition or not because I cannot know whether the Holy Spirit was teaching these believers in this way or not. I just did not think that many people would know what the early Church thought about this phrase.

That is all I can really say on this topic.

Gerald,

Unless the Spirit works with you whatever you read is merely lookint the printed word. Because their heart is engaged elswhere , cares of the world, self-will or heresies stuffed down their throat to open their eyes for knowing the truth. St Paul was set apart to his ministry, planting churches among th Gentiles. For him it was do or die. He did it as best as could. Holy Spirit preserved his epistles so they are canonical. He also wrote few other epistles, I think it was to the Laodicean church, and it is no longer are in use. In my case I am doing a Word ministry having spent all my life with secular literature, films and art. My books are still read though I turned my back on them,Some 20 books ranging various topics and I wrote them for my own pleasure. Still they are there. I believe they are nothing compared to serving the Lord. No more I take interest in them. I believe God trusted me to open my eyes and I write only as revealed to me and my faults and strengths but all for the glory of my Lord.

I believe still that any one can serve so I left it for you to find out the answer yourself.

Later in the small hours it struck me what I could add to my answer in the light of what I recieived. I write because it is how I would glorify the Lord, revealing the spiritual underpinning of the word of God. If one were to say I do hyper spiritualise or mash up passages because of unclean spirit, it is for the Lord to judge. I leave the fools, damned and unteachable to their own devices. Thanks again for reaching out. I shall answer if there something worthwhile to add,

(1 John Part 5):

1 John 1:10 - If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If we say that we have not sinned, and that's what is called a Perfect Tense. That is, you have never sinned up to this point, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. What does that mean? Paul says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

We have all of the Old Testament scriptures that talk about the corruption of man and the sinfulness of man, and all of the New Testament scriptures that talk about man's sin, the total depravity of man. And some of the Gnostics said "I've never sinned. It was my body, not me!"

If we say that we have not sinned, we're making God a liar because God says in His word, you're a sinner. And if you say you have not sinned, His word is not in you. You're not saved!

(1 John Part 4):

1 John 1:6 - If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

How would you like to have somebody call you a liar? You say you have fellowship with God, and that you believe in God, and that you belong to God, but in your life, you're walking in darkness. The word walk in the Greek text shows a continuous action. You're not practicing the truth. You're not walking continuously in the truth.

So, if you say with your mouth that you have fellowship with God, but your life is in darkness, you're lying. You're not having fellowship with God at all. It might be church. It might be bible study. But you're not having fellowship with God if you're walking in sin, walking in darkness.

1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

What the Gnostics used to do is that they would say all physical is evil. Therefore, my physical body is evil, and there's nothing I can do about it. And I'm not going to be judged for any sin that it does. So, they would say to "Just party it up. Live it up. You're not responsible for what your physical body does. You are spirit. And your physical body is evil, and once you die it will be gone, and then you get to go to heaven."

And they take part of truth and combine it with some "special knowledge," and they come up with corruption. But if you say you have no sin (presently, right now), in other words you say "Well, the blood of Jesus Christ does not need to continuously cleanse me when I have fellowship, because I don't have sin," yes you do! We deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The Lord is in the ministry of cleansing and forgiving us for all of our sins. That's His ministry!

(1 John Part 3):

1 John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

This then is the message which we have heard from Him, and we declare to you. So, this is a teaching of Christ, the incarnate one that he just mentioned. That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

This is one of the most important doctrines in the whole bible. With God, there is no shade. There's no dark corner. There's no darkness anywhere with God. So, if you understand that Jesus came and said, "I am the light of the world," He came to enlighten us as to who God is, and our need for a Savior in Christ, and who we are.

Once I receive Jesus Christ, I now have the light of God living inside of me. And I can sleep at night. It doesn't keep me up. But everything that I do, everything that I think, and every place that I go, I'm going in the light. There isn't any place that I can go that I am not in His light. I can go find a dark place in an alley somewhere where nobody can see me, but God's light, His Spiritual light is on.

The difference between a believer and non-believer is that a believer commits acts of sin, whereas a non-believer lives a lifestyle of sin. The reason you and I commit acts of sin but can no longer live a lifestyle of sin, is because our life is in the light.

When we sin, we are sinning in the light. And God's Spirit convicts us. And He brings us to confession and repentance before Him. The person that doesn't know the Lord is in the darkness, spiritual darkness. They have no conviction of their sin. So, they can live a lifestyle of sin. But what a concept. God is light. And there is no darkness in Him at all, none!

(1 John Part 2):

1 John 1:2 - (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

For the life, and notice it doesn't say the word of life. It says for the life, and that would be Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. The life was manifested. That means He appeared. And we have seen, and we are bearing witness, and we show, or literally we declare unto you that eternal life, and basically in Chapter 5, Jesus Christ is said to be the eternal God and He is eternal life. And if you have Christ, you have eternal life.

It says we declare unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;

So right away, in the first two verses, he's presenting the fact that he is an eyewitness account of the physical presence, and the ministry of the eternal God who is now in human form. And he (John) was there!

1 John 1:4 - And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

The word full is what is called the Perfect Tense which means a condition. It's a continuous condition of having your joy full. And remember I shared that the word joy in Greek is the Greek way of expressing satisfaction.

Some people apply it to the human and talk about "happiness" and "bubbly joy" that we're supposed to have all of the time. But it's not applied to the flesh. This is for the spirit to be satisfied at its fullness. So, he says to have fellowship with Christ, and with us. And then secondly, that you'll be satisfied with Him so that you don't chase after the other things.

Biblical Greek Perspectives:

(1 John Part 1):

1 John was written by the apostle John (not John the Baptist). John wrote the gospel of John 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation. John wrote 1, 2 and 3 John to the churches of Asia Minor, written to combat the beginnings of Gnosticism. Gnostics claimed to have "special knowledge" from God that no one else had. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word GNOSIS which means knowledge.

In 1 John, he is presenting the humanity of Jesus Christ, that is, the human form that God came in. I believe the correct doctrine of Jesus Christ is the He is 100% God, and 100% man, when He came.

1 John 1:1 - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

These phrases "from the beginning," are not the same phrase that's in John 1:1 in the gospels, where it says in the beginning. In the beginning, in John's gospel, it is making reference to the time of creation. In 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, he's making reference to the beginning of the ministry of Christ here on the earth. From the beginning is different than in the beginning.

That which was from the beginning, when Christ's ministry began, which we have heard (physically and audibly), and this is a Perfect Tense verb. We literally have heard Him speak, which we have seen with our eyes, with all the physical senses we experienced Christ, which we have looked upon, and in the Greek text, that's the word where we get our word theater from. We viewed Him for three years.

And our hands handled, concerning the Word of life; We touched Him. He was physical. We saw Him. We heard Him. Now this term word of life is a very interesting study in and of itself. In the King James text, the word "word" is capitalized. But in 1 John, John is not making reference to the word being Jesus Christ. He's making reference to the message about life, and that life is God come in human form.

Hi Carleton.

Nice to hear from you!

How are you doing?

Gen.3. 13-17 "Woman's seed"

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."(v.15)

Dominion over all creation was part of the blessing and serpent has now become his enemy. " His blessing was as the double for the Son. Satan worked through the serpent and the word says, 'The devil sins from the beginning so the Son was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.It is thus the world erected over carnal wisdom is like the house built on the sand."(Mt.7.27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.." Rain, floods and the winds are all associated with the world of the Spirit. Foolish builders are still fooling around.The fall is yet to come. Also significant is where we have wicked nations compared to the troubled sea and the angel throwing down the stone is yet another corroboration what God has set in motion: man when ate in his self-will his eyes were opened while his eye of faith was shut. In short the head was totally muddled so walking in the ways of God is foolishness to him. All the heresies owe to his lack of vision.

Jesus is also the seed of the mother of all living. Jesus as the Word become flesh was in the bosom of his Father, In his flesh he preached the gospel of his Father.He was rejected as the imposter churches reject sound doctrine even this day.Thy shall see salvation coming but shall not benefit from it. "And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him:...and he died."(2 Kgs.7.18-20)

Judas Iscariot was one who lifted up his heel to betray the trust of his master. How often such examples who betray the trust of people who vote them in power. Of what use was their eyes?

Hi WALKEC29,

You have received good replies. To me, John is addressing those who will believe in the one after him, Jesus. The baptizing with fire in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16 is after we accept and believe in Jesus as our savior and receive the Holy Spirit; we are then baptized with fire to refine us, as silver and gold are refined by fire.

These metals are put in a refining pot and placed over the fire. As the metals are heated, the impurities float to the top and are scooped off by a ladle and discarded, making the gold and silver purer. This fire represents trials and tribulations we go through to strengthen our faith and purify our hearts so that we become more like Christ, our pot is this world we live in.

Here are a few verses you may read: Malachi 3:2-3, Zachariah 13:9, 1 Corinthians 3:13, James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:7, 1 Peter 4:12.

There are more, and your search is part of your walk in faith. We must embrace trials and tribulations as signs that we are not alone and can have peace, as Jesus said in John 16:33.

God bless,

RLW

Gen.3. 8 "Covenant"

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God"

For Adam and Ev what meant by feeling naked? Shame of course.'They knew they were naked." This knowledge did not come from God but from the act of disobedience. God had said, "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The glory that covered them was the sign that the new found knowledge could not live with the presence of God. The Day that God referred was the day he had decreed for his Son and in repudiating His direct command he broke the Covenant. He walked together with God and the glory was the sign. The same question directed at the children of Israel is implicit here and it refers to the everlasting Covenant. " Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" So the cool of the day holds a special emphasis here to indicate an evening where the covenant breakers must not be allowed what privileges they enjoyed.

From their expulsionwe have the same continuationism, 'And the evening and the morning were' leading the death of their soul.

Now where were they in their glorious covering? The garden was in the presence of God where the firmament or the heaven was that sign that they were created after our image and after our likeness, Above the waters represented the mercy of the Father, The Garden was positioned in the mid-air so speak.

The cherub with flaming sword kept the fallen man further east. So the garden was a microcosm of the world made to appear by the word of God. The east of Garden is the physical world where one may ask 'Where are the dinos?'. God does not forget lawbreakers so fossils keep time; so shall a leaf be a witness. Give some 60 millennia a fallen leaf is impressed on a sediment rock and the dust falling continually shall witness against their gap theory. Laws of nature is pendent to the law of the Spirit.

John 3:36

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Blessings

Thank you for your reply . As regards to ANY ' isms' they are all wrong in that people have taken but one verse or doctrine and think they can understand the scriptures through that lense so to speak . Doctrines if they are of God can be likened unto the bones of the body. Each has its place and function in the body and it is impossible to put one doctrine as the be all and end all or try to put it where it does not fit or work and tomtr6 to do so you have to " twist the scriptures" into saying what they do not .

All the isms I've come across are but two xtremescofva ' position' people will defend to the death but lose sight of that what the scriptures as a whole teach..

Your right as to many a " hireling" in our pulpits who are in it for the money the power or ' prestige" rather than being called of zGod and do not live the sheep .

Why I asked you for clarification or an argument as to how you arrived at the conclusions you have expressed is because that is the biblical way of doing itv as exemplified by Paul expecially in his letters to the Romans and Hebrews . He presents an argument that he seeks his readers to follow closely . To what end? That we might come to the same conclusion as he has that we might all be of the same mind think the same thing etc. Till we all come to a unity of the faith" if faith comes by unto only hearing the Word of God but by understanding it also then to have a unity of the faith demands a unity of understanding to be of the same mind . What mind? Of Him who knoweth the things of God even the Spurit of truth .

" Let this mind be in yiu as it was in Christ .etc.

It is written that the body is girly joined together and every joint supplies etc if then we have in any measure of understanding and wish to express it publicly we must therefore not only state it but give our reasoning and argument that drew us to such conclusions and understanding . For we help no one if we do not .Nor can we convince .

Gen.3.11 "Custom /culture"

"And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?"

Glory of the gospel was the covering of Adam that God had clothed them. Male and female he created them. A single fit what was fit for the man 'after our image' did not need instructions whether ironing or drip dry required. All such labels are knowledge but serves only the flesh.

What was the gospel of his Son? "The light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God' gives another dimension to Christ who was with God, and is called the garment of righteousness.(2 Cor.4.4)

The serpent made Adam and Eve realise their nakedness, a knowledge that is troubling us even this day. Who decided that one part of my body is decent and the other is not? It served in a patriarchal society of elders how Susannah should be dressed, and arbitrarily of course must be followed or else. In this manner opinion of many in a communal set up norms and rules and is used to tie down the other. In deep South, where the Bible belt is entrenched, they may conduct serpent handling as a sign of their spiritual powers but come an incest in the family, it is a taboo but MTP is definitely not the solution. It is going against the Bible. It is thus at every level the devil's doctrine has seeped into the society and the churches have no clue whatsoever who is behind their culture? They hold up their Bible after a fashion. The woe to ye tirade in Mt.ch.23 point to the tradition which in our present day is alive and thriving. The day decreed for the Son shall lead to a day of the Lamb. To say the least, carnal wisdom stokes culture wars, which is devilish.

Hi Walkec29.

I concur with Brother Chris

Fire is often used in scripture to emphasize judgment or refining.

When it has unquenchable attached to it I believe that is judgment.

Matthew 3:11-12 reads "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. The chaff is what gets burned with UNQUENCHABLE fire.

I don't believe the Church is considered chaff.

That seems to speak of judgment. That's what John the Baptist preached,

I believe that's what the early Church believed.

The belief that it means Martyrdom came later but doesn't line up with scripture.

The baptism by fire comes from the Lord himself,

I can't believe he burned the believers by stake with unquenchable fire.

I hope this helps.

God bless.

Hi "GiGi" I don't think we can compare the earthly and the Spiritual in this question. For and be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. Means that one has been baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. Which in turn means that you have received God's gifts and not death and corruption. When you have been baptized in this way you can go out in faith and love to your fellow human beings and preach the gospel as described in 2 Tim 4:2 and much more. Live in the flow of the Holy Spirit.

But it is good that you mention this because we can see it in another perspective. God bless you with all Spiritual blessings in the Heavenly world, in Jesus name, Amen

Hi "Richard H Priday" Thanks for the nice writings and we can see that you write from the scriptures. It is the truth that is in God's Word. We may not see the meaning there and then. But He will show us eventually if we are resistant. It is certain that we will get nothing if we do not get it from the Lord. Not even if we try we will get nothing. So God has blessed you with knowledge and wisdom.

It would be too bad if you no longer have time to post the Words. But you have to live in this time that we are in. And that is important too, when it comes from the Lord, that's how I see it. May the Lord Jesus bless you and yours, your steps and decisions in this life. And someday we will see each other if not here in this mortal life then in the next. Be afraid of your heart that is in the light of truth, and that way we know the Lord's will for our lives. Just to mention it, impartiality is the most important thing we can be. For those who know the scripture, the most important thing is not to just throw out the words. You don't do that, nor do I. But I get very inspired by certain things and then the Words come in a row. Since I came to the Lord, my daily care with Him has also given me words for the day. I use them and stick to them without it needing and worse tied to a topic. This is because I want to be faithful to Him and my understanding of our co-existence. For me, the word must go out because we know Heb 4:12.13 Think about it! So when someone, as I see it, reads the word of God and takes it to themselves, by God's will. And of course it is His will. Will that person be able to cope and resist for any length of time? Before then, the Word does a complete work in that person's heart. Now I am open now :D All glory to God who has saved me through Jesus. So continue as far as you can with what you are doing. It is valuable and appreciated. Love you in Christ and when you sleep we sit here in the cold north and praise the Lord for all that He has done in our lives.

Hello KarinaCurrastorres,

Welcome to the site I deeply respect your journey with Jesus.

May you be blessed

Gen.3.11-12 "One flesh"

"And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."

The Spirit in the previous chapter the relationship of man and woman. "because she was taken out of Man" they were one flesh. What was Adam 'after our likeness' he was in frame of reference to the Word became flesh. Adam and Eve were one flesh as Christ and the Bride are of the self spiritual body and by the Covenant tied to the Word, 'Thy word is truth.' Without it what knowledge did eating of the fruit give him? He pointed his finger at his helpmeet. Carnal wisdom is devilish and cause divisions. We see the devil at work because his seed is sprouting already. He takes the role of a victim and blames his wife for setting the temptation before him. Notice he does not mention that he was so besotted with Eve and ate the fruit when she shared it with him. Where was his right to say,'no'? This is how Satan has created a trail of his progeny through the generations of man. Alternative truth is where you can argue from both side equally well. In order to fight the slow staining contagion of evil God sets for Noah the standard squarely based on the gospel. "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." (Gen.6.3) Man's life is set in multiples of 10. God says, for 'that he also is flesh' the number 10 workes as the number for condemnation. Since the fall the flesh is synonymous with law of sin and death. In order to indicate a generation, the Spirit has the tag of 100.

2.22-34 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Jesus said,He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." This is how God sets holy family and it concerning his body. 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;

Hi Debby, Thank you for answering me. Yes it is true that the Lord shows us His presence. We are all so different and yet we gather in His presence. As in an army we gather. In Him we shall be equal. And outside we are then members of His body. Where God's gifts flow if we let them flow. May it be far from us that we do not let the Spirit flow within us. Amen. Then they become living water! :) God IS good to all of us who believe in Him.

There has been a great bird death here in the North now. And the birds are few. And there is little bird chirping, and I am saddened by how sad it would have been if the little beeps and beautiful chirping from the birds were to be completely gone from us. For all of creation sighs to God. So if we think that everything He has created is also not meant as a praise to Him. Romans 8:22 Just some thoughts on the Creator's desire. May God bless you and yours. Be well and it is good to hear from you.

Please read the line

"Cleverly he avoided from setting the knowledge untethered to truth." as

"Cleverly he avoided from setting the knowledge tethered to truth."

Gen.3.1 "Good and evil"

"And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

The serpent was certainly in the loop and was aware of the commandment of God. So he puts the credibility test. He does not deny God's word outright but instead how convinced she was of the word of as the final say on the matter of eating. She was for answering him. In a roundabout way he set out to see the whole matter from his standpoint. The alternative truth or contextual truth as a teacher holds on laity who is his captive audience relies on the same gambit. God says,"Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:/ Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me./ Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein." Without sticking to the holiness of God and his Covenant in his Son, the credibility test as the serpent set before the woman was to loosen her commitment, the imposter churches steer the congregation away from the total commitment. It is how the nation who rejected the Son and set out to save their way of life embraced the Pagan overlords. The same trick works and CUFI and such organizations are to sow tares among the faithfuls.

In vv.4-5 we have the serpent's thesis:" And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:/For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

Cleverly he avoided from setting the knowledge untethered to truth. Without it what have we? Carnal wisdom. It is not knowledge of the holy but contentntious and devilish. "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish./ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (Jas.3.15-16)

Hello Free,

God has indeed set apart a place for Israel. Jesus Christ has spoken the last word on them. It is outer darkness.

Christian Greetings! A most beautiful part of Salvation in Christ is the rest in this life that he gives to our souls.

Another marriage in the Lord in our family, we are thankful once again. Hope all is well your way!

Carleton

Hello again, WALKEC29

Sometimes martyrdom was called "baptism of blood".

Hello, WALKE29

In the early church, Church Fathers wrote that baptism by fire was martyrdom, sometimes in a literal sense of being set on fire by the Romans, but not always was it applied so literally. It was spoken of for a person who was martyred.

I think in recent times it has other definitions, but in those early centuries, it was spoken of what happens to those believers who are martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Hello Free,

I'm currently creating watercolor-style bookmarks for my Bible, and right now I'm working through the book of Ruth.

As I create these bookmarks, I've noticed how certain elements in nature. like the softness of a feather, the calm of a watercolor sky, or even the sound of a bird. can gently remind us of God's nearness. Not because they are the Holy Spirit, but because they evoke a sense of peace, comfort, and holy presence that we often associate with time spent in prayer or Scripture.

As ( Romans 14:21) reminds us, we are called to walk in sensitivity toward one another's faith. So I want to make it clear that I'm not attempting to personalize Scripture or assign new meanings to it, but simply creating visual prompts that stir the heart and reflect the beauty of living in fellowship with God.

One phrase I'd like to include is "We live in a different world, and there are three that testify in heaven." (A reference to 1 John 5:7, depending on the translation.)

That's really interesting! I didn't know the 2017 KJV revision translated into Norwegian would omit the name Jehovah entirely. I wonder what translation choices led to that. Personally, I find it meaningful when God's names are preserved. especially in study Bibles. But it's always helpful to compare versions too!

Hello WALKEC29. This expression, taken from Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire", was given by John the Baptist when the people (especially the Jewish religious leaders) gathered around him as he was baptizing with the baptism of repentance. He then speaks to them about the coming One, Jesus, who would not baptize with water but with the Holy Spirit and with Fire.

There are several interpretations for this passage, particularly "baptism with Fire". John does refer in verse 10 about the tree that produces bad fruit would be cast into the fire; and again in verse 12, that Jesus will gather the wheat (the good crop) into the storehouse, whereas the chaff will be horribly & eternally burned. Both these verses speak the same, being directed to these religious leaders, that they are the ones under the coming judgement, unless they repent & turn to the coming Savior. This is one interpretation that is valid.

The other is, that John was speaking of both Holy Spirit baptism and fire in the one thought, & probably inferring that the same Spirit of Christ would be given to indwell the believer but also bring about a fire in them. How could we understand this aspect? Some here might have other understanding, though I tend to lean to the one who puts their faith in Christ Jesus & is baptized with the Holy Spirit, will (must) have the Spirit's Work go through that believer to remove/burn off the dross or chaff of sin harboring within. This is not to mean that we become sinless as a result, but the Holy Spirit's Work, being manifold, is chiefly to keep us pure and holy before our Lord, keeping us very sensitive to sin's temptations & entrance, & to deal with it soon, so He doesn't have to deal with us. So the Holy Spirit and His Fire are continually at work within us.

So both interpretations seem valid.

Prayer and the fellowship of the saints

Another benefit of the "house church" community that I attended a few years back was the lengthy prayers. There was a minimum of a two hour prayer session for ourselves (as everyone involved did at least a few days a week of street and nursing home ministry) on Fridays for one example. These days in church it is hard to find anything near that length; for those who do attend. Sundays usually involve only a few minutes and usually given by the Pastor after requests are taken at Sunday school along with a brief prayer before and after the service. Thankfully there is now a Sunday evening service for an hour which allows for some more prayer at my local congregation.

Some of us at least have probably heard second hand stories at least of those who have prayed decades for their children who finally saw the fruit of their efforts with repentance. I don't believe that is an iron clad guarantee either but that it is the means and method to effectively reach the elect that God chooses to utilize for such purposes. Jesus acts as high Priest to us.

26 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.

27 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. ( Romans 8:26-27)

Jesus according to Hebrews acts as the "High Priest" ( Heb. 4:14-16). Thus He would fulfill the role of being in the inner sanctuary that the O.T. Levitical priesthood would perform in the earthly sanctuary as a type of foreshadowing. Knowing that all our brothers are going through like temptations ( 1 Peter 5:9) we should intercede on their behalf through prayers that are sent to heaven. We of course can't intercede directly but can be involved in the process of travailing in the Spirit ( Gal. 4:19 best example).

Hello Susan71. Just a little more to what the others have shared with you & going back even a little further about the Name of God: I don't believe we can be so particular about what Name we should use when speaking to or referring to the One Almighty God. God sees our hearts when we speak to Him/of Him and He knows when our thoughts & affections are directed to Him alone & accepts that we are not given how His Name is to be spoken or pronounced.

One matter that is relevant, is how the Jews, the people chosen by God were to be called by His Name. As you know they were called Israel (or, Yisrael), meaning "the one who struggles & prevails with God" (as from Genesis 32:28). They only knew God as God (Elohim), until God revealed His Name (Yahweh) to them through Moses ( Exodus 3:15, Exodus 6:2,3); though Moses used that Name earlier when he penned the Pentateuch.

We don't know how Moses & Israel spoke or pronounced God's Name even though the records show that Name. But till today, the Jews never pronounce God's Name (Yahweh), for it is said that they never know how to say it & not offend the LORD or violate the third Commandment. They knew that the Hebrew letters (yud, hei, vav, hei = YHVH) spelled God's Name, but were careful not to pronounce it for they didn't know how to, and thus not greatly err. So, they would say Hashem ('the Name') instead of Yahweh, or if writing, use YHVH or G-D.

Now, you probably are aware of all this, but I state it to show that even if we (or as the KJB sometimes notes) to either choose to use God's Name as Yahweh, Jehovah, or LORD, or God, then if we were to be absolutely convinced about using God's REAL Name, would even using any of them lead us into error? So, for some G-D, or YHVH, or Yahweh, or Jehovah, or even the LORD God would seem appropriate to use for that is what we have been given in His Word. The pronunciations, I believe, don't matter to the LORD, but to Whom our thoughts, prayers, & affections are directed.