HOLY SPIRIT's 'BRAIN' CAVEAT: "Filling of the Spirit" is a SOUL function, not a body function, so you can't feel it. BRAIN, not brawn: God is INFINITE, so UNFEELABLE. So: would you rather His (unfeelable!) Brain.. or your own? If His, then breathe 1Jn1:9 to be online with Him, as often as you remember (try to make it a habit). This need to name one's sins to God is as old as Adam: see Genesis 3, Ps32:5, 66:18. So it's not NEW; what IS new, is the Filling of the Spirit, to get the BRAINS you need to COMPREHEND THE COMPLETED CANON.
You can prove this fact fairly easily, even with a translation. 'Big hint is 1Jn's EXISTENCE as an epistle. It was written AFTER the Temple was destroyed, so AFTER the gift of tongues (a warning to Israel) ENDED. 'Written as a result of ALL the OTHER feely-spiritual gifts, ENDING. Everyone knew from 1Cor13's Greek that the gifts were only substitute teachers for the completion of Christ's "surpassing" (1Cor12:31, huperbale) thinking; for, the biggest promise in Scripture to be fulfilled, was Scripture itself in WRITING (Jer31:31-34, Isa53:11's Greek). Torah written on the HEART -- get maximum rapport with THE LORD, a goal quintessentially expressed in Ps119; see also Ps138:2b, 89:14-15, 31:5, Heb8:8-10:17, etc.
John was the last living apostle, so the last QUALIFIED person to write Scripture; so, he had to know he would be the last contributor to Canon. It's no surprise, then, that one of the refrains in 1Jn is about completion (e.g., 1Jn2:5, 1Jn4:16-19); and in Revelation, the capstone of completed time. So think: WHY would John spend so much time telling you how to DISCERN if you are in fellowship, if fellowship with God was something you could feel? You wouldn't need this ENTIRE EPISTLE if "getting the Ghost" was valid, for you could FEEL it. Don't know how God could make it plainer that INVISIBLE GOD IS UNFEELABLE.
So, John wastes NO TIME contrasting what you can see and feel, versus what you can't. His whole letter is constructed of parallelisms COMPARING true versus false, since you CAN'T tell by feeling. He starts his letter with Greek drama, curtain going up (for us), the monologue of the first four verses (typical Greek style). So, when you get to 1Jn1:5, you're ready for how this drama plays in YOUR life. Which, John has to EXPLAIN, since you CAN'T FEEL God in you. So, 1Jn1:5 'tells you how to read' 1Jn1:6-10: notice how these verses are in tic-tac-toe type CLAUSES. So, these verses are CONSTRUCTED like a building, with VERTICAL as well as HORIZONTAL clauses: to show how FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD is 'built'. In rhetorical style, this is called "parallelism", and Bible frequently employs parallelism, to teach. A "clause" is a complete idea, so has its own subject and verb; so must be CONNECTED by some word (like "and", or in English, a comma, colon, etc.) if the sentence continues.
So, the first clause in v.6 'points' to the first clause in v.7; to the first clause in v.8, 9, 10. Also, each second clause points to the second clause BELOW it; so also, each third clause. So, when you read all the 'floors' (three clauses, each a five-storey 'building'), you see the passage adamantly says that we need to be online with the Holy Spirit, the SPIRITUAL BRAIN (so to speak) for the spiritual life; WE ARE BLIND, otherwise. So, if offline, we only feel we understand things; or, we can't make PROFITABLE use of what we understand, because we are in the DARK. Rest of 1Jn goes on to elaborate, since the main theme of his book is HOW TO BE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT AND THROUGH THE TRUTH; which of course was also a major running PROMISE FROM CHRIST in his Gospel, John 4:23-24, whole chapters of John 14-17, and many other verses. (By the way, the framework John uses for the epistle is based on the famous Vine-branch parallelism of FELLOWSHIP in John 15. So absent 1Jn1:9, no fruit!)
Greek is so direct, in 1Jn1:9 -- Greek verb KATHARIZW is a CULTIC term for purifying the temple, and Isa53 uses the term for the effect of Christ's Work on the Cross (referenced in 1Jn1:7). Since WE ARE BODY, WE ARE ONLY PURIFIED via 1Jn1:9 usage. Couldn't be plainer, to the epistle's audience. Nor, to us, since we have the INSPIRED, COMPLETED CANON in writing. Just as God the Son always promised we would.
So Bible likens being Filled to BREATHING (e.g., in Jas2:26), not emotion, and you are COMMANDED to it: "but be Filled with the Spirit"; Eph5:18's "plerow" is in the IMPERATIVE MOOD, VERY STRONG KEEP ON DOING THIS COMMAND. It's not something you ask for, it's something WRONG WITH YOU if it's not happening, and obviously it's not happening, in a state of sin. Hence 1Jn1:9. It's vitally important that you monitor your own thoughts, so you can DETECT if you're sinning, and USE 1Jn1:9. See 2Cor10:5, which also has the keep-on-doing-this stress. Hopefully you're beginning to get the idea that the Christian life is NOT works, but thinking, so is LIGHT-YEARS HARDER than the junk that's pandered as spirituality. [If you keep reading, and read some of the other sites, you'll have proof you yourself can see IN DETAIL. Suggest starting with "Due Disclosure" link at Home pagetop, once you're done with this Caveat.]
So, the spiritual life is Spirit-FILLED circulating THOUGHT, since the spiritual life, like breathing, like your soul, is IMMATERIAL, and has no feeling itself. Doesn't NEED any, because God is a Spirit, see. Hence the Bible term "spirit", which in Greek (and Hebrew) also means "breath", "life". It's a play-on-words. You're NOT SPIRITUALLY BREATHING in a state of sin. So, being in the Spirit isn't something you feel; those who 'feel' the Spirit feel demons, instead. Bible is loaded with data about demons mimicking God, getting folks EMOTIONALLY addicted. Like the days of the Dionysus cult, which was characterized by warm fuzzies, tears, and speaking in 'god languages', thousands of years ago. (Paul tweaks the Corinthians about this in 1Cor13:1, but if you don't know the Greek cult words, you can't see what Paul is saying.) God is no circus clown. Infinity is an ABSOLUTE, so you can't feel it; so you are either IN (1Jn1:9 used), or out (v.6,8,10).
When you certainly KNOW something, the closest thing to feeling you have, is the CERTAINTY. You might have ADDED feelings pro- or con- what you CERTAINLY know. But the certainty is DUE TO THE KNOWLEDGE itself, and isn't really a feeling, at all.
If you think the Spirit is something you FEEL, you only FEEL DEMON INFLUENCE. Demon influence usually opts for SELF-RIGHTEOUS and EMOTIONAL targets who can be used to MISLEAD others; every believer is a target, therefore. Depends on what kind of misleading is sought: one which requires feeling to promote it, or one which hides, to promote it. Because you are spiritually comatose without the Filling of the Spirit, and because it is TRUE that Filling is UNfelt, Satan&Co. REVERSE that truth, so you will NEVER be filled, and will MISLEAD others.
Since demons are out to beguile (it's a detailed strategy, but also fun for them, because they live to HATE), they will TRY to mimic the CERTAINTY that accompanies any testimony the Holy Spirit directly gives. So you might not be able to use the CERTAINTY as any kind of proof. Of course, if it really IS the Spirit, then you CAN PROVE what seems certain: use 1Jn1:9, then check Scripture. I breathe 1Jn1:9, and that practice has protected me from death (carnal and otherwise) too many times to count.
Checking Scripture is CRITICAL. Don't go by something you suddenly 'just knew' and lo! it happened as you just knew it. Demons play 'psychic' by first inserting an idea about something they see happening or about to CAUSE to happen ELSEWHERE, then causing the target to 'discover' the event, so that the target will mistake the supranormal or supernatural for God. Much of what passes for a 'healer' healing someone is demon activity of this kind, as well. God doesn't do things like this. He only speaks through His Word since the Session, Heb1. So everything from God is either DOCTRINE ITSELF or an APPLICATION of Doctrine. So, in either case, you CHECK SCRIPTURE to test the real source.
Such checking is worth more than all the gold in history. It will result in FINDING some verse or set of verses which CORROBORATES the certainty, plus will immeasurably aid your UNDERSTANDING of Him. Again, demons will try to mock this TRUE FUNCTION, by mimicking it. So you have to keep on testing. It's difficult, at first, especially if you are human, lol -- we humans are prone to TRUST our feelings, which is a fatal flaw. (Body has feelings as a feedback system, so it's dicey to disregard feelings, as well.) But keep using 1Jn1:9 like breathing, and over time it will get MUCH easier. This is what John means in 1Jn4 by discerning the difference between TRUTH and error: use 1Jn1:9, and check Your Master's Thinking, the Infallible and Inerrant Word of God.
If we apply the "Quick Lie Detector" link at Home page top, we find what we should expect, to prove satanic involvement in the "getting the Ghost" portion of Pentecostalism and like sects. What's the operative VERB in the POPULAR claim you get the Ghost? FEELING. And what is OPPOSITE feeling? THINKING. And what does SCRIPTURE COMMAND you DO, to be online? MONITOR YOUR THINKING FOR SINS, and name them when you can. Can't do that, if you're busy emoting. So, NOT FILLED. So dead works, detached from the Vine, fit only for burning (a feeling, by the way). See how Satan DERIDES God, REVERSING the meaning of the Filling of the Spirit, REVERSING SCRIPTURE, making the relationship a feely thing, SO YOU CAN'T THINK SCRIPTURE.. just as he did, with the Mycanean Greeks, from which pagan tongues also derived? See how this feely lie is but another version of the 1st Temptation (Matt4:3), which Christ REFUSED?
So, FEELING the Spirit is a satanic lie, to Church: the hedonistic 'side' of the works lie. The Feeling lie is bald derision against God, for it mimicks ancient pagan orgies thousands of years prior; and since Scripture is quite lucid on that topic, NO pastor should mistake it. So they are lying, or stupid, yikes: 1Jn1:6,8,10. This Caveat will explain that bold statement in some detail, so you can prove the fact to yourself. For, demon influence against Christians is far more pervasive and devastating than (usually-undetectable) demon possession. Satan always REVERSES the truth: this Caveat will cover some of that topic, too.
As we can tell from 1Jn1:5-10's 'building', without use of 1Jn1:9 like breathing, one cannot rightly interpret Scripture, since one is then in the dark, in sin, deceiving himself, making God out to be a liar, and no truth, no WORD is in him. So, he's a liar no matter what he says; so, he's not speaking Scripture, even if he QUOTES Scripture. Understand that the Holy Spirit runs the entire show. If you don't use 1Jn1:9 like breathing, your prayers will go no higher than the ceiling. Your comprehension of Scripture will ONLY be hot air ("leavened", you see), and your works will ALL BE DEAD WOOD.
The "out" state is called "adikia" in Greek of 1Jn1:9, and in the OT that word was used for a DEFILED TEMPLE. Another Greek word in 1Jn1:9, katharizw (kath-ar-REE-dzoh) is usu. translated "cleansed", but really means "purified" -- THE SAME WORD AS USED FOR PURIFYING the OT Temple. (As you may know, the Glory of the Lord FILLED the Temple, in OT times. That's the analogy John is making, here.) So your body is a Temple (1Cor6), BUT IT'S YOUR SOUL WHICH DEFILES IT, not what you put into the body (Mk7:18-20, Matt15); so if you are in a DEFILED state, nothing you do, think or say is anything but "wrongdoing", the better translation of "adikia". WITHOUT THE SPIRIT, you're brainout. Spiritually comatose (can't lose salvation).
As here in 1Jn1:9, you can begin to see John's really keen on using Greek OT buzzwords (LXX), which of course in English, you can't notice. So you don't understand that it's the FILLING which is referenced in 1Jn1:9. So too, if you are defiled, your prayers are spoken only to yourself. Prayer has a protocol:
- 1Jn1:9, name your sins to God (doesn't matter at ALL how you feel about it, just as it wouldn't matter in a courtroom);
- Address prayer to Father (no other Member of Godhead, for FATHER IS HEAD), see John 17;
- Thank God (this is vital for your confidence, not God needing to hear praise, but it is, THANK GOD, also protocol);
- Ask your requests (it's really a type of VOTE)
- in Son's Name, and
- BELIEVE.
Of course, any request you make which VIOLATES TRUTH will be answered "no"; after awhile if you've been breathing 1Jn1:9 you will know in advance what to ask and not ask. But practice, anyway. Ask anything and everything, so you GET that practice, analysing for correctness as you do it. BE AWARE OF GOD AT ALL TIMES. Prayer is a perfect way to do this: on the toilet, at the opera, doesn't matter. You are a walking TEMPLE, and what your SOUL THINKS, 'fills' that Temple. So if your thinking is NOT the Word, you are in a defiled state. Hence the need for 1Jn1:9. Of course, you can't be thinking a WORD you don't know! God the Holy Spirit only thinks TRUTH, the WORD, and if you aren't GETTING the WORD, you won't be Filled by Him but for those few seconds after you use 1Jn1:9.
So, in a deflied state, neither understanding of Scripture, nor any works (i.e., preaching, witnessing) will be anything but hot air. God still might cause you to speak His Truth if He gave you that gift (and every spiritual gift carries with it some ability to be accurate, beneficial, for the sake of others): but YOU won't benefit from it. [Acts 21 is a good primer on this, but start context from Chapter 15; note how wacko Paul becomes; Greek uses a lot of genitive absolutes, showing a split-screen action. My pastor spends a lot of time explaining this Greek syntactical device.] Additionally, as you'll see if you keep reading, LIES will come out from your mouth, and thus others will be deceived (their fault, not yours, but you were the agent). So, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about the Ministries of the Holy Spirit being taught or believed among CARNAL CHRISTIANS. God is precise, and therefore His Word is precise.
- There are at least SEVEN DISTINCT PERMANENT Ministries of the Holy Spirit, for Church.
- Further, He had some ministries TO ISRAEL, like tongues;
- finally, some ADDITIONAL ministries, temporary spiritual gifts, occurred ONLY during the time Canon was being completed, and were GIVEN for that purpose (i.e., how could people KNOW Scripture which wasn't yet written: apostleship, see 1Cor15:1-10 for criterion and roster; gifts of knowledge and mystery, healing, etc. as per 1Cor12).
It's positively INCREDIBLE how people misuse 1Cor12 and the Book of Acts. Notice how NONE of the so-called 'gifts' mentioned in those two books APPEAR ANYWHERE in the later (post-Temple destruction) epistles (John's, Peter's, Jude's, Revelation). [John's Gospel is said to be written in the 90's AD, which maybe is true, but the tone of it looks older. Of course, the Holy Spirit has perfect memory so can give Scripture of events at ANY time.] See, people need to STUDY THE WORD; not, as my best friend noted yesterday, "pick out what they like in the Bible and call that the truth." Those who flagrantly misuse the Book of Acts and 1Cor12 demonstrate PLAINLY that they don't compare Scripture with Scripture, which is the WORST thing a believer can do. Especially, if he is given by God to be a pastor. PRAY FOR THE PASTORS. They NEED all the protection they can GET!
So you MUST DISTINGUISH between temporary, and permanent ministries; and in the permanent ministries, you must rightly distinguish what they are. Apart from 1Jn1:9 being breathed, you will NOT rightly distinguish these things, because, as we saw in Caveat #2, ONLY GOD can tell you, and HE WON'T TELL YOU ANYTHING EXCEPT that you are IN A STATE OF SIN. [Particular inaccuracies will be communicated, too, really; but you won't CATCH ON to them, probably.] So, there's a whole lot of confusion about what "Baptism of the Spirit" means, despite the clear ANSWER in Romans 6 (Greek).
Again, here's the testing rule of thumb which was disclosed in the "Delightful Due Diligence" table at the top of this webpage: Man constantly piggybacks onto God, so to claim his own good taste! So always suspect as a LIE any claim which emphasizes man, his behavior, or his role; such stress on man NEVER makes sense, and is nearly always a ploy for power: man pretending love for God, but really using God's name to effect MAN's desires over his fellow man. All this, demons tap into, to hook us hapless humans. So FLIP the urged lie, to find the NON-urged truth. God never needs to urge you, but Satan always does. God encoURaGES, but Satan URGES. Always cutting GOD's BRAIN out of the picture, giving you instead the 'urge'. Kinda like needing to go potty, lol.
So, think: all that claptrap that you FEEL God or the Spirit is URGED on you. Overwhelms. With the result that, you STOP THINKING, and emote. Is this SILLY, or what? Makes NO sense. Why do you have a BRAIN, then? Encouragement is a BRAIN function, but urges are all body, baby. Click on the "Testing" box at Home pagetop, then on the "God is Not Magic" link, for a whole roster of demon goofinesses we Christians slaver over. You'll then see how the PATTERN of this goofy getting-the-Ghost is exactly the same as the other goofinesses man slurps up...
So the need for 1Jn1:9 can't be stressed enough. If you are in a state of sin, the only lessons you'll get are from Satan&Co., and they know how to mimic God better than anyone. They can TEACH SCRIPTURE, but will SLANT it to suit their purposes, so that even the same WORDS in Bible will yet be in your soul, as LIES. By the time you discover you've got MISDEFINED meanings even though the Bible words are the SAME, it will be such a horror to you, you'll want to kill yourself. LIVE ON 1Jn1:9!
Satan &Co. strategically focus on screwing up the Christian's understanding of the Holy Spirit's Ministries, for then they DERAIL THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. But those so derailed STILL IMAGINE they are IN the spiritual life, so keep on "running out of bounds" (2Jn9's proago+me menwn, my pastor's translation) like a hotdogging quarterback, thus deceiving millions. Thus Satan&Co. can better DERAIL the Gospel, substituting lies like 'repent' or 'receive' for the fact that the ONLY way to be saved is to SIMPLY BELIEVE in Christ. Next, they more easily DERAIL desire to USE 1Jn1:9, for they well know that God must then stand off from the carnal Christian; just as He stands off from the world, owing to it being condemned in Adam, and people here are rebelling.
Being in a state of sin for the Christian ISN'T ABOUT sin itself, but REJECTION of God; just as, believing in Christ is not about sin either, but about REJECTING the offer to live with God forever. Sin was just the EXCUSE for rebellion, see. So it gets NAMED in 1Jn1:9, privately (thought or spoken), to GOD the FATHER.[Click on the "Royal Gospel Brief" at Home page top if you want more info on the latter clause.] If the sin is not named to God, then the believer is ELECTING REBELLION, which makes him fair game for Satan&Co. God will stand off. The believer has in essence VOTED for God to stand off. [See also Ps32:5 and 66:18, so you can understand this particular function ported over from the OT, so you understand it's TO GOD ONLY that you must confess (really, homologew, a COURTROOM ADMISSION OF GUILT verb). If I'm not sure what sin I may have sinned, I just call it "arrogance", to be sure of getting back online. I heard that tip from my pastor many years ago, and it was a lifesaver. After all, when you are in a tailspin, you don't spend time dissecting HOW you got there!]
So, when unnamed sin is in your life, you're even GREATER Satan-fodder than the unbeliever, for the Satanic game is ALL ABOUT DERIDING CHRIST. Through wit. So now, you are WITLESS, so you can be witted on. So, what they do is give you SOME of the truth: kinda like in 1970's Hong Kong, when you bought what LOOKED like a Tissot watch: the exterior, was GENUINE; but the inner parts were INFERIOR. With the Bible, the trick is to keep feeding just ENOUGH truth to make the carnal Christian FEEL he's got the right answer. FEEL FEEL FEEL is the substitute for Truth; so important a ruse is it, REAL TRUTH will be used to JUSTIFY the feeling; 'counterfeit serpents' MIRACLES will be DONE to justify the feeling. So, the Christian FEELS RIGHT; so, he won't AUDIT THE 'INTERIOR PARTS' for how well they RECONCILE with Scripture. And they are so GLARINGLY out of kilter with Scripture, everyone ELSE notices, enfin. Like when the preacher stands up and with a smiling, sincere face tells his congregation they should make certain daily affirmations! so that when they need GOD TO BEND THE RULES, He'll [be a nice Genie and] get some human to bend the rules on earth...! Do you know, that televised statement had an on-screen audience of a good 10,000 people who applauded it!?! [I changed just enough of the statement to obscure who said it. Blaming people is not the issue: seeing our CORPORATE VULNERABILITY TO SATAN, is the issue.]
Since the Holy Spirit must ATTEST to any truth being said (see Caveat #2), Satan &Co. take advantage of that, see. SO SATAN&CO. DO TEACH TRUTH, to CAREFULLY REVERSE its meaning. Only breathing 1Jn1:9 over a sustained period of time, plus Word study (i.e., under one's right pastor if one is not a pastor), will grow one's discernment sufficiently to DETECT this sleight-of-hand. They do the exact same thing with Bible translating: Ps139:13-16 in TRANSLATION, for example, is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the inspired texts, say. Hundreds! of verses are similarly reversed. If you've the stomach for it, click on the "Fake Gospels?" box at Home pagetop, then search for Rom10:10, and see how ONE WORD screwed up in translation, screwed up MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FOR CENTURIES into REVERSING that verse's meaning (verse in Greek says you confess DUE TO HAVING salvation, not to get it).
However, markers of satanic teaching can be detected; they are as predictable as the sunrise. Understand that it's vital those teaching satanic doctrine NOT KNOW they are doing so. Hence, you DON'T BLAME ANYONE for being 'guilty' here, you just be CAREFUL yourself. Because another satanic device, long successful in Christendom and in Judaism before her -- is to foment SCHISM and reaction. That's all the Arab-Israeli thing is about: Arabs are JEALOUS, en masse (individuals aren't the body politic), and Satan hopes to destroy BOTH Arabs AND Jews because BOTH are under the Gen12 promise. So he hopes to do the same with teachers and all Christendom. He NEEDS to, because he doesn't know when the Rapture will occur, either.
So how does Satan&Co. HOOK the teachers? Oh, just like Satan used against the Lord in Matt4, always! PUBLICNESS is stressed: popularity looks like a revival, see. Never mind that the Lord told Elijah His Power was in the still small Voice (1Kings9:9-13). Note how a LIE taps into a VALID motive, that of wanting people saved and growing in Christ. So the ascetic is particularly vulnerable, for his sin is self-righteousness, Pharisaical; but ROOTED in a genuine desire for people to be saved. [The whiter the sin, the harder it is to see. More about this problem will be said below.]
So, the pastor/believer who buys publicness has GONE OFF COURSE (used like the term in Gal5:4, nautical use of ekpiptw) so has LOST PROPER FOCUS, but won't recognize that fact. So now, "matiotes" (common Bible Greek word which essentially means a vacuum suction of dirt, emptily sucking air, usu. translated "vanity") can enter. Rom1:21, 1:28-2:24; Rom8:20, Paul's pregnancy metaphor of STERILE, hence Satan-fodder. All Satan&Co. have to do is make people FEEL like a given idea or teacher is 'good'. Thus, that idea/person is promoted, popular, so...oilá, RIGHT! FROM GOD! (Demons send thoughts, feelings, illnesses, etc: it's a big doctrine in the Bible.) That's why even famous evangelists and pastors, who USED TO KNOW the REAL Gospel (i.e., John 3:16), will in later years MISREPRESENT IT, telling you to have a heart belief, receive, invite, etc. (More on this horrible fake gospel result follows in the second and third bullets, below.)
This FEELING, PUBLICNESS tactic hooks the pastor or believer into measuring spiritual success by secular standards, and we all fall for it! Every story in the Bible shows believer failure on this count: even the apostle Paul fell in Acts 18ff., if not earlier, which is why God carted him off to Rome (see Acts 22 for the prohibition). No wonder Satan picked publicness as his metaphorical base to tempt Christ, the first one modeled on 2nd Meribah, etc.
So, songs are important; how you FEEL is important, and you will FEEL ANGRY and EVEN WANT REVENGE, if anyone disagrees with what makes you feel 'good'! Being in a GROUP is important; how many DEGREES, is important; how LARGE your congregation, is important; so, how RESPECTABLE you are, is important; so, how OLD a 'Church Father' interpretation or Confession, is important; so how MANY Greek words or verses you (think you) know, is important; so HOW OFTEN an occurrence of a word in Bible, is important -- yeah, all these, more important than the WORD! All these FOR CENTURIES ON END, more important than proper TEACHING/ TRANSLATION of Word! It's shocking, it's disgusting, and we should ALL hang our heads in shame for about 2 seconds, then GET CRACKING WITH THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. If we spent even 1% as much time on learning what Scripture really says in the original languages, as we do on APPEARANCES, we'd all be spiritual giants. Which, of course, we could ONLY DO IF USING 1Jn1:9 like breathing, for..who can beat Satan on his own? Not even the Lord Himself tried to do that, but instead relied ALWAYS on the Spirit...
Every type of distortion is easy, thereafter. So, it's now easy to mask the REAL Scripture by means of MISTREATED OTHER SCRIPTURE; for now that the lie of publicness is 'bought', demons can easily generate popularity as a VALIDATOR, so the masked truth is NOT promoted, so NOT 'rewarded' with public veneration. As a result, pastoral teaching is overwhelmingly ANTHROPOCENTRIC. "God" gets 'gutted'; only His Name remains. The worst part of this 'shellgame' is that the pastors GENUINELY love Him; but their love, and the teaching, arrests: they are forever STUNTED. God's real NATURE, which is the whole reason to even WANT to live in Heaven with Him.. goes untaught. Scripture thus becomes just another manipulative tool for making fame, money, self-worth. "God" becomes a designer label; so life becomes a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (as Shakespeare would say). No greater tearjerking tragedy can be told among men. Oedipus Rex, blind and wandering. Coming to Colonus (Bema, 1Cor3) only to find out how horrible...
Twisting Scripture was key to the 2nd Temptation, and is thus a vital element in Satan's "D-I-O-S" plan to fool people: Derision+ Imbalance+ Obfuscation =Substitution: a "strange"/FOREIGN 'god', him. Appendix Link in Thinking Series (box at Home page top) has a good hundred pages on how this DIOS plan works. Essentially, the Derision is BLATANT, the Imbalance is EMOTIONAL, the Obfuscation is LAWYERLY, and the Substition is REVERSING. Very neat, definitely way beyond human genius, and only being consistently Filled with the Spirit will rescue you from the myriads of pitfalls hitting you every second you breathe. [They also and always OBSESSIVELY play on REAL Bible Doctrines in the original-language inspired Scripture, and always play on Greek culture. If you know the Biblical Greek cult words and have even a gist-understanding of the culture, you can look at almost anything and SEE, LIVE, this awesome thesauretical derision. These two characteristics conclusively distinguish satanic DIRECT INVOLVEMENT from mere human hallucinatory or otherwise-goofy origin. The Appendix link covers these characteristics in much more detail.]
Maybe "lawyerly" needs explaining before listing the markers. What makes a lawyer get rich is his CLEVERNESS WITH WORDS. Ambiguity OR precision. It's really like being in combat, except your weapons are words, not guns. The former are far more destructive. A clever use of a word can totally change one's perception. Look: "speaker", versus "demagogue" -- won't you be inclined to DISLIKE whoever I called "demagogue", but not be so inclined if I merely said "speaker"? Unless, you disliked me the more? In which case, you'd be inclined to LIKE the one I called "demagogue"? That's an easy example, but very common. If you pay careful attention to the news, you'll see this kind of mind manipulation go on anytime you watch; even though, you just KNOW the people talking, aren't trying to manipulate you.
People are swayed by WORDS more than by any other means, because the SOUL LIVES ON WORDS (ideally, Matt4:4, ON THE WORD, get it?). Body stuff is used by Satan&Co. TO SWAY THE SOUL, just as Satan used the First Temptation to sway the Lord to IMAGINE BREAD, which would have caused His Soul to tell His Deity to MAKE Bread, since as God all He has to do is WILL a thing, and it EXISTS! The Lord's DEITY AND HUMANITY ARE ONE PERSON. So a thought in His Human Soul could command His Powers as Deity. Two natures, but ONE PERSON, so ONE WILL, and..Satan, knowing all this, took advantage of it. Talk about a deft lawyerly tactic!
So, look: Temptation#2 in Matt4, jump from Temple. That's a PUBLIC DISPLAY, just as much as turning stones into bread would have been, though no one was there: for, once those useless stones were made bread..wow, everyone would KNOW! Who wouldn't believe, then? Same thing for jumping from the Temple, but using His GODNESS to make a soft landing. Same thing for just dzut! zapping Satan after PRETENDING to salute, in the 3rd Temptation. No cross, painless victory, nyaah nyaah Satan, I'm the ruler of all the kingdoms of the world. Our favorite fall didn't fool the Lord's Humanity. Cuz then FATHER ISN'T GETTING PAID, see. Cut out the heart, keep the form, and above all -- keep it PUBLIC -- and we humans can't tell the difference. BUT GOD CAN.
So, the doctrines STRESSED are not from God, and not even the real Word, however much the words are the same. Anyone can quote and misuse Scripture. All you have to do, is package the definition of Bible words, so when someone READS a verse with those FALSE definitions, he thinks he has CONFIRMATION from God. For, the 'shell' of the Bible words has been preserved, but the Bible's MEANING was cut out, and SUBSTITUTED with demonic meanings. Ergo the need for publicness, feeling, miracles, etc. to Imbalance reason. Ergo, the lie is always loud, to fragment REASONING. So, to counter the lie, look for its opposite. Or, know whatever is LOUDLY trumpeted, is a LIE. Both begin with "L" for a reason: to 'drown out', LORD.
For example, one TV teacher likes to use Isa53:5 to justify a claim that God will heal you physically, even though he KNOWS the Hebrew! BUT THAT PASSAGE IS ON THE MECHANICS OF THE CROSS! While it's definitely true that Bible passages are skyscrapers of layered meanings, YOU DON'T USE SCRIPTURE out of context. The context there is HEALING THE BREACH WITH GOD, which is infinitely more important than physical healing; TO GOD, JUSTIFIES salvation, a much bigger HEALING, than if you have cancer. So to spend time on a doctrine which is NOT really in view in that passage, is to BELITTLE SALVATION.
Satan's all about derision, and especially, deriding salvation. Just as he did, in the First Temptation; just as this guy did, unknowingly, when he used the verse to turn stones INTO mere belly bread. Thus, this healer-fakir use of the verse CREATES SOUL CANCER. Rather than healing anyone, it DESTROYS the idea that you learn the Word to get TRULY HEALED: just as Christ USED THE WORD TO PAY FOR SINS ON THE CROSS (Isa53:11, Hebrew and Greek inspired texts). So millions of people following this guy are getting SICKER, not better. And, since demons can just REMOVE THE ILLNESS THEY PUT in a person, the 'healer' will look genuine. Ay, Hansel und Gretel!
It's a devastating tactic, to repackage Scripture's words with satanic definitions, be it in teaching, or in translations; that's one big reason why TRANSLATIONS are so awful and so misleading. In military parlance, this is called a salami tactic. A salami tactic is designed to FOOL the enemy by slicing off a CORE, leaving only a SHELL. The shell keeps on being seen, so the enemy doesn't realize the CORE, the ESSENTIAL, is removed. "Having a SEMBLANCE of godliness (term means 'spiritual life' in the Greek), but REFUSING its power; have NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM." 2Tim3:5. Refusing, that is, USE OF 1Jn1:9 and 1Jn2:5, keeping the WORD close to heart (thought-circulation function of the soul)! [Figurative use of "heart" in Bible only and always means circulation of BELIEVED SCRIPTURE. (Else it's talking about biology, which is not spiritual, but I can't think of a single verse where that use even exists.) Also, the Appendix to the Thinking series (box link at Home page top), has a whole lot of detail on the salami tactic topic so you yourself can see for yourself how it's done.]
- Bible ITSELF is used to manufacture demon doctrines, for by cutting out the HEART, the rest of the body still looks intact;
- Starting, for example, with the LIE that you must 'repent' or 'receive' or 'invite' to be saved. REAL BIBLE DOES NOT SAY THESE THINGS. But if you IGNORE verses like John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Eph2:8-9, John 16:9 and the bizillion uses of pisteuw (to BELIEVE) and pistis (BELIEF, faith), you can take a verse like "repent and believe", and make REPENT a condition, which the REAL BIBLE does not, since "repent" there means ONLY to change your mind about Christ, the ROYAL PROCLAMATION (GOOD) NEWS (real meaning of the term "Gospel", in Greek). [Every lawyer knows you should look for the occurrence of a keyword everywhere in a legal document, to know its definition. Every lawyer also knows that in a sentence with ONE verb, but in another sentence with TWO verbs, the ONE-verb sentence is the "unqualified" or "effective" clause. So, if "believe" stands alone in a sentence, then THAT VERB is what makes for the result. So if "repent and believe" is in another sentence, "repent" IS NOT what makes for the result. Every lawyer also knows that by playing on the IGNORANCE of people, he can get them to think a word means SOMETHING ELSE.]
- Or, like in the 2nd Temptation, you can (instead of ADDING to the Word) CHOP OUT a clause in the Word, to manufacture a lie that you must 'receive' Christ to be saved. This lie, unlike the more ludicrous "invite" or "make Christ Lord" or "head vs. heart belief" lies (which have ZERO Scriptural backup) -- this "receive" lie is based on lawyerly cleverness. Look: Mark10:15 has a clause "receive.. LIKE A NEWBORN", which means being BORN AGAIN in Greek text. [NEUTER term paidion means newborn: see also Mt 2:8, 9, 11, 13f, 20f; Lk 1:59, 66, 76, 80; 2:17, 27, 40; Hb 11:23.) Since, obviously, you can't receive anything if you're (spiritually) dead: just like John 3:16. But hey! Just chop out the capped words, and make "receive Christ" the requirement to be saved: the commonest FAKE 'gospel' heard on Christian TV or in Christian pulpits! Voilá, you're NOT really saved, but you THINK you are! So are all those talkers of this fake gospel, even SAVED? Probably. No unbeliever would be so stupid. Only we brainouts can be THAT stupid.
- Continuing, for example, with the LIE that getting the Spirit is something you ASK for, or FEEL, rather than ADMITTING via 1Jn1:9 (Ps32:5, 66:18 in OT, many other passages). So people writhe on the floor, cry, wiggle their hands and mutter to themselves, but oh! that's God! Yeah, God would make us behave like DEMON-POSSESSED PEOPLE IN THE GOSPELS? No wonder people fall for the God-is-sadist LIE that souls are in wombs, Satan's flavor-of-the-century!
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Continuing, for example, with the LIE that sin is the cause of being punished, when Bible clearly says all sins were paid for already on the Cross (i.e., 1Jn2:2), so it's UNBELIEVER REJECTION which gets punished (John16:9, John 3:16,18,36, Acts 4:12, Rev20:11ff); and it's BELIEVER rejection which gets punished (2Chron7:14, last clause in 1Jn1:9 tied to Col3:25, use of adikia in OT for DEFILED Temple, Heb12:5ff, 1Cor3, Rev2-3, many other passages).
- So demon doctrines always STRESS "people" in order to substitute OUT, "God". So the doctrines are loudly promulgated in God's NAME; so the anti-God stress goes undetected. So Bible is thumped, not thought; so causes are trumpeted, not trusted to be left in the Lord's Capable Hands: oh, let's give CAESAR, what belongs only to GOD! We weren't this bad a century ago, when world war was on the horizon. Maybe war won't wake us up, THIS time. If you're hooked on the end times, brother, you'd better be noticing that CHRISTIANITY IS THE BELLWETHER, not what Europe might be doing in this (or any) generation. And Christianity looks REALLY REALLY BAD. Bad enough to be called home, the DARKER side of "Rapture" no one ever seems to bother mentioning. Of course not. Satan can't afford for us to notice that the RAPTURE, a kind of 1Jn5:16 en masse in BIBLE, ALWAYS WARNS CHRISTIANS TO WAKE UP and GROW IN CHRIST (e.g., 2Pet3:18, in context). Frankly, the more I research stuff for these webpages, the less I want to write anything. It's too bad, now. Why we're not already all DEAD...!
- If about prophecy, stress is on the spectacular, the titillating, the REVENGEFUL; or, on SHALLOW stuff like what's happening in the world (to see if the prophecy is now coming true, yowsa), or rah-rah He's Coming Back!, RATHER THAN on what DOCTRINES ABOUT GOD prophecy ADMONISHES US TO LEARN; or, if even TEACHING those doctrines, APPLICATION is taught that you must do something in the WORLD about it (i.e., political activism). This way, the WORD becomes an entertainer rather than a trainer. Heh, you get trained in being ADDICTED to entertainment, so will eventually ONLY be able to read the Word AS entertainment! Clever lawyer, that Satan.
- God's NATURE gets short shrift, treated DISMISSIVELY: relegated to "Jesus loves you" and "God is inscrutable", and called an "Egg" (to describe Triune, what a farce); or, "you must obey without Question", blah blah blah. Sung tunefully, of course!
- BUILDING BLOCKS of the spiritual life with GOD (i.e., components of His Nature, components and mechanics of Hypostatic Union, components of salvation, the Four Essentials link at Home pagetop), are substituted OUT, and REPLACED WITH so-called 'fellowship' with Christians and other EXPERIENTIAL stresses. This is the most popular ploy since WWI.
Why since WWI? Oh, well: we didn't have truly GREAT original-language manuscripts until 1889, when the last big one, Codex Vaticanus, was finally published by the Pope. Allow a generation's time to get the manuscripts distributed, and oilá! WWI is thus NEEDED to deflect attention from that greatest REFINDING of Scripture, during the latter part of the 1800's. Gotta deflect attention from the Real Word, see.
- WORKS of course are always stressed, so THINKING SCRIPTURE never gets much attention. Never mind that SATAN runs after works and sponsors religion to do the same, so people's eyes stay on PEOPLE, not God. Never mind that if you are seeking the Kingdom of God for the sake of THE FIRST COMMANDMENT, "all these things shall be added UNTO you for your benefit." (Underlined text is corrected translation, referencing dative case of su, plural. My pastor is adamant that be translated every time he runs across it.)
Feed the SPIRITUALLY POOR, and all other types of poverty get DIRECTLY AIDED BY FATHER. Whose Son also controls the WEATHER, which makes the crops grow, which feeds bellies; Who CAN JUSTIFY doing that, since the SOULS in those bellies seek God; or, Who CAN JUSTIFY doing that, if OTHER SOULS are learning His Father's Son. (See Matt6:19ff, Luk12:21ff. Esp. v.33 of both passages, for they are packaged variantly, since the Lord spoke this parable often, to different audiences. I recall my pastor saying that the "Kingdom" moniker was used to communicate His platform as Messiah, i.e., in the Beatitudes and other passages as well.) Funny how bald passages we all learn as children in Sunday school get twisted into the very thing the Lord warned AGAINST: body-works. Paul, the greatest worker of all time before he got saved ("Hebrew of the Hebrews" passage in Philippians), called all that stuff by the "s" word, in Phili3:8's Greek, compared to the "excellency of the knowledge" of Him.
Satan never misses a chance to "diss" God, and ESPECIALLY likes trashing His Word. Virtually every mistranslation, every false doctrine, every MISstressed command will BLATANTLY reveal this derision, and in so precise a manner you can't even mistake Satan's signature. (SatStrat.htm has more details.)
- But even if thinking Scripture is promoted, look: a really popular marker these days is to misinterpret the English Bible term, "faith" as what YOU do, NOT what the WORD SAYS. As a WORK YOU DO, not the WORK THE WORD DOES. This is pure satanic genius. For, in the Greek, "faith" is NONMERITORIOUS. You BELIEVE a thing due to ITS MERIT. Like you BELIEVE buying Heinz tomatoes are BETTER than BrandX, see, so you buy the Heinz. THE HEINZ is BETTER, so you BELIEVE IN IT, capisce? Wow, to so REVERSE the meaning of BELIEF, FAITH, into a WORK that credits YOU....!!!???!!!
Just like the strawman REVERSES it in Jas2:18-19, one of the most misused passages in Christendom. You can make millions of dollars just by misusing that verse to Christians. Wow. But, UNlike Christendom's spin on his letter, James patiently explained from Jas1:1 that the FIRST meaning of "faith" is WORD, and it must ALSO be BELIEVED. THE WORD WORKS: James 1:3, the THEME of his letter, aaarrggghhh. The WORD IN YOU will withstand all tests, which is why the WORD WITHOUT WORKS is dead; so, works without the WORD IN YOU are dead, capisce? Of course, if you're not 'doing' the Word (learning and believing it, keep reading Chapter 1!), then you'll not REMEMBER, so will um..fall flat on your face.
So you can believe God will deliver you until you're blue-in-the-face! but if you aren't LEARNING the WORD consistently using 1Jn1:9 and under your right pastor, you'll just ... pass out, for the WORD IS DEAD IN YOU, since you have none, so your LIE that your 'faith' is some kind of work meriting Divine FAVOR, is a FARCE. James 2:26's climax point, which began at Jas1:1, is TWO-sided: faith without Filling is dead works; works without faith means no Filling also, so dead. Body apart from the Spirit is ALWAYS dead-in-the-water, and you're apart from the Spirit if you're NOT a) using 1Jn1:9 (corresponds to James 4:5-7, never well translated. See Bumpkin.htm, search on Jas4:5); if you are ALSO not learning Word under your right pastor. (See TrueFertility.htm.)
For, the 'harvest of faith' means the CROP OF CHRIST'S THINKING IN YOU, so you have to LEARN SCRIPTURE LIKE HE DID, under the Spirit. Do your homework on those seed parables, sometime. They aren't magic beans. SOooo, Satan&Co. sell "faith" AS magic beans, and YOU are the wonder-worker, to plant them in others. WHAT GARBAGE. As if God were a genie, and oh-you-so-trusting-believer, God must reward you with some toy. GET A LIFE. Any teaching which stresses what YOU DO, is a satanic lie, no matter how otherwise-accurate it may be. For if YOU are doing it, NOT FILLED, you are spitting in God's Face. Isa64:6 uses even stronger defilement language, than spitting -- get a Hebrew lexicon, see for yourself.
- Another popular satanic marker takes the EXACT same form as the 2nd Temptation, SLICING WORDS OUT of Scripture (all markers are variations on the Three Temptations in Matt4). All the popular Gospel statements are in this category. "Believe", which is the ONLY valid verb (i.e., John 3:16) gets REPLACED with INVALID verbs like repent, invite, accept, plus me-words. So, instead of the REAL Gospel, like "the one who BELIEVES in Him shall never perish, but has eternal life", you get junk like "invite Christ into your heart", so YOU did something NICE for Christ, see. (WHERE IS THAT IN BIBLE, huh?) (Corr trans of Jn3:16 from Greek into correct ENGLISH IDIOM, cardinal rule of translation. Greek aorist has no counterpart in English so you must compare how verb tenses INTERACT in Greek to know the English meaning to translate. Pisteuw is in present active, but apolummi is in the aorist subjunctive, meaning that maybe the person will CHOOSE TO BELIEVE or not, etc.)
No one is saved by sliced-and-diced Gospels. No one grows spiritually by sliced-and-diced and GUTTED Word. Satan knows that, of course. We are too UNINTERESTED in God, to even care to do our homework. It's so patent, no wonder Lev26's warnings play boldly across the world.
If you examine how Satan crafted the 2nd Temptation, you'll notice Satan SLICED OUT a key clause in Psalm 91, so that the RESULTING truncated quote made it look like no matter what YOU do, God's gonna help you. So, jump off the Temple, see: God will deliver you. This tactic is ALWAYS employed in Bible translations. In practically EVERY verse. A patent example is how Ps139:11-17 is reverse-translated. Exegesis YOU CAN CHECK is in a white table, after you'd click on the link in Caveat #4. Incredible satanic deftness! If ever you wanted CONCLUSIVE proof that the Word is God's, you GOTTA investigate this technique!
Well, it just so happened (yeah, right) while taking a break from writing this Caveat, I turned on TBN and heard a very respectable pastor do the EXACT SAME SLICING to Romans 8:28, as Satan did in Matt4's 2nd Temptation. From the REAL Rom8:28, the guy first DELETED the clause "to those who love God", truncating the verse to "all things work together for good" (which isn't even the right translation). Then, reintroduced the "to those who love God" sotto voce, as if OF COURSE everyone loves God. So THEN the pastor concluded that EXPERIENCES of bad times and good times makes us Christlike, in the end. ["God CAUSES all things to work together for AGATHOS" should have been said. "Good" in Greek does NOT have the same connotation as in English. Good, like love, is DIVINE GOOD, VIRTUE, PURE. Not necessarily material. Romans 8:28 is in ATTIC Greek. Somewhere in my sites a lot is said about the verse.] The pastor was BLISSFULLY UNAWARE that the main theme of Romans 8 is getting the WORD FILLED UP ON TOP OF your IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. Paul likens the process to the 'pregnancy' of creation giving birth to a 'crop' of Pleroma believers. [You won't see this in the English, because Greek keywords all have Greek-god cult meanings, and Paul is tweaking them, like he does in all his epistles.] I was in Bible class for maybe 2-4 years DAILY on Romans' exegesis, so that's a chapter I well remember. (It was during the weeks of exegesis over Romans 5 that for myself I began to see the flawlessness of Scripture in the original, and have never been the same since.) So to conclude about 'experience' is a deft REPLACEMENT of the WORD that Paul was talking about (especially since Romans 5:5). Only SATAN is that smart, but the speaker was just a pawn. We believers are ALL SO VULNERABLE! How we need to pray for pastors, worldwide!
SEE HOW EVIL? We know from 1Jn2:5 in Greek, that only GETTING CHRIST'S THINKING IN US makes us LOVE God, and makes us CHRISTLIKE. You can't be like Christ until you THINK like Christ, and you can't think like Christ until you learn Scripture properly; so you DON'T love God, and GOD WILL NOT work together all things for good in your life, because you're REBELLING AGAINST learning His Son. So all those Christians who just heard this pastor, who keep depending on their EXPERIENCES instead of LEARNING THE WORD, will eventually conclude the BIBLE wrong, and GOD wrong, and become JADED, because they learned this VERSE wrongly. Is Satan clever, or what?
BODY STRESS is key, in Satan's plan. Getting your eyes ON people and this world, so your attention is OFF God. All in His Name, of course, you go OFF course.. of course! Political activism is a BODY thing (Rev17 harlot), for example; behavioral issues, stressing sin, stressing 'spirituality' as something you DO -- these are all SATANIC STRESSINGS. See, if they are careful to STRESS certain lesser truths, KEY truths are obscured; so KEY features of the spiritual life, WITHOUT WHICH YOU DON'T GROW, are obfuscated or even REVERSED. All the while, the Holy Spirit must attest to truth SPOKEN, no matter by whom. Heh heh -- so only CERTAIN truths are 'spoken' to the carnal Christian, after which, the CHRISTIAN SCREWS UP! 1Jn1:9 BREATHING, sustained, is the only defense, assuming you keep studying, too.
STUDY WITHOUT 1Jn1:9 is getting schooled in Satan's FAKE DOCTRINE, even if the words and much of the meaning, look like and even are, Bible's. GREATER evil is NEAR WHITE; just a slice off TRUTH. You won't even be able to READ BIBLE properly, since Satan's salami tactics ALWAYS REDEFINE BIBLE WORDS to the meanings which suit his plan and goals. Translations immeasurably AID this slicing, and evidence it in nearly EVERY verse. Look: if the ORIGINAL LANGUAGES tweak works, but the translation DOESN'T, you won't know. Also, if "works" has a DIFFERENT MEANING in the original versus the usual MISdefinition of something you do with your BODY, you'll read "works" in translation, and will KEEP ON MISDEFINING SCRIPTURE. A lot of the so-called 'contradictions' in Scripture come from SCREWED UP BRAINS, and/or screwed up TRANSLATIONS, not the original-language manuscripts. [You can see this same deft slicing in all other 'holy' books of mankind; in ANYTHING PROMOTED in life, be it movies, news, you-name-it. Every one of them TWEAKS REAL BIBLE DOCTRINES in a VERY DISTINCTIVE manner. A 'signature', actually. SatStrat.htm, the "Appendix" of the "Thinking" series (box at Home page top), has SO much detail showing how this slicing actually works in stuff YOU YOURSELF can see, you'll probably vomit. At least, I did, while sketching out the examples...]
Our only ESCAPE from all these satanic, golf slicing sandtraps.. is 1Jn1:9; and WHILE FILLED, AUDITING our beliefs for 'fit'. Bible has, thank God! many verses. You must ALWAYS COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE. If you don't know much Scripture, ask "How much SENSE does this belief really make?" YOUR OWN LIFE is at stake here. Not your parents'. Not your friends'. Not all those unwashed masses everyone and his brother is always urging you on TV to 'partner' to 'save'. THEY just want your money. GOD wants you HAPPY. Who is more important? Can't God take care of the unwashed masses? Wasn't it the LORD who warned not to gain the world, only to lose YOUR OWN SOUL? Even if you are saved (JUST BELIEVE IN CHRIST!), you can 'lose your soul' in the sense of NOT getting FILLED UP like Romans 8 explains. YOU and no one else will be JUDGED for what YOU JUDGE about God. Matt7:1-2 is a principle which you see repeated all over the Bible!
Caveat #1 has an example on how that practice helps ferret out misdefinitions. Also, you can use REASON: compare beliefs against each other, because a belief FROM GOD will flawlessly dovetail with every other facet, every other verse. So if your beliefs don't FIT EACH OTHER, then something is misunderstood; more likely, it's a MISdefinition, for that is the hardest error to detect. Example: Judaism long since MISdefined the Levitical sacrifices as WORKS, when in Bible it's a ritual system of FELLOWSHIP, EATING TOGETHER, PEACE. Precursor to the 24/7 usage of the Eucharist (communion is first SHARED THINKING), in all forms.
Thinking series (box at Home page top) is all about auditing, but the writing style is conversational. Search on "STOP OMEGA" in caps in LvS4c.htm for a table describing the synopsis of Satan's toward-mankind 'herding' of God's Word (mimicking the Lord as Shepard, see). Larger description is in SatStrat.htm, which first orients the reader to Satan's own hyper-preoccupation with God's Righteousness, then goes into how he organizes and uses his methods, then has MANY examples you can test for yourself (too many, probably). Of course, don't even bother to read, if you won't breathe 1Jn1:9 whenever you think of it or catch yourself reacting.
It took CENTURIES for Bible to be freed up so all can read it in the INSPIRED original languages. See, it's NOT God's Word EXCEPT in the original languages; so anything else is at best an approximation; at worst, a TRAVESTY of satanic derision. It's NOT God's Word in your soul if the BIBLE's definitions are not in your soul. So, when people don't want to LEARN the REAL Bible, it gets 'hidden' from them. Seeing Bible words, they won't see BIBLE's meanings; or, they won't even be seeing BIBLE's words. Bible repeatedly shows how the WORD goes 'lost' when people don't want it, starting with the initial entry into the "Land". From time immemorial, God only blesses the world for the sake of the believers in it (big topic in all my sites, esp. the Thinking series).
So VOTE ON what teaching should be made available. So, VOTE FOR GOOD PASTORS. Prayer is first and foremost, VOTING. This VOTING goes by WHO VOTES CORRECTLY, not by number. So follow the PROTOCOL and your prayer WILL be heard. You have no idea HOW IMPORTANT God has made EACH ONE of us as a present to Christ for HIS MERIT; so we don't need to even BE in groups, to have 'clout'; we don't NEED political or religious or this-world's-whatever, to be powerful. To get more details on WHY this is true, click on the "Spiritual Royalty Brief" at Home page top, and discover who you REALLY are!
What you really are: a miracle IN THE MAKING. FROM CHRIST'S THINKING BEING DEPOSITED IN YOU. For there is ZERO defense against Satan. Born again, we are truly Satan fodder from our first breath-by-Spirit, and if we don't keep BREATHING 1Jn1:9, we won't GET that Truth in us. Even the English of 1Jn1:5-10 can't cover up that fact (God is the smarter lawyer). Of course, if we don't READ it over and over, we won't see it, even if we DO see it. THAT's how bad our blindness is. Inherited genetically from post-fall Adam's genes (i.e., 1Cor15:22, Rom5:12's Greek tense of hamartano). Greatest of all miracles, Christ's Thinking IN YOU: "Christ in you, the Confidence of Glory", Col1:27. For Father wants to Hear His Son EVERYWHERE, see. Which He thus BLESSES, see. So the world needs to GET this THINKING, see. For it is Satan's world, see. So we should SEE, see. Instead of, being blinded by the kaleidoscope publicnesses of his dying kingdom.
All this talk about false teaching isn't AT ALL to badmouth anyone, but to STRESS for us brainouts (moi aussi) HOW BLIND WE ALL ARE. Even the human eye's BIOLOGY teaches us this: for the human eye sees everything UPSIDE DOWN from how it is. The only reason you can SEE is that your BRAIN learned how to INTERPRET what comes into the eye, by means of your parents and other people TELLING you what you saw. Talk to any long-blind person who suddenly got his sight back, and learn how he had to TELL HIMSELF what objects were, before he could SEE them, though surgery corrected his vision.
Scriptural Blindness proof: we all know Eph2:8-9, yet keep adding WORKS conditions to the Gospel like repent, invite, accept -- the latter two verbs aren't in ANY Gospel verses in Bible, and "repent" is not about sins, either. Of course, we'd know that simply by recourse to any of the "believe" verses in John 3 or any other ones the Lord spoke, like Matt21:32, where he contrasts the Pharisees who did NOT change their mind about the Gospel (English uses "repent" which means change-mind) with SINNERS who BELIEVED. Moreover, anyone who has NO or little faith, harps on works. That's how you TELL no faith is operating. For, the faithless demands works, laws, etc. FROM OTHERS. Because, he has no faith of his own. So, is BLIND. For, faith is a system of PERCEPTION, not blindness. You perceive the Gospel (aka "the Son" in John 6:40, Greek verb theoreo, great wordplay), and thus BELIEVE it. Seeing is believing, see.
What's happened since the late 1800's is probably the most significant 'harvesting' of positive volition to God since the 1st century, from what I can tell. Folks like Tischendorf and Tregelles spent their lives during the 1800's getting these manuscripts compiled and available. Codex Vaticanus, one of the best original-language manuscripts, wasn't even available until 1889, when Vatican was pretty much forced by Tregelles' prodigious memory, to publish it. [Tregelles was not allowed to even have pen and paper to view the manuscript. So, he memorized it for the hours each day he was allowed to look at it. Then, he published what he remembered. Tischendorf discovered what would be called Codex Sinaiticus, which is another of our best manuscripts, which Lenin eventually sold to Great Britain, to get hard currency. One of the best internet sites on this topic is in German: www.bautz.de] So, since the late 1800's the so-called (inaptly named) "independent church movement" has come to dominate Christendom. Which is by STRUCTURE, the most Biblical, since Paul penned Eph4:11-16 to SHOW IT'S GOD'S DESIGN TO COMPLETE BODY OF CHRIST. However, no translation is clear (Satan never misses a chance). Still, the Body 'discovered' the BIBLE's teaching that the Body of Christ should be STRUCTURED as INDEPENDENT and LOCAL churches, EACH CHAIRED BY ONE PASTOR. THIS IS A REALLY REALLY REALLY BIG DEAL. Although you should NEVER try to date the Rapture (which is the kick-off sign for the Tribulation), if you WERE trying to date the Rapture, this OUTBREAKING OF THE WORD is a far more significant indicator, than whoever-in-Europe is banding together. DON'T WASTE TIME: LEARN THE WORD NOW! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY FOLKS IN YOUR GENERATION HAVE LEARNED IT WELL ENOUGH TO WARRANT CALLING US HOME! [Rapture's criterion is VOLITION, not any historical stuff you see happening per se. So whatever SHOWS volition's POSITIVE nature, i.e., the sudden rolling-out of Scripture, is the more important. LordvSatan4.htm goes into great detail on this topic. Best to read the whole "Thinking" series first (prior 3 htm's), so you won't read ~4.htm out of context.]
As a result, and given how we still don't spend sufficient time IN the original-language manuscripts, there predominate three basic classes of pastor-teachers . The first class is the smallest, and consists of (at most) a handful of pastors worldwide, who truly teach the WORD in the original languages. They are of variant growth levels, but get RIGHT that it's ONLY the Word, and only teach it. All else is incidental. So you just learn what Scripture says, not so much what to DO with it. Then, you CYCLE what you learned 24/7, during which process you LEARN what to do with it. All this, of course, assuming you BREATHE 1Jn1:9. If you're learning like this, GOD WILL GIVE YOU TIME. So you don't have to get nervous, anal, bulimic, etc. It's NEVER too late to get started.
A second and far more popular class really DOES focus on the WORD, but less so, compared to the first group. This makes them the more dangerous, for they are 'near-white'. For example, the second class mix experiential stuff in with the teaching; and the teaching, is too light on the WORD per se, but heavy on how to use WORD in bodily life. How God Himself IS, goes untaught or is shallowly taught; the pastor might be WELL trained, but either decides his congregation can't 'take it', or.. well, just settles for what's popular. With the result that, people are using WORD like a child would use a loaded gun, and shoot themselves in the foot. Ergo, this second class hasn't yet learned enough to rightly distinguish among the Spirit's Ministries, so still says that tongues and some kind of second (post-salvation) 'baptism', etc. exist; or, get OTHER FOUNDATIONAL doctrines, WRONG. So the parts they rightly teach, CAN'T be used. Your car won't operate if the battery is missing. If someone is pushing your car and you don't know it, you won't know the battery is missing. (Satan&Co. run all the spiritual towing companies, lol.)
An example is needed here. In Caveat #1 an example was listed of a second-tier pastor, one of the better of that class, who got all riled up about drinking, while teaching the meaning of that famous "your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit" verse in Corinthians. Now, this guy obviously knows that the Lord turned water into wine. But instead of CAREFULLY LISTING THE PARAMETERS of drinking like Paul did in Eph5:18, "be drunk not with wine.. but be filled with the Spirit", which obviously means it's DRUNKENESS, not wine, which is wrong; instead of carefully noting how THINKING, not body stuff, is spirituality, this guy goes on and on about your physical health. When, the BODY ISN'T SAVED, but the SOUL.
See? These BIBLE facts about drunkeness, thinking, soul being saved are BUILDING BLOCKS from Scripture itself, not from someone's mouth. The 'mouth' is being used to EXPLAIN Scripture directly, not tell you how to use it. How to use it, is your ROYAL PRIEST function, not -- repeat, NOT -- the pastor's function. The pastor's job is already the hardest on earth, for he must STUDY AND TEACH WHAT'S IN THE WORD. The rest of us don't have the gift, don't have the time to punch out all those commentaries, and etymological studies, etc. [If you don't know you yourself are a royal priest, click on the "Spiritual Royalty" box at Home pagetop.]
So, if you KNOW those building blocks -- which you DON'T know, until you see the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE words TAUGHT -- once you know the building blocks, YOU IMMEDIATELY KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. Sure, it takes practice, since a body SKILL has to be trained like skating, racquetball, or other physical activity -- but you KNOW HOW TO TRAIN. You don't need some pastor telling you a LIE that tasting wine is a sin. You're not using SCRIPTURE, then, and the SPIRIT ISN'T IN IT. You're practicing a LIE, so you CAN'T be filled with the Spirit at the same time. Just as, when that guy said what he did, he had to be carnal. Good teacher though he is, in other doctrines. We're all human, folks. [Man, it hurts to have to type paragraphs like this. Thank GOD we all sin, so there are no stones to throw!]
So people under these second-tier pastors are getting TOO FEW BUILDING BLOCKS of the Word; worse, they are getting lots of USES of Scripture without knowing WHAT'S BEHIND the uses. Again, that's like being given a gun to fire with not only no practice, but no idea how the gun WORKS. (An improperly used, cleaned gun will explode on you.) So of COURSE after ten or fifteen years of this kind of 'spirituality', people become bitter, jaded, crazy, DEAD. YOU GOTTA EAT SCRIPTURE, not Satan-fodder.
So no wonder Christian activism, prolife, trying to manipulate US (and other nations') politics is the Rev17 harlot, with no one in Christendom the wiser. WITHOUT SCRIPTURE IN YOU, you have NO BRAINS. Without the Filling of the Spirit, you have NO DISCERNMENT -- again, 1Jn1:6-10. So any ol' thing will look holy. Just as it did to millions of Germans, when Hitler rose to power. Just as it does to millions of Christians today, who don't see the FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF SCRIPTURE in the proposal to have a Constitutional Amendment on the topic of marriage. Incredible blindness. It's UNCONSTITUTIONAL to have a FEDERAL LAW REGULATING PERSONAL RIGHTS, and you certainly don't make an amendment which VIOLATES THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE! Sure, being gay is a sin. So is self-righteousness SUCH a sin, that in its LUST it will even overturn our nation's founding?!?! Lev26 last cycle of discipline couldn't be plainer. US has not long to live, if this keeps up. Christians are the cause of both the rise AND fall of nations, NOT the unbeliever. It was Pharisaism which felled Israel, remember.
The remaining class of other pastors don't really care about the WORD, or maybe are very much younger, spiritually, so just focus on the emotional rallying: those whose ministries focus on healing and other experience stuff would fit in this class. They are the most beguiled, and lure millions into their touchy-feely FAKE spirituality. But PRAY FOR THEM TOO. WE NEED PASTORS. God can reform any of us, and we should all be anxious to audit our beliefs, and to understand that human frailty IS MADE ESSENTIAL to God's Superior Work: 2Cor12:7-10. Paul, the worst sinner in history (see Timothy), the most-advanced BELIEVER in history (see 1Cor15:8-10), also did the screwiest DISOBEDIENCE in history (see Acts 22). But when he used 1Jn1:9 (just before the Romans rescued him), God FAR OUTBLESSED Paul for that: which we can see, for most of NT is written by Paul. So who's to say some dingdong preacher won't flip over, and become the greatest teacher of the next generation? Who's to say YOU or I won't flip over, too..? See: you're either on or off the playing field. But if ON, well -- there's no limit!
In all classes, it TAKES TIME to rightly divide Scripture, so there will be mistakes made en route. Not to worry, but don't just swallow, either: 'test the spirits' warns 1Jn, which means, BE UNDER THE SPIRIT, use 1Jn1:9 like breathing. And, if a pastor is famous, often on TV or in public rallies, etc. understand that his time for study is almost ZERO. So PRAY FOR HIM. The world needs us to learn Scripture, so it's strategically important that pastors receive the most fervent prayer. Prayer is a VOTE TO LEARN GOD BETTER. You can pray for other things, but if you DON'T pray for what increases learning Him, you'll see Leviticus 26 play out in your nation. WE ARE THE ONLY JUDICIAL SOURCE OF BLESSING TO THE WORLD. Not due to our merit, but Christ's; not due to our existence, but FOR FATHER. GOD DESERVES HIGH; so we are to be MADE HIGH by the Most High God. EACH OF THEM has a Self-Chosen Role in this. Focusing on, for us, BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT. ['Central accounting theme of "Due Disclosure" link at Home pagetop.] See Paul's prayers in Ephesians 1:15-end chapt., 3:15-21, and the TRUE Lord's Prayer in John 17. (The so-called Lord's prayer is a model, not the actual words to use, and should really be called "the disiples' prayer". Wish people would do their homework.)
Pastors are human. They ARE appointed by God to teach. God Himself will witness to His Appointment, and God has chosen for YOU a right pastor. Sometimes, your right pastor is not a permanent assignment, depending on how you grow or retrogress in Christ. You will ALWAYS need a pastor. Having said that, it's also true that no pastor, being only human, will get all doctrines correct, but that's not YOUR problem. You don't have to be perfect, your parents didn't have to be perfect to raise you, and your pastor doesn't have to be perfect either. So, if he teaches something different from what's said here, you need to talk to God about it, not just fume at the mouth against him, or fume at this webpage for saying something contrary to him. If it turns out that what's here is right but he is (at the moment!) 'amiss', then pray (it's voting, so DO IT) first using 1Jn1:9, asking FATHER in Son's NAME to help the pastor get FROM SCRIPTURE what he needs to justify changing what he teaches. For, surely no pastor teaches lies on purpose (being a pastor is the HARDEST JOB IN THE UNIVERSE). Of course, If my site content is screwed up in some way, then please pray for me, if you're inclined! And see Caveat #5, so you'll know I have NO qualms about fixing my own errors!
Spirit has 7 Permanent Ministries, for Church. The ones you see depicted PRE-COMPLETION of Canon, were TEMPORARY, to substitute-teach what WOULD BE in Canon. Healing and other spectacular gifts were to VALIDATE THE TEACHING, not to mesmerize the masses, unlike today's fakirs. (If you need healing, use 1Jn1:9 and talk to Father about it. You don't need to spend money or time on 'healers' EVER. See 2Cor12:7-10, and Ps32:1-5. "Spiritual Pathology" link in "Advance Topics" box at Home pagetop might help you troubleshoot a SPIRITUAL PROBLEM which is being punned by some physical problem you have, to wake you up to habitual study and use of 1Jn1:9. Faster still, JUST GET IN THE HABIT of 1Jn1:9 and habitual study under a good pastor teacher who FOCUSES ON TEACHING YOU WHAT THE WORD SAYS, not emotional junk. Probably most physical illness would greatly diminish or go away altogether, if THIS SOLUTION were assiduously followed. Of course, don't go wacko and stop medicine, etc. God is a God of Authority; illness which is due to NOT being in the spiritual life might remain to keep you from giving up too soon. We get back with God because we want something FROM Him; but we need perseverance so that motive changes to JUST WANTING TO KNOW HIM. So an illness, may need to remain.] The post-Canon permanent Ministries are:
- "Efficacious Grace" -- makes your faith EFFECTIVE for salvation (this is a real function, a breathing FOR you, as well as a judicial function),
- Regeneration (makes you born again, now a spiritual being),
- Sealing (permanizes salvation),
- Baptism (not water, but union with Christ, see Romans 6),
- Indwelling (has a lot of functions, but the one everyone knows is to SANCTIFY you so Father and Son can Indwell as well),
- Filling (unfelt, enables spiritual perception and breathes spirituality into all you think or do WHILE filled, so you needn't be some special church doer),
- One or more personally-tailored Spiritual Gifts (which are many more than people imagine, and WAY bigger than OT folks could even dream of). Of these Gifts, the highest COMMUNICATION gifts are evangelist and pastor, and are EXCLUSIVELY MALE. No more apostles, no more special knowledge, etc. -- those were all PRE-CANON, to substitute-teach UNTIL Canon completed. 1Cor13 is on this very topic, but in translation, you CAN'T SEE IT (theme began in Chap 2, w/ raison d'etre in 1Cor1:19ff; you need the Greek KEYWORDS to track Paul's threads). There are NO Divine Gifts of healing, prophecy, etc., extant. God does heal, but YOU ASK FATHER DIRECTLY; people can pray for you as well. Anyone posing as a healer is a LIAR. Only Satan plays that game.
So there's NO post-salvation 'anointing of the Holy Ghost', "the second blessing", or whatever it's called by folks. Some people on Christian TV use these terms to mean Filling, which is, if properly DEFINED, a meaning of "anoint". [In the OT, 'anointing' was FAR FAR LOWER than we Church get. Never mix up covenants. In all events, "Anointing" has no PHYSICAL connotation to it; look up how oil makes things WORK, look how anointing was a ROYAL DESIGNATION FUNCTION, and you'll get a clearer idea what BIBLE means.]
However, many use the term "anointing" to mean getting tongues, taking all their ideas from MISUSE of the Book of Acts. Tongues and like things were ALWAYS demonic. That's why God USED tongues to warn Israel, in Isaiah's day (see Isa28:10-12), and also Pentecost (see Acts 2 and 1Cor14:20ff). That practice was demonic insanity popular in the 1930's, the 1830's, 30AD, 3000BC (part of Greek pagan orgies), and even still, today. Yes, you're permanently INDWELT by Father Son Spirit upon that first belief-in-Christ. Yes, if you use 1Jn1:9 you are Filled with the Spirit. But NO, you can't feel any of it. Yes, Pentecost really occurred in June AD30, and the TONGUES were FOREIGN LANGUAGES because the Jews gathered there didn't SPEAK Aramaic, Hebrew, or the local Jerusalem languages: it was THE GOSPEL spoken in their OWN distant home languages, pure and simple. But NO, the tongues (and like) folks can't properly READ Bible on that topic. They're too busy EMOTING. Who can read properly, when choked with EMOTION? Look at ANY Bible version of Acts 2, and 1Cor14:21ff ("ff" means "and following"): the latter quotes Isa28:10-12, because the demonic practice OF TONGUES AND FFFFEEEEELLLIINNG was common back in ISAIAH's day, too (c.725BC). So, God chose it as a WARNING TO ISRAEL; which Acts 2, explains. When the Temple was destroyed in 70AD, so exited tongues, which was a SEPARATE ministry from Filling.
So it's Filling with GOD's POWER to give you SIGHT, not fffffeeelling. Test this claim IN SCRIPTURE for yourself. Even 1Jn1:5-10 in English makes the mechanic clear: God is light, so you can SEE if in fellowship. SEE, not feel. We have a BOOK TO READ, not a book to thump. Light enables sight, is the analogy. BLIND people must feel to perceive anything. So you know right away the Holy Spirit would not 'fill' you by FEELING, since emotions BLIND understanding. It IS kinda hard to be learning the WORD with your eyes closed, hands in the air, muttering to yourself...
Of course, even sheer logic would conclude, if feeling were 'spiritual', then why do we have BRAINS? Wouldn't even NEED a BOOK, then. Or: if 'feeling' even electricity would KILL me, then if I COULD 'feel' God's Power, that would kill me a BIZILLION TIMES OVER. For, wouldn't GOD have to be a BIZILLION times STRONGER than electricity? Or, if you have to control your feelings to do a COMPETENT job at anything, from the dishes to DNA research, HOW MUCH MORE do you think God would NOT 'fill' you with FEELING!
Some people never believe a thing in Bible unless it's in red letters. So, look: the "Spirit", as the Lord explains in John 3:1-18, CAN'T be felt, or seen, BECAUSE NOT PHYSICAL. Greek (and Hebrew) words for "spirit", also mean "breath", "life": same 'invisible' analogy. Of course, ALL the Bible is AUTHORED by the "breath" of the Holy Spirit. Greek word is "Theopneustos", and MEANS, "God-breathed" (2Tim3:16).
Heh. AND THAT IS THE 'NEW' TONGUE! Divine THINKING in "earthen vessels"! In the Greek of 1Cor13, beginning with 12:31 (which points forward, not backward), Paul is ADAMANTLY saying that the new 'language' is the COMPLETED CANON. FAR better, "the thinking of Christ" (1Cor2:16, which is the basis for 1Cor13), than mere unknown-to-you languages. Look: I have an EXTREME talent for foreign languages, which everyone has told me since I was a child, which I now know is given mainly to understand SCRIPTURE in the original languages, better. [Trouble is, I type as fast as I can think, so have to edit a lot to make the thoughts more translatable.] But BIBLE is way superior to any kind of human or supernatural talent you can even DREAM about. Learn the Mind of Christ! 2Pet3:18! Makes you REALLY CLOSE TO GOD, 24/7!
Heh. God never takes away a thing without a FAR SUPERIOR replacement. No more Mosaic Law, because now the "law of Christ" replaces it! Phili2:5-10! Keep on THINKING THIS IN YOU... wow, you can learn to have "Christ formed in you" (Gal4:19, really means in Greek, BORN in you, not the same as being born again, but the BODY OF HIS THINKING, in the Greek). Or, "Christ at home in your hearts", Eph3:17 or nearby.
Tell me: would you rather settle for some kind of gibberish demons will pass off as an 'angelic language', for -- heh -- it's THEM TALKING, get it? Or, would you rather have the REAL MIND OF CHRIST, CIRCULATING IN YOU 24/7? Your choice. Of course, absent 1Jn1:9, you will only IMAGINE you know Bible. Like Don Quixote imagined Dulcinea was beautiful (Spanish of that novel is way better than any translation).
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE GOD. He wants EQUALS, not lesser beings. Satan sells this lie that we are all supposed to be 'low'. BALONEY. Do you think God should have a bunch of RETARDS forever? FOOTMEN? NO. NO. NO. God is Infinite, we are not. So it's NOT ACCEPTABLE to Him, see? So we can't GET infinite on our own, see? So we must be MADE Infinite, see? Which making ACTUALLY HAPPENS in eternity, for Church, since it happened to Christ, who BECAME the "Way, the TRUTH(!) and THE LIFE". Whose Thinking, is now in WRITING. So that CYCLING of Truth, ever higher, is God's goal for EACH of us. FUNCTIONING INFINITE QUALITY despite finite minds. Structure of Truth is built NOW in your SOUL, down here, requiring continuing CONSENT; eventually, that structure functions at ever-more-profitable levels, i.e., Gal5:21ff and Eph3:15ff. You take that Structure with you, when you die. A lot, or a little, depending on if you only CONSENTED to a little, or CONSENTED to a lot, for God never coerces volition: He only DOES THE WORK to the extent you CONSENT. Which, post-death, is EXPLOITED EXPONENTIALLY into a "Capital base" for Father to hear "sweet savor", Christ's Thinking. Forever. Ultimate retirement plan. Wealthy beyond all other wealths. Clearly, works aren't on the same playing field. Get all burned up, too: 1Cor3, second half of 2Peter.
The BIGGEST AND NEARLY THE OLDEST PROMISE in the Bible, is this WORD to be written in your heart. NT samples: "Christ in you, the Confidence of Glory" reads the corrected translation of a clause in Col1:25-27. FULL. Eph3:19. If Christ could see Himself replicated EVEN GREATER THAN HE HIMSELF in every soul, He'd WANT that, FOR FATHER. More "sweet savor", see. So we're talking the ULTIMATE 'Jabez', here. Not miracles, which for God are old hat. Greater than ALL miracles put together, is the REPLICATING of CHRIST'S MIND IN YOU. Go for what GLORIFIES GOD, not for human idiocies. You got HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS the first minute you were saved (2Cor5:21) so to be FILLED UP with HIS THINKING (main theme of Romans 8, in Greek: English won't show the Greek Bible keywords so you can track the meaning throughout Scripture). Don't settle for less! "Site Purpose" in "Basics" box at Home page top will explain this paragraph in JURIDICAL detail, so you can AUDIT it for yourself, if inclined.
Well, what about works? How are all those poor, starving children gonna be FED? What about hospitals, giving to the poor, etc etc etc? Think, willya? Satan's claim rests on the belief that he is as good as God, Isa14/Eze28. So it's a MERIT claim. So every religion on the planet touts WORKS as GAINING MERIT WITH GOD. So no one's keener on works, than Satan: who himself is a prude, really. Satan doesn't like the gross sins, because they are BLACK, not near-white. He sponsors gross sins to make people WANT near-white, HIS OWN EVIL. TRUE EVIL IS NEAR WHITE in appearance. Darker shades are more INCOMPETENT at being evil. That's why Rev17 is depicted as a HARLOT MASTERING POLITICS AND RELIGION, for it PRETENDS to be white. Whitewashed tombstones, as the Lord put it: DEAD inside; pretty respectable, outside. Again, the "STOP OMEGA" table in LvS4c.htm explains his thinking in more detail.
So Christians who fall for Satan's Churchinanity plan will be working their hineys off. Meanwhile, God will use that to benefit the world as well, since the stupid Christians need time to grow up. Little chores for little minds who haven't clued in yet to the fact it's Christ's THINKING which paid for sins, the Greatest Work of all time. So, the Christians either stay there, NOT choosing to invest in His Thinking, or they grow out of it. Think! If you are thinking like Christ, will you be sinning? NO! If you are thinking like Christ, won't you WANT to do any good thing which is put into your hand BY GOD? YES! If you are thinking like Christ, won't you be SMART about the SATANIC EVIL of 'good deeds', like in Matt4, so you will AVOID THEM? For it's not about being good, but about BEING GOOD FOR GOD. GOD, not people. First Commandment, not satanic near-white substitutes.
So the massive labor supply of footmen is NOT suitable for compatibility with God. The Christian who denies this will END UP A FOOTMAN IN HEAVEN, because that's how LITTLE he valued becoming good enough in his THINKING, for GOD. "Thinking" series (box at Home page top) explores this theme as its central accounting mechanism, for I myself had trouble with the works thingy, but knew it was the wrong answer. Now, of course, I understand fully, WHY ONLY LEARNING and BREATHING SCRIPTURE, PLEASES GOD. Hopefully one day you will, too. NO ONE is excluded from this highest-of-lives. No matter what handicap.
In sum, you and I need God's BRAINS, no matter how high or low we are, human-to-human. Our own brains won't function except to help Satan&Co. foment lies. Moreover, Spiritual 'Brains' (God's) are NOT helped by human ones, nor hindered by them. By contrast, human brains cannot comprehend spiritual (1Cor2). So you NEED 1Jn1:9 to avoid 'brainout'. To instead be ONline ("fellowship") with Him, so you can learn and thus grow to God's Love (Rapport) Completion Purpose. ("Love" isn't emotional either, but a STASIS, since "God is Love" (verse in 1Jn4.) Learning Scripture BUILDS this Love in us, since All God's Attributes are Undivided; so, since Scripture IS Truth, His Attribute of Truth is LEARNABLE; so, is gradually deposited INTO you via the Spirit. So, likewise means DIVINE, not human, Love is 'in' those successive deposits (Rom5:5, Eph3:15-21, 1Jn1,4). This mechanic and its result is a main theme of Eph and 1Jn: especially, 1Jn4:17 in Greek. These epistles use keywords with Greek-culture meanings that translations fuzz over. So you miss what GOD says.)
