Remember Ye Not That When I Was Yet With You, I Told You These Things? - Part 1567

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, 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. 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 -- who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God ..." (II Thessalonians 2:1-7)

We are not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled in our faith journey because these things have to happen before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him. Still, there are those who would argue that since the mystery of iniquity doth already work in the world, being aware of when that Wicked will be revealed is wasted effort. Even when they know that when the Wicked is revealed for all to see, the Lord SHALL consume with the Spirit [breath] of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, [even him] whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. (II Thessalonians 2:7-12)

[Note that the scripture refers to the workings of satan -- the power and signs displayed -- as "lying" wonders, which is very different from the signs and wonders that supported the preaching and teaching of the gospel.]

Still, before pressing forward on this point, let's look at two scriptures for clarification. The first can be found in the old covenant side -- Deuteronomy 13:1-7 -- which states:

"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or a wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, "Let us go after other gods" which thou hast not known and "let us serve them"; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proves you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him, and that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death: because He hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee ... namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth."

On the new testament side, Jesus is found speaking to the Jews. Jesus is saying to them (and by extension, us too), "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)

But the Jews did not want another King in their heart. And, most certainly not Jesus who was/is both Lord and Christ. So the Jews answered Jesus, saying, "We be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, "Ye shall be made free?"

Jesus then answered saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you -- whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin, and the servant abides not in the house for ever, but the Son abides forever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill Me because My Word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with My Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father." (John 8:33-38)

They answered and said unto Jesus, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus again said to them, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father." (John 8:39-41)

In other words, Abraham who was known as a friend of God would not do the things that the Jews were doing at the time, and most certainly, Abraham would never reject Jesus in their hearts.

Nevertheless, the Jews continued their defense, saying unto Jesus, "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God." (John 8:41) [For those who may not be aware, the first commandment of the famous ten opens with: "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is ONE Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29-31)

[What Jesus may have been suggesting here is that the Jews had replaced God with Abraham as their father, and in so doing, were serving another god rather than the One and Only God who had sustained them throughout their wilderness journey. But I digress!]

Jesus then said unto them, "If God were your Father, ye would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God: neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech? [even] because you cannot hear My Word. Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not. Which of you convinces Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God hears God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."

This dialogue continues to the end of John 8 wherein the Jews took up stones to cast at Him because Jesus (not yet fifty years old) had said unto them -- "Verily, verily, I say unto you -- Before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58)

All these scriptural references to show that the Word of God is clear on this point -- that we can expect to have some among us who will preach 'another' gospel. And, also, that men shall arise speaking perverse things in order to draw others away from your congregations. How? For starters, there will be stealing away of the sheep -- accomplished through enticing words. In short, these will bait the trap. Paul forewarns of this in the scriptures. He said that some will call themselves apostles, while in reality they are demons and angels of darkness, transforming themselves and appearing as messengers of light.

The scriptures cite (as a precautionary measure) methods for increasing one's awareness of these satanic messengers. That is, if a preacher, pastor, evangelist, priest, or pope utters any words that are contradictory to the teaching of Jesus' spiritual words as established/revealed by/to His chosen apostles, including the apostles doctrine which He Himself confirmed as being His Word, then whoever falls short of this scripture should be removed. It is for this reason that we must examine and study His Word, continuing steadfastly in the apostles' Holy Ghost teachings!

But as we read in the beginning (from II Thessalonians 2) the scriptures also state that the day of the Lord will not come prior to a falling away from the original order of beliefs and doctrines that were delivered to the early believers. Therefore, we are commanded to watch that the day of the Lord does not come upon us / open while we have been totally oblivious to the scriptural warnings!

For example, the scriptures state that certain happenings occur in the time period known as the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord in the Biblical context is not a 24 hour period. The day of the Lord is a period of time wherein events transpire. So therefore watch for that day in order that we are not found sleeping, or even worse, occupying a comfortable pew. We believers are debtors to a lost world! If one has lost their first love, then one ought now to arise and trim their oil lamp of faith.

Does the scripture declare that there is only ONE MEDIATOR between God and Man? YES! And that man is none other than the Lord Jesus the Christ! Jesus being the Only begotten Son of God, conceived by the holy Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost! The two seeds i.e. male and female seeds were seeds promised of God. One of these seeds were implanted into the seed bank of Eve. This is why God is on an agenda to redeem mankind through Himself from Adam’s sin and transgressions -- which you and I are recipients of.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But He did not leave us in this state. God put in place His plan of redemption whereby we must be saved.

Thus, this promised seed that was implanted into Eve was not like Eve’s natural now fallen seed. No indeed. If it were of Eve’s natural fallen seed, then redemption would have been impossible! Eve’s blood line was now polluted. But the Spirit of God provided a new sinless blood SEED which passed from Eve into Seth, and continued down through the ages as is recorded in the genealogical presentation in your Bible. NOTE: We NOW have an introduction to a new blood line coming forth from the holy Spirit of God, as recorded in Acts -- we were purchased back to God with the precious blood of His Spirit.

In previous presentations, we followed this new blood line. In this presentation, we endeavour to impress on readers the authority of the written Word whilst moving into the theme of there being only ONE mediator between God and man. In the interim, let the Word of God deal with those spiritual powers in high places who have corrupted the Word of God, rejecting the counsel of God unto themselves. (Luke 7:49)

What does that mean for us? We have a higher calling. Press into Christ Jesus, allowing the potter’s Word to shape each and every one of us so that we can fulfill the purpose which He placed in our hearts while we were still in our mother's womb. And give our Lord God and Saviour back the life that He has imparted into you.

Stand in the offering plate.