Is God dispensing new revelation today?

                                           

There are many that say God has given them a “fresh word” for today. Or that “the word of the Lord came until them saying”….

Point being is many believe God is talking to them just like He spoke to the prophets of old.

Is this true? Is God speaking to us just like He spoke to them? Many say, “Of course He is! Why wouldn’t He?” While others are saying “He is not”, while others are perhaps not so sure.

The reason why I believe it is important we discuss this is because if God is giving prophetic words like He gave in the Old and New Testaments, then we would have to conclude that God is providing new revelation in the 21^st century.

While I am not going to argue if God spoke to someone (either in their own spirit they believe or audibly)  privately for their own benefit and direction; for only the individuals know whether they heard from the Lord or not. What I will challenge is the idea that God is giving a predictive prophetic word for us today.

God does everything for a reason. And with the nation of Israel, it was revealed to them clearly what He thought.

Deuteronomy 18:15,18 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst from your brethren. Him you will hear…I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put my words in their mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

This prophecy was in reference to the Messiah that would come to the world 1400 years later according to the time of Moses’ prophecy. Peter recalls this prophecy in Acts 3:22.

Isaiah 9:6-7 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end (Daniel 2:44). Upon the throne  of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Jeremiah 25:11 – Talking about Judah’s impending capture and deportation by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, “And this whole land will be a desolation and an astonishment and those nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years.

This literally happened. Starting in 605 B.C. the Babylonians began the first of three sieges on Jerusalem. The second happened in 597 B.C., and the third and final invasion occurred in 586 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar burned the city to the ground (Read Jeremiah chapter 52 and 2 Chronicles 36:19).

The seventy years began in the year 605 B.C. The first Israelite refugees returned to Jerusalem under the degree of King Cyrus to build the house of God in 536 B.C. (2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:1-3).

Daniel 9:26 – The angel Gabriel tells Daniel that Jesus would be killed about 500 years before it actually happens. As a matter of fact, we know the date. According to history, when the decree was made for the Hebrews to rebuild their holy city Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince was April 9^th 32 A.D. This occurred on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9).

Of course we know five days later Jesus was crucified.

Matthew 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The similar passages occur in Matthew 24:2, Mark 13:2 and Luke 19:41-44.

Jesus predicted the destruction of the nation Israel by the Roman Emperor Titus. The epic fatal event took place in 70 A.D. when four Roman legions broke through the walls and burned the city to the ground. 1.1 million Hebrews were killed; many were crucified, while other were taken away prisoner to Rome as slaves to be paraded in the streets in defeat, and to help rebuild the city since Rome had suffered three-fourths damage to their city due to civil war.

The point I want to try to drive home with these prophecies are they all had specificity. All of the prophecies mentioned have come to pass in part, or in full. For instance, the Isaiah 9:6-7 prophecy has been partially fulfilled. The part where unto us a child is born, unto to us a Son is given was fulfilled in Christ’s first coming. The part about Him receiving the throne of His father David has yet to be fulfilled – it will occur at His second coming in the future at the end of time and into eternity.

You will not hear a prophecy from anyone today with the preciseness of the ones mentioned above. Because there is not a need for it anymore. Scripture tells us that the Lord will not do anything unless He reveals his secret to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

Any prophesying that anyone can do today is solely based on known recorded revelation, not new revelation. Our prophecies are no longer foretelling which has the predictive element in it – in others words we do not need a prophecy today that will predict the future; rather our prophecies are forth telling – meaning we are exegeting the text of scripture.

I am convinced since the canon (i.e. the whole of scripture) is complete, and we have received revelation all the way to the end of time into eternity, there is nothing else for the Lord to reveal. Why would God began to now deliver to us a brand new word after nearly two thousand years? Yet, there are numerous modern day “prophets and prophetesses” who insist God has a fresh prophetic word for us today as individuals, local church congregations and as a nation.  Also, if these individuals are convinced the words they are speaking are from God, why aren’t they being recorded as Holy Scripture as the OT and NT writers’ words were? Did they really hear from God?

I am admittedly skeptical.

So, when or if someone approaches you and declares that, “The Lord told me to tell you thus and so”, be very careful. They may mean well, but they are also on a slippery slope. We are commanded not to believe every spirit, but rather test (emphasis added) those spirits whether they are from God. Why? For being many false prophets have gone into the world (I John 4:1). The scripture also commands us to test all things (italics mine). Hold fast to that which Is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You know what that means? It means we are to judge (yes I know, we hate the J-word) what someone says against the word of God. If what they say does not comes to pass, they are a false prophet and cannot be trusted (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). They also have proven that the “prophecy” they gave to you did not come from the Lord – they are deluded and should keep quiet. Every word the prophets of old spoke came to pass precisely as they declared it proving they were authentic servants who truly heard from the Lord.

Why is Jesus called the only Begotten Son of God?

There are many that make the mistake of thinking when the Bible declares that Jesus is God’s only Begotten Son that it must refer to the Father God having a conjugal relationship resulting in Jesus being born.

That reasoning is a gross error.

There are also many that believe since the Bible says that Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren that He had a beginning and therefore He is not eternal.

This is also an unfortunate conclusion.

Since both views are wrong, how do we define begotten and firstborn?

The Greek word is prōtotokos. This is a compound word. Proto means first. The second Greek word is tikto which means to beget.

Naturally It refers to Jesus being born of the virgin Mary (Luke 2:7). Jesus was the firstborn among his half brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:46-48;13:55).

In the Hebrew culture the firstborn male in the family was privileged. He would inherit a double portion of his father’s estate because he is the beginning of his father’s strength (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).

Metaphorically, Jesus being the Firstborn among those who believe in Him, created a new born again race of people that were begotten through Him and adopted as sons and daughters by God the Father when they believed (Rom 8:15; 9:26; Eph 1:5;Gal 3:26).

Jesus being the only Begotten of God means He is preeminent in rank above all creation. He is also the creator of all things and holds the creation together.

Colossians 1:15-18 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, He may have the preeminence.”

The writer Paul could not have it explained the matter any clearer. Jesus is NUMERO UNO in everything!

He is infinite and from everlasting the prophet Micah says (Micah 5:2).

The word image in Colossians 1:15 in the Greek is the word eikōn. The English equivalent is our word Icon.

This denotes that Christ is of the same essence as the Father. The only difference is that Jesus is visible and the Father God is invisible. Did not Jesus tell Phillip that he that has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9)? Simply put, Jesus is the visible manifestation of His Father.

This has to mean that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh.

Concluding, Jesus being the only Begotten Son of God makes reference to Him being first and preeminent in all things since He is the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18). And through Him, the church was conceived and born. Jesus is the only person to exist before He was born into this world. How? Because He is preexistent and does not have a beginning other than His human beginning through His mother.  He is indeed the author of the beginning because He created all things. Without Him nothing can exist that does exist (John 1:3).

Jesus being Begotten makes reference to His relationship to the Father and His position and rank with Him. Jesus always existed and is immortal and eternal.

Jesus declares of Himself that, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 1:8;22:13).

For those of you reading this that still do not believe, I pray that God opens your eyes today so that you will believe. It Is not enough to just believe in Jesus – demons do that (James 2:19). But rather, “what do you believe about Him?”

You MUST believe that He is God the Son.

What is total depravity?

When people think of the phrase total depravity, they think of someone who does not have a vestige of human decency in them – in other words, they are as rotten as they can be like some of the maniacs of history:  Charles Manson, Joseph Stalin or Adolf Hitler.

Total depravity is a misleading term. It comes from the first letter in the acronym TULIP which supposedly describes the five points of Calvinism – (T) (total depravity), (U) (unconditional election), (L) (limited atonement), (I) (irresistible grace), (P) (perseverance or better preservation of the saints).

A person that is totally depraved according to scholars is someone who’s entire being is marred by sin – their mind, will and emotions. All of these faculties are corrupt. All of us are depraved to one degree or another. That does not mean depraved people cannot do any human good. Depraved people are often great humanitarians, philanthropists, kind generous people. And because of that, many people believe they are good in their own eyes.

Man believes he deserves to be accepted by God based on his own meritorious works. In other words, man believes he is good enough to earn his way to heaven.

Is this true? Can man earn his way to heaven?

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment. If man can earn God’s grace (please pay attention to the language that I am speaking), then what would be the criteria to merit His favor? Giving a certain amount of money to the church? How about feeding the hungry and homeless down at the mission; building schools, hospitals, and churches? All of these are worthwhile and benevolent causes aren’t they?

Yes they are, but we have a serious problem.

What one person will determine is good enough for them to get to heaven is not the same thing someone else would require of themselves to make it to heaven. For instance, someone else may simply say all they need to do to get to heaven is believe in Jesus (without ever repenting of sin) and be water baptized. Do you see the problem I am analyzing? If man determines his own path to God, then everyone will do what is right is his own eyes (Judges 21:25). And by the way, we have over seven billion people in the world today.

That is a lot of paths to God if man is controlling his own salvation.

The tragic result is there would be unaccountable ways to earn God’s favor because man becomes the determiner of his own salvation – that means the God and the Bible are thrown out.

We read in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 that there is no one who does good, no not even one. What is the Psalmist saying? What he means is that we cannot do any good that pleases God on our own. Why? Because the “good” that man does comes from a wicked heart.

Proverbs 21:27 declare this, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. How much more when he brings it with evil intent?”

In laymen’s terms, God is disgusted with the “benevolent” acts of evil men because of the wicked pretension of their hearts. They are not doing these things for God’s glory, but rather to glorify themselves.

This is the disposition of the depraved soul and mind. It is a person who believes they are 1) good in their own eyes (typical of the non-believer and atheist). And 2) able to manufacture their own path to God by works of human achievement.

Remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you are saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God (your faith) not of works lest any man should boast.”

We cannot contribute anything to God’s wondrous plan of salvation. It did not come from man so man can never take credit for something he never had the intelligence or the power to create. Man would never create something he does not believe he needs.

But God being infinitely wise, saw our need for redemption in eternity past provided the way to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6).

Jesus speaking to the religious leaders said, “If you do not believe that I am He you will die in your sins (John 8:24)”.

Dying in your sins means one dies without their sins ever being forgiven. That person will suffer the wrath of God in eternal judgment rather than receive His loving grace in soul salvation. Why? Because he rejected the only way to eternal life – the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus also said this in John 3:18-19, “He who believes in Him (i.e. Jesus) is not condemned, but He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light (i.e. divine light) has come into the world, and men loved darkness (due to their depravity) rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

It boils down to this, since we know man cannot please God based on his own human efforts no matter how many wonderful things he does in his life because he is totally depraved or radically corrupt as some theologians describe man’s fallen condition, what is the solution to his problem?

Once again, we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. He provides the simple and most profound answer to mankind’s biggest dilemma; the question was asked of the Lord, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work (singular) of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:28).

Commentary on Psalm 37

This is a Psalm of David who was king of Israel from ca[1] 1010-971 B.C. Some of the main themes in this Psalm are:

a.       The fate of the righteous and the wicked

b.       The future of the righteous and the wicked

c.       The relationship of the righteous and the wicked

d.       God’s relationship with the righteous vs the wicked

David at this time is an old man and has seen the faithfulness of the Lord. He has witnessed the preservation of the righteous, and the destruction of his enemies. He is qualified to give testimony to God’s power to his readers (vv 25, 34-36).

David admonishes his readers not to be alarmed when wicked men prosper because their good times will soon run out, and their destruction will come suddenly and finally (vv 2, 9-10, 20,38).

By contrast, the righteous will inherit the earth, and dwell in it forever. There is an eternal future for those who put their trust in the Lord.

These verses provide a clear picture of two lives: Those who are righteous against those who are wicked.

Simply put, the righteous in God will endure forever – meaning even when they die physically, God will resurrect them to life eternal to live in glory with Him. Remember David’s words in the 23^rd Psalm, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Also, remember the words of our Lord Jesus to Martha in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live. And whoever believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Now, what is ironic about this verse is at the time Jesus spoke these words Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus had been dead for four days. So what did Jesus mean when He said that a person that believes in Him would never die?

He had to have meant that a believer in Him would not die finally – we die physically, but at the end of the age we will be resurrected and live eternally.

For the wicked the opposite is true – they will prosper for only a little while, then they will perish and never recover. Their end is destruction and forever separated from their creator. Why? Because they refuse to trust in the Lord, and do good. They have never committed their ways unto the Lord (vv 3-5).

Proverbs one also describes the fate of the wicked. It says:

“How long you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour my Spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded. Because you have disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke. I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me and I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel, and despised my every rebuke” (Proverbs 1:22-30).

What is amazing to me is how such a big God and can conceal Himself from those He does not desire to talk to. What also is very clear here is God’s desire to reconcile with the wicked by stretching out His arms to Him so that he might be saved. When man refuses to receive God’s salvation, the only thing left for him from God is judgment.

If you do not remember anything in this article please remember this: God is active in saving souls, He is never reactive – meaning God is the aggressor in salvation. When it comes to reprobation or judgment, God is reactive or passive, meaning He judges man after man rejects Him.

So in the final analysis, salvation is contingent upon God alone. Whereas judgment is contingent upon man alone.

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[1] ca means about or approximately

Why did Jesus throw out the Moneychangers?

Money changers in the Bible were brokers – those that would exchange one currency for another. The word moneychangers are derived from two Greek words. The first is kollobistēs which literally means clipped. Also means a small coin or rate of change. The second Greek word is kermatistēs which means to cut into small pieces, or to make small change.

In the court of the Gentiles during Passover week (see diagram), animals and other items were sold for sacrifice. In addition, Pilgrims coming from distant lands would come annually to pay the required redemption temple tax which had to be paid with the prescribed money. Since Rome was the ruling power during Christ’s time, many had to exchange their coins which had the image of the Emperor Tiberias Caesar on them for the required half-shekel prescribed by the Mosaic law way back in back in Exodus 30:13. Using money with an image of a pagan ruler was considered idolatry by the Israelites. Plus, the money used to the pay the tax had to be of the purest silver. Other coinage of that day was impure. This is where the moneychangers would come in. It was not a problem that the moneychangers were brokering deals and earning a commission, but they were charging exorbitant rates when transacting the exchange. This meant keeping most of the money being exchanged in their pockets which should have been given to the customer so they could pay the temple tax in obedience to the law and rightfully worship God with this required giving. That was one problem happening during that time. The other problem was that Hebrews were coming from far countries like Mesopotamia, Persia, 

Greece, and other places were coming and obviously could not bring their sacrifices with them had to purchase their animals (particularly the Passover lamb) in these same outer courts. The animals being purchased were under the control of the priests (namely Annas and his sons ruled 6-15 AD) who also were charging exorbitant rates for their already-approved animals ready for sale. Also important worth mentioning is during Passover which was one of three feasts required by males 12 years old and above to attend, the population in Jerusalem swelled to as much as 2-3 million people. This would have been a sales bonanza for the moneychangers and for those that sold animals like oxen, doves, pigeons and sheep.  

The priests became rich through extortion – double dipping by selling animals and rejecting all animals being brought by pilgrims along with charging usury in the exchange rates market. The house of God became a swap meet, a flea market, a shopping mall instead of a house of worship and prayer. The noise and stench of the animals, the hustling of the bankers along with all the tourists and refugees made God’s house a “den of thieves” instead of a place where the Gentiles (and dispersed Hebrews) could worship. All of these activities could and should have been conducted outside of temple grounds, but the greedy opportunists knew the people would come to worship so they capitalized through monopoly and exploitation. Jesus obviously knew about the monetary abuse being conducted in God’s house. This angered Jesus who made a whip of chords and drove out the moneychangers, overturned their tables, and drove out the animals and said to those who sold the pigeons[i], “Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade or merchandise” (John 2:16).  In Mark’s account we read this, and they came to Jerusalem. 

And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And He would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And He was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mark 11:15-17. Quoted from Jeremiah 7:11). What Jesus did was not malicious or cruel. He was jealous for the sanctity of God’s house and cleansed it from the abuse it was suffering. He also fulfilled prophecy: In Psalm 69:9 it says, “For zeal of your house has consumed Me, and the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen on me.”

Jesus would have to cleanse the temple a second time after Palm Sunday during His triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:12).

What Jesus was also saying by cleansing the temple twice is that He had authority over the priests, and that He was the Messiah – calling the temple “My Father’s house”. This no doubt angered Annas the High Priest.[ii] Jesus was challenging his authority along with his corrupt profiteering enterprise.

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[i] I believe Jesus particularly singled out those that sold pigeons because the offering of pigeons or turtledoves was for those who were extremely poor in the land. Jesus own Mother offered this same offering when He was twelve years old (Leviticus 12:6-8; Luke 2:24). According to extra-biblical sources, these dirty merchants were charging highly inflated prices for the sale of pigeons which would have obviously impoverished the poor even more. It was clear the merchants were not there to assist the consumer in the worship of God, but rather they were there to line their own pockets. This was a prime example of the “Love of Money”! This obviously incensed Jesus to act swiftly to cleanse God’s house and restore order. God will never accept improper worship or conduct in His house. Anyone that does that even today should be removed from the assembly.

[ii] Annas along with his five sons and son-in-law Caiaphas were priests and of the political-religious members of the Sadducees. They were the aristocrats of the day, strictly adhered to the Mosaic law. They did not believe in the resurrection, angels or the spiritual realm. They were naturalists. Hellenists and loyal to Rome. They were literally “filthy rich”. They had most of the seats in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court of that day. They were for the most part opponents of their religious counterparts the Pharisees until both parties conspired to condemn Jesus to death.