Sun, Aug 2nd - 4:00PM

JUDAISM   -   THE POWER OF GOD   -   THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

 THE FIRST COVENANT -  JUDAISM

  God made the first covenant with the Israelites. Under this covenant they were his chosen people. God asked Moses to say 

   to the people - Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. 

   Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19: 5 -6). 

  He ordered them to make a sanctuary for Him. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 

   Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you (Exod. 25: 8 - 9).

        The tabernacle  was used for the offering up of sacrifices but it was also used for worship and the reading of Scripture. 

     When the Israelites entered the promised land tabernacle worship was replaced with temple worship.

         Judaism called for animal sacrifice. Once a year on the day of atonement, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies 

        with animal blood to atone for his sins and the sins of the Jewish people.

     Because of unfaithfulness to the covenant, God promised the Israelites to make a new covenant with them. '

         The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 

    It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because 

   they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them (Jer. 31: 31 - 32).

 Although God announced the new covenant to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, Scripture asserts that the new 

     covenant is for the world. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who ever believes in him shall 

    not perish but have eternal life (John 3: 16).

 When Jesus breathed his last as he hung on the cross, Judaism had run its course. The day of atonement was gone forever.

THE NEW COVENANT- THE GOSPEL

    The new covenant was now in effect. By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is 

    obsolete and aging will soon disappear (Heb. 8: 13).

             There is absolutely no scriptural justification for the practice of Judaism following the death of Jesus, since his death 

    provided mankind’s redemption (1 Peter 1: 18 - 20; 1 John 1: 7 - 10; Ephesians 1: 7).

THE POWER OF GOD

   The apostle Paul, after his conversion, remarked: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power

      of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1: 16). 

GOD HAS APPOINTED A DAY

        In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day 

      when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead 

    (Acts 17: 31). (Please read Matthew 28: 1 - 10).

    JESUS REVEALED THAT HE IS THE MESSIAH

 The Samaritan woman said to Jesus: I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain 

        everything to us. Then Jesus declared: I who speak to you am he (John 4: 25 - 26). 

 THE  MYSTERY OF CHRIST

                 The apostle Paul was given the privilege of revealing the mystery of Christ. "This mystery is that through the gospel the 

        Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”

        (Eph. 3:6). 

  WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL?

 The prophet Zechariah paints a bleak picture for the Israelites. The Lord declares: Two-thirds of Israel will be struck down and perish.  The remaining           third will pass through the fire and will call on my name. ... They will call on me and I will answer them. The Lord will say: “They are my people,' and they will     say, 'The LORD is our God (Zech. 13: 9).

       We read in Scripture: And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again (Rom. 11: 23).

 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

             Jesus loves you. He died for you. He wants you to spend eternity with him. Will you confess your sins, repent of them

        and receive him into your heart?  Jesus said to Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin - the Jewish Ruling Council, 

               You must be born again to get into heaven ( John 3: 3). Please read John 3: 3 - 18.

A PRAYER TO BE SAVED/TO BE BORN AGAIN

               Almighty God, I thank you that you sent your one and only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the world. 

         Lord Jesus, I thank you that you died on the cross for my sins. Almighty God, I believe that you raised him from the dead 

        as the Bible declares. Jesus, I confess my sins to you. I repent of them. Please forgive me I pray.  Jesus, I now receive you

        into my heart as my Savior/Messiah and LORD. Please fulfill your plan for my life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Amen,

 NOTE -   (italic - mine)   blue - scriptural quotation  purple - scriptural paraphrase  red - (emphasis) red - regular print (highlight)

Sun, Aug 2nd - 3:56PM

   WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?   WHEN WILL IT OCCUR?

  

 The rapture is:

    1) The gathering of people before Jesus (Matt. 25: 32).

   2) The gathering of people to Jesus (2 Thess. 2: 1). 

  3) The catching up of people in  the clouds to meet Jesus (1 Thess. 4: 17). 

 4) Appearing with Christ in glory (Col. 3: 4). 

 

  5) The gathering of our Lord's elect (Matt. 24: 29 - 31). 

  The word rapture is not found in the Scriptures. It is derived from the Latin verb "rapio" which is used in the Latin Bible. It means seize, snatch or catch up. Many books have been written about the rapture. Theories abound.

   They are: 

  1) The pretribulation 

  2) The mid-tribulation

  3) The pre-wrath 

  4) The post-tribulation (The last day, the end of the age) 

    Of all the rapture theories, the pretribulation is the most popular. A number of Bible Colleges teach the theory and many ministries preach it. But, is it scriptural? Satan did not stop with Adam and Eve. Lies! lies! lies! The pretribulation, midtribulation and prewrath rapture theories are BIG LIES. The pretribulation theory had its origin in 1830. A woman, Margaret Mc Donald, in a church in Scotland pastored by Edward Irving, in an utterance claimed that there will be a "secret rapture of the church before the Great Tribulation." The concept was spread by John Darby, a pastor and author, and it was kept alive by the Scofield Reference Bible.

     Today, all over the globe, pastors, authors and Bible teachers feed believers with the BIG LIE of a pretribulation rapture by falsely referencing 1 Thessalonians 4: 16 - 17. These verses describe future activities but they do not state when they will occur. The apostle Peter informs us that there will be one future coming of our LORD and it will take place on the day of judgment (THE DAY OF THE LORD - THE DAY OF GOD), thus proving that the second coming and the coming down from heaven for the rapture are the same event (Matt. 25: 31 - 46; 1 Thess. 4: 16 - 17; 2 Pet. 3: 3 - 13). 

     The apostle's teaching proves unequivocally that the pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and the pre-wrath rapture theories are false. The pretribulation, mid-tribulation and pre-wrath rapture theories are not only unscriptural but also Satanic. They reject the teaching of our LORD and his apostles and that of Dr. Luke.

 

     Scripture informs us unequivocally that there will be one resurrection of all the dead (Dan. 12: 2; John 5: 28 - 29; Acts 24: 15).

 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5: 28 - 29).

 Since the rapture involves the resurrection, therefore the rapture will take place when the resurrection occurs.

     When will the rapture happen? On the authority of the Word of God, the rapture will take place -

     1) At the last day (John 6: 39). Jesus said: `And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

 2) At the last trumpet ( 1 Cor. 15: 51 - 52). The apostle Paul stated: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

 3) After the seventh angel sounds his trumpet. The seventh angel sounded his trumpet ... The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth (Rev. 11: 15, 18).

 4) At the end of the thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended (Rev. 20: 5).

  Dr. Luke informs us that our LORD must remain in heaven until the time when God will restore everything. 

    "He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets" (Acts 3: 21).

     Since God will restore everything on the day of judgment by creating a new heaven and a new earth (2 Pet. 3: 13), therefore, our LORD will remain in heaven until the day of judgment. Thus making the second coming and the coming down from heaven for the rapture a single event (Matt. 25: 31, 1 Thess 4: 16 - 17).

 " ... Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22: 20). 

  NOTE - (italic - mine) scriptural quotation  scriptural paraphrase

 FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK

http://blogs.christiansunite.com/mahabir

 "Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright c 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."

Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by Rev. Joseph E. Mahabir (B.A Hons. (York University), M.Ed. (University of Toronto), Divinity M. A. (magna cum laude, (Regent University, Virginia Beach,

VA).

Sun, Aug 2nd - 3:50PM