Posted on 10/11/2021 10:01:48 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
Over the course of my military career, I’ve been around A LOT of health/fitness-conscious people. Many of them have become true believers in things like cross-fit, yoga, and other forms of exercise and it becomes a way of life for them. Similarly, I’ve seen all the passing diet and nutrition trends that seem to come on strong, make a big splash, then fade off into the twilight as quickly as they arrived. My observation is that younger people generally want to look good by putting in the work (sweat equity), while older people generally want to look good by changing what they eat. Either way, the goal is to look good and embody the epitome of health.
Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to stay healthy. There is nothing wrong with wanting to eat healthily. I mean, we only have this one body and we have to make it last as long as we can, I suppose. We should all strive to “do better” regarding our own personal health. No, what I’m referring to here are the people that obsess about their appearance. They obsess about wrinkles, body-fat percentage, balding, gray hair, or dress sizes.
The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psalm 90:10
In the passage above, Moses makes the declarative statement that the age of a man’s life would be between 70 and 80 years. Interestingly, Moses (who himself lived to be 120 years old) wrote this o/a the 15th century B.C. Life spans since then have varied greatly with parts of the ancient world and the middle ages only seeing life spans reaching into the 30s and 40s. However, it is curious to note that we are now back at a time when this 70 to 80 years of life, seems to be the norm, not the exception. But let us make the case for 80 years as a standard. Heck, we could even make the case for 100 years or 1,000 years of age. What do any of these lifespans mean in comparison to eternity?
According to the Free Dictionary, eternity is defined as:
1. endless or infinite time
2. the quality, state, or condition of being eternal
3. (usually plural) any of the aspects of life and thought that are considered to be timeless, esp. timeless and true
4. (Theology) theol the condition of timeless existence, believed by some to characterize the afterlife
5. a seemingly endless period of time: an eternity of waiting.
Even the Antediluvian patriarch Methuselah, who lived to the great age of 969 years old, has now been dead for over 4,000 years. We could fit 12 of our 80-year lifespans into his 969 years, and even he would say his life went by in a flash. Not only that, but he has now been in the eternal realm (at least by our measure of time) four times longer than he lived. Thus, Methuselah will spend all of eternity in the glorious presence of God.
Paradoxically, we live in a world absolutely fixated on the here and now, and this has blinded many to the real nature of reality. True reality, is not what we can touch or see, but the world we can’t see. The writer of Hebrews noted that the Law, the Temple, and everything else, are but shadows of the real things already in heaven. The real reality is the eternal realm. It is the timeless state of being that exists outside of our universal fish tank.
Author’s Note: I often use our fish tank to demonstrate to my children just as we exist outside of the fish tank in our home, God exists outside of our universe, and yet, we are not far away. We can add or take water out. We can add food or move the fish to clean the tank. We can add in décor or take everything out. Furthermore, we can look in and see Goldie’s entire existence all at the same time.
God exists outside of our fish tank so to speak, and He can tweak or change things according to His purposes. However, even though God the Father exists in the realm eternal, He still has nearby and has full reach and depth into our existence through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, he can look and see everything, all at the same time and He has determined the length, breadth, width, height, and duration of our existence. Here are some Bible verses affirming the sovereignty of God’s universal rule:
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ Isaiah 46:10
And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding Daniel 2:21
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Acts 17:26-27
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
But for some reason, we live in a topsy-turvy, upside-down, bizarro-world. You’d think, given the demonstrated certainty of death and the brief nature of our present existence, we would be hyper-focused on the world to come and not on the chaotic, ever-changing world we see crumbling before our very eyes.
Assessment
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17
Life here on earth without God, is at best, elusive. We come into this world helpless, wholly dependent upon others, but naively thinking, this is the way it will always be. However, we grow, learn, and realize that we will not always have someone to hold our hand. We are expected to become increasingly independent and capable of doing things on our own.
As children, we let our imaginations run wild, thinking magic, fairies, and monsters exist, only to find out those things are real, but not at all as we imagined them to be. We are then thrust into a public education system that begins by ignoring the reality of God, and pummeling our senses with the government-approved propaganda stating we are nothing more than evolved, cosmic accidents with no rhyme or reason for existing.
Growing older, we learn to lower our expectations in people and situations, and we end up settling for the reality that if we are really lucky, we can find purpose and meaning in our life. We hold on to that until we realize that even purpose alone cannot satisfy the deep longings created by the complexity of the human soul. This sentiment was perhaps best expressed by the aged and gritty Rolling Stone philosopher who declared, I can’t get no satisfaction!
The life we currently live is as God declares, but a vapor; it is here today and gone tomorrow. Therefore, it is perplexing, to say the least, how much time people spend on their physical bodies now, which is in the very process of dying, and how little time people spend thinking about where they will go once their earthly existence comes to an end. The fact that we spend infinitely more time on the other side of that deathly vale than on this side of it, is the great lie people have bought into. The reality that people are so invested in their physical health that they will go to great lengths to extend their lives either medically or surgically, proves they don’t have a zeal for life, but rather, a tremendous fear of death.
The fear of death has been terrifying the unsaved for millennia. People of all cultures and ethnicities have gone on to create all sorts of elaborate rituals and schemes to obfuscate the reality of death or redefine the afterlife. The Vikings had Valhalla, to which they could only enter if they died heroically in battle. The Hindus taught reincarnation, in that death was not the end, only an endless cycle of death and rebirth. The Muslims believe in paradise and their arbitrary 72 virgins. Roman Catholicism teaches salvation through purgatory. Atheists believe in annihilationism. The Bible, however, declares that upon our last breath, and our last heartbeat, we enter into the realm eternal.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Hebrews 9:27-28
Seeing as how death has been sort of a permanent mainstay in human history, it would seem to lend credence to the second half of the passage. We live. We die. We are judged by God. For the unbeliever, there is no recycling, no raucous, beer-laden Valhalla, no virgin-filled paradise, and no self-flagellating purgatory. It’s one and done, and then eternal separation from their Creator. For the believer, we are judged at the Bema Judgment, and then we spend the rest of eternity with our Creator.
While many of us feel as though we have done dreadfully little on account of the Gospel which saved us (in comparison to what we receive in return), we continue to work, to witness, and to be the kind of people Christ called us to be. We do this even if we do not see the fruits of our labor or the worldly rewards in this life. To this point, the writer of Hebrews, detailing the life of the faithful patriarchs, concluded that-
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 12:13-16
Conclusion
Admittedly, the Christian life here is hard. I would venture to say that being a Christian in the 21st century is even harder, and why, so many are turning from the faith. G.K. Chesterton once said, the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried. Jesus promised us that in this life, we will have tribulation. He promised us that if we love Him more than the world, the world will hate us. In his epistles, the Apostle Paul taught us this world is not only, not our home, but is in fact, a battlefield. A battlefield in which we contend not with flesh and blood enemies, but dark, malevolent, and vicious spirits bent on only on our destruction.
While we take no personal trophies on our own accord, or in our own strength, we rest in the triumph Christ already wrought upon the cross some two thousand years ago. And though it seems like we are insignificant and unwanted in this world (we are), it is only a façade put on by our mortal enemy, Satan, who is still furious that in crucifying the Son of God, he sealed his own fate.
It is at that moment of death, in which, Satan has long delighted in taking those who have not yet claimed the free gift of salvation from Christ that separates our faith from any other. Paul writes that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Instead of meeting sneering demons, who gleefully drag those poor souls into hell below, we know that at our own moment of death, we will be greeted by God’s holy angels, ready to escort us to our heavenly abode (Luke 16:22).
While in our flesh, we might delight in the much-deserved death of the wicked, God does not. He is longsuffering that all might come to salvation, and thus, has delayed Christ’s long-overdue victory lap all these centuries so that one more lost sheep might be brought back into the fold. Thus we contend with this fallen world, and are persecuted, discredited, censored, silenced, belittled, abused, and murdered as those who Christ describes in His parable of the Wedding Feast (Matt. 22).
Although God is longsuffering, His patience is not limitless. At some point (and we think soon), we will arrive at that fullness of times, when the full number of Gentiles are brought into the body of Christ (Rom. 11:25). It is at this point that even we, a generation of believers, will not taste even the bittersweet agony of death, but will instantly, put on immortality, and fly away to meet our loved ones and our Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-56).
Lastly, while we don’t fully understand everything going on in the backdrop of our lives, we can trust in our God to be faithful (2 Tim. 2:13). He is faithful because it is His nature to be, and He has promised us that we can trust in His plan of redemption. Therefore, death is not the end for us, but the very beginning, of an infinite, and glorious future (Eph. 2:4-7).
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18
I get a bit wary when I read something like ‘...a better way to translate that passage is...” because it get really close to ‘adding or subtracting.
My antennae also go up when words that were NOT found in a passage are used to make a claim about what the passage really means.
Goat love is a subjective thing.
They can hear the rattle of a nearly empty potato chip bag from across the field, but, after running over, if there are no chips forthcoming, they give you a look that a cat only wishes it could show disdain with!
“The thief on the cross was told by Jesus that he would be in paradise that day. Time is what we are stuck with here on earth.”
I need to remember this one on “stump the pastor” day for Bible study. Recall that Jesus descended into Hell and rose on the third day.
I’m guessing that you have covered it with the idea of “time” being a human restriction. Or, was it semantics? “Because you believed today, you will be in Paradise with me...”
Hmm. I read a book where ALL would be in the presence of God after death. Except that those sinners that did not believe would experience God’s Truth and Light as agony exposing their sin. Like back in the OT where people would die if they looked at God.
Although I’m not sure that I want to be in a Heaven where I am “with” sinners in constant torture.
Actually that can only be assumed since some were baptized and would need some place to fellowship, while what the text says about pastoring is that "he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them, (Acts 18:11) which conflates with "have taught you publickly, and from house to house," (Acts 20:20) And which teaching would include revealing how the "new covenant" is "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." (Jeremiah 31:31-32)
And the covenant that God made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt was not just the 10 commandments, but i includes includes such abrogated literal observances as the feast of unleavened bread (Exodus 12:18) and passover "for ever." Exodus 12:21-27)
For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. (Exodus 19:2)...Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. (Exodus 19:5-8) And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. (Exodus 19:14)
And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. (Exodus 24:3-8) And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:9)
However, since the rest of the law flow from the 10 commandments, being details of them (and which themselves are details of the two greatest commands) then they serve as a testimony to the whole giving of the law (as an omer full of manna was a testimony to God's supernatural provisioning: Exodus 16:32,33) and were thus keep in the Ark. (1 Ki . 8:9)
"We also know that he "reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks (to keep the first day of the week, Sunday)... just kidding about that last part. It was a Sabbath-keeping" church.
"We also know that he "he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them that they were to be a "Sabbath-keeping"' church, but which critical detail of any NT church doing so would nowhere be recorded, while abrogations and the only specific day of meeting being on the first day were recorded, leaving 7th day cultists to read keeping the sabbath into NT texts under the premise that Mt. 5:17-19 literally requires this.
Rather, while you may dupe the careless reader by conflating Paul's teaching of the Jews in seeking to convert them with Paul ministering to believers, those who are like noble Bereans will read the whole section and more, and discover that this is two different classes and that despite the eisegesis of 7th day cultists, nowhere is there any reiteration of the 4th commandment to the church, nor any actual example of an established NT church observing it, while laws as regarded meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days, (Colossians 2:16) "days, and months, and times, and years" (Galatians 4:10) "meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation," (Hebrews 9:10) foreshadowed Christ and literal observance of such is abrogated. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4)
And again, if must enjoin keeping the 7th day under the premise that "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19) means just that, then a said, you must also require literal observance of the everlasting covenant of circumcion, as well as all the other everlasting/perpetual statutes and ordinances. You cannot pick and choose.
What is your point?
The standard of God’s judgment is clearly his 10 commandment law. Your attempts to explain around that are pointless. And, that goes double for the 7th-day-Sabbath. Revelation 11 makes that very clear. No argument you make could ever negate this fact. You are more than welcome to live a lawless life. God gives all of us free will to do just that. However, you take it a step further. YOU TEACH IT.
15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, THAT THEY SHOULD BE JUDGED, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, AND THEM THAT FEAR THY NAME, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19AND THE TEMPLE OF GOD WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN, AND THERE WAS SEEN IN HIS TEMPLE THE ARK OF HIS TESTAMENT: AND THERE WERE LIGHTNINGS, AND VOICES, AND THUNDERINGS, AND AN EARTHQUAKE, AND GREAT HAIL.
Eccl 12:
13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
It’s not like you don’t know. So, there’s no excuse for you on judgment day (same for your friends).
Didn't add a thing to my DNA, just defeated it. Without it I would have been dead long ago so stuff it.
90% for me. Had an EMT tell me that we walkers are rare birds.
Point is this: I tracked them down. The curious among us can use them as a starting spot to read the context around them.
Let's see...
Which as said, are the details of the two greatest commandments (whole-hearted love of God love of others) and the 10 commandment standard of God’s judgment also has details that follow, and which constitute while of the covenant that God made with their fathers when He took them out of the land of Egypt. And includes many which are capital crimes to break And which you do not literally keep, rejecting the details of the new covenant in which even the literal observance of the everlasting covenant of circumcision is abrogated.
"You are more than welcome to live a lawless life. God gives all of us free will to do just that. However, you take it a step further. YOU TEACH IT."
A blatant unsubstantiated lie! To the contrary I have taught that it is under the new covenant,
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
And have posted numerous texts on this very thread including to you to you warning of the consequences of impenitent wilfull continuance in sinning.
But I understand how you can read into something what you can only wish was there.
" 13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
Meaning according to you, vs.the NY revealing how the believer under the new covenant obeys God, Paul and the NT church is lost since they believed such commands as:
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. (Romans 14:14)
Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. (1 Corinthians 7:18) (Contrary to: This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. (Genesis 17:10)
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:29)
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. (Romans 3:30)
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:13-17)
Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:9-10)
Meanwhile the commands you do not keep include the literal observance of
Lv.24:5-8; Offering of shewbread-everlasting covenant-perpetual statute.
Num.18:19; Heave offering: a statute forever-covenant of salt forever.
Ex.12:17; Feast of unleavened bread an ordinance forever.
Ex.27:20,21; Lv.24:3; keeping the light burning in Tabernacle: a statute forever.
Ex.29:9; 40:15; Holy garments for the Aaronic Priesthood for a perpetual statute
Ex.29:42; Animal sacrifices to be offered continually throughout all Israel's generations
Ex.30:8; Incense to be burned in Tab. perpetually throughout all generations.
Ex.30:10: Atonement on altar throughout all your generations.
Ex.30:21: Ceremonial washing by a statute forever.
Ex.30:31: Anointing with Holy Oil unto YHWH for sons of Aaron throughout all their generations.
Lv.6:13: Fire ever to be burning on the altar, to never go out.
Lv.6:18-20: Law of the meat offering: a statute forever.
Lv.6:22: Meat offering of priests: a statute forever.
Lv,7:34-36: Peace offerings a statute forever.
Lv.16:29-34: Day of atonement a everlasting statute, a statute forever.
Lv23:14: Offering of first fruits unto YHWH a statute forever.
Lv.23:21: Feast of Pentecost: a statute forever.
Lv.23:41: Feast of Tabernacles: a statute forever.
Lv.25:34: Law of land reserved for Levites: a perpetual possession.
Num.10:8: Feast of Trumpets: an ordinance forever.
Num.18:23; Dt.18:5: Service of the Tab. reserved for Levites by a statute forever.
Num19:10: Law of washing garments after slaying red heifer: a statute forever.
Num.19:21:Water of separation a perpetual statute.
And such were part of the details of the covenant that God made with Israel in the day that God took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, and the new covenant does indeed abrogated the literal required observance of dietary laws and temple ordinances and the OT liturgical days imposed on them until the time of reformation.
It's over. You have already taken too much time and typing, like as a Catholic cultist also has.
You are more than welcome to live a lawless life. God gives all of us free will to do just that. However, you take it a step further. YOU TEACH IT.
“A blatant unsubstantiated lie! To the contrary I have taught that it is under the new covenant”
Willfully not keeping a commandment is LAWLESSNESS. YOU TEACH AGAINST keeping the 7th-day-Sabbath of the 4th commandment. YOU ARE TEACHING others to break the 4th commandment (saying it doesn’t apply to Christians and keeping Sunday in its place is fine, etc...). You are teaching and committing LAWLESSNESS. No two ways about it.
Sounds so Mormon...
When Mormon 'Prophet' and second President of the Church, Brigham Young, spoke in 1863 the following was said:
Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race?
If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God is death on the spot.
This will always be so." (Journal of Discourses, Vo. 10, p. 110)
3 Therefore, aprepare thy heart to receive and bobey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.
4 For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting acovenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye bdamned; for no one can creject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.
5 For all who will have a ablessing at my hands shall abide the blaw which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.
6 And as pertaining to the new and aeverlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my bglory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.
To: Philsworld “The terms or substance of the New Covenant are the same as that of the Old Covenant, obedience to the Ten Commandments. Where is this new thing described and who are the parties involved in this new thing? 129 posted on 10/12/2021, 9:25:50 PM by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...) |
Uh; you must have missed this earlier...
Let's see what it says:
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