THE BODY OF CHRIST

THE BODY OF CHRIST

 

This is the Biblical term for the "unique organism" that exists on earth. It was started by the Holy Spirit when He came to earth to replace Jesus when He ascended to heaven to be at the Father's side. (Ps 110:1). This was after He had completed the work the Father had sent Him to earth to accomplish. This "Body of Christ" is a many membered body that Paul compares to our human bodies in (1 Cor 12:12-21). And we know from (Ps 139:14) that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" consisting of many parts. So we know this Body of Christ consists of many people chosen from every nation or "people group" on planet Earth. Since Jesus is definitely the "Head" of this body, and He is presently in heaven, so when we are "born again" by the Holy Spirit and "adopted" by Father into His Forever Family Paul tells us in (Eph 2:6) that we are "raised up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus". Spiritually speaking that is where we are at the present time because we are "in Christ". (2 Cor 5:17). This is a fact that people who still have a "natural mind" cannot understand. So we have to be careful to be led by the Holy Spirit when we try to explain this to them.

 

This Body of Christ is the True Church that Jesus said He would build as recorded in (Matt 16:18), and has been in the process of doing in the last 2000 years with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is what I often refer to as the "Biblical Church" as compared to the organizations we see today that we call churches, which are really "non biblical" imitations of the real thing. That is the only way I can see our present situation in this 21^st century, and it grieves me to think that I have been part of these structures for nearly 50 years here in Saint John NB. But since I started a few years ago to ask the Holy Spirit to show me when I read scripture exactly what He had in mind when He inspired the authors of all 66 books of our Bible to write, it has been awesome what He showed me. I started to see that much of what I had been taught as being true, and in turn passed on to others, was not entirely based on scripture. It was a mixture of the Word of God and some theory of a man that had been accepted as truth and passed on as a church doctrine. Without the discernment of the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can easily be deceived by the enemy, and my life is proof of that. And I see many followers of Jesus today being deceived as I was, but don't know what to do about it. Can anybody out there help me to warn them of the danger of "false" teaching that is going forth in the Body of Christ?

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                              23/06/12

THE WRATH OF GOD

THE WRATH OF GOD

 

The Bible clearly describes two separate periods of "wrath" that will come   to the world in these last days before the "end of time" as we have known it. The first one that is commonly known as the "Great Tribulation" is the period of time when Satan is allowed to persecute God's people through the Antichrist, who Paul calls the "man of sin" (2 Thess 2:1-4). This will be the time Daniel refers to as the "time of trouble" in (Dan 12:1), and Jesus calls it the time of "great tribulation" as recorded in (Matt 24:15-22). Apparently this brief time of unknown duration, will occur shortly after this man who pretends to be the "man of peace" the world is looking for, reveals himself as the Antichrist. Daniel says this will happen at the "mid-point" of what has been known as "Daniel's Seventieth Week" (Dan 9:27). Another scripture that covers this period of time is recorded by John in (Rev 13:1-10). Here we see more clearly a description of this man who is here referred to by John as the "Beast from the Sea", but his description matches perfectly with other descriptions given of this "man of sin" in the book of Revelation that is certainly the Antichrist.

 

The second period of wrath mentioned in scripture is known as the "Wrath of God" that will be poured out on the wicked people who are left here on earth after Jesus comes to receive His "Church/Bride" in the "rapture", which will be the time Jesus refers to in (Matt 24:21-22) when His return for His Church will "cut short" the period of great tribulation. This period of wrath, referred to in the OT as the "Day of the Lord" in many places, actually requires a period of several months, and we read about it in chapters 15 and 16 of Revelation where this Wrath of God is contained in seven bowls that are poured out one after the other by seven angels. This same wrath of God was poured out on Jesus on the cross on Mount Calvary, and those who believe in, and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior will escape this final Wrath of God. Some church doctrines fail to understand the difference between these separate mentions of wrath, and have brought much confusion to the church, in my opinion. Especially the very popular "Pre-tribulation Rapture" theory that assumes all wrath is the wrath of God through the Antichrist, and tries to assure people that the church will escape that. When in fact God will use this wrath of Satan through this "man of sin" to help purify the church to make her ready for the rapture!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                               16/06/12

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF GOD

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF GOD

 

One of the most important truths in the entire Bible has to do with the topic of "blood". Just read in the OT from (Lev 17:10-14), and then from the NT in (1 Peter 1:13-21), and meditate on these two passages and I guarantee that you will be changed forever as a follower of Jesus. In our present 21^st century when the Church in some areas has been greatly influenced by the so-called "Post Modernism" thinking, which boldly declares "there are no absolutes"; almost anything goes. A careful study of some Charismatic church groups since the so-called "Charismatic Renewal" that swept through NA churches in the 1960's and 70's, brought a new spiritual freedom to many denominational churches, but some people apparently took their freedom too far. People who had been bound in "legalism" or "tradition" seem to have cast off the concept of Biblical Holiness, in favor of this new found freedom in the Spirit. It is true that a new freedom comes with life in the Spirit of God, but His Word contained in the Bible cannot be ignored. It is almost unbelievable how scripture has been either ignored, or has been radically changed in application by some groups who seem to think that basic scriptural concepts are now outdated, and must be replaced. I would challenge this understanding as being "non-biblical", and encourage these people to study these scriptures I mentioned at the start of this article, and ask the Holy Spirit to help them understand what God is saying to us.

 

There is no question that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was the only ":virgin born" individual who ever lived, making Him qualified by God to give up freely His life on the cross to pay the price required by God to settle our sin debt. (Rom 3:23 and 6:23). All the blood of the thousands of sacrificial animals that were killed under the OT religious ceremonies, were only a picture meant to prepare God's people for the coming Messiah who would shed His blood to "redeem" us. We must keep this fact firmly in our minds whenever we read scripture, to prevent us from being led astray by the many false teachings that are circulating today in certain church circles. The warning given by Jesus and the early apostles about the danger of being deceived by false teachers in these "last days", is now upon us!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                   06/06/12   

 

 

ONE NEW MAN

ONE NEW MAN

Paul the apostle to the Gentiles used this expression in (Eph 2:14-16) where he is speaking of Jesus as the only One capable of having "broken down the middle wall of separation" between the Jews and Gentiles [non Jews], who represented the division of humanity of the day. Jesus was the only "God Man" who ever existed, since He was "virgin born" by virtue of being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Jewish maiden named Mary. In this way He was the only "sinless man" who ever lived since Adam before his "fall", which introduced sin into the creation. Because of His virgin birth He escaped being contaminated by the sin passed down from Adam. Jesus was not only the "One New Man" that Paul referred to Him here, but He was also the One who introduced the "New Covenant" to the world, which replaced the "Old Covenant" introduced by Moses many years before. These two covenants or testaments make up our Bible which we know as the OT and the NT. I am presently reading a book by Malcolm Smith called "The Power of the Blood Covenant" published in 2002 that shades a lot of light on this topic I would highly recommend it as a source of more information on this subject if you are interested.

 

The promise of a new covenant was mentioned by the OT prophet Jeremiah as recorded in (Jer 31:31-34), but was not fulfilled until Jesus came on the scene much later. All previous covenants that God had made with various people over the years were what we call "God to man" covenants. Both parties to a covenant were expected to keep their commitment to their part of the agreement, and of course God always kept His part. But even a casual reading of the Bible will prove that man was not able to keep their part. So this New Covenant was made between God the Father, and God the Son, who we know as Jesus Christ. So there is no danger of the terms of this covenant to ever be broken, because it is an "Everlasting Covenant" sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. That is why it is so critical that as followers of Jesus we understand the significance of the difference between the old covenant, often referred to as the Law of Moses, and the New Covenant. I personally never heard of this New Covent until a few years ago when someone told me about a little book by that name written by David Wilkerson in the year 2000. I don't understand why I never heard of this important teaching in my nearly 50 years attending various denominational churches, perhaps you are in a similar position!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                         02/06/12