• Faithful

    by Published on 01-30-2014 09:34 AM     Number of Views: 1326 
    1. Categories:
    2. Regeneration,
    3. Atheist, Agnostic, Agtheist

    You do not need to know everything, be all-knowing, as God would be, to know if God exists as that would be self-contradictory, for obviously you are not God, never will be, and surely God has enough grace to reveal Himself instead of being a deistic absentee landlord. Sorry Antony Flew, you are going to Hell.

    There are two ways atheists try to deny the existence of the uncreated Creator. One, they say the universe was created from nothing, but we have no hard evidence of that. We only have evidence in nature of something from something. Therefore, according to this evidence, the universe can't start up from non-existence. Really, that which does not exist can't cause anything. A billion pound gorilla can't cause anything. Why? Because it doesn't exist.

    Second, atheists try to disprove God is by claiming the universe always existed in an infinite regress of cause and effects. But, of course, that is fallacious too, because if there was an eternity of the past of cause and effects in nature, by that very definition, you would have had an eternity to come into being before now, so you should have already happened, having had an eternity to do so. Surely an eternity is enough time. Do you need more time than an eternity? It gets even worse for the atheist, because by proposing an infinite regress of cause and effects in nature, contrawise, you should never have existed because a past eternity, by that very definition, would continue on for eternity, never reaching this point. A past eternity of cause and effects is a man-made delusional construct that goes completely against the above evidence. And of course, there is nothing to support infinite regress. So why even go down that rabbit hole of nonsense? It might make a good sci-fi movie but that's all.

    By this evidence, since nature can't start up from nothing, nor always have existed, we know that nature needs a cause outside of itself, outside of time and space, being uncreated. This uncreated Creator is whom we call God. Now that you know God exists, find out where He reveals Himself. God can't have morals below our own, for the greater can never be lesser than the created. Therefore, since we are personal and accessible so God is too.

    Only in Christianity does God personally enter His creation and make Himself accessible as the most widely accessible faith on the planet by His good graces. Since nobody can find a naturalistic explanation to account for the eyewitness testimony of the Apostles, realize Jesus, the most documented and corroborated person in antiquity, raised Himself from the dead. Therefore, since Jesus spoke on Hell more than anyone, if you don't come to the cross as a helpless sinner to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior, surely you will spend an eternity in Hell.

    God created you with free will and expects you to use it. He will not strive against the flesh forever to draw you to Him. Even by not using your free will to choose Christ, you are still using it to shut your mind down which is your way of rejecting God. Jesus said in the Bible, if you are not for Me, you are against Me. A decision not for Christ is a decision against Him.

    Now if Christianity is false and you don't believe in it, good for you. But are you any better off by believing in it if it is not true since you end up being annihilated anyhow with the same end result? However, if it is true, and you reject Christ, nothing is worse than going to Hell. But if you do accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, nothing is better than receiving eternal life - an ability to know God now and eternal blessings. Jesus was a liar, lunatic or God. Since He was not a liar, nor a lunatic, He must be God.

    Praise the Lord for this discernment!
    by Published on 12-29-2012 11:03 PM     Number of Views: 2793 
    1. Categories:
    2. 2015 to 2022

    Questions:

    1) Why is it that 12 out of every 19 years there are always exactly 2,520 days (Daniel's 7 x 360) from Feast of Trumpets to Tisha B'Av, and the other 7 out of 19 years there are always exactly 2,520 days from Feast of Trumpets to the Day of Atonement?

    2) Why are there exactly 7 sets of 7 or 17,640 days ((7 x 360)*7) from June 7, 1967 when Israel took over Jerusalem to the Day of Atonement Sept. 23, 2015?

    3) Why are there exactly 120 Jubilees of 6000 years (50*120) from 4004 BC when Adam was born to 2015 AD?

    4) Why is there not another feast Tetrad to the 2014/15 Tetrad until 2582/83 after the 6th one fell on when Israel became a nation again (1949/50) and the 7th one when Israel entered Jerusalem (1967/68)?

    5) Would the earthquake in Haiti 2010 (320,000 deaths, 2nd most deaths of earthquakes recorded) constitute a great earthquake in Rev. 6.12 before the first trumpet of the Tribulation is blown (8.7)?Would the earthquake in Japan 2011 constitute a great earthquake (4th greatest in the world in magnitude)? Back to back, year over year, has there ever been on record two earthquakes with this magnitude and number of deaths?

    6) The 2nd item in Rev. 6.12 is the black sackcloth sun solar eclipse. Would the Nov. 3, 2013 solar eclipse constitute just such a rare eclipse? There are 4 kinds of eclipses. The rarest is the Hybrid which occurs about 5% of the time. There are 3 kinds of Hybrids. The rarest Hybrid occurs about 5% of that 5%, called the H3. And NASA additionally breaks down eclipses as long or short. The long are more rare lasting more than 1 min 30 secs. It just so happens the 4th long H3 since Christ is this eclipse which occurs on Nov. 3, 2013 smack in the middle between the great earthquake and Total Lunar Tetrad as required by Rev. 6.12.

    7) The 3rd item is the moon red as blood in Rev. 6.12. If the Tetrad in 2014/15 is not the red blood moon, but since God wants us to know what it is, then what could supersede it that it would be that obvious to us?

    8) If these 3 events are indeed the events of Rev. 6.12 before the 2,520 days of the Tribulation start, and the Tribulation would begin shortly, would it not commence at some point within the Tetrad period since the 5th, 6th and 7th Tetrads did just that with regard to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Israel a nation again, and Jerusalem reclaimed?

    9) There are 2,520 days from Feast of Trumpets Sept. 14, 2015 to Tisha B'Av Aug. 7, 2022 the day the 1st and 2nd Temples were destroyed. Would you consider this important to Jesus because He returns to reign on earth in that Temple in person for 1000 years?

    10) Would you consider "right at the door" (Matt. 24.33) for the return of Jesus after Israel became a nation again (v.32) no more than a lifetime? Ps. 90.10 says a lifetime is about 75 years. If 75 years from 1948 is 2023 would not the Tribulation conclude by then? This is the time it took Abraham to enter the promise land. It is also the time generally when people go to rest.
    by Published on 07-29-2011 12:38 PM     Number of Views: 1934 
    1. Categories:
    2. Non-OSAS Libertarian Free Will

    Libertarian Free Will says a person can do something outside of what God has provided for him to be able to do. Free will is true but libertarian free will is false. God has no problem being able to reconcile His infinite foreknowledge with free will as we are sovereign free-willed beings made in His image, and God exists outside of time and space so He can touch any point in time and space instantly.

    William Lane Craig believes in Libertarian Free Will as he uses this phrase all the time to describe his view, but this is a false teaching since it is God who has provided us with all available free-choices under any given scenario, and we cannot exceed them as Craig believes we can. Thereby he exalts himself.

    Naturally, therefore, Craig is a non-OSASer who thinks he has the power to keep or to lose his "alleged" salvation from the god he worships. This is salvation by works. We are not saved by works lest any man should boast.

    William Lane Craig talks so much, but he doesn't have much empathy for the views of others. If he had, he would have the humility to see his own mistaken assumptions that Christians have been trying to show him for years. He closes himself off.

    I am an OSAS Arminian; that is, I gave my life to the God who always keeps and does not let anyone pluck me out of His hand. He predestinates by foreknowing our free-choice: a conditional election, unlimited atonement, resistible grace, for preservation of the saints. Craig has no faith to believe in this God.

    Craig is too selfish to give his life to Christ preferring to have a selfish "out-clause" or prenuptial with one foot in the door and one foot out. This is Satan's counterfeit salvation. But those who are actually born-again, "they shall never perish" (John 10.28). This is something William Craig almost never talks about. He doesn't want people to know he is a non-OSASer. The very fact he hides it is an indication his conscience is trying to speak to him, but he doesn't want to listen to it.

    Isn't that a strange kind of salvation where you can be saved, lose it, get it back again, only to lose it again? Can you see the hand of Satan in this? The real God simply will not save you to begin with. God won't save you till you enter genuinely into a relationship for God to keep you saved. This is not what Craig is interested in. He is interested in his own prowess. The truth of his mistaken assumption is no man can keep himself saved nor can he lose it once saved. A proud man full of accomplishment has difficulty accepting this.

    Both Calvinists (Total Depravists who try to high-jack the Reformation of Justification by Faith by trying to change it into irresistible grace) and non-OSASers (Remonstrants and Wesleyans such as William Lane Craig of the great harlot of religious Rome-the Roman Church-that makes drunk the nations with the wine of the wrath of her fornications, Rev. 14.8) are not born-again. They worship their false Christs. They don't want to be saved God's way of saving sinners. They prefer a selfish salvation. Where is the love in that? All they have left is to wait for the Great White Throne judgment and Hell since most of them have long since made up their minds. Nothing we can do to help them. Jesus says just kick the dust under your feet as you leave them be.

    William Lane Craig was never born-again and in all likelihood he never will be. Who do you know who is as old as Craig is, even a scholar, who entered into a false salvation, or came so close to the door of salvation only to turn away (2 Pet. 2.21), then ended up repenting and giving his life to Christ to be regenerated once-saved-always-saved? Very few I am sure.

    You can appreciate how important it is for Satan to bring a person into a false salvation, masquerading as an angel of light, highjacking the new birth, replacing it with a counterfeit salvation and producing Satanic grace, because then his work is done. All he need do then is wait to take that soul with him to Hell, committed to an eternal state of delusion.

    It is more painful for the false Christian who worships a false Christ to give up that false Christ than the fear of letting go of self and placing his trust in the Jesus who always keeps. Instead of having the humility to accept he can't keep himself saved nor does he have the power to overturn God's saving grace once saved, his obsession and possession become so entrenched, the fear of letting go of the control he has through his particular idolatry (non-OSAS) becomes insurmountable.


    by Published on 07-07-2011 09:08 AM     Number of Views: 1228 
    1. Categories:
    2. Consecration and Breaking

    The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. Psalm 25.14.


    What kind of person may receive God’s direction? They who fear God; because "the secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him, that he may make known his covenant to them" (same verse, Darby’s translation). What is the meaning of "fear God"? To fear Him is to hallow His name—that is, to exalt Him. They who seek God’s will with singleness of heart and obey Him absolutely are those who fear Him. To such as these will He tell His secret and show His covenant.
    by Published on 03-31-2011 08:04 AM     Number of Views: 1402 
    1. Categories:
    2. Consecration and Breaking

    The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . Galatians 5.22

    In examining the fruits of the Holy Spirit—which express Christian witness—we shall readily see that they are none other than selfless acts. What is love? Love is loving others without thinking of self. What is joy? It is looking at God in spite of self. Patience is despising one’s own hardship. Peace is disregarding one’s loss. Gentleness is overlooking one’s rights. Humility is forgetting one’s merits. Temperance is the self under control. And faithfulness is self-restraint. As we examine every Christian virtue, we will discern that other than being delivered from self or being forgetful of self, a believer has no other virtue. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is determined by one principle alone: the losing of self totally.

    I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother’s womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. Judges 16.17

    Samson was a man who was full of power. The source of his power was in his hair. And as soon as his hair was shaved, Samson’s power was lost. What was there about his hair to make him powerful? This hair of Samson’s, we must remember, was the hair of a Nazirite. And a Nazirite in Bible times was one who was fully consecrated to God. And hence all real spiritual powers derived from the measure of one’s consecration to the Lord. If our consecration is superficial, we shall be like a paralyzed person who has no power. But if our consecration to God is absolute, we will find the power. Therefore, no matter how and where we seek, we must be mindful continually that power is conditional upon man’s consecration.

    But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4.7

    Do not think that there is very little in the earthen vessel, which metaphor Paul uses to refer to our physical body. We learn from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian believers that there is a tremendous treasure in our earthen vessels. But do we actually believe it? God’s children ought to know what they have obtained at the moment of new birth. It may have taken only a minute to have received the Lord and been born again but it will need thirty or forty years beyond that moment to discover what each received in that one precious moment. No child of God can fully know on earth the extent of what God has given him at the moment of regeneration. Nevertheless, blessed are those who know somewhat more.
    by Published on 03-23-2011 07:20 PM     Number of Views: 3482 
    1. Categories:
    2. 2015 to 2022

    The Total Lunar Tetrad on passover, tabernacles and again on passover and tabernacles occurred in 1949/50 (6th time since Christ) when Israel became a nation and 1967/68 (7th time since Christ) when Israel entered Jerusalem.

    It is the first time since Christ there were two feast Tetrads as close as this 18 years apart.

    "The disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of this age?" (Matt. 24.3) "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you" (v.4).

    Jesus said when Israel becomes a nation again (v.32) you will know "right at the door" (v.33) when He returns. I don't see how I could know right at the door if it is more than a life-span away. Psalm 90.10 says the limit of our age is 70 to 80 years so about 75 years is the maximum time from 1948 when Jesus steps down on the mount of olives (Zech 14.4, Acts. 1.11, Rev. 1.7, 19.11-16). We won't know the hour (v.42), but we can know the day. We can't know the end of the 1000 years when the earth will be burnt up (vv.35,36), but we can know when Jesus returns in Person with His overcomer believers (5 wise virgins, Matt. 25.1-13) to reign on earth for the 1000 years (Jude 14,15; Rev. 20.4-6).

    Other Scripture Jesus explains in more detail. Joel 2.31 says we can know when the great and terrible day of the Lord is, that is, the Tribulation (Dan. 9.27), according to the trifecta (exact order) of a "great earthquake," "sun black as sackcloth," and the "moon red as blood" (Rev. 6.12). Many other verses support the signs in the heavens to know when the first rapture commences according to readiness (Matt. 24.40-42, Luke 21.36, Rev. 3.10) "before the throne" (7.9) before the first trumpet of the Tribulation starts (8.7ff) at which point the parousia of Christ begins. Parousia of Christ begins with the first rapture to the throne then Jesus comes on the cloud then through the clouds to meet the saints at the start of the last trumpet in air (Rev. 11.15, 15.2-4). The first rapture is a conditional rapture for these are conditional statements. The saints who are "alive" and "left" since they were not raptured at the first rapture are raptured with those who ar resting who shall be resurrected that gives us comfort to be raptured together in the final harvest at the start of the last trumpet (1 Thess. 4.14-18).

    Eclipses happen all the time, so we are looking out for rare eclipses. The maximum number of eclipses per year, solar and lunar combined, comes to 7. 2,520 is the smallest number divisible by all numbers from 2 to 10. It's Daniel's basic working unit in his seventy sevens. The last seven is also 7 years x 360 days per year. The combination of all these events will help us know exactly when the 2,520 days of the Tribulation take place.

    The next feast Tetrad is 2014/15 so this would signify when the Temple construction would need to begin to be consistent with the 6th and 7th Tetrads. And it won't happen again till 2582/83 so we know this is it! As hard as it is for us to believe we are actually the generation Jesus returns to, this should not be cause for doubt about these signs. When Jesus says He is returning and we can know it then have no doubt about it! Praise the Lord!

    In front of the Tetrad in 2014/15 are there any unique solar eclipses? There are 4 types and the Hybrid is the rarest occurring 5% of the time. There are 3 kinds of Hybrids and the rarest is the H3 at about 4%. There are also two types of eclipses in general: long-dated and short-dated. Long-dated are very rare. For example, the H3 long-dated occurs in 2172, 2967, 3051, 4349. It just so happens miraculously on Nov. 3, 2013 there is a long-dated H3 Hybrid solar eclipse. It will be the 4th since Christ which is approximately a 1 in 700 probability (3/2012).

    But we also need a great earthquake. We have two. Haiti 2010 was the 2nd worst earthquake in terms of total deaths and the highest in deaths per capita. Japan 2011 was the greatest amount of destruction in terms of wealth destroyed and it is the 5th worst in terms of magnitude. Clearly God's judgment is showing itself. Japan is Buddhist/Atheist. Haiti is mostly Roman Catholic. Plus, people ought to know better than to live in such hot zones. Sadly we suffer from the sins of our parents back to 4 generations and people are born in such places. In the first half of the Tribulation the Vatican will be nuked: "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" (Rev. 17.16). Revelation 17 is the first half of the Tribulation and Revelation 18 is the second half. These are the details of the major points in Rev. 8 to 11. The first half is the first four trumpets in Revelation 8. Hence, "there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp...the name of the star is called Wormwood" (Rev. 8.10,11).

    The probability for the two Tetrads on the two key dates for Israel in the 20th century because there was only one century with two before, combining that with a 2% chance a Tetrad could fall on one of the dates and 1% on the remaining date, we are looking at a 1 in 100,000 chance. Combine that with the solar eclipse with a probability of 1 in 700, the odds ratchet up to 1 in 70,000,000. The odds for a "great earthquake" in terms of deaths per capita or wealth destruction within 3 years of the H3 eclipse is about 1 in 2010.

    Combining the trifecta of the great earthquake, hybrid eclipse and lunar tetrad the odds come to approximately 1 in 141 billion. We are not done.

    So now we need a 2,520 day period. Since the last 3 feasts correspond to when Jesus returns, Feast of Trumpets which is the first rapture would be the start of the Tribulation. I pray there is a special day on the 2,520th day. But the Feast of Trumpets in 2014 and 2016 don't lead to a special day 2,520 days later, and the 2,520th day from Sept. 14, 2015 Feast of Trumpets takes us to Aug. 7, 2022. Aug. 7 has no apparent holiday.

    With a little investigation I found out Tisha B'Av, the day the Jews commemorate the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples would be on Saturday Aug. 6 (Av 9) in 2022. However, whenever it is on a Saturday it is held the day after instead (Av 10) Aug. 7.

    This happens to be a Sunday Aug. 7. The odds of a Sunday return is 1 in 7 and the odds of Tisha B'Av being held over from Saturday is also 1 in 7, so that brings the total probability to 1 in 6.9 trillion. If one takes into account less than 50% of 2,520 day periods from Feast of Trumptes fall on Tisha B'Av seven years later, we could should double the odds to 1 in 13.8 trillion. However, it's really 100% because there are no two feast Tetrads 18 year apart, no H3-Tetrad combo on record that I know of, and similarly, no great earthquake-H3-Tetrad trifecta prior to 2013-2015 or afterward to my knowledge.

    Now we know when the first rapture and start of the Tribulation take place. Knowing this, let us be spiritually ready so we may be acconted worthy to be included in the first rapture (Matt. 24.40-42, Luke 21.36) to be received up to the throne in 3rd Heaven (Rev. 7.9) and not have to pass through the Tribulation. Praise the Lord! Amen.

    There are some additional corroborating points. Jesus steps down on the 1260th day of the Great Tribulation, judges the nations to the 1290th day and for 45 days more after that sets up Israel as the center of all nations. 75 days later from the 1260th day to the 1335th day in Scripture takes us to Oct. 21, 2022. This occurs after the 3 feasts. Feast of Tabernacles is Oct. 10, 2022. It runs for 7 days to Oct. 16, 2022. Then there are two holidays after on the following two days, the second which is Simchat Torah when Israel takes out the Torah Scrolls from the Holy of Holies to read them and the items of the ark of the covenant (rod that budded, manna from heaven, and ten commandments). Just as there is a 4 day inspection of the lamb before passover, there is likewise a 4 day inspection of Jesus (Oct 18, 19, 20, 21), starting on Simchat Torah, before the millennial reign begins on Oct. 22, 2022.

    There also needs to be 2300 days left in the Tribulation (Dan. 8.14) after the Temple is finished. There are 2300 days from April 21, 2016 to Aug. 7, 2022 so that puts 220 days from Sept. 14, 2015 to April 20, 2016. Passover is April 22, 2016. The 4 day inspection of the Lamb is April 18 (Monday, Nisan 10), 19, 20, 21 to dedicate the lamb and red heifer to the newly constructed Temple. This is fascinating because Daniel's prophecy from the declaration to rebuild the Temple Nisan 1, 444 BC is exactly 69 sevens or 173,880 days to March 28, 33 AD (Gregorian). This first day inspection of the Lamb was also Monday. The 4 day inspection was Monday to Thursday, March 28, 29, 30, 31. Then Jesus died on the cross Friday, April 1, 33 AD which Satan calls April Fool's Day to mock His atoning sacrifice. The irony is Satan is rendered inoperative because our old man has died on the cross with Christ. Therefore, Satan has no flesh to work through since it is dead. Having died with Christ we are able to put to nought the deeds of the flesh. Yet Satan is still god of this world until Jesus returns.

    There also needs to be 2300 days left in the Tribulation (Dan. 8.14) after the Temple is finished. There are 2300 days from April 21, 2016 to Aug. 7, 2022 so that puts 220 days from Sept. 14, 2015 to April 20, 2016. Passover is April 22, 2016. The 4 day inspection of the Lamb is April 18 (Monday, Nisan 10), 19, 20, 21 to dedicate the lamb and red heifer to the newly constructed Temple. This is fascinating because Daniel's prophecy from the declaration to rebuild the Temple Nisan 1, 444 BC is exactly 69 sevens or 173,880 days to March 28, 33 AD (Gregorian). This first day inspection of the Lamb was also Monday. The 4 day inspection was Monday to Thursday, March 28, 29, 30, 31. Then Jesus died on the cross Friday, April 1, 33 AD which Satan calls April Fool's Day to mock His atoning sacrifice. The irony is Satan is rendered inoperative because our old man has died on the cross with Christ. Therefore, Satan has no flesh to work through since it is dead. Having died with Christ we are able to put to nought the deeds of the flesh. Yet Satan is still god of this world until Jesus returns.

    There are for the Two Witnesses 1260 days from April 18, the first day inspection of the lamb, to Sept. 30, 2019 Feast of Trumpets. There are also 49 sets of 7 from the day Israel entered Jerusalem June 7, 1967 to the Day of Atonement, Sept. 23, 2015, the day the 50th year is declared. 2015 is in fact the 120th Jubilee over 6000 years from 3986 BC. Adding up the ages of the Old Testament saints takes us to 4004 BC, so Adam reached the age of accountability in the Garden of Eden when he was 18 years old in 3986 BC. There are a lot more tidbits of information I could provide but I will add this: Ezekiel's prophecy on his side for 390 days then 40 on the other take us to exactly May, 1948 (you can find the calculation at Biblocality Forums). Ezekiel was prophesying when Israel would become a nation again and remain so forever thereafter (apart from the 2 years or so it is overrun during the Great Tribulation).

    After 1260 days of the first half of the Tribulation brings us to Feb. 25, 2019 the first day of the Great Tribulation and start of the 5th trumpet (1st woe). The 1st woe lasts five months. The 2nd woe begins July 25, 2019 and lasts 13 months to Aug. 18, 2020. That leaves the 3rd woe which lasts 24 months. Since by 2035 our current 900 billion barrels of oil is tapped out at 37 billion barrels a year (averaging 100 million a day), the nations certainly won't wait till the last drop. So time wise the greatest war this world will ever see fits into the Great Tribulation period perfectly, particularly, the 6th and 7th woes from July 25, 2019 to Aug. 7, 2022. The saddest part of all of this, apart from so many unsaved souls, are the armies totaling 200 million (Rev. 9.16) which will congregate in the middle east over oil and that nuclear holocaust will kill 1/3 of the people of earth in "fire and brimstone" (v.18).

    You really can't ask for better signs than these and more serious and sobering impending events to come.
    by Published on 10-29-2010 07:38 AM     Number of Views: 1875 

    Apostles and Elders

    Elders were local men appointed to oversee affairs in the local church. Their sphere of office was limited by the locality. An elder in Ephesus was not an elder in Smyrna, and an elder in Smyrna was not an elder in Ephesus. In Scripture there are no local apostles, nor are there any extra-local elders; all elders are local, and all apostles are extra-local. The Word of God nowhere speaks of apostles managing the affairs of a local church, and it nowhere speaks of elders managing the affairs of several local churches. The apostles were the ministers of all the churches, but they had control of none; the elders were confined to one church and they controlled affairs in that one. The duty of apostles was to found churches. Once a church was established, all responsibility was handed over to the local elders, and from that day the apostles exercised no control whatever in its affairs. All management was in the hands of the elders, and if they thought right they could even refuse an apostle entry into their church. Should such a thing occur, the apostle would have no authority to insist on being received, since all local authority had already passed from his hands into the hands of the elders.

    How did Paul deal with the adulterous believer in Corinth? He did not just notify the church that he had excommunicated the man. The utmost he could do was to instruct its members regarding the seriousness of the situation and seek to admonish them to remove the wicked person from their midst (1 Cor. 5.13). If the church was right spiritually they would pay attention to Paul, but if they disregarded his exhortations, whilst they would be wrong spiritually, they would not be wrong legally. In the event of their despising his counsel, Paul could only bring his spiritual authority to bear on the situation. In the Name of the Lord Jesus he could “deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh” (verse 5). He had no official authority to discipline him, but he had spiritual authority to deal with the case. He had his spiritual “rod.”

    The affairs of the local church are entirely independent of the apostles. Once elders have been appointed, all control passes into their hands, and whilst thereafter an apostle may still instruct and persuade, he can never interfere. But this did not hinder Paul from speaking authoritatively to the Corinthians. Even a casual reader will notice how authoritative his statements were in both epistles. It was quite within his province to pass judgment where doctrinal and moral questions were concerned, and when Paul did so he was most emphatic; but the actual enforcing of such judgments was outside his province and entirely a matter for the local church.

    An apostle can deal with the disorders of a church whenever his advice and counsel are sought, as was the case with Paul and the church in Corinth. It was because of their enquiries that he could ...
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