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officialyourdailyinspiration · 8 months

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Is the NAR a Move of God?

Answering this question is more important than you might think. To reject an apostle is to reject the one who sent them. To reject Paul or Peter was to reject the Gospel they preached and the Savior they proclaimed.

We had better be absolutely certain of the legitimacy of those claiming to hold the office of Apostle. If Ché Ahn and Bill Johnson and Kathryn Krick are sent by Christ to His Church, then their spiritual authority must be acknowledged and honored. Their words must be written down for the next generation. Their instructions to the Body of Christ must be obeyed.

If Jesus Himself has sent them to us and we reject them, then we will find ourselves rejecting Jesus. If they have His backing, then to oppose them is to oppose Him.

That’s why this matters, folks.

The super apostles of the New Apostolic Reformation have nailed their 95 theses to the door of the Church. Their claim cannot be ignored. Either they are the second coming of the Apostolic Age to lead us into the ”Great Ends Time Revival” like they claim or they are false apostles spreading strong delusions and deceiving the nations in “The Great Falling Away”.

Their claims are too massive to simply chalk up as a secondary issue to yawn about.

Ché Ahn has given his definition of apostle in his book, “Modern Day Apostles”…

"An apostle is a Christlike ambassador with extraordinary authority called and sent out by Jesus Christ with a specific assignment to align the Church to bring Heaven's culture to earth and fulfill the the mandate to disciple nations.”

Extraordinary authority

Sent by Jesus Christ

Authorized by God for a global task

Commissioned to bring Heaven to Earth

I cannot and will not submit myself and my family to the authority and teachings of the new apostles. I do not believe that they are sent by the LORD. They have not proven their apostleship. Instead, they’ve given countless proofs of the opposite.

They are false apostles who peddle a counterfeit system of subjective spirituality. They don’t go around preaching Christ crucified for our sins. No, they preach a message of miracles, mysticism, and money.

Miracles are their fascination. Mysticism is their vehicle to pursue God. Money is their measure of God’s favor. The Gospel of Salvation is old hat to the super apostles. On the same page of “Modern Day Apostles”, Ché writes,

——— “I believe we're in that season where God is changing the expression and understanding of Christianity. For example, we focus on saving souls, which I strongly believe in. But now we understand that when Jesus said He came to seek and to save that which was lost, He was speaking of more than individual salvation. Jesus was speaking of what was lost in the Garden of Eden, the presence of Heaven here on earth. God wants to see Heaven on earth again, and that means bringing about social transformation. The expression of Christianity has shifted from individual salvation to discipling nations, which includes social transformation. To bring this about God has restored the office and gifts of the apostle through apostolic networks.” ———

God isn’t changing anything about the Faith which has been once for all delivered to the saints. Change has come through the imposters of the NAR as they lure people into an endless pursuit of power and self promotion. They preach about purpose, destiny, and increase. They keep their followers on a hamster wheel, seeking breakthrough for finances, relationships, and physical health. They forbid sufferers from accepting hardship as part of God’s plan. They pretend to cast demons out of people…spirits of poverty, spirits of religion, and other imaginary foes.

I really could go on and on. But the question remains for each Christian to answer. Are these apostles coming to us on behalf of God? Has God restored the office of apostle for His end times purpose?

No, dear ones. No.

If these were apostles sent by Christ, they would preach Christ with a laser focus. They would preach the Law to convict of sin and the Gospel to give peace to the convicted.

I’ve listened to more NAR sermons and speeches than I care to admit, and I never hear them preach Christ the way Paul and Peter and John preached. Their message is most often NARcissistic. It’s all about you becoming a glow in the dark miracle worker. They tell you how important you are and call you to believe in yourself. They don’t sound anything like the Apostles we know in God’s Word.

Friends, read the New Testament again and realize that these aren’t the Apostles you’re looking for.

Source: These Aren’t the Apostles You’re Looking For

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eternal-echoes · 2 years

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Books by Saints

Introduction to a Devout Life (1609) - St. Francis de Sales

Exhortation to Martyrdom - St. Eulogius

Memorial of the Saints - St. Eulogius

The Ladder (Climax of Paradise) - St. John Climacus

The Conduct of Christian Schools - St. John Baptiste de la Salle

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin - St. Louis de Montfort

Dialogue - St. Catherine of Siena

Ecclesiastical History of the English People - St. Bede the Venerable

Apologies - St. Justin

Dialogue - St. Justin

Life of St. Theophanes - St. Methodius

Against Heresies - St. Irenaeus

The Proof of the Apostolic Preaching - St. Irenaeus

Diary of the Passion - St. Veronica Giuliani

Spiritual Exercises - St. Ignatius of Loyola

Apostolic Tradition - St. Hippolytus

Confessions - St. Augustine

Apology of the Faith - St. Aristedes

Autobiography - St. Theresa of the Child Jesus

The Book of Special Grace - St. Mechtilde

#Catholic #Christianity #books #wishlist #wish list

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wisdomfish · 2 years

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Crushed under the weight of historical proof

Now it is not sufficiently realized what strides modern research has made in determining the date and authorship of these written records. In the nineteenth century a number of unbelievers, equipped with considerable scholarship, made the most strenuous efforts to prove that the Gospels were written in the middle of the second century, A.D. (or about a hundred years after the events described) when legend and imagination could have played their part. But this attempt has failed, crushed under the weight of historical proof which grows in strength with the passage of the years.

The written testimony, then, is extraordinarily early. Let us concentrate attention on three examples.

Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of his Epistle to the Corinthians,[2] gives a detailed list of several resurrection appearances. Now there is scarcely a scholar who has doubted the genuineness of 1 Corinthians, and its date is generally accepted as about 56 A.D. But the apostle writes that he had not only previously given his readers this information orally (i.e., in 49 A.D..), but had himself 'received' it. presumably from those who were apostles before him.[3] This may take us back to 40 A.D. or to within some ten years of the crucifixion.

Mark, in his Gospel, gives us another account of the resurrection appearances, preceded by the story of the empty tomb. Now it is generally accepted that Mark's Gospel represents Peter's oral teaching and that it was written at a very early date. Some modern scholars believe that an Aramaic version was in existence as early as 44 A.D.

Luke is our third witness, and he adds considerably to our knowledge both of the visit to the tomb and of the subsequent appearances, as well as providing the fullest account we have of the early apostolic preaching. And not only have the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles been widely accepted as the genuine composition of Luke, the 'beloved physician', but Sir William Ramsay and others have shown how minutely accurate a historian he was.

Such, then, are our first three witnesses, selected because their testimony is such as no unbiased critic can disregard, either from the point of view of authorship or early date.

J.N.D. Anderson

#christianity #paul #mark #luke #testimony

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urbanhermit · 2 years

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St John Fisher was appointed bishop of Rochester Oct. 14, 1504 & was elected chancellor of Cambridge University that same year. He would go on to be re-elected annually for 10 years before being appointed for life. Around this time, he also is said to have acted as tutor to the future King Henry VIII. As a preacher, his reputation was so great that in 1509, when King Henry VII & the Lady Margaret died, Fisher preached the funeral for both. In 1542 Fisher was nominated as one of the English representatives at the Fifth Council of Lateran, then sitting, but his journey to Rome was postponed & finally abandoned. Fisher gave further proof of his genuine zeal for learning by inducing Erasmus to visit Cambridge. The latter indeed (Epist., 6:2) attributes it to Fisher’s protection that the study of Greek was allowed to proceed at Cambridge without the active molestation that it encountered at Oxford. Fisher had denounced various abuses in the Church, urging the need of disciplinary reforms, & in 1521 he preached at St. Paul’s Cross when Luther’s books were publicly burned. A year later (1530) the continued encroachments on the Church moved the bishops of Rochester, Bath and Ely to appeal to the Apostolic see. This gave the king his opportunity. An edict forbidding such appeals was immediately issued, & the three bishops were arrested. Required to acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England, to which phrase, however, the addition “so far as God’s law permits” was made. A year later (1530) the continued encroachments on the Church moved the bishops of Rochester, Bath and Ely to appeal to the Apostolic see. This gave the king his opportunity. An edict forbidding such appeals was immediately issued, and the three bishops were arrested. Their imprisonment, however, could have only lasted a few months. In May 1535, the new pope, Paul III, elevated Fisher as Cardinal Priest of St. Vitalis. He was declared guilty and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, but the mode of execution was changed, and, instead, he was beheaded on Tower Hill. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfGyfoFLAvv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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araitsume · 3 years

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The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 383-388: Chapter (36) Apostasy in Galatia

This chapter is based on the Epistle to the Galatians.

While tarrying at Corinth, Paul had cause for serious apprehension concerning some of the churches already established. Through the influence of false teachers who had arisen among the believers in Jerusalem, division, heresy, and sensualism were rapidly gaining ground among the believers in Galatia. These false teachers were mingling Jewish traditions with the truths of the gospel. Ignoring the decision of the general council at Jerusalem, they urged upon the Gentile converts the observance of the ceremonial law.

The situation was critical. The evils that had been introduced threatened speedily to destroy the Galatian churches.

Paul was cut to the heart, and his soul was stirred by this open apostasy on the part of those to whom he had faithfully taught the principles of the gospel. He immediately wrote to the deluded believers, exposing the false theories that they had accepted and with great severity rebuking those who were departing from the faith. After saluting the Galatians in the words, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,” he addressed to them these words of sharp reproof:

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 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.” Paul's teachings had been in harmony with the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit had witnessed to his labors; therefore he warned his brethren not to listen to anything that contradicted the truths he had taught them.

The apostle bade the Galatian believers consider carefully their first experience in the Christian life. “O foolish Galatians,” he exclaimed, “who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Thus Paul arraigned the believers in Galatia before the tribunal of their own conscience and sought to arrest them in their course. Relying on the power of God to save, and refusing to recognize the doctrines of the apostate teachers, the apostle endeavored to lead the converts to see that they had been grossly deceived, but that by returning to their former faith in the gospel they might yet defeat the purpose of Satan. He took his position firmly on the side of truth and righteousness; and his supreme faith and confidence in the message he bore, helped many whose faith had failed, to return to their allegiance to the Saviour.

How different from Paul's manner of writing to the Corinthian church was the course he pursued toward the Galatians! The former he rebuked with caution and tenderness, the latter with words of unsparing reproof. The Corinthians had been overcome by temptation. Deceived by the ingenious sophistry of teachers who presented errors under the guise of truth, they had become confused and bewildered. To teach them to distinguish the false from the true, called for caution and patience. Harshness or injudicious haste on Paul's part would have destroyed his influence over many of those whom he longed to help.

In the Galatian churches, open, unmasked error was supplanting the gospel message. Christ, the true foundation of the faith, was virtually renounced for the obsolete ceremonies of Judaism. The apostle saw that if the believers in Galatia were saved from the dangerous influences which threatened them, the most decisive measures must be taken, the sharpest warnings given.

An important lesson for every minister of Christ to learn is that of adapting his labors to the condition of those whom he seeks to benefit. Tenderness, patience, decision, and firmness are alike needful; but these are to be exercised with proper discrimination. To deal wisely with different classes of minds, under varied circumstances and conditions, is a work requiring wisdom and judgment enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit of God.

In his letter to the Galatian believers Paul briefly reviewed the leading incidents connected with his own conversion and early Christian experience. By this means he sought to show that it was through a special manifestation of divine power that he had been led to see and grasp the great truths of the gospel. It was through instruction received from God Himself that Paul was led to warn and admonish the Galatians in so solemn and positive a manner. He wrote, not in hesitancy and doubt, but with the assurance of settled conviction and absolute knowledge. He clearly outlined the difference between being taught by man and receiving instruction direct from Christ.

The apostle urged the Galatians to leave the false guides by whom they had been misled, and to return to the faith that had been accompanied by unmistakable evidences of divine approval. The men who had attempted to lead them from their belief in the gospel were hypocrites, unholy in heart and corrupt in life. Their religion was made up of a round of ceremonies, through the performance of which they expected to gain the favor of God. They had no desire for a gospel that called for obedience to the word, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. They felt that a religion based on such a doctrine, required too great a sacrifice, and they clung to their errors, deceiving themselves and others.

To substitute external forms of religion for holiness of heart and life is still as pleasing to the unrenewed nature as it was in the days of these Jewish teachers. Today, as then, there are false spiritual guides, to whose doctrines many listen eagerly. It is Satan's studied effort to divert minds from the hope of salvation through faith in Christ and obedience to the law of God. In every age the archenemy adapts his temptations to the prejudices or inclinations of those whom he is seeking to deceive. In apostolic times he led the Jews to exalt the ceremonial law and reject Christ; at the present time he induces many professing Christians, under pretense of honoring Christ, to cast contempt on the moral law and to teach that its precepts may be transgressed with impunity. It is the duty of every servant of God to withstand firmly and decidedly these perverters of the faith and by the word of truth fearlessly to expose their errors.

In his effort to regain the confidence of his brethren in Galatia, Paul ably vindicated his position as an apostle of Christ. He declared himself to be an apostle, “not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead.” Not from men, but from the highest Authority in heaven, had he received his commission. And his position had been acknowledged by a general council at Jerusalem, with the decisions of which Paul had complied in all his labors among the Gentiles.

It was not to exalt self, but to magnify the grace of God, that Paul thus presented to those who were denying his apostleship, proof that he was “not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.” 2 Corinthians 11:5. Those who sought to belittle his calling and his work were fighting against Christ, whose grace and power were manifested through Paul. The apostle was forced, by the opposition of his enemies, to take a decided stand in maintaining his position and authority.

Paul pleaded with those who had once known in their lives the power of God, to return to their first love of gospel truth. With unanswerable arguments he set before them their privilege of becoming free men and women in Christ, through whose atoning grace all who make full surrender are clothed with the robe of His righteousness. He took the position that every soul who would be saved must have a genuine, personal experience in the things of God.

The apostle's earnest words of entreaty were not fruitless. The Holy Spirit wrought with mighty power, and many whose feet had wandered into strange paths, returned to their former faith in the gospel. Henceforth they were steadfast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. In their lives were revealed the fruits of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” The name of God was glorified, and many were added to the number of believers throughout that region.

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pamphletstoinspire · 4 years

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Low Sunday (First Sunday After Easter).

by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

“Peace be to you!”–John 20.

Peace be to you!” With these: words Jesus greeted His disciples when, entering through closed doors, He suddenly stood in their midst. The circumstance that the doors were locked is an evidence of the fear and sorrow which filled their hearts. They were tossed by the storm of persecution which had broken upon them, and deprived them of the presence of the Lord.

What confidence, therefore, must have filled their hearts, when the Lord stood once more alive in their midst, and brought with Him the peace they had lost. No doubt, each one of us wishes, that he too had been with the Apostles, and heard from the mouth of Jesus that greeting of peace.

But why should we envy them? Behind the closed doors of the tabernacle, in every place where the Holy Eucharist is kept, our Lord and Saviour is to be found. And every soul that approaches Him with love and faith hears that same greeting: “Pax vobis! Happy are we, if we listen to it and treasure it up in our hearts!

The peace which Christ wishes us–which He gives us–is true, complete, holy, and imparts sanctity and beauty to our souls. Let us consider it to-day, and endeavor to receive it in all its fullness. It will be our most precious Easter-gift.

Mary, Mother of fair love and holy peace, pray for us that the peace of God may strengthen our hearts as it strengthened thine! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

I say that the peace which Christ wishes us and which He imparts to us, is true peace; it is that peace which He alone is able to bestow. “My peace I give unto you! ” says the Lord; “not as the world giveth, do I give unto you.” No, it is a peace of which the world has no idea; it is a peace which the world can never bestow. It is that peace which we lost by the fall of our first parents, and which could not be restored to us but by the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour.

Man, as he came from the hands of the Creator, was endowed with sanctifying grace, was at peace with God, at peace with himself, at peace with the whole outer world; but sin destroyed all this, and instead of peace came war, and instead of spiritual life came spiritual death. By sin man was set at variance with God, with himself, and with the outer world. As Holy Writ assures us: “There is no peace for the wicked,” at least no peace of soul. Though a man be on good terms with his fellow-men, yet as long as he lives in a state of sin he will enjoy no peace; for sin is a revolt against God, and every revolt brings with it trouble, anxiety, and war. Without Christ there is no true peace; no peace with God, the only peace which is worthy of the name, and which alone is able to calm our agitated hearts.

Listen to the warning of the prophet: “They cry: Peace, peace! and there is no peace.” There is no communion between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial. There is no place where the banner of Christ and that of antichrist wave together, nor where men desire to serve God and the devil at the same time.

Moreover, the peace which man enjoys with the world is not complete. But the peace, which Christ gives unto his own, is perfect. We shall understand this, if we regard one by one the results of the first sin and of all individual sin, and the relation in which soul and body stand to God. By his very nature man has a soul, reason, will, and heart. He thinks, he wills, he suffers or enjoys. Now, the fall ot Adam darkened the understanding of man, weakened his will, made his heart suffer; and but one can free him from the anxiety which all this causes: one alone, Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have said that understanding, and will, and heart, each has suffered: man's understanding is beset with doubts in regard to his existence and to his relations to God; his will is weakened, and he frequently feels its moral feebleness and impotence. But, above all, it is the heart of man which is exposed to the stripes of adversity and to the stings of suffering; nor can it anywhere find comfort but in Christ but in Him Whom Holy Writ emphatically styles: “The Prince of peace!”

Before Him, before His Word and example, every cloud of anxiety vanishes, and perfect peace makes its dwelling in the soul.

I have already said that when the soul is left to itself it is disquieted in regard to its relations with God and concerning its fate for eternity; it is darkened by ignorance and beset with doubts. “Pax vobis!” “Peace be to you!” says Christ to all men. It is He who spoke through Moses and the prophets; it is He who came Himself into the world, and opening His mouth preached to us the Word of salvation, explaining all those questions and doubts in regard to the other world, which excite, frighten, and harass the mind of man.

He calls himself the Light of the world; and as the sun sends forth his rays, so Christ sent forth His Apostles, that by the light of their teaching day might break for all the nations upon earth; that all might open their hearts to the sweet influence of truth. And great, indeed, is the peace which is instilled into believing hearts with the word of faith spoken by the mouth of the infallible Church; it is felt by all her truly believing children.

The will of man also is enfeebled by the fall of Adam; hence he feels his weakness, his impotence in the light with temptation. Hence the anxiety which excites and torments him. How differently man feels when Christ greets him and calls to him “Pax vobis” Peace be to you! When the power of divine grace enters his heart, and he can say with St. Paul: “I can do all things in Him who strengthened me.” A calm conscience comforts his heart, from which all anxiety has lied; yes, all that anxiety which, the consequence of his sins, had for years tormented him.

After the fall of Adam the heart of man felt the burden of suffering and the insufficiency of every merely human consolation. How often a friend can only say: I can weep with you, but I can not console you! How differently a child of the Church feels when Christ who has Himself suffered upon earth calls to Him from the cross: “Pax vobis!” and when he recollects that the Lord Himself said to His disciples: “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so enter into His Glory.” How inexpressibly great was the consolation which fell from the five wounds into the hearts of the disciples when Jesus suddenly appearing among them, gave them that Easter greeting: ” Pax vobis!” All truly believing children of the Church partake of this consolation in the midst of all the cares and sorrows of this life. For whatever we may suffer, one glance at Christ risen from the dead and marked with His wounds will cause us to cry out with St. Paul: “I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation.”

But far more grievous does the anxiety of man's heart become, if he has the misfortune to turn from the path of virtue, to precipitate himself into the abyss of sin, and if he is tormented day and night by the reproaches of his conscience. No one but Jesus can give him calmness and peace. He alone redeemed us, sinners! He alone gave His Apostles and their followers the power to forgive the repentant! a power which Christ bestowed upon His Church until the end of time, and of which we are solemnly reminded by the words of the Apostolic creed: “I believe in the holy Catholic Church, the forgiveness of sins.”

Into the breast of the greatest sinner there enters an inexpressible peace, if he receives the Sacrament of Penance as Christ has instituted it in His holy Church. Ah! what joy when the priest, the representative of Christ, says to his troubled soul: “My son, my daughter, your sins are forgiven!” Pax tibi! Peace be with you! Oh, the happy peace which then through Christ enters the heart reconciled to its God!

Finally, the heart of man is frequently pained by the fear: Shall I continue to the end? and what will become of me if Satan, in my last hour, should beset me with temptation, and place all the sins of my life before my eyes in order to drive me to despair? “Pax tibi,” says our Lord to the loving child of His Church. I shall complete in you my work of mercy. Trust!

Never can your own heart desire your salvation so ardently as I desire it: Peace be to you! Nor must we forget the consoling inspirations which Christ sends to all who bow, in suffering, to His holy will, and unite themselves to Him. Yes, yes, “Pax vobis!” I call in the name of the risen Christ to every soul here present.

“Pax vobis” the peace of Christ be and remain with you now, and for evermore! Amen!

LOW SUNDAY by Abbot Guéranger

OUR neophytes closed the Octave of the Resurrection yesterday. They were before us in receiving the admirable mystery; their solemnity would finish earlier than ours. This, then, is the eighth day for us who kept the Pasch on the Sunday, and did not anticipate it on the vigil. It reminds us of all the glory and joy of that feast of feasts, which united the whole of Christendom in one common feeling of triumph. It is the day of light, which takes the place of the Jewish Sabbath. Henceforth, the first day of the week is to be kept holy. Twice has the Son of God honored it with the manifestation of His almighty power. The Pasch, therefore, is always to be celebrated on the Sunday; and thus every Sunday becomes a sort of Paschal feast, as we have already explained in the Mystery of Easter.Our risen Jesus gave an additional proof that He wished the Sunday to be, henceforth, the privileged day. He reserved the second visit He intended to pay to all His disciples for this the eighth day since His Resurrection. During the previous days, He has left Thomas a prey to doubt; but today He shows himself to this Apostle, as well as to the others, and obliges him, by irresistible evidence, to lay aside his incredulity. Thus does our Savior again honor the Sunday. The Holy Ghost will come down from Heaven upon this same day of the week, making it the commencement of the Christian Church: Pentecost will complete the glory of this favored day.

Jesus' apparition to the eleven, and the victory He gains over the incredulous Thomas—–these are the special subjects the Church brings before us today.

By this apparition, which is the seventh since His Resurrection, our Savior wins the perfect faith of His disciples. It is impossible not to recognize God in the patience, the majesty, and the charity of Him who shows Himself to them. Here, again, our human thoughts are disconcerted; we should have thought this delay excessive; it would have seemed to us that our Lord ought to have at once either removed the sinful doubt from Thomas's mind, or punished him for his disbelief. But no: Jesus is infinite wisdom, and infinite goodness. In His wisdom, He makes this tardy acknowledgment of Thomas become a new argument of the truth of the Resurrection; in His goodness, He brings the heart of the incredulous disciple to repentance, humility, and love; yea, to a fervent and solemn retraction of all his disbelief. We will not here attempt to describe this admirable scene, which holy Church is about to bring before us. We will select, for our today's instruction, the important lesson given by Jesus to His disciple, and through him to us all. It is the leading instruction of the Sunday, the Octave of the Pasch, and it behooves us not to pass it by, for, more than any other, it tells us the leading characteristic of a Christian, shows us the cause of our being so listless in God's service, and points out to us the remedy for our spiritual ailments.

Jesus says to Thomas: ‘Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed!' Such is the great truth, spoken by the lips of the God-Man: it is a most important counsel, given, not only to Thomas, but to all who would serve God and secure their salvation. What is it that Jesus asks of His disciple? Has he not heard him make profession that now, at last, he firmly believes? After all, was there any great fault in Thomas's insisting on having experimental evidence before believing in so extraordinary a miracle as the Resurrection? Was he obliged to trust to the testimony of Peter and the others, under penalty of offending his Divine Master? Did he not evince his prudence, by withholding his assent until he had additional proofs of the truth of what his brethren told him? Yes, Thomas was a circumspect and prudent man, and one that was slow to believe what he had heard; he was worthy to be taken as a model by those Christians who reason and sit in judgment upon matters of faith. And yet, listen to the reproach made him by Jesus. It is merciful, and withal so severe! Jesus has so far condescended to the weakness of his disciple as to accept the condition on which alone he declares that he will believe: now that the disciple stands trembling before his risen Lord, and exclaims, in the earnestness of faith, ‘My Lord and my God!' oh! see how Jesus chides him! This stubbornness, this incredulity, deserves a punishment: the punishment is, to have these words said to him:

‘Thomas! thou hast believed, because thou hast seen!'

Then was Thomas obliged to believe before having seen? Yes, undoubtedly. Not only Thomas, but all the Apostles were in duty bound to believe the Resurrection of Jesus even before He showed Himself to them. Had they not lived three years with Him? Had they not seen Him prove Himself to be the Messias and the Son of God by the most undeniable miracles? Had He not foretold them that He would rise again on the third day? As to the humiliations and cruelties of His Passion, had He not told them, a short time previous to it, that He was to be seized by the Jews in Jerusalem, and be delivered to the Gentiles? that He was to be scourged, spit upon, and put to death? [St. Luke xviii 32, 33]

After all this, they ought to have believed in His triumphant Resurrection, the very first moment they heard of His Body having disappeared. As soon as John had entered the sepulcher, and seen the winding-sheet, he at once ceased to doubt; he believed. But it is seldom that man is so honest as this; he hesitates, and God must make still further advances, if He would have us give our faith! Jesus condescended even to this: He made further advances. He showed Himself to Magdalen and her companions, who were not incredulous, but only carried away by natural feeling, though the feeling was one of love for their Master. When the Apostles heard their account of what had happened, they treated them as women whose imagination had got the better of their judgment. Jesus had to come in person: He showed Himself to these obstinate men, whose pride made them forget all that He had said and done, sufficient indeed to make them believe in His Resurrection. Yes, it was pride; for faith has no other obstacle than this. If man were humble, he would have faith enough to move mountains.

To return to our Apostle. Thomas had heard Magdalen, and he despised her testimony; he had heard Peter, and he objected to his authority; he had heard the rest of his fellow-Apostles and the two disciples of Emmaus, and no, he would not give up his own opinion. How many there are among us who are like him in this! We never think of doubting what is told us by a truthful and disinterested witness, unless the subject touch upon the supernatural; and then we have a hundred difficulties. It is one of the sad consequences left in us by Original Sin. Like Thomas, we would see the thing ourselves: and that alone is enough to keep us from the fulness of the truth. We comfort ourselves with the reflection that, after all, we are disciples of Christ; as did Thomas, who kept in union with his brother-Apostles, only he shared not their happiness. He saw their happiness, but he considered it to be a weakness of mind, and was glad that he was free from it!

How like this is to our modern rationalistic Catholic! He believes, but it is because his reason almost forces him to believe; he believes with his mind, rather than from his heart. His faith is a scientific deduction, and not a generous longing after God and supernatural truth. Hence how cold and powerless is this faith! how cramped and ashamed! how afraid of believing too much! Unlike the generous unstinted faith of the Saints, it is satisfied with fragments of truth, with what the Scripture terms diminished truths. [Ps. xi 2] It seems ashamed of itself. It speaks in a whisper, lest it should be criticized; and when it does venture to make itself heard, it adopts a phraseology which may take off the sound of the Divine. As to those miracles which it wishes had never taken place, and which it would have advised God not to work, they are a forbidden subject. The very mention of a miracle, particularly if it have happened in our own times, puts it into a state of nervousness. The lives of the Saints, their heroic virtues, their sublime sacrifices—–it has a repugnance to the whole thing! It talks gravely about those who are not of the true religion being unjustly dealt with by the Church in Catholic countries; it asserts that the same liberty ought to be granted to error as to truth; it has very serious doubts whether the world has been a great loser by the secularization of society.

Now it was for the instruction of persons of this class that our Lord spoke those words to Thomas:

‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and have believed.'

Thomas sinned in not having the readiness of mind to believe. Like him, we also are in danger of sinning, unless our faith have a certain expansiveness, which makes us see everything with the eye of faith, and gives our faith that progress which God recompenses with a superabundance of light and joy. Yes, having once become members of the Church, it is our duty to look upon all things from a supernatural point of view. There is no danger of going too far, for we have the teachings of an infallible authority to guide us. ‘The just man liveth by faith.' [Rom. i. 17] Faith is his daily bread. His mere natural life becomes transformed for good and all, if only he be faithful to his Baptism. Could we suppose that the Church, after all her instructions to her neophytes, and after all those sacred rites of their Baptism which are so expressive of the supernatural life, would be satisfied to see them straightway adopt that dangerous system which drives faith into a nook of the heart and understanding and conduct, leaving all the rest to natural principles or instinct? No, it could not be so. Let us therefore imitate St. Thomas in his confession, and acknowledge that hitherto our faith has not been perfect. Let us go to our Jesus, and say to Him: ‘Thou art my Lord and my God! But alas! I have many times thought and acted as though thou wert my Lord and my God in some things, and not in others. Henceforth I will believe without seeing; for I would be of the number of those whom Thou callest blessed!'

This Sunday, commonly called with us Low Sunday, has two names assigned to it in the Liturgy: Quasimodo, from the first word of the Introit; and Sunday in albis [or, more explicitly, in albis depositis], because on this day the neophytes assisted at the Church services attired in their ordinary dress. In the Middle Ages it was called Close-Pasch, no doubt in allusion to its being the last day of the Easter Octave. Such is the solemnity of this Sunday that not only is it of Greater Double rite, but no feast, however great, can ever be kept upon it.

At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of St. Pancras, on the Aurelian Way. Ancient writers have not mentioned the reason of this Church being chosen for today's assembly of the faithful. It may, perhaps, have been on account of the Saint's being only fourteen years old, when put to death: a circumstance which gave the young Martyr a sort of right to have the neophytes round him, now that they were returning to their everyday life.

#low sunday

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orthodoxydaily · 5 years

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THOMAS SUNDAY 2019

Reflection written by Ever-memorable Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas (Edited for space and a teensy-weensy bit for clarity_by Father Basil Rhodes)

Photo: His Eminence Archbishop Dimitri of Dallas

When the disciples had gathered on the new Passover (Pascha), the Lord’s Day or Resurrection Day, Jesus entered the room where they were — "the doors being shut … for fear of the Jews" — stood in the midst of them and showed them His hands and side. Christ then greeted them with that salutation, retained by the Church through the ages, with which the priest greets the faithful at each of the important parts of the Divine Liturgy and other services: "Peace be unto you."....Continuing, we are told that the apostles "were glad when they saw the Lord." Once more Christ’s words prior to His Passion are brought to mind: "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one can take from you." (John 16: 22) This joy that our Lord promised His disciples is, like peace, that which is experienced in the Divine Presence. It is the same joy felt by Christians after all these centuries when they participate, through the divine worship of the Church, in the blessings of the Kingdom to come. Particularly in the Eucharist an almost inexplicable joy is experienced in an encounter with the risen Lord, in communion with His Holy Body and Blood. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." (John 6:56) In the Eucharistic gathering Christ’s glory is revealed to His disciples and they are thus strengthened and confirmed in their faith in the promises of Christ, ready to return to the world from which they were called out. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1Peter 2:9) (The Greek, “ecclesia,” from which we get the word Church means, called out.) Let’s continue:

Now "Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came," and when the others told Him, "we have seen the Lord." He, responded, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20: 24-25) Thomas is like so many of us in that he would require tangible, visible proof that Christ is really active in the lives of His people, caring for creation, and that He was what He claimed to be: "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." (John 14:9) Some today desire generally that kind of evidence even for God’s existence, "irrefutable" evidence making it impossible for man not to believe. That type of unquestionable, undeniable proof, we can say, will be put forth only at the end of this age, when "the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him" (Matthew 25:31). At that time it will indeed be quite impossible for anyone (although some may try in vain) to deny "the King of kings and the Lord of lords." (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 19:16)

God’s most important gift to man, that which identifies him as a creature made in the image of God, is free will. The Lord honors this gift. He loves man and would have man love Him freely in return. God, therefore, will not force man to accept Him, but would have him approach his Creator in faith and trust. We would do well to remember the example of St. John the Baptist. He bore witness to his Lord saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Yet after being arrested, in a moment of hesitation or doubt, the Forerunner sent his disciples to Christ asking, "Are you he that we expected, or should we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3) At first glance this question seems strange, indeed contradictory, for "the greatest born of women" to be asking. It is thus important to note that Jesus does not seek to answer it in some "definitive" way, irrefutable in John’s mind. Rather He responds in terms of an invitation, still beckoning His servant to place his trust freely in Him: "Go and relate to John again those things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, who does not stumble because of me." (Matthew 11:4-6)

Near the end of the Gospel passage, after Thomas exclaims, "My Lord and my God," Jesus says to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Faith: this is the way that God would have us come to Him. "Faith," says St. Paul, "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). People sometimes lament the fact that they did not live in Apostolic times when it would have been possible to see for themselves and talk face to face with the Incarnate Lord. In the minds of many, this would constitute tangible proof of God’s existence and alleviate any doubts concerning Christ. But would it? Israel was prepared for almost two thousand years for the coming of the Messiah. Miracles were performed by Him in the peoples’ midst. Yet, in the end, those who heard and saw Jesus for themselves wound up shouting, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." Only a few individuals stood with Him at the foot of the Cross. One really has to wonder seriously if we would have been any different given the chance. For regardless of how and when the Lord chooses to reveal Himself it is always possible, in freedom and because of sin, to explain away that revelation.

A primary emphasis here is that the historical period in which one exists makes no difference as far as one’s relationship to Christ is concerned and his or her ability to know the Truth and live by faith. We have the mystical Body of Christ, the Church’s sacramental, liturgical life, and the Lord’s promise to be with us always. We have "received the Heavenly Spirit," and are blessed with the examples, testimonies and presence of countless saints who have gone on before us. We are literally living, right now if you will, in Apostolic times. So it seems as though we are missing the mark if we begin to demand, from God or from ourselves, objective, factual knowledge in terms of "proof," before we can come to faith. At some point a "leap of faith," will be required, for as mentioned above, so-called concrete evidence can always be discarded if that is what is desired. On the other side of that "leap," though, is the knowledge that we all seek. Once there, there is no lack of proof. But without this faith no amount of knowledge or evidence will suffice. There will always be room for doubt, and opportunities for man in his "wisdom" to deny what is so plain and simple to all who have truly found the narrow path that leads to life. "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

#orrthodoxy #ancientchristianity #spirituality christian

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itsjustcommon · 6 years

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Early church fathers on Sola Scriptura

“They that are ready to spend their time in the best things will not give over seeking for truth until they have found the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves,”

—Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 7:16:3)

“We have known the method of our salvation by no other means than those by whom the gospel came to us; which gospel they truly preached; but afterward, by the will of God, they delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be for the future the foundation and pillar of our faith,”

—Irenaeus (Adv. H. 3:1)

“No man ought, for the confirmation of doctrines, to use books which are not canonized Scriptures,”

—Origen (Tract. 26 in Matt.)

“Whence comes this tradition? Does it descend from the Lord’s authority, or from the commands and epistles of the apostles? For those things are to be done which are there written . . . If it be commanded in the gospels or the epistles and Acts of the Apostles, then let this holy tradition be observed,”

—Cyprian of Carthage (Ep. 74 ad Pompeium)

“The Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are of themselves sufficient toward the discovery of truth. The Catholic Christians will neither speak nor endure to hear anything in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are not written,”

—Athanasius (Exhort. ad Monachas)

“How can we use those things which we do not find in the Holy Scriptures?”

—Ambrose (Ambr. Offic., 1:23)

“Not even the least of the divine and holy mysteries of the faith ought to be handed down without the divine Scriptures. Do not simply give faith to me speaking these things to you except you have the proof of what I say from the divine Scriptures. For the security and preservation of our faith are not supported by ingenuity of speech, but by the proofs of the divine Scriptures,”

—Cyril of Jerusalem (Cat. 4)

“Those things which they make and find, as it were, by apostolical tradition, without the authority and testimony of Scripture, the word of God smites. As we deny not those things that are written, so we refuse those things that are not written. That God was born of a virgin we believe, because we read it; that Mary did marry after she was delivered we believe not, because we do not read it,”

—Jerome (Adv. Helvidium)

#doctrine #sola scriptura #early church fathers #for future reference

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pope-francis-quotes · 6 years

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18th October >> (@VaticanNews) #PopeFrancis ~Pope Francis’ Homily during the celebration of Holy Mass spoke at Mass about three ways of living poverty in Christian life. #SantaMarta

Pope Mass: The three forms of povertyThis morning in his homily during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis dwells on the three ways of living poverty in the life of the Christian and reflects that even today there are many Christians persecuted for the Gospel.

In this morning's Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope speaks of the three forms of poverty to which the disciple is called: the first is to renounce riches, with a heart detached from money, the second is to accept persecution, large or small, even slander, because of the Gospel, and the third is the poverty of loneliness, to feel alone at the end of life. His reflection begins with the Collect Prayer, which emphasizes that through Saint Luke, the Lord wanted to reveal his predilection for the poor. The Gospel (Lk 10:1-9) then speaks of the sending of the 72 disciples into poverty - "do not carry a purse, bag or sandals" - because the Lord wants the disciple's path to be a poor one. The disciple attached to money or wealth is not a true disciple.

The poor disciple with a heart detached from wealth

Pope Francis' entire homily is, therefore, marked by the "three stages" of poverty in the life of the disciples, the three ways of living it. The first, in fact, is that of being detached from money and wealth and is "the condition for beginning the path of discipleship". It consists in having a "poor heart", so much so that "if in the apostolic work there is a need for structures or organizations that seem to be a sign of wealth, use them well - but be detached", the Pope warns. The rich young man of the Gospel, in fact, moved the heart of Jesus but was then unable to follow the Lord because he had "his heart attached to riches". "If you want to follow the Lord, choose the path of poverty and if you have riches because the Lord gave them to you, to serve others, your need to be, detached from them. The disciple must not be afraid of poverty, on the contrary: he must be poor", Pope Francis states clearly.

The poverty of persecution because of the Gospel

The second form of poverty is that of persecution. Always in the passage of today's Gospel, in fact, the Lord sends the disciples "like lambs in the midst of wolves". And even today there are many Christians persecuted and slanderedfor the Gospel:

Yesterday, in the Synod Hall a bishop from one of these countries where there is persecution spoke about a Catholic boy taken by a group of boys who hated the Church, fundamentalists; he was beaten and then thrown into a cistern with mud thrown on him until it came up to his neck.: "Say for the last time: do you give up Jesus Christ? - "No!". They threw a stone and killed him. We have all heard it. And this is not from the first centuries: this is from two months ago! It's an example. How many Christians today suffer physical persecution: "Oh, that's blasphemy! To the gallows!".

Pope Francis then recalled that there are also other forms of persecution: There is the persecution of slander, of rumours, and the Christian tolerates this "poverty" in silence. Sometimes it is necessary to defend oneself so as not to cause scandal... The small persecutions in the neighbourhood, in the parish... small, but they are the proof: the proof of poverty. It is the second form of poverty that the Lord asks of us. The first, to leave riches, not to be have ones heart attached to riches; the second, to accept humbly persecution, to tolerate persecution. This is a form of poverty.

The poverty of feeling abandoned

There is, then, a third form of poverty: that of solitude, of abandonment. An example of this is today’s First Reading , taken from the Second Letter to Timothy, in which the "great Paul", "who was not afraid of anything", says that in his first defence in court, no one assisted him: "everyone has abandoned me". But he adds that the Lord was close to him and gave him strength. Pope Francis dwells, therefore, on the abandonment of the disciple: how can it happen to a boy or a girl of 17 or 20 years old, who with enthusiasm leaves riches to follow Jesus, then "with strength and fidelity" tolerate "slander, daily persecution, jealousies", "small or large persecutions", and in the end the Lord can also ask of them "the final solitude ": I think of the greatest man in humanity, and this definition comes from the mouth of Jesus: John the Baptist; the greatest man born of a woman. Great preacher: people went to him to be baptized. How did it end? Alone; in prison. Just think, what of a cell and what were the cells of that time like, because if they are now like that, think of those ... Alone, forgotten, slaughtered for the weakness of a king, the hatred of an adulteress and the whim of a girl: that’s how it ended for the greatest man in history. And without going that far, many times in old people's homes where there are priests or nuns who have spent their lives preaching, they feel alone, only with the Lord, no one else to remember them.

All disciples know how to walk the path of poverty

There is a form of poverty that Jesus promised to Peter himself, telling him: "When you were a boy, you went where you wanted; when you are old, they will take you where you do not want to go. " The disciple is, therefore, poor, in the sense that he is not attached to riches and this is the first step. He is then poor because "he is patient before small or large persecutions", and - third step - he is poor because he enters into that state of mind of feeling abandoned at the end of life. In fact, Jesus' own path ends with that prayer to the Father: "Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?". The Pope's concluding invitation is, therefore, to pray for all the disciples, "priests, nuns, bishops, popes, laity", so that they "may know how to walk the path of poverty as is required by the Lord ".

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POPE FRANCIS

MASS

18 October 2018, 11:43

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wgpetersindia · 3 years

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RAPTURE, WHAT DOES THE HOLY BIBLE SAYS?

The book of Revelation Two Witnesses of JESUS [email protected]

We as Christians or Messianic peoples live in a Post-Pentecostal Scenario, if we carefully study the word of God/Jesus, it’s very very clear that we must be witnesses of Jesus rather than believers. His final instruction just before ascension was that Acts 1:8

“But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be MY WITNESSES both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

If we look Christian’s around the world, and all of them are comes under one umbrella, and that’s called BELIEVERS that includes Theologians, Clergy’s Pastors, Preachers, Apologists, Ministers etc.,

Why is it so important to be WITNESSES OF JESUS rather than BELIEVERS?

We need to go to the 1st century, early Apostles were not exception but born of sin, and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and become His disciples leaving behind their livelihood, yet they continued to be believers until the day of PENTECOST that happens after the departure of the Lord. Thereafter, all of them except a betrayer Judas Iscariot, became WITNESSES OF JESUS. Now it’s pretty clear before the Pentecostal day, all of them were with Jesus, witnessing the miracle Performance of the Lord, witnesses of His Preaching, debates with a Jews & Rabbis over 3 and half years but still they haven’t become WITNESSES OF JESUS according to the Lord himself, though He says in John 15:27

“And you also WILL BEAR WITNESS, because you have

been with me from the beginning”.

He uses the Future Tense because of the fact that still, they aren’t become witnesses. As it’s pretty well known to everybody that all of His disciples left their Lord alone in the Garden of Gethsemane when there was a threat to their lives, also it’s a known fact that all of His Apostles were martyred, glorifying their Lord wherever they went once they become witnesses. Therefore, remains as a believer for so many years isn’t an instruction by the LORD but to be a witness is what His command.

The difference is that Prior to the Pentecostal scenario all of the Apostles were just believers, even after the Lord breathed His Spirit on them before the ascension as described in John Gospel, all of them scattered, the reason was that they remained believers until the arrival of the HOLY SPIRIT, and thereafter only they were all become WITNESSES of JESUS as Acts 1:8, and then only the Great Commission described in Matthew 28 was effected. Thus, to embark ministry for the LORD JESUS CHRIST there’s a minimum eligibility is that to become witness of Jesus, or else they aren’t supposed to embark ministry for the Lord, however it’s unfortunate even after the Holy Bible was made available to the modern world so extensively, all of them haven’t figure out the fact or even tried to become witnesses of Jesus, and being believers they embarked ministries and broken the great Judea Christianity into multiple pieces. The Result was that the doctrinal deviations has become huge and over fifty thousand denominations within the span of 2000 years.

RAPTURE is not exception from the doctrinal deviations, and it’s the most misunderstanding subject of the Christian world, all of these deviations and deceptions taking place due to the flaw in the fundamental fact of the word of God. Rapture has a reality if the Lord returned during the days of early Apostles but the Lord didn’t return, and thereafter the Lord given details about the last days in the book of Revelation which wasn’t made available to the early Apostles except John who recorded it for the purpose to make it available to the subsequent generations, therefore when the book of Revelation came into effect which has the chronological events that proceeded to the Second coming of the Lord, and that’s the reason the rest of all other books of the Holy Bible are not that much significance as far as the end time is concerned. However, it’s the sequence of events that took place in the Past to the Present and to the future, and in this sequential order when the book of Revelation is effected then rest of other books speaks of the past has no much validation. In the Post-Pentecostal scenario, one must be witnesses of Jesus, if anybody lives as a believer then he’s like living in a Pre-Pentecostal scenario, and that he might not handle the word of God properly, and that’s the reason there are thousands of denominations has come up. Every denomination has their own concept of Rapture or any other doctrine of the Holy Bible, and nobody agree each other, some say pre-tribulation Rapture, some say Post-Tribulation Rapture, and some say mid-Tribulation Rapture, and every group has some portions of the scriptures as their support. After all, all of these people believes those Positions but there’s no PROOF’S for it.

As we approach the end times, it’s very clear that the book of Revelation is in effect, and letters to the Seven Churches of Asia implies that all of those Churches around the world are compacted, and it’s astonishing to note that all of the Churches have some sort of a doctrines, not of all that the Lord expected, and all of those Churches are rebuked by the Lord except only one, however there is no Church having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and all of the Churches are challenged by the Lord to over come certain barriers, and restore the Apostolic Ministry that existed during 1st century. Revelation 3:20

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me”.

Ephesus: To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life

Smyrna: The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Thyatira: To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Pergamum: The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

Sardis: The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.

Philadelphia: The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.

Laodicea: The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Thus, these seven Churches were promised Rewards by the Lord, and the call to all of them that partake in the Churches, but the Reward was promised only to an Individual. It’s clear the Phrase “The One Who Conquers” points that it’s not a corporate Out pouring of the Holy Spirit as it took place in the 1st century, and obviously that there is no greater gift God could ever give other than His Own Spirit as the HOLY SPIRIT, and each reward promised to the seven Churches are associated with a one gift, and that is the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT. Therefore, there’s only one could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and eventually become a Witness of JESUS or Temple of GOD or become like JESUS, so as to carry out the Ministry of early Apostles by starting where they left off, and accomplish the rest and that’s how the Apostolic Ministry of the 1st century shall come to an end by the Return of the LORD JESUS CHRIST in the 21st century.

The Plight of the Witnesses of JESUS has been described in the book of Revelation 11, the Two Witnesses, the one who conquered shall choose another of his choice, and both of them and their family has been described in Revelation chapter 12, and the subsequent chapters talks about various fulfilment that takes place during the days of the Two Witnesses, proceeding to the Second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Rapture” has been described as “Ascend” or “Come up here” spoken only to the “Two Witnesses of JESUS” in Revelation 11:12.

“Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them,

“Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them”.

Thus, the Rapture of the Church is meant only for the Two Witnesses, in fact the Church in the first century was begun on a Pentecostal day by the Reception of the Holy Spirit into the believers who were eventually become WITNESSES according to the earlier instruction of the LORD in Acts 1:8. The Apostolic Ministry was accomplished by the Witnesses, not by the believers who have no evidence for God and His Christ, meaning believers do not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ during His ministry instructed everybody to BELIEVE in Him. John 7:37-39

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever BELIEVES in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive,

for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

And some instances He asked them to believe on account of His miracles. John 14:11

“BELIEVE me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else

believe on account of the works themselves”.

By these references, it’s clear all of the Apostles and Apostolic believers received the HOLY SPIRIT on a Pentecostal day when they were assembled in the city of Jerusalem, and become WITNESSES of JESUS. Thereafter, either early Apostles has to Preach before the believers or Place their hands on believers so as to receive the HOLY SPIRIT, and all of them have become Witnesses of JESUS, and wherever they went preached the Gospel, and the Church was multiplied, and such scenario was over when an early Apostles departed.

Apostles warned once they departed scoffers shall come and destroy the flocks. Peter writes to Churches in 2 Peter 2:1-2.

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false

teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,

even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth

will be blasphemed”.

Thus, the Reception of the HOLY SPIRIT into an Individual sets the stage for the Second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ which would be followed once the Two Witnesses shall be killed in Jerusalem, Resurrect from the death after 3.5 days and Raptured or Ascend to heaven. And No believers shall be raptured to heaven as of proposed by the false teachers and false Preachers, and of them are believers to different lengths and ministering by the Unclean Spirit that they inherit from their Parent’s. During the ministry of the Lord, He made it very clear in John 15:5

“for without me ye can do nothing”

and Revelation 3:20 proves that the Lord isn’t in the Churches that exists prior to His return.

The believers have made so many concepts of the Biblical doctrines, and one of the concept is that the Two Witnesses of JESUS described in the Revelation chapter 11 were that the Old Testament figures like Enoch, Moses, and Elijah. The reasons for it, is that the repetition of miracles performed by Moses and Elijah, and another concept stem from the theory of death, as Enoch and Elijah didn’t die, so they had to be returned back to the planet earth and perform what they have done in the ancient world. However, the fulfilment of the words of JESUS shall only be fulfilled when someone become like JESUS and repeat what JESUS did back to the 1st century world. 1 John 2:6,

“whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

John says because of the fact that the Lord clearly instructed the disciples in His meeting near to the shores of Galilee, John 21 chapter and the instruction was that they must follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and even the instruction was so profound to Peter an Apostles “YOU FOLLOW ME” in verse 22.

If we go back to the 1st Century and study the Gospels and the Epistles, and notice the ministry of the early Apostles was centred on following their Master, and only by following JESUS, the instruction of the Lord that” You follow me” shall be accomplished, and it’s pretty well known to the early disciples that they can’t accomplish in their days, and it would take time, and that’s the reason they stressed to grow in the grace and knowledge of knowing JESUS in all of their letters. Thus, anybody have become like JESUS then he shall be able to repeat what JESUS did back then to the 21st century world. The book of Revelation 11 and the Two Witnesses of JESUS are assigned to do what JESUS did in the 1st century. The following facts are summarised to know the things needs to be repeated by the Apostles which are done by the Lord as part of the fulfilment of His words.

1.JESUS claimed to exist before Abraham was born in John 8:58. No, early Apostles claimed like that because it’s not possible by them and it has to be repeated, and in this regard the Lord said in Matthew 16:28,

“Truly, I say to you, there are SOME standing here who will not taste death

until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

So, the Two Witnesses of JESUS are able to claim to exist before 2000 years in the 21st century, so as to fulfil this saying of JESUS. The fact of the matter is that anyone who received the Holy Spirit into his physical body then eventually the age of the Holy Spirit is applicable to him, the age of the Holy Spirit is that the day of Pentecost of 1st century and up until now, that’s to say 1988 years as I write in this article, therefore, a person who received the Holy Spirit into his physical body can claim to exist before 2000 years, and that’s how this saying of the Lord shall be fulfilled, and believers have made a blunder mistake by articulating that this verse was fulfilled when the Lord took Peter, John and James to the Holy Mountain and transfigured, and that’s nothing to do with a second coming of the Lord because of the fact that the Lord not even ascended to heaven.

2.How do we know someone received the Holy Spirit into his physical body? There is only one way to receive the Holy Spirit into the physical body, and that’s by the Result of studying the word of God, not just studying the word of God without a Result. So, the Result of studying the word of God is the reception of the HOLY SPIRIT into the physical body by the Removal of the Unclean Spirit or Spirit inherited from the Parent’s. Therefore, anybody received the HOLY SPIRIT then eventually become a Temple of God. Jews back then demanded a Sign from heaven despite various explanation the Lord had given, but they didn’t understand and insisted a sign from heaven, and the Lord challenged by saying in John 2:19,

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.

The early disciples didn’t challenge like that to their brutal killers, there is no scriptures or any historical records but they knew pretty well to challenge powers of death like the Lord did, the mandate hasn’t been given to them but it’s given to the Christians who live prior to the Second coming of the Lord, and that anybody received the Holy Spirit and become a Temple of God and obviously the Temple of God can’t be destroyed by any power,

this’s the same the Two Witnesses are carrying out during their days of ministry.

3. No early disciples resurrect from the death as of the Lord, the Lord fulfilled what He challenged by resurrecting from the death on a 3rd day, and Jews back then didn’t come to the tomb to witness the resurrection of the Lord on 3rd day, and it’s there fault. Thus, the Two Witnesses shall challenge the Powers of death and repeat what the Lord did, by resurrecting from the death in 3.5 days as described in Revelation 11:11-12,

“But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them,

and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them,

“Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud,

and their enemies watched them”.

So, the Two Witnesses shall be RAPTURED or ASCEND to the heaven. The above explanations clearly point out that the mandate to Repeat these few things hasn’t been given to the early disciples, and it has been given in the book of Revelation 11, and obviously the book of Revelation wasn’t made available to them. These are the reasons, the ministry for the LORD JESUS CHRIST has to be carried from where early Apostles LEFT OFF and accomplished the rest, and that the Journey of the ministry of the early disciples shall only be ended when the Two Witnesses shall meet their Lord in Heaven fulfilling His instruction in John 21:22, YOU FOLLOW ME.

The Two Witnesses are in line with early disciples, being followers of their Lord. Old Testament figures like Enoch, Moses and Elijah were nothing to do with a New Testament. The Witnesses of JESUS were the title allotted only to the early Apostles, not to anybody, and it must only be a possibility when someone receives the HOLY SPIRIT irrespective of timeline. Thus, the concept of Old Testament figures are the result of the believers who have no the indwelling of the HOLY SPIRIT, nor they are authorised to embark ministry for the Lord, the Two Witnesses shall shut the mouth of the False Preachers who Preach of falsehood as it’s symbolically written in Revelation 11:6 that they have authority to shut that no rain may fall, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and on this planet was to destroy the works of devil that happens in men, so it point out symbolically that they turn water into blood that ultimately leads to destruction of living being in the water. The Two Witnesses and their Family has been written in Chapter 12 who have their roots from Jerusalem as of the Prophet Zacharias prophesied in Zachariah chapter 4:14. They have further rooted back to the family of Adam and Eve who had been created by God the Father.

As of now in the 21st century, the Two Witnesses of JESUS, the Truly Saved, Truly Repented, Truly Redeemed and truly Born Again has become LIKE JESUS, Luke 6:40 & fulfilling various end time scriptures, and at the appropriate time comes, they would be recognised by the world, and then the world would turn conducive to the word of God described in the book of Revelation 11, and until that happens no power can hurt them nor destroy them who now lives in South India, debating with a false teachers of Christianity, Judaism, Atheists and others, testifying the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the way the LORD did back then and reach to the city of Jerusalem for the Climax of the world and the Return of the MESSIAH who was slain, not for Himself but for all mankind, who was, and is and is to come, and His name be glorified for ever.

William G Peter [email protected]

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mattchase82 · 3 years

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Long time ago, the ancient great Church Fathers have warned about the heretics who have falsely interpreted the Scriptures and twisting them into their own destruction. As inspired by the Holy Spirit, these ancient Fathers have foreseen the dangerous times to come that many, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Church, would twist what the Words of God said. Although, many heretics have already twisted the Scriptures since the earliest days of the Church, the biggest did occur in 1517, when archheretic Martin Luther, encouraged everyone to read and interpret the Bible for themselves which led into an unthinkable fragmentation of Christianity because of the false interpretation.

(St. Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202))

“Where, therefore, the gifts of the Lord have been placed, there it behooves us to learn the truth, namely, from those who possess that succession of the Church which is from the apostles and among whom exists that which is sound and blameless in conduct, as well as that which is unadulterated and incorrupt in speech. For these also preserve this faith of ours in one God who created all things; and they increase that love which we have for the Son of God, who accomplished such marvellous dispensations for our sake: and they expound the Scriptures to us without danger, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonouring the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets.” (Against Heresies , 4, 26, 2, 5; Ch. 26 is entitled “THE TRUE EXPOSITION OF THE SCRIPTURES IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CHURCH ALONE “)

(St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215))

“Now all men, having the same judgment, some, following the Word speaking, frame for themselves proofs; while others, giving themselves up to pleasures, wrest Scripture, in accordance with their lusts …. But such people, in consequence of falling away from the right path, err in most individual points; as you might expect from not having the faculty for judging of what is true and false, strictly trained to select what is essential. For if they had, they would have obeyed the Scriptures. As, then, if a man should, similarly to those drugged by Circe, become a beast; so he, who has spurned the ecclesiastical tradition, and darted off to the opinions of heretical men, has ceased to be a man of God and to remain faithful to the Lord . But he who has returned from this deception, on hearing the Scriptures, and turned his life to the truth, is, as it were, from being a man made a god…. And if those also who follow heresies venture to avail themselves of the prophetic Scriptures ; in the first place they will not make use of all the Scriptures, and then they will not quote them entire, nor as the body and texture of prophecy prescribe. But, selecting ambiguous expressions, they wrest them to their own opinions, gathering a few expressions here and there; not looking to the sense, but making use of the mere words.

(Stromata , Bk 7, Ch. 16)

(Tertullian of Carthage (c.160- c.225 ))

“Since this is the case, in order that the truth may be adjudged to belong to us , ‘as many as walk according to the rule,’ which the church has handed down from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, and Christ from God, the reason of our position is clear, when it determines that heretics ought not to be allowed to challenge an appeal to the Scriptures, since we, without the Scriptures, prove that they have nothing to do with the Scriptures . For as they are heretics, they cannot be true Christians, because it is not from Christ that they get that which they pursue of their own mere choice, and from the pursuit incur and admit the name of heretics. Thus, not being Christians, they have acquired no right to the Christian Scriptures ; and it may be very fairly said to them, ‘Who are you? When and whence did you come? As you are none of mine, what have you to do with that which is mine?'” ( The Prescription Against Heretics , chapters 37; ANF, Vol. III)

(Origen of Alexandria (c. 185-c. 254))

“Now the cause, in all the points previously enumerated, of the false opinions, and of the impious statements or ignorant assertions about God, appears to be nothing else than the not understanding the Scripture according to its spiritual meaning, but the interpretation of it agreeably to the mere letter. And therefore, to those who believe that the sacred books are not the compositions of men, but that they were composed by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, agreeably to the will of the Father of all things through Jesus Christ, and that they have come down to us, we must point out the ways (of interpreting them) which appear (correct) to us, who cling to the standard of the heavenly Church of Jesus Christ according to the succession of the apostles.” (First Principles , 4,1:9)

(St.Lactantius (c. 240-c. 320))

“They were perverted from the right path, and

corrupted the sacred writings , so that they composed for themselves a new doctrine without any root and stability. But some, enticed by the prediction of false prophets, concerning whom both the true prophets and he himself had foretold, fell away from the knowledge of God, and left the true tradition.” ( The Divine Institutes , Book IV, Chapter 30; ANF, Vol. VII)

(St.Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315-368))

“For there is brought forward against us the declaration of Wisdom concerning itself, when it taught that it was created in these words: ‘The Lord created Me for the beginning of His ways’ (Prov 8:22). And, O wretched heretic ! You turn the weapons granted to the Church against the Synagogue, against belief in the Church’s preaching , and distort against the common salvation of all the sure meaning of a saving doctrine. For you maintain by these words that Christ is a creature….” (On the Trinity , 12:36).

(St.Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 297-373))

“But, beyond these sayings of Scripture, let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, the Apostles preached and the Fathers kept.” ( To Serapion 1:28; after citing biblical passages concerning the deity of the Holy Spirit)

“But after him and with him are all inventors of unlawful heresies , who indeed refer to the Scriptures, but do not hold such opinions as the saints have handed down, and receiving them as the traditions of men, err , because they do not rightly know them nor their power.” (Festal Letter 2:6)

“But since they allege the divine oracles Scripture and force on them a misinterpretation, according to their private sense , it becomes necessary to meet them just so far as to vindicate these passages, and to show that they bear an orthodox sense, and that our opponents are in error…. This then I consider the sense of this passage , and that, a very ecclesiastical sense .” ( Discourse Against the Arians 1:37, 44)

(St.Ephraem the Syrian (c. 306-373))

“ All the heretics acknowledge that there is a true Scripture . Had they all falsely believed that none existed, some one might reply that such Scripture was unknown to them. But now that have themselves taken away the force of such plea, from the fact that they have mutilated the very Scriptures. For they have corrupted the sacred copies; and words which ought to have but one interpretation, they have wrested to strange significations . Whilst, when one of them attempts this, and cuts off a member of his own body, the rest demand and claim back the severed limb…. It is the church which perfect truth perfects . The church of believers is great, and its bosom most ample; it embraces the fulness (or, the whole) of the two Testaments.” ( Hymns Against Heresies )

(St. Basil the Great (c. 330-379))

“The one aim of the whole band of opponents and enemies of ‘sound doctrine’ (1 Timothy 1:10) is to shake down the foundation of the faith of Christ by levelling apostolic tradition with the ground, and utterly destroying it . So like the debtors,— of course bona fide debtors— they clamor for written proof, and reject as worthless the unwritten tradition of the Fathers . But we will not slacken in our defence of the truth. We will not cowardly abandon the cause. The Lord has delivered to us as a necessary and saving doctrine that the Holy Spirit is to be ranked with the Father. Our opponents think differently, and see fit to divide and rend asunder, and relegate Him to the nature of a ministering spirit. Is it not then indisputable that they make their own blasphemy more authoritative than the law prescribed by the Lord ? Come, then, set aside mere contention.” ( The Holy Spirit, 10:25; NPNF 2, Vol. VIII)

(Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-387))

“ Learn also diligently, and from the Church, what are the books of the Old Testament, and what those of the New. And, pray, read none of the apocryphal writings….”( Catechetical Lectures , IV, 33; NPNF 2, Vol. VII)

“Now these things we teach, not of our own invention, but having learned them out of the divine Scriptures used in the Church , and chiefly from the prophecy of Daniel just now read; as Gabriel also the Archangel interpreted it, speaking thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall surpass all kingdoms. And that this kingdom is that of the Romans, has been the tradition of the Church’s interpreters .” ( Catechetical Lectures , XV, 13; NPNF 2, Vol. VII)

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irene-matta-blog · 6 years

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Our new television program airs locally on Central Coast of California: we post each one on Youtube.com search “Judith Irene Matta”; my work in Orthodox Theology began in 1981 with the Holy Spirit giving us the name “Irenaeus” to begin our studies of Protestant charismatic heresies. Our book is available chronicling this journey from our Spirit-filled St. Irenaeus of Lyon (”Against Heresies” and “Proof of Apostolic Preaching”) into the Lord’s Holy Orthodox Church of which Irenaeus speaks. He is successor to the Apostle John, also called “the Theologian” because of his Gospel written explaining the depth of the God-Man Jesus Christ in the events of His Life, Passion and Resurrection. Glory to God for all things, enabling us to add present our Orthodox voice “in the wilderness” of our American and European churches lost in philosophies of Man.

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signmynamex · 3 years

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Before beginning this article, let me say that I have been a follower of Jesus of Nazareth since I was thirteen years old. I was ordained as a minister in the Christian Religion in 1972, and have spent more than thirty years in service as a minister to that religion. I feel, therefore, that I have an established understanding of what Christianity teaches, and am able to speak candidly about that faith. Without the slightest hesitation, I can say that I love Jesus and deeply respect his teachings... but I am no longer a Christian.

The foundation question that must be asked before asking if Jesus was a Taoist, is to ask if Jesus was a "Christian." This question probably evokes laughter from some, and others would exclaim with contempt, "Of course he was! The Christian Religion is founded on Jesus and his teachings!" I beg to adamantly differ with you.

Christianity was not founded on Jesus nor his teachings. Jesus was a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth who never gave the slightest indication that he intended to leave the Jewish faith nor institute a new religion. On the contrary, Jesus followed the Jewish law and encouraged others to do so. He was circumcised on the eighth day and attended the Jewish feasts in Jerusalem. He would, in fact, die while attending a Passover Feast in Jerusalem. When he cleansed the lepers, he told them to go to the Temple and make the proper religious offering according to the Jewish law. Even when he was disgusted with the hypocrisy of the leaders of his religion, he told his followers to obey the Chief Priest because he "...sat in Moses seat."

The single motive of Jesus seems to have been the reform of his own faith. When approached by a non-Jewish woman in search of his favors, he told her that he had been sent to the "...lost sheep of Israel." The scriptures teach that it was his custom to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath day... a habit that he maintained until his death.

Those people who followed him were also Jews. When he died he was removed from the cross early because the Jewish Sabbath was about to begin, a clear indication that his closest followers were still devout Jews. His followers buried him in a Jewish burial place according to Jewish customs. Later on, when the Apostles had a difference with Paul of Tarsus, it was over the matter of circumcision and the keeping of the Jewish law. Again, this is tacit proof that the Apostles were still very much orthodox Jews with no intention of leaving their religion.

If Jesus had intended to start a new religion, he would have certainly committed some of the things he intended to be taught or observed in his religion into written documents. No such documents exist. In fact, there is not the slightest reliable indication that Jesus ever wrote anything, even though we know that he could read and write, and was educated so well in the Jewish law that he was able to impress the scholars at Jerusalem with his brilliant scholarship when he was 12 years old.

There were a number of Jewish sects in the region where Jesus lived. A Jewish sect would be like a Christian denomination. There were the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Essenes, the Herodians, and a number more. It is obvious, I believe, that Jesus did intend to start a new sect, because he clearly appointed leaders in his group, but the thought of beginning a new religion separate from the Jewish faith was unthinkable to Jesus. If so, three questions need to be asked. First, If Jesus did not found Christianity, then who did? Second, Who originated the central beliefs of the Christian Church if Jesus did not? And third, what did Jesus intend to be taught in his new sect?

It is clear to any honest student of the Christian religion that Paul of Tarsus was the founder of Christianity. Therefore, it would behoove us to have a close look at this fellow Paul. He began his life as a rigid, devout Pharisee, probably the most conservative sect (denomination) within the Jewish religion. There is not the slightest indication from New Testament Scripture that Paul ever saw Jesus nor heard a single lesson Jesus ever taught. Paul had a "vision" on the road to Damascus. Even in the vision there is no indication that he actually saw Jesus, but he did see a "light." This vision, much like the vision of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith, was a major turning point in his life.

Paul did not seek out the Apostles of Jesus after this vision, as one would expect, so that he might be instructed in the fundamentals of this new Jewish sect. Instead he set off for the wilderness where he spent several years developing his very own, unique, never before heard or taught set of doctrines which became the foundation of a new religion which he personally forged from these novel ideas - many of which were 180 degrees out from the teachings of Jesus, whom he had never actually heard. He was never appointed an Apostle by the authorities in Jerusalem, and, in point of fact, boasted about this fact in the first chapter of Galatians. He claimed his appointment to be an Apostle was an act of God.

Based solely upon his personal reason and logic, this prolific writer and charismatic speaker redefined the sect that Jesus had founded. He now preached a radical new idea that righteousness was no longer a requirement for salvation. He said that righteousness was now a matter of correct "thinking" rather than correct "actions." It boiled down to what you "believed" rather than what you "did." This was, of course, the exact opposite message of Jesus who repeatedly admonished people to practical acts of compassion and righteousness, warning them that if their righteousness did not exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, they would not "see" the Kingdom of Heaven.

Most significantly, Paul prescribed a new way to have your sins forgiven. He now preached that you must accept Jesus as being none other than "God" if you wanted your sins forgiven. He of course had not heard Jesus, nor those who had firsthand knowledge of him, when he made this pronouncement. Jesus had said that no one was good except the "Father" in Heaven, hardly something he would have said if he thought of himself as God. He had never claimed the attributes of God. He grew in "wisdom" just as other children did. He learned to walk, talk, run, and play just like all the other children in Nazareth. He had to be "potty trained" just like the other children, and his mother Mary wiped his nose and cleaned his behind. When hungry one day in Jerusalem, he hiked over to a fig tree to see if it had any figs on it. Had he been God, he would have known whether or not it had figs. When it didn't have figs, he lost his temper just like you and me.

Paul's new formula for the forgiveness of sins was totally at odds with Jesus' formula. Jesus had said that if you want your Father in heaven to forgive for you sins, you must simply forgive those who sin against you. When asked by a young lawyer what was necessary to obtain eternal life, Jesus had replied, "Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will have eternal life." This simple answer from the mouth of Jesus was drastically out of line with early Christianity's highly exclusive formula about accepting Jesus as "God," being baptized, being "confirmed," celebrating the Eucharist, etc. etc. etc. It is clearly obvious to any honest student of the New Testament that Jesus and what he taught do not resemble Christianity and what it teaches. Paul's religion, when devoid of illogical defense, boils down to a primitive religion with a deity demanding a literal "human sacrifice" for his appeasement. Paul would make Jesus be that sacrifice in his theology.

Questions one and two mentioned above can therefore be answered with one word, "Paul." Paul founded the Christian religion. Paul originated its creed. He began to preach that baptism should take the place of circumcision. This concept was foreign to the official group of Apostles in Jerusalem. The very fact that these Apostles were still obedient to the command of circumcision is once again proof that they were Jews with no intention of leaving the Jewish faith. They merely wanted to found a new "movement" or "sect" within the broader Jewish religion. To them, being a follower of their movement did not preclude you from participation in every Jewish rite, ritual, and feast. It would be like a Baptist man today who was also a member of the Lion's Club. One had very little to do with the other in their eyes. To them. Belonging to their sect would only make you a better Jew and member of the Synagogue.

Paul, however, had other ideas. He came to the first Church Council in Jerusalem and argued that Greeks and non-Jews should be included in the new sect. He further argued that these new members should not be circumcised or become Jews. The Apostles had no problem with their becoming members of the new sect as long as the outsiders became Jews. Paul, the eloquent speaker and brilliant debater won the day and a brand new religion, outside the Jewish faith, was born in Jerusalem on that fateful day. Because Paul was by far a more educated man than the fishermen and tradesmen who made up the Apostolic Brotherhood, and because Paul was brilliant in the arena of debate, and chiefly, because Paul was a prolific writer who wrote more books on the new Christian Religion than any other person, Paul's new religion spread like wildfire, while the narrow Jewish sect that had hoped to be a reform movement in Judaism withered down to nothing.

By 312 AD Paul's new religion had adherents throughout the kingdom, chiefly because of Paul and his companions untiring efforts at evangelizing and proselytizing from one end of the empire to the other. When Constantine made Paul's Christianity the State Religion in the Empire, the new faith quickly absorbed many of the pagan customs, rituals, feasts, and holidays of the various religions of the realm and swallowed up massive population groups. Deliverance from hell could now only come by complete obedience to the Bishops and Priests of the new Church, giving Constantine immense power over the populace. Many were forced to accept Paul's religion by threat of physical harm. It is a matter of record that the Christian Church killed more people during the first hundred years after becoming a legal religion of the realm, than had all its persecutors during the one hundred years prior to 312 AD.

The final question previously asked, might be a bit harder to answer. What did Jesus intend to teach in his new sect? Of course, there is the obvious answer: he intended to teach the simple message of the early gospels which taught a path to peace with God that included only two elements; loving God and loving one another. One thing can be determined with certainty: he did not intend to have a set of written beliefs - a creed, if you will. Had he intended this for his sect, it is obvious that he would have written it himself. No other possibility makes any kind of logical sense at all.

He was intelligent, schooled, and able to read and write. He opened the scrolls in the synagogue when it was his turn to teach and he read the Scriptures. He wanted no creed for his new sect because he wrote no creed for his new sect. He wrote nothing because nothing needed to be written. This idea of living by intuition and practical goodness without a set of written commands is Taoist to the core. Ancient Taoism had no creed and does not presume to tell a single individual how he/she must behave.

The rest of what Jesus intended must be inferred by the example of his living. He lived very simply. He told his followers to go about spreading their message taking no provisions for their journey. He said that while foxes had holes, he had no place to call home. He practiced simplicity to the very extreme. When he was hungry, he plucked corn in the fields to eat as he walked along the way, having brought nothing to eat for himself. This life of utter simplicity is a foundation teaching of Taoism. It is repeated over and over in Taoist thought... simplicity... simplicity... simplicity.

Jesus taught humility. He told his disciples that the least among them should be counted the greatest. He told them to lead by serving and not by demanding. It grieved him when they tried to maneuver themselves to positions of higher authority or esteem.

Little could he have possibly imagined that a religion would one day be established in his name whose leader would be called the "Supreme Pontiff" who would dwell in the largest, most posh palace in the entire world where people would vie for the opportunity to have audience with him and kiss his feet. Could he have dreamed of the vast treasures of wealth and art that would one day be hoarded in Vatican vaults under lock and key in his name while thousands of the people he loved so much went without the basic necessities of life? No, Jesus taught humility. Humility is a core foundation of Taoism. One of the three treasures of Taoism mentioned in the Tao Te Ching, is humility.

Jesus taught simple, even illogical, trust in the Father. He told people not to worry about what they would wear or what they would eat. He told them not to practice what they were going to say when questioned about their faith. He told them tomorrow has enough problems of its own, just live in the moment. Trust in the Tao - the loving "Spring" of all existence - is a foundation in Taoism. Living in the moment and flowing like water, allowing the circumstances of the day to dictate the acts of spontaneity that propel us forward, are pure Taoism.

Jesus taught that knowledge cultivated apart from intuitive reflection was of no value. He told his followers to consider the lilies of the field, and the carefree manner in which they addressed each day. Any yet they were arrayed in royal splendor. They didn't struggle to "be", they just were. He told them to consider the birds of the air and how they survived on intuition alone without forced intention. He even sat a small child before them, ignorant and unlearned, and told them that they must be as the child to "see the kingdom of heaven." He placed no value in the wisdom of the learned mind and repeatedly lifted up the ideal of teaching by example and common sense fueled by compassion. This truth that the things worth knowing are known intuitively in the depths of the human heart and cannot be learned nor taught is a foundation of Taoism.

Jesus practiced a "live and let live" kind of life. When those outside his religion approached him, there is not a single instance of his taking the typical Christian position of "You must be "saved" in the manner prescribed by my religion to enter Heaven." There are no instances of him telling anyone outside his own faith that they needed to adopt his faith. When a Pagan Roman Centurion approached him about healing his sick child, Jesus not only granted his request, but as he walked away he exclaimed, "I have not seen faith this great in all of Israel." Never is there the first indication of his proclaiming exclusivity in matters of spirituality to this man at a point in the grateful man's life when he would have definitely been willing to listen. Jesus knew that spiritual peace was not a matter of lining up brain cells to fire in the proper sequence to believe certain dogma, but rather, in a life of humble simplicity and service to others.

For the Taoist, spiritual peace is achieved by living a life of absolute child-like trust in the One beyond our ability to understand and comprehend; in a life of humility where good works are performed without the desire for recognition or ego-bulging praise; in a life of simplicity where "less is better"; in a life lived in spontaneity where we trust the Tao to provide and direct the course of the day's events; and finally in a life of compassion toward others, allowing them to progress spiritually in their own time and way. Does this path sound familiar?

For most of my life I have been a Taoist - but I did not know it. Perhaps that's the way it was for Jesus. I lived as a minister in the Christian Religion, daily forcing my mouth to say things that my heart did not truly believe. This horrible way of living brought me much misery and even a breakdown in my health. Finally, my Teachers from the Other Side brought me to the shores of this ancient Ocean of pristine Wisdom, thousands of years older than Christianity. I stood in humble awe. The crude, leaky vessel of my Christian faith was no longer needed or adequate. The time-worn ship of intuitive experience had brought me to the ever-waiting shores of enlightenment.

Was Jesus a Taoist? He was definitely not a Christian. He lived his life as a Jew but, like me, was in constant conflict with the faith of his youth. He was in so much conflict with his faith that its leaders finally killed him for his demands for reform.

Was Jesus a Taoist? He was more Taoist than he was Christian. He was more Taoist than he was Jewish. His message was clearly more Taoist than either of these religions.

Forty-one years after officially becoming a Christian, I made the conscious decision to make a sincere effort to imitate the life of Jesus of Nazareth. That is precisely why I could no longer be part of the Christian religion. Was Jesus a Taoist? All things considered, if we carefully consider the religion he practiced rather than professed, I believe he was.

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gospelmusic · 4 years

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Dunamis Seeds of Destiny: 19 August 2020 - Explosion of the Gospel and the Move of the Spirit by Pastor Paul Enenche

The nations of the earth where the gospel has not yet reached will be reached with the gospel before the Master returns. Tribes and languages of people that have not been reached yet will experience the explosion of the gospel. SCRIPTURE: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: A major sign of the end time is the explosion of the gospel to reach every inhabited corner of the earth. Yesterday, we looked at the restoration of the nation of Israel and their language as a sign of the end time. Today, we shall look at more signs of the end time according to scripture. 1. The explosion of the gospel Matthew 24:14 says, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. A major sign of the end time is the explosion of the gospel to reach every inhabited corner of the earth. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The nations of the earth where the gospel has not yet reached will be reached with the gospel before the Master returns. Tribes and languages of people that have not been reached yet will experience the explosion of the gospel. And this is already happening – people who have not heard about Jesus Christ before are now beginning to hear about Him. The uttermost parts of the earth are being invaded with the gospel the way it happened during the days of Philip where the Ethiopian eunuch was reached with the gospel (Act 8:27-39). This shows that the end is near. 2. The explosion of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:28 says, And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: The end time is also characterised by the explosion of the power and move of the Holy Ghost like never before. In the end time, we shall experience the Holy Ghost primitive apostolic revival. The Power of the Spirit shall explode in schools, market places, factories, and offices. God shall be visiting the earth with His Power because the end of time is at hand. And the stage is set for that move now. Beloved, my counsel is: don’t just fold your hands watching the events of the end time as they unfold. Be involved in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Be involved in the move of the Spirit and what God is doing at this time of the end. Refuse to be left behind. Remember this: A major sign of the end time is the explosion of the gospel to reach every inhabited corner of the earth. ASSIGNMENTS: 1. Go through today’s message again. 2. Make up your mind to be involved in the work of God in this end time. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. Refuse to be left behind; Christ is coming soon. PRAYER: O Lord, I ask that You use me to be an agent of revival in this end time. Make me a channel for the transmission of the Gospel and Your Spirit to the ends of the earth, Lord, in Jesus’ Name. FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: SURVIVING THE LAST DAYS. QUOTE: To make full proof of Ministry is to justify the reason why you left your profession to preach the Gospel. Culled from “MAKING FULL PROOF OF MINISTRY” by Dr Paul Enenche. DAILY READING: Jeremiah 40-42 AMAZING FACT: If allowed to grow for their whole lifetime, the length of someone’s hair would be about 725 kilometres. PROPHETIC DECLARATION/WORD: You shall not be left behind in the move of God in this end time in Jesus’ Name. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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A Padre Pio Inspirational Story

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/padre-pio-inspirational-story-harold-baines/?published=t

Father Denys Pierre Auvray

***

Prayer was the key to Padre Pio’s existence and the guarantee of his mission. Prayer was his daily activity. He also dedicated many hours of the night to prayer. It was the task which he felt was particularly his own and which drew upon him the attention of the whole world. At the altar, in his cell, or in the monastery garden, with his hands folded in prayer or holding his Rosary, his world was God — to be contemplated, to be praised, to be entreated, to be propitiated. More than anything else, his was a life of prayer, of uninterrupted conversation with God. — Father Fernanado of Riese Pio X

***

Father Denys Pierre Auvray, a French priest of the Dominican Order, visited Padre Pio for the first time in 1956. Father Denys was able to talk with Padre Pio during the Capuchins’ recreation period, when Padre Pio and the others took a short break from their busy schedules. Since Father Denys did not speak Italian, he spoke to Padre Pio in Latin. Among all the brown-robed Capuchins who were gathered together that day, Father Denys stood out in his long white wool Dominican habit.

Father Denys was very happy that he had been able to talk to Padre Pio but he knew that it would be much better if he could converse with him in Italian rather than Latin. He also had a great desire to make his confession to Padre Pio. He decided to study the Italian language so that he could communicate freely with Padre Pio and receive spiritual direction from him.

Father Denys made many return trips to San Giovanni Rotondo. When he visited, he frequently lodged at the Villa Pia hotel, not far from the Capuchin monastery. One afternoon when he returned to his room at the Villa Pia, he noticed that it was pervaded by a strong perfume. It had happened on more than one occasion and he became very concerned. He spoke to Luigi, one of the employees at the hotel, and voiced a complaint. “Someone is sneaking into my room when I am out and I am very upset. I always keep my door locked when I am away but I believe that a woman has been unlocking my door and going inside. I have proof because there is a strong scent of perfume that is still lingering inside the room.” In order to prove his point, he invited Luigi to step inside his room.

Luigi entered Father Denys’ room and noticed the fragrance at once. He did his best to explain the phenomenon to Father Denys. “The fragrance in your room is not because a lady has been coming in while you are away,” Luigi said. “The fragrance is from Padre Pio.”

Luigi explained to Father Denys that sometimes Padre Pio made his presence known by a wonderful fragrance. As he was talking to Father Denys, the room suddenly became pervaded with the strong scent of incense. “You see,” said Luigi. “Now we notice the fragrance of incense. It just so happens that Padre Pio is at the church right now presiding at the Benediction service.” The penetrating fragrance of Padre Pio’s perfume stayed in Father Denys’ room for the next fifteen days.

During Father Denys’ visits to San Giovanni Rotondo, he met many of the people who collaborated with Padre Pio in his apostolic works. Dr. Guglielmo Sanguinetti was one of those individuals. Emilia Sanguinetti, the doctor’s wife, told Father Denys that she made it a practice to go to confession to Padre Pio once each week. On one occasion when she was making her confession, she noticed that Padre Pio’s face was swollen. There was also a small cut on his face. She asked him about it and he told her that the injury occurred when he was reciting the exorcism prayers over a woman who was possessed. At that moment, the devil struck him. Padre Pio told Emilia that if he had received the blow just a millimeter lower, it would have taken out his eye.

At the monastery of Our Lady of Grace, there were generally always long lines of people waiting to make their confession to Padre Pio. Father Denys was impressed by the fact that Padre Pio met thousands of people in his lifetime, but he saw each person as an individual. He marveled at Padre Pio’s gifts of discernment and reading of hearts.

Father Denys was speaking with Padre Pio on one occasion when he made a comment about the weather. “What is it about San Giovanni Rotondo? It certainly rains too much. It rains almost constantly!” Father Denys remarked. “Yes, it does rain a lot here,” Padre Pio replied. “But here it also rains the Asian flu.” Evidently Padre Pio could sense what was about to happen, because shortly after he spoke the words, Father Denys came down with the Asian flu.

Father Denys heard much talk about Padre Pio’s love for the angels. Every day at the monastery, Father Denys observed that Padre Pio prayed to St. Michael the Archangel. One day, he asked Padre Pio, “Are the angels really present to you? Are they with you when you retire for the night and do they ever help you get to sleep?” “Yes, they are with me,” Padre Pio replied. “They help me get to sleep unless they are coming to deliver a message from my spiritual children. In that case, they come to wake me up.”

On one occasion, Father Denys sent his guardian angel to Padre Pio. It happened when he was preaching a retreat to a religious order of nuns in the seaside town of Biarritz, in the southwest part of France. During the retreat, he suddenly began to feel very ill. Worried that he might not be able to continue with the program, Father Denys prayed with urgency to his guardian angel. “Dear guardian angel,” he prayed, “Please take a message to Padre Pio for me. Tell him that I am very sick and I need his prayers so that I can recover. Otherwise, I do not see how I can complete this retreat.” To Father Denys’ great relief, he soon began to feel better and he managed to preach all the sermons in the retreat.

Later, Father Denys wrote a letter to one of the Capuchins at Our Lady of Grace monastery. He explained that he had sent his guardian angel to Padre Pio and he wanted to know if Padre Pio had received the message. The Capuchin wrote back to Father Denys and told him that he had spoken to Padre Pio about the matter. Padre Pio said that Father Denys’ guardian angel had paid him a visit. Padre Pio hoped that Father Denys was feeling better and he had been praying for him ever since he had received the angelic message regarding his illness.

From time to time, Father Denys was troubled by various health issues. He told Padre Pio that if the state of his health improved, he wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He had always had a desire to go there. “If I become stronger physically, I would like to go on pilgrimage in thanksgiving to God for the blessing of good health,” Father Denys said. “Of course, Divine Providence would have to assist me, because the expenses of such a trip would be enormous, far more than I would be able to afford.” Padre Pio listened to Father Denys but made no comment.

One day, in the hotel dining room, Father Denys met a couple from Lebanon, Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert. Father Denys enjoyed the fact that he could converse with them in his native French. They told Father Denys that they had come to San Giovanni Rotondo in order to ask Padre Pio for his prayers. Their son had died tragically in an accident in India just three months previously.

Father Denys felt very sorry for the couple. He knew that it was almost impossible for the pilgrims to speak to Padre Pio privately. There were visitors at the monastery from all parts of the world. Almost everyone had a desire to speak to Padre Pio. The Capuchins were very protective and did their best to shield Padre Pio from the crowds. Because Father Denys was a priest, he had easier access to Padre Pio. He decided to speak to Padre Pio and see if he could arrange for Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert to meet him.

Father Denys went to the monastery and told Padre Pio about Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert. “The couple’s son has recently died,” Father Denys said. “They have come here to ask you for your prayers,” he added. “All right,” Padre Pio answered. “I will be happy to pray for their son.” “But they have a great desire to meet you and to speak to you,” Father Denys said. “It will not be necessary,” Padre Pio replied. “But it is necessary,” Father Denys answered. “They need to see you.”

That afternoon, Padre Pio presided at the Benediction service, just like he did every day. After Benediction, Father Denys told Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert to follow him into the sacristy. Padre Pio would be there shortly. When Padre Pio came into the sacristy, Father Denys introduced him to the couple and said, “Padre Pio, this is the couple I was telling you about. Their son died three months ago.“ Mr. DeChabert had a photograph of his son, and he gave it to Padre Pio. Padre Pio held the photo in his hand and looked at it in silence. Finally, he blessed it. Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert felt greatly consoled.

Father Denys was always happy whenever he had a chance to spend time with Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert. Since the couple lived in Lebanon, Father Denys told them that he had always been interested in the Holy Land. He asked them if they had ever traveled there and they replied that they had. “I am particularly interested in Jerusalem,” Father Denys said. “Have you ever been there?” he asked the couple. “Of course we have,” Mr. DeChabert replied. “It is only an hour plane ride from where we live in Beirut. And you, have you ever been to the Holy Land?” Mr. DeChabert asked. “No, I have not,” Father Denys replied. “I have always wanted to go there but my health is not the best and besides, I would never be able to afford it.” “It wouldn’t be expensive at all,” Mr. DeChabert said. “It would be free. I am going to give you a first-class ticket. I am the Director of Public Transportation in Lebanon.”

Father Denys was astonished. He thought about his lifelong desire to visit the Holy Land and he remembered the time he had spoken to Padre Pio about it. He had the feeling that Padre Pio had something to do with the unexpected gift.

In 1963, Father Denys traveled to the Holy Land for a three-week stay. Later, he visited Mr. and Mrs. DeChabert in Beirut, Lebanon. Before the trip to the DeChaberts’ homeland, Father Denys spoke to Padre Pio about it. “In that country, you will suffer,” Padre Pio said. Father Denys was not sure what he meant, but he would soon find out. The widespread poverty in Lebanon was very painful for Father Denys to witness. To see the privation and the hardship of so many people, caused him great suffering.

To Father Denys, Padre Pio was a model of holiness for all people, both priests and laity. Whenever Padre Pio spoke about God, Father Denys always had the sense that he was speaking about someone that he had intimate contact with, someone that he knew very well. When Father Denys looked back on the many times he was able to visit Padre Pio through the years, he knew how truly fortunate he was. To Father Denys, every encounter with Padre Pio had been a time of grace.

#padre pio

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