Contending 4 the Faith

Designed with WordPress

  • American “Christianity”

    by

  • Introduction to the Word Faith Heresy

    by

    (Part 1 of 10)

    “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”       — C.H. Spurgeon

    2 Timothy 4:1-4

    I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    2 Timothy 3:1-7

     But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (always fumbling around with “new revelation, but never actually getting to the bottom line truth)

    2 Peter 2:1-3

    But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them(false teachers deny the reality of Christ’s redemption through faith alone as the means of salvation), bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

    Jude 3-4

    3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

    4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

    Titus 1:10-11

    10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

    11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

    Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed,it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress,so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than truth itself.             —Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1:2

    Heresy:  an opinion or a doctrine rejected by the authorities of a church as contrary to the established creed of that church; an interpretation or a theological view of a sacred writing or other standard of religion, or of any distinctive part of it, opposed to that authoritatively established or generally accepted

    The reasons behind classifying this doctrine as Heresy are as follows:

    (1) its deistic view of God, who must dance to men’s attempts to manipulate the spiritual laws of the universe; (Deism was represented as the view of those who reduced the role of God to a mere act of creation in accordance with rational laws discoverable by man and held that, after the original act, God virtually withdrew and refrained from interfering in the processes of nature and the ways of man.)

    (2) its demonic view of Christ, who is filled with “the satanic nature” and must be “born-again” in hell; (3) its gnostic view of revelation, which demands denial of the physical senses and classifies Christians by their willingness to do so; and

    (4) its metaphysical view of salvation, which deifies man and spiritualizes the atonement, locating it in hell rather than on the cross, thereby subverting the crucial biblical belief that it is Christ’s physical death and shed blood which alone atone for sin.

    The dangerous thing about this is it is a false gospel, that teaches a false christ, that will lead people to hell.

    Brief History

    The Word Faith heresy traces its roots back to the mind science cults started by a woman named Mary Baker Eddy (1821 – 1910).  She is considered to have started the Christian Science cult.  Kenneth Hagin (1917 – 2003) is known as the “father” of this movement.  However, if you carefully study his writings and teachings, it is obvious that he plagiarized a man by the name of E.W. Kenyon (1867 – 1948).  He was the founder of New Covenant Baptist Church and founder of the Bethe Bible Institute.  He was heavily influenced by Mary Baker Eddy.  He was also influenced by Pentecostalism during his time.

    So, now that we have a foundation of where this began, let’s take a look at how this “theology” is set up, because in all actuality, if you remove the doctrine that it is based on, the whole thing falls apart.  It’s basically a house of cards.  (Mankind is created in the “God Class”; Mankind is a “Tri-part Being similar to God as the Trinity; spiritual laws obligate God and Mankind is a “Creative Being”, (JUST LIKE GOD)  Kind of a “three legged stool”.

    The method that is used to build this heresy is what can be referred to as “pop bead” theology.  Just ripping verses out of context and stringing them together even though they have nothing to do with each other.

    This movement owes its ancestry to such groups as:

    Christian Science (adherents subscribe to a radical form of philosophical idealism, believing that reality is purely spiritual and the material world an illusion; part of Gnostism.  It’s roots can be traced back to Hinduism (you can become a God by doing a lot of good karma, etc.)  Everything can be a god in Hinduism (sacred cows; can’t kill them, they could be your reincarnated relative)

    Mary Baker Eddy (1821 – 1910)Founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in New England in 1879
    Founded “The Christian Science Monitor”Christian Science – Mind Science Cults (positive thinking to the extent that it can change reality, etc.)

     From “Kingdom of the Cults” – Dr. Walter Martin

    “Since the mid 1980’s, Christian Science has solidified its public image as a benign Christian denomination of thoughtful, spiritually mature people who enjoy a rather intellectual, quiet faith that gives them peace with God without any of the unappealing aspects of traditional Christianity, such as the existence of hell, the doctrine of the Trinity, or the incarnation, resurrection and atonement of Christ.”

    “Man originated not from dust, material, but from Spirit, spiritually.”

    “Man is God’s image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God’s reflection”

    Swedenborgianism (claims of direct revelation from God)


    Theosophy (Gnosticism)         (Knowledge of things divine; a philosophy based upon a claim of special insight into the divine nature, or a special divine revelation.)

    Science of Mind (Ernest Holmes) Holmes’ writing details how people can actively engage their mind in creating change throughout their lives.


    New Thought (based on the teachings of Phineas Quimby (1802–1866)), an American mesmerist and healer. Quimby had developed a belief system that included the tenet that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to God’s wisdom could overcome any illness.[9]   This philosophy morphs into Christian Science and Positive Confession.  His basic premise was:

    The trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in […] Therefore, if your mind had been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth, I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to health and happiness. This I do partly mentally, and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impression and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.)

    Mary Baker Eddy quotes/beliefs

    “the material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin, when it was shed upon ‘the

    accursed tree’ than when it was flowing in His veins.”

    She referred to the idea that God’s wrath must be propitiated by physical sacrifice as a “heathen conception.”

    Denied physical symptoms. She considered them an “illusion” and “error” that can be overcome by the power of thought.

    Eddy advises, When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust

    Eddy contends that “the way to cure the patient is to make the disease unreal to him.”[22] In other words, the person who is ill must be shown that he cannot trust what his physical senses are telling him about his symptoms.

    “To prevent disease or to cure it,” claims Eddy, “the power of Truth, of divine Spirit, must break the dream of the material senses.”[23] The sick person must be taught to “turn his gaze from the false evidence of the senses” to the truths of Christian Science.[24] Eddy advises, “When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the testimony of the material senses with divine Science.”[25] Thus, symptoms of illness only have reality to the degree that the sick person acknowledges and speaks of their existence.

    In Christian Science, the the real is divine, spiritual, and good.  The unreal is earthly, material and evil.  The Hindu doctrine of “Maya’ is similar to this which states that the world (Material world) is an illusion.  Akin to Gnosticism.
    E. W. Kenyon (1867 – 1948)
    Lived in Boston during the 1890’s (during his early 20’s)
    Was influenced by what was called “New Thought”; a branch of the “mind science” movement that included Christian Science.
    He was a Baptist minister who rejected major points of Pentecostal doctrine.  Ironically, his teachings were well accepted by Pentecostals.

    Kenyon quotes/beliefs (also influenced by early Pentecostalism; healing revivals, etc.)

    Kenyon believed that our knowledge that comes from the senses is in error as far as it contradicts what God has said in the Bible.  This is based on a twisting of scriptures regarding healing, faith, wealth, etc.

    Since our natural or “sense” knowledge cannot ascend to the knowledge of the spiritual realm, it contradicts that higher knowledge, which can only come from “direct revelation” from God. (to be discussed more in depth in a later session; divine healing, prosperity and such); denying reality.

    He also believed that God’s “revelation” knowledge gives us perfect knowledge of God’s will; so we have no excuse for living in weakness, fear, failure, sickness or in ignorance of God’s will.

    Goes with Mary Baker Eddy’s above quote about the blood of Jesus:  [30] Kenyon’s commitment to such metaphysical concepts made it impossible for him to believe that Christ’s physical sufferings on the cross could be sufficient to win man’s redemption without some supposedly more significant spiritual suffering in the spirit realm. This spiritualization of Jesus’ death, whether implicit (as in the Faith theology), or explicit (as in metaphysics), destroys the very core of the gospel. It is cultic and heretical. 

    The “three horrible days and nights” in hell inflicted much more than external suffering upon Christ. Kenyon taught that when Jesus died spiritually, an internal transformation took place in his nature, just like that which took place in Adam when he sinned. On the cross, when man’s sin and spiritual death were imputed to him, Jesus became a “new Satanic creation.” As a result, “Jesus became sin. His spirit was separated from God.”

    Kenyon viewed sickness as a spiritual condition that manifested itself in the physical body.  This view is similar to the metaphysical notion that all sickness has spiritual causes.  Kenyon and New Thought taught that in spite of the fact that the physical realm is real and sickness does exist, the proper response is to ignore the symptoms and refuse to acknowledge or affirm the sickness verbally. (this is further developed to apply to poverty, or any other unfortunate situation one might find themselves in.)

    He taught that faith is “bringing into the present tense things which were in the future for us” (Hebrews 11:1 (Now faith is) they put the emphasis on the word “now”

    He taught that man was created “in God’s class of being” (leans toward Pentecostalism)  Creative beings; should be able to create things just like God; thru words.  Except you’re not God.  God created the world and universe “ex-nihilo” purely out of nothing.  Gen 1:26 “God gave mankind dominion”

    The Core beliefs of the Word Faith movement can be traced back to Kenyon.  We will discuss each of these in later sessions:

    Mankind or human nature is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body.  The real “man” is his/her spirit.

    God created the universe (and the world) by speaking words of faith.  He does everything by faith and we are to have the same kind of faith.

    In the fall, mankind took on Satan’s nature and gave up their divine dominion to him.  This event made (according to Kenyon), Satan the legal god of this world and would make it so that God could not do anything on this planet except thru mankind.

    Jesus died spiritually in addition to physically.  He took on Satan’s nature and suffered in Hell to redeem us (first born-again man)

    By our positive confession with the God kind of faith, we should be able to overcome sin, sickness, poverty, etc.

    Kenneth Hagin quotes/beliefs
    Kenneth E Hagin (1917 – 2003)
    Considered the “father” of the Word Faith movement
    Plagiarized Kenyon on multiple occassions.

    The trouble with us is that we’ve preached a ‘cross’ religion, and we need to preach a ‘throne’ religion. By that I mean that people have thought they were supposed to remain at the cross. Some have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, have backed up to the cross, and have stayed there ever since…The cross is actually a place of defeat, whereas the Resurrection is a place of triumph. When you preach the cross, you’re preaching death, and you leave people in death. (The Believer’s Authority, 1986) (rebuttal to this in notes on “created in His image”)

    We died all right, but we’re raised with Christ. We’re seated with Him.  Positionally, that’s where we are right now: We’re seated with Christ in the place of authority in heavenly places.

    Believer’s should never deal with doubts and fears because they are the devil’s narcotics.

    God is glorified through healing and deliverance, not through sickness and suffering.  (What about Job?)  What about the blind man in John 9:2?

    “Our confession will either imprison us or set us free. Our confession is the result of our believing, and our believing is the result of our right or wrong thinking.”

    “If you stand by the Word, God will stand by you and will make His Word good in your life. But if you don’t stand on God’s Word, then He has nothing to make good in your life. Many folks pray and pray and pray, but they don’t pray according to the Word. But John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

    “Many times we’re cheated out of the blessings God wants us to have in this life because we’re not cooperating with Him. Instead of praying again for Sister Gray’s healing, the congregation should have raised their hands and thanked God that she had been healed.”

  • He who sits in the Heavens laughs.”God has a sense of humor”???

    by

    ,

    I was online recently, and saw the following statement on social media (I won’t mention the person’s name because I don’t know him or her personally). Here’s how the post read:

    “He who sits in Heaven laughs. I sit in Heaven so I laugh.”

    Multiple problems with this: first of all, this person is taking Psalms 2:4 out of context.
    Psalms 2:1 – 6 reads:
    “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 he kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
    4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (disdain, mockery)
    5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

    This passage in Psalms in speaking of God laughing in mockery at his enemies; God, not us.

    Secondly, this person is taking Ephesians 2:6 out of context.
    Ephesians 2:1 – 6 reads:
    “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

    Paul completes the thought by adding the exaltation: “and seated us together (with him) in the heavenly places.” Forty days after his resurrection God’s omnipotence seated the Christ in the glory of heaven. This, too, has its resultant counterpart in what God’s grace did spiritually for us: “he seated us together with (him) in the heavenly places.” Paul cannot say as he did in 1:20: “at his right hand in the heavenly places far above,” etc. The counterpart is not a duplicate. The result matches the cause but is not the cause repeated.
    The kingdom of the heavens (Matthew’s expression), established here on earth, is heavenly throughout and not of this world (John 18:36). It is the threshold of the kingdom of glory and is located wherever God’s grace has sway. God seated us in his own gracious presence in the church, amid all his children, at the table of his Word and Sacraments, under the shadow of his mercy and love. All the high and prideful places of the world are dung-heaps compared with the heavenly places in the kingdom of grace.

    This type of scripture twisting really doesn’t come at a surprise when we have people like Rick Warren who do it all the time. Here is his take on Psalms 2:4 from an article he published on July 15, 2007 https://www.christiantoday.com/article/rick.warren.learn.to.laugh/11582.htm:
    “One of my favourite verses in the Bible is Psalm 2:4, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” Isn’t that a great verse? God has a sense of humour. God laughs!”
    “He who sits in Heaven laughs. I sit in Heaven so I laugh.”

    Again, one verse taken out of context with no regard for what the author was talking about. This passage does not, in any way insinuate that God has a sense of humor. God isn’t laughing at the nations in response to something funny; he’s laughing at their utter ignorance as to think they could defeat the Creator of the Universe (similar to the laugh Goliath gave to David in their battle; different outcome though).

    Get good commentary and don’t just take the word of someone just because they are a big name preacher or someone who has a lot of followers on Youtube or Tiktok.
    Christ warned us there would be many who would come in his name, and on that final day, He will tell them to depart, for He never knew them.

  • Christ in the Account of Abraham and Issac

    by

    This is from a lesson I gave this fall. The name of the class was “Finding Jesus in the Old Testament”. I hope it edifies all who take the time to read it.

    Genesis 22:1 “After these things…”  What things??

    Backstory:

    Genesis 12

    God calls Abram out of the place where he lived in Haran.  He was a native of Ur of the Chaldeans.  God promised to “make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  (Sarai is barren)  Abraham is 75 at this point.

    Fast forward to Genesis 15

    Abram is still childless and is questioning the promise God made in Genesis 12.  So, God enters into a covenant with Abram.

    After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and He (God) counted it to him (Abram) as righteousness.

    7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

    12  As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

    17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give3 this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

    Blessed Abraham was called by the Lord ‘the father of a multitude of nations,’ for all the nations which now believe in Christ and will believe are sons of Abraham by imitating his faith, not by birth in the flesh. Now just as after being children of Abraham the degenerate Jews by their infidelity became children of the devil and are called in the Gospel a ‘brood of vipers,’ so on the contrary all the nations who faithfully believe in Christ have merited to become the children of Abraham. Therefore, the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram of three years, as also the turtledove and the pigeon, presented a type of all nations. They were described as of three years, because all the nations were to believe in the mystery of the Trinity.

    Notice, brethren, that what is called a fiery torch passing between those pieces is also not said to have touched the turtledove and pigeon. That evening signified the end of the world. Those animals, as we already said, showed a type of all the nations who believe in Christ. Because those nations have in them not only spiritual men, as was already said, that is, not only good men but even the wicked, for this reason the animals were divided and the fiery torch passed through them. According to what the Apostle says: ‘The day of the Lord will declare it, since it will be revealed in fire,’ and so forth. That burning, smoking oven and fiery torch prefigured the day of judgment, and for this reason fear and a darksome horror settled upon blessed Abraham.

    (Caesarius of Arles; Sermon 82)

    Ten more years go by…no child.

    Genesis 16

    Sarai gives her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram so she can have a child by her.  This leads to the relationship between Sarai and Hagar to become strained.  Sarai kicks her out of the house.  The Angel of the Lord meets Hagar in the wilderness…tells her to return to Sarai and submit to her.  He promises to multiply her offspring and gives certain details about what would come of his descendants.

    Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born. He is 14 years older than Isaac.

    Thirteen years later

    Genesis 17

    God reaffirms his covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham (father of many nations).  God initiates the sign of the covenant; circumcision.  He also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah.  He tells Abraham that he will have a son, name him Isaac and that the covenant will be with him.  Ismael will be blessed in his own right, but Isaac will have the everlasting covenant.  God tells them he will be born at this time next year.

    Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born.  He was 75 when he was called out of his land.

    Isaac is now around 10 years old (according to biblical historians)

    Genesis 22:1 – 19  (FORESHADOWING)

    After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

    How many sons did Abraham have at the time?  Who was to be the burnt offering?

    Abraham had two sons at this point in time; Ismael (the oldest) and Isaac.

    The scarlet thread has come up to Isaac and no further so far.  “your only son” sounds a lot like John 3:16.

    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he have his only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

    3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw (Hebrew:  ra’ah) the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

    Significant things happen on “the third day”.  He was confident that he and Isaac were coming back after the sacrifice.  Jesus was riding a donkey when he rode into Jerusalem before his passion week (Matthew 21). In fact, Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem was the beginning of his journey to Calvary; to the Cross.

    6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son (John 19:12). And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.  So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

    Isaac carried the wood up Mt. Moriah for the offering.  Christ carried his cross up the same mountain.

    God will provide a substitute.

    Gen. 22:9   When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

    “angel of the LORD”…preincarnate appearance of Christ

    Isaac is laid on the wood just as Christ was at Calvary.

    13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked (saw), and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide” (Yahweh will see); as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided (seen).”

    “ram caught in a thicket”…caught in thorns around its head…”crown of thorns”.  The ram became Isaac’s substitute.  Just as Christ became all of mankind’s substitute.  (John 19:2)

    Gen. 22:15   And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

    “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”

    Paul in Galatians 3 explains the fulfillment of this promise.

    Galatians 3:15 – 19

    To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

    Gal. 3:19   Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

    Blessed through the redemption of Christ.

    Hebrews 11:17

    By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

    On the slopes of Mt. Moriah, just west of the Temple Mount, Jesus was crucified; he stood between Heaven and Earth; the sacrifice provided, the “ram caught in the thicket”; our substitution.

    On that mountain, the Lord provided himself a lamb for the offering; and on that day, the Lord did see.

    Alters on Mt. Moriah

    1 Chronicles 21:1 – 27

    Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were h1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah h470,000 who drew the sword. 6 But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.  7   But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” (one man’s sin causes everyone to be guilty) 9 And the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”  14   So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven (when Jesus was crucified, He was standing between Heaven and Earth), and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”  (David sinned and he needs a substitute)

    David Builds an Altar

    1Chr. 21:18   Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.  19 So David went up at Gad’s word, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD. 20 Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. 22 And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” 23 Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” 24 But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25 So David paid Ornan p600 shekels1 of gold by weight for the site. 26 And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD2 answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

    King David sins against God and affects the whole nation; Adam’s sin is imputed to all of us. (verse 13)

    Verse 15 (Yahweh saw)

    Verse 16 “standing before heaven and earth”  David needed a substitute.  David made an alter on the threshing floor; where wheat and chaff are separated.  The cross is the “threshing floor”; the place were the wheat and chaff are separated.

    2 Chronicles 3:1

    Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

    The altar that David built; Solomon continued with the temple; on Mount Moriah.  Temple Mount is on Mount Moriah.

    Dome of the Rock houses the Foundation Stone.

    Church of the Holy Sepulchre – place where Christ was crucified and buried.

  • Warning against False Teachers

    by

    A qoute from Ignatius’ Letter to the Trallians (Church in Tralles) The city of Aydin in Turkey’s Aegean Region (it was known as Tralles in Roman and Byzantine times)

    “I urge you, therefore – yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ – partake only of Christian food and keep away from every strange plant, which is heresy.  These people, while pretending to be trustworthy, mix Jesus Christ with themselves – like those who administer a deadly drug with honeyed wine, which the unsuspecting victim accepts without fear, and so with fatal pleasure drinks down death.”

    The Apostolic Fathers. Third Ed. Michael W. Holmes, 2007 Baker Academic; Baker Publishing Group

  • Christ throughout the Bible

    by

    This is great. Worth sharing. Gregory of Nazianzus lived during the 4th Century.

    Gregory of Nazianzus, On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius 29.19

    (speaking of Jesus)

    He remained what he was; what he was not, he assumed… He was begotten—yet he was already begotten—of a woman. And yet she was a virgin. That it was from a woman makes it human, that she was a virgin makes it divine.

    On earth he has no father, but in heaven no mother.

    He was carried in the womb, but acknowledged by a prophet as yet unborn himself, who leaped for joy at the presence of the Word for whose sake he had been created.

    He was wrapped in swaddling bands, but at the Resurrection he unloosed the swaddling bands of the grave.

    He was laid in a manger, but was extolled by angels, disclosed by a star and adored by Magi.

    He was exiled into Egypt, but he banished the Egyptian idols.

    He had “no form or beauty” for the Jews, but for David he was “fairer than the children of men” and on the mount he shines forth, becoming more luminous than the Sun, to reveal the future mystery.

    As man he was baptized, but he absolved sins as God; he needed no purifying rites himself.

    As man he was put to the test, but as God he came through victorious—yes, bids us be of good cheer, because he has conquered the world.

    He hungered—yet he fed thousands. He is indeed “living, heavenly bread.”

    He thirsted—yet he exclaimed: “Whosoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

    He was tired—yet he is the “rest” of the weary and the burdened.

    He was overcome by heavy sleep—yet he goes lightly over the sea, rebukes winds, and relieves the drowning Peter.

    He pays tax—yet he uses a fish to do it; indeed he is emperor over those who demand the tax. He is called a “Samaritan, demonically possessed”—but he rescues the man who came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves.

    Yes, he is recognized by demons, drives out demons, drowns deep a legion of spirits, and sees the prince of demons falling like lightning.

    He prays, yet he hears prayer.

    He weeps, yet he puts an end to weeping.

    He asks where Lazarus is laid—he was man; yet he raises Lazarus—he was God.

    He is sold, and cheap was the price—thirty pieces of silver; yet he buys back the world at the mighty cost of his own blood.

    A sheep, he is led to the slaughter—yet he shepherds Israel and now the whole world as well.

    A lamb, he is dumb—yet he is “Word,” proclaimed by “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

    He is weakened, wounded—yet he cures every disease and every weakness.

    He is brought up to the tree and nailed to it—yet by the tree of life he restores us.

    Yes, he saves even a thief crucified with him.

    He is given vinegar to drink, gall to eat—and who is he? Why, one who turned water into wine, who took away the taste of bitterness, who is all sweetness and desire.

    He surrenders his life, yet he has power to take it again. Yes, the veil is rent, for things of heaven are being revealed, rocks split, and dead men have an earlier awakening.

    He dies, but he vivifies and by death destroys death.

    He is buried, yet he rises again.  He goes down to Hades, yet he leads souls up, ascends to heaven,  and will come to judge quick and dead[1]

    [1] St Gregory of Nazianzus, On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius, ed. John Behr, trans. Frederick Williams and Lionel Wickham, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002), 88.