The Prophetic Calling of Every Believer by Bob DeWaay

In this article by Pastor Bob DeWaay, he teaches about the prophetic authority given to each believer by the Holy Spirit to speak God's word from the scriptures. Following is an excerpt from the message. Please go to the link to read the entire article.

“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” (1Thessalonians 5:19-22)

Paul instructs us to take prophetic utterances seriously. To “despise” means to treat with “dismissive disdain.”1 In 1Corinthians 14:31, Paul wrote, “For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted.” He spoke, not about utterances of official authoritative prophets, but about prophetic utterances that could be given by any member of the congregation.

Today many are confused about the meaning of the term “prophecy” as it was used in the 1st century church, and what, if anything, it is in the church today. Some assume that prophesies were spontaneous, “ecstatic utterances” caused by the Holy Spirit. Some, who hold this view, believe that these utterances have ceased. Others hold the same view, but believe that these ecstatic utterances are also for the church today. Still others believe that prophecy in the first century was the Holy Spirit giving inspired revelation that was necessary to fill in the gap caused by the incomplete canon of the New Testament. Those who hold this latter view generally say that all prophecy has ceased.2

Here is what I believe: that prophecy, as addressed by the passages above, is to proclaim valid implications and applications of authoritative Scripture. Under the New Covenant, every redeemed child of God has the Holy Spirit, and therefore may prophesy. This is an implication of Peter's citation of Joel in Acts 2:17—rather than the Holy Spirit only coming upon certain persons as under the Old Covenant, He indwells every true New Covenant believer. This is why they “may all prophesy” as Paul wrote.

The Trinity in the New Testament

Matthew 3:16-17 (New King James Version)
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Luke 11:13 (New King James Version)
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

John 14:26 (New King James Version)
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 15:26 (New King James Version)
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

Luke 10:21 (New King James Version)
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

Matthew 28:18-20 (New King James Version)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Acts 1:4-5 (New King James Version)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 2:32-33 (New King James Version)
32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Romans 8:14-17 (New King James Version)
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Galatians 4:4-7 (New King James Version)
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-14 (New King James Version)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 2:13-18 (New King James Version)
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

1 John 5:7 (New King James Version)
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

Revelation 3:20-22 (New King James Version)
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

Revelation 5:6 (New King James Version)
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Revelation 21:9-11 (New King James Version)
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

"Behold, I lay in Zion a Stumbling Stone"

In Romans 9:33 (See the Romans passages below) Paul quotes from Old Testament scripture in Isaiah (see the two passages just below) to show the church in Rome that Jesus the Cornerstone becomes a stumbling stone to those who, like Israel, try to pursue righteousness by works of the law, even God's law, instead of seeking it by faith. In Romans 10:3-4 Paul elaborates, saying that those who seek to establish their own righteousness by works have not submitted to the righteousness of God which comes by faith, 'For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.' In Romans 11:5-6 Paul goes on to say that the remnant of the elect is saved by grace and not of works, 'otherwise grace is no longer grace,' meaning that if we try to be saved by works, then we have pushed the grace of God out of the picture. In Romans 11:7-8 (see below) Paul states that the elect, saved by grace through faith, have obtained righteousness, but those who sought to obtain it by their own works (even works of God's law) did not obtain it and were blinded: "God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day."
Paul further quotes from Psalm 69:22-23:
“ Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”
This passage from the Psalm is prophetic, speaking of the Jews who crucified Christ and persecuted and killed the prophets before Him and the Christians after Him, because the Jews could not understand and accept God's word; they thought their own righteousness upheld them as God's chosen people, but it was God's hand and His righteousness. Therefore the table of fellowship which they think they share and the 'well-being' they think they have has become a snare and a trap to them, and they are blind to the fact that they are enslaved to sin.
See Romans 4:1-8 which tells us that Abraham was justified not by works but by faith which was imputed to him for righteousness. It says "to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." This shows that trying to merit salvation by good works counts as a debt against us, but when we believe on Christ then His righteousness is imputed to our account.
In verses 13-15 of Romans 4, Paul says that salvation is through the promise of God by faith and NOT through works of the law, because 'the law brings about wrath' since all the law can do is show us that we cannot keep it. In verse 16 it says 'it is of faith that it might be according to grace' so that the promise of God 'might be sure to all the seed' including the gentiles who believe the promise by faith.
In verses 20-25 Paul teaches that Abraham didn't 'waver in unbelief' but was 'fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform' and 'therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness."' Paul finishes "It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." This shows again that righteousness will be imputed to those who by faith believe in God because of Christ's sacrifice for our sins; this is how we are justified or made right with God.
We stumble over the stumbling stone when we try to justify ourselves before God by good works instead of believing God's word by faith and being washed and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. First we are justified by faith, and then good works come into play for reborn believers as we abide in Christ and walk in the Spirit. We are new creatures with a new desire to please God. We begin to become more like Christ as we abide in His word and are sanctified by the Spirit that lives in us. We are first saved by grace and then we continue to walk in faith by His grace, not by our own power. See Titus 3:4-8a and Galatians 3:3-7
Titus 3:4-8a
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
Galatians 3
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

ALL THESE PASSAGES BELOW ARE QUOTED IN THE POST ABOVE
Isaiah 8:14 (New King James Version)
14 He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 28:16 (New King James Version)
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:


“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Romans 9:
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:


“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10:
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 11:
2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written:


“ God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”

9 And David says:


“ Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”


Romans 4:1-8 and 13-25
1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Already Gone: A new book by Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis

Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis has a new book out called Already Gone, which sounds a warning that evangelical churches are losing the next generation because the churches have failed to uphold the truth of scripture, especially the foundational truths of our origin as taught in Genesis. A newsletter article entitled 'Here We Stand- We can Do No Other!' stresses the importance of this book.
Here is an excerpt from the article:

This month marks a milestone in the Answers in Genesis ministry. In the book Already Gone, you will learn about a major research study that we believe could help lead to a revolution—another reformation, if you will—for a desperately needed transformation of the church in America.

For years, we have been challenging the church to stand without compromise on the authority of God’s Word, beginning in Genesis. We have insisted that Christians should be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11: “They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

Similarly, we have been encouraging Christians to be like Martin Luther, who stood before the authorities of his day and insisted that we judge our beliefs against the absolute authority of the Word of God—regardless of what the majority might say (e.g., scientists of today who hold to evolution and millions of years).

In this newsletter and in my lectures over the years, I have insisted that Christians who compromise by accepting the idea of an earth supposedly millions of years old (or who are indifferent to whether or not that is even a problem) have greatly contributed to the decline of the church and its influence. Most churches lack apologetics teaching for their young people (and their adults, for that matter). As a result, a very significant number of young people are leaving the church—and thus the decline of the influence of Christianity in this nation continues.

To help understand why millions of young adults have already left the church of their youth, a generous supporter of Answers in Genesis offered to fund a major research effort through America’s Research Group. (ARG is headed by the highly respected secular market researcher Britt Beemer, a frequent guest on national TV news programs.)

Britt’s company composed survey questions to find out why so many young adults are being lost from the church . . . plus why Christians are not having the influence on the culture that they once had (and thus why we are ultimately losing the “culture war” in America).

The results will shock you—and shock the church as a whole.

For example, our national survey discovered that children who grew up in evangelical homes are being “lost” from the church as early as elementary school, not primarily in college (as most might expect). Furthermore—in one of the biggest and most distressing surprises of the research—something you might call the “Sunday school syndrome” is contributing to the epidemic!

Already Gone is an alarming wake-up call for the church, because it reports on Britt Beemer’s research and shows how church programs and approaches to Christian education are failing—and thus millions of our young people are leaving the church. While the research statistics reveal the root issues of a huge problem, Already Gone shows how to fight back and reclaim our families, our churches, and our society for biblical truths.

The fact that warnings like 'Already Gone' are necessary is testimony to what happens when the church departs from upholding the truth of God's word.

Pastor Tony Bartolucci on Francis Beckwith: Drowning in the Tiber

For the last week I've been listening to a sermon series by Pastor Tony Bartolucci of Clarkson Community Church called Drowning in the Tiber. It's an ongoing series which so far has 6 parts. If you go to the link above, just click on each individual sermon to download and listen.
These sermons or lectures are in response to a book written by Professor Francis Beckwith, the former president of the Evangelical Theological Society, who recently reverted to Roman Catholicism. The book is called Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic.
Pastor Bartolucci comes to many of the same conclusions that I have come to about Roman Catholicism after studying it's doctrines compared to God's word and studying Church history.

Loyola vs. Scripture pt. 2

Ignatius Loyola teaches that the Bride of Christ is the hierarchical Church, or the ruling magisterium, and that this ruling Bride Church has the 'same spirit as Christ our Lord... which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls.' It is true that the church or Bride has the same mind and Spirit as Jesus Christ, but the true church is NOT the hierarchical magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The bride of Christ is the assembly or congregation of born-again believers; those who are saved by His blood through faith and trust in His word and abide in it. See the following:

1 Corinthians 2:
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:

“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.


In the above passage Paul tells us that 'we have the mind of Christ.' So who are 'we'?
We, the congregation of believers, ARE the Bride of Christ that has His mind and Spirit in us. See the following passages about the Bride:

Isaiah 61:10 (New King James Version)
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Ephesians 5:
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

2 Corinthians 11:
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity[a] that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

Rev 5:
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:


“ You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us[d] kings[e] and priests to our God;
And we[f] shall reign on the earth.”

Revelation 19:
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

These passages tell us that Christ has purchased or redeemed the Bride with His blood by which the believers are washed clean from their sins and clothed with His righteousness. The believers are called and made new creations to walk in good works and be 'kings and priests' to reign on the earth when He returns. Believers are warned against listening to those who would preach a different gospel and a different Jesus which departs from the simplicity of the gospel preached by Jesus and His Apostles. We are told that we have the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ as we are taught by the Spirit through His word: "that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church."

If the assembly of believers 'have the mind of Christ' then why do we need a heirarchy to tell us what is 'white' or 'black' as Loyola taught? If the hierarchy is teaching that something is 'black' which I as a believer (indwelt by the Spirit and taught by His word) know is 'white' or vice versa, then I flee from that false shepherd's voice as Jesus said His sheep would do who know His voice.

Again:

Isaiah 5
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Loyola vs. Scripture

"Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. "St. Ignatius Loyola.

Isaiah 5
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

A question of judgment

In a discussion thread under my post called 'A not-so-funny thing about Mary' Teresa (Moonshadow) asked me a question after I made the following statement about calling Mary by titles (in prayers or litanies) that are only given to God in the scriptures. Her question follows my statement below.

Teresa, far from it being necessary for salvation (and far from harmless), I believe it's blasphemy and idolatry to invoke Mary by these titles that are not given to her in the bible.

Teresa asked:
Do you who believe this, also believe that God is judging the sin in the Catholic church?

If you believe that God is judging the Catholic church for this, in what way and to what end? In other words, how is God's judgment of the Catholic church's "blasphemy and idolatry" evident to you and what's the purpose of God's judgment?

In the comment thread under my post called 'Mary as the Ark of the Covenant' I made a comment to another lady, Anna, about the same subject:

I'm sorry, but I think you are deceiving yourself (or repeating a deceptive statement made by RC apologists)if you think you are praising God for His works by calling Mary by His titles. If I want to praise God I praise Him directly. If I want to pray, I pray directly to God the Father, as Jesus taught us. He, and the Apostles, never taught us to praise anyone but God for our salvation, and never taught us to pray to anyone else but God. The scriptures are our rule. They are the only Word of God we have had since the apostles died. (And there are no other Apostles; in Revelation 21:14 it says "Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.")
In praising Mary using God's titles you ARE putting her in God's place, and putting her between you and God, when Jesus died to remove all barriers and make peace between us and God. You don't have to go through anyone else but Christ, and if you do you deny His finished work on the cross and nullify it in your life. You are making excuses for something that is wrong, and is against God's word, and He doesn't take it lightly when people do this. He also doesn't keep correcting those who are deceived, if they keep refusing to listen, but gives them up to their own devices until judgement comes. That is why we must fear God and listen to His word now when there is time.
See 2 Thessalonians 2:
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Under a post on Elena's (of mydomesticchurch.com) blog, Elena and I were discussing whether Jesus always corrected those who misunderstood or disbelieved Him, such as when some of the Jews left Him when He said they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Elena asked:

Jennie, why did he allow the disciples to walk away from him if he didn't mean actually eating and digesting his body?

I answered:
Why did he allow the rich young ruler to
turn and walk away from Him when he didn't want to give up his riches?
Why did He allow people to misunderstand
His parables and other teachings and not run after them to correct them?

Elena came back:
EXACTLY!!

He told the rich young man the truth but he allowed him to make his own choice. Likewise he didn't water down his teaching on the Eucharist either. But you are free to take it or leave it - of course every decision has a consequence.

Later in the conversation I gave another example to show that Jesus did not always correct those who misunderstood Him:

Jesus does not always correct the listeners whether He is being literal OR figurative. Sometimes He lets them go without explaining anything. See the following passage where Jesus was speaking figuratively about His body being killed, but the Jews thought He literally meant the temple. He did not correct them.

John 2:18-22
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them;[c] and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

After the above conversation with Elena, it occurred to me that this related to Teresa's judgment question. Then, after answering Anna earlier today, it occurred to me that the answer I gave her related as well. What all came together in my mind is that, just as Jesus often let people misunderstand and disbelieve Him without correction (and certainly He didn't run after them when they left in unbelief after He had given them multiple explanations), in the same way, He will not continue to correct people forever but will at some point give them up to their deceptive beliefs and allow them to believe the lie, as it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:11. This should cause us to fear God and to seek Him in His word, because as I also said to Anna, the bible says: For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Psalm 138:2
This 'giving them up to a strong delusion' is God's terrible judgment, until the final judgment day.

Psalm 138:2
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

Also consider 1 Peter 4:17-18

17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now


“ If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

More discussion on John 6

Elena (of mydomesticchurch.com) and I were having a discussion here
about my 'I am the Bread of Life' (John 6) post. Following are two comments I made at the end of our discussion to clarify why this subject is so important.

The reason I keep stressing that Jesus is talking about His actual sacrifice on the cross, and about believing His word by faith, is that this is how the bible teaches that we are saved: by faith in Christ's sacrifice to take away our sin, which brings repentance and rebirth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Another thing that concerns me about Catholics besides that many are trusting in outward things for salvation (such as sacraments) is that they don't believe in or have assurance of salvation which comes by faith in Christ after we become a new creature by the indwelling of the Spirit who regenerates us and washes us by Christ's blood.

1 John 5:13
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

The Apology of Aristides The Philosopher

A couple of weeks ago our pastor read part of the Apology of Aristides to our congregation as part of the sermon, in order to encourage us and exhort us to living a holy christian life. I found it very interesting, convicting, and encouraging.
Following, after the editor's note, is the portion my pastor read.
Here is some more information about Aristides the Philosopher.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Apology of Aristides, mentioned by Eusebius, St. Jerome, and other ancient writers and said to have been the inspiration for the great works of St. Justin Martyr, was considered lost until the late Nineteenth Century, when an Armenian fragment was discovered. Then in 1889 the full text in Syriac translation was found in the library of St. Catherine's in the Sinai. Ironically, it was then
realized that the work had never been lost at all: a slightly shortened version of it had been preserved in the well-known Life of St. Barlaam of India, by St. John of Damascus. (Since the numerous references to Greek gods would have made little impact
on an Indian audience, one may assume that St. John, writing for a Greek readership which would have found a denunciation of Vedic or Buddhist deities equally meaningless, decided to insert the Apology of Aristides as a sort of rough equivalent of whatever Barlaam actually preached to the Brahmins.)

St. Aristides delivered the Apology around the year 125, when Hadrian visited Athens [Eusebius, H.E. IV, iii].

The Apology of Aristides
Here follows the defence which Aristides the philosopher made before Hadrian the King on behalf of reverence for God....

XV. But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings, they have come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the nations. For they know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of earth, in whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other god as companion, from whom they received commandments which they engraved upon their minds and observe in hope and expectation of the world which is to come. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Every morning and every hour they give thanks and praise to God for His loving-kindnesses toward them; and for their food and their drink they offer thanksgiving to Him. And if any righteous man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies in his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and sorrow as for one who goes to meet his doom.

XVI. Such, O King, is the commandment of the law of the Christians, and such is their manner of life. As men who know God, they ask from Him petitions which are fitting for Him to grant and for them to receive. And thus they employ their whole lifetime. And since they know the loving-kindnesses of God toward them, behold! for their sake the glorious things which are in the world flow forth to view. And verily, they are those who found the truth when they went about and made search for it; and from what we considered, we learned that they alone come near to a knowledge of the truth. And they do not proclaim in the ears of the multitude the kind deeds they do, but are careful that no one should notice them; and they conceal their giving just as he who finds a treasure and conceals it. And they strive to be righteous as those who expect to behold their Messiah, and to receive from Him with great glory the promises made concerning them. And as for their words and their precepts, O King, and their glorying in their worship, and the hope of earning according to the work of each one of them their recompense which they look for in another world,-you may learn about these from their writings. It is enough for us to have shortly informed your Majesty concerning the conduct and the truth of the Christians. For great indeed, and wonderful is their doctrine to him who will search into it and reflect upon it. And verily, this is a new people, and there is something divine (lit: "a divine admixture") in the midst of them.

Be Watchful: Charles Haddon Spurgeon and the Apostle Peter

Here is a link to part of a message by Charles Haddon Spurgeon which warns believers to be watchful in easy times as well as hard times.

“We die daily,” said the apostle.

This was the life of the early Christians; they went everywhere with their lives in their hands. We are not in this day called to pass through the same fearful persecutions: if we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test; but the tests of Christian life, at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible, are yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age.

It seems the good times may be ending, in which we may have allowed ourselves to forget what is important and give ourselves to wordly pleasures and cares. We all have done this to some extent, and now it is time to repent of our love of the world and turn back to the Lord before it is too late. If we don't we will either be deceived by the growing ecumenical religious system, or be unable to keep our faith in the face of persecution when we don't join in with the world system.
I speak first to myself, and then to all who still claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.