June 21, 2017

Look- and really see!!! by Gary Rose


At sunset, when the glory of the day is transformed into the magnificence of the night, the stars come out. The light of the sun is replaced by thousands upon thousands of different sized distant lights. The gentle glow they provide is a soothing reminder that we are not alone. 

Somehow, some great power has put them into a grand pattern and we recognize them with names like "The Big dipper". The power is not just a force, it is the creator himself; Yahweh!!!

The Psalmist has said...


Psalm 8 (World English Bible)

1 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory above the heavens! 



  2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, 
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger. 



  3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; 



  4 what is man, that you think of him? 
What is the son of man, that you care for him? 



  5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor. 



  6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands. 
You have put all things under his feet: 



  7 All sheep and cattle, 
yes, and the animals of the field, 
  8 the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, 
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 



  9 Yahweh, our Lord, 
how majestic is your name in all the earth! 



Look about you, the world is full of God's great design. This design itself has a pattern and a purpose. None other than the revelation of the one who has made it- God. 

Human beings are marvelous creatures, with a mind that has creativity beyond any earth-bound entity, but we pale in comparison to the almighty who has created EVERYTHING!!!

Some of us, with hearts full of pride, place ourselves above even God and deny HIM. No matter how hard they may try, God is still GOD and we are just finite human beings. 

Today, my prayer is that we all will acknowledge him and praise THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!  Look within as you view the stars this evening and you will come to realize the true nature of things; AND PRAISE GOD!!!

Bible Reading June 21-22 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading June 21-22 (WEB)

June 21
2 Samuel 4-6

2Sa 4:1 When Ishbosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
2Sa 4:2 Ishbosheth, Saul's son, had two men who were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is reckoned to Benjamin:
2Sa 4:3 and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until this day).
2Sa 4:4 Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
2Sa 4:5 The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, as he took his rest at noon.
2Sa 4:6 They came there into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they struck him in the body: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
2Sa 4:7 Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, they struck him, and killed him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night.
2Sa 4:8 They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; and Yahweh has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
2Sa 4:9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
2Sa 4:10 when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.
2Sa 4:11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?
2Sa 4:12 David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

2Sa 5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David to Hebron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
2Sa 5:2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel: and Yahweh said to you, You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.
2Sa 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh: and they anointed David king over Israel.
2Sa 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
2Sa 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
2Sa 5:6 The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Unless you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here.
2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.
2Sa 5:8 David said on that day, Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and strike the lame and the blind, who are hated of David's soul. Therefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he can't come into the house.
2Sa 5:9 David lived in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. David built around from Millo and inward.
2Sa 5:10 David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.
2Sa 5:11 Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.
2Sa 5:12 David perceived that Yahweh had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.
2Sa 5:13 David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
2Sa 5:14 These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
2Sa 5:15 and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
2Sa 5:16 and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.
2Sa 5:17 When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the stronghold.
2Sa 5:18 Now the Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
2Sa 5:19 David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? will you deliver them into my hand? Yahweh said to David, Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand.
2Sa 5:20 David came to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there; and he said, Yahweh has broken my enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.
2Sa 5:21 They left their images there; and David and his men took them away.
2Sa 5:22 The Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
2Sa 5:23 When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, You shall not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.
2Sa 5:24 It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall stir yourself up; for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.
2Sa 5:25 David did so, as Yahweh commanded him, and struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gezer.

2Sa 6:1 David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
2Sa 6:2 David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Baale Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the name of Yahweh of Armies who sits above the cherubim.
2Sa 6:3 They set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
2Sa 6:4 They brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was in the hill, with the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.
2Sa 6:5 David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all manner of instruments made of fir wood, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with castanets, and with cymbals.
2Sa 6:6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled.
2Sa 6:7 The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
2Sa 6:8 David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken forth on Uzzah; and he called that place Perez Uzzah, to this day.
2Sa 6:9 David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, How shall the ark of Yahweh come to me?
2Sa 6:10 So David would not remove the ark of Yahweh to him into the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
2Sa 6:11 The ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months: and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom, and all his house.
2Sa 6:12 It was told king David, saying, Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that pertains to him, because of the ark of God. David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with joy.
2Sa 6:13 It was so, that, when those who bore the ark of Yahweh had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.
2Sa 6:14 David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
2Sa 6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of Yahweh with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
2Sa 6:16 It was so, as the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.
2Sa 6:17 They brought in the ark of Yahweh, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
2Sa 6:18 When David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Armies.
2Sa 6:19 He dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to everyone a cake of bread, and a portion of flesh, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed everyone to his house.
2Sa 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!
2Sa 6:21 David said to Michal, It was before Yahweh, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of Yahweh, over Israel: therefore will I play before Yahweh.
2Sa 6:22 I will be yet more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight: but of the handmaids of whom you have spoken, they shall honor me.
2Sa 6:23 Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.


June 22
2 Samuel 7-9

2Sa 7:1 It happened, when the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
2Sa 7:2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.
2Sa 7:3 Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart; for Yahweh is with you.
2Sa 7:4 It happened the same night, that the word of Yahweh came to Nathan, saying,
2Sa 7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus says Yahweh, Shall you build me a house for me to dwell in?
2Sa 7:6 for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle.
2Sa 7:7 In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
2Sa 7:8 Now therefore thus you shall tell my servant David, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel;
2Sa 7:9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.
2Sa 7:10 I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,
2Sa 7:11 and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.
2Sa 7:12 When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
2Sa 7:15 but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
2Sa 7:16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before you: your throne shall be established forever.
2Sa 7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
2Sa 7:18 Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
2Sa 7:19 This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come; and this too after the manner of men, Lord Yahweh!
2Sa 7:20 What can David say more to you? for you know your servant, Lord Yahweh.
2Sa 7:21 For your word's sake, and according to your own heart, have you worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
2Sa 7:22 Therefore you are great, Yahweh God: for there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
2Sa 7:23 What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeem to you out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
2Sa 7:24 You established for yourself your people Israel to be a people to you forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God.
2Sa 7:25 Now, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken.
2Sa 7:26 Let your name be magnified forever, saying, Yahweh of Armies is God over Israel; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.
2Sa 7:27 For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.
2Sa 7:28 Now, O Lord Yahweh, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant:
2Sa 7:29 now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken it: and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.

2Sa 8:1 After this it happened that David struck the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
2Sa 8:2 He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.
2Sa 8:3 David struck also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River.
2Sa 8:4 David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots.
2Sa 8:5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
2Sa 8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
2Sa 8:7 David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
2Sa 8:8 From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.
2Sa 8:9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer,
2Sa 8:10 then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to Greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:
2Sa 8:11 These also did king David dedicate to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued;
2Sa 8:12 of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
2Sa 8:13 David got him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men.
2Sa 8:14 He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
2Sa 8:15 David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people.
2Sa 8:16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
2Sa 8:17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Seraiah was scribe;
2Sa 8:18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief ministers.

2Sa 9:1 David said, Is there yet any who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
2Sa 9:2 There was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, Your servant is he.
2Sa 9:3 The king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? Ziba said to the king, Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame of his feet.
2Sa 9:4 The king said to him, Where is he? Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.
2Sa 9:5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.
2Sa 9:6 Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth. He answered, Behold, your servant!
2Sa 9:7 David said to him, "Don't be afraid of him; for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually."
2Sa 9:8 He did obeisance, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?"
2Sa 9:9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "All that pertained to Saul and to all his house have I given to your master's son.
2Sa 9:10 You shall till the land for him, you, and your sons, and your servants; and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master's son may have bread to eat: but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread always at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
2Sa 9:11 Then said Ziba to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your shall servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
2Sa 9:12 Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. All that lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
2Sa 9:13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem; for he ate continually at the king's table. He was lame in both his feet.



Jun. 21, 22
John 19

Joh 19:1 So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.
Joh 19:2 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.
Joh 19:3 They kept saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and they kept slapping him.
Joh 19:4 Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him."
Joh 19:5 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, "Behold, the man!"
Joh 19:6 When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves, and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him."
Joh 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."
Joh 19:8 When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.
Joh 19:9 He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.
Joh 19:10 Pilate therefore said to him, "Aren't you speaking to me? Don't you know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?"
Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin."
Joh 19:12 At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you release this man, you aren't Caesar's friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!"
Joh 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called "The Pavement," but in Hebrew, "Gabbatha."
Joh 19:14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"
Joh 19:15 They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"
Joh 19:16 So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.
Joh 19:17 He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called "The Place of a Skull," which is called in Hebrew, "Golgotha,"
Joh 19:18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.
Joh 19:19 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Joh 19:20 Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.
Joh 19:21 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'he said, I am King of the Jews.' "
Joh 19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
Joh 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
Joh 19:24 Then they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, "They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Joh 19:25 But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 19:26 Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
Joh 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."
Joh 19:29 Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
Joh 19:31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn't remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Joh 19:32 Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him;
Joh 19:33 but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn't break his legs.
Joh 19:34 However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Joh 19:35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
Joh 19:36 For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "A bone of him will not be broken."
Joh 19:37 Again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they pierced."
Joh 19:38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away Jesus' body. Pilate gave him permission. He came therefore and took away his body.
Joh 19:39 Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
Joh 19:40 So they took Jesus' body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
Joh 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid.
Joh 19:42 Then because of the Jews' Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid Jesus there.

Many People Believe Lies about Baptism by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/baptism.html

Many People Believe Lies about Baptism
Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He tells His followers: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31,32).
The devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 3:44). He lied to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:4), and he fills the world with lies today.
Jesus brought grace and truth (John 1:17).
The devil brings lies and destruction. Jesus said: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
So, the choice is ours. Will we believe the truth of the Lord, or the lies of the devil?
We who love the truth, must find the truth among all the lies.
People believe the devil's lies and are lost because they do not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Paul told Timothy: "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
Some of the devil's most destructive lies relate to baptism. Millions of pious people will be lost because they believed the devil's lies about baptism.
How can we know they are lies? By comparing them with the word of God. Jesus said: "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed" (John 8:31). The bright light of God's word can expose the devil's dark lies about baptism.
Lie number one:
Infant baptism is valid.
Because of this lie, many people think they have been baptized because someone else decided to have them christened when they were babies. What happened to them, however, bears no resemblance to the baptism we read about in the New Testament.
Jesus said: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16). When the Ethiopian asked Philip, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may" (Acts 8:36,37). Baptism must be based on personal faith. A baby is not yet able to believe or to make a personal decision to follow Christ.
Peter said: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). A baby cannot repent. He has committed no sins of which he needs to repent. Nor can he be baptized for the remission of sins, since he has committed no sins.
If you have only been christened as a baby, you have been deceived. You have not been baptized at all.
Lie number two:
Sprinkling and pouring are valid forms of baptism.
The word "baptism" is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning "immersion". The context also makes this clear. "Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there" (John 3:23). Baptism requires much water. Paul writes: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). We are "buried with Him in baptism" (Colossians 2:12). Baptism is an immersion, a burial in water.
If you have never been immersed, you have been deceived. You have not experienced Christian baptism at all.
Lie number three:
Baptism is not for the forgiveness of sins.
How do we know this is a lie? Because we are commanded to be baptized for the remission of sins. Listen to what happened on the Day of Pentecost. "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:37,38).
Many people refuse to obey this simple command because they have believed another lie, namely, that one is saved by faith only. How do I know this is a lie? Again, because the Bible says exactly the opposite! "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). Who shall we believe, God or man? God says we arenot saved by faith only. Evangelicals say we are saved by faith only. And because they have been deceived on this point, they also refuse to obey the command of Peter: "Be baptized ... for the remission of sins." As a consequence, Evangelical baptism, although immersion, is invalid because it is not done for the commanded purpose. It is an ineffectual ritual.
Even if you have been immersed, if you were not baptized for the remission of sins, you did not obey the command Peter gave on the Day of Pentecost. You have been deceived. You have believed a lie. You have not been baptized at all.
Lie number four:
Baptism does not wash away sins.
How do we know this is a lie? Because the Bible says exactly the opposite! Ananias told the penitent Paul, who had been praying and fasting for three days: "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
If you were deceived by the doctrine of salvation by faith only, thinking that you were already saved before baptism, you were not baptized to wash away your sins! What you experienced, although it was immersion, was not the same baptism Paul experienced. You have been deceived. You have not been baptized at all.
Lie number five:
One does not have to be baptized to be saved.
How do we know this is a lie? Because Jesus said: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16), and Peter wrote: "There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21).
Baptism saves because of its relation to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not a cleansing of the body, it is a cleansing of the soul, a cleansing of the conscience by the power of Christ's resurrection. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection" (Romans 6:3-5).
Baptism is essential for salvation because God has ordained that our union with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is accomplished through baptism.
When someone asserts that salvation is possible through faith in Christ without baptism, he is lying because he thereby proves that he does not believe Christ. Jesus said: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved," but he does not believe what Jesus said.
If you were immersed thinking you were saved before baptism, or that baptism was not necessary for salvation, you have not experienced the baptism we read about in the Bible. You have been deceived.
Lie number six:
The rebirth is separate from baptism. Water baptism is not essential.
We know this is a lie because Paul wrote that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5), and because Jesus told Nicodemus: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Both the water and the Spirit are involved in the one baptism commanded by Christ. The rebirth is realized by the Spirit of God when a penitent believer is immersed into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. From the watery grave of baptism, he rises to walk in newness of life.
If you think you were baptized by the Spirit, separate from, or without, baptism in water, you have dismembered the one baptism. You have been deceived. What you experienced was not the baptism Christ commanded.
What is true baptism?
If we simply preach and obey what Jesus and His apostles said about baptism, our baptism will be valid.
There is "one baptism" (Ephesians 4:4). "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16). "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

"No One has Ascended to Heaven" by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=654&b=2%20Kings

"No One has Ascended to Heaven"

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus regarding the need to be “born again” (John 3:1-8), He also sought to impress upon the mind of this ruler of the Jews that His words were from above. Jesus spoke of spiritual things that no man knew (Matthew 13:35; cf. 7:28-29; Luke 2:47). One of the reasons Jesus gave for being able to expound on such spiritual truths is found in John 3:13. Here, the apostle John recorded Jesus as having said to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). According to the skeptic, this statement by Jesus is severely flawed. Since the Old Testament reveals that Elijah escaped physical death and “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11; cf. Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5), allegedly Jesus could not truthfully tell Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven.” Is the skeptic right?
For Jesus’ statement to contradict what the Bible says about Elijah, one first must presuppose that Jesus was referring to the exact same place to which Elijah ascended. For a contradiction to exist between two Bible passages, one must prove that the one doing the speaking (or writing) is referring to the same person, place, or thing (see Jevons, 1928, p. 118). Can the skeptic be certain that the “heaven” to which Jesus referred, is the same one into which the body of Elijah ascended? The words “heaven” or “heavens” appear in our English Bibles about 700 times. And yet, in many of the passages where “heaven(s)” is found, the inspired writers were not discussing the spiritual heaven with which we most often associate the word. For example, in Genesis 1 and 2, the Hebrew word for heaven appears 15 times in 14 verses. Yet in every instance, the word is referring to something besides the spiritual heaven where God dwells. The word “heaven” (Hebrew shamayim, Greek ouranos) is used by Bible writers in basically three different ways. It is used to refer to the atmospheric heavens in which the airplanes fly, the birds soar, and the clouds gather (Genesis 1:20; Jeremiah 4:25; Matthew 6:26, ASV). “Heaven(s)” also is used in the Bible when referring to the firmament where we find the Sun, Moon, and stars—the sidereal heavens, or outer space (Genesis 1:14-15; Psalm 19:4,6; Isaiah 13:10). The third “heaven” frequently mentioned in Scripture is the spiritual heaven in which Jehovah dwells (Psalm 2:4; Hebrews 9:24), and where, one day, the faithful will live forevermore (Revelation 21:18-23; John 14:1-3; cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2-3). [NOTE: The word “firmament” (meaning expanse) is used in the same three ways “heaven” is used. Thus, what is said about heaven also can be said of the firmament (cf. Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:17; Psalm 150:1).] The context of John 3 clearly indicates that Jesus is referring to the spiritual heavens wherein God dwells (cf. John 3:27). 2 Kings 2:11, however, is not as clear. The writer of 2 Kings easily could have meant that the body of Elijah miraculously ascended up high into the air never to been seen by anyone on Earth again. Nowhere does the text indicate that he left Earth at that moment to dwell in God’s presence. He definitely went somewhere, but we have no evidence that he was transferred to the actual throne room of God Almighty.
The Bible indicates that when God’s faithful servants leave this Earth, their spirits are taken to dwell in a place referred to as paradise (or “the bosom of Abraham”—Luke 16:19-31). Recall when Jesus was fastened to the cross, and told the penitent thief, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The word paradise is of Persian derivation, and means a “garden” or “park.” Where was it that Jesus and the thief went? Neither of them went to heaven to be with God the Father on that very day, for in John 20:17 after His resurrection, Jesus reassured Mary that He had not yet ascended to the Father. So where did Jesus and the thief go after dying on the cross? Peter gave the answer to that question in his sermon in Acts 2 when he quoted Psalm 16. Acts 2:27 states that God would not abandon Christ’s soul in hades, nor allow Christ to undergo decay. So while Christ’s body was placed in a tomb for three days, Christ’s spirit went to hades. [NOTE: The word hades occurs ten times in the New Testament, and always refers to the unseen realm of the dead—the receptacle of disembodied spirits where all people who die await for the Lord’s return and judgment. One part of hades, where Jesus and the thief went, is known as paradise.] Peter argued that David, who penned Psalm 16, was not referring to himself, since David’s body was still in the tomb (Acts 2:29), and his spirit was still in the hadean realm (Acts 2:34). Acts 2 indicates that a faithful servant of God does not go directly to be with God the Father when he dies; rather, he goes to a holding place in hades known as paradise—the same place where Abraham went after he died (Luke 16), and the same place where the spirit of Elijah went after he was caught up from the Earth. In short, the Bible does not teach that Elijah left Earth to begin immediately dwelling in the presence of the Father (where Jesus was before His incarnation—John 1:1). Thus, technically he did not ascend to the “place” whence Jesus came.
For the sake of argument, consider for a moment that the skeptic is right, and that Elijah’s spirit did not go to paradise, but was taken to dwell in the very presence of God. Could Jesus still have made the statement He did, and yet not be inaccurate? I believe so. Notice again the response to Nicodemus’ question, “How can these things be?” Jesus said: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:12-13, emp. added). It may be that Jesus meant nothing more than that no one has ever gone up to heaven “by his own act” or “on his own terms” (see Bullinger, 1888, pp. 281-282). Elijah and Enoch had been taken by God, which is different than freely ascending up into heaven on one’s own terms. Furthermore, Jesus’ words, “No one has ascended to heaven,” also could have meant that no one has ever gone up into heaven to then return and speak firsthand about what he saw, and to spread the same saving message that Jesus preached. Jesus was emphasizing to Nicodemus how no one on Earth at that time was revealing such spiritual truths as Christ was, because no one ever had ascended to heaven to then return and talk about what he had seen and learned. Such seems to have been the main point Jesus was making in John 3:13. No one on Earth had seen what Jesus had seen, and thus could not teach what He taught.
Truly, the skeptic’s accusation that Jesus either lied or was mistaken regarding his comment to Nicodemus about no one having ascended to heaven, is unsubstantiated. Perhaps the word heaven used in 2 Kings 2:11 was not meant to convey the idea of the spiritual heavens in which God dwells. Or, considering the Bible’s teaching on departed spirits of the righteous being in a holding place known as paradise, and not in the actual presence of Almighty God, Jesus could have meant that no person has ever ascended to the throne room of God from which He came. Furthermore, it also is interesting to note that Nicodemus, being “a man of the Pharisees” (John 3:1), and thus one who would have been very well acquainted with the details of the Old Testament, did not respond to Jesus by saying, “Wait a minute Rabbi. What about Elijah and Enoch? Isn’t it written in the law and prophets that they ascended to heaven?” Surely, had Jesus contradicted something in the law and the prophets, it would have been brought to His attention, especially by a Pharisee. Yet, the apostle John never records such a statement.
Admittedly, at first glance, it might appear as if the statements, “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11), and, “No man has ascended to heaven” (John 3:13), are contradictory. However, when a person considers all of the possible solutions to the alleged problem, he must admit that such an interpretation is unjustified.
REFERENCES
Bullinger, E.W. (1898), Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1968 reprint).
Jevons, W. Stanley (1928), Elementary Lessons in Logic (London: Macmillan).