So, we have had our elections, but anxiety could easily overtake us.

 So, we've had our elections, and as of Wednesday morning 11/4/2020, we are deeply entrenched in the voting scandals we expected. I have been seeing the 96-mile long vehicle rallies for Trump, the crowds of people who attend the political rallies for Trump, and, I have seen the rallies for Biden/Harris and there is hardly anyone there. Come Tuesday night, about 9:30 P.M. I had to turn off the reports as the anxiety could have easily overwhelmed me. I literally heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Turn it off and relax; I have got this under control.” Ah, therein the problem lies because what we perceive as being under control is defined by how my head wants this situation to play itself out.

Now, this election may still play itself out according to my hopes, and an example came from my Pastor, Jack Hibbs, as I listened this Thursday afternoon 11/5/2020, to Pastor Jack's Wednesday night service, where he spoke about God being in control and the real anxiety that many of us feel. Pastor Jack asked the audience to take out their phones and look up “138,000 votes.” Yes, that's right, 138,000 votes got turned to Pennsylvania's election headquarters at 7:30 on Wednesday morning, and every one of those votes was for Joe Biden. That, for Biden, became the game-changer, as far as Pennsylvania was concerned. Immediately, the head that understands a common-sense world should have thought, that is impossible. And still, the fight goes on.

Now, just because you have faith, pour your little heart out to God, and listen to level headed speakers that deliver a clear message giving you educated reasons to NOT vote for a particular candidate, does not mean your man will get elected.

If that is the case what are we going to do?

One of the phrases that we hear in religious circles is to occupy. The terminology often has much to do with the reasons why we don't need to know the exact day of the Lord's return, and that is because most of us are lazy and we will do 101 things other than stay focused and ready for the Lord's return, most of which are in opposition to God,

The word occupy shows up in Luke 19:12-13 KJV

“He said, therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. (13) And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”

If you read this from the NASB, it reads like this.

Luke 19:13b NASB "..., 'Do business with this until I come back.'

Note the italicized words. Those were added to gain clarity. In reality, much like the KJV, we are to do business until he comes; no matter when that happens. To put this into common language, keep doing what you know to do until He comes back.

How many of you have been paying attention, not only to Bill Gates, but to Dr. Fauci, and other representatives of the World Economic Forum. This COVID 19 virus was their creation, with the specific purpose of bringing in a Global reset, a reduction in population, a global monetary system, and your subservience. Yes, this is all true, and if you are still reluctant to believe such things look at the Draconian measures New Zealand is already ascribing to. Canada and the United Kingdom, are right behind New Zealand. The mask you wear has no effectiveness against a 3 micron Covid molecule, and therefore must have some other purpose; and it does, as it is meant to control and bring the populace under submission. Can you do anything without your mask on?

Since I still have a church I can attend, I will continue to do so; and I will do until “they” lock and chain the doors, at which point every person I come in contact with becomes my church, my mission field, and my reason for living.

All that stuff about the World Economic Forum only works if people of power act in unison; and this is exactly what former Vice President, now Presidential candidate is doing when he states, “on day one of my Presidency, there will be a mandatory national mask mandate.” He is telling you, you will comply. All the subtle talk about Socialism is very much the purpose of the New World Order.

You can be like my stepdaughter and tell me, I don't believe that will happen, she is saying this in response to my telling her that Canada will incarcerate if you do not comply with the rapidly coming COVID 19 vaccination program. Much like New Zealand, refusal will make you a lawbreaker within your own home as by your refusal to be vaccinated you are endangering your household, and you will be incarcerated until you comply. To people like my stepdaughter, that refuse to contemplate such things happening, I say, you just go on living in your pastel-colored world, regardless of the fact that in many cities the streets are turning from pastel to blood red at the hands of fascist rioters; and soon, at the hand of Muslim enforcers of Sharia law, as they take over cities and make them no go zones, much like has happened in England. The reality is that this level of horror is happening as we speak and will only amplify. BLM Inc. and Antifa, have a dedicated purpose and goal to burn down our cities.

Did you know that a well-known prophecy in the Quran, is that the Mahdi (Christianities Antichrist,) will only come in the midst of chaos?

Joe Biden has recently been quoting from the Quran and is an advocate of Sharia law in our streets.

So, now, let me ask you, how much civilized time do you think we have left on the streets of America?

If you can even come close to answering that question, it is because you have a logical mind, can see the handwriting on the wall, and have inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Perhaps, if you cannot say, that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, then maybe you should move quickly to fix that. He, Jesus, moves very quickly into the lives of those who call upon His name.

Jesus is coming soon.

How do I know that?

1. My mind takes a logical path as I look through scripture and look at what is happening in the world.

   One does not have to be prophetic to see and understand these things, but the Bible tells us it is a great mystery and that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of most of you so that you cannot see it. Many of you think that the Presidential re-election of Donald Trump is a joke. Let me tell who the joker is. He is Satan - and he does not deserve to be referred to in the upper case; and, he is the great deceiver. Want proof.

    

   Revelation 12:9 NASB And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

   There are others with him. How many angels came to earth with him? If you could take an uncountable number, and then take a third of that number, that is how many angels bought into his mutiny and fell with him. In other words, there are enough to have one assigned to each of us. Don't let that bother you too much, as there are twice as many that are assigned as our personal bodyguards by the Father.

2. If you noticed, at the very beginning of this post, I said, “I heard the Holy Spirit say.”

   This voice is the activity of the comforter, which Jesus said He would send when He left the earth and returned to the Father; but it is also an aspect of the prophetic.

   Anyone, if they choose to listen to God's voice, can and will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

   In trying to explain this process I tell people that it often seems like one of the many voices I have in my head. Don't look at me like I am crazy, we all have voices in our heads, some sound like an abusive, or manipulative person in your life, while at other times it sounds like the wisdom of my wife.

   When the Holy Spirit speaks, I, more often than not, have no problem distinguishing whose voice it is, as He never leads me to anything but the truth. Truth, by the way, comes from the established Word of God.

   So, immediately, upon beginning to write these words, knew that many, even those who align themselves with some religion, would say, your words are false and made up, as no one needs to speak as a prophet any more because we have the Word of God. That is all well and good I suppose, but the fact that you can say something that narrow-minded demonstrates that you don't read, or know, the Word of God, nor does Jesus dwell within you.

With all that said, I need to tell you a story.

Mom has been gone almost two years now. We had already seen the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, but we did not know it, nor did mom. A part of the problem with the detection of serious issues comes from the hard hardheadedness of the patient as many don't want to admit they are in distress and therefore do not get early or appropriate help from the Doctor. The other problem comes from the medical facilities that don't see the necessity to spend the money necessary to ascertain what the problem is; therefore, things like pancreatic cancer go undetected until they are at stage four and beyond practical treatment.

2018 was a mess. Dad had been dealing with diabetic neuropathy for several years, and he was sure that a nerve pinch was a cause of all his problems; that was not the case and the doctors found a cancerous brain tumor about the size of a tamale and had to remove it. We did not know if he would be able to walk again, and we had to have the bathroom remodeled in case dad would be wheelchair-bound – that process took several months, and caused a tremendous amount of emotional strain. Dad had also been having emotional meltdowns, telling us that he was going to die in surgery; these meltdowns continued even after, in recovery in a sister's home as they waited for the remodel to get done. He struggled with his new, but temporary disabilities and refused to use the wheelchair. Now, here is where the Holy Spirit begins to kick in hard. On multiple occasions, I had told Dad, and other family members, that he will be fine.

In the meantime, mom is dying, although we have no definitive information about that diagnosis. In early January of 2019, Dad demanded that he be put back in his house. Shortly thereafter, mom begins having issues with what she simply calls, old lady problems. Dad refuses to have the Doctor do a biopsy, and so the Doctor doing the best he could, told mom and dad, that in all likelihood she has pancreatic cancer. I have never seen anyone come back from pancreatic cancer. Several of us spent some time in the faith movement – many aspects are good, such as reading God's Word, but the negative side of this movement shows it's ugly head when you try to bully your way through God and people. Some of my family members still lean in this direction. I told the other family members that mom would be gone within six months. Nobody wanted to hear that, and thus began the barrage of angry faith statements, like she will live forever.

How did I know that mom would die?

I heard a voice; I trust in God, and I lean heavily upon the Holy Spirit to guide me. If it were not for the Holy Spirit, I would be floundering, especially in the current situations.

Dad insisted that mom continue doing their somewhat normal routine, and they would go to church on Sunday nights, and almost every night they would go meet some friends at a local restaurant. Remember what that is like? My wife and I would join them on occasions, and I often saw my mother shed a tear because of the pain she was in. In early February, I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “you need to go say goodbye to your mother.” It was clear and did not seem like a suggestion, and so my wife and I went. Saying goodbye, and telling her, if you want to go home to be with Jesus, it's okay. You have done your job well and we are all going to be okay. All of us know the Lord.

I left that night and immediately sent a message to my brother who lives the farthest away, up the hill. I told him, the Holy Spirit just told me that mom would be dead before the week is out and that he needed to get down here right away. He showed up the next day and had communion with mom, and also said his goodbyes. That brother told me a short time later, that they all laughed me to scorn, but yet he came. I said my goodbyes on Monday and mom took her last breath here on earth Sunday morning. She, because she knew that dad would want to go to church, was up and dressed that Sunday morning. Dad, not believing that she was even out of bed, called to her to check on her status. She answered him and moments later let out a scream of pain. She immediately went back to bed, ready for church, and was dead just a few hours later, dancing in the arms of Jesus.

Several months went by when dad says to me, your brother told me that you knew when mom would die. I simply replied, yes. He responded to that by saying, has God told you anything about me? God had, but I did not want to tell him as dad was in an emotionally fragile state.

So, am I a prophet? I used to think it would be very cool to have a superhero type of role, perhaps then I would get respect – something I have never felt. My imagery of prophets came from guys like Samuel and Elijah. Samuel hacked up King Agag, and Elijah called fire down from heaven. Pretty cool, huh? But acting out like Samuel will get you thrown into prison, and Jesus told his disciples that calling fire down from heaven, was not their mission; so I guess that's out.

But here is the scriptural reality, when I was about 23, I committed my life once again to Jesus Christ. I had a dream/vision one night. It was so real that I still have difficulty explaining to people that it was a dream. In that dream, Jesus stood at the end of my bed and laid out my life before me. I thought I should write this down, but I did not because it was so vivid and I thought I would never forget what had been said to me. Well, guess what, by morning I forgot every word. I do remember that He had been there and told me my entire life. I remember being filled with joy. Now, the truth is, I have lived most of my life, AND, it has NOT all been good. To the best of my understanding, there is something more to come and it should be fantastic.

So, after that dream life went on. Within a couple of years, I got married to a girl I met in church – they told me, go to church and get a good woman. Ha, she cheated on me twice. Do you get the general idea that life went south on me real quick? A few years passed and I got married again. This time I destroyed the relationship, and finally, I have been involved in this current relationship for over twenty years and we have been married for the last four of those years. No, life has been rough, and my dream of being a bible teacher has only been fulfilled by putting my life up on the internet for you to see.

One day, I was reading how Moses' brother and sister, attempted a mutiny. They said, what makes you think God speaks to you alone. You can find this story in the book of Numbers chapter 12. God defined a prophet during this process with this verse.

Numbers 12:6 NASB He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.

After reading this passage, I asked the Lord, does that mean I too am a prophet? To which he said yes. To be honest, I have never figured out what that means as I think most of these so-called prophets are frauds, just trying to make a dollar. God has spoken to me, and one of the things He keeps telling me is that He is coming back soon, but then, He is saying that too many people. Maybe He means it.

 

A heavily modified version of an old post on Hebrews 5:11. It's hard for you to learn.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. (Hebrews 5:11, NIV)

With an opening like this, many could perceive this as an insult. The writer of Hebrews may well have meant it to be just that, a shot at this particular group of Hebrew converts that made up a portion of the early church.

“We have much to say about this,”
"What is the “this” the author is speaking of?" Obviously, by starting here, we have lost critical components of the conversation and therefore have missed the context. We find the context by returning briefly to Hebrews 5:1-10. Chapter five of Hebrews opens by speaking of Jesus as the better high priest, ordained by God. Because he achieved all this as a man, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.

“but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.”
I, for the longest time, thought of myself as a slow learner. It turns out that I am more of a visual learner, for once I get the imagery in my head, that scriptural scene usually stays with me forever. So, when it comes to my experiences in comprehending the Bible, the understanding has come through repetition and a great deal of writing. The writing has been my opportunity to ask God my questions, no matter how awkward or embarrassing, and put forth my heartfelt challenges. (A comparison for this would be a friend of mine who feels he is comfortable enough to say, God, lied about some situation! It might be how he feels at the time, as he searches for more appropriate words to express himself; but the reality is, God cannot lie, and my friend needs to grasp that concept.)

In our journey through Hebrews, we come to recognize that the entire book is in part a discourse proclaiming the superiority of Christ and why.

The cross plays a dominant role in this affirmation and here is why:

• "His reverent submission." (Hebrews 5:7)

Jesus voluntarily became a man; set aside His glory and position with the Father; submitted to death not only in his body but in his spirit; and, he did all this as a man.

• “ yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)

There is more to this than what the eye can see. It will require you to think it through.

J. Vernon McGee said this in his commentary on chapter 5 of Hebrews,
“What is obedience? A crowd of people asked Jesus, "… What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" (Joh_6:28). Jesus replied, "… This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (Joh_6:29). Do you want to obey God? Then trust Christ. That is what He is saying.”
Maybe we should be paying attention to words like Dr. McGee's. Since so few of us trust Christ, try to imagine having to trust the Father God with your life – Jesus did.

Dr. McGee goes on to say, that in all honesty, there is something here he did not understand; “Why did the Son of God need to learn obedience by suffering? And why did He need to be made perfect when He already was perfect?” Dr. McGee proposes perhaps the best answer one can give - “Now I am well acquainted with the explanation that men gave, but none of them satisfy me. I just recognize that it is a great mystery.” 
For myself, I have learned to relax in the knowledge that He loves me, just as He loves you, and that Jesus was willing to go through horrible punishment for us.

• "and once made perfect." (Hebrews 5:9)

The NIV translates the verse right before this as, “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” That obedience is one of the things that made Him perfect.

A couple of things jump out at me when I read that He was made perfect. Jesus was and is God; John chapter one spells that out for us when it says, He spoke the worlds into existence. I know that God, Jesus, Holy Spirit being God thing is hard to handle, but none the less, it is what it is. Therefore, His voluntarily stepping down to be a human disabled Him in a sense; at least momentarily. Think about that; He became a human – a defenseless baby, dependent upon Mary to nurse and change His diapers. He, like victims of trauma often do, had to learn to walk and talk all over again. Any powers associated with the Father were set aside until He learned who He was and what His powers were, just as we have to do.

This transition from heaven to earth provokes my second thought.

Because Mary, at such an early age, had enough strength of character that she was able to stand her ground and say, He is the Son of God, it did not fare well with anybody and gossip spread quickly. No one was buying Mary's story, and for a time, neither did Joseph. Jesus, once he was born, was now reliant upon the protective covering of Joseph. Without this covering, He would have been thought of and treated as nothing more than an illegitimate child of an unnamed father. Accusations like this should have prevented Him from entering a Synagogue, or being taught in a Rabbinical school; and yet, what do we see, Jesus, at the age of accountability amazing the teachers in the synagogue with His understanding and knowledge.

Where would He have learned all the things necessary to make Him who He became?
1. Joseph, we are told, was a good man. This title does not necessarily mean he fared well in the community; it says he too knew the Torah and Talmud and by repetition taught Jesus.
2. At Jesus baptism in the Jordan by John, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit leads us and guide us into all truth, and, in the case of Jesus, led Him into the wilderness for forty days. We do not see Satan enter that picture until Jesus experienced a painful hunger at the end of that forty days. So, what was Jesus doing all that time? Talking to the God He had come to understand and recognize as His own Father.

Is there any doubt that He was perfect?

He was born through a woman who merely carried God's fertilized egg. This course of action is the way it had to be done to bypass the inherent brokenness that came to every human through Adam; this course action, on God's part, made Him sinless (that means, like us, He was not driven to satisfy personal desires.) And, we learn that He followed the will of the Father precisely; and yet, Jesus the Son is being made perfect again. John's gospel tells us that he is God, was with God, created all things by his word, and upholds all things by the word of his power; and yet, Hebrews has God restoring him to power. Why? Because God was restoring His firstborn Son, given to be sin, back to His rightful position of authority, seated next to the Father in heaven.

• "he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Hebrews 5:9)

God alone has the power to give life. However, Jesus told the Jews that he was God, and they very clearly understood that because they immediately tried to kill for making that claim. There was nothing veiled about what Jesus said, and yet, here again, we have a description of Jesus becoming the source of eternal salvation. To and for whom did He become the source of eternal salvation? All who obey him. (None of us do that entirely, but His grace is sufficient enough to ensure the salvation of all who believe.)

• "designated by God to be High Priest." (Hebrews 5:10)

Pay attention to the patterns for this is what the Jewish mind is accustomed to when analyzing prophecy. Aaron was a man, and God chose him. Look for patterns (this is what the Jewish mind is accustomed to when examining prophecy) Aaron was a pattern, but there is another clue here. Not after the order of Man but after the order or example of Melchizedek. A man who had no beginning and no end, appointed by God to be High Priest. Why? Because humankind had a limited lifespan and would have to have been replaced. Jesus, like Melchizedek, now continues because He was raised from the dead. Those who serve in the priesthood are born with a broken nature and must offer sacrifices for their failings before offering a sacrifice for others. It is true, that Jesus was born without sin, but could have given himself over to the desires of the flesh, as Satan pushed opportunities at Him, and yet He did not.

The explanations for why Jesus is superior is cloaked in references to the cross and his death.

There are two forms of death: Physical and spiritual. To be spiritually dead is to be separated from God, and Christ, for the first time experienced a separation from the Father. We call it his death, and no doubt the body was killed, but when John talks about death in Revelation 20, he refers to the second death. Christ's body was not the only thing that died on the cross that day. Jesus, himself, attests to that by saying "my God, why have you forsaken me."

Everything in scripture is a pattern, and we have Abraham for a model.
When Isaac asked where is the sacrifice, Abraham answers "God will provide himself a sacrifice," and that is precisely what happened that day on the cross.

Adam was the pattern for the man Jesus would become, and neither had experienced what it was like to be separated from God. Look at our Genesis account for the pattern. God made it clear to Adam what would happen on the day He ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil – death; and yet, did Adam die that day? Not to the physical eye, but he did spiritually, as he lost his connection to God. Try to keep in mind that God is not a liar and He did say that day. Some will look at this as the eventual death of Adam, which came almost nine-hundred years later. Still, if Adam's physical death was all that was implied, then that would make God a liar, for it did not occur that day. I believe that Adam understood what God meant when God explained what would happen; that is what made Adam's act of disobedience such a critical, treasonous error.

It would seem only a few have experienced anything close to that kind of intimacy: Adam, who relinquished his relationship; Enoch, who walked off this earth, and Jesus, who was killed because he proclaimed his relationship with the Father. Of those moments that I feel separated from Him, I think I can equate it to being underwater, and not being able to breathe. Your spirit, much like your lungs need air, desperately seeks a relationship with the creator.

So, here we are back at Hebrews 5:11 where it says, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn."

Why would the writer of this letter to the Hebrews know the recipient's spiritual state?
     Perhaps the writer had been one of their teachers.

With the Law and the prophets only written on scrolls - the majority of which were held within the communities Synagogue because of rarity and expense, there were no books to enlighten the new converts about the latest theories on how grace and spiritual laws work; and, surely there was no New Testament, for it was being written as they spoke.

Another safe assumption is that these were exclusively Jewish believers considering that the entire book is a letter to the Hebrews.

Jews in the compulsory Rabbinical schools were trained in the Torah and Talmud.
Now, not everyone was a scholar like Saul/Paul, but within the Jewish community has a firm grasp of history and high Holy days was mandatory. Therefore, the knowledge of God's grace had to come through the same documents that the religious leadership used to control people with its many burdensome laws. The most significant input the new church had, would have been oral tradition and inspiration given through the Holy Spirit. Paul was a perfect example of one of those people, as he and a handful of others began to grasp the grace that God was trying to tell us.

Look at Hebrews 6:1-2 to get an idea of what the basics were/are; not one of these can be taught in 10 minutes.

• Basic teachings about Christ.
• The fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds.
• Placing our faith in God.
• Instructions about baptisms.
• Instructions about the laying on of hands.
• The resurrection of the dead.
• Eternal Judgment.

What would make this hard to explain?

I would not think that it is the telling of the story of Jesus that is difficult; although the trip to the cross can be graphic and gory. Perhaps the visualization of cross sets many people at odds with the cross. Having heard angry arguments against Jesus descending to hell and taking the keys away from Satan, I can presume that many others with their religious mindset fight against the cross. We also know that many have a cloak over their eyes, and therefore their physical mind cannot grasp the impact of the cross. And then, there are those who are not willing to spend any time looking into God's word, and therefore, will not find freedom.


What happened from the cross to the throne is what makes those of us who follow Him who we are. It is what made Jesus who He is, and it is what prompted God to call him our great High Priest, and the one who mediates for us continually.

God so desperately wanted to restore that relationship with you that he allowed his Son to die for you, and Jesus voluntarily set aside the glory he had with the Father to be the required sacrifice so that you might live. All that Christ did was done for you.

Why would someone feel it is necessary to control us? Galatians 1:6-10

While I wrote these studies on Galatians about three weeks ago; since then, so much has happened. As you probably gathered from my last post I had a bit of a verbal collision with my pastor. Whatever definitions I might understand from scripture that defines a pastor, there has only been a couple that even came close, and this one, in my mind, isn't one of them.

An example could come from the sermon many years ago, where he is telling the audience how the shepherd intentionally snaps the leg of the little sheep that continues to stray. He said all this with a horrifying gusto. I can remember sitting there in shock, and thinking, if this who or what God/Jesus is really like, then no thank you. As I have given this idea more thought over the years, the practicality of such a scenario is ludicrous, especially if you look at scripture through befitting, Jewish eyes. You see, the shepherd, in Jewish society, is trying to make a living, and, he does so by selling unblemished lambs for three reasons: food, clothing, and sacrifices. The sacrificial lamb had to be without spot or blemish as mandated by the law of God. Breaking the leg of a valuable sheep seems counterproductive, doesn't it?

Not only that, but the idea of breaking the leg of one of the lambs also seems to go against everything I understand God to be - grace and mercy. Since breaking the leg of one of the sheep might fall under the category of wrath, and WE are not subject to wrath, then the idea gets more absurd. A couple of scriptures for you to look up, on your own, would be 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9.

Now, to be fair, I talked with a lady from church whose family had raised sheep in Texas; she responded with, oh yes, it was a common method of controlling young sheep. Well, that sounds horrid, but not being a farmer, castration sounds horrid also, and we don't do that in our churches, or, do we?

How appropriate then is this line from verse 6 - “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” Give yourself a moment to think about things that have been said and done in the name of religion. I am not just talking about history; I am talking about NOW. The things done to me, and said from the pulpit, are nothing more than methods of control. Why would someone feel it is necessary to control us? I can think of many – all of the reasons have some deep insecurity attached to them. The reality is, the person acting this way does not trust the Holy Spirit's ability to lead and guide us and therefore does not believe God.

John 16:13 KJV 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.

The NASB entitles this section, No Other Gospel.

Galatians 1:6-10 KJV I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10) For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

• Verse (6) “I marvel,”

Marvel is the Greek word thaumazō; from G2295; to marvel, wonder: - am amazed (1), amazed (15), amazement (1), astonished.

Considering the context, the usage of word amazed doesn't fit the scenario unless Paul is simply that shocked. The two significant usages, as we can see from KJC are marveled and wonder. An example from Matthew:

Mat 21:19-20 KJV And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20) And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

The Word Study Dictionary also expresses the idea of being struck with astonishment or admiration. Since the people, Paul is writing to have allowed themselves to be removed from the one who called them to grace (This, of course, is Jesus Christ.) Paul is not conveying an attitude of admiration.

• “that ye are so soon removed from him”

Keep in mind that Paul is writing to a generalized region called Galatia. Since this is not a specific church body, then you can assume that a significant number of people, across the region, had walked away from the freedom/grace that is in Jesus. I would love to say, “you should know,” but recently sat in an adult Bible class, where we read from a purchased book, focused on the Acts of the Apostles. Since the majority of the book of Acts was focused on Paul; In the book of Acts, you can see that Paul's primary influence was on Jews. Since his intent was never to pull them away from the truths in the law and the prophets, then these are Jewish converts that returned to the abundance of man created laws and oppressive traditions.

• “that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:”

While evangelists and pastors may think they are the ones who called you into the grace of Christ, it has never been anyone other than the Holy Spirit/Jesus himself.

If the gospel is the good news, what other good news could there have been?

Considering that these were, in the majority, Jewish converts, then the message used to draw them back could easily have been “Come back to the synagogue; we are God's people; you are God's people. Reject this Jesus, a man – hung like a common criminal, and called, by Pilate, the king of the Jews.” The point here is that there was no other gospel – no good news. It was a pull to come back to traditions and a way of life, filled with bondage.

These days we have a multitude of variations on the gospel, as some, while preaching freedom and forgiveness in Jesus, will hold you in bondage and never forgive you; even to the point of lording over you as a judge. This lording over people in judgment is in opposition to what the Word says, such as, all judgment has been given to the Son.

The word another is the Greek word heteros and means (an-, the) other or different: - altered, else, next (day), one, (an-) other, some, strange.

This (idea of another gospel) leans more heavily upon the idea of twisting the gospel of Christ; the message that Paul delivered to them. Contributing to the idea that Paul is talking about a twisting of the gospel, the translators, or editors, placed the continuation of verse 6 in verse 7, where it says, “Which is not another;.” 

Seeing the verse unbroken may help you understand that Paul is talking about a twisting of the gospel of grace. “that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another;”

Having experienced a twisting of the gospel of grace on many levels, I can tell you that it takes on many forms, most coming under the cloak of religious guidance.

• Verse (7) “Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”

If, as Paul says, it is not another gospel, then it is some perversion of the gospel of grace.

Allow me just to say, that anything or anyone that strives to put you under the law is not only perverting God's grace but attempting to put you under bondage. In doing this, they have essentially exercised witchcraft on you, which is a form of slavery and manipulation through words and curses.

Pervert is the Greek word metastréphō; fut. metastrépsō, from metá (G3326), denoting a change of place or condition, and stréphō (G4762), to turn. To turn about from one direction to another. In the NT, to turn into something else, to change.

At our men's Monday morning bible study, the leader recently spent far too much time on Matthew 25. In doing so, he focused on the great white throne judgment (this can also be found in Revelation 20.) A cursory read will demonstrate the true nature and character of God, as in Matthew 25 where the sheep, a part of that vast crowd, obtain mercy. The sheep receive this mercy because they performed some simple act of mercy or generosity. The goats, on-the-other-hand, are sent off to eternal separation and flames of torment with Satan. In the Revelation, the Holy Spirit is trying to make the point that Jesus is God and deservedly angry with those whom he does not find written in those books before Him. These are sent off to that same eternal torment and separation. Just because the sheep who obtain mercy in Matthews exposition is not apparent in Revelation 20, does not mean they are not there. Simply put, they are not an aspect of the context in Revelation 20. The bible study leader still, many weeks later, persists in sending everyone who stands before the great white throne to hell. Since this is unquestionably in opposition to the heart and nature of God, and, it is a perversion of the gospel of Christ.

“but there be some that trouble you” Trouble is the Greek word tarassō; from a prim. root ταραχ- tarach-; to stir up, to trouble: - disturbed (1), disturbing (2), stirred (3), stirring (1), terrified (2), troubled (9). The Word Study Dictionary tells us this: tarassō is, “Figuratively used of the mind, to stir up, trouble, disturb with various emotions such as fear, put in trepidation.” 

I might rewrite this to read: there will those who will disturb and stir up your emotions through a twisting of the gospel.

• Verse (8) MSG Let me be blunt: If one of us--even if an angel from heaven!--were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed.

(Moffatt NT) Now even though it were myself or some angel from heaven, whoever preaches a gospel that contradicts the gospel I preached to you, God's curse be on him!

I don't know if this is merely Paul expressing his disdain for anyone who might teach or preach anything other than what he has already said, or, this is the heart of God. Since God is love and longs that everyone should be saved, why would He want someone to be cursed? What evidence do we have then of God drawing a line in the sand?

Matthew 12 lays out a scenario in which Jesus casts out a demon. The Pharisees attributed his actions to Satan. Verses 31,32 tell us His direct response.

Matthew 12:31-32 KJV Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32) And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Plainly we can see that God does draw a line, and blasphemy is it. I doubt Paul knew of this declaration by Jesus. If he did, and this was an aspect of what he wrote, then it would have been by direct revelation through Jesus.

One other piece of evidence might be drawn from the Revelation.

Revelation 21:8 KJV But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

While the verse takes in much more than blasphemers, it scares me, as I have: lied, wanted to kill, been unbelieving far too often, and spent the majority of my life feeling trapped by fear.

One other thing you need to consider if you are, to be honest in trying to decipher what is being said. Look at the verse once again.

Galatians 1:8 KJV But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Now, ask yourself, how many translations are there? Do they vary? Of course, they do, and one of the reasons for that is the variations a Greek word can carry depending on the defining word associated with it. This is one of the reasons why I used the Message in conveying the intensity of verse 8. I love how Eugene Peterson interpreted what Paul is trying to convey and therefore said, "Let me be blunt."

"or an angel from heaven”

This seems simple enough, but analyzing words opens doors to understanding. Angel is the word aggélous. The Word Study Dictionary tells us: A messenger, an aggelous, is one who is sent in order to announce, teach, perform, or explore anything;

Matthew 11:10 KJV For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Matthews gospel tells us that Jesus explained to the crowd, that the messenger/aggelous was John the Baptist.

In Luke 7:24 John the Baptist had sent messengers to Jesus. KJV And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

In Luke, the messengers were men sent from John.

Galatians 4:14 KJV And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Paul, here, points out that the people, of the region of Galatian, received him as an aggelous/messenger.

James 2:24-25 KJV Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25) Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

Here, the messengers/aggelous were men from Israel under the leadership of Joshua.

Malachi 2:7 KJV For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

Malachi speaks of the priest as an aggelous/messenger of God. A rewrite of this verse could read like this: For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the one who is sent in order to announce, teach, perform, or explore.

Does this imply that the priest is untouchable or above all reproach? Not at all, but it is not our place to judge and execute judgment against them. I suppose that is why we have these horrific church hierarchies – to displace bad priests/pastors. It seems all we can and should do is pray; pray that the Lord of Hosts can straighten this brother out or remove him. Having done all that, all we have left is to move on in most cases.

• Verse (9) KJV As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Verse 9 is merely a repetition of what Paul previously said.

• Verse (10) KJV For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

“Paul had to speak harshly to the Christians in Galatia because they were in danger. He did not apologize for his straightforward words, knowing that he could not serve Christ faithfully if he allowed the Galatian Christians to remain on the wrong track.” Life Application Study Bible

The Greek word for persuade is peíthō, meaning to persuade, particularly to move or affect by kind words or motives. [WSD] We don't know what he said or how he said it, but I have never pictured Paul speaking in a manner that was anything other than straightforward and to the point. The statement he just made is an example of that - “I have said it before and I now repeat it: whoever preaches a gospel to you that contradicts the gospel you have already received, God's curse be on him!” Moffatt NT

Please is the Greek word aréskō meaning to fit, adapt, or please. Having recently been accosted by a pastor who told me, with the admonition that his was a Godly council, that I should not pursue or study Eschatology for the next five years. If I took his “so-called” Godly counsel to heart, then I would be attempting to please a man, for I can assure you that what he gave me was nothing less than demonic. Paul asserts, “I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (CEV)

So, much like Paul does - with an adamant declaration, I emphasize, once again, “As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us],” (AMP)

Since I was not there and could not listen to Paul orations, then I must trust his words given to us in the Bible and presume the tone and inflections in his voice. I have to establish in my mind that these words are the basis and foundation of what I believe and charged to understand. Therefore, when a pastor accosts you, telling you that eschatology (end times teachings) does not and cannot change people, and, that you should not study it or speak of it, then he is operating in contradiction to God's word. This subtle opposition moves him into the category of a false teacher, and he needs to repent publicly.

2 Timothy 3:16 AMPC Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action),

The point being made here, in 2Timothy, is that eschatology can and does change people. We can know this because it is the spirit breathed Word of God. If you stand around waiting for the changes to happen, you may not see them.

2 Peter 2:1 BBE But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.

The subtlety of what they say can catch you off guard, especially when they speak in an authoritarian manner, and add, I am telling you this because I love you; sadly, this is what most of them do, and we are expected by them to accept what they say without question. Shouldn't this be proof enough that we desperately need to be invested in the Word of God?

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