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  • 2 Samuel 5:8

    Pastor John,

    Why did David hate the lame and the blind?

    1. And the king, with his men, went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. And they spoke to David, saying, “You will not enter here. For even the blind and the lame will repel you,” thinking, “David will not enter here.”
    2. But David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of David.
    3. And David said on that day, “Let everyone strike down a Jebusite!” And by way of the water shaft, he reached “the lame and the blind”, who were hated by David’s soul.  For this reason, they say, “The blind and the lame shall not enter into the house.”

    Beth

    =========

    Hi Beth.

    David did not hate those who were really lame and the blind.  In verse 8, the writer was mocking the words of the arrogant Jebusites who boasted that David could not take their city, saying, “even the blind and the lame will repel you.”  The writer is calling all the Jebusites lame and blind, saying that David hated them.  Then, after David’s victory (v. 7), the vain, taunting boast of the Jebusites became a parable in Israel for all who proudly make empty boasts.  We would say, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”  It is the same as what King Ahab told the Syrian king after he had boasted that he would defeat Israel, “He who straps on his armor [to go to war] should not boast like the one who [is victorious and returns home and] loosens it” (1Kgs. 20:11)

    Pastor John

    Comments welcome:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1920819455598174333

     

  • John 19:7 – “son of a god” vs “the Son of God”

    Hey Pastor John,

    In Greek class we were talking about how the Greek word is translated “God” with a capital G if there’s an article before it, most often.  I was looking up some examples of where “the” doesn’t come before “God”, and there aren’t many that I could find.  

    One that came up that I wanted to discuss was John 19:7, where the Jews were convincing Pilate to kill Jesus.  

    1. The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.”

          7. Ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, Ἡμεῖς νόμον ἔχομεν, καὶ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἡμῶν ὀφείλει ἀποθανεῖν, ὅτι ἑαυτὸν υἱὸν θεοῦ ἐποίησεν.

    The Jews could be saying, “he made himself out to be a son of a god!” as they’re talking to Pilate, trying to convince him to kill Jesus, or at least, “he made himself out to be a son of God!”  I’m not sure, just wanted to bring it up.  I’m sure we’ve talked about this before.

    Aaron

    ==========

    Hi Aaron.

    Yes, for the Father and Son book, Richard and John David gathered all the places in the New Testament where “son of god” is found, both with and without “the”.  We debated the difficult places, such as John 19:7, and decided that the Jews were concerned most of all with convincing Pilate that Jesus should die because he had committed a crime that was, under their law, worthy of death.  Romans would have laughed at someone who claimed to be a son of God, and dismissed them (as Pilate wanted to do), but not the Jews.  And Roman rulers were expected to respect the traditions and customs of local peoples.

    From just the book of Matthew, we can see that both Satan and the Jews referred to the Messiah as the Son of God:

    (Satan) Matthew 4:3, 6.

    (Jews) Matthew 14:33; 26:63; 27:40, 43.

    So, when the Jews said that Jesus had spoken blasphemy by saying he was the Son of God, they were saying that he had blasphemed by claiming to be the Messiah.  Why they thought that making that claim was blasphemous is difficult to understand, but they could not have been saying anything else, for no one at that time knew there was a Son of God who had existed with God from before the foundation of the world.  To the Jews, then, “Messiah” is all that “the Son of God” could have meant.

    As an added note, Satan knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he, too, was ignorant of the pre-existent Son “through who God made the worlds.”  So, he, too, could only have been thinking “Messiah” when he used the term “Son of God”.

    The best that I can remember, that is why we decided on the translation that we have for Matthew 19:7.

    I hope your students are enjoying thinking about such things.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1920817744200544731

     

  • Philippians 3:8

    Hey John,

    In Philippians 3:8, there is a certain word that in the King James Version (KJV) was translated “dung”. And in our translation it is translated “garbage”. I was wondering if that particular word could be translated either way and the choice was made to have it say “garbage” instead of “dung”? Or was the KJV simply a bad translation and in our translation it was translated correctly?

    Thank you!

    Billy H.

    =========

    Thanks, Billy, for the question.  Here are the possible definitions of the Greek word σκύβαλον: 

    “dung, sweepings, refuse, rubbish”

    So, it could be either one.  It has been a long time, but I would guess that we chose “garbage” because it encompasses more types of junk than “dung” does.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1919417938735501359

     

  • Chapter 5 “Remembers”

    Pastor John,

    Concerning the “Remembers” from chapter 5, Amen!*  This sentence made me stop and say “Amen!”

    • Moses’ law was robbed of all its glory by the surpassing glory of the Son of God, and its rituals werenow nothing but “dead works”.

    And this is so clear:

    • To turn from the Spirit to worship in rituals is treachery against the Son of God.
    • Every time a child of God performs a ceremony, he is denying the Lord who has bought him, for he is denying the sufficiency of Christ, all by himself, to save.
    • Paul taught that in this covenant, God demands a different kind of sacrifice, not the sacrifice of animals, but of one’s self.

    And Amen! to the whole section, “The Mind of Christ and the Mind of Man!”

    I want to enjoy them and not read through them fast because they are so good!  But I had to stop and share an Amen! with you.

    Beth

    * Remembers IK4 Chapter 5 (1)

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1919416458448183578

     

  • From the Remembers of the Synthesis book

    Pastor John,

    I was reading, in the Mailbag, Beth quoting from the Remembers of the first two chapters of the Synthesis book*, and this particular one stood out to me:

    The body of Christ was created by the power of God in the second chapter of Acts.

    Just a few days earlier I was reading the statement of faith (more precisely, the Faculty Teaching Position) of an American Christian seminary, and the document actually states that the body of Christ (which they call “the Church”) was “initiated at Pentecost”. I had already heard this said by Christian ministers a number of times before, and I have kept thinking: How can one come to this conclusion, and yet fail to recognize that the disciples were born again on the day of Pentecost? I think, if these ministers were forced to consider the logical conclusions of such a statement (that God’s New Testament people has come into being on the day of Pentecost), they would only have two choices:
    1. Admit that the truth is the truth.
    2. Do as one charismatic Christian minister in Dunaújváros did, when I showed him 1Corinthians 12:13; which is, claim that a person can be born again without becoming a member of the body of Christ. (When I asked this minister if this was what he had meant, and he said yes, it seemed like he felt the absurdity of that statement, but in that moment he felt he had no choice, but to embrace the absurdity). 

    Now, I actually do know how it’s possible to claim that the body of Christ was born on the day of Pentecost, and still deny that the baptism of the holy Ghost is the new birth. It’s because unless God, by His grace, opens someone’s eyes and heart to the truth, it is impossible to see it, and believe it, much less to love it. Thank God for His mercy that He decided not to leave us in our ignorance, but to bless us in a way that has been given to so few, even among God’s own children! 

    So, even though it’s by God’s choice that we get to believe what we believe, and know what we know, still, the fact that Christians must resort to such mental gymnastics in their attempt to stay true to the Bible, and to defend their Christian faith at the same time, shows the utter “nonsense” (as you put it in the book’s introduction) this religion really is. 

    God, give us grace to walk worthy of our calling!

    Zoli

    *  IK Remembers The Synthesis Book 4

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1919410914006090086

  • Psalm 23

    In case you ever wonder what God has in mind for you….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVr9p05Ed1I

    ==========

    Loved the video on Psalm 23.  What wonderful experiences David had!  Reminds me of what you have told us many times that Jesus told you years ago: “Try to make a mess that I can’t fix!”   David had really made a mess of things, but God’s response  proved to him that goodness and mercy WILL follow him all the days of his life!   God knows how to prove Himself to us!  Amen.  He’s gooder than good.

    Gary

    ==========

    Pastor John,

    I have always loved the sermon on Psalm 23!  In fact, it was life changing for me!  If I start to feel anxious about the future or if someone else is feeling anxious, I remember Psalm 23:6.  Based on everything Jesus has already done for us, SURELY he’s not going to let go of us now, or ever!  
    Lee Ann

    ==========

    Pastor John,

    Thank you for sending out the video clip of your sermon on Psalm 23.  It brings tears to my eyes hearing about how much God loves us in the words spoken by David in this Psalm.  My cup runneth over this morning!

    What stood out to me this time was how David took off running toward the giant because he was after the prize!  You said that the giant was a “minor consideration” because there was a great reward to be had for anyone that defeated the giant.  That person would be given the King’s daughter, wealth, and their family would be free from taxation.  That was huge motivation for David because that was a huge prize.  David took off running with faith in God and a sling and a few stones!  Shew!

    When I listened I could picture us running toward our prize – life with the Father and Son forever!  What a wonderful prize that is! Life here on earth and the things we go through are just a “minor consideration”, like that giant was to David, in comparison to spending eternity with Jesus!  How much greater is that prize!?!  We just need to run towards it with the faith to believe that he will “surely” take care of us all the days of our lives.  Jesus has an excellent track record so far! 

    These two scriptures come to mind thinking about running this race of life toward our most precious prize:

    Hebrews 12

    1. Therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses about us, and laying aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, let us also run with patience the race that is laid out before us, 
    2. 2. fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured a cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

    And

    1Corinthians 9

    1. Do you not know that all of those who race in a stadium are running, but one takes the prize? Run like that, so that you might win the prize. 

    Oh, this makes me feel like traveling on….

    Love,

    Amy F.

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1917732736095130047

     

  • Remembers from The Iron Kingdom book

    Pastor John,

    Amen!  When I read the “Remembers”* from chapters 1&2 of the Iron Kingdom book you are working on, I wanted every heart God has out there to know this.  It does something inside of me for them when I read it!  Here are some of them:

    • When the new birth is redefined, everything is redefined.
      • Believing is where the journey with Jesus begins.
      • It is possible to believe in Jesus and not yet have the Spirit.
      • Everyone who believes in Jesus should be told that believing is not the experience of new birth; it is the path we must take to receive it!
    • One of the craftiest ways the wicked have found to destroy the foundations of the Faith is to redefine them. 
    • Truth redefined becomes a lie in disguise. 
    • Even if we speak the same language, if we have different definitions for the same word, we might as well be speaking different languages.

    That is so good, Pastor John!  That is exactly what has happened, and we now are divided by that different language.

    • The body of Christ was created by the power of God in the second chapter of Acts.

    AMEN!

    • In turning to elements of the world, believers had to “mind earthly things” in order to please the men who led them to do it
    • By the time of the Synthesis, the believers who “minded earthly things” were so dull of heart that they rejoiced in it as the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises.

    And it will do the same thing to us if we take our minds off of Christ and get it on the things of this world.  I know that is true because I have felt it.

    • Christians absorbed Rome as much as Rome absorbed Christians; the Synthesis was both a conquest and a victory.
    • The world cannot receive the Spirit; therefore, the world requires a religion it can practice without it.
    • With every new doctrine or ceremony, however, early Christians were introducing another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel.

    Whew! That is what my heart says when I read this.  I just wanted to tell you what reading this as a child of God feels like.  I feel the words that God has given you.  And it puts a pull in my heart for other hearts out there to hear them and feel them. This is so good, Pastor John! 

    Beth

    *  IK Remembers The Synthesis Book 4

    Comments welcome: 

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1917729385592852921

     

     

  • The Iron Kingdom book

    Pastor John,

    I printed out the first two chapters from the Iron Kingdom book to read tonight.  The sincerity I felt from you in the Foreword really touched me.  It lets the reader have a glimpse of who you are — someone we already know and love, but they don’t you the way we know you.  It will be a shock to anyone who has always believed that Christianity began with Jesus, and then reads your brief introduction about what the Spirit has taught you to the contrary.   Hopefully, they will feel your sincere desire for believers to come out of that abomination and have the pure unity that Jesus so wants us to have.  It’s going to take Jesus opening their hearts to continue past that Foreward.  But the non-threatening way that you’ve laid out what you believe is an open door for them to continue, if they will.  Oh, I pray that they will.  

    Honestly, reading this has changed something in me.  I think it has cleaned up something in me and opened up a fellowship with Paul, and anyone else who is teaching the true gospel of Christ, that I’ve never had before.   I just love it.

    Lee Ann

    4th Book – The Synthesis (1)

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1918090261906833414

  • John 3:16

    John,

    I was watching the past meeting because I loved the part about John 3:16, where you explained about God loving us “in this way”, instead of “so much” (like is taught most everywhere else).   

    God gave us the best thing He had; that’s Jesus, His Son, of course.  But I feel that He has given us the best in so many OTHER things, too; it’s hard to count them all.  He gave us you, and he gave us each other, and a love and fellowship that is second to none, as far as we know.  He gave us music with truth, and testimonies, and gifts to share, and health and strength, and so many other blessings!  As I said, we couldn’t even count or list them all.  Look at the WAY God has loved us.

    Here’s what you said that night, transcribed:

    “You are very, very loved.  Every one of you are loved by God, the creator of the universe.  You are loved!  Paul said in the book of Romans, trying to convince those people how loved they were: “if God spared not his own son how will he not give us whatever else we need”.  The King James Version says in John 3:16, ‘God so loved the world.’  That word ‘so’ does not mean ‘so much’.  Our translation got the emphasis right: we translated John 3:16, “This is the way God loved the world; He gave his only begotten Son.”  John wasn’t saying how much God loves you; he was telling you the way God loves you. And the way God loved you was to give you the best thing he had.  He’s not asking us to do anything He hasn’t done.  And here we are – because you are very, very loved.  God loves you.”

    I felt so very loved by Jesus hearing this.

    Gary

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1917726739775578491

     

  • God’s Secret for Young People

    Hey Uncle John,

         I was talking with a young person a few weeks ago, and he asked me, “Why should I learn this?  What’s the point?  I know I won’t use this later in life.”

         The subject I’m teaching him has some benefits, but as I started to try to explain those benefits, I felt I was going the wrong direction with the conversation.  I remembered a section of your Solomon’s Wisdom book that I had read with the young people about a year and a half ago that has always stood out to me (attached PDF).

         I explained to him, “God has a secret for you and you don’t know where it’s hidden.  You, like everyone, are going to have things to learn that feel hard or that you don’t enjoy.  But if you don’t put your whole heart into those things, you’ll miss God’s secret for you somewhere along the way.  You can’t only work hard at learning subjects you love from the beginning.”  

          Then I told him about how when I started learning Biblical Hebrew, I didn’t love it.  It was difficult!  But as I worked at it, over time (weeks or months), it’s like a light switch flipped and I loved it.  If I hadn’t put in the work, I would never have found God’s secret for me.  I certainly didn’t think I would ever use Biblical Hebrew.  But look at what God’s done!

         It wasn’t a long conversation, but I pray it had an impact on that young man, and maybe it will be a good reminder for other young people in similar positions.  You don’t know where God’s secret for you is, if you did, it wouldn’t be a secret.  Do your work with your whole heart and see what Jesus will do!

    Aaron

    God’s Secret Concerning Each Young Person

    Let us know what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1917014636282712280

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