Suffering

Paul, our Apostle – the Apostle to the nations (Romans 11:13) –

was given a special ministry of suffering. Ananias was sent by the Lord to bring him a message of,

… How great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake (Acts 9:16)

Do you not find this strange? Do you ever find it disturbing?

Why on earth did Paul need to hear at this early stage, of the central role suffering would play in his life? Why does God not find some other means off bringing sons to perfection rather than suffering? If we are honest then these types of questions arise.

Hebrews 12 gives a little more insight " And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.”  

It's that little word everyone that speaks to our hearts and like an amber light on the petrol gauge of a car indicates all is not well if that disciplining is not present. I sometimes see a tiered process of revelation and growth:

At first it's 

That I may know Him..." 

Oh this is so wonderful! To walk with Him: to chat and talk and see Him in all we do: But now I need power to say no to earthly things and be constantly filled to the brim with His Spirit so ..

"and the power of His Resurrection" 

Wow! Zoe life! Rivers of living water flowing out on streets as we meet folks, buses and boats, picnics and parties that power is pregnant and ready to drench all round it. But there is still one problem This old body of sin: What can be done with it? How can I be extricated (like you'd extract a tooth) from this "pigsty of the flesh"? 

The further cry goes out ..

"and the fellowship with His sufferings"

 And gradually an amazing reality dawns on you: It's no longer I who live here: I am not what people see: I am dead and my life is hid with Christ in God. I am grafted in as a genuine member of a new spirit body: The head of that body has suffered immensely in the past: That history now becomes my experience and it's just as if I was back there 2000 years ago.: Despised? Yes! Rejected? Yes indeed. people who knew you well avoiding your gaze and "hanging their faces: Often. Crucified? 

You see the gift or present of salvation had some other item in the box. Look at Phil 1:29 again  "for to you it is graciously granted, for Christ's sake, not only to be believing on Him, but to be suffering for His sake also"

The latter part of the book of Acts and Paul’s own letters are filled with the accounts of his great suffering. Writing to the Corinthian believers Paul catalogues some of his sufferings:

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,

thrice I suffered shipwreck,#

a night and a day I have been in the deep;

In journeyings often,

in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,

in perils by mine own countrymen,

in perils by the heathen,

in perils in the city, I

n perils in the wilderness,

in perils in the sea,

in perils among false brethren;

In weariness and painfulness,

in watchings often,

in hunger and thirst,

in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness (II Corinthians 11:24-27).

Remember Paul never went out looking for trouble. On the contrary He believed and taught that we should obey all lawful authorities, that we should determine as far as possible to live at peace with all men and as servants of the Lord not to cause trouble if at all possible. But trouble came looking for Paul in every town and in every city.city. The spirit and life within him was 100% at odds with the ruling spirits in each area and war in the spirit was the norm.

As the believer reads Paul’s letters he is taught the enormous value of suffering – as Paul had learned and experienced it. Today, much teaching related to suffering is centered on the idea of “deliverance.” 

Yet suffering is a gift of God, and actually plays an important role in the lives of the members of Christ’s Body, as we shall see. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (II Corinthians 4:17)."

In The Beginning

In the beginning God: He alone ........ existed. (1 Cor 8:6)

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Nothing existed outside of God: Zero! Nada! Zilch! Nothing!

He dwelt in impenetrable light and He is pure Spirit and always has been:

No man has ever seen God as He is not material or physical but pure spirit. (John 4:24) 

Hard for us to grasp that as all we experience generally is on the physical level!

Then a strange thing happened: Something of God (in human speak) broke through into the nothingness outside: Never before had anything like this happened. John, at the beginning of his Gospel uses the word "only begotten" to describe this: What came out from God, was begotten, was referred to as The Word. This today is now our highest authority on earth regarding whats true and whats not true.

That Word was and is Jesus! A Word is an expression of the person: What is on their heart (Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks) Jesus is the exact expression of what is on God's heart: the effulgence of God's glory. A Word is the nearest thing to spirit we can even attempt to understand: Forget about visions and angels and apparitions! Word in the scripture is  a sort of cross-over between the spirit and the material. Jesus said "The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life: (John 6:63)  Think about it.

The Word was there long before the flood: before Adam & Eve: Before the down casting of the earth. Before Babylon or before Rome! Later that Word actually became flesh and told us :"God no one has ever seen. The only-begotten God, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He unfolds Him"  (John 1:18.)

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Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is the effulgence of Gods glory: I know effulgence is a big word but simply means what flows out from: Jesus is the expression of God and without Him we would know absolutely nothing about God. On the positive side "In Him, (Christ)  are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"  (Col 2:3)  The Word began to express the Father in creation and in verbal contact with man: "God spoke .." . God communicated with words in the past: Nearly four thousand times in the Bible we find words or expressions such as: "And God said..."

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God spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:4), about 1500 B.C.

God spoke to Samuel (1 Samuel 3:11), about 1000 B.C

God spoke to Elijah (1 Kings 21:17), about 900 B.C.

God spoke to Isaiah (2 Kings 20:1), about 700 B.C.

God spoke to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:2), about 600 B.C

God spoke to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:3), about 600 B.C.

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When you look up in the sky you think you see the sun: But actually nobody has ever seen the sun: What they see is the Effulgence of the sun: What comes out of it: Light and heat and growth and life etc. In the same way Jesus is the exact image or emblem of God. “Who, being the Effulgence of His glory and Emblem of His assumption, besides carrying on all by His powerful declaration, making a cleansing of sins, is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heights”  (Heb 1:3) Jesus expresses the thoughts of the Father and His word is billions of times superior to pope or preacher: visions or traditions: traditions or ceremonies!

Whatever you say you believe in, if you are honest, should be tested against the plumb line of God's word.  

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Now everything God did or created was by using The Word. Hebrews 1:2 tells us He made the worlds through  Jesus "Let there be ..." and there was: Sun, moon, stars, animals, weather, Adam & Eve... all spoken into existence out of His Word (Jesus) John equates Jesus with the word saying: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was toward God, and God was the word. This was in the beginning toward God. All came into being through it, and apart from it not even one thing came into being which has come into being."

There you have it. "Without it not even one thing came into being"

So the Word was creative and powerful. Paul puts it like this in 1 Cor 8:6

"nevertheless for us there is one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all is, and we through Him"

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And as the Word took on flesh in Jesus the words He spoke overflowed with grace and truth and healing and comfort. In fact we are told Jesus was appointed "heir of all things" What did Jesus use to heal the leper? What did He use to raise Lazarus from the dead? What did He use to agree with the father's will in the garden of Gethsemane? Words!

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And thank God, later, the very words He spoke to the disciples and to Paul were put down on Vellum in ink and how precious to us are those words today. Man and religion tries to deny that all these words are God-breathed in order to make space for their own traditions: Jesus agreed that traditions can make the Word of God of no effect: No matter what reigious persuasion you are you should have this attitude:" How does this belief line up with God's word?"  The problem is these words in the bible were not written in English and over the centuries much has been lost in translation. I recommend that for study purposes a good literal version of the bible is essential like Young's |Literal Translation or Concordant Literal Version.The link Scripture4All which is on most pages will bring you direct to the actual Greek words used in the originals.

These words from the mind and heart of God are so precious that we should be diligent and do our utmost to understand their meaning and context as 2 Tim 2:15 puts it "Rightly divide" the Word. They are our only true defence against the floods of lies and deception coming our way as we enter the last days of this present wicked Eon.

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Hail Mary!

Luke 1:26--34 Message

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.

29-33 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

Hail Mary

We salute you Mary (Miriam)

God the Father surely lavished His Grace on you

by choosing you out of all other young women in Israel as the one 

to carry and give birth to His only son Jesus in human form

Every single generation regards you Mary as most blessed and happy

That child you carried in your womb and gave birth to turned out to

 be  God’s ultimate answer to the whole problem of Sin. Wow!

God separated you from all others and that means you are holy!

You were separated for His purpose alone. Holy Mary!

Jesus of course existed from all eternity in heaven,

But you, Mary, actually consented to be the chosen vessel

Thro' which “the Word became flesh”! and we honour you for that:

Mother of Jesus! What a title! Highly favoured indeed.

What a mother also to the brothers of Jesus and wife of Joseph:

(Mark 3:31) So Jesus  grew up in a real family setting:

"The mighty one did great things" for you, as you told Elizabeth.



                  
Mary I won’t ask you pray for us as you are not yet risen from 

among the dead. Nobody is yet risen but you certainly will be:

Do you remember that wedding at Cana Mary?

When the wine went short. You said:  “Whatever He (Jesus ) 

tells you do it” 

Today I want to honour you by calling on Jesus. as you said:

"I come to you now Lord Jesus Christ,

Emmanuel: God with us here on earth!

Help us in a special way as we enter that dark period

called "the absence of life" which is death:


         When It's All Been Said And Done

God's Time Clock

Gods Time Clock

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B.E. means before The Eons: i.e. before eonian times. God has always existed outside of time and some refer to this as Eternity Past, even tho’  that’s a misnomer. Paul, in 1 Cor 2:7 talking about God’s wisdom says  “ wisdom which has been concealed, which God designates before -- before the eons, for our glory” If you use the Greek here you will see that it is the word Eon or Aionon in Greek that is used and not ages or other {Link} 

Amazingly we were chosen in Christ “Who saves us and calls us with a holy calling, ……….before times eonian” (2 Tim 1:9) We can be sure that God existed and Jesus according to 1 Cor 8:6, and in John 17:5 Jesius refers lovingly to His relationship with the Father in this period.

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The book of Genesis records that God instructed Adam & Eve to Replenish the earth: i.e. to fill it up again. So the earth must have been filled before but very little is known of it: Genesis 1:2 implies that the earth had become void and this makes sense as God would never create such chaos.  Heb. 1: 2 tells us that God the Father made the Eons through Jesus. “through Whom He also makes the eons” Why are we told so little of this First Eon? What happened to end it? Peter gives us a little insight in 2 Peter 3:5 “For they want to be oblivious of this, that there were heavens of old, and an earth cohering out of water and through water, by the word of God;through which the then world, being deluged by water, perished” Many who don’t realise the accuracy of scripture think Peter is referring to Noah’s flood her but no! He uses the word Cosmos which means the whole world system.The old heavens and the old earth were completely wiped out. In another place this is called the Disruption of the world! (John 17:24) When this original world was made all seemed good. Job lets us in on the scene in Job 38:4-8 when God asks Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundation stone of the earth ..when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy”

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This is the period from Genesis 1 to Genesis 9. From creation to the flood:

It covers all about Adam and his immediate descendants. It is interesting 

that this Eon like the first, ended in disaster: Why did this happen? There are vague references to widespread wickedness and this is also referenced in Hebrews 11:7 when it says "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is to faith”  

Regardless of how one interprets Matthew 24, there’s no doubt that Christ referred to the rebellion and judgment in Noah’s day, which He compared to mankind’s subsequent rebellion and the coming judgment. It’s a sober warning for any generation to consider. Jude 14 has a reference to the Book of Enoch which book goes into great detail on how the fallen ones (The Watchers) came down to earth, intermarried and caused great havoc in interfering with man's DNA. I would advise caution here because even though Jude referred to this Book Enoch the Holy Spirit did not have it included in the 66 Books of the bible for some reason. Therefore I beleieve we should be cautious as it may contain much truth mixed with error.

B.E__ Eon 1__  Eon 2__   Eon 3__   Eon 4__ Eon 5_  AE

The Present Eon The present Eon stretches from after the flood to the coming a second time of the Lord Jesus Christ. ​ Galatians 1:4  speaks of this present "wicked eon" Why is this eon so wicked? Could it be that this Eon "crucified the Lord of Glory ? Ephesians 2: 2 gives some insight when it speaks of people walking in accord with "the eon of this world", in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction of the air, the spirit now operating in the sons of stubborness"  We are also told that Satan is the god of this eon. (2 Cor 4:4) He has been assigned a major role in blinding the "apprehension  of the unbelieving" and hindering the illumination of the light of the gospel:His authority is unquestioned even by Jesus in Luke 4:5-7.  "And, leading Him up into a high mountain, the Adversary shows Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a second of time. And the Adversary said to Him, "To you shall I be giving all this authority and the glory of them, for it has been given up to me, and to whomsoever I may will, I am giving it. (Jesus did not contradict that statement.)  "If you, then, should ever be worshiping before me, it will all be yours." Amazing!  ​ And answering, Jesus said to Him, "Go away behind Me, Satan! It is written, The Lord your God shall you be worshiping, and to Him only shall you be offering divine service". Other references to this present Eon are in Matt 12:32 when Jesus spoke of the sin that would not be pardoned "neither in this eon nor in the one which is impending" (1000 year eon). So some will lose out on the Kingdom rule entirely, because they rejected their Merssiah,  but it is not an unpardonable sin full stop: Just for those two eons! ​ Paul advised those "rich in this current eon" (1 Tim 6:17) not to become haughty or rely on the dubiousness of riches: Demas loved this present eon and forsook Paul (2 Tim 4:10) and wonderful advice is given (Titus 2:11ff) about the amazing power of grace to enable us live devoutly in this current eon: ========================================================= A small group are chosen to be graciously granted faith in this eon and also suffering (Phil 1:29) These He extricates (Gal 1:4 ). as you would wrench out an eye) out of the world and translates them into the kingdom of his son. (Wonderful use of loaded words) Their eyes will be opened by revelation to what was secretly revealed to Paul our Apostle: Justification instead of pardon etc They will live under the gospel of the uncircumcision and their destiny is the celestials -- not earth. ​ ______________________________________________________________ This present Eon is destined to also end in catastrophe with 7 years of judgement spoken of as Jacob's troubles. Massive changes on earth as the Lord Jesus returns. (Matt 24:29ff)  "Now immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not be giving her beams, and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Mankind in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land shall grieve, and they shall see the Son of Mankind coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. "And He shall be dispatching His messengers with a loud sounding trumpet, and they shall be assembling His chosen from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities". ​ This will be followed by the judgement of the nations. (Note that this is not judgement of individuals but of nations favourable or unfavourable to Israel) "Now, whenever the Son of Mankind may be coming in His glory, and all the holy messengers with Him, then shall He be seated on the throne of His glory, and in front of Him shall be gathered all the nations. And He shall be severing them from one another even as a shepherd is severing the sheep from the kids." (Matt 25: 31-32) according to verse 46 the nations who fail the test will be chastised for a full eon and miss the millenium kingdom!!

 

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The Impending Eon                            Eon 4  In Mark 10:30 Jesus spoke of the coming eon and today it is imminent. ​  " But first the adversary or Satan must be dealt with: Rev 20 tells us: ​ "And I perceived a messenger descending out of heaven, having the key of the submerged chaos and a large chain in his hand. And he lays hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Adversary and Satan, and binds him a thousand years.And he casts him into the submerged chaos and locks it, and seals it over him" ​ The kingdom will be populated by those who are part of the first resurrection as described in Revelations 20 plus all those who come through the great tribulation -Jews and Gentiles. That includes all those "executed" because of their testimony or  on account of the Word.There will be no other Resurrection until after the 1000 years is over! All the promises and covenants made to or with Israel and not yet come to fruition will be fulfilled in that 1000 year kingdom. Those who break the law will be punished and capital offences will incur capital punishment with cremation in Gehenna.  Rev 12 Apostles will rule with 144,000 administering under them The Jews will be born again and the law of God written on their hearts. All must be born again to rule there.This is what Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about in John 3 referring to it as the "terrestrial"  ​ However like the previous Eons it will also end in judgement: Satan is released after 1000 years, gathers a huge following including Gog and Magog, attacks the saints and Jerusalem and is destroyed by the Lord in person "And fire descended from God out of heaven and devoured them". (Rev 20:9) Then comes the Great White Throne judgement where all the dead are judged. and Satan is thrown into the lake of fire along with death and the unseen and those not written in the book of life. Major events right ahead! ​

 

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