How to Build a Learning Unit

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Salvation Story of a Drug Addict

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The Moral Glories of Our Lord

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Safety, Certainty and Enjoyment

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Debby Stickfort

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Ron Mills' Story - At the age of 22 I started to consider suicide as an answer to feelings of hopelessness. By the time I was 23 I would get brief periods of wondering “is this all there is to life?" I remember going to night clubs after drug use and drinking and just standing amongst hundreds of people and feeling very alone and tired of life. There had to be more to this Life (more...)

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What is the Illuminati conspiracy theory and One World Government?

The illuminati conspiracy is the idea that there has always been an evil group of men working behind the scenes of world politics and world business with the end of enslaving the masses to work for their purposes.  Supposedly the group began with five men in the order of the Jesuit Priests and continues today after many generations.

It is always assumed that the members of this group control events through manufactured crisis and gradual ownership of global assets.  Unaware of the hidden agenda, we common people, are slipping gradually into their control through organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Criminal Court and others.

Major banks, industries, transportation, stock markets are supposed to be in their hands to be able to lead to a one world economy, one world religion and one world government. Whenever this "New World Order" comes to reality, the Illuminati will be the hands at the wheel.

Such fears of global dominion by one person or group of people are based partly on prophecy in the Bible.  We read in the Bible in the person of the Antichrist and his companion, the False Prophet.  2 Thessalonians 2:1-15" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 2:1-15 tells of his demands for absolute authority, lifting himself as God.  Revelation 13:1-18" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 13:1-18 tells of his rise to power in the symbol of a beast rising out of the sea and his demand of control of all economic activity with his seal 666 on the forehead or hand of every citizen.

It must be remembered that while Satan my be the inspiration behind the Antichrist, God is ultimately in control of all world events and world leaders.  God can use evil people to carry out his plans without their knowing it (Isaiah 10:5," TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:7)." TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 10:7).   He uses nations to punish his people Israel (Judges 2:14-15," TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:14-15, Judges 2:21-23;" TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:21-23; Judges 2:3:12)." TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:3:12).  He can also harden people's resolve to self-destruction (Joshua 11:20;" TARGET="_blank">Joshua 11:20; Judges 7:22)." TARGET="_blank">Judges 7:22).  Even the Antichrist will be under God's control and punished at the end of time (Revelation 20:1-10)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1-10).

Shad Sluiter

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What jobs do angels do?

The Bible says that angels serve Christians.

Hebrews 1:13-14" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 1:13-14  And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?  (14)  Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

But specifically, what are some of the jobs that angels perform?

They protect God's people from physical harm

Psalms 91:9-13" TARGET="_blank">Psalms 91:9-13  Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place-- the Most High, who is my refuge--  (10)  no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  (11)  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  (12)  On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.  (13)  You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

This beautiful psalm tells us that God has assigned the angels the job of physically following and carefully watching over the Lord's people.  Perhaps the psalmist was writing about an upcoming battle as one of "the evils" that could befall him.  But the terrors of evil are not specifically mentioned, leaving the interpretation open to a great variety of situations where God's protection is needed.  Nothing can harm a believer without God permitting it to occur in his sovereign control over all things.  When things occur that we put into "Category Bad", God uses these mishaps for our good (Romans 8:28-29)." TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:28-29).

Recall the angels that were working to protect Elisha and his servant…

2 Kings 6:15-17" TARGET="_blank">2 Kings 6:15-17  When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"  (16)  He said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."  (17)  Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

The Lord has assigned angels to watch over his children as well.  He doesn't say that there is a one-to-one relationship with each believer having exactly one guardian angel, but rather that, in general, the angels are always attentive to the needs and cries of God's children.

Matthew 18:10" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 18:10  "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Peter was rescued by an angel from prison (Acts 5:19)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 5:19).  Daniel was preserved from physical harm in the Lion's Den by an angel (Daniel 6:22)." TARGET="_blank">Daniel 6:22).  Hagar was given food when near death (Genesis 21:17-20)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 21:17-20).

Angels also carry messages from God

Paul was comforted by an angel on the night before his shipwreck (Acts 27:23-24)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 27:23-24).  An angel directed Joseph to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-20)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 2:13-20).  Daniel and John each received their revelations from angels that come to us today in the Book of Daniel and The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Angels carry believers to heaven

Luke 16:22" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16:22 says that Lazarus, the beggar, was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The angels will gather God's elect from the four corners of the earth when Christ returns to set up his kingdom (Matthew 24:31)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 24:31).

Shad David Sluiter

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What is the true sense of Psalm 2:7" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 2:7?

There is no verse quoted so often as referring to the Incarnation by deniers of the Eternal Sonship of our Lord. Have they sufficient ground for this?

No, for to do so merely begs the question; it is exactly what has to be proved. The Psalm begins prophetically much later than the Incarnation, namely, with the rejection of Christ, for the apostles by the Spirit quote verse i, as fulfilled in His rejection by “both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel” (Acts 4:27)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 4:27). The Psalm is divided into four sections:

(1) Verses 1-3—the language of the rebels against Jehovah;

(2) Verses 4-6—Jehovah’s answer of derision and wrath. So sure is His purpose, that it is as if already executed: “Yet have I set My King upon My Holy hill of Zion,” though naturally this purpose did not begin then;

(3) Verses 7-9—the King Himself speaks: “I will declare the decree.” What decree? Would the Lord refer at such a juncture to His incarnation, which to the eyes of men has proved a failure by His rejection? No, it was the Eternal Decree, on which all God’s purposes rest, concerning the Eternal generation of the Son. “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee”;

(4) Verses 10-12 words of the Holy Ghost through David to living kings and judges of the earth, to be wise and serve the Lord NOW, and rejoice before Him. “Kiss the Son* lest He be angry and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” The word “NOW” shows that this closing section is not prophetic at all, but was, we might say, a lesson drawn by David to his fellow-kings. In the language of to-day, he is turning the occasion to profit to lead them to repentance and reconciliation to the Divine Son. In “NOW” the sense is adversative, in contrast with what has gone before, and with the future reign, when it will be too late to turn. David warns his brother rulers of their present duty. Surely such an appeal, addressed in about 1030 B.C., to kings living at that date, to “kiss the Son,” (evidently a Divine Person, the equal of Jehovah), does bear witness to the Eternal Sonship of Him who was at once the progenitor of David, and later “made of his seed, according to the flesh.” How shallow then are the thoughts of those who deny the relation of the Son to our Lord in the Divine Trinity, on the ground that such a relation is not recognised in the Old Testament Scriptures! How soon, alas, the Scriptures become so far a closed book to those who close their eyes to its teachings!

Now, let us return to the immediate object of our consideration, namely, the words, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee,” and enquire whether these words do indeed refer to the Incarnation. If so, we should expect to find them addressed to the Lord in the manger, or at any rate that some allusion to them would be found in the herald angels’ annoucement, but we search in vain for any reference to such a thing. All they say is, “Unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord,” but there is no hint that in that birth, a Divine Person, hitherto unknown, had become the Son of God. Not even do the words of Gabriel to Mary bear this meaning. In answer to Mary’s legitimate question, he makes a double statement:

(1) “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,” that is, “the Holy Ghost will become to thee the Divine Agent of thy conception,” or in the words of Matthew i, “Thou shalt be found with child of the Holy Ghost.” But that conception, unlike any other human birth, was to be of One who had already existed in another form, and who, by the fact of human birth, would enter into manhood. Hence we read:

(2) “The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,” that is, a Divine Person shall, at the moment of the human conception by the Spirit, become flesh, or in other words, the Eternal Son will take to Himself perfect human nature in the womb of the Virgin. Hence the words of the Angel Gabriel:
“Therefore that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” To assert that Christ only became “the mighty God” at the Incarnation would be to deny His Deity; to assert that He only then became the Son of God is to deny His person. If the Babe were only Son of God by human birth, then the Incarnation was an exaltation, not a humbling, and must be the predominant truth of the New Testament, though we know that neither our Lord nor His disciples ever grounded their testimony to His Sonship on it. The Lord in the words of Jehovah’s decree, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee,” goes back to the Eternal truth of Him as the Son. This He was “declared to be with power by the resurrection,” which, as Alford shows, is not less the subject of Romans z, because foreshadowed by resurrections on a lower plane. It does not mean that the Lord became Son at the resurrection, any more than at the Holy Mount, or at the Jordan, but that He was then “declared to be the Son of God with power.” Recognition of His Divine Sonship is repeated again and again, but the relation was Eternal.

Now, in considering the three-fold quotation of the words in the New Testament, if the Incarnation be ruled out in one case, it must be in all. Acts 13:33" TARGET="_blank">Acts 13:33 must refer to resurrection. In verse 23, certainly incarnation is in view, and the word in the best texts is agö= “to lead, to bring.” “God hath raised unto Israel a Saviour.” in verse 30, a general word is used for “raised” (egeiro), the same verb as in verse 22 of David’s appointment as king, but in verses 33 and 34 we have another verb altogether (anistmi), which is found eleven times in the Acts, of resurrection, while the substantive “anastasis” is translated “resurrection” thirty-nine times, out of its forty-one occurrences. As Alford says, “The meaning, ‘raised from the dead,’ in verses 33 and 34 is absolutely required by the context, both because the word is repeated with, ‘from among the dead,’ verse 34, and because the emphasis throughout is on the resurrection.”
In Hebrews 1:5" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 1:5 the reference is not only to resurrection, but to that eternal past, when He, the Risen, Glorified One, had received a name, that of Son, more excellent than angels, by inheritance. He was Son, before He was “appointed Heir of all things,” and before He created all things.
In Hebrews 5:5" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:5 the subject is Christ’s call to priesthood. This could not be by the fact of incarnation, seeing He was not of the priestly tribe of Aaron. He must first ascend, where another order reigns—that of Melchizedek, “made like unto the Son of God”—the chief point of which likeness, if not the only point, consisting in the fact that His eternity in the past as Son goes equally with His eternity in the future.

Some have attempted to divide the decree into two: “Thou art My Son,” referring to the Eternal Sonship; and “This day have I begotten Thee,” to the Incarnation. To our mind, this seems forced and unjustified by the context. It arises from a fear of applying the word,”begetting,” to the eternal past, but this was Anus’ objection, and can only be justified by applying laws of time to eternal truths. When we can fathom the mystery of the Divine Being without beginning, then we may be able to solve the eternal begetting without beginning. To what “day,” then, does the Spirit of God refer in Psalm 2:7" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 2:7? We have been reminded so often of the varied meanings of “day” in Scripture that we hardly need insist on this—indeed it is sometimes used so broadly that the question of time hardly enters into it. This, we believe, is the case here:
“The use of smeron (the Greek word which here in the LXX, as also in the New Testament, is translated ‘to-day’ and ‘this day’) in the sense of ‘eternally’ or ‘in eternity’ is well established (it is found in Philo). Consequently an orthodox reader would understand it:
‘Thou art My Son, I have eternally begotten Thee’ “ (cf. Hebrews 1:5)" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 1:5) This fits in with the New Testament quotations—a testimony in time to a fact beyond time, in the eternal NOW of a past eternity.

W.H.

* That the word here is “Bar” not “Ben” does not invalidate the argument, for as Gesenius notes, Bar is Son in Psalm 2:12" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 2:12 , in the sense of one begotten, and is applied to Jehovah, the King, and Tregelles adds, “that is Christ.” Gesenius goes on to compare the word here, with the more usual word, Ben, in Isa. o. 6. Indeed, here again we must note that the Son was not born at Bethlehem—but given (“A child was born”), that is, the Lord did not become Son by His human birth. He was bom a true human child. The Word became flesh.

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