POPS N JIMMY D
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We
will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy
name, to take away our reproach. Is. 4:1
https://youtu.be/dCK6R-_icek Pops n Jimmy D
ON VIDEO-
.Sign man
.Nature of church
.Holy Wisdom
.Wesley
.95 questions on the door
.Luther
.Unpardonable sin?
.Charley’s plane
PAST POSTS [verses below]
(766) ACTS
CONCLUSION- As we finish our study in Acts, I want to review a few things. The
‘church’ [ecclesia] as seen in Acts are without a doubt ‘organic’ this term
describes the community of people in the various locations who believed the
message of the Messiah. These people were not establishing ‘church meetings at
the church on Sunday’ to compete with the Jewish meetings at the synagogues on
Saturday. The transition from the old law into the new covenant was not only
one of a change in message [law versus grace] but also a transition from
shadows to reality. All the ways of worship and ‘liturgical’ form were part of
the old law. The temple and priest and altar were important types and symbols
of what was to come. But in the New Testament communities these ideas of
physical worship changed. The actual praise of Gods people and doing good deeds
will become the sacrifices that God is well pleased with [New Testament]. The
Lords meal was actually a meal! The gathering on the first day of the week
became a good tradition in memory of Christ’s resurrection. But as time went on
many well meaning believers would return to the symbols and incorporate them
into their worship. The church would be seen as the ‘church house’ the altar
would be seen as a real place upon which the ‘bloodless sacrifice’ [Eucharist]
would be re offered again for the sins of the world. The priest would be seen
as having special powers given to him by Jesus, that during the mass the host
becomes Jesus flesh and blood and as the people ‘eat’ him they are partaking,
literally, of Jesus flesh and blood. Now, are all these believers wrong? Should
we see the development of sacramental theology as pagan? I personally don’t
think so. I prefer to view the changes that took place in the church as part of
a process of Gods people grappling with doctrines and beliefs while at the same
time struggling to maintain unity as the centuries progressed [I am not making
excuses for wrong doctrine, I think well meaning church fathers grasped wrong
ideas out of a fear of loosing their identity. The idea of a strong magesterium
[teaching authority] gave room for wrong doctrines to become firmly entrenched
in the collective mind of the early church]. For the first 1000 years of
Christianity the people of God were primarily seen as Catholic. In 1054 the
official split between eastern and western Christianity will take place.
Another 500 years until the Catholic Church split again [1517]. The host of
churches that came out of the Protestant Reformation are too innumerable to
mention. Should we view all of these groups as deceived religionists? Of course
not. Do we find a pattern in Acts that would allow us to trace ‘the true group’
and lay claim to being the most authentic? I don’t believe so. But as all the
people of God strive for the unity that we actually posses in Christ, we have
the great resource of the church fathers, the wisdom and insights of the
reformers. The heritage of the outgrowth of the restorationist movements. The
excitement of the Puritans as they launched out to found a new world free from
religious persecution. If it weren’t for the strong institutional church we
wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have even had a Luther [Wittenberg ] Calvin [first Paris then Geneva ] or Zwingli [Zurich ]! Or the ‘pre reformers’ Wycliffe,
Huss and Knox. These men were products of Catholic higher learning! It was the
reality of Catholic institutional Christianity that allowed for these men to be
trumpets of truth in their day! The university cities that they taught in as
Catholic priests allowed for their influence to spread far and wide. In each
generation of believers you have had Gods people progress so far and leave us with
great treasures that were intended to be passed on to future generations If we
severe ourselves from historic Christianity, then we lose the great gains that
have been made in the centuries gone by! The book of Acts shows us the freedom
of the people of God. ‘Where 2 or more are together in my name, I am in the
midst’ isn’t some description of ‘local church’. As in if we copy the formulas
of what happened in Acts [break bread, prayer, etc.] then you ‘have a church’.
Jesus promise to be with us when we are together is the act of brotherhood.
Surely we saw Jesus going along with the people of God all thru out Acts. The
Spirit of God that indwelt them in chapter 2 was the promise that he would be
with them. He legitimized them! Not some institution [‘local church’] that they
were to start! So today all the people of God are striving to find a closer
identity with each other as fellow believers in the Lord. I believe the book of
Acts gives us a beautiful picture of the church in her infancy stage. I also
believe the growth seen as we read Paul’s letters to these churches indicates
the heart of God for his people to remain in grace. Paul warns the churches to
not fall into the legalism of observing
days and regulations and legalistic requirements. He wants them to live simply,
free from sin and to be the people of God in society. Some branches of
Christianity took hold of the strong ‘we are pilgrims’ view [which is true to a
degree] and would separate from society. Not realizing we are pilgrims and
strangers to the worlds system, but our Father is God of heaven and earth! We
are here to impact this planet! So let’s run with the exciting message and
revolutionary mindset that the early church possessed. They weren’t in this
thing for what they could get out of it, they were really laying their lives
down for the gospel. They were sharing their stuff with each other. They were
loving God and their fellow man in ways that were uncommon for their time. It
wasn’t only what they said that allowed them to ‘turn their world upside down’
it was who they were, the People of God.
[parts]
ROMANS 1-3
I want to make a note
here- since last week’s video I saw the movie AMERICAN SNIPER- I also read more
comments on this subject.
In the video I mentioned how Chris said in his book he
‘hates all Iraqi’s’- now- I read excerpts- as well as what others said.
I want to clarify- some are disputing these claims- so- the
purpose of these posts [on everything] is to
[parts]
(594)
. Let me cover some church history. I have had
someone argue with me about the history of Islam. Not a Muslim, but a Christian
who was saying ‘why do you say Islam started in the 7th century, it
started around the 11th’. My answer was ‘Muhammad lived in the 7th
century’. Not to hard to see this. So I thought I should cover some history.
During the time of the rise of Islam, the Christian church was already dividing
from east and west. After Constantine [4th century Roman emperor]
consolidated the Roman Empire in the 4th century he set up the
capital city of the eastern empire, Constantinople [named after him]. As time
progressed the western church would take on the form of Roman Catholicism, the
eastern [Constantinople area. Modern day Turkey-Istanbul] would be known as
‘Orthodox’. Though the official split of eastern and western [Catholic-Rome!]
churches occurred in 1054 AD, yet the division started years before. The official
split is called ‘the great schism’ of the 11th century; it would not
be until 500 years later that the church would have her ‘reformation’. The
official reason for this split was over a rather silly thing. For centuries the
Catholic church had an expression that said ‘the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father’ than they included ‘he proceeds from the father and the Son’. Well the
eastern brothers didn’t like Rome telling them what to believe and used this as
the official reason to ‘have the schism’. To be honest the divisions were
coming for years. After the Roman Empire consolidated under Constantine, he
tried to strengthen the eastern territories of his empire and for centuries you
had the struggle for which region would be the most influential. At first you
had 5 major areas that were divided under 5 main Bishops. As time went on the
argument would be ‘which bishop has the most say so’ and it was really a power
struggle. Finally Rome said ‘the bishop of Rome is the FIRST AMONG EQUALS [a
term that many in the Protestant strain of the discipling movement would later
embrace] he holds Peters seat’ and this is really where the divisions started.
Eventually Muhammad would rise and Islam would take control of the eastern
capital. This later became the reason for the crusades. The Catholic church
wanted to regain the territories that she lost in the east. The eastern
churches are very much Catholic in many ways. They also hold to a view of
Christianity that sees man being ‘joined’ with God and becoming pleasing to God
thru Christ’s grace uniting with us and making us like him. A perfectly
scriptural view, but a different emphasis from the strong intellectual power
that you read about from the western fathers of the church. The Catholic church
is noted for her social action in ways that the eastern church is not. So both
of these communions have good things to bring to the table. The Orthodox
[eastern] churches would not be affected by the major social and political
upheavals that took place in the west. The Renaissance, the Reformation and the
Enlightenment had major impacts on western Christianity, while not affecting
the eastern church in the same way. During the 13th- 15th centuries
you would have ‘pre reformers’ rise up in the western church. John Wycliffe,
the great Catholic Priest who was at the center of learning in France would
become known for his translating the scriptures into the common language. Then
you have John Huss and John Knox [3 Johns, scripture says 3 fold cords are not
easily broken!] who would have their own influence in western Christianity. At
this time you had whole movements of believers who would be seen as neither
‘western or eastern’ but restorationist [the restoring of the early practices
and beliefs of the church] Peter Waldo would be the Father of the Waldensians
and in the 12th century you would have the Albigenses in the south
of France. These groups would be looked upon as ‘cults’ [though the term was
not used yet] by the traditional church. So you can see how the church has been
growing and reforming ever since the first century. Even though we see many
divisions that exist till this day, there are strides being made for unity. The
eastern and western church are very close to‘re uniting’ once again. While I do
not personally hold to the doctrine of the Pope being the occupier of Peter’s
seat, I also see him as a Christian man who is striving for unity in Christ’s
church. Some believe the whole attempt for outward unity is futile. The more
ardent Protestants see it as ‘the one world church of the anti christ’ I reject
that language out of hand. Well I hope you got something out of this short
overview of world history [real short!].
Recently saw an appeal to give. The teaching [TV] was well
meaning. They were showing how the scripture is loaded with the doctrine of
‘first fruits’. All good stuff on the ‘secret’ of first fruits. The teacher was
being hailed as an authority on Jewish history and why ‘first fruits’ is so
important. The main problem with this whole mindset is they ALWAYS seem to see
giving in the context of sending money to ministries. Jesus taught THEE NUMBER
ONE priority of GIVING TO GOD was to be expressed by meeting the real needs of
people. Now, you do find the woman giving into ‘the offerings of God’ by giving
[parts]
NOTE- It just so happened that I mentioned Istanbul Turkey-
and Moscow on this teaching- a day or 2 before the recent events. I posted a
short video yesterday about the downing of the Russian plane by Turkey. https://youtu.be/LLmMWnq8uQY
Brief overview- we [U.S.] are ‘in’ Syria because we are
supposed to be fighting terrorists- and nations that support them. Russia is
also in Syria to fight terrorists.
Russia is fighting all of them [including the ones that
Turkey supports- and backs- also called ‘rebels’- some of these groups we too
support- because even though they are similar to ISIS- yet we overlook it-
because they are fighting Assad [strange- I know].
Now- Turkey is also a member of NATO- meaning we will ‘back
them up- like one of our
[parts]
There is a debate about
how much of what was written about him was actually true- Plato did add his own
ideas into these debates- and the controversy about this is so strong that we
actually have a name for it- the ‘Socratic Problem’.
During the time of the
disillusionment of the Athenians- there were a group of philosophers known as
the Sophists.
The word comes from
Sophia- meaning wisdom.
Philosophy itself means
The Love of Wisdom.
In our day the words
Sophomore- Sophistry and Sophisticated are derived from this root word.
The Sophists were the
original Pragmatists.
Pragmatism is a form of
belief that says ‘do what works- regardless of the ethical implications’.
We will get to Pragmatism
at the end of this whole series on Philosophy.
But for now- we see the division between what
Socrates taught- and the
Now- I
do not ‘spiritualize’ everything in the book of Revelation- and over time I
might teach the various views on the book [historic- future- a mix of both-
etc.]But what I want you to see in this post is the primary ‘enemy’ that Christ
wars against- is Satan’s tactic to deceive man- thru sin- and the way sin
effects the mind.
I read
a book on addiction a few years ago [read a few] - and one of them was quite
interesting.
It was
a book on addiction recovery- from those who left AA.
The new
program they started [and have good results] was based solely on recognizing
the ‘addictive voice’.
Over
time- thru many personal stories- they learned that sin/addiction starts in the
mind- many testified to the fact that before they sinned- they actually found
themselves ‘mouthing’ words like ‘I can’t believe I’m going to do this’
They
taught- at that point- reject [rebuke] the voice.
[ that
the image of the beast should both speak ,]
Many
spoke about images of sin in their ‘mind’s eye’- Jesus warned against sin-
saying ‘if your eye is evil- your whole body will be full of darkness’.
As you
read these references I posted from revelation- you see an aspect of this
‘Those
who worship the beast- and his image’ ‘those MARKED in their minds/hands’.
At the
end of the book we read of those who overcame the beast- they ‘stood on a sea
of glass- mingled with fire’.
Those
who come up out of the waters of baptism [our identification with Christ]
‘stand on a sea’ in a sense-
Yet- it
was fire too- I taught this year on the Baptism of Fire
So- the
great victory over the beast and his image- is thru the work of the Cross-
Jesus- thru his Word- kills this beast.
We are
then raised to walk in newness of life- and have authority in the kingdom with
him [sit on the throne too- this is actually not the teaching for the week- but
I just wanted to give you a flavor of what’s to come].
To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame , and am set down with my Father in his throne.
[1 And
you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) 6 And
hath raised us up together , and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus: Ephesians- Note ‘the spirit that now works IN THE CHILDREN
of disobedience’- the primary spiritual warfare takes place inside people-
Jesus ‘wars’ against the sinful nature of man- the ‘spirit’ working IN
sinful/lost man].
And
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them [Know
ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this
life? Corinthians]: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the
beast, neither his image , neither had received his mark upon their foreheads,
or in their hands;
To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame , and am set down with my Father in his throne.
1 And I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away ; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband [This is us- THE CHURCH- THE BRIDE]. 3 And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying , Behold , the tabernacle of God is with men, and he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away [Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away ;
behold , all things are become new. Corinthians] . 5 And he that sat upon the
throne said , Behold , I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write : for
these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done . I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable , and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers,and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone:which is the second death.For others- it
might be time to leave former sins in the past- Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience:
Ephesians
2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Romans
6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Romans
6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Romans
6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death?
Romans
6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life.
Romans
6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall
be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Romans 6:6 Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the1802- THE HARVARD
PROFESSOR
Caught an interesting show the
other night- a Harvard economist [liberal] gave a lecture on economics.
Now- when I say ‘liberal’ I do
not use the term in a derogatory way- no- he was the type of economist that
would fit into the category of a Paul Krugman.
[parts]
[1770] TREASURY OF MERIT
Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were
talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant
Reformation.
In order to understand the key act that caused the protest-
we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.
In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort
to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation
and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.
The church needed to raise money for the project- and the
German prince- Albert- would play a major role.
It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant
scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from
what we call the Medici line of Popes.
If you remember last month I wrote a post on the
Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role
in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in
Florence Italy that would spread to the region.
Well this very influential family also played a big role in
who would get top positions in the church.
At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the
right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the
church.
Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening
for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.
It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said
you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And
he was too young for all of them.
So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for
what the church actually taught at the time.
So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding
starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on
10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7
deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.
Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.
So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the
money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert
the right to sell Indulgences.
What’s an Indulgence?
Okay- this is where it gets tricky.
The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of
Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good
deeds of others over the years.
You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had
Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.
The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account
by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee
that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.
The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called
Penance [confession].
When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the
priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has.
The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and
that’s a form of penance.
One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms
Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the
poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.
In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into
Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor-
which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of
the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.
So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets
of the faithful.
Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these
indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them
in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.
It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the
crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including
giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical
principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.
But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the
indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory
[in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through
the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good
deeds of others are now applied to the account].
The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the
building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it
was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.
It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as
being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who
saw the abuses and did not take part in them.
But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually
lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the
Protestant Movement.
As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and
Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church
never officially changed her position on the doctrine.
There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s,
Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up
for change.
Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s
not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice
versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to
try and be honest- and respectful during the process.
Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well
actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the
treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if
God.
The idea- applied to Christ- is good.
But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious
prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John
1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION
Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant
Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine
of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith?
Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!]
both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works.
Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as
Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest-
named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to
obey Gods law and become saved that way.
He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous
bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the
Grace of God. The official Catholic
position was to reject
VERSES-
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1st Jn. 3:9
For where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18:20
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1st Jn. 2:16
facebook.com/john.chiarello.5
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts-
re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks-
John.#
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