Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 193

What does it mean to be born again ? ?

Jesus was telling Nicodemus , the Pharisees that he need to be born again in the Spirit of the kingdom of God on earth with the King Messiah Jesus Christ. Born again was for the Jews to take notice of there new kingdom.

John 3:3

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

In the four gospels, Jesus told Nicodemus to be born in the word and the Holy Spirit to receive Salvation.

John 3:5

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

The water is the word .

1 Peter 1:23

Beingbornagain, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

The Twelve Disiples never knew that Jesus Christ was going to die for all our sins and be buried and rise again for our Salvation, they wanted there King Messiah on earth ruling.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Begotten Son is nothing new, it's talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ but it was hid in God.

Psalm 2:7

I will declare the decree: theLordhath said unto me, Thou art mySon; this day have Ibegottenthee.

Apostle Paul never speaks about being born again, it's a Israel thing for the kingdom on earth, the New Jerusalem.

Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Part 1

Will the Church age Believers received a mansion ? ?

Jesus was talking to the Twelve Disiples about many mansions for them .

John 14:2

In my Father's house are manymansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Jesus is promising The Twelve Disiples the twelve thrones, just like the many mansions.

Matthew 19:28

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelvethrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Part 2

The only building the church age will get is in heaven.

2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have abuildingof God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Our building is in the Lod Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:21

In whom all thebuildingfitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

We have the temple of God living inside us .

1 Corinthians 3:16

Know ye not that ye are thetempleofGod, and that the SpiritofGoddwelleth in you?

We are all to build on Apostle Paul's foundation and that is the gospel of grace.

1 Corinthians 3:10

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wisemasterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

May we all understand the word of truth.

Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Part 1

God has bless the Jews and Muslims on earth and the Christians are getting the benefits from it by Jesus Christ.

In the Bible, Abraham had two sons , Ishmael and Isaac. 1 Chronicles 1:28 The sons of Abraham;Isaac,andIshmael.

The Muslims are bless on earth because God made a promise to Ishmael.

Genesis 17:20

And as forIshmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Isaac new name will be Israel and will be God's chosen people for the promises and covenant in Abraham's seed.

Genesis 17:19

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his nameIsaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

God never forgot the Muslims. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries .

Genesis 25:13-16

13And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

The Jews are God's chosen people.

Genesis 12:3

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 32:28

And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, butIsrael: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Part 2

The Christians get the benefit from the Abraham's God, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:17

And if children, thenheirs;heirsof God, and joint-heirswith Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

If it wasn't for the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus, the woman would not have the freedom liberty that they have now.

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

We are Adopted into the family of God because of Abraham's faith and we are bless to receive what comes out of it. America is the strongest nation in the world for it.

Galatians 3:29

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, andheirsaccording to the promise.

Now we have the gospel of grace that is simple to receive with no works, it's a gift from God in Heaven.

Romans 6:23

For thewagesofsinis death; but the giftofGod is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The free gift of the gospel of grace.

True assurance of faith part 6

Our new desires are to serve the Lord; our heart being renewed and minds day by day to be conformed into His image. A truly saved person doesn't live for their emotions or for some experience but they do know they have and are continuing to experience something new; that is fundamentally changing them forever. The new and true believer is able to stop obsessing on themselves 24 hours a day; and in fact realizes that was their nature and mindset. They realize that even the best intentions and what they thought was love was tainted by sin. Most fundamentally there finally is no interest in all the things of the world that formerly consumed their time; minds; bodies and souls. It's just BORING!

These characterizations of course are not discovered instantly and all of us have weaknesses and periodically will sin in some capacity. In theory we never should sin again if we continue until the end of our natural lives to trust in Him 24/7. No one can say they are sinless; but we should be making progress and we should sense when grieving the Spirit.

One of the best arguments for eternal security is that we are the "purchased possession"; God can't resell us the blood of the cross bought are redemption ( Eph. 1:14). We are of course sealed by the Spirit and there are many other assurances of like manner. Of course there are many verses which seem to counter this in terms of warnings. I suppose at this late hour I had better retire. I could get into a lengthy discussion of many of these verses but thought I would leave it open for others to ask about some of them. I will say that a Christian still sins and has to ask forgiveness; and there are results in this life that are detrimental and perhaps deadly as Paul warned to the Corinthians taking communion unworthily. God in His mercy will take us out if needed; and we risk getting into heaven without rewards as through the fire IF we are truly saved if not careful.

Yes Brother Giannis.

That's pretty much like it is here in the US.

These days it's hard to reach the younger generation.

I believe it takes much prayer.

We often here prayer requests for a nation but not so much the youth.

Thanks and God bless.

Part 5 Assurance of faith

The problem with the "once saved always saved" concept; bringing home my point in the previous post; is the idea that some sort of mystical thing happened where we suddenly are saved without any obvious changes occurring. Cheap consumerism may be a human trait in acquiring something which we throw away a short time later. God redeemed us with intent for an eternal future in His Kingdom; and to purge us from our old ways to make us fitting and suitable to be in His presence now; and heaven later.

If someone doesn't see Christ in us then they aren't able through our lifestyle to hear His voice; and our words may not have effect either. There are some exceptions to that as even false preachers have seen genuine converts. Speaking His Word will have its effect but let's face it who here wants to see converts despite our actions as opposed to because of our Godly lives demonstrating Christ's love and in turn bringing the fear of God to them? This brings us to Balaam and the mad prophet who a donkey had to speak to to correct. God spoke through the High Priest who prophesied about one man dying for the nation ( John 11:50-51). Somehow even Pilate insisted that King of the Jews be written above the cross Jesus hung on.

Now to some acts of true converts.

Repentance. Going back to the James verse I quoted in an earlier post today; we can talk about hell until we are blue in the face; an in fact many who claim to have had an NDE or actually briefly perished and had what they said was a hell experience admittedly often try to forget; or it doesn't change them immediately from their sinful lifestyle; and they state they weren't saved at that point. Again it is the sin nature that is the root of the problem not just outer actions; only Christ can truly crucify the old nature. And only HE can show us how truly evil we are; and the love of Christ does that if it is AGAPE and truly from the Lord. We die but have NEW desires in Him.

Saving faith Part 4.

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ( Heb. 11:38-39). Note-I used the New KJV for testimony to replace good "report" as their testimony resulted in suffering. God will wait to glorify the O.T. saints and those N.T. ones in new bodies until the Resurrection immediately preceding the Rapture. Let us hope we can live up to these examples!

Emphasizing once again the fruits of true repentance and salvation; it certainly is noteworthy that the history of the so called "hall of fame" of saints listed in Hebrews 11 showed many martyrs and great suffering among those who waited for the heavenly country over any riches and pleasure of this world (Moses as an example I pointed out yesterday). This is "normal" Christianity both historically and in much of the world today where persecution abounds. Hopefully short term missions trips will help wake some believers up to these realities or at least supporting missionaries.

Looking at another example in Luke 5:8 Peter says after fishing all night and catching nothing and reluctantly casting the net because Jesus told him to in broad daylight and the resulting tsunami of fish... When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Studying that verse in the church service I attended this week the point was brought home that Peter called Him Lord because of the uncontrollable reaction to the awesome fear of who He was. Too many I think believe Christ's work was done at the cross like a one stop shopping trip rather than it being the beginning of Him working out salvation through fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12) where He is Lord and Master over our whole life. Someone made the quote Jesus is either Lord over all or nothing at all. Let me know who that was.

Getting serious Part 3 on assurance of salvation

Getting back to scripture James 1:23-4 says For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

I have brought out the idea that many in the Calvanist movement didn't like the admonitions in the book of James since it mentions our good works in relation to salvation. With hundreds of like admonitions in scripture we simply can't ignore the fact that good works are a part of EVIDENCE of saving faith and we not only can but MUST realize without such works showing good fruit that we are not truly saved. Now before everyone gets too antsy about this; of course our sanctification and perhaps realization of how as a believer He is changing us day by day; what He is calling us to do and knowledge and wisdom of what are sins of commission as well as omission take time.

Getting back to my list salvation is NOT

Grafting ourselves into our FAMILY HERITAGE based on our lineage being something special somehow justifying either them or ourselves before God in judgment Day

Making a verbal assent of faith that is based on ANYTHING other than the Holy Spirit's prompting

Making a vow to do acts of penance or self sacrifice to earn God's favor

Attempting to follow Christ but mixing in other religion or traditions; as well as following an unscriptural occultic "Christ"

Looking for personal experiences over love and obedience to Christ

"Lording it over" others because we are proud that we are Christians or showing bad fruits of lack of self control and anger for those "sinners" and not possessing the love of Christ.

In similar fashion we don't just love those who love us.

The last two categories are a bit tricky because I have known true Christians who have a short fuse as a personality trait; as well as shy individuals. We must be changed; from flawed to flawless.

Take 2 Eternal security or lack thereof

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ( James 3:17).

See Colossians 3:2 in regard to the mind of Christ along with Romans 8:16.

The unbeliever will go through life much as Solomon describes it in following animal type passions; and dying much in the same way ( Ecclesiastes 3:19). Nonetheless we are differed from animals as we have some concept of "eternity in our hearts" ( Ecclesiastes 3:11) and the believer as these verses show have the true light from God which guides the now living spiritual man to direct their actions.

Let us go through a few examples that are commonly seen which are NOT assurances of salvation

I can illustrate my point through a poem; hopefully not flagged but I think it better brings some of these concepts home.

I come from a native tongue not from some ragged slum (ok not the best rhyme) (racist)

I'm the pride and joy of my family 5th generation with my name on the tombstone (pride)

Outside our private home. (respecter of persons)

We made something of ourselves in this world; a grand reputation (guilt by association with family pride)

Put the fear of God in those heathen and reaped the harvest of our emancipation (superiority complex; conquest mindset)

I've got more titles than many famous statesmen (again pride in status making importance of man made titles like Pharisees)

In my heritage there are Bishops; Deacons and Knights of persuasion

And my endless good works are proof of my salvation. (the clincher; good works EARN our way into heaven)

How about them apples? Ok I seriously hope that everyone monitoring this page will bear with me; as I extract my pertinent meanings from this little deviation from the norm...as a little damage control I did a preemptive parenthetical commentary to point out the faults of this worldly mindset).

More to come I hope

The topic of "Once Saved Always Saved" or eternal security

I am fairly sure I covered this subject before; but today it seems to be going viral with more and more social media posts claiming you can lose your salvation. Since there are HUNDREDS of verses which appear to relate to this matter (Dake's Bible has something close to 1000 listed); it seems it is something warranting further study (again with character limit a series of studies).

I want to hammer home a concept that I may have touched on but not necessarily relating to this particular topic; and that is of DYING to the old nature. The fear of judgment is of an eternal punishment for an eternal sin nature; for any sins we do in the body now won't be done in the afterlife; at least with any satisfaction. Perhaps the death of my mom recently and seeing others such as my dad and aunt with their time soon coming has brought this concept home to me. On a surface level what is common to man is a desire to survive; to hold onto our lives. When Christ talks about losing our lives there is a literal aspect but more importantly; I think it is losing the appeal of this world and our identity in what WAS our sin nature. This concept of what we formerly were; of course is illustrated in 1 Cor. 6:11. What appeals to us and what unregenerate man tries to hold onto is the comforts of this world; and sadly often the other lost people around them. Some other time I may get more into the subject of how people that cannot accept that their loved ones never showed any evidence of knowing Christ and instead God "chooses their delusions" when they think they sense their departed ones around them ( Isaiah 66:4).

Perhaps a better way to start this subject is to find the proper meaning of 2 Corinthians 13:5. Much confusion comes when we accept a verbal affirmation of our belief in Christ as a foolproof piece of evidence. Otherwise verses such as this wouldn't exist.

More on this in the next posting.

I went through that with my mom recently and my dad has dementia. Of course the spiritual condition of each of these individuals is crucial to their handling of the situation. I pray that you will find wisdom if and when you get your husband help as to being institutionalized or health care at home. I don't know the relation of these other individuals if they are family or friends.

May the Lord bring you some respite or help so that you can be refreshed enough to help your husband and or others in need.

May the doctors and other care people be believers; the Lord has blessed me in that way and I am confident He can do that for you; and finally for now I pray for wisdom in whether you take traditional or other measures to cope with this situation (again don't know if you are directly responsible for anyone listed here other than your husband).

Keep me and others posted for more detailed prayer on this matter.

Agape; RIch P

(2 Thessalonians Part 6):

2 Thessalonians 3:7 - For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

The word ought is the word necessary. And the word follow is the word MIMETAI. That is the word for mimic.

2 Thessalonians 3:8 - Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought;

Interesting that the word nought is the word donation. That's interesting! We didn't eat any person's food as a donation. But we worked in labor and travail night and day, in order that we not be chargeable to any of you:

2 Thessalonians 3:16 - Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. That is, through everything. He is the God of peace. He's the Lord of peace. May He give you peace always through all things.

Literal translation: The Lord is with you all.

Now if He's the Lord of peace and He's with me all the time, then I can experience the peace of God. He's with me all the time.

This is all I have for 2 Thessalonians. I'll begin with the pastoral letters next, Paul's letters to Timothy and to Titus. What a great study those letters will be!

God Bless!!!

(2 Thessalonians Part 5):

2 Thessalonians 3:1 - Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:

The Greek word for "free course" means to run, that it might just run, not be hindered.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 - But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you, and keep you from evil. Both are statements of facts, who will establish you, and who will keep you from evil. The word evil has the definite article. He will keep you from (the evil one).

2 Thessalonians 3:5 - And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

And the Lord direct your hearts, into two things: into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. Interesting the emphasis here, the patient waiting is HUPOMENO, which is the word that Paul says represents this life, to remain under the circumstances of your life here on the earth.

That's what it's all about. What do I do while I'm waiting for Christ to come? Remain under! That's how you learn how to trust the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 - Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

He says now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (and this is a "heavy one" here), that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that is walking disorderly, and not after the tradition which you received from us.

The word withdraw is a very technical word. It comes from the word to stand, but it means to purposely stand off from someone. To withdraw means to stay away from. People who profess to be Christians but are not walking the way Paul describes a Christian should walk, he says as you receive from us!

(2 Thessalonians Part 4):

2 Thessalonians 2:11 - And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion. The literal language here (ENERGEIAN PLANE) is that He will send them an energizing error, an actual spirit, or energizing force that's going to overcome them and lead them into error or false teaching, that they should believe a lie. God's going to send it.

2 Thessalonians 2:12 - That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

That they all might be damned, literally it's the word judged, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The word believed, and the word pleasure, are both Aorist Participles which means that they judge because they had not believed the truth, because they had taken pleasure in unrighteousness. So, this is the judgment, something that they had already settled in.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Therefore, brethren, the first commandment: stand firm, and hold the traditions, and the word hold is the word grip (KRATEITE). It's not the normal word hold. It's the word grip. Grip the tradition which you have been taught, either through word, or through our letter.

2 Thessalonians 2:17 - Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

May He comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work. The word good is the word AGATHOS which is one of several words used for good, and that denotes the good of God's Spirit.

(2 Thessalonians Part 3):

2 Thessalonians 2:3 - Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

He says let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except, and now he's going to present these things must happen before Christ comes back and brings judgment prior to.

Over the years, the term "falling away" has been applied to several things, especially the church, that we would be taken out and that must happen first. The Greek word is APOSTASIA. It's the word apostasy. First of all, there must come an apostasy first. Apostasy means that people will leave the truth of the gospel, leave the faith in Christ, and it will be a godless world more and more. There must be an apostasy against God and the gospel.

Secondly, and that man of sin be revealed, who is called the son of perdition;

The word perdition means destruction. It's a title. There's only one other person in the bible called that and that's Judas Iscariot in John Chapter 17. So, there must be an apostasy. Secondly, the man of sin needs to be revealed. He can't just show up. It's going to take some circumstances that are going to reveal him.

2 Thessalonians 2:5 - Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

Then he says do you not remember that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? In the Greek text, that's an Imperfect Tense. I was telling you these things, which means he told them more than once, and taught them.

(2 Thessalonians Part 2):

2 Thessalonians 1:10 - When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints. Glorification is a word that represents the very nature and substance of God. How do we give glory to God? It's when people see Christ in us.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 - That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

He presents to them the rapture and he says that you be not soon shaken in mind. The word mind is the word NOUS, which is a Greek word that describes the perceptive processes of the mind. He says that you soon not be shaken in mind, or be troubled, and notice these three things: neither through spirit, and that is somebody coming along and saying that some spirit gave them a "revelation".

Nor through a word, nor through a letter. He's addressing this letter problem. He says nor through a letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. The oldest manuscripts say the day of the Lord, not day of Christ. So, you might take note of that. We are talking about the day of the Lord.

Biblical Greek Perspectives:

1 Thessalonians gave Instruction of Paul on the Rapture of the Church. In 2 Thessalonians, we are given the Instruction of Paul on the Second Coming of Christ

(2 Thessalonians Part 1): The Instruction of Paul on the Second Coming of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 - We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

He says we are bound, and that's the Greek word OPHEILOMEN that means to be indebted. We are indebted to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, and the word meet is the word worthy, because of two reasons:

Because your faith grows exceedingly, and this is the only place in the New Testament where this Greek word is found "grows exceedingly." That means that their growth was very unusual. It was not normal. That your faith grows exceedingly, and secondly: the charity, and that's the word AGAPE love, of every one of you all toward each other is abounding, or increasing;

The two elements of the believer's life that Paul marked and expressed as being the genuine evidence of a person's salvation, is that they have faith and trust towards Christ, and love for the people of God.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 - So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

The word glory is the word boast. So that we ourselves, we boast in you in the churches of God for your patience, and that's the word HUPOMENO which means to remain under, and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you are enduring:

He says that it's your remaining under and your faith. You remain under your circumstances trusting the Lord, so therefore we are using you for an example. And you do this in all your persecutions and tribulations that you are presently enduring. They didn't back down. They remained under to trust the Lord.

Brothers Chris and Spencer,

Again, I want to thank you both. As I've mentioned in the past, the King James will always be my bible of choice even though it is not perfect. I own several bibles, all various KJB versions with the exception of a Living Bible (LB) that was given to me by my mother 46 years ago as I was leaving for the military. As you know, the LB is a paraphrase so I do not use that one for any study. In fact, it's been in a box of storage items for many years. Not sure why mom gave me that because she only reads the KJB. I guess she figured that it would be easier for me to read. Several years later, she was shocked when I read to her some of the things from the LB. Anyway, enough of that!

Chris, I read through everything you shared with brother Giannis. Wow! It is truly amazing to see how the Lord works in people's lives, so thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

God Bless you both, along with all who visit this forum.

which chapter in Job refers to "hoary head"?

Thanks brother Chris.

Thanks brother Spencer.

My intention was not to deal with the educational system of a country but to show how deep the spirit of world has entered these systems, which systems brainwash little kid's brains with secular ideas about God, homosexuality, trans, queer, ..., and other ideas which are opposed to God's Word. And how careful parents must be to keep their kids away from such ideas. I don't know much about the US but here in Europe the thing has gone to exteremes. There are countries where kids are tought about homosexuality since kindergarden, and parents are not even allowed to refuse their kids attending such classes. There are countries where one must sign a contract and admit that they accept homosexuality in order to work in the public sector. Other countries close down churches who dare preach that homosexuality is a sin. And one could be taken to court if they say anything against such things, accused of racism. So you see there is a whole system that presses christians in accepting such "values" or just shut their mouths up and keep their ideas for themselves. And christians evrywhere are in a tough position.

On the other hand many christians are following world's way in trying to become "successful", the secular way of course. They are happy having successful kids. Not much interested about their kids' spiritual condition. Everything for them is translated as material success.

But we have been given our kids by God to bring them safely to heaven. What are we going to tell Him if we haven't done that?

We must be very careful and close to our kids and their life. Times are tough, tougher than any other age before.

Hey Jesse,

Thank you once again, brother, for doing this. When someone argues that there is no rapture simply because the word "rapture" doesn't appear in the Bible, that reasoning feels unsubstantiated. I won't say much more, just a question or two for anyone who wants to study this topic further. It's not about the term "rapture" itself; it's about where we go after the gathering together. Is that destination heaven or earth? Will the rapture occur before or after the beast rises? Other things in these verses, I'm sure they will come up again, do not want to interrupt your work on this project.

God bless,

RLW

Thanks Brother Chris for sharing those testimonies!

There very encouraging.

You've shared them in part, but not in much detail. Thanks again!

It's a reminder that if God's will is in it he will see it through.

Blessings to you Brother for all that you do and being an example for the Glory of God.

Page 4. Giannis.

Yes, this man had a badly damaged motorbike, probably had some bruising & grazes, but he thought nothing of them, but that his life was spared. We rejoiced together with him, our brother shared the Gospel with him probably using this vehicle accident to show how Jesus came to spare his life from not only this accident but from a far worse accident & suffering awaiting him: Hell. Muslims know only too well about Hell, but this shaken bike rider was now able to see & understand how real this Jesus was in this tragedy & how real His Salvation is to all who call upon Him in Truth & Faith. And for us too as a team, we saw once again the Lord's intervention on our behalf, & the public were satisfied that all was well & then dispersed. We continued, without incident, to our area of book sales.

These were just two more incidents that I can so vividly remember (there would have been others also that are now vague), where we see how the Lord works so wonderfully on behalf of those who put Him first, not caring for our own lives, but for those going into a Christ-less eternity. May we all seek Him, His Righteousness & His Kingdom first in everything - He will add to all we need in this life, whether for provisioning, security, direction, strengthening, & giving us a fresh vision of all that He is to us who believe. Sadly, we inhibit Him for our lack of faith & boldness in stepping out with Him. Blessings brother & to all reading here.

Page 3.

Ordinarily, the right thing to do would be to immediately stop & render help, even though my wise Dad once told me that if ever such an accident were to happen in that part of the world, it would be best & safest to keep on driving & go to the nearest police station to report it & get help. Why? Because the enraged mob near the accident site, who would think nothing of who was right or wrong in that situation, would simply come over to damage the 'offending' vehicle, pull out the occupants & do whatever they deemed fit because we collided with another person on the road, resulting in injury or death. Even with my Dad's advice spinning in my head, I just felt before the Lord, that I just couldn't drive off, even if had the responsibility of my team mates' lives. So, we pulled over & stopped & I asked my Pakistani brother, who was fluent in Urdu, to quickly go over & see to that fallen man. My team looked on with interest, as I too scanned over the people gathering & see their faces/actions. After a minute or two, what we saw amazed us. My Pakistani brother & the motorcyclist were laughing & hugging each other. Were we having a dream? Were these two related to each other? There should have been a mighty ruckus, flared tempers, & action against us. When things settled down, & the laughing & hugging ceased, my brother returned to us & we enquired about this extraordinary thing that just happened. And here we see the Lord once again intervening as only HE CAN.

The motorcyclist was recounting to our brother that just this past night, he had a most vivid awful dream, almost vison-like, where he woke up sweating & in a panic. He saw himself in a tragic accident the next day but before the dream/vision could end, he awoke not knowing how the accident would take place, when, or the outcome, whether his life was spared or lost. Of course, if I had such a dream, I probably wouldn't even leave my house for fear or else take public transport to work. Onto Page 4.

Page 2.

I stood wondering what I had just done, knowing that if I had seen the Mosque prior to my arrival at the shop, I would have just walked by, and thinking that it would be impossible to sell here, even if I could muster up the courage to do so. As the Lord had earlier blinded the eyes of that priest raging against us, now the Lord blinded my own eyes so that His Word could get out. Again, I was left marveling at the Lord's Hand in all this, as well how easily those books would now have gone out to those Muslim devotees attending the mosque for their prayers & then purchasing 'Christian' books afterwards, receiving the Gospel into their hearts. I could never reach so many Muslims, & most would have rejected those books coming from me. This is all the Lord's Doing alone - I could never have done anything like this. We are but instruments in His Hands to reach out in ways that would ordinarily be impossible - for man - not for our God. And yes, as God had done in the past, with Pharaoh, Ahasuerus, Nebuchadnezzar, etc., He still can do today, using non-believers to help disseminate His Word.

At another time, my whole team of four (at that time) were in our van traveling to a pre-determined location to start some book sales, etc. At this time, I had another team member driving the van, and as we went down a narrow road with a short median road divider, a motor cycle rider wanted to overtake us. There wouldn't have been much room to do so, but 'insha'allah' (in God's Name) as he would have thought or shouted, having deemed the risk worth taking. But we had to take a right turn soon, my driver gave his turn indicator plus a hand signal (as one does there), but that wouldn't deter any Pakistani from proceeding with such a manoeuvre. The result? As we turned, with him suddenly beside us, our van struck him & down he went. Onto Page 3.

Page 1.

Brother Giannis. I could share a couple of other events (stories) during my short years in Pakistan as you enquired, not to project myself at all, but for the Glory & Praise of our Almighty Heavenly Father.

While on my own during my book-selling distribution work, I went from shop to shop to show the retailers the books, Gospel packets, & tracts that I had. After I finished with one shop the next one was a little way away, but when I came to it, it was a bookshop. I wondered whether they would be interested. I showed them the books: about the lives of the 'prophets', Jesus, of David, of Abraham, of Moses, etc., & the shop-keeper was very impressed, as he had never seen any literature giving details of these men of old. As you might know, the Quran refers to those men but never shares much detail about them as we read in the Bible.

The shop-keeper thought he had a windfall in some very special books that no other bookshop had to sell - indeed he could make a lot of money from selling these books. He then asked me to take out all the books from my bag & then asked for the total price I wanted for them all. He paid my price & I left thankful to him & of course, to the Lord, rejoicing on my way, & no heavy load to carry back with me. This has never ever happened to me before or after. One might think that that was all that the Lord had done (i.e. giving us such a great book sale; and I should add, the Mission never gave us any money to live, we had to learn to trust the Lord for it through book sales or any gifts).

But the Lord revealed to me something even more astounding, that only He could do. When I walked away from the bookshop, I turned around for some reason (just as I turned around at that other time when the Muslim priest was hounding us away). This time when I looked, I saw a large mosque connected to the bookshop. YES - I actually sold Christian books with the Gospel message clearly in them, to a Mosque bookshop. Onto Page 2.

Part 1

What is sin today ? ? Is the Ten Commandments shows us that we are sinners ? ? Ten Commandments was given to Israel from Moses to follow and more laws were added. Here is the Ten Commandments in Exodus.

Exodus 20:1-17

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2I am theLordthy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I theLordthy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7Thou shalt not take the name of theLordthy God in vain; for theLordwill not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10But the seventh day is the sabbath of theLordthy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11For in six days theLordmade heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore theLordblessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which theLordthy God giveth thee.

13Thou shalt not kill.

14Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15Thou shalt not steal.

16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Ray