NT Canon: Sorry, We're Closed

Evaluating the Glory of God on Cape Cod's results and resources...

Just scrolling through the Facebook page of the Glory of God On Cape Cod to see if there has been a manifestation and I missed it.

Has there been one?

I mean like the one they are praying for, not the "ordinary" dealings of the Spirit. It has to be a lulu if it happens, 'cause that's what they're praying for.

Looking at their leaders' teachings, I see the continuance of the weird wedding of Old Testament scripture (intended for the backsliding nation Israel) applied to the part of the New Testament church which has yet to receive the Word: the New Testament canon is closed.

Prophetic prayer life is the newest thing being promoted as the solution to the churches ills. We're told it's "little known" and "generally overlooked". From MPOV, such neglect might be understandable, since it has little basis in the church teachings of Paul,

I often wonder why Christians are so enamored of "revelation" coming from all sorts of sources when they have not fully absorbed what God has clearly written out in His Book?

It's going to be awful difficult for a prophet of today to top what's coming down the pike in God's already revealed plan for the culmination of all things to His glory.

In fact, it's forbidden to try.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Paul or Matthias?

The Apostle Paul Took Judas' Office, Not Matthias, and Why It's Important



The Apostle Paul took the place of Judas. This is true because:

1. there are only twelve Apostles of the Lamb. This is a distinct group, even though any messenger of God may be called an apostle. For instance, Barnabas was an apostle, but not an Apostle of the Lamb, one of the twelve.

2. The Bible reveals that the Apostles of the Lamb are only twelve and their office is fixed eternally. Revelation 21:14: Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

3. The twelve recognized their distinct calling, both individually and as a group. Peter knew they needed twelve Apostles, so went about remedying the situation. He seemed to forget that Jesus was alive and well and about to pour out his Spirit on them.

The entire truth of the church was not known at this time. Peter did not even know the Gentiles were included in the church until later (Acts, chapter 9). The full revelation of all things regarding the church was given to the Apostle Paul as (a secret now revealed, formerly hidden in God).

4. Peter made several mistakes in seeking to replace Judas. First, he forgot that Jesus Himself is the only one who selects His Apostles.

Next, he was incorrect in believing that an Apostle had to be an eye-witness to the resurrection to be an Apostle. Any Christian today can testify to the truth of the resurrection, yet none of us were there. Even the Apostles heard it first from the Godly women. Yet Paul did see the resurrected Christ, and more than once.

Then last of all, Peter used an Old Testament method of determining the will of God. This was especially crude when contrasted to the Promise of the Spirit, not yet received. Later on in the church experience, the Spirit revealed Paul to believers and to the earlier Apostles, who then acknowledged his office. Peter's premature action in forcing a resolution to a need instead of waiting on God to do it His way, is characteristic of Peter ... and us, as well.

5. Peter is later proven wrong in the hasty selection of Matthias, by the Lord's selection of Paul to fill out the number of the Twelve.

Acts 9:15: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he (Paul) is a CHOSEN vessel of MINE to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

Paul himself knew and claimed the office of Apostle: Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me...

Paul's works prove he is a true apostle...especially in the delivery of sinners from sin to Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:1: "Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord."

Acknowledging the Apostle Paul as the twelfth Apostle of the Lamb is important because:

1. It's always important to honor all of God's truth and the position Christ has chosen for men.

2. The ministry and teaching of the Apostle Paul to and in the church is of crucial importance in understanding Biblical Christianity. He is the Apostle to the Gentiles and the steward of the church age truth. We should recognize this all important church truth and as one brother wrote: "run all things (teachings) through the filter of Paul."

3. The Enemy still seeks to deny, disparage and cast doubt about the authenticity of the Apostle Paul and his scriptural teachings. Let us, conversely, understand and honor Paul's Apostleship and study his unique writings, given to him by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

4. The sinner needs Jesus to be saved from the penalty of past sins. The believer needs Paul to be instructed in how Jesus presently saves us from a sinful life. The church needs Paul to instruct us in how Jesus is going to save us from the Tribulation and deliver us into glorification.

5. The failure of church teachers of the past and present to allow Paul to occupy the place Christ has given him, is a major reason for untold misery and error in the church, throughout the centuries.

Christ's delegated authority as given to the Apostles is to be honored by believers just as one honors Him:
Matthew 10:14: "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

Note:

The Apostle Paul is our role model in Christianity. He like us, had a sinful nature, but learned how to win the victory over it in order to live for Christ effectually. We do well to learn from him.

The Submerging Church

The Submerging Church

I look back on some 60 years of being a Christian. In that time, the church has been submerging into a cesspool of worldliness and wickedness, symptoms of its own spiritual weakness. I have seen believer after believer fall away from any profession of faith and some even into open sin of the worst kind. Even those who remain faithful seem to be only clinging to the sinking s...hip, with no strength to aid others who are drowning. THIS SHOULD NOT BE!

This weakness is directly attributable to the preaching and teaching of its leaders. Ignoring or lightly regarding Paul’s teaching concerning all doctrines to do with the believer and the church is to ignore Jesus Christ’s authority in appointing the Apostle to the Gentiles. Resisting Paul or failing to understand his role and revelation has allowed all types of humanism to adulterate the purity of the Word of God.

The current sad state of affairs has given occasion and boldness to the proponents of falsehood. Glitzy personality driven national “ministries”, driven by greed, have made tremendous inroads into true Christian churches. The ignorance of the basics of the Gospel has left the lambs vulnerable before the “roaring lion”, Satan. Believers feeding largely only on the latest Christian music are unable to discern the good from the bad and so are apt to build a tolerance for error in exchange for a spiritual high.

What is needed to strengthen the church is up to date preaching that is in line with the times, according to God’s prophetic clock. The exit of the church is imminent, and as soon as that breath-taking event happens, the Day of the Lord begins for all the unbelievers left on the earth. Jesus said this will be the worst thing that has ever happened on earth to any people. God’s wrath, fueled by His righteous rage against a world that has rejected His Son and His supreme sacrifice, will experience this Divine venting …and who shall stand?

Some, with no biblical basis, are teaching a great end time revival. Such teaching is exactly opposite of what the Word of God clearly states. (See Scripture below.)

Preaching the end time events now, while these cataclysmic things are about to break on an unsuspecting world, is the responsibility of the church! This doctrine preached and believed will clean up believers and result in a repentance commiserate with such powerful truth. This will engender a thirst for the truth of God’s Word in all matters. This thirst satisfied will cause growth in grace leading to the joy of the Lord in the believer.

1 Thessalonians 5 New King James Version (NKJV)The Day of the Lord

5 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

Getting the Rapture Right: What Are the Signs to Look for? None!

“Rapture” is a Latin term for the taking away of a large group of people from one place to another. An early translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, used the term and it is now the ordinary way of naming this great event.

The Apostle Paul is the source of the doctrine of the Rapture.
This is not surprising, when we accept that Paul was given the secret of God, never disclosed in the Old Testament. This secret was a mystery to everyone until Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, was allowed to open it to us. It was a detailed revelation of the make-up, offices, structure, development and departure of the completed Bride of Christ to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom in the air.

Romans 9-11 are Paul’s explanation of God’s sovereign right to offer salvation to the Gentiles. This would be a real shock to the Jews as they knew their distinctive calling by God to be His people. This was true, but had been perverted into a sinful nationalistic Godless pride that dishonored God and offended Gentiles. Paul’s explanation was meant to establish God’s faithfulness in the minds of all, and to reaffirm His righteousness in all His ways.

What is the Rapture?
It is the return of Christ for His Bride, the church, made up of born-again people. Christ will return in the clouds, just as He left, and call all living believers to Himself. Saints who died before this event will already be with Him in spirit form. Their bodies will be called out of their graves and instantaneously transformed into glorified form.

Living believers will not have to die, but will be transformed into the eternal state as they rise to join the saints and meet Christ in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Christ then will usher us into Heaven, to His Judgment Seat, and then present us to the Father.
Who will go in the Rapture?

Every person who is born-again, whether living or dead. We are a spiritual body, and no part of the Bride will be left behind. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV)

What about Christians with no visible “fruit” or who once seemed to love the Lord but have drifted away? Will they go? Yes. Salvation from the punishment of sin has never been based of the performance of any believer. Thankfully, eternal life has always been a gift, based on the sterling performance of Another, the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no mistakes made, as God can read hearts, while we as humans can only see works. God sees faith in Christ in its embryonic form before it matures, just as He even knows how many apples a tree will produce at its planting.

If we are concerned some are getting away with sin and slackness, remember, all believers will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to have their earthly works approved or disapproved. Only works will be judged there, not souls, as our sins were judged before at Calvary in the Person of Christ.

This is a great incentive to seek the filling of the Spirit daily that we might serve Christ in an acceptable manner. It’s pleasant to remember Jesus promised even the slightest deed done in His Name, (like giving a brother a glass of water) would be rewarded. How like Jesus, seeking the good, even in the least of us! (Pause for tears of gratitude here).

What are the signs to look for? How close are we?

There are signs for the Second Coming, which will be all about the redemption of Israel. This is in keeping with the manner in which God authenticated His messengers and His message to Israel in the past. God’s method explains the main reason Jesus did so many signs, wonders and miracles in His earthly ministry, as He presented Himself and the Kingdom to Israel in His first Advent. The last and final sign to Israel was His bodily resurrection. A sign does not require faith to happen, like a miracle does. The resurrection is thus a fitting sign and the last one to an unrepentant Israel.

The Rapture, in sharp contrast, is imminent, meaning it could happen anytime. It needs no signs, since the Bride has been made ready by the Spirit. The Spirit has also given us His Word on this event, so we need no sign. The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:51, expresses the faith that he would be in the Rapture while still alive. This was not an error on his part. It is always right to anticipate the Rapture until it happens or until we die.

If we die before the Rapture, we will instantly be with Christ and return in the sky when He does in that great event. Our dead bodies will be raised and transformed into a glorious resurrection body like Christ’s and our new nature will slip into its new, eternal home. Then we will watch with joy supreme as living saints, our brothers and sisters, are caught up to be with the Lord and us. They will be transformed into the glorified creatures we have just become, by the grace of God. They come to us without even dying. What a joyous time!

What wonder as our oft-tested faith is proven true in the wonder of His Presence…and so shall we ever be with the Lord!

Understanding this truth will put a lot of scripture into proper perspective. Which is a good thing, since knowing the future always relieves present pressure, especially when the eternal future is going to be so wonderful! Accepting this truth of the Rapture has benefits. It helps us focus on spiritual matters, is a present hope in the midst of trials, and is an incentive to purify our thoughts and lives by the surety of the Rapture. It’s called the Blessed Hope for a reason, and a special reward (crown) is promised for those who deliberately keep it in view. We are to comfort one another with this truth, not beat them with it!

How will I react to all of this before and when it happens?

1 John urges Christians to continue to develop their faith into mature faith. Those who don’t cooperate with the means of growth in grace (Scripture, prayer, fellowship, service) will understandably suffer some trepidation in anticipation of the Rapture. Yet when Christ does return and we see Him, we shall be like Him.

I take this to mean we will undergo a great change in our thinking, along with the wonders of the rest of our glorification. We will think completely like Christ about righteousness and purity. Earthly relationships will be seen in the light of eternal truth and our questions about lost loved ones and what might have been, resolved at last, to the glory of God.

The best result of knowing this Rapture is coming is to plant a new zeal in our hearts to pursue the scriptural Christ in our thinking, to really hear Him who loved us unto death and washed us in His own blood. This true hearing of His word includes the acceptance of all of God's Word, but Paul's teaching in particular when it comes to the church's earthly existence and Heavenly destination.

 It's my conviction the failure in diminishing his role and revelation in the plan of God is the cause of much confusion. Let us listen to Paul, just as we would listen to Christ if we would truly understand church doctrines to the glory of God.  
Christ will help us by His Spirit to live to honor Him and do something for Him, in some way, even today.