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You Are A Child Of The Devil And An Enemy

Ques: “How do new covenant Christians understand and apply psalms 139:21“

Ans:

2 Timothy 4:14, Paul says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”

Acts 5:5-6 “You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his las\

Acts 13: 9-11, “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?  Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.”

Paul cursing Elymas (Acts 13:9-11), Peter’s confrontation with Ananias (Acts 5:5-6), and Paul’s prayer about Alexander (2 Timothy 4:14)—illustrate that the early church didn’t shy away from invoking divine judgment against those who blasphemed the Spirit or hindered the ministry of the Word. Jesus’ own words in Mark 3:29 about the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit reinforce this. These aren’t personal vendettas; they’re responses to direct attacks on God’s kingdom and mission. This shows us the imprecatory Psalms also apply to the church after the resurrection of Jesus and Him baptizing us with power.

The context is not about personal pet-peeves or personal hurts. When it comes to believers we are called to love and forgive each other as we have been forgiven in Jesus Christ. We are commanded to be long-suffering. We’re commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and forgive as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13).

However, the bible, even in the New Testament has a special place for those harming the church, and those directly hindering the ministry of the word and hindering or opposing the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus goes out of His way to say those who blaspheme the Spirit will never be forgiven. If God will not forgive them, then I do not forgive either. Who am I to resist God? This would even have some application to governments, but because most Christians lose their minds over the subject I will reframe from this topic. I will only make one quick point. In chapter 4 the disciples ask for God to empower them to fight back at the Jewish government, who were trying to persecute them, by bold preaching, healing and various miracles. God approved of their request. One such miracle was an earthquake that broke prison doors. It damaged government property. The church ought to call on God to act against opposition to the gospel.

There are other ways to apply this, but I wanted to keep it short and on the applicable issue. Paul caused physical harm to a person hindering the gospel and called him cruel names. The Holy Spirit was the power that blinded the man, but Paul is the one who pointed the gun at the person and commanded the blindness, not God. Peter, by the Spirit, killed two people, in church. Paul prays, saying God will repay the coppersmith the harm he caused him in ministry.

Remember the Psalm you quoted? David loves God. Psalm 139 is a deeply personal psalm where David marvels at God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and intimate care for him. Verse 21 arises in this context—David’s zeal for God leads him to despise those who despise the Lord. Then says these wicked people mis-use God’s name. In essence, David hates them, because they hate the God who David admires so much. It is fake love if you are not enraged at someone who hates and targets the object of your love. Imagine a parent who shows no concern when a person hits and abuses their child? You must have the same outrage over people who hate the God, you say you love so much.

In short: Psalm 139:21 calls us to love God so fiercely that we hate what opposes Him. The New Testament examples teach us to channel this anger by prayer and through the Spirit’s power, not our own hands. We forgive personal wrongs but stand firm against assaults on God’s kingdom. Because most do not have power or faith to get their prayers answered, they are left with two bad options. Just do nothing and make kindness your official religion, or become a political zealot. Neither is the way commanded in the book of Acts. When all you have is human power, your options are limited to carnal outcomes. But if you have faith and the Spirit, a whole new world of possibilities opens.

[Grok xAi, aided in some summaries]

The Demand For Observation Is A Sign of God’s Judgment

To demand empirical and observational proof of miracles to produce knowledge that expansionism is false or true, has all the logical fallacies associated with empiricism, observation and induction.

If this is used as a personal attack against me, then it is a logically irrelevant point. It is a pointless argument for pointless people.

The first issue is that scripture was not used as an epistemology.

2 Kings 3:16-24 shows an infallible testimony that empiricism and observations and inductions from this are not always correct. This would lead to skepticism. I know that I don’t know. But skepticism denies the law of contradiction that is self-authenticating and which Jesus also appealed to. Elijah made an attack against God that went like this, “I observe no one else who believes but me, therefore, no one else believes but me.” God rebuked him and said there was 7000 more according to His election and grace. Elijah had to dismiss his observation and induction, and believe there were 7000 because God said so. Thus, our observations are not always correct and thus they produce no knowledge about anything. To say observation produces any knowledge would be a violation of the law of contradiction. To be true, it would have to be false at the same time.  

Some see the insanity of this, and so do not apply it to things such as forgiveness of sin. For example, I have never seen forgiveness. I have never seen Jesus Christ. Thus, I cannot believe my sins are forgiven based on observation, I believe it because the Scripture tells me so. Abraham observed that Sarah and himself were not able to have a child. God’s promise contradicted his observations. If observation produces knowledge then Abraham should not have believed God’s promise.  

The second issue is that empiricism and observation are used as starting points for knowledge. Thus, we have different worldviews. Any attack using empiricism or observation is no longer about the fine details of theology; rather, this is now an apologetic attack.  We deal with such as we deal with atheists. Our epistemology does not include empiricism, nor does it allow inductive based arguments to prove or disprove the scripture (Rom.11:3, 2 Kings 3:16-24). We do not allow them to speak one word against us until they prove their anti-scriptural epistemology, gives them knowledge. If their epistemology does not allow them the possibility of knowledge, then they cannot use knowledge to demand anything from us.

However, another issue has to do with the logical fallacy of public knowledge versus private knowledge. To say public knowledge and private knowledge are the same thing, is to violate the laws of contradiction and identity. It is like saying grace and works are interchangeable. The demand for observational experience, even if possible, would only result in private knowledge and if this private knowledge is then used in a public forum to produce public knowledge that a doctrine is wrong, then it is a fallacy which violated the laws of logic. Even if I could be transported by the Spirit to 100 million locations around the world showing me various Christians performing many miracles, it still would only amount to private knowledge, and so unusable as a public truth claim. Thus, the demand for observational proof is a demand that makes any public truth claim impossible. This is a maneuver from an opponent to frame a debate against a Christian to make it impossible for them to prove anything.

Also, observation already makes man the starting point for knowledge, and this feeds into more and more human focus. Example, how does one determine how much miracles and resurrection need to take place for expansionism to be true or false? Is it a 5% increase or 77% increase? With which miracles does this apply? Who and how is this determined? Over how much time would this increase need to take place? Who and how is this determined? If man, then man is the starting point for knowledge, not the bible. Also, how many Christians need to be observed to determine this? All or just a sample size? Who and how is this determined? Is it just Christians right now, or do we include the past and present? If the past and future need to be observed to determine if the increases has happened, then how does one observe the past and future? Who and how is this determined? What counts as an observation? Is it only what I see, or do I count the observations of others, which I did not observe? If I accept observations that I did not see, then observation is no longer my epistemology. Who and how is this determined? I could go on and on with this for pages and pages. Another big issue with all of this is that God and the scripture are nowhere to be seen.

This also shows another reason why I left the Reformed world. Even the best trained Gordon Clark students revert to induction when faced with doctrines of faith and the Spirit.

Most Reformed material contains inductive arguments against faith, and so it is habitually trained into the mind for its practitioners. Thus, even if a reformed person reads Clark and agrees with logic and deduction, and is against observation and induction, they will still use observation and induction against faith doctrines. They are too intellectually malfunctioned to apply logic. Logic is wasted on them.

As Andrew Wommack says, “some people have decided not to let Scripture get in the way of them believing what they see and feel.”

God’s promise for the Elect is that He causes them to believe His word. When a so-called Christian uses observations as an epistemology to produce knowledge it is a sign of God’s judgement and reprobation. We pray they will repent and enjoy God’s good promises; however, their demand for us to use an anti-Christian epistemology is an attack at the foundation of our worldview.

Jesus Expects Us to Have No Fear about Life

When Jesus said to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe,” it was said regarding a supernatural miracle of resurrection. The passage says, “While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”” (Mark 5:35-36 NLT).

The man was just told his daughter was dead, and Jesus’ tells him not to be afraid, not even a little bit, but “only,” have faith in God.  If I said this to a parent who just lost their child, they would call me uncaring and a jerk; yet, this is how Jesus expects us to view such a situation. It is this same Jesus who will judge us all one day. This is a good example because this is one of the worst types of life troubles we can face, the death of a child, or a spouse or parent. Since Jesus is applying this teaching to the worst type of life troubles, then we obviously can apply it to lesser troubles.

Let us quickly address the point of “just have faith.” Jesus is not saying have faith in God like a fatalist. He is not saying to just have faith in the broad idea that God is sovereign and just go with the flow like a fatalist. No, Jesus is not telling us to abuse God’s sovereignty like that. Rather, He is telling Jairus, do not fear, because your faith in God will lead to a supernatural resurrection of your daughter. Why be afraid by the death of a child, if they will be resurrected? Obviously there is no fear of a child’s death if the death is overpowered by resurrection. Obviously, there is no fear of cancer if it is healed.  Obviously, there is no fear of Jesus paying the temple tax if he can just get the money from a random mouth of a fish.

Jesus is talking about faith in a supernatural miracle for specific trouble you need help with. Not human help, but God’s miracle help.

Jesus’ reasoning for why we should have no fear and only faith, is because miracles make the troubles of life go away. Jesus expects us to view life in this way. No wonder the religious elites hated Jesus, He was a miracle and faith fanatic.

Jesus’ presupposition is that with faith in God we do not fear life’s troubles, because God will destroy the troubles with supernatural power.

In the finished atonement, Jesus has already forgiven us, has given us His righteousness, already healed us, already exchanged our curses for the blessing of Abraham, and already exchanged our poverty for His riches. This is already about new creation, new reality, and identity. We are this right now.

Thus, what you believe God will do for you, God will do for you. The supply for all these supernatural miracles have already been laid up for you. Jesus said “only believe.” Thus, if Jairus stopped believing and gave into fear over his child’s death, thinking, “there is no more hope, and I will just go with whatever God sovereignly caused,” then that is what God would give him, no hope. But because He believed God could help with miracle power, even in the death of his child, then that is what Jesus gave him.

As Vincent Cheung said in his essay (Faith is The Answer), “God wants us to live life thinking that there is no reason to fear, but that we should have faith only. God wants us to live life thinking that all things are possible to the one who has faith… You are never a victim. You are never limited. You are never doomed. You are never desperate. You are never alone. God will come to you. God will answer you. God will rescue you. God will heal you and prosper you. God will increase your spiritual power and fruit. God is the answer to all your problems. And beyond your problems, God will give you the desires of your heart. How can you know? Faith! The faith in your heart is God’s answer.”

Sit At My Right Hand

Peter in Acts 2, during his Pentecost sermon mentions a few time this idea of “Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father.” Many people saw them speaking in tongues and wanted to know what is going on. And so, Peter’s main point is about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, the doctrine of Jesus sitting on His eternal throne at the Father’s right hand is being connected with the baptism of the Spirit.

Peter mentions Psalm 16 and 110, which both speak of Jesus sitting at God’s right hand, as connected to Him pouring out the Spirit. Acts 2:33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.”

The Father promised Jesus a reward for completing the work He assigned Him on earth. This reward was Jesus ruling in authority from the Father’s right hand. Jesus would sit on the throne that He will be ruling from forever. From this position, Jesus was promised He could pour out the baptism of the Spirit on all those who call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Joel,  2:28-32). Peter quotes Joel teaching us that this is the age designated for anyone to call on the name of God to be saved and that He Spirit will be poured out for power. This happened because Jesus is now sitting on His eternal throne of power at the right hand of Power. From here Jesus pours out Power on all who ask.

The interesting point is Peter’s quote of Psalm 110. Peter directly connects this Psalm to Jesus pouring out the Spirit, as Jesus sits at God’s right hand.

“Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “”The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet,”” (Acts 2:33-35).

Peter quotes from this Psalm Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and Jesus’ enemies being made a footstool under Him. And this is in direct context with Jesus pouring the baptism of the Spirit, from God’s right hand. The Psalm goes on to say Jesus will rule over His enemies, crush them and pile up their corpses. Peter says this is connected to Jesus pouring out the baptism of the Spirit.

How is Jesus enemies going to be a footstool? Peter says it is directly connected to Jesus pouring out the Spirit on His people to empower them over sickness, demons, mountains and even other men (Paul and the Proconsul).

It is foolish to have any talk of eschatology and the advancement of the church over the gates of hell and human governments without this most basic teaching from Peter. Without this all talks of eschatology and governments is anti-Christian; it is anti-Jesus sitting at the right hand of His Father.

Confess Faith, Not Feelings

[“…I initially worried that what I had said may had been the unpardonable sin but now, looking back, I understand that it was not. Vincent Cheung’s materials helped me realize this…
I am a firm believer, a child of God, and deep down inside I know that God has me and loves me. I have OCD, and it never effected me so much spiritually as it has in the past year.
…The worry essentially comes back every now and again of “what if” I actually did say one of my terrible thoughts out loud. I love God, the faith He has given me is all that matters to me. I keep worrying though about what I might have said, because I literally have no idea what I might have said, and I fear I never will know. I keep moving forward in faith, but the fear keeps coming back. Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?”]

Billy,

I will give a few quick points, but I cannot promise I will engage you beyond this.

I am encouraged to hear you say you read Vincent’s material on the “unpardonable sin” and this was able to give clarity and relief. I am glad you are moving on with faith. This is the right way to go forward.

“Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?” Did you get this question from the bible or something else like your feelings? Obviously the bible teaches we can have assurance of our salvation by the Word, The Spirit and our faith. James says if you doubt, then you will be tossed to and fro, and this is what you sound like. One moment you are taking a stand with faith on God’s word, then the next you step off from faith, to then take a stand on feelings, as if feelings can give you knowledge.

There are several issues here in your letter, but the most immediate issue is that you are too focused on yourself, your feelings and even the psychological aspect of faith. Faith is simply an intellectual assent to God’s truth. Nothing more. There is no more to it. Any other focus is not a focus on faith. But only faith in God will save you. Take forgiveness of sins, as an example. Faith is not about “my” intellectual record of my wrongs. Sin is not a nasty feeling. Sin is a record of lawbreaking that God has in His own mind. In God’s mind, because of Jesus, God sees our report card as having no records of lawbreaking. None. It is irrelevant if you still consider it, because only God’s thoughts about it matter. Faith is not you thinking about, “thinking about” your sins or feeling if they still are attached to you or not. Faith is agreeing with God that He sees you perfect and blameless and loved. Anything else is not faith, but doubt and sinful worry.

This is why faith is often said with a faith confession. You are saying out loud what God has said and you agree with Him. Faith confesses and blows the horns of praise before the Wall of Jericho comes down, not after. Because the promises of God are certain, absolute and reality itself, you can praise and confess the reality before you see it. Abraham confessed over and over, every time he introduced himself, that he was the Father of Nations before it happened. He trusted God and so there was no doubting the outcome, no matter how dead his body was, or how he felt about it.

I say this because you confessed unbelief, “Can I ever have true assurance of my salvation ever again?” Out of the heart the mouth speaks. You cannot confess unbelief and expect to get better. You must only speak faith, in your mind and on your lips. There is still hope. Stop confessing unbelief and only speak faith. What you think and confess God will give you, is what God will give you. When there is a promise there is a way out.

I am sympathetic for struggling with inner weakness, for I had to craw my way out of a deep pit and take a stand on God’s wonderful promises. I had to play Christian music, listen to encouraging sermons, play promise verses on a recording over and over and over to the point I wanted to vomit. But I kept at it until I was able to renew my mind. You must put everything into agreeing with God. Also, praying in the Spirit and receiving interpretations and God’s anointing presence has been immeasurable in helping me overcome.

Also, it is not God who is resisting you to be sound in mind, filled with Joy and full of peace. God is the one person who is not hindering you. Jesus is a minister of the New Contract (See Vincent Cheung. Our Contract). He is the Vine we are the branches. He only ministers joy, forgiveness, peace, strength, answered prayers and power. He does not minister sickness, pain, suffering and troubles. Satan, your old man (the old way of thinking that needs to be renewed) and false teachers will hinder you, but God will always receive you.

If it is demonic you must resist Satan and he will run from you with his tail tucked under his legs. You must have faith and command the demonic harassment to leave. Vincent Cheung explains this in “On Spiritual Attacks.”

If it is wrong thinking, then you must renew it. If you gave Satan a foothold, then it might take some time to fully renew your mind (but with faith you can always make it go away in a moment), but God guarantees in the Contract that He will write His laws on your minds so that we love obeying Him. He promises to do it. Remind God of this in your prayers and thank Him for it. He is faithful. If you need somewhere to start, then confess Psalm 23 over yourself every day. God wants you to have a joyful sound mind more than you do. He is the only one not hindering you. Have faith in God. He did not withhold His only Son, and so He will not withhold a sound mind.

God has given you the power to renew your mind. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 says we get stronger in our inner man by knowing and experiencing God’s love for us. The fear of God will start you on the path of wisdom and it keep your feet firmly planted there; however, God’s love will make you mature and powerful.

OCD. He wants you healed more than you want it. Pound healing verses in your mind day and night and confess them out loud. If you seek, then God promises you will find. With faith you can have whatever you ask for. See “Faith Override”

Lastly, it is power that will deliver you. (see my short essay, “Power is what will Finally Deliver You,” Also see Vincent Cheung,  “Cure for Psychological Trauma.” ) God’s power and love are yours for the taking. Through Jesus Christ and His promises, God’s power is a low hanging fruit that is easy to pick by faith.  Do not doubt, only believe.

It is good to rebuke and correct the old way of thinking, but you need to mostly focus on the positive. When you are marching around Jericho see the walls coming down, because they will. God will do His part. Think about God’s good promises and visualize yourself today, tomorrow, next week and next year, completely healed and happy. Give God thanks, knowing His promise are more real than anything you are currently feeling or experiencing.

In Christ, circumstances do not dominate us, we dominate circumstances.
In Christ, our old fears, now fear us.

-from email

Bait and Switch Scam.

“What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? — [Matt 7:9,10]

Billy gave this commentary about this verse.

“…No loving father would give a stone or a snake to his hungry son if he asked for a piece of bread or a fish. Jesus used the absurdity of that analogy in Matthew 7 to underscore the heavenly Father’s readiness to give good things to His children when they ask Him….”

Ok. So far this is saying what the passage says and so its good. But then the bait and switch scam starts.

“…He wanted them to have complete confidence in the Father’s provision for their spiritual needs…”

Billy says Jesus refers to “spiritual needs.” Both words are not defined, but we at least know from the way it is used by Billy they are meant as non-material needs. See Vincent Cheung for why the idea of “need” is absurd when praying. The bible sees need as anything you “want.” Billy wants it to only be spiritual things like forgiveness or sanctification and so on; however, this is delusional when the direct meaning Jesus is conveying are material things like food. Even if moralized for spiritual things, it does not mean less than the direct meaning of material things like prosperity and healing.

Then Billy continues saying,

“…I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked God for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn to obey.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power and the praise of men;
I was given weakness to sense my need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for;
In spite of myself, my prayers were answered—
I am among all men most richly blessed…”

Now the bait and switch scam is 180 degrees opposite from the original. If you ask for healing God drop kicks you in the face and you are bless for it?

This is nothing less than the shout of Satan. Satan asks for all authority and God kicks him down to earth and will soon body slam him to hell. Because Satan’s desire was answered, he is richly blessed? Supposedly we are the same. We ask for healing and God slaps our face. We ask for money and God round-kicks our stomach. We ask or a good spouse and God breaks our arms.

Every back and forth on this list is a bait and switch with definitions being changed to make you believe what he says out of an onslaught of nonsense. Basically he tries to bully you into believing what he says by mentally attacking with nonsense over and over. Oddly, this is something demons do when attacking people, but I digress.  

Lastly Billy says,
“…Yes, God always gives us what’s best for us.
We ask amiss, but God answers aright…”

I only have time to say a few things. The Bible says what is best for us is faith in God’s promises and us receiving a fish for fish. Healing, as Vincent says, is about the “will of man.” Let man’s will be done. That is how the bible defines what is best for us. What is best for us is not divining circumstance like a voodoo doctor, but defining our identity by the promises of God in Christ. Healing, miracles and prosperity are part of the finished atonement of Jesus and scripture says they are guaranteed to us on the demand of faith. This is our definition and identity.

To admit that you ask “amiss” or for wrong things means you are not even God’s friend.

“You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.” (James 4:2-4 NET)

Scripture tells us you do not get your prayers answered when you ask for wicked things like adultery and murder. James defines “wrong prayers and passions” as adultery and murder. If you do this, then answered prayers are the least of your problems because you are God’s enemy.

If you ask for wicked things in prayer God will not give you a better spiritual thing, because you are now God’s sworn enemy. This is the only time the Scripture says God answers with a “no,” to our prayers, (with the exception to direct persecution for the gospel’s sake. But even then we are still equipped with powerful weapons.) Thus, people who keep admitting they are asking for wrong things and not getting prayers answered are admitting they are reprobates. If God keeps giving you a “no” to your prayers, then you are a reprobate and an enemy of God.

You need to repent and ask for good things that Jesus died for, such as healing, prosperity and constant miracles, both for yourself and those around you.  

If you asked for healing and God gave you cancer on top of your diabetes, then God is a bad Father. There is no way around this logic. It is because of the logic is so unbendable that there are only two choices if it does not happen. Either you lacked faith, or God is a bad Father. Since these supper humble people are so good at debasing themselves and saying how sinful they are, then obviously the one thing it can’t be is their sinful unbelief, thus, God is a bad Father. But they cannot outright say it, so they combine Scripture with voodoo, masochism, Buddhism and personal experience to give you a bait and switch scam that even Satan would be proud of.  

Excommunicate such people from your life at hyper-sonic speed. They are not your friends; they are not God’s friends. They are God’s enemies. You need to talk to them with apologetics as you do with outsiders.

yiran-ding-sKXZm7cTZMM-unsplash

I HAVE HEARD YOUR PRAYER: Faith is Certainty

God will often just say, “I have heard you,” or “I am able.” God will say this in context, where we are told in modern theology, we need to know the “will of God,” or we need to know that God will give a “yes” from possible combination of “yes, no or maybe.” Yet, God will just say “I have heard you,” “I have the ablity.” Why are the pastors so contradictive to the word of God as if their life depends on it? Why does Jesus, the prophets and apostles sound opposite to our pastors and theologians? Since what they say is a contradiction, then they both cannot be right. Who is wrong?

Faith is certainty.

Hebrews 11 says, faith is absolutely certain in what it hopes for. In fact, the Greek word means “reality, or substance.” A paraphrased meaning would mean, faith is the reality of things hoped for. Faith sees the invisible things promised and faith makes them reality. Faith changes the invisible promise of God into material substance. So of course faith is certain in what it hopes for, it makes the invisible reality. Hebrews 11 is a long list of faith making the invisible into reality. The chapter shows the certainty of God’s promise that surged in the hearts of these heroes. Abraham had certainty in the particular outcome of a son and God’s favor in his life. Abraham was not wishfully hoping for a multitude of options that God might or might not grant him. The same with all the other heroes of faith.

The big takeaway from this is simple. Faith is not a wishful hope of possible outcomes; rather, faith is the absolute certainty of a particular outcome promised by God.  Thus, when we hear some moron say, “God answers prayer by a yes, no, or maybe,” we know they are a servant of the faithless. It is not possible to have certainty in a particular outcome, if you are also saying there are many possible outcomes. Even Jesus appealed to the logic of contradiction, thus, you must not have even a hint of it in your theology. It is a contradiction to say God will give certainty give me ‘x’ when I pray, and then affirm God might give me x, y or z when I pray. Even a child is more intelligence than this. Maybe that is why Jesus told us to have faith like a child. If a parent says to their small child that they will have their favorite meal tonight, the child believes they will have the particular outcome tonight, and not 15 possible food outcomes.

If you say God might give me a “yes, no or maybe,” then by definition you cannot have faith as defined by Hebrews 11:1, which says faith is certainty. The rest of the chapter defines this certainty in a particular outcome, not many.

This is easily demonstrated with the forgiveness of sins. If you say you can ask God for the forgiveness of sin, through Christ, in faith, and God will answer by a “yes, not, or maybe,” you have contradicted the definition of faith. That is, even though you used the word “faith” in your statement, you used a context that contradicts its meaning. You cannot by definition have certainty God will forgive your sins (a particular outcome) and at the same time say God will answer you with a “yes, no or maybe.” No, you do NOT have certainty God will forgive sins, but to sound humble, you say it in a confusing way to make it look you have faith to others when you really do not.

Most will see in the example of the forgiveness of sins, that it is hypocrisy to say you have certainty and at the same time say God might not forgive you. However, many play the part of a spiritual pervert and will apply the hypocrisy to things like healing and answers to prayers about everyday difficulties.  The bible defines faith as certainty, but when it comes to healing, which is a promise and a promised based on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus—just like forgiveness, then God will answer with a yes, not or maybe.

If you pray for healing and think God can answer with a few possible answers, then by definition of Hebrew 11, you do NOT have faith. You cannot be healed thinking like this, unless God shows you kindness and heals you despite your unbelief.

If there is any doubt, any uncertainty, any nubilous outcomes, anything less than the invisible being reality, it is not faith. Anyone who affirms any of the above teaches a doctrine of faithlessness. Abandon such a person or organization.

I Have Heard Your Prayer:

“Then Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah:

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:

I have heard your prayer...”

That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.” (2 Kings 19:20,35 NIV)

“And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—
we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:15 NIV)

“And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” (Romans 14:4 NIV)

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 1:24. NIV).

Whether it is God’s promise of blessing, fame, healing, and prosperity to Abraham (which we have in Christ-Gal. 3) or promises of safety from the terror that stalks at night (Psalm 91), or safety in sanctification (Jude 1:24), or delivered from sickness (James 5:15), God’s policy is rudimentary: if He is able, then He will do it. If God hears us, then we have what we asked.

The context that makes this work is that God loves us. As Christians, God has revealed He loves us. He has promised to never stop from doing good to us, in both spiritual and material blessings.

Think about marriage. Imagine a marriage of 40 years of faithfulness, love and joy. Now imagine the wife calling her husband at 2 am at night, waking him up from sleep and says, “Honey, my car just broke down on the side of the road, I’m afraid.” What do you think the husband will say? Will he give a 10-minute speech about his love for her? Most likely not. Why? Because in the context of this faithful marriage, they already know that. Rather, the husband will likely respond with, “Where are you, I’ll pick you up.” Because he loves her, he will help his wife, because he is able. Because the husband heard her request for help,” it is as good as done.

This is what God is doing, when He says in our passages, “I am able, I’ll do it.” This is what John means when he says, “if God hears you, your prayer is answered.” He shouldn’t have to repeat with every interaction with a 50 page essay that He loves us. He has already proven that with His Son’s atonement, and covenant. Even though many Christians struggle with receiving God’s love, the way God and the bible interacts with people it assumes we understand how great God’s love is for us.

Jesus was excessive about healing people and then saying over and over in the gospels, “if you ask in faith, you will get it.” Or that is, “If you are stranded on the road, and call me (this calling is faith), I will be there; I will pick you up just like you asked of me.” Jesus made answers to prayers to be anything you “want,” whether spiritual or material, with a special emphasis on healing.

The immature are still struggling with know how much God truly loves them. This is why they contradict themselves when they talk about faith and prayer. For the bible, love is not the issue, in the sense it assumes we get it. The Bible assumes the important issue is about ablity and power, and because God has infinity ablity, your prayers are as good as done. This does not mean God does not recognize our weakness and slowness of heart to receive His love as we ought. This is why we have that great prayer from Paul in Ephesians 3. However, many times God assumes you have matured to the place that you truly understand His great love for you, so that His communication to you assumes it.

Those who are mature know the width, length, depth and height of His love. They can cry out to God for help, who sits on His throne of unmerited favor, and they can hear, through faith in His commands and the voice of the Spirit, “My dear child, where are you? I will pick you up.” “I have heard your prayer.”

 Because faith is certainty, if we know God hears us, we know we have the things we asked for.


ENDNOTES

[1]. The phrase “servant of the faithless,” I first heard from Vincent Cheung.

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Word Of Faith vs God Was Never There

Since, Bill Johnson of Bethel was unable to raise Olive from the dead, that proves he’s a FALSE Apostle because one of the signs of a real apostle of Jesus is that they have authority to raise the dead.
-Chris Rosebrough (twitter dec. 2019)

The real issue here is if Rosebrough can logically deduce that if an apostle or someone claiming to be an apostle prays for a miracle, such as resurrection, but then fails, it “necessarily” infers false apostle. This of course, cannot be done as a sound argument, if Scripture alone is your starting point of knowledge. Now, if one wishes to hybrid Christian epistemology with the Pope or their speculative sensations, observations, history and other human starting points, then they might be able to make a valid, albeit, an unsound argument.

Part of the problem, might come from a strawman concerning the nature of Bethel asking for resurrection. When people were praying for the miracle, some were making declarations of faith as “word of faith.” That is, just like Jesus making “word of faith,” declarations with the fig tree or with Lazarus. Or like Joshua with the sun, or the woman asking Elisha for her child to be resurrected. The issue here is that a “word of faith,” declaration is not the same thing as prophecy. To make this short, a “word of faith,” like Jesus used it or other biblical examples is nothing more than a shorthand prayer. When the Shunammite woman said to Elisha that “all is well,” this was word of faith. (2 Kings 4:18–37) It was not a prophecy. It was faith that God was able to do what she was asking. She still acknowledge the reality saying, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” She, like Jesus, both when questioned acknowledge the persons in question were indeed dead, yet, both made faith declarations about it.

This is like the criminal on the cross or Samson, when they summed up a whole bunch of doctrine about mercy in the shorthand phrase, “remember me.” Instead of saying, “father I ask, through your Son Jesus Christ, that you raise person x from the dead,” they make a word of faith, “they are not dead, but asleep.” Or, “Father, through your Son, forgive me of my sin,” as a word of faith, “I am already the righteousness of Christ.” Or, “Father, through your Son, heal me of this sickness,” as a word of faith, “sickness you have already left my body.” There is nothing complicated about this. It would take a bottom-of-the-barrel stupid person to miss this.

This issue is simple. It is about faith. Faith that God does what He promised. Faith that the blood of Christ is a guarantee for all it is promised for. God cannot lie. God was sovereign and all-knowing when He made the promise. He made the promises because He wanted to. Because He was sovereign when He made it, and is still sovereign, the promises are still guaranteed today.

A prophecy is something different. If a false one is given, then it would indeed make the person a false prophet. One problem with some sects, focusing too much on “word of faith,” rather than on “faith” itself, is that it can give mixed appearances. Some with weak faith, in the “word of faith” circles, focus on faith declarations as empty pragmatics, or a program, when they would be better served focusing on hearing the word of God, so that their faith is strengthened. With great faith, (the type of great faith Jesus pointed out) it does not matter how the prayer of faith is given. If you have strong faith, you will be given what you ask for. Thus, it is a non-relevant issue if it is a longer prayer asking the Father for something, or if it is given as a shorthand of a declaration. What matters is faith. Faith is always the relevant issue. This was Jesus’ focus, and it ought to be ours.

Thus, a prayer in faith that fails, does not lead to the necessary consequent of a false apostle, prophet or Christian. Such a case merely shows this person’s faith is not as strong as they thought it was. Now, a continued lifelong example of prayers and no miracles, at least according to Jesus, would prove you are not one of His true disciples (John 15:5-8). When the disciples asked why they failed in a ministry operation Jesus said, “Because of your little faith, (Matt 17:20 LEB).” Jesus went behind their backs and healed the boy. That is, despite God causing them to have little faith and failed to minister compassion, Jesus did God’s Will by healing the boy. Did this failed ministry moment, because of little faith, make the disciples “false apostles”? But I digress. Jesus, with these weak faith disciples, kept rebuking and comforting them to be better. They did.

One point of concern about this critique is that everything about this situation screams, “this is about faith in God,” or maybe, “faith vs. weak faith.” Their focus was about obeying God will (commandments), and seeking God’s promise and God’s power. Yet, religious fanboys see, “apostles.” It is easy to distinguish an empiricist, because they are so focused on people, on sensual things (sensations). Spiritual, intellectual and invisible things like God’s word and faith, are too intellectual and spiritual for their fleshly minds. They need to focus on men. They need robust histories, stories, heavy smelly books, elaborate traditions and colorful shadows. Because they cannot understand how a sinner like themselves is able to have faith to raise the dead, their focus is thus on other men, and how these other men cannot do it either. God was never in the picture. God was never there. They do apologetics against others by assuming God out of their arguments, when God is their defining epistemology, metaphysics and ethics. These fanboys, manage to talk about the Bible, sovereignty, and grace without God being there. If only in this aspect, they are miracles in how blind a person can be. They are practicing empiricists and atheists when they view the world and when they speak.

100 Times More

“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.
(Mark 10:29-30).
I was re-watching Narnia yesterday, and the last scene reminded of Jesus’ words. At the beginning, Edmond was tempted to betray his family for the promise of being a prince in her cold harsh kingdom. We know the story of his betrayal and how Aslan saved him. However at the end, Edmond received what the witch promised but 100 times more in property, authority, friends and happiness. He became a king of Narnia.
This is a great reminder. The promises of God yield so much more prosperity, property, friends and blessings than the deceptive lie of sin. Rather than trying to receive blessings by stealing them by an illegitimate way and by your own small effort , receive them in faith and watch the powerful effort of God’s love make that part of your life a king of Narnia.
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Proof That Jesus Is Seated At God’s Right Hand

“If you want to know how the Spirit acts now, just read how He acted when He had full possession of the Church. The book of Acts is a blueprint by which the Holy Spirit wishes to work throughout His dispensation.”[1]

“Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today…

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called (predestined) by the Lord our God.”
(Acts 2:33,38-39 NLT)[2]

Jesus has sat down at the right hand of the Father, on His throne. The Father fulfilled His promises and Jesus began to pour out the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This dispensation is the millennium, spoken of in Revelation. It is the administration when Jesus rules being seated on His throne while His saints are still on the earth. It is a throne that cannot be moved, or Him moved from it. He rules from it. His rule is a rule of pouring out the baptism of the Spirit and expanding His Kingdom. This is a dispensation of the mighty throne power of Jesus. The baptism of the Spirit is the proof, according to Jesus who sits on His throne, that He does sit on His throne.

Those who are against the baptism of the Spirit, are against Jesus Christ, His throne, His power, His authority, and by extension the authority of the Father and His throne, and power of the Spirit. It is a triple blasphemy against every member of the Trinity. Jesus says if you blasphemy the Spirit, you will never be forgiven.

The resurrection of Jesus is unadulterated POWER! Jesus’ gives witness of this, by pouring out POWER on His chosen ones with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you want to testify about the resurrection, which is POWER, then you must have POWER to do so.

Jesus said to the disciples that if He did not do the works of the Father, (miracles) then do not believe that He is the Son of God (John 10). Jesus had no problem giving Himself such a test to prove He is the Son of God. The same with Him sitting at God’s right hand. If there is no baptism of the Spirit, then do not believe He is at God’s right hand. The scripture is our epistemology, thus we know Jesus still pours out the Spirit (because He promised to do it), even if you might not see it in your immediate surrounding. However, it still stands that God has no issue giving proofs, to help our slow hearts believe. An obedient church, who is often filled with the baptism of the Spirit, will help all those who are weak, to have proof, Jesus is at the right hand of God.  The Father promised the Spirit, and said He predestined all those He has sovereignly chosen (which is connected in context of the verse to repentance and salvation – Peter quotes Joel) to receive it. If you deny this power, you deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ; you deny He is seated at the Father’s right hand. If you have not received it, then repent and in obedience receive God’s power so that your life testifies to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and testifies that He presently is seated at God’s right hand.

ENDNOTES:

[1] F.F. Bosworth. Christ The Healer. 9th edition. pg163.
[2] Emphasis and () added by author.