QUESTION LIST #26: | To list of all questions on Website | Perfect example of the danger of the Rapture heresy:
No-name-given asks:
ANSWER:
No, Christians will not be gone! That is the great danger of the Rapture heresy―it leads Christians to think that they do not have to study the warnings and teachings of God and Jesus because, "they will be 'gone' anyway"
Danger!
Christians who believe in the so-called Rapture
today shall in fact be on the earth during the Great Tribulation of
antichrist; but they will just be wholly confused at that very critical
time―the Tribulation is the last time that one would want to be confused.
This is the great sin of the Rapture "teachers" (Tim Lahay, etc, et
al)―who, for filthy money's sake, are selling the sheep out of the flock to
satan. And it shall be visited upon their heads on
that great and terrible day
of Christ's return (the Second Advent).
God bless
the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin
Back to list of questions at top of page Did Jesus say that He built His Church on Peter? (No!)
A reader asks a question:
Answer:
Hello, I am not clear on what your mention of women Ministers has to do with this, but Jesus was speaking of Himself, not Peter.
The specific words that are key to understanding this are "Peter" and
"rock," for they are both derivatives of the same word meaning rock.
But the word translated to "Peter" in the verse above (and below) is petros,
and the word translated to "rock" is petra. Also,
the word "rock" below has the definite article in the Greek (although it is
not seen in the English language translation), whereas the word "Peter"
(although capitalized in the English translation) does not have the
definite article. (Illustration to follow.)
But simply stated, a petros is a small rock; while petra
is a large rock, even a solid foundation of stone.
Below is a copy
of the original Greek words of the key part of the verse. Notice the definite article (tee
-Grk. word #3588) preceding "rock":
Also, the word "and" (between "Peter" and "upon")
in the above illustration is kai in the Greek and can also be
translated to the word "but" in the English. This of course changes the way
that this verse is commonly understood. Observe:
But to give you a sense of the meaning of the
word petra ("rock"), there is a city carved out of the side of a
mountain, located in modern day Jordan, which is called Petra.
"Peter" (petros) was a movable stone, a smaller piece; petra
(translated "rock") was a solid foundation; and incidentally, that Rock was
Christ:
But anyway, in the Scripture you sent (Matt
16:18), we see in five short verses later that Jesus directs a rebuke
at Peter:
PS: Bullinger in his
footnotes to the
Companion Bible, on page 1345, will bear out
what I have just said on this matter.
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin Back to list of questions at top of page
A reader writes:
Answer: Hello. There are several issues in your correspondence that I feel need to be addressed frankly and, most importantly, with Biblical documentation. But first allow me to lay a little groundwork for others who may be reading along with this question/answer. Why do I say that, above all, the most important thing is that what I write to you regarding your dilemma is supported by Bible Scriptures? Because the Scriptures are our guide, they are the Word of God written down to man, from the very breath (Holy Spirit) of God through His Holy Prophets and Apostles. But there is a great shift going on in modern-day so-called Christianity, the Scriptures, the Bible itself is being challenged and found wanting. Christians today, many of them anyway, are oh-so-quick to wink and smile when they speak of the Bible. They have been deceived into believing that the Bible is the work of man and therefore, flawed and/or imperfect. This is the doing of satan through his agents on the Earth. Why would satan seek to nullify the Bible, and to make Christians doubt it's authenticity and authority? Because from it's first book (Genesis) it tells of his fate and through the last chapter (Revelation) which narrates his final end: The prophecy of satan's impending doom:
Further info on satan's impending doom:
Documentation that the serpent of old (from Genesis) was satan under one of his many roles and names:
The final end of this one of many names―satan:
If any reader here, sadly, has had his faith in the King James Bible ripped out of his heart by satan's minions in the Universities and Seminaries of our day, then they might greatly profit from reading the interesting and informative article, That Amazing Book!
I cannot claim to understand your anguish nor to fully comprehend your present emotional state, but I think that I can definitely say that the last thing that you need right now is to face God with murder on your soul. Even if the one that you murder is yourself. The 'problem' with suicide is that you aren't alive afterwards to repent. Kind of a catch-22, you know what I mean? Besides, as a Christian you know that the death of our flesh body is not the end of us, but rather it is the beginning of an eternity (if it be that we are counted as an overcomer). When we die we do not cease being, we simply go back to God and our flesh rots away in the grave back into dust:
So you see that we cannot escape God, not even in death. You will answer for the suicide along with all other unrepented sins that you have. Death is not the way out for you, my friend, life is:
Enough about suicide. it won't help you, and in the end it shall bring even more troubles to you than you now have. See also, our When a Christian takes a life. You said: "... I ... have gone on gay websites trying to find friends, and having a disgusting feeling inside this is wrong." That is because it is wrong, and your conscience detects it. This is actually a good sign, it means that God has not 'given-up on you.' He still is reaching out for you, though you try to run. Why on Earth would you go to the Gay Community for help when they are so at variance with God? That is like a recovering alcoholic going to the bar for help in staying off of alcohol, or like a drug addict going to the drug house for advice and comfort. They call this being "a little too close to the flame," if you know what I mean. You have perverted yourself into desiring homosexual pleasures, and now you automatically associate sexual gratification, emotional support, and fellowship, with the Gay lifestyle. I suppose that another digression is
necessary here because, once again, the compromised clergy of our modern-day
so-called Christian corrupt churches are actively telling people that
Homosexuality and Lesbianism is not against God's Law. Satan has corrupted
these false ministers and now they do his bidding. May God visit them for
their sin; for they lead many into the fire by their lies; lies that
they teach perhaps to hide their own perversions. "And as
troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by
consent: for they commit lewdness." (Hos 6:9). Old Testament:
New Testament:
In fact, in the New Testament we not only see that Homosexuality is not muted as a sin, but we also see a stronger admonishment; we see introduced a further explanation of Homosexuality, we see that Lesbianism was also to be included in the offence:
How these corrupt end-time preachers can even think to say that God is not against Homosexuality is beyond all imagination. As a side note, I was shocked to learn that a female relative of mine, who had just graduated High School with top honors, after having spent all of her 12 school years in "Christian" Schools, had never even heard nor ever been taught of Sodom and Gomorrah! She went on to inform me that I am just a Homophobe for saying that God is against Homosexuality! Is it any wonder this world is so screwed up? What evil the Catholic Church has done in the name of Political Correctness! (Not to mention a cloak to hide their own Priest's perverted and satanic desires for Gay Pedophile sex. Gay and child sex was and is practiced in the cults.) And it is not just the clergy of the Catholic Church that drinks this abomination, many (most) other mainline Christian denominations seem to have this vile problem among their priestcraft. As do the Jews and Muslims and many other religion's clergy. It is all from satan; and satan has infiltrated, created, or controlled all religions and denominations for of a very long time ago. Satan corrupts, he even further corrupts the already corrupt false religions (any religion other than Christianity). He is quite a thorough fellow. We choose to focus on the Christian problem here, and to let the other vain religions deal with their own. For all those reading here who have been denied access to the truth by corrupt and satan-infiltrated end-time churches, below are a few snippets from the Bible about Sodom and Gomorrah. In the first one we learn that God is what they would call a Homo-phobe. And no wonder, for God is also what they would call a Murder-phobe, adultery-phobe, bestiality-phobe (sex between humans and animals), etc. How far this world has come turning truth into lie and lie into truth!
Observe below, the depths of their depravity. Even after being stricken with instant blindness by the two Angels of God (whom they sought to commit mob homosexual rape on), they still groped blindly at the door trying to get at them for use sexually. Yet today's corrupt churches are ever more increasingly telling their flocks that Gays are OK with God and that it is not a sin! This is the work of satan.
I have heard pro-Homosexual preachers try to say that the good men of Sodom happened to be wandering around late at night and just wanted to greet the men (the 2 Angels) which were new in town. This would be laughable if the subject were not so serious. Can anyone who is not demonically-possessed or lying really read the above Scripture and come to the conclusion that the men of Sodom were simply a midnight welcoming committee? Notice that Lot offered his virgin daughters to the mob in the place of the (male) Angels, thus forever securing that the intentions were sexual in nature? So the corrupt Bible-twisting clergy want us to believe that the Sodomites (whence we get our word 'Sodomy' - anal sexual relations) were just wanting to shake the men's hands when they said "Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them"? Well, Adam wasn't shaking any hands when he knew Eve:
Joseph "Knew her not" UNTIL she bore Jesus, thus Jesus was born of a virgin. I suppose that the clergy would tell us that Joseph hadn't "greeted" or "met" his wife, Mother Mary, until after she bore the Messiah?
What is my point? My point is that, contrary to what satan's false ministers say, Homosexual and Lesbian sex is outlawed in the Bible, it is a sin that in the Old Testament was a Capital Offence (punishable by death), just like Murder and Adultery were. I am not "beating up on" Gays; Lord knows that they have thrust themselves into a hellish enough tormented existence; I am trying to help them by telling them the truth so that they can make an informed decision. The false preachers of today are leading many Gay people into spiritual death by lying to them and telling them what they want to hear instead of what God really said. So the sin of these false preachers is greater even than the Homosexual's sin (though most of the gay-friendly ministers are themselves Homosexuals and Lesbians). And true is it said of them by God: "And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness." (Hos 6:9). So now, what is the "Gay man" or a "Lesbian woman" ( better stated: demon possessed) to do? First, stop believing the lies. What you are doing is sin, period! How can you repent if you don't even believe that it is sin? Second, Repent of the sin of homosexual relations. God can and will wash away all sin of a believer who asks in Jesus' name. Third, ask God, in Jesus' name, for strength to overcome the perverted desires that you have succumbed to and which now haunt your every day. There are many websites dedicated to a Christian Ministry to help Gays out of the lifestyle. And while I cannot know how sound their doctrine is on all issues Biblical, I am at least relived that they convert homosexuals out of the gay cult into Christianity in Jesus' name. Seek them out through an Internet search. And no, you were not born gay, not anymore than one is born an adulterer or a murderer. Saying that homosexuals are born homosexual shifts the blame for the sin from man to God: how satan loves to blaspheme God. You were born a little innocent babe without a sexual thought in your head, then somewhere along the way in life satan entered in and perverted you unto vile affections. Through Christ Jesus you can come out of it. But as you can see by the rhetoric, satan and his minions on earth don't want you try to come out of it. He (satan) tells you that it is not a sin, thus why repent; besides, satan would say, "God made ya do it, for He made you that way". What a Blasphemous flipside of the old "The devil made me do it" euphemism!
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name! Back to list of questions at top of page When does God actually literally come to the earth?
ANSWER:
Hi Randall, you asked:
I know that it is confusing saying "Jesus does
this" and "God does that," but please understand that Jesus Christ
IS God.
See our: The
Holy Spirit & The Holy Trinity
The sequence is as follows:
At the Second Advent Jesus Christ returns to
this Earth:
God is still in Heaven at this time, Jesus is
the Actor in the White Throne Judgment (which comes at the end of the
Millennium). God will not be with 'man' until all evil is cleansed by
extreme removal (perdition - complete and utter destruction). Approximately
1000 years after the above Scripture (Rev 19) transpires, we have the below
great event officiated by Jesus Christ. Now all evil people (souls) are
destroyed in the Lake of Fire (commonly and errantly referred to by
Christians as "going to hell"):
But God said that He would do the Judging. This can only be so if
Jesus is God. And Jesus is God as Thomas so astutely observed
"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and
my God." (John 20:28).
Everything that is happening is still happening on the Earth. All the events up till now are happening on the planet Earth, not in Heaven.
Then, and only then, will God dwell One on one
with His children (this is the eternity). At that time we will be able to
speak to God and walk with Him as we did in the age that was (see our:
When was Thee
beginning?) and
as Adam did before he sinned:
Now we are in Heaven because now Heaven is
here on Earth. Heaven is wherever God is, it is His abode. Heaven
(for us) is a time rather than a location. And when God comes once again to live amongst
His children, then Earth is Heaven. The Garden of Eden was Heaven when God
was there (the Garden of Eden is called the garden of God in other
places--Ezek 28:13). When God visited Moses, Moses was told to remove his
shoes "...for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground" (Ex 3:5) because he stood on Holy ground--he was in Heaven
because God was there.
Well,
in the end, after all is made anew, the whole Earth shall be Heaven because
God shall be there.
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin Back to list of questions at top of page
Was Christ Crucified on a "tree," a "stake," or
a "cross;" are they the same thing?
Below is the latest e-mail from a man who is trying to say that the Bible was in error for calling the apparatus that Christ was crucified upon a "cross." Below he makes his 'final stand.'
SkyeHorse writes:
'The Cross and the cruxifiction' just prove my point. So why say it was a cross when the word translated meams stake?
Answer:
I wasn't there during the crucifixion, haven't seen any video of it. And neither have you. So I choose to not charge the Bible with error based simply upon man's interpretation of first-century Greek word usage. And how can you be so sure that a stake used to crucify did not have a support piece attacked to it to hold the arms of the victim? Does a stake driven into the Earth cease being a stake if one attaches another piece of wood to it?
Well, if you suppose that then you would have a
problem at any road construction site today, for they call the supports for
the concrete forms stakes even though they are two pieces
of wood at 60 degree angles. Go take a look, one piece is driven
strait down into the Earth and another is driven in on an angle against the
weight of the form board that it is supporting. The two pieces of wood are
then nailed together where they meet. You see this most commonly in your
neighborhoods when they are supporting the forms for the street curbs.
Observe the stakes used in the photo at right of
the form-work for a concrete patio and
attached
steps (particularly at the bottom right of
picture―see note there). You see that they are two-piece;
one
 piece is driven strait down, then another piece driven into the ground
at an angle to resist against the weight of the concrete when it is poured
into the forms. What is my point? My point is that this two-piece
wooden apparatus is called simply a stake. So why not so
with the Cross of Christ?
Please forgive me, but you sound like a Scripture Lawyer (a bad thing) who
sets about to find inconstancies in the Bible even though they be not
there. In challenging the "stake," "cross," "tree," that Christ was
crucified upon, you are really subtly attempting to throw doubt on the
whole Crucifixion itself. I am not blind to your designs, are you?
In other places in the Bible, the "cross" is
referred to as a tree (because of it's wooden composition). Will
you now say that it wasn't a wooden stake, nor a wooden cross, but was a wooden
tree (with branches and leaves), not understanding that they are all in
common because they are all made of wood?
Quit being petty and silly, please;
and as you can see, sometimes the Bible Concordances and Dictionaries can
confuse Bible truth rather than clarify Biblical truth. Christ was
crucified on a wooden apparatus fashioned by the Roman's of that time and of
that place. I suspect that no two crosses were identical―it's not like
Pontius Pilate ordered one from E-Bay or Crosses.com or anything. They
made them out of what was available at that time and from the materials at
hand in that place.
While we are on the subject, this brings to mind the "controversy" over whether Christ was nailed through the palm of the hand or through the wrist. The babblers say that the palm could not support the body (even though the body was supported by the victims feet). And I am not convinced that the palm couldn't support the body―I myself can hang from a bar with one hand without my hand tearing off. But that is irrelevant, anyway; it's just the vain babbling of Bible-deniers, as we shall see in the below. In the Greek of the New Testament, there is no separate word for wrist. Hand and wrist are not separate words, but are reckoned as one. In the below Scripture we see the chains about Paul's wrist (like our hand-cuffs of today) referred to as being on his hands; but we all know that "handcuffs" go around the wrist, not the hand. Why don't they call them wrist-cuffs? But anyway, in the below, observe that in the Greek of the New Testament the words hand and wrist are used interchangeably:
It never ceases to amaze me how even 'good'
Christians are so quick to charge the Bible with error, when in reality it
is man that errors whenever he sets himself against the Scriptures to work
controversy. Crafty evil men exploit this phenomenon to the downfall
of many a Christian. The Bible is true and man is error, not the other
way around. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean
that God let His written Word be defiled and made to err. Where's the
faith anymore? So many
so-called Bible inconsistencies could be cleared up simply with a
careful reading of the text, comparing Scripture with Scripture, not
comparing Scripture with Commentator's babblings.
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name! Back to list of questions at top of page How could satan have 'seed' to impregnate Eve?
A reader writes:
Answer:
Satan can have 'seed' the
same as the fallen angels had 'seed' (you are assuming that the impregnation
was by sperm). Sperm can be seed, but children are also referred
to as seed in Scripture.
But anyway, in the below the angels who fell from Heaven (hence, they are referred to by us as fallen angels) impregnated flesh women. How exactly they did this we do not know. But if an angel can eat, as they did with Abraham; and an angel has a body, as did the Angel that wrestled with Jacob; then why can't they produce sperm if that be how they impregnated the daughters of Adam?
Also, you err in that you
say that "From what I understand,
however, angels/spirits don't have reproductive organs (Matthew 22:30, Luke
20:34)." It doesn't say what are reading it to say, it says
that they do not marry, not that they do not have a penis (if I may
be so blunt); you are reading
extra info into the verse.
Jesus was God in the flesh (see our The Holy Spirit & The Holy Trinity) and He was circumcised on the eighth day (I know that I don't have to explain any deeper into my point―God is male).
Anyway, back to the fallen angels (sons of God) impregnating the human females of Adam's tribe (daughters of men):
Now, I don't like this
below comparison, and bear with me please; but, there was One who was
conceived by a Spirit without sexual copulation:
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin Back to list of questions at top of page
The non-global nature of Noah's Flood, and what is a soul?
Ben writes:
Answer:
Hello Ben.
First let me assure you that I do not take
offense at honest disagreement. And if any disagree with me then they
should voice it, but they should be able to back it up Scripturally before
concluding me in error. (Not that I say that you are doing this.)
Regarding the non-global nature of Noah's
Flood, have you seen our
Noah's Flood not
global, nor does the Bible say it was: proofs
You asked:
First, if I may, I will answer your question,
then I will show you where you have been confused; for many are likewise so
confused when it comes to the definition of a "soul."
The "eight souls" of (1 Peter
3:20) is a metaphor, just as the "eighth person" of (2 Peter
2:5) is a metaphor. For there were eight souls (humans) on the Ark,
there were eight persons (humans) on the Ark.
How fortunate for us that the same author (Peter)
used two different expressions to say the same thing―thus showing that
"souls" are "persons." But I speak somewhat foolishly, for there is
but One Author of all the Bible books―that being the Holy Spirit of God.
But for man's sake, and our faithlessness, it is nice to see one human
writing two phrases that mean the same thing.
So you see that it has nothing to do with eternal salvation, but rather was simply stating that eight people were saved from the death of the flood waters by being aboard the Ark. Now to the root of the problem that has caused you difficulty in understanding the above Scripture, the same which has also caused millions of Christians World-Wide, dozens upon dozens of difficulties understanding other Scriptures. That problem being the understanding of what the Bible means when it uses the English word "soul."
Spawn perhaps in the mediaeval darkness of the early church, or maybe
the result of the slow slipping away from competent Biblical exegesis that
has brought the church to it's present spiritually degenerate condition,
whatever the cause: the concept of soul, spirit, and flesh is not
being understood by today's church. And as a result, or perhaps as the
cause, the churches today do not even understand the nature of their God.
Praying one day to God, the next to Jesus Christ, reserving certain things
for the ears of the Holy Spirit only-- never understanding that They are the
same, They are One. See our
The Holy Spirit & The
Holy Trinity .
But let's focus on the nature of us, and leave the nature of God for
the other study above. Though in understanding the nature of God we may
easier understand our own nature, for we are all made in the image of God (but
we are much less).
We do not have souls, we are souls.
When you read the newspaper and see a headline read: "Ship sinks, all twenty-two souls
aboard perish," do you consider that twenty-two went to Hell? Of course
not, the term soul was of old used in the English language to mean
"person." Then enters the church, with her confusion.
The church made up a special component to the human that God did not
make; the church fashioned the "soul" (that part of you that goes to
Hell if
you are bad). Over the years the "soul" has been made into almost another
entity aside from, yet, and within us. They have made it to be understood
that this "soul" was placed into this flesh body and that this "soul" is
what is judged when this flesh body dies.
Well, they are close enough to the truth to be
grossly wrong. And
because they are so close to the truth their error was not easily detected.
From thence it was easy to pass the error on through Seminaries and
religious writings until now the error is taken as truth and the truth is
considered remarkable. That remarkable truth being that: We do not have
souls, we are souls.
Are we judged then? Yes we are, does not the Bible even tell you
so? Then, what is a soul? To understand soul, one must understand
spirit and body, for they are all three parts of the
selfsame entity that is you.
The Nature of Man
God is similar to us, or rather we are similar to Him: in that He has
three parts as well. But He is God and He is more than we. We are
similitude, He is the Creator and great pattern. The confusing of what I
have just said
is the basis of all New-Age and Gnostic heresies. I understand that I am
probably more confusing you than clarifying for you, and if I had the time I could
explain this further and remove all opportunities for misunderstanding; but
then this short answer would become a Bible Study of it's own; forty to
sixty pages long, no doubt. Feel free to follow-up with any specific
question. But please understand that I am regrettably admitting to leaving
much undone in this short little answer. There are also a dozen
Scriptural references that I could have inserted into this answer, if that
becomes a problem, I shall insert them when I find the time. Many of them
you will probably pickup-on by the language that I used.
So what gets judged on that final day? We do, our souls, us, our
being: we, the entity called ourselves. At that time (Judgment Day) we
shall all be in our spiritual bodies for the flesh shall have been shed at
the Second Advent. A flesh body may be killed in any number of ways, but a
spiritual body, which is the container of your soul in the spiritual realm,
can only be killed in one way by one Person. God alone can kill a
spiritual entity, and that only in the Lake of Fire. Even satan is already
condemned to die in the Lake of Fire, but it has not yet been carried out
because the time of the great and dreaded Lake of Fire is not yet.
In Noah's Flood, the offspring of the fallen angels (the Giants) were
killed, but the fallen angels themselves did not die, they were retrieved
and placed into heavenly incarceration until the Day of Judgment and the
opening of the Lake of Fire. There is no such thing as Hell as taught by
the church. Hell is the grave in the Hebrew and the Greek; the
Lake of Fire is the final destination of the damned, and it is an eternal
blotting out. They are no more.
They are not languishing in some eternal torture chamber, abused by God
and his Holy Angels for time innumerable. God isn't like that, the church
made Him to look like that so they could sell get-out-of-Purgatory tickets
and the other such get rich quick schemes of the condemned and corrupted
priestcraft. But enough of the Catholic Church and her corrupt
daughters, their time shall come.
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin Back to list of questions at top of page The tongues of 1st Corinthians 14 Mark writes:
Hi Mark, sorry to take so long getting back to you. I have a week of vacation coming from both jobs, in where I hope to somewhat catch-up. Somewhat. :o)
You asked:
May I answer you by explaining most of the
chapter?
1 Cor 14:1-33
14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh
not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the
spirit he speaketh mysteries.
"Unknown" is not in the original Greek. Check it out (we do it for you, under verse four, below). The term is "a language not naturally acquired." In other words, a foreign or second language not learned from youth. If I speak German to an African audience, they will not understand me. God will, but they wont. So their spirit will not absorb the teaching because their ears cannot discern the speech.
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to
edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
He that teaches helps men, he that speaks in the many languages of the world cannot help one who doesn't understand them. The reason that this is given here in comparison is because the language skills are one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God is saying (through Paul [Paul is prophesying :o) ]) that it is better to have the gift of teaching than the gift of the languages because while a language is nice, a gift of teaching is nicer.
4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth
himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
If I were to say the "Our Father" in Japanese while standing in front of your church, I would be doing good for me, for I pray to God and understand. But you and the new converts in your church would not understand a word of the beautiful prayer. So I wouldn't be helping you all, only myself.
5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather
that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh
with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
Take my last answer and add this to it: Now if there was standing next me at the pulpit an interpreter who could interpret my Japanese into English for the crowd, then we would all enjoy and profit from my "Our Father." 6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? Paul is once again showing that language skills are not the most important gift. Paul is saying that though he could speak in a foreign language to a foreign crowd, what good would it do him if he had no ability to teach effectively. Therefore, teaching (prophesying) is the greater gift. But remember how this chapter started out "After charity...." In other words, love of the brethren and one's fellows is greater than all the spiritual gifts. When you love God's children you do the will of the Lord, for He loves them as well. Died for them even.
7 And even things without life giving sound, whether
pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be
known what is piped or harped?
8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who
shall prepare himself to the battle?
Same as the above verse. If the Piano gives no understandable sound it is like the battle trumpet that cannot be understood. Suppose that one blast of the trumpet means move forward, attack; and two blasts means retreat: now imagine if no one told you which was which! You may go forward attacking while all your help is retreating. Why? Because you could not understand the meaning of the sound. The same with God's Word, if you can't understand the words, how can you understand the message?
The temptation here is to understand this verse as saying to explain things simply. And this is what happens when people pull verses out of context. It happens all the time. But that is not what it means. By context we see that it means to speak in their native language so that they can understand you. Though it be true that we are to speak things plainly, as we shall see later in this Scripture―I'm just that it is not saying that here, not that it isn't true.
There are many languages in this world (what, 5000 plus?) and each has it's own distinct 'understandability.' In other words, we all comprehend our native tongues the easiest. Even bilingual people who may know many languages still dream in their native (from birth) tongue.
11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I
shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a
barbarian unto me.
Take any hellfire and brimstone southern preacher, and have him preach that loud yelling sermon over in Africa somewhere, without an interpreter, and they will think that he is some kind of a madman.
12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of
spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown
tongue pray that he may interpret.
If you somehow end up in China tomorrow and some home-churchers (for all others are hunted down) see your Bible and ask to lead a Bible study group meeting, pray that God will allow you to teach them in their tongue from your own lips, or that He send you a gifted translator. Either is possible and easy and acceptable to and for God. 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. If I speak a prayer in a foreign language, I do good for me, for I know that language, but the others that I praying aloud to are not helped because they do not understand. My understanding, while being a help to me, is unfruitful to the hearers in that room.
15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I
will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I
will sing with the understanding also.
Ditto. (Explained in the next verse.) 16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? That should explain it. Also, there is a further allusion to speaking in common terms that the uneducated can grasp. I am sure that you have heard some self-righteous vain Theologian explain something. When he is finished you feel stupid because not only do you have absolutely no idea what he just said, you don't even understand what half of the terms he used mean. He is not teaching God's Word, he is puffing himself up and showing off that he knows big words that most normal humans have no need for. Ironically, he knows nothing, he is just reciting what he memorized in the Seminary. In this very manner satan has perverted the Gospels and carried on lies for generations and centuries and millennia. Speaking much they say little, and even less yet is understood by the hearer.
17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other
is not edified.
You know what you said, that you spoke a sweet verse of God's Word, but they don't know whether you just quoted Scripture or placed your dinner order. You are of no use to them, just as the Doctors of Religion are of no use to man or God.
18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye
all:
Paul knew many languages. In the Bible we see him speak Greek, Roman, Hebrew. Who knows what other languages that God had gifted him with. Certainly probably Aramaic. But don't confuse even one word of this with the Tongues on Pentecost Day. Those were Divine words that all languages could understand at the very same time with the single utterance of the Apostle. These tongues (the 'Pentecost Tongue'), I believe, shall be spoken by God's Prophets during the Tribulation. The tongues that Paul speaks of in this chapter are actual language skills. Bi/tri-lingual. i.e., (that is) many languages. 19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. It is better to gifted to teach effectively in your single language, than to be able to speak all [6800+] languages on the Earth and not be able to teach Bible.
20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit
in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Now we shift thoughts slowly. Be not simple in understanding; but be unskilled in working malice and strife; and be full grown in your understanding of God's great written Word, and His words of wisdom, to His children. In other words, don't allow yourself to be (or remain) uneducated in the Word; don't be bad or false teach; and do be one who learns the words of the Lord.
21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues
and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they
not hear me, saith the Lord.
Though God gift teachers, and send them forth to foreign lands, the message is rejected.
22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that
believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them
that believe not, but for them which believe.
23 If therefore the whole church be come together into
one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are
unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. Like our Muslim example, this man in the above verse believed because of sound teaching. In verse 24, prophesy is to teach, to teach this man, one must do it in his language.
26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together,
every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a
revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Another subject change here. Paul is speaking to having order in the churches, not everyone jumping up and blurting something out like they do the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Evangelical churches today―it is confusion and vanity. One vain fellow trying to upstage the next.
27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by
two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep
silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
If you can't speak the language of the people, stay silent, let someone else teach who can speak the native tongue, so that the people may understand. You just be there and pray silently to God. God hears you. And you won't be disrupting the services. 29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. Don't have too many teachers.
30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth
by, let the first hold his peace.
Don't talk over one another or interrupt. You notice that Paul did not speak of a church with a hired Preacher at the head? The elders and most skilled taught. It was not a full-time job with a pension. The next day they had to feed the cattle and tend the pasture. Though I see no problem today with having and supporting "professional preachers," if they do their homework!
31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may
learn, and all may be comforted.
Be orderly, one speaker at a time.
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets.
The teacher is in control of himself (i.e., he is not "possessed" like you see so many in today's Pentecostal, Baptist, Evangelical, etc. church systems appear to be demon possessed while they babble and get slain by the unholy spirit). I speak of these so-called "talking in Tongues churches" where anyone at any time jumps out and blurs some demonic tongue. I suspect that if these tongue-talkers actually knew what they were saying they would be floored, for I greatly suspect that they are blaspheming in the Babylonian Tongue (a now dead language). See segment nine of our The Holy Spirit & The Holy Trinity for some shocking testimonials of poor souls who came out of the gifts ministries.
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of
peace, as in all churches of the saints. KJV
Amen! Pentecostal and Baptist and Evangelicals, what say you to that last verse? You know the madness in your services. Whence commeth the confusion? Am I a hater of the above denominations? No, I just think that it is time to tell them that the Emperor is really naked, and what they are doing is foolishness, and not of God. They feel a spirit, but not discerning the spirits, they fail to realize that they are entertaining into their bodies evil spirits. It's time to stop it!
Peace to you.
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin
Back to list of questions at top of page Why doesn't the mainstream churches teach of the Kenites?
[WBSG NOTE (Legal mumbo-jumbo): Watchmen Bible Study Group in no way represents, is affiliated with, nor speaks for Pastor Murray or the Shepherd's Chapel.] Hi Liz. Welcome to the end-time confusion that the Bible predicted long long ago. You said:
"[H]orrifying clarity,"
excellent adjective! May I use it some time? Anyway, the reason why
"no one else teaches it" is two fold; no, it is three fold:
Firstly, most don't
know it, don't believe that it could be true.
Secondly, those who
do suspect that it is so, are scared away by threats of being considered
anti-Semitic or hateful, judgmental, elitist, non-inclusive, or simply
insane and a "Bible-wacko."
Thirdly, the
Preachers of mainline Christian denominations who do know, cannot
teach it, because if they do they will be fired and lose their jobs (and
pensions). Please do not
fall into the trap of supposing that our glorious Christ Jesus runs the
mainline Christian denominations anymore, satan has long ago moved in and
usurped Jesus; the Catholic Church Universal was his first foothold, and he
has beguiled every denomination since―changing the truth of God's word into
a lie. Should another denomination rise from the ashes of one of the
present given-over ones, satan shall be there waiting to crush her fruit as
he has always done from of a long time ago "And his
tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the
earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." (Rev
12:4). The only thing that shall 'fix' the Church is when Jesus
comes and stamps it away. They all have, or are currently having, gone
aside.
"Oh, but brother," you would say to me, "the churches do call upon the Lord." Have they really?
These last (the Preachers of mainline
Christian denominations who do know) shall lose much more on
That Day
when they shall be required to give account of their life and ministry
before the Lord.
I know that you would feel 'more comfortable'
if more people believed this end-time truth. But the majority has always
been wrong. The majority yelled "Crucify Him, crucify Him." No,
those who know the truth and serve the Lord faithfully to the end shall be
an extreme minority. Haven't you ever marveled how the Holy Spirit could
relate to us the following somber truths?
Trust God, have faith in Christ Jesus, and
pray for guidance now and deliverance then. You shall do fine.
Regarding "new" teachings and "new"
understandings in our troublous end-times: beware, for there shall be new
truths from God's servants, and there shall be new lies from the servants of
the sin. And there shall be further Godly revelations from His Prophets,
and there shall be further false revelations from satan and his false
prophets. Does not the Bible even tell us so? You could not disagree that
the Bible warns us over and over again that in the last days false prophets
shall come forth, but on the other hand, what do you think that the Two
Witnesses shall be doing? They shall be prophesying! (Prophesy means to
teach.)
And remember that there is a body of end-time info
that we are not at this time privy to. I refer to the utterances of the
Seven Thunders:
My point is that God is not done revealing
yet, He has more instruction for us before the end. Stay upon Him and our
Savior Jesus Christ and you shall not be confounded. Remember:
But John did not speak in vain when he
admonished:
In closing, please remember, most of all, that
the false prophet does not come in wolf's clothing, he comes clothed as the
other sheep. He comes not with pitchfork and pentagrams, but he comes in
the apparel and office of the priesthood. He does not yell "hail satan,
hail satan," he yells "Hail Christ, hail Christ," not really
meaning Jesus Christ.
Look at the Pharisees of Christ's time for an
example or type of the condition of the end-time church; they dressed like
godly men; they claimed to be godly men, nigh unto God even; they positioned
themselves between God and the people; but in the end, it was they that
killed Him.
Next time (the Second Advent) Jesus isn't
dying again, everyone else against Him is, no matter what delicious apparel
they are draped in.
You'll be fine, dear, just keep your eyes wide
open, your Bible even wider, and stay yourself upon Christ Jesus. True did
He say: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
!
Bearing that last verse in mind, have you read
our Scriptural Evidences
That Christians Shall Die In The Great Tribulation
God
bless the study of His Word, in Jesus Christ's name!
Nick Goggin Back to list of questions at top of page | To top |
In
His Service: Contact
Editor | Bible
studies | Newer
students |
Bible Q
& A's
| Study
tools
| Search
our site NOTE: To insure quality and content integrity, these In-depth Bible Studies are ? copyrighted and may only be downloaded for study and shared private use. They may not be reproduced or distributed for sale or publication without prior written approval. Other Christian Web sites are welcome to link up to this Website or any page on it. |
