In Luke, Chapter 10, just after the 70 who were sent out return, and testified to the things they had done in Christ’s name, Jesus says an interesting thing. He said, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” The word He used(Ἐθεώρουν) is a verb that is imperfect, indicative, active, and first person, singular. As the eternal Son, He was witnessing the fall of satan, but as the incarnate Son, and Word, He is recalling this activity to the men who had just returned. They were amazed at the things they had done, like casting out demons. To get them focused on the right idea, He tells them about it. Then he tells them about the authority He had given them over demons. It is obvious by the context that the serpents, and scorpions, are representing these demonic forces. It is also obvious from the context that this ability is not something that was applied to us, as we were not there as part of the 70, we were not commissioned to do what they did, and it wasn’t carried forward to us to continue doing. They had to be reminded to not rejoice in the fact that Jesus had subjected the spirits to them, but instead to rejoice in the fact that their names are recorded in heaven. For those whacky folks out there binding up satan, and casting out demons every Sunday, you need to stop. You are making fools of yourselves. You are focused on the wrong things. You should be focused on Jesus, not demons. You should be focused on what He did to justify you to God, and atone for your sins. If you are in the right spirit, you will be preaching the good news of Jesus, and rejoicing in what He has done.
Luke 10:17-24 (LSB Strong’s) The Joyful Results 17 Now the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” 21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 22 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” 23 And turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, 24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”
In the text below we see that after Peter’s trance vision he was prepared for the three gentile men from Caesarea arriving. He goes with them at the direction of God the Holy Spirit. He, and six other Christians arrive at the man’s house, and hear his explanation of why he called for him. Peter witnesses the the Holy Spirit coming upon the man, and he notes that it was that way with them in the beginning. Notice what he says, “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could prevent God’s way?” God gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit in the same way He did at Jerusalem during Pentecost, Samaria, and with the followers of John the Baptist. This gift was after they had already been regenerated to new life, and faith in Jesus.
It was different than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in New Testament believers. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was special to these four separate groups. They were so different that it was necessary for God to bring them into the Church with a visit from an Apostle, and this special outpouring. This unified these groups into the one body of Christ. It doesn’t happen this way anymore. We don’t need this miraculous sign because we have the testimony of God’s Word. The main point is that they already had believed in Jesus. The circumcised who had taken issue with Peter bringing these gentile believers into the Church settled down after Peter’s testimony of what God had done. They acknowledge that the gentiles had been given the repentance that leads to life.
The only people who seek baptism are those who already been brought to new life in Christ by the Holy Spirit. The conviction of the Holy Spirit humbles them by bringing the knowledge of their sin to their mind. Their overwhelming guilt brings them to the foot of the cross, where they behold their Savior, whose body had been broken for them, whose holy blood had been shed for them, and there at the cross, they repent, and trust His justifying work. Only then do they seek baptism. For to seek baptism they must first believe that Christ is. They must also desire to be in Christ. These things must occur logically before baptism. Otherwise, any ol’ Eastern Orthodox priest, Roman Catholic priest, or Church of God apostle, could simply douse strangers with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and create new Christians by their own work, and agenda. It is preposterous, and scandalous, to think that baptismal regeneration is true.
“Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the sky. “And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; slaughter and eat.’ “But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ “And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. “And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from Caesarea. “And the Spirit told me to go with them without taking issue at all. These six brothers also went with me and we entered the man’s house. “And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could prevent God’s way?” And when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”” (Acts 11:1–18 Legacy Standard Bible) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#Acts_11:1
A Christian nation says, “There is not enough food for our people. How can we produce more food?” A godless communist nation says, “There are too many people to feed. How can we reduce the population?” Mao Zedong killed approximately 55 million of his own countrymen during the communist revolution, and the so called, great leap forward. He killed millions by starving them to death, while he got fat, and exported the people’s food.
Citation from the Heritage Foundation.
“Can you name the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century? No, it wasn’t Hitler or Stalin. It was Mao Zedong. According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with—by execution, imprisonment or forced famine.
For Mao, the No. 1 enemy was the intellectual. The so-called Great Helmsman reveled in his blood-letting, boasting, “What’s so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the China Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars.” Mao was referring to a major “accomplishment” of the Great Cultural Revolution, which from 1966-1976 transformed China into a great House of Fear.
The most inhumane example of Mao’s contempt for human life came when he ordered the collectivization of China’s agriculture under the ironic slogan, the “Great Leap Forward.” A deadly combination of lies about grain production, disastrous farming methods (profitable tea plantations, for example, were turned into rice fields), and misdistribution of food produced the worse famine in human history.
Deaths from hunger reached more than 50 percent in some Chinese villages. The total number of dead from 1959 to 1961 was between 30 million and 40 million—the population of California.
Rounding up enemies
Only five years later, when he sensed that revolutionary fervor in China was waning, Mao proclaimed the Cultural Revolution. Gangs of Red Guards—young men and women between 14 and 21—roamed the cities targeting revisionists and other enemies of the state, especially teachers.
Professors were dressed in grotesque clothes and dunce caps, their faces smeared with ink. They were then forced to get down on all fours and bark like dogs. Some were beaten to death, some even eaten—all for the promulgation of Maoism. A reluctant Mao finally called in the Red Army to put down the marauding Red Guards when they began attacking Communist Party members, but not before 1 million Chinese died.
All the while, Mao kept expanding the laogai, a system of 1,000 forced labor camps throughout China. Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in labor camps, has estimated that from the 1950s through the 1980s, 50 million Chinese passed through the Chinese version of the Soviet gulag. Twenty million died as a result of the primitive living conditions and 14-hour work days.
Such calculated cruelty exemplified his Al Capone philosophy: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
And yet Mao Zedong remains the most honored figure in the Chinese Communist Party. At one end of historic Tiananmen Square is Mao’s mausoleum, visited daily by large, respectful crowds. At the other end of the square is a giant portrait of Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City, the favorite site of visitors, Chinese and foreign.
Repression continues
In the spirit of Mao, China’s present rulers continue to oppress intellectuals and other dissidents such as human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo. He was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” His offense: signing Charter 08, which calls on the government to respect basic civil and human rights within a democratic framework. .
China presents itself as a vast market for U.S. companies and investors. But some U.S. companies are taking a second look at doing business in a country which considers Mao Zedong its patron saint. Google has said it is reconsidering its operations in China after discovering a sophisticated cyber attack on its e-mail which the government must have initiated or approved.
Google has revealed what many in the Internet world have known for some time—China routinely hacks into U.S. and Western Web sites for national security and other valuable information. Mao would have enthusiastically applauded this intellectual rape.
I wonder: would President Obama be so ready to kowtow to China if in the middle of Beijing there was a mausoleum of Hitler and, hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City, a giant swastika?
First Appeared in Vindy.com” Can you name the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century? No, it wasn’t Hitler or Stalin. It was Mao Zedong.
According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with—by execution, imprisonment or forced famine.
For Mao, the No. 1 enemy was the intellectual. The so-called Great Helmsman reveled in his blood-letting, boasting, “What’s so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the China Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars.” Mao was referring to a major “accomplishment” of the Great Cultural Revolution, which from 1966-1976 transformed China into a great House of Fear.
The most inhumane example of Mao’s contempt for human life came when he ordered the collectivization of China’s agriculture under the ironic slogan, the “Great Leap Forward.” A deadly combination of lies about grain production, disastrous farming methods (profitable tea plantations, for example, were turned into rice fields), and misdistribution of food produced the worse famine in human history.
Deaths from hunger reached more than 50 percent in some Chinese villages. The total number of dead from 1959 to 1961 was between 30 million and 40 million—the population of California.
Rounding up enemies
Only five years later, when he sensed that revolutionary fervor in China was waning, Mao proclaimed the Cultural Revolution. Gangs of Red Guards—young men and women between 14 and 21—roamed the cities targeting revisionists and other enemies of the state, especially teachers.
Professors were dressed in grotesque clothes and dunce caps, their faces smeared with ink. They were then forced to get down on all fours and bark like dogs. Some were beaten to death, some even eaten—all for the promulgation of Maoism. A reluctant Mao finally called in the Red Army to put down the marauding Red Guards when they began attacking Communist Party members, but not before 1 million Chinese died.
All the while, Mao kept expanding the laogai, a system of 1,000 forced labor camps throughout China. Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in labor camps, has estimated that from the 1950s through the 1980s, 50 million Chinese passed through the Chinese version of the Soviet gulag. Twenty million died as a result of the primitive living conditions and 14-hour work days.
Such calculated cruelty exemplified his Al Capone philosophy: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
And yet Mao Zedong remains the most honored figure in the Chinese Communist Party. At one end of historic Tiananmen Square is Mao’s mausoleum, visited daily by large, respectful crowds. At the other end of the square is a giant portrait of Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City, the favorite site of visitors, Chinese and foreign.
Repression continues
In the spirit of Mao, China’s present rulers continue to oppress intellectuals and other dissidents such as human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo. He was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” His offense: signing Charter 08, which calls on the government to respect basic civil and human rights within a democratic framework. .
China presents itself as a vast market for U.S. companies and investors. But some U.S. companies are taking a second look at doing business in a country which considers Mao Zedong its patron saint. Google has said it is reconsidering its operations in China after discovering a sophisticated cyber attack on its e-mail which the government must have initiated or approved.
Google has revealed what many in the Internet world have known for some time—China routinely hacks into U.S. and Western Web sites for national security and other valuable information. Mao would have enthusiastically applauded this intellectual rape.
I wonder: would President Obama be so ready to kowtow to China if in the middle of Beijing there was a mausoleum of Hitler and, hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City, a giant swastika?
First Appeared in Vindy.com Can you name the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century? No, it wasn’t Hitler or Stalin. It was Mao Zedong.
According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with—by execution, imprisonment or forced famine.
For Mao, the No. 1 enemy was the intellectual. The so-called Great Helmsman reveled in his blood-letting, boasting, “What’s so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the China Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars.” Mao was referring to a major “accomplishment” of the Great Cultural Revolution, which from 1966-1976 transformed China into a great House of Fear.
The most inhumane example of Mao’s contempt for human life came when he ordered the collectivization of China’s agriculture under the ironic slogan, the “Great Leap Forward.” A deadly combination of lies about grain production, disastrous farming methods (profitable tea plantations, for example, were turned into rice fields), and misdistribution of food produced the worse famine in human history.
Deaths from hunger reached more than 50 percent in some Chinese villages. The total number of dead from 1959 to 1961 was between 30 million and 40 million—the population of California.
Rounding up enemies
Only five years later, when he sensed that revolutionary fervor in China was waning, Mao proclaimed the Cultural Revolution. Gangs of Red Guards—young men and women between 14 and 21—roamed the cities targeting revisionists and other enemies of the state, especially teachers.
Professors were dressed in grotesque clothes and dunce caps, their faces smeared with ink. They were then forced to get down on all fours and bark like dogs. Some were beaten to death, some even eaten—all for the promulgation of Maoism. A reluctant Mao finally called in the Red Army to put down the marauding Red Guards when they began attacking Communist Party members, but not before 1 million Chinese died.
All the while, Mao kept expanding the laogai, a system of 1,000 forced labor camps throughout China. Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in labor camps, has estimated that from the 1950s through the 1980s, 50 million Chinese passed through the Chinese version of the Soviet gulag. Twenty million died as a result of the primitive living conditions and 14-hour work days.
Such calculated cruelty exemplified his Al Capone philosophy: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
And yet Mao Zedong remains the most honored figure in the Chinese Communist Party. At one end of historic Tiananmen Square is Mao’s mausoleum, visited daily by large, respectful crowds. At the other end of the square is a giant portrait of Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City, the favorite site of visitors, Chinese and foreign.
Repression continues
In the spirit of Mao, China’s present rulers continue to oppress intellectuals and other dissidents such as human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo. He was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” His offense: signing Charter 08, which calls on the government to respect basic civil and human rights within a democratic framework. .
China presents itself as a vast market for U.S. companies and investors. But some U.S. companies are taking a second look at doing business in a country which considers Mao Zedong its patron saint. Google has said it is reconsidering its operations in China after discovering a sophisticated cyber attack on its e-mail which the government must have initiated or approved.
Google has revealed what many in the Internet world have known for some time—China routinely hacks into U.S. and Western Web sites for national security and other valuable information. Mao would have enthusiastically applauded this intellectual rape.
I wonder: would President Obama be so ready to kowtow to China if in the middle of Beijing there was a mausoleum of Hitler and, hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City, a giant swastika?
First Appeared in Vindy.com Can you name the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century? No, it wasn’t Hitler or Stalin. It was Mao Zedong.
According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with—by execution, imprisonment or forced famine.
For Mao, the No. 1 enemy was the intellectual. The so-called Great Helmsman reveled in his blood-letting, boasting, “What’s so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the China Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars.” Mao was referring to a major “accomplishment” of the Great Cultural Revolution, which from 1966-1976 transformed China into a great House of Fear.
The most inhumane example of Mao’s contempt for human life came when he ordered the collectivization of China’s agriculture under the ironic slogan, the “Great Leap Forward.” A deadly combination of lies about grain production, disastrous farming methods (profitable tea plantations, for example, were turned into rice fields), and misdistribution of food produced the worse famine in human history.
Deaths from hunger reached more than 50 percent in some Chinese villages. The total number of dead from 1959 to 1961 was between 30 million and 40 million—the population of California.
Rounding up enemies
Only five years later, when he sensed that revolutionary fervor in China was waning, Mao proclaimed the Cultural Revolution. Gangs of Red Guards—young men and women between 14 and 21—roamed the cities targeting revisionists and other enemies of the state, especially teachers.
Professors were dressed in grotesque clothes and dunce caps, their faces smeared with ink. They were then forced to get down on all fours and bark like dogs. Some were beaten to death, some even eaten—all for the promulgation of Maoism. A reluctant Mao finally called in the Red Army to put down the marauding Red Guards when they began attacking Communist Party members, but not before 1 million Chinese died.
All the while, Mao kept expanding the laogai, a system of 1,000 forced labor camps throughout China. Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in labor camps, has estimated that from the 1950s through the 1980s, 50 million Chinese passed through the Chinese version of the Soviet gulag. Twenty million died as a result of the primitive living conditions and 14-hour work days.
Such calculated cruelty exemplified his Al Capone philosophy: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
And yet Mao Zedong remains the most honored figure in the Chinese Communist Party. At one end of historic Tiananmen Square is Mao’s mausoleum, visited daily by large, respectful crowds. At the other end of the square is a giant portrait of Mao above the entrance to the Forbidden City, the favorite site of visitors, Chinese and foreign.
Repression continues
In the spirit of Mao, China’s present rulers continue to oppress intellectuals and other dissidents such as human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo. He was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” His offense: signing Charter 08, which calls on the government to respect basic civil and human rights within a democratic framework. .
China presents itself as a vast market for U.S. companies and investors. But some U.S. companies are taking a second look at doing business in a country which considers Mao Zedong its patron saint. Google has said it is reconsidering its operations in China after discovering a sophisticated cyber attack on its e-mail which the government must have initiated or approved.
Google has revealed what many in the Internet world have known for some time—China routinely hacks into U.S. and Western Web sites for national security and other valuable information. Mao would have enthusiastically applauded this intellectual rape.
I wonder: would President Obama be so ready to kowtow to China if in the middle of Beijing there was a mausoleum of Hitler and, hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City, a giant swastika?
First Appeared in Vindy.com” Lee Edwards, Ph.D. @LeeWEdwards Former Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought Lee Edwards is a leading historian of American conservatism and the author or editor of 25 books.
In case you don’t know what an inductive study is, here is a definition from the web; Inductive study, particularly in the context of Bible study, involves a method that helps individuals understand and apply the teachings of the Bible. This method is characterized by three main steps: observation, interpretation, and application. The goal is to draw conclusions based on the evidence found in the text rather than starting with preconceived notions.
Unlike other workbooks, this one does not lead you by the hand to predetermined conclusions. This one simply allows you, the reader, to employ the guiding principles set forth in the guide’s worksheets. The author trusts God the Holy Spirit to teach you from God’s Word.
There are only a total of eight written pages, those pages are an introduction to the study, an explanation of, the right spirit, The gospel, the right tools, and an example of how to fill out the worksheets. This leaves all of the rest of the 154 pages of worksheets. Here is a picture of the example of how to use the worksheets.
You’ll notice on page 6 titled, “The Right Tools” the author includes some things that will be helpful in your study. I’ve included some pictures of the resources I like to use. You’ll have to purchase your own. I think this book could be done with a simple study Bible. You definitely don’t need all the resources I’ve put up. You can also use Bible Hub for free. It has tons of resources. Something you might notice, is that if you are using bound books, they can get pretty heavy to carry around with you. There is an alternative. You can use a Bible program like Bible Study from Olive Tree. You can purchase digital copies of all the same resources. Makes it a lot more portable. Here are the pictures.
This is a John MacArthur Study Bible in the Legacy Standard Bible(LSB) translation.
You might also need a New Testament Greek dictionary, A good commentary set, and a Greek New Testament.
Who is this workbook for? Anyone who is attempting to discover more about God, and His will for us. I would use it for a middle school, and up, homeschool curriculum. It would be helpful to keep you focused on specifics in a study if you are easily distracted. It would also be great to use in a group. It may not seem like the value it is due to there being a lot of worksheets, and hardly any written pages, but that is the point. It is inductive. I hope this helps you make up your mind to get the workbook, and learn more about you’re Creator, and Savior.
In this book MacArthur correctly diagnoses some major problems within the Church. They are not new problems. Charles Spurgeon dealt with similar problems during the Downgrade controversies. I won’t be listing all of the problems. Instead I’ll sum them up. The gospel of Christ, and His word, are not believed to be, relevant or sufficient, for the Church today. This view is held by Church leaders, and Church goers. There are many ways this is fleshed out, and put on display in this book. MacArthur identifies many of the bad ideas, and explains them. He also gives examples. Of course, the book wouldn’t be complete without giving the solution as well. That part is simple. The gospel, and the word of God, are always sufficient, and relevant. MacArthur also fleshes those ideas out. When you look at the over 50 years of service to Christ, and His Church, that John has committed his life to, you can see how the elders at Grace Church have protected the congregation from these bad ideas. This book is a quick read. If you are a young Pastor, or even someone who is concerned about the direction their local Church is going, I’d recommend this book. It will be a great help to you in keeping the main thing, the main thing.
This will be a short review. If you are looking for a book to use as a concise, and quick reference on logical fallacies, or a primer on the topic, this will suffice for most people. I did find the author’s understandings of Calvinism to be offensive, and lacking understanding. If you are not a Calvinist, you’ll probably chuckle at some of his attempted whit. I did not. That aside, for the price, and the accessible way the book is organized, it is helpful as a quick reference book. There are better ones out there, but if you are a laymen, this one will be one of the better ones you can get. I do recommend it in that regard.
I’ve been alive long enough to have come to the conclusions that Marxism/Communism is satanic. I arrived at this conclusion due to the fact that Communism does not allow for a power more authoritative than the dictator, state, or politburo. Communism rejects the truth that God has created every man equally human, with all that entails, even their human rights. Under Communism the politburo is more than equal, and subjugates everyone else underneath them. You have no God given rights under the satanic system of Communism. I was curious what Wurmbrand’s insights would be. He experienced the literal torture of Communism first hand during the Communist revolution in his homeland Romania. He and his wife, were thrown into a gulag/prison work camp for 14 years. He was tortured on a daily basis. Eventually he, and his wife were released. They were never the same after that. Wurmbrand studied the writings, and correspondence, of Marx, and other prominent Communists after his release. Like I mentioned above, I understood that Communism was satanic, but I had no idea how fundamental satanism is to Communism, and those who fought to impose it.
I assumed Marx was a satanist ignorantly so by what he stood against, and was simply a fool seeking an impossible goal, and that he was willing to kill as many people as it took to achieve it. I was wrong. Marx was a satanist first. Communism was just a means to an end for him, and those like him. This book made that abundantly clear. Wurmbrand uses many citations from Marx, and his contemporaries. Some of the things these men wrote are so blasphemous, I had to skim through them as they afflicted my conscience sorely. I would warn you that this could also be your experience reading this book, but I find it necessary to know how blatantly satanic Communism, and Marx’s writings are.
Marx wrote, “I wish to avenge myself from the One who rules above.”
Here is an excerpt from the book,
“Let us remember that Marx’s ideal was to descend into the abyss of hell and draw all mankind in after him. Let us not follow him on this vicious path, but rather follow Jesus Christ who leads us upward to peaks of light, wisdom, and love, toward a heaven of unspeakable glory.”
This excerpt was at the end of the book recalling a citation from one of Marx’s writings. He wanted to have as many people die without hearing the gospel. He said something to the effect that he would go into hell laughing after them. Lenin, and Stalin, were also monsters. I encourage you to read this book, and share it with friends in the Church who are tempted to lean into socialism, communism, and warn them strongly.
I am glad to say that the gospel is shared towards the end of the book, so if you do share this book with someone who is curious, they will also get the gospel message. I hope you will take the short time this148 pages require to be forewarned.
There are some arguments out there that go something like this. “We are the one true faith. We are the original Church. We are the oldest, and can trace our line back to Peter, or Jesus Himself. All other Churches are false, and cannot trace their authority back to Peter, or Jesus. You wouldn’t even have the Bible if it weren’t for us. That is why the early Church needed our traditions, because they didn’t have a Bible yet. They only had the traditions of the Apostles, and that is all our traditions are.” Some pagan cults like Hinduism, Odinism, & Native American tribal religions claim their gods were here before Jesus. So their religion is older. Older doesn’t mean true by the way. How many of you have ever heard these arguments from Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or some other religious group? I want you to know there has always been the one true faith. Once God created man who was endowed with the ability to have that faith, there was the one true faith on Earth. Don’t forget that it was eternally established before the creation.
Ephesians 1:3-6 (LSB Strong’s) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, 5 by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Adam and Eve had first hand knowledge of God. Their faith was one of knowing. God was with them, talking with them. They tried to hide from Him. These are not the actions of people who do not believe that they did something wrong. They were different from the angels, and demons. The angels, demons, and satan knew God is. They weren’t looking for a Savior. The Bible never talks about saving the demons, or satan. Adam and Eve were the first to hear of some hope in the future in regards to the curse of God for their sins. In Genesis 3:15 we have the protoevangelium.
Genesis 3:15 (LSB Strong’s) 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
The gospel plan of salvation is eternal. It has always been. The Son was always going to be Jesus in our fallen world. In the ancient times, man did not have much of the progressive revelation of scripture to explain the faith, but it was right there at the start. As time went on, more was revealed.
The Faith has been called different things through history. It was the faith of the patriarchs, it became known as the faith of Israel, and then the Hebrew, or Jewish faith. After the incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, it had become known as Christianity. Sometimes Christians were called people of the way. Some time between the 7th, and 8th century after the quran had been compiled, muslims began calling Christians people of the book. Earlier in the 4th century the Holy Roman Empire adopted Christianity. At the end of the 6th century around 590A.D. Pope Gregory the 1st consolidated much of western Europe under papal authority. This is when we see the Roman Catholic church start as a unified ecumenical group. The Roman Catholics have a tradition that would have you believe that they can trace their lineage back to the Peter, who they erroneously claim was the first pope. They had misunderstood a section of scripture, and put the misunderstanding into use. After a period of use, it became tradition. Whether they ignorantly made the mistake, or not, I do not know. I do know they have had centuries to repent, and double down instead.
Matthew 16:13-20 (LSB Strong’s) Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
It is obvious that the rock, or truth that the Church is built on is Jesus. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus isn’t calling Peter the rock on which the Church is built, but his confession of Christ. We read in Isaiah 28:14-17
Isaiah 28:14-17 (LSB Strong’s) 14 Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 15 Because you have said, “We have cut a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overflowing scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have hidden ourselves with lying.” 16 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. 17 I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level;
Does that sound like prophecy about Peter? Of course not. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:19-22
Ephesians 2:19-22 (LSB Strong’s) 19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
Seems pretty explicit to me. How about you? If that is not enough to seal the deal for you, Peter himself declares in 1 Peter 2:6-7
1 Peter 2:6-7 (LSB Strong’s) 6 For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES UPON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone,”
Moving on, we see that the one true faith continues on today. The apostasy of Roman Catholicism also continues. They may claim to be the one true faith, but they make an error by connecting their authority for their claims to the idea that the one true faith started with the incarnation, and Christ allegedly appointing Peter as the first pope. When we look past this further back into history, we see men like Noah, Abraham, and David, who truly believed God. They were looking ahead for God to provide salvation. The Old Testament saints were saved the same as the New Testament saints, by faith. Ours happens to be on the other side of the incarnation of the god-man who split time.
We’re going to switch gears and look at the eternality of the Word of God in both the person of the Son, and the progressive revelation of scripture.
Turn to Genesis 15, This is just after Abram’s encounter with the Prince of Melchizedek, which was a Christophany.
Read Genesis 15:1-21 Genesis 15 (LSB Strong’s) 1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” 2 And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no seed to me, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” 6 Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” 8 And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, how may I know that I will possess it?” 12 Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 17 Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. 18 On that day Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
You’ll notice this is not the actions of a disembodied text floating before Abram’s eyes. This is the 2nd Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son, the Word of God. We know this is so because it is the first thing John tells us in Chapter 1 of John.
Turn to John Chapter 1. John 1:1-5 (LSB Strong’s) The Deity of Jesus Christ 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
John 1:14-18 (LSB Strong’s) 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Psalms 119:89 (LSB Strong’s) 89 Forever, O Yahweh, Your word stands firm in heaven.
Isaiah 40:8 (LSB Strong’s) 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
1 Peter 1:25 (LSB Strong’s) 25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” And this is the word which was proclaimed to you as good news.
There is a distinction between the 2nd Person of the Trinity, and the physical script printed on hides, vellum, papyri, and paper. I’m not trying to convince you that the two are the same thing. What I do want you to consider is the character of our God. He did not leave us alone after creating us. He didn’t keep from us His character. He revealed Himself in both writing, and in person as well as the creation. During Jesus’ ministry, Old Testament believers recognized Him as the Savior from His written word. We get to know Him by His Word, or we know the Word of God, by the Word of God.
Through history, in different regions of the middle east, the progressive revelation of scripture was being revealed by various prophets. At the time of the incarnation the scriptures had already been compiled, and translated into Greek for approximately 250 years. It has been traditionally dated to the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. The Septuagint had been in use before the time of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus, the Apostles, and the early Church could have very well been acquainted with the Septuagint, on top of their knowledge of the Tanakh. They had the word of God in print. Let’s remember what the scriptures primarily are. They are God’s mind for us to know Him by, with all that entails. Think about how they were conveyed being progressively revealed. Over time, there were more, and more revelations from God recorded until we had the entire canon of scripture. The Roman Catholics, and the Eastern Orthodox weren’t even around for the Septuagint. It was completed by Jewish translators who were Commissioned by Ptolemy II around 800 yeasrs before they were historically a thing.
How impoverished are the religious sects who don’t see this truth? They fight, and argue, about who was first on the scene, who has authority, or power. They practice all sorts of strange traditions that are no wheres mentioned in the Word of God. They put on all sorts of fine raiment. They cause men to bow down, and kiss their rings. They sit on gold encrusted thrones. They heap up odious labors upon their followers. They rob God of His glory. Martyrs have gone to their deaths destitute of earthly wealth, and go on to their eternal rewards which show these pious men to be spiritual paupers.
Our God, condescended from the majesty of heaven, deigned to put on human flesh, dwelt among us, and laid down His life as a sacrifice to justify us to Himself. We must repent of our sins, and trust solely in the finished work of Christ Jesus.
For those of you who are confused, and need instruction in objective truth, a female of any mammalian creature by nature has XX chromosomes, ovaries, a womb, can conceive offspring via sexual intercourse with the male of the species, and can feed the offspring via milk naturally produced by lactation, none of which requires surgical modification, unless the female was born with a birth defect, or was injured during the course of their existence. There is no such thing as a transwoman. It is sin. It is deceit, and perversion.
A male has XY chromosomes, and is born with a penis, testicles, and a different musculoskeletal system. The endocrine system is also very different. The adult male produces sperm cells in his testicles which combine with the ovum produced in the female ovaries when the two engage in coitus.
Up until about a decade ago this was all settled science. In fact, in 1972 we sent a space exploration spacecraft into space with a plaque on it that had a graphical representation of the two human genders. Yes, gender is inseparable from sex.
“The Pioneer plaque was sent into space on March 2, 1972, with the launch of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. It was designed to communicate information about Earth and humanity to any extraterrestrial life that might encounter the spacecraft. A second plaque was launched with the Pioneer 11 spacecraft on April 5, 1973.”
It is only in this era of postmodern, antichrist, world, that we would forget, the truth, and superimpose a lie on all mankind.
Genesis 5:1-2(LSB) 1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.
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