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Loss, Suffering and The Consolations of the Lord

There is a loss to serving God and there is loss to following God. There is even loss in staying pure and to doing what you know pleases the Lord. There is loss in many ways.

In some ways it is loss of friends in some ways it is being left out, cold shouldered, in other ways it is far worse in reviling and outright persecution. But make no mistake the Lord IS paying attention and is watching meticulously. You may feel frustrated, alone and left out. But he attends to you, there are consolations from him. There is a reward from him that comes when we side with him, cooperate with him, when we live our lives in a way that is consistent with what pleases him.

The eight consolations of the beatitudes. The giving of the kingdom x 2, comfort, inheritance of the earth, satisfaction, mercy, seeing of God, becoming a son of God, identification with the prophets of old.

The Beatitudes

““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:3-12

Paul teaching directly about suffering and comfort:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.”

2 Cor 1:3-87
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What Exactly is Prophecy?

Recently I was asked if there is still prophecy in the church. Is it still a thing in church? My answer was “of course it is”, however I quickly realized that there are varied definitions of prophecy and that has led to varied answers to this question m

The baptist/ reformed Christian might quote the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 “we see in part, we know in part, we prophecy in part …but when the perfect comes the partial is done away with” (paraphrased). This verse is often applied to spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophetic utterances and any manifestation of the spirit in a supernatural way. According to this line of thinking only bible reading and teaching from clergy is permitted in church meetings. I believe this interpretation is deeply in error and mislead many Christians. It is easy to debunk becuase this verse also includes knowledge being done away with. And it doesn’t’ take a scholar to see Paul is talking about the return of Christ and the resurrection from the dead. When He dominates the entire planet and there is only truth, no deception and false teaching.

So then,

What exactly is prophecy?

Recently in a church gathering I attended a man spoke up at the end of the singing and said in a loud voice, with a slightly different tone than he normally speaks with and essentially said “thus saith the Lord…I love you with an everlasting love…” That was the essential message of his prophecy. It was a well-timed reminder about the love of God for us personally and I think it encouraged many who heard it. But was this prophecying? After some time in the same gathering, the pastor stood up front and with a microphone skillfully taught from the book of Esther from the Old Testatment. Linking therein the types and connections between the characters and situations in Esther, with Jesus Christ. It was very good. Was this teaching message prophecying?

A prophecy is a sharing by a Christian, it unveils, explains and/or expounds upon Jesus Christ. It can be done after saying “thus switch the Lord” or it can be done as just a natural spiritually shining out of a Christian.

John in the book of Revelation shares that “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). Testimony of Jesus Christ, from him directly through Christians, via the Holy Spirit. And it a pointing to him by the Holy Spirit.

That is prophecy. It has not been done away with merely because we have the new testament. Historically I think highly emotional and exaggerative (is that a word?) Christians have irritated and bothered other Christians into prohibiting any and all sharing but their own in churches. They don’t know how or want to deal with certain personalities so they shut everything down (including many things the Spirit himself wants to share).

A similar and well-written article on this topic. Rethinking Prophetic Utterances by Frank Viola.

Also, check out this ministry website Eternal Testimonies.

Also, What is the Pride of Life?

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From the Tabernacle to Temple

I am visiting Israel here in May of 2022 with family and friends.

While here I’ve felt led to read Jeremiah and Hebrews.

One thing that has perplexed me for some time before this trip is the general ignorance about the tabernacle of Moses and David and their connection to the Temple of Solomon. When I ask my Israeli friends about these Temples they seem a bit perplexed and don’t know many details about either in comparison to the Temples.

I was quite ignorant of the connection between the tabernacle of Moses and all subsequent “houses of God” until someone taught me (Frank Viola) and I read a great book called The Tabernacle by M.R. DeHaan.

Our guide here is a devout Jew, educated as archeologist, and he essentially said that Solomon got the plans for the temple from his contractor Hiram who “was known for building houses of god.”

Details about this can be found in 1Kings 6,7

I am sure this is true to some degree but the connection between Moses’ tabernacle and Solomons temple is clear. Turning the portable wooden and fabric tabernacle into a stone temple no doubt took much planning, substitutions and thought. Also the dimensions are quite different.

David (Solomon’s father) brought the ark of God to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, see 2 Sam 6. Where he set up his own “tent” and is believed to have written many of the Psalms based on his experience with God there.

The Ark of covenant, the mercy seat, the table of showbread, the holy of holies, the candlestick, the outer court, the brazen altar, the single entrance gate. Extreme detail and dimensions and instructions from God to Moses about the house can be seen beginning in Exodus 25.

There is a direct reference to David’s city of Zion, to the Ark of the Covenant, and to Moses in 1 Kings 8 about when Solomon was building the Temple.

Fast forward to the time of the Christians. Stephen one of the seven Christians chosen by the apostles referred to Solomon getting the pattern for the house of God (temple) from Moses. Right before he was stoned to death. The final point Stephen made about God not dwelling in houses of stone enraged them to murder him by stoning, See Acts 7:44-50.

There seems to be an overemphasis on the Temple. As marvelous and massive as this temple must have been.

A trip to Israel has historical and religious value by default.

But in order to get spiritual value out of it one must comprehend the meaning of Israel from God’s perspective…what he was accomplishing with Israel. That requires we accept the meaning of Jesus Christ to God.

Jesus Christ was the whole purpose of Israel, many would doubt that, many others would resent that but it is true. The fascination with the history and religion of it all is one thing, but getting SPIRITUAL VALUE from it requires an understanding of Jesus Christ. And if we cannot do that then its just history, its just religion, just a cool place to visit.

This brings us to what I think is a very important general principle for life. To get the spiritual value of every and anything, good or bad, we must comprehend the spiritual meaning of things as they relate to God’s purposes concentrated on Jesus Christ.

This means that Israel, the temples, and everything related to them. Past, present and future find there meaning and purpose and value in Jesus Christ. He defines them, he gives them purpose and meaning.

What it means to Gather in his name: https://adamcollier.com/what-does-it-mean-to-gather-around-jesus-christ/?preview=true&preview_id=3914&preview_nonce=9f27f9180f&frame-nonce=b3800848f9

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