Bible Doctrine
Is Jesus Suddenly Appearing To People All Over The World Or Is It The Promised End Times Deception?
From claimed appearances of Jesus everywhere from Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, all the way over to the Arab world and down to Africa, people are saying they are “seeing Jesus” in dreams and “waking visions”. But is Jesus really appearing to thousands of Muslims in dreams all across the Middle East?
If it were possible for the average Christian to be the recipient of visible and audible appearance of Jesus, I am quite sure that our apostle Paul, as well as John and Peter, would have left us something in the Bible to make us aware of that. But instead, we see just the opposite.
“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.” Matthew 24:23-25 (KJV)
From claimed appearances of Jesus everywhere from Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, all the way over to the Arab world and down to Africa, people are saying they are “seeing Jesus” in dreams and “waking visions”. But is Jesus really appearing to thousands of Muslims in dreams all across the Middle East? Is Jesus really showing up at random church services? What are we to make of these incredible claims?
Well, if we are Bible believers, we do this:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 (KJV)
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” Isaiah 28:10 (KJV)
When someone tells me that they “had a vision”, “had a dream”, or that “Jesus appeared to them”, all I can do is take what they say at face value. I have absolutely no way of any kind to verify their story in any way at all. But what I can do with absolute certainty is to compare what they are claiming with what the Bible says to be true. So with that, here are a few easy to digest bullet points about reconciling “appearances” of Jesus with Bible doctrine and Bible truth.
- JESUS APPEARED TO SAUL AND JOHN, WHY NOT TO ME? One line of argument that people who make claims of “seeing Jesus” like to use is this one. After His resurrection, the Bible says that Jesus appeared to Saul on the Damascus road, and to John on the isle of Patmos, so He should be able to appear to them as well. Well, Jesus did appear to Saul who became Paul, but the vision was so intense it made him go blind. “At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.” Acts 26:13 (KJV). Jesus did appear to John in Patmos, and when John saw Jesus it was so overwhelming that he fell at His feet as “if he were dead”. Yet, in 2018, when the same Jesus “makes an appearance” it’s all soft and fuzzy, maybe some tears are shed, but it’s nothing like accounts in the Bible of when the risen Jesus appeared to people. “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” Revelation 1:17 (KJV). Also keep in mind that after Jesus appeared to John, John wrote the Gospel of John, 1,2 and 3 John, and the entire book of Revelation. After Jesus appeared to Paul, Paul writes everything from Romans to Philemon. From this we may safely conclude that when the risen Jesus appears to someone, it is always for a very distinct reason and purpose to be recorded in the Bible. Yet, every story I hear from modern “appearances” seem to accomplish no Biblical purpose at all.
- THE DETAILS DON’T EVER SEEM TO MATCH UP: Pastor Stovall Weems, in describing his fantastical “waking vision” that took place on the Friday before Easter told the audience about what Jesus looked like. He mentioned very specifically that Jesus’ hair was “dark brown”, even repeated it two or three times for maximum effect. But a quick trip to Revelation shows that not to be the case. This is what Jesus looks like right now, and this should have been the Jesus that Pastor Weems saw, but somehow did not. “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” Revelation 1:14,15 (KJV). In the book “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven“, published as a gushing miracle of a boy who died, went to Heaven and came back, the boy Alex Malarkey described what he saw in great detail. The book was lapped up by charismatics all over the world right up to the moment the boy repented of the lie he and his father concocted and admitted it was all fake. But Bible believers knew it was fake long before they confessed. How? Because in the book the boy describes a multicolor rainbow around the throne of God, but that is not what Revelation says it is. The Bible says that rainbow is green, hmm. Who do you believe? “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Revelation 4:3 (KJV). Stovall Weems seems like a decent person, and it is our hope and prayer that, like the boy and his dad that got carried away with telling a phony trip to Heaven and back, that Pastor Weems will think long and hard about his claims, walk them back and admit he got overwhelmed with emotion and that Jesus didn’t actually appear to him. No one will fault him for that, in fact, that would be a great living example of showing how a Christian lets the Bible correct them. But if not, then unfortunately he will have to be placed into the false teacher category.
Jesus made no promises of any kind to appear to anyone except at the Rapture of the Church and then at the Second Coming
If it were possible for the average Christian to be the recipient of visible and audible appearance of Jesus, I am quite sure that our apostle Paul, as well as John and Peter, would have left us something in the Bible to make us aware of that. But instead, we see just the opposite. Please note the following:
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1:18 (KJV)
“(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1:18 (KJV)
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (KJV)
“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8,9 (KJV)
On top of that, Jesus takes great care to point out to us that after He ascended up into Heaven, He would leave Someone here in His place to lead us and guide us. And no, that someone is not, never was, and could never be the pope of the Catholic Church. This is Who He left for us:
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:7,13-15 (KJV)
That’s how the Bible says God gives truth to the Christian, not through “manifestations of Jesus” but by the administration of the Holy Spirit. Search the New Testament for as long as you like, and you will never find anywhere one single verse that says Jesus will appear to anyone outside of the Rapture of the Church and at His return at the Second Coming. And that brings us to our last point today. The end times deception.
The Bible says that in the end times, there will be a worldwide deception that will take place, and people will be deceived into thinking they have met Jesus Christ when in fact they have actually met Antichrist. Now we know that this will take place during the time of Jacob’s trouble after the Rapture of the Church, but could it be that the Devil is getting a jump start on things by manifesting himself even now?
“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 (KJV)
Do you see what the Bible says that the Devil will deceive people with? With “signs and wonders”, exactly what the Charismatic crowd is so desperate to have right now. On top of that, the “Jesus” that is appearing to people now is not aligned with what the Bible reveals to be what He actually looks and sounds like.
If Jesus was going to appear anywhere it would be to His chosen people the Jews, and it would be in His holy land of Israel. On the same Friday evening that Pastor Weems claimed to have “met Jesus” personally, Israel was under attack from Hamas in the Gaza Strip. So instead of appearing to His chosen people, we are to believe that Jesus appeared at Celebration Church in Florida, and didn’t have a message for the world when He showed up? I think not!
When you judge your experiences by the Bible, you will be lead into truth every time. When you judge the Bible by what you experienced, that’s where you fall off the path and slip into first error, then heresy, and finally into full-blown apostasy.
Don’t trust your feelings, dreams and “visions”, trust the one thing in your life that cannot lie to you. The Bible.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THROUGH OUR SERIES ON THE END TIMES DECEPTION CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE, HERE ARE THE LINKS:
The end times deception that’s taking place is very real and very dangerous. If you see this stuff happening in your church, get out and get out fast. It doesn’t matter if someone has been saved for 50 years or served as a pastor for 20 years, you are only right until you aren’t right any more. Length of time being saved or being in ministry is never a factor as to whether or not you are teaching truth or error. We hope this series will be an eye-opening blessing to you.
- READ PART #1: CONGREGATION SHOCKED AS JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA MEGACHURCH PASTOR CLAIMS FACE TO FACE VISIT WITH JESUS CHRIST
- READ PART #2: CELEBRATION CHURCH PASTOR IN JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA STOVALL WEEMS DOUBLES DOWN ON CLAIM TO HAVE ‘MET JESUS’ PERSONALLY
- READ PART #3: IS JESUS SUDDENLY APPEARING TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD OR IS IT THE PROMISED END TIMES DECEPTION?
- READ PART #4: THE PROPHECIES MENTIONED IN JOEL 2 ABOUT ‘DREAMS AND VISIONS’ BEING POURED OUT IS NOT FOR CHRISTIANS IN THE CHURCH AGE
Bible Doctrine
The Amazing Way That The Letter ‘X’ Is Used In Your King James Bible As It Relates To The Antichrist And His Soon-Coming, Short-Lived 7-Year Kingdom
Let’s do a quick King James Bible study on the many appearances and inferences of the letter ‘x’ in relation to the Antichrist and his coming kingdom
On our Podcast this afternoon, we had a wonderful time going through our King James Bibles to discover some peculiar anomalies with the letter ‘x’ and verses related to the coming Antichrist and his short-lived, 7-year kingdom. It was so well received that I thought a quick follow-up on the topic was in order. Enjoy!
“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” Luke 4:5-7 (KJB)
The main theme of your Bible is the coming King, Jesus Christ, and the kingdom that will soon be given to Him at the Second Advent. Jesus is the ‘volume of the Book’ from Genesis 1 to the end of Revelation 22. But before that can take place, the Devil is going to get a throne for 7 short years, and will try his best to hold onto it. When we look closely at the following passages, some pretty weird things present themselves to us regarding words that either end or begin with the letter ‘x’. Please note the following:
- Rex – King, this is Antichrist the counterfeit king, a Xerox copy. “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:2 (KJB). The Latin word for king is ‘rex’, and that’s exactly what the Antichrist is, a king, but with a catch. He’s not the actual Messiah, he’s a counterfeit, kind of like when you make a copy of something with a copying machine like, say, the industry-standard and iconic Xerox.
- Hex – a curse or magic spell. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” Revelation 13:16 (KJB). Now this counterfeit king, let’s call him Mr. Xerox, brings something when he arrives, and we call that a ‘hex’. It is something that curses the one who receives it, please see Revelation 14:9-11 (KJB). The Bible calls this ‘hex’ the Mark of the Beast.
- Pox – pus-filled, a pustule, blister, ulcer or vesicle. “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” Revelation 16:2 (KJB). So King Xerox gives out his hex and what does that produce? It produces a pox in the bodies of the people who received. Is it just me or is there a preponderance of the letter ‘x’? There is, and it gets better (worse?).
- χάραγμα cháragma – the Mark. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16,17 (KJB). I rarely go to the Greek, but today I did and what did I see? The Greek word for ‘mark’, as in the Mark of the Beast, and it’s χάραγμα, or cháragma in English. Do you notice how the Greek word begins with the letter ‘x’? Odd.
- χξϛ chx stigma – 666. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:18 (KJB). Here we have the words 600, 60 and 6 written out in Greek as χξϛ, or chx stigma in English. Did you notice what the first letter of that was? Yep, it’s an ‘x’. Amazing.
In math and science, ‘X’ stands for an unknown quantity, perhaps you recall ‘solving for x’ in your high school algebra classes. I cannot tell you the name of the coming Antichrist, no one can, he is truly Mr. X, but maybe his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. From an end times perspective, seeing a large amounts of x’s should be setting off your prophetical ‘red flags’, and in 2023 we have buckets of them. Elon Musk just rebranded Twitter as X, and his opening goal is to take over a minimum of 50% of the global financial system. That’s a lot of ‘buying and selling’, don’t you think? Why don’t you mark that down for later? In the meantime, go listen to today’s Podcast on this very subject.
ORDER RUCKMAN’S BOOK ‘THE MARK OF THE BEAST’
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
Please continue to pray for us, and for wisdom for me especially, as we continue taking steps to print the NTEB branded King James Bible for our free Bible and Bibles Behind Bars program. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. If the Lord has prospered your financially, we ask you to donate to help us continue to send out free Bibles at this level, and even higher than we are at the moment. It takes a lot of prayer, and a lot of resources to do all this. Praise the Lord we are doing it, all of us together, labouring in the Lord’s harvest field. TO THE FIGHT!!!
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
Bible Doctrine
There Is No Such Thing As ‘Limited Atonement’ In Your King James Bible, Jesus Christ Paid For The Sins Of The Goats Just As Much As For The Sheep
No such thing as a limited atonement in the Bible as far as what Jesus did on the cross is concerned, the atonement God provided becomes self-limiting when it’s refused by a sinner who doesn’t want it.
John Calvin was a philosopher who created a system of biblical interpretation that ‘sounds good’ when you first hear it, but if you have any Bible knowledge at all, it falls apart pretty quickly. The theology of Calvinism has been immortalized in the acronym TULIP, which states the five essential doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at limited atonement, shall we?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (KJB)
I went to a site supporting Calvinism and found this definition of limited atonement: The doctrine of limited atonement—the L in TULIP—teaches that Christ effectively redeems from every people “only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation” (Canons of Dort, II.8). As Ursinus explains in his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Christ’s death was for everyone “as it respects the sufficiency of satisfaction which he made, but not as it respects the application thereof.” In other words, the death of Christ was sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world, but it was God’s will that it should effectively redeem those and only those who were chosen from eternity and given to Christ by the Father. Particular redemption is often considered a more favorable term, because the point of the doctrine is not to limit the mercy of God, but to make clear that Jesus did not die in the place of every sinner on the earth, but for his particular people. source
So that’s the premise of limited atonement, that Jesus on the cross only paid the sin debt of the sheep who would believe, but no payment for the goats who rejected Him. Does that sound right to you? Sure doesn’t sound right to me, and your King James Bible is in agreement as well. Jesus on the cross paid for the sins of the whole world, everyone. He paid for the sins of Adolf Hitler, Buddha and the Ayatollah Khomeini just as much as He paid for the sins of Jim Elliot, DL Moody and Robert Sheffey.
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:3-6 (KJB)
Now John Calvin and John MacArthur teach that the “all men” is only referring to the elect, and not to ‘all men’ even though is says all men. But as you can clearly see, three times in the passage Paul is telling us that Jesus paid for the sins of all men. What would settle this debate, would be if we could find a verse showing that the Lord Jesus bought and paid for the sins of the people who rejected Him and who didn’t want His payment. Does such a verse exist? Yep, sure does.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1 (KJB)
Peter shows us a remarkable truth, that Jesus bought and paid for the sins of the people who rejected Him, who died in their sins as the entire chapter shows us, and went to Hell despite having their sins paid for. Wait a minute! If their sins were ‘bought and paid for’, how did they wind up in Hell? That’s a great question, it’s such a good question in fact that John MacArthur and all his many minions are unable to answer it. Your King James Bible doesn’t hesitate for even a nano second to answer it.
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:22,23 (KJB)
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:12-14 (KJB)
Jesus died on the cross, shed God’s blood, and made a payment for the sins of the whole world. When a sinner hears the gospel, receives it and believes it, they are then ‘sealed unto the day of redemption’ and placed into the body of Christ, which the Bible says is the Church. Do you see what just happened there? Don’t miss it! A sinner is saved when they believe the gospel and then put into the body of Christ. How is that possible? Because Jesus made their payment on the cross. A payment for who? For all sinners. What happens to the sinners who hear the gospel and refuse it? They are not put into the body of Christ, they remain unsaved, die in their sins and spend eternity in Hell. So who are the elect? Glad you asked.
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2 (KJB)
“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” Romans 8:33 (KJB)
The elect are not a pre-determined group of people, meaning God did not preselect some to be saved and some to be lost, that’s not Bible doctrine. The elect in the Church Age are sinners who heard the gospel, believed it and became born again. Can anyone become part of the elect? Absolutely, happens all the time. In just the past few weeks, Amber, Shaun and Patricia prayed to get saved after considering the gospel for a period of time. Those 3 souls are part of the newly-elected body of Christ. But what about predestination, you cry?!? Glad you asked.
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:29,30 (KJB)
Look carefully at those verses from Romans 8 I just gave you, what does it say? It says that God 1). foreknew who would believe the gospel and become born again, no question about it, God is omniscient. Now what did He predestinate those souls to do? God predetermined what would happen to all those souls who trusted in Him, the verse does not say He predetermined who those souls would be. This is where MacArthur, Sproul and even John Calvin hit the wall and crashed. An understanding of 6th grade English shows you that quite clearly.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 (KJB)
God foreknew who would receive the gospel, and predetermined what would happen to them after they got saved. All mapped out ahead of time. But if you cannot understand basic English, and know the difference between the subject and the object, then you will come to a wrong conclusion every time. No such thing as a limited atonement in the Bible as far as what Jesus did on the cross is concerned, the atonement God provided becomes self-limiting when it’s refused by a sinner who doesn’t want it.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
Please continue to pray for us, and for wisdom for me especially, as we continue taking steps to print the NTEB branded King James Bible for our free Bible and Bibles Behind Bars program. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. If the Lord has prospered your financially, we ask you to donate to help us continue to send out free Bibles at this level, and even higher than we are at the moment. It takes a lot of prayer, and a lot of resources to do all this. Praise the Lord we are doing it, all of us together, labouring in the Lord’s harvest field. TO THE FIGHT!!!
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
Bible Doctrine
Contrary To What The Hyper-Dispensationalists Tell You, The Body Of Christ Began At The Cross And Not Somewhere In The Book Of Acts, And It’s Before Paul
The body of Christ started the same time the Church started, on the cross at Calvary where Jesus made a payment for sin in God’s shed blood.
Nothing like a King James Bible to clear up false teaching, and today we take a look at when the body of Christ, and the Church, actually began. The hyper-dispensationalists will try and tell you that it started in Acts with the commission of Paul, and nothing could be further from the truth. Paul himself tells you in Romans 16:7 that there were many people in the body of Christ before he was. In fact, the body of Christ doesn’t begin anywhere in the book of Acts, it begins on the cross at Calvary.
“And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:” Ephesians 2:16 (KJB)
What was Jesus doing on the cross? Lots of things. First of all, Jesus went to the cross to make a payment for sin, and that payment is the shed blood of God as we see in Acts 20:28. That payment is the thing that makes reconciliation between lost sinners and a holy and righteous God possible. Heretics like John MacArthur and the ‘reformed’ crowd will try and talk you out of it, but don’t you let them.
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Ephesians 1:7 (KJB)
“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13 (KJB)
Secondly, Jesus shed blood on the cross established something on this earth the bible calls the body of Christ. What is the body of Christ? It is Jew and Gentile come together by faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, and it is called the church, the called out assembly. On the day of Pentecost, this assembly, the Church, was placed into the body of Christ where it will remain for all eternity. Everyone who becomes born again by saving faith in what Jesus did on the cross, and receives that payment made in God’s blood, is placed into the body of Christ through the Church.
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:22,23 (KJB)
By the time Paul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus, the Church is well established and made up exclusively of Jews and Jewish proselytes. But when the Holy Ghost is offering them the Kingdom of Heaven in Acts 7, all they have to do is believe and repent at the preaching of Stephen, they instead murder him, an act which simultaneously put the Kingdom of Heaven on a 2,000 year pause, and ushered in what we call the dispensation of the Church Age. From this point on, Jews will be side-by-side with Gentiles in a mystery called the body of Christ which Jesus will task Paul with revealing. It didn’t start with Paul, but the knowledge of it comes through Paul by the Spirit. It began on the cross at Calvary.
“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.” Ephesians 3:1-7 (KJB)
Paul was given the job of revealing the mystery of the body of Christ, but it did not start with him as you can obviously see. The hyper-dispensationalists get it wrong, as they usually do, because they don’t understand what the ‘rightly dividing’ of 2 Timothy 2:15 actually is. True biblical rightly dividing is not a hammer to smash things with in large pieces, as evidenced in the ‘Romans to Philemon!!’ battle cry of the hypers. No, rightly dividing is done on a verse-by-verse-basis anywhere in the Bible, comparing what you read, in the context that you find it, to what God has written through the apostle Paul.
Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church
- HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page
When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.
But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)
“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB
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George Soros7 years ago
Proof Of George Soros Nazi Past Finally Comes To Light With Discovery Of Forgotten Interview
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Election 20167 years ago
DEAD POOL DIVA: Huma Abedin Kept Those Hillary Emails That The FBI Found In A Folder Marked ‘Life Insurance’
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Election 20167 years ago
Crooked Hillary Campaign Used A Green Screen At Today’s Low Turnout Rally In Coconut Creek FL
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George Soros7 years ago
SORE LOSER: George Soros Declares War On America As Violent MoveOn.Org Protests Fill The Streets
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Donald Trump7 years ago
Donald Trump Will Be 70 Years, 7 Months And 7 Days Old On First Full Day In Office As President
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Headline News7 years ago
If Hillary Is Not Guilty, Then Why Are Her Supporters Asking Obama To Pardon Her? Hmm…
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Election 20167 years ago
WikiLeaks Shows George Soros Controlling Vote With 16 States Using SmartMatic Voting Machines
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End Times7 years ago
False Teacher Beth Moore Endorses The Late Term Partial-Birth Abortion Candidate Crooked Hillary