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Volume 9 ... #9
The Church
John 1:13 ... Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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The church: Those individuals to whom God reveals HIMSELF
The apostle Paul was out rounding up Christians to imprison them when God revealed HIMSELF to Paul all of a sudden and Paul was changed and never the same again.
Acts 9:1-6 ... And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?
And he said, WHO art THOU, Lord?
And the Lord said, I AM Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt THOU have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
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This is also what happened to us. We were of the world, following our own thinking by the wisdom of man when God revealed HIMSELF to us and we were changed forever ... born again ... a new creature.
Hebrews 8:10-12 ... For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put MY laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to ME a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know ME, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
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We didn't do anything to earn God ... God just chose us and put HIS way into our hearts, changing us, giving us a desire toward HIM ...
We are like Peter ...
Mt. 16:13-18 ... When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, HE asked HIS disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that THOU art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
HE saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, THOU art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but MY Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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The revealed word of God to each of HIS chosen is the "rock" upon which Jesus builds HIS church ... and the gates of hell shall not prevail against that word God reveals to us ...
I Peter 2:9-10 ... But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of HIM who hath called you out of darkness into HIS marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
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The miracle of God ... The Church ...
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In 1979, God gave me the following terrifying dream:
Destruction was everywhere.
Destruction was everywhere.
A meeting was going on. A man was speaking to a room filled with people. I went in and began to listen.
A second man rushed in and said: "Stop ... Wait ... Can't you see ... It's too late ... It's already begun."
The first man resumed speaking.
I looked out the window to see what had "already begun."
There was a tall pole with a yellow civil
defense speaker at top of the pole. A gas was coming out of the
speaker. I knew it was poisonous and would kill the people. It was
coming directly toward us!
The shocking thing was the speaker that
was set there for the purpose of warning us was being used as the
instrument which dispersed the gas that was poison and would kill us!
I looked at the man seated next to me. He had a big grin on his face
and was looking directly at the man who was speaking to the group. But
then I saw this man was a corpse, though he looked alive. He was already dead!
I looked about the room at the other people and realized they were all dead.
As I sat back in my chair and listened to the man speaking I began to feel sleepy and I knew as I sat there among them this was killing me too.
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For example: The world calls drunkenness a disease. The Bible calls drunkenness a sin and even says they who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 6 & Galatians 5
Many other Bible doctrines have been reasoned away today in churches. This is the apostasy which Paul said would come before the return of Jesus.
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