Friday, July 8, 2016

Beginning at Moses and All the Prophets, Jesus Expounded Unto Them The Scriptures Concerning Himself - Part 1439

"And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs, and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him.

And He said unto them, "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?" And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him, "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?" And He said unto them, "What things?" And they said unto Him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people ... and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel, and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; and when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw not."

Then He said unto them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to tarry with them.

And it came to pass, as He [Jesus] sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?"

And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, "Peace be unto you."

But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And He said unto them, "Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have."
And when He had thus spoken, He shewed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, "Have ye here any meat?" And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb, and He took it, and did eat before them.

And He said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God, Amen. (Luke 24:1-53)

Jesus opened their understanding, enlightening them to the meaning of the scriptures. Within the scriptures, it is written that Christ should suffer and arise from among the dead on the third day. If we continue reading, we see in verse 47 that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. This signifies the commission. It also tells us that the promise of the Father upon them would not occur until they tarried in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus repeats this same message in Acts 1:8:

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Reading on into Acts chapter 2, the record shows Peter, being one of the twelve equal preaching in Jerusalem. This was the first time that public preaching had voiced/occurred since the disciples had received the infilling of the Holy Ghost. In verse 36, the scriptures proclaim that all of Israel should know assuredly that God has declared that this same Jesus who was crucified is both Lord and Christ. Upon hearing this in verse 37, the people were pricked, moved to the depths of their hearts.

They asked Peter standing with the rest of the apostles -- "What must we do?" A very good question if these desired in their hearts to choose life. What did Peter say? "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) 

In other words, first repentance, then water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and then ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. To someone new to this site, I am sure you are asking -- what does this mean?

First, repentance means to change your views, and to purposely accept the will of God in your inner selves. Herein, the "choose life" instead of rejecting Him. And, as an expression of your repentance, let every one of you be baptized (immersed or buried) into the name of Jesus, that you may have your sins forgiven, and so that ye shall receive the promised free gift of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Jesus dwelling within.

This promised gift that is to you and your children and also to those who are not as yet born. Yes indeed! The promise is to everyone who the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Him. As a consequence, all who welcomed the good news gospel message of Jesus Christ were gladly water baptized in His precious Name, adding 3000 persons to the number of believers that day.

The following scriptural references uphold the continuance and practice of the great commission as outlined in the scriptures - Acts 2:41; Acts 12:16; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 16:14-33; Acts 18:8; Acts 19:16; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:1-4.

So what do the church fathers advocate in contrast to the above renderings? They asserted that all of the above was in need of their interpretation. Apparently, in their opinion, the ones chosen by Jesus to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth were incapable of discerning what Jesus meant when He said "they were to be baptized in His name."


These surmised and then agreed to promote and entrench a religious dogma suggesting that what Jesus was really saying is that they were to baptize using the authority of His name, but not actually in His name, Thus, the current ritual of baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Not in the Name of  the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The question then begs to be asked -- "Is the Word of God coming to you OR is the Word of God coming out from you?"

Jesus sat with the disciples expounding unto them the scriptures concerning Himself. He began with Moses and worked through all the prophets, so that there could be no confusion. And therein, the disciples came to understand that Jesus was God Almighty manifest in the flesh. (I Timothy 3:16) 

He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. (John 1:10-11)

These did not recognize "Father, Son, and Spirit" to be descriptive titles and neither did they understand, as the disciples did, the true identity of God our Saviour. 

"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared ... that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7) 

But these were not interested in adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. These were not interested in the grace of God that brings salvation to all men. These were not interested in looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us all, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 6:1-2)

Instead, these attempted to reshape the original gospel message of Jesus Christ. But the good news? The Lord said that nothing would be hid from those who love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. He would download to us His wisdom and knowledge, and like the disciples, an understanding of the scriptures too. So to this end, the following is a partial list of authorities that challenge the deception inserted in the re-written Matthew 28:19 -- from credible worldly sources. For even more, the book entitled, "Baptism in the Name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) from Jerusalem to Great Britain" by Kulwant Singh Boora offers an additional list of historical references and literature that goes against the apostolic doctrine -- as it is written in the scriptures.

These include the Canney Encyclopedia of Religion (p. 53) and the Catholic Encyclopedia. In the latter text, the Catholics acknowledge that baptism into Jesus' name was changed by the Catholic Church (p. 263). Another text that alludes to the same is the Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion which states “in the name of Jesus” (Volume 2, page 378 and page 389). In another reference of the Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion -Volume 2 p. 377, it elaborates on Acts 2:38. The New International Encyclopedia in Volume 22 p. 477 as well. Indeed, the list goes on and on.

The key to this post then is that the scriptural version remains correct.  The above encyclopedia references trace the origin of water baptism using descriptive titles. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the now Pope) said that the origin of trinity baptism as it relates to the interpretation of Matthew 28:19 came from the city of Rome. I hope this helps to clarify the scriptures.

Jesus sent the apostles to Jerusalem to preach Jesus. There, as promised His holy Spirit -- the Holy Ghost - confirmed the apostles doctrine with signs -and wonders. "Then they that gladly received His Word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they CONTINUED STEADFASTLY IN THE APOSTLES DOCTRINE and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers ... continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God ..." (Acts 2:37-42)

Therefore, don't be fooled by man-made traditions that lead you away from the Word of God. Search the scriptures so that you too can rightly discern the Word of God, and become all that the Lord had intended you to be from the beginning, when He placed His purpose in your heart while you were still in your mother's womb. Stand in the offering plate.

No comments:

Post a Comment