Tag: bondage

Studies

Thou Art My Son, Today have I Begotten Thee

Pete

Thou Art My Son, Today have I Begotten Thee

Until one is released from the law and ceases from being bound by their carnal reasoning, one will remain separated from the Spirit of Christ and walk contrary to faith.  Having knowledge of and continuing to search the Scriptures is not faith as the Lord’s words to the professing Jews of every generation make perfectly clear.

Joh 5:39  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 
Joh 5:40  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Joh 8:44  You are of your father the devil [following your carnal mind] and the desires of your father [at enmity with the Lord] you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 

There is much spoken about concerning “the law” in the Scriptures that throughout the ages carnally minded men have made very complicated and twisted to their own destruction.  When the Lord returns the second time for salvation, imparting the gift of faith, then we understand His truths and the simple commands.

Joh 16:25  These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs [parables]: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

Before faith is come, we will see and hear but not in Spirit and in Truth and will remain separated from the Lord and not know Him or have the understanding of the Father.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

It only becomes plain when the Lord gives one the keys to the kingdom of God which is precious faith of the Lord [Eph 2:8] and His promises to come [Rom 10:9] if we endure.  But until the time one is given this gift, the kingdom of God will remain a mystery and we are shut out in spiritual darkness and not being able to partake of the wedding feast.  Faith is the covering, the very garment one must have to come to eat at this feast.  Until then we will be ever learning but not able by our own works and reasonings of the Scriptures to come to the knowledge of the Truth.

Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment [has not faith]? And he was speechless. 

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

The only way one is justified is by having the faith of the Lord and standing on His promises to save us if we can only believe.

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 
Rom 3:29  Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 
Rom 3:30  since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 

Justification is our overcoming and that victory comes only by faith and our being born again into a living hope.  Standing on faith has us giving up all the carnal reasonings of what is right and wrong under the law given the carnal nation of Israel.  Christ is the end of the law for all those that truly believe.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

All men are born into this carnal bondage that only the Lord can grant one repentance from and bring the freedom of Christ.  When He comes in our flesh, we are released from the law and the sin and death that so naturally results from walking with a carnal mind.  We thus become free as we enter faith and begin to know the Lord in spirit and in truth.

Mar 1:14  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 
Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

The Lord’s prophets are also angels who minister to those that are given faith in their time and serve a valuable purpose in preparing God’s faithful remnant.  But those that serve and prepare the tabernacle of God cannot eat at that altar unless they are chosen and dragged thru the veil of the flesh.  Angels of God who are messengers in serving the Lord in preparing those given faith desire to look into the things pertaining to the Gospel but to them, it is not now given.

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels [messengers of God not given to be faithful] desire to look into. 

The baptism of John prepares us for the coming of Christ and is representing by the prophets and prophecies and are growing in the knowledge of the Scriptures.  All good and necessary yet all men must wait until Christ comes to them and will be on the outside for truth but not finding it on their own efforts.

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 

Those faithful are pulled out of the people of God who serve the tabernacle and prepare the way.  Only a few are given to be His high priests in the order of Melchizedek that is given to bear the iniquity of the priesthood.  That iniquity and sacrifice are what Christ and His Christ will bear as they are rejected and crucified by their own people.   The true priests [the Sons of Aaron in OT type] and those that do service [the Levites in OT type] must be separated from one another and cannot eat at the same altar.

Num 18:1  And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 
Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. 
Num 18:3  And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. 

Working for rewards or bribes, seeking to justify themselves by their outward good works,  those the Lord has blinded serve the tabernacle but cannot enter into the holiest of holies.  The faithful priests only, the true Sons of Aaron in type and shadow are the only ones that can eat at the altar of God.

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 

The difference between the two laws, the law Moses/Gentiles and the law of Faith is the great gulf [Luke 16:26] that separates God’s people from everyone else known as the Gentiles.  All mankind remains in bondage to their carnal mind, even after coming to the knowledge of the law and the prophets and must first be in bondage waiting on the Lord to come set them free.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [FAITH] hath made me free from the law of sin and death [The law of carnal thinking].

Those the Son has set free shall be free indeed from the law of sin and death and will no longer be reasoning back and forth of right and wrong but will come to Christ and stand on His simple commandments.  The Jews that believed on Christ were not free, they remained of their father the devil [being carnally minded] and bound in unbelief and could not receive the Truth to be saved.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

All who first hear the Gospel will not enter into the Lord’s rest and lay down their carnal reasoning which is unbelief.

Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 

Few are given to escape the bondage of being carnally minded in every generation, they all fall and get snared in [the church of] the wilderness.  Part of living by every word God spoke [Mat 4:4].

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

The entire parable of John 8 and Christ speaking with the Jews who believed upon Him tells of this experience. All those chosen will first claim His name, saying we believe; but remain of our father the devil, bound by the carnal mind which is “the law of sin and death” that has us reasoning and determining what is right but being unwilling to come to the Lord as a little child and sit down.

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 

Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father [the devil – Joh 8:44].

Only those born of true faith, the seed of Isaac will inherit the promises of the Lord and enter into the Holy City being connected to the Lord in Spirit.  The harlot, the church in the wilderness is a physical and carnal gathering that is one Body, but the true church is a spiritual gathering in heaven.

1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 

We are “none of His” and do not belong to Christ, until we come out of her [Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots] with great affliction and begin to be led of the Spirit having the gift of faith imparted unto us.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 
Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

This religious experience is such a deception.  We will only see it when the Lord has mercy and pulls us up into heaven and reveals it to us.  It is part of coming to see it is all dung except the righteousness of Christ that only comes by faith [Phi 3].   John and we marvel when we see the harlot, the church in the wilderness that is Spiritual Babylon through which all God’s people must come.

Rev 17:6  I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. 

Rev 17:7  But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

It is the signs and wonders and fire from heaven we experience being joined to this woman, that holds us in deception until the Lord is revealed and faith comes.  Mercifully a day comes, appointed unto every man in their time, when the Lord will reveal the truth to us [His word is the truth].   Then we see clearly that had been deceived and abiding with our father the devil, within and without all the while thinking we had been serving the Lord.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

It is only to a blessed few of the Lord’s angels that He begets and declares to be His Son in this age.

Heb 1:5  For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 

This declaration is made on “this day” which is today which is the last day of the three days by which the Lord is building His temple.  It is not a day we choose, it is the Lord who chooses us for salvation and comes to rebuild His Temple on that day.

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 

The Book of Hebrews is written not to flesh Jews but to the true spiritual Jews that came out of the harlot church when they were chosen of God and called up hither by the Lord.  These are the sons of God who are henceforth led by the Spirit and no longer are bound to their own self-righteous reasoning under the law.  We have an earnest of our deliverance now with the firstfruits of the Spirit and we no longer walk by sight but by faith in the promises of God yet to be revealed.

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

All angels and messengers of the Lord are His ministering spirits speaking words of fire throughout the earth.  The Lord’s angels prepare those who will be declared sons and given the gift of faith of our Lord and exalted [called up hither].

Heb 1:7  And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 

Heb 1:8  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 

Heb 1:9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 

The faithful few are called out of their fellow angels and exalted by the Lord as He seats them in heaven and gives the true anointing [faith] in the Spirit.

This elevation by the Lord is accomplished when the sons of God are spiritually killed in the harlot city as those still bound to the earth [their carnal mind] make merry of their evil deeds to those who spoke the commandments that vexed and tormented their carnal reasonings under the law.

Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth [focused on carnal things] shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 

Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 

That is where the saints of the Lord are found, in heaven, all having been called up and seated at the right hand of God.  It is when Christ in us the hope of glory, is crucified and then raised to the dead, that we as Christ are made partakers of His holiness and the divine and precious promises of the Gospel.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 

Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heaven

Those the Lord is saving in every age seated at His right hand in heaven.  All our prior service for the Lord, being under the law and our carnal reasoning of right and wrong will be seen as vanity and dung when called up hither.

Heb 10:11  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 

Those yet under the law will continue to make a good showing in the flesh but those sacrifices can never take away sins.  It is only when the Lord comes and imparts faith and that we can cease from our own works and then be saved.

Heb 10:12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 
Heb 10:13  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 
Heb 10:14  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

A carnal Peter, which is the carnal version of all men, did not understand the Lord when he first heard the Lord’s words.  A day comes to all God’s people when they will hear these words in the Spirit and know following Christ has cost them everything including being forsaken and forsaking all we once thought was important.  Losing and giving all of this up is the necessary cost of being His disciple and when we enter eternal life and our inheritance in the saints.

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 

Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 

The saints of God and those the Apostles are writing and speaking to the saints to this very day.  We are joined in Spirit and with all those the Lord has made faithful and clothed bringing us into His wedding feast.  Our inheritance connects us with all the saints, not in the flesh or via phone and conference calls but in Spirit.  This is the church of God that has overcome the world [in down payment] and is being sanctified by the work of the Lord in their heart.  Only those in the faith of Christ partake of this blessing in this age.  It is all a gift, given to those the Lord has chosen.

Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 

The conversion from flesh to Spirit is a translation.  It is how we come out of Babylon [Rev 18:4] and are dragged thru the veil of flesh into a spirit realm all by the hand of the Lord.

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [enrolled] us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 

Thus the Lord works all things, send false prophets unawares into those He has chosen to sift and winnow out the true ones in due time.

1Co 11:18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 

The winnowing and refining’s and sifting is all part of the process to bring out of Egypt [the world] first the called, then the chosen and then the faithful into His kingdom.

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

Paul’s experience is every man’s experience in the appointed time as man shall live by every word God spoke.  We must be separated from the spiritual mother [Joh 6:63] that begat us and called by His grace to a higher place of understanding.

Gal 1:15  But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, 

The mother that gives birth to us spiritually is the church in the wilderness which is another symbol for Babylon of which our time in orthodoxy is merely a shadow of the greater spiritual experience to come.  All of God’s people come out of this church in the appointed time after it has served its purpose in preparing us to be seated with Christ.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne [called up hither, seated in heaven]

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Our evil experience includes knowing Christ in the flesh and being deceived all the while increasing in knowledge but still being in bondage to the gods of this world; both the Assyrian [world] and Babylonian [religious world] kings.  We live out both evil experiences thinking we are the Lord’s chosen people before we are made faithful and truly converted.

Jer 50:17  Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 

Jer 50:18  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 

There comes an end to prophecies and speaking in tongues as Paul wrote to the carnal Corinthians.  To be Christ we must do Christ and that becomes the only thing we live by when the prophecies and learning knowledge and speaking in new tongues ceases.  The end of the matter is charity which is keeping His commandments.

1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

That end comes when we are enrolled into heaven and translated by faith into His kingdom.  To fulfill the word of God we must live that word and once it is lived, there comes an end.

Luk 22:37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 

The end is when we are numbered by our own people as transgressors and put to death like our Lord.  The subsequent raising to life by the Spirit of God is the power of the Gospel that is revealed by our faith and what henceforth guides the Israel of God in the way.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 

Just as the woman at the well found out [which woman we are when Christ comes to us],  the true worshippers of God do so in spirit and in truth and do not worship in the mountain [the world] or in Jerusalem [the one below, the harlot, spiritual Babylon].  The true worshippers’ worship in Spirit and in truth and no longer partake of the sacrifices and offering practiced by a carnal nation.

Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

The experience of being in the world and knowing Christ in the flesh and then going into Babylon has a second witness in Ezekiel and the story of the two sisters Aholah and Aholibah.  The second sister also known as Jerusalem is much more sinister and deceptive than even the first evil experience.

Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: 

Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 

Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. 

Yet we as Christ must go through these experiences of evil.  Christ must go through Samaria [Joh 4:4] and be crucified in Jerusalem below [Luk 13:33].   Both sayings speak to the evil experience we must experience to learn good and evil to have His work completed in us as we become like our Lord and possess eternal life.

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: 

When faith comes, the things concerning Christ come to an end and a new day arrives where we are joined to the Lord in Spirit along with an innumerable company of angels.  This is our enrollment in heaven and where the gathering of spirits being made perfect is taking place.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, [all those faithful and One with the Lord]

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

The gathering in Spirit is the true heavenly Jerusalem.  The one on the earth still minding fleshly things, reasoning under the law, is the Jerusalem below which is still in bondage and represents Hagar and Ishmael.  That church still under the old covenant of the law is still in bondage to the law and is not yet free.

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

While the Jerusalem above is barren at first with no children, we are to rejoice as we have Christ our Husband and trust in the promises yet to be revealed.  In the end, we will bring forth children for God as we go to the Gentiles to sow the seed and wait upon the Lord to make those worthy for eternal life.

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

In the end, this will encompass all men as all men shall be saved through Christ and will come out of the Holy City that worships Him in Spirit and in truth.  Thus the promise of faith given to Abraham will be fulfilled and all the nations and tribes of the earth shall come to Christ.

Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 
Gen 15:5  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 
Gen 15:6  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 

All those made alive in Christ by faith are joined with Christ and are one with Him IN ONE SPIRIT.

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 

Thus all things are made new and we know no man after the flesh but filter all things through the prism of faith and what the Lord is doing in the Spirit.  The way of Christ will be foolishness to the natural man and like our Lord, we will be reviled and called all manner of evil for His namesake.  Thus we count it all joy to judge righteous judgment in all things as we ourselves are not judged by any man.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

The word of God is true and cannot lie.  The true church is speaking and edifying the saints to this very day as all those raised to life live they did not die.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

Extremely few believe these words.  Paul, Peter and all the faithful before us are not dead. They live today in Spirit with the Lord and minister to us being part of the One Spirit that is the true Christ.

Extremely few believe the Gospel and in the promises of the Lord.  It is that unbelief and trusting in carnal things that enable the devil [their carnal mind] to keep men bound for their entire life by the fear of death [Heb 2: 15].  But how precious is that death to the Lord who raises His people to eternal life.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints 

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

Articles

The Lord’s Plan for Babylon

Pete

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  

The expected end for all men is their salvation.  It is sure and all flesh shall see it in the appointed times.

Luk 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 

The orthodox churches often cite Jeremiah 29:11 and teach it to the young and old.  They use it to promise blessing to the flesh but don’t even see the promise of salvation hidden in the verse.  It is a great verse that speaks of God’s plans for all men in due time but specifically for now, speaks to the plan for His Elect.  Ironically, it is from a chapter that speaks about going into captivity in Babylon from which Babylon churches pluck this verse to support their carnal doctrines that completely miss the truth of God’s word.

The Lord has a plan for us indeed and that plan is for us to go into Babylon and spend our appointed time.  Nothing is by chance, the Lord is working it all.

Jer 29:10For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (come out of her and return to Jerusalem above)

My purpose here is not to bash Babylon.  God knows I have done that long enough.  My purpose is the show to those God has opened eyes and ears, a little of God’s plan and help them to see that one’s time spent in Babylon was ordained of the Lord before we were ever born.

Psa 139:16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Isa 46:10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Our stay in Babylon is when we will fulfill these Scriptures and claim His name yet do not even know Him blinded by the veil of flesh and the carnal mind.

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

I went thru a stage, that all of God’s Elect will have to go thru in living by every word of God.   Before we are given to see Babylon’s purposes, we will hate it and want to heap condemnation and judgment upon the very same system we ourselves had just been delivered from by the hand of God.  Babylon serves a valuable purpose for the Lord in bringing people to Himself. Only a few in this life, will be dragged out of Babylon and it is because of their unbelief, what was written for them, that the few chosen have even been given their faith as a gift from God.

Rom 11:30 For as ye (God’s Elect) in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

It takes time to appreciate and to understand this when we first come into the truth. When we first realize what Babylon has done to us, keeping us in bondage and spiritual darkness, perhaps for our whole life, we will hate the harlot. This too is a work of God and is working good in us in the end.  The complete (10 headed) beast that all men are will want to kill this harlot.

Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

As we come out of Babylon, the Lord will be showing us that we are this beast, a self righteous religious one at that, the chief of sinners, the abomination causing desolation, etc; and our first inclination will be to get vengeance on the system and the people who lied to us all those years and continue to deceive our friends, families and loved ones.  We will seek to destroy the whore harlot churches with fire.  This fire is the word of God and we will be quick to judge, condemn and find fault with everyone and everything.  Our intentions will be good, we want to show them what has been shown us, but we are not mature enough yet to share it as God has some wicked things to deal with us first.  At this point, we will still be carnal and judging men after the flesh but that will soon change as we mature into the doctrines of Christ.

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 

As we grow in the knowledge of the Lord and HIS CHRIST,  we will stop blaming others and holding them responsible for their behavior.  Oh that sounds like foolishness to the carnal mind but is a truth and key to knowing the mysteries of the kingdom.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (this includes all things, good and bad, even our very sins)

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

I know many that have been led part way out of Babylon but for now are stuck on this stage.  They have been shown the sloppy grace being taught in most churches but they are still under the law of Moses and this law was for the unrighteous.  The law is for a carnal nation within and contain carnal commandments. This law and repentance mode of John the Baptist is good as it serves its purposes in drawing us to Christ.  Still the veil of flesh must be taken out of the way to enter the kingdom of God.

2Co 3:14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

2Co 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

2Co 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

With that veil still there we have NO understanding in our carnal mind even though we may know many scriptures. We all will argue vehemently, that we are converted long before we really are just as Peter and all the disciples learned with time.  In type and shadow, carnal Christians are fulfilling the life of John the Baptist.  They are the forerunner to the coming of the Lord within them and whether their judgment begin in this life and the Lord from heaven is revealed only the Father knows.   We all must first be baptized into Babylonian doctrines as Christs’s baptism by John shows us. Very few shall find the way into the kingdom. The rest will have to wait to be converted in the lake of fire.

These carnal minded “holiness” types will preach against sin and repentance but can’t see past the delusion of free will.  They are like John the Baptist, who we are told is very great relative to those yet carnal but still less then the least person who has been converted (entered into the kingdom of God).  John represents in type and shadow, the last stage of our carnal mindedness in serving God as we live by every word.  We think we are serving the Lord in truth and in spirit at that time, but we don’t even yet know Him.  He has not appeared and our judgment has not begun.  The carnal John in all of us must be decreased so Christ can be increased and in due time it will happen as ordained of God.  That decrease will come when judgment falls upon us.  While in this late state carnal phase, we too will all think only of this whore harlot outwardly and will forget where to look, which is inwardly.  We all will think we serve God and are doing Him a service in our ignorance.

Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women (FLESH) there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

What will change one’s mind on Babylon is when they are given to see that God is truly working all things, even having us go into Babylon and be in bondage for all those days.  When we condemn and judge those in Babylon, we are judging another’s servant and we are commanded not to do this.  God is causing and working all things and we need to stay out of His way.

Rom 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

That like all things we do is the work of the Potter. Let’s look at just one pivotal chapter that was written not for those that lived back then (1 Peter 1:12) but was written for us, those whom God has given HIS Spirit too and upon whom the ends of the carnal age have come.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

JEREMIAH 29

Jer 29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

These are the words spoken by God’s prophets (the Elect in type and shadow) to all of God’s Elect (God’s priest and prophets)  who are still lost in Babylon. Man must live by every word God spoke and all of God’s Elect, even Saul of Tarsus must come out of Babylon in the appointed times.  Like Christ, as His Christ we are only to go to the lost house of Israel and they are scattered in Babylon until their time to be found arrives.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

Did you catch here who did it? Who causes these people to be carried away into bondage in Babylon? It was the Lord. So we will learn to quit judging in the flesh the things God is doing and HE has put the multitudes, the billions of people into the orthodox churches of men.

This is the Lord’s plan, we all have to go spend our appointed symbolic 70 years in Babylon. Here is that prophecy, verse 1 quoted in Matthew 2:15 and referring to Jesus Christ.  yet all of this prophecy from Hosea applies to CHRIST, His Body,  the very Elect of God.

Hos 11:1When Israel (MY ELECT) was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Hos 11:3I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian (same thing as Babylon) shall be his king, because they refused to return.

God’s Elect will not go backwards into the world, but will stay under bondage to the flesh and carnal mind.   Our carnal mind (Pharaoh) or this Assyrian or Nebuchadnezzar shall  be our king.  Walking as carnal men we will make and worship the image of the beast while we are in Babylon spiritually speaking.  But in due time, the sword, the word of God, will continue to abide on our inward cities and will cut off this branches that bear no spiritual fruit as the righteous judgment of God first comes upon us, God’s very Elect.  This battle takes place inwardly, in the cities and kingdom’s within.  That is the battleground.

Hos 11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

We must never forget where the kingdom of God truly is (Luke 17:21).  Our natural inclination will be to look outwardly and pin all of these Scriptures on the deceived guy down the street, but they really speak primarily about you and me.  Babylon is first and foremost a mindset and it is within us and this harlot woman rides our beast and help keep that beast sitting comfortably on God’s throne trusting in its own righteousness.  Babylon most certainly represents the organized religion and orthodox institutions of men but it also within us, it is a state of mind to be carnal and to mix the things of the world with the things of God.  That mind is the land that must be cleared of all the giants and things which defile.

Few Will Come Out of Her My People

All of God’s people will come thru Babylon.  No exceptions.  We will come out when we hear spiritually the call to come out.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

The Lord causes all of us to go into Babylon spiritually and this includes all systems of religion or spirituality even atheist. And like ALL THINGS, it is also the Lord who causes the very few of His Elect to come out of Babylon. Here is just one example from Ezra. We see first that the Lord caused the king of Cyrus to make the proclamation that led to the return of the captives.

Ezr 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

And lest we missed it and still are thinking, no but the Jews had to choose to go back to Jerusalem, we must remember that yes we make choices, but those choices are all caused because the Lord gives us our every thought and all the desires of our heart. So here we can see who really is the cause of the few that leave Babylon.

Ezr 1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Who caused it? It was the Lord. The flesh just cannot accept this and their eyes can’t see such a plain and simple truth that is throughout the Scripture.  I have shown these Scriptures plainly to people arguing that we must choose to leave Babylon on our own free will.  But they cannot see, the pride of life has them blinded as that is the Lord’s plan for them now.

All during this symbolic 70 years in Babylon we will build houses, plant gardens, and eat the fruit, this all speaking to us serving the Lord in the flesh and mixing the things of this world and its traditions and principles with the things of God. That is spiritual fornication.  We will be eating, drinking and giving in marriage just as in the days of Noah all the while we are in Babylon.

Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

And the Lord will increase us while we are in Babylon just as verses 5-6 show. This is one way the multitudes stay blind, they appear to be blessed and are in actuality as the rain of God falls on both the righteous and the wicked. The Lord even causes real outward changes in our lives, miraculous healing’s, deliverance from addictions and lusts; but are hearts remain unconverted and we are yet carnal.  These are the lying signs of wonders spoken about in 2 Thess 2 and Revelation 13 given to keep the beast sitting on God’s throne.  This is us living in the strong delusion of the veil of flesh.

Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

We will even have peace. Life will be good. We will be like JOB before his day of judgment. We will think we have arrived.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

But this peace we have here is a false peace, it is the deception and spiritual darkness we all must first live thru until our time to come out of her my people truly arrives. We will listen to those who say “peace and safety” when there is no true peace. We will put ourselves under those who divine lies, prophesy falsely and heal the wound of the people but only superficially.

Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Jer 7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Jer 8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

We will however not at first heed the words of the Lord and listen to His true prophets. We will be deceived by Babylon and dream our own dream, thinking we have free will and are in charge of our life.  We will follow the lying prophets the Lord has saw fit to make many in Babylon.

Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

Lest we forget who is causing all things to happen, even evil things and false prophets!

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

And the Lord will show us this in due time. After our appointed time of captivity has come, HE promises to come visit us and bring us out. He did for me and will do it for all of God’s Elect. The Lord has a plan for His people, the apple of His eye. It is all for good, a good plan and not for evil. The end shall be salvation. Praise God.  This is huge if you can believe it.

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Again, the carnal minded “free willers” have no place to stand, their lies crumble with any examination of Scripture.  And this next  Scripture, Jeremiah 29:11  is cited often in Babylon as we are taught falsely that the Lord is speaking about blessing our flesh and making us comfortable and content living in this world. That is not the Lord’s plan as His plans for good actually speak of coming to judge and destroy our old man and carnal nature and through the desolation, to bring the lightness, the new man, Christ in us, up from the darkness.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Here is that plan summed up nicely by the Apostle.

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Babylon knows verse 50 very well, but does not know how to apply it and teaches that the Lord is in the flesh blessing business but that is another jesus.  When Christ truly appears to us, He comes to bring judgment upon our old man and carnal mind.  That is the mystery of how He saves ALL MEN in their appointed times.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: (THE ELECT)  and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

This is the riddle and the parable of salvation that God will reveal to you after judgment has begun and you look behind and can see God at work.  Salvation comes throught the righteous judgment of God.

Joh 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 

And after the Lord has visited us and dragged us out then with true faith, we shall call upon Him and pray unto Him and He will hearken unto the prayers of a righteous man. As we endure fiery trials and judgment we will come to our wits end and cry out unto the Lord.  We can ask for anything consistent with His will and HE will perform it. How great is that!

Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

When Christ appears to us inwardly a second time for salvation without sin, the bonds of captivity are cut and we are truly free in Christ Jesus.  Henceforth we will be under grace and truth and not the law of Moses that brings death.  This is all the work of God, it is not our work, HE scatters us into Babylon as His Elect and He also brings us back. Carnal men will continue to deny the Lord with the lie of free moral agency. Here is some good news.

Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

The rest of this Chapter is speaking of the Lord having vengeance for His temple and recompensing upon us, HIS ELECT, the punishment for our sins and rebellion while in Babylon. That is right, we all will reap what we have sown.  This is actually the good news, the judgment of God against our old man and carnal mind, which is sweeter than honey and more desirable than gold.

Jer 29:15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
Jer 29:16 Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

See this v16 – the Lord is the Potter directing the steps of all men, those in Babylon now and even the very few that are now out of Babylon. The Lord is causing all things for the counsel of His will, free will is the strong delusion of the carnal mind. And look at what is promised for God’s Elect, once they come out of Babylon. We will be hated and rejected of all men and follow the Lord. Our words and doctrines will be darkness and evil to those that walk after the flesh and they will not understand. This is what is necessary for God to finish His good work in His Elect, to strip us of all our pride, ego and fleshly strength. This is how we are humbled in our appointed times by His fiery judgments.

Jer 29:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jer 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
Jer 29:19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
Jer 29:20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Being a hissing and a reproach is not fun to the carnal mind. It is our natural inclination and human nature to strongly desire to fit in with those around us. But God’s Elect that are dragged out of Babylon are indeed a peculiar people, likened to aliens and strangers in a foreign land. We will stand out like sore thumbs or like Joseph who was given a coat of many colors by his Father. God’s Elect have been given that coat spiritually, and the world will hate us for it, just as Joseph’s brothers hated him. We will learn to count these things as joy as we understand them and know what great blessing has fallen upon us to be dragged out of Babylon.

Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

All of God’s elect will be given a coat of many colors in due time.  This will cause them to be hated and rejected of all men, even without a cause just as they hated our Lord.  This is the same enmity that God put between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman in the story of Adam and Eve.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Conclusion

So knowing these truths, I have come to stop ragging on Babylon. You will too in due time if you are currently ragging on the whore harlot churches of men.  The Lord is deceiving those prophets, it is not them, so we will stop judging them after the flesh and acknowledge this is the work of the Lord.

Once you see this, you will have mercy on them knowing that you coming out of Babylon was nothing to do with you, it was all the work of God. And that is what it is, the Lord is in the process of calling out the few that will be the judges and rulers of this world with Him in the ages to come. They will be merciful judges and it is thru the process of being shown our own wickedness and being delivered from it, knowing we had nothing to do with it, that we in turn will show mercy to all men.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (Universal Salvation)
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

And showing that mercy will be a big role God’s Elect are being prepared for right now.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau (those that walk after the flesh); and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is the prize and the upward calling of God for which we strive to attain to the first resurrection!!!!!

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

What a wonderful God we serve. His plans for all of us are for good. The hardships and evil we experience in this life is for His purposes and these things must be.

Gen 3:22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

I hope this has blessed you and opened your eyes of understanding.  Sincere questions can be emailed to me at peterjwilson56@gmail.com

A brother who once was blind but now sees and that only by the mercy of God,  given as an undeserved gift,

Pete