Immanuel

The Algorithm

The Everlasting Gospel

Paradise Lost, Gustave Doré¹

"They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate, With dreadful forces thronged, and fiery arms Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way."

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6).

 “The Everlasting Gospel” was the gospel preached “from the beginning,” and the gospel to be proclaimed until the “End” ─ Yet for a singular age ─ The "Dispensation of Grace" it was a curse, i.e., anathema: 

 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). 

 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of “raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (cf. Jude 1:13).

 And Enoch preached “The Everlasting Gospel” “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (cf. Jude 1:14-15). 

Noah, an heir of the righteousness which is by faith ─ “Being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world” (Hebrews 11:7). 

And Noah “a preacher of righteousness” proclaimed “The Everlasting Gospel” of Judgement of the unrepentant ─ “bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5). 

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37-39). 

In the beginning God proclaimed “The Everlasting Gospel” in the garden 

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). 

And it will be proclaimed again in "End" by an angel flying in the midst of heaven:

“Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7).

 See also: 
 The Gospel of the Kingdom

 ¹By Gustave Doré - in the public domain due to expiration of copyright.

 ©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

A Flag Draped Casket

Didn’t watch the funeral today, but knowing it was in progress brought back memories of a flag draped casket. 

My uncle was at Pearl Harbor and my father’s Company M, 128th 'Red Arrow' Infantry, 32D followed. His was one of the first two companies in WW2 to be airborne into combat (The Papuan Campaign and The Battle of Buna) ─ before there was a U.S. Air Force. 

Almost every day driving home from work, I called him ─ beside my wife he was my very best friend. Our conversations continued for well over a decade until the challenges of his 93-year old body decided otherwise. 

As I stood by the wind-swept flag draped casket, that overcast January day, the honor guard fired a deafening salute and spent shell-casings fell into the dust. He once had played the trumpet – but now there were none to play for him. 

Then as the flag was removed and tri-folded ─ the realization that he was no longer of any earthly consequence to those that ”dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth.” 

And as the officer presented the flag ─ my body and soul convulsed with a hideous “un-earthly” groan. 

Yet, will I ever remember the hope he often recalled in my presence: “That blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”:

 “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” (Revelation 21:4).

Axioms and Dynamics of Prophecy

Threescore and Ten

Darwin’s Albatross

[Under construction]

As the H.M.S. Beagle began her five year meandering voyage round the world, twenty-two year old Charles saw the pristine glory of Creation ─ the evening and the morning were ever as that first day of Eden.

Yet ─ “that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20).
















 John Murray, Publisher [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

As Jonah

Jonah¹

[Under construction / revision!]
“As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (cf. Matthew 12:40, ASV).

In the book that bears his name, Jonah “vicariously” experienced the essence of things yet to be, i.e., shadows of Christ. The Old Testament is filled with personas, e.g., Job, Joseph, and David, and many others who foreshadowed of the Son of man ─ each in his way symbolically prefiguring Christ, and each in turn, for a moment, likewise forsaken by God!



 As Jonah was fast asleep amid “a mighty tempest on the sea” (cf. Jonah 1:5) ─ likewise, the Son of man, as the “boat was covered with the waves” was asleep (cf. Matthew 8:24).

As Jonah was cast into the sea by the casters of lots (cf. Jonah 1:7) ─ likewise, the Son of man was crucified by the casters of lots (John 19:24).

As Jonah gave his life for the mariners (Jonah 1:12) ─ likewise the Son of man gave His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

 “And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). 

 Jonah’s “body” was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights ─ but perhaps his soul was not! The breath of God imparts life to the “ever conscious” soul at the moment of conception. The body may sleep in the dust in death ─ yet the “ever conscious” soul remains unabated!

 “Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish's belly. And he said, [Note, this pass tense] I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol (שְׁאוֹל, shĕ'owl) cried I, And thou heardest my voice” (Jonah 2:1-2). 

Jonah prayed this prayer before being spewed out upon the dry land, yet, there were times during those “three days and three nights” when he cried “out of the belly of Sheol” ─ the realm of disembodied dead!

 Consider how the following versions translates this phrase: “From the depth of Sheol” (NASB); “from deep in the realm of the dead” (NIV); “from the land of the dead” (NLT); “out of the belly of Sheol” (Darby); "Out of the belly of the nether-world” (JPS).

The following links are the two most graphic depictions Sheol in Scripture:

 Ezekiel is told to “take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt” ─ (Ezekiel 32:17-32).

Isaiah is likewise told to “take up this parable against the king of Babylon” ─ (Isaiah 14:9-20).

The following verse and associated links pertain to Jonah’s experience in Sheol.

“For thou didst cast me into the depth [Ezekiel 31:15], in the heart of the seas [Ezekiel 28:8], And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me [Psalms 42:7]” (Jonah 2:3).

Compare the weed shroud wrapped about Jonah’s head with the cloth "death" shroud, that was upon Jesus’ head:

“The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me [Psa_69:15] ; The weeds were wrapped about my head [John 20:6-7]” (Jonah 2:5 ).

  Jonah as he continues his remembrance of the shades of Sheol:

 “I went down to the bottoms of the mountains [Deuteronomy 32:22] The earth with its bars [Job 17:16] closed upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit [Psalms_30:3], O Jehovah my God” (Jonah 2:6). 

Perhaps as Jonah completes his prayer he is resurrected from Sheol:

“When my soul fainted within me [Psalms_22:14], I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple… But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah” (cf. Jonah 2:8-9). “And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). 

 The following passages seem to pertain to the introductory verse: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (cf. Matthew 12:40, ASV).

“He [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (cf. 1Peter 3:19-20). 

 “He [David] foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31). 

“For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1Pe 4:6).

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high [Psalms_68:18], he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth” (Ephesians 4:8-9).

 ¹By Unknown -This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Deluge

The Deluge, John Martin, 1834¹

Andrew R. George, regarding his “translation” of Gilgamesh Tablet XI, alleges “the Flood episode in Gen. 6-8 matches the older Babylonian myth so well… few doubt Noah’s story is descended from a Mesopotamian account.” 

The Gilgamesh tablets are part of an ever-accruing annotation of the Sumerian saga of Babylonian mythological erotica ─ as it is unearthed from each new tel. George contends, without offering conclusive proof, that the “Gilgamesh myth” predates Genesis and is the source of the latter. Although comparative studies of the two flood episodes, indicates an obvious correlation – Scripture confutes George’s allegations. 

When Moses compiled the book of Genesis, he cites his sources, e.g., “the book of the generations of Adam”: 

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him” (Genesis 5:1). 

Although, Moses composed Genesis in ~ 1500 BC, he did so as an “editor” ─ as any historian compiles from records “predating” his composition ─ Moses compiled Genesis from many “generational” records – some predating his birth by over two Millennia! 

Therefore, Genesis is the original source material predating all subsequent antediluvian and deluge chronologies. Chronologies that misappropriate and corrupt the Genesis text to conform to pagan culture! 

Regarding the veracity of this sacred text Paul queries: “What then is the superiority of the Jew?... to them were entrusted the oracles of God” (Rom 3:1-2) ─ certainly not compatible with the Sumerian saga of Babylonian mythological erotica! 

 Moreover, the Bible is the only “reliable” ancient text providing historical records regarding lands, times, people groups, and events that preempt Archaeology from digging in the dark! 

 The following are a few early “generational records” of Genesis refuting any semblance of “Sumerian mythology” or “oral tradition” ─ click on the reference link in each passage to inspect the associated record: 

“These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens” (Gen_2:4-25). 

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him” (Gen_5:1-32). 

 “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Gen_6:9-22). 

“Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood” (Gen_10:1-32). 

“These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood” (Gen_11:10-26). 



 ¹By John Martin - Unknown, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6890177

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Ultimate “Truth”!

Total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919.¹

Isaac Newton mathematically compiled the dynamics of the universe in “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica,” and in as much as it unerringly predicated all observable phenomena in the universe for almost three hundred years, it was truth ─ and all truth supports Scripture. 

However, the truth encompassed by the Principia was a “subset” of a still greater truth revealed by Einstein and validated by concurrent expeditions on two continents measuring the position of the same star during the total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919.

The reality as far as we are concerned, i.e., the truth determined by “real” science will always be a subset of the ultimate “Truth”!


“He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalms_147:4). 

See also:
God Does Not Play Dice 
The Face of God 
Science Falsely So Called 


¹By F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson - F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson, "A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919" Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical or Physical Character (1920): 291-333, on 332., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=182028

One of Eddington's photographs of the total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919, presented in his 1920 paper announcing its success, confirming Einstein's theory that light "bends"

Positive (inverted) edition of Image:1919_eclipse_negative.jpg. Original caption of that image: From the report of Sir Arthur Eddington on the expedition to verify Albert Einstein's prediction of the bending of light around the sun. In Plate 1 is given a half-tone reproduction of one of the negatives taken with the 4-inch lens at Sobral. This shows the position of the stars, and, as far as possible in a reproduction of this kind, the character of the images, as there has been no retouching. A number of photographic prints have been made and applications for these from astronomers, who wish to assure themselves of the quality of the photographs, will be considered as as far as possible acceded to.

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Oral Tradition

Mappa mundi, 1472¹

“There have been laws on the books aimed at curtailing murder for millennia; in fact, the oldest known law code…”²

It is always so frustrating to hear that phrase “the oldest known” whatever!

 When Moses compiled the book of Genesis, he cites the “first” of his sources “the book of the generations of Adam”:


“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him” (Genesis 5:1).


 

Yes, Moses composed the book of Genesis in ~ 1500 BC, but as an “editor,” or as any historian, he compiled it from records “predating” his composition!

 For example ─ this abbreviated ship log and the “time stamped” detail “never” found in “oral tradition,” i.e., circumstances of specific days ─ and the month and year they occurred:

“In the six hundredth year (שָׁנָה) of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day (יוֹם) of the month (חֹדֶשׁ), the same day (יוֹם) were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). 

“And the ark rested in the seventh month (חֹדֶשׁ), on the seventeenth day (יוֹם) of the month (חֹדֶשׁ), upon the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4).

 “And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month (חֹדֶשׁ): in the tenth month (חֹדֶשׁ), on the first day (יוֹם) of the month (חֹדֶשׁ), were the tops of the mountains seen” (Genesis 8:5).

"And in the second month (חֹדֶשׁ), on the seven and twentieth day (יוֹם)of the month (חֹדֶשׁ), was the earth dried” (Genesis 8:14).

And there are many other records too frequent to mention. Genesis chapter 10 contains the “Table of Nations” ─ nothing like it in the history of mankind ─ in it Moses documents the “only” extant account of the origin of nations!

Even today, with transgenesis CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing capabilities, man has yet to present a more specific and credible depiction of the origin of the nations than ─ than that displayed in the image above!

The following is but the introductory verse of that the table ─ please click on this link for a more complete multi-generational discourse on the sons of Noah ─ and on this link for the more definitive discussion of the descendants of Shem ─ one being Abraham the father of the Hebrews!

“Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood” (Genesis 10:1).

Now back to the beginning: “There have been laws on the books aimed at curtailing murder for millennia; in fact, the oldest known”² is the following:

“And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Genesis_9:5-6). 

¹By Isidore of Seville - This file has been extracted from another file: Etimologías - Mapa del Mundo Conocido.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=164605

T and O style mappa mundi (map of the known world) from the first printed version of Isidorus' Etymologiae (Kraus 13). The book was written in 623 and first printed in 1472 at Augsburg by one Günther Zainer (Guntherus Ziner), Isidor's sketch thus becoming the oldest printed map of the occident. Note: T-O-maps are typically displayed "East-up", show Jerusalem at the center and the paradise at the outmost East, balanced by the pillars of Hercules at the outmost West.

 ²Greg Jones, The American Spectator, Legislating Human Nature Is a Pipe Dream of the Left, November 14, 2018.

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe¹

As rain gently fell during today’s commemoration of “the war to end all wars” a hundred years ago ─ Macron led heads of state down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, cursing the spirit of “nationalism,” under his breath, with each and every step!

"Old demons [of nationalism] are reawakening, ready to sow chaos and death," Macron said, condemning “ideology” and “religion”! "History sometimes threatens to repeat its tragic patterns, and undermine the legacy of peace we thought we had sealed with the blood of our ancestors."

Yet, the Arc de Triomphe honors Macron’s “Ultra Nationalist Ancestors” ─ inspired by radical ideas ─ they Stormed of the Bastille, and during the subsequent Reign of Terror guillotined 16,594 and as many as 40,000 summarily executed without trial or died awaiting trial.

Unlike the Third Reich, the French Revolution "people's wars" conscripted “every” citizen as a subordinate but integral part of her destiny to enslave the world! The Napoleonic wars, to follow, were “total wars” with the home front industrial war machine aiding and supplying the military.

The legacy of those ancestors inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe was the “violence and chaos” that culminated in Napoleon’s coup d'état and dictatorship, and subsequent Napoleonic Wars that infused “fascist nationalism” into a comparatively innocent world ─ the precursor of the World Wars to follow!



 ¹By Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada - Arc de Triomphe, VE Day, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74291512

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Victory or Death

 ©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. 
https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Without Natural Affection

 ©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Mystery of Lawlessness

We appear to be converging on an “age of grace” “prophesied” threshold ─ an incipience of “lawlessness” ─ unrestrained corruption at all levels ─ Constitutional Law vs. the dictum of a metastasizing shadow government and ─ the concurrent decimation of civility and burgeoning anarchy. 

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed” (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 NAS). 

What does the apostle mean? “it will not come” ─ consistent with the context, Paul is referring to the “Day of the Lord” when He will return in Judgement. 

“The apostasy” indicates a time when belief in and obedience to the Word of God is in marked decline. And that must precede the revelation of the "man of lawlessness," i.e., the antithesis of Christ.

"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way” (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:7, NAS). 

 What does Paul mean “mystery of lawlessness”? – the covert reality that the lawlessness of our world, stoked by the lawless one, is a boiling cauldron, that will not overflow until "He who now restrains," i.e., the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way. 

When will He be “taken out of the way”? 

No one has a clue when the Holy Spirit “and” those He indwells will be “caught up” ─ but when they are, that boiling cauldron of lawlessness will overflow and every "thought and intent of the heart" on earth will be as it was in the days of Noah ─ without restraint!

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Rapture

John Nelson Darby, 1800 – 1882.¹

John Nelson Darby “produced translations of the Bible in German "Elberfelder Bibel", French "Pau" Bible, Dutch New Testament, and English (finished posthumously) based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby. It has furthermore been translated into other languages in whole or part.³

The forty volume “Collected Writings of J. N. Darby” contains a commentary on the Bible. The following is an extract excerpted from the "first" epistle written by Paul, i.e. 1 Thessalonians 4 ─ from this, Darby resurrects the "long-lost" doctrine, today known as the “Rapture.”

 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

We have seen that the Thessalonians were always expecting the Lord. It was their near and immediate hope in connection with their daily life. They were constantly expecting Him to take them to Himself They had been converted to wait for the Son of God from heaven. Now (from want of instruction) it appeared to them that the saints who had recently died would not be with them to be caught up. The apostle clears up this point, and distinguishes between the coming of Christ to take up His own, and His day, which was a day of judgment to the world. They were not to be troubled with regard to those who had died in Christ [7] as those who had no hope were troubled. And the reason which he gives for this is a proof of the strict connection of their entire spiritual life with the expectation of Christ's personal return to bring them into heavenly glory. The apostle, in comforting them with regard to their brethren who had lately died, does not say a word of the survivors rejoining them in heaven. They are maintained in the thought that they were still to look for the Lord during their lifetime to transform them into His glorious image. (Compare 2 Cor. 5 and 1 Cor. 15) An especial revelation was required to make them understand that those who had previously died would equally have their part in that event. Their part, so to speak, would resemble that of Christ. He has died, and He has risen again. And so will it be with them. And when He should return in glory, God would bring them — even as He would bring the others, that is, the living — with Him.

Upon this the apostle gives some more detailed explanation of the Lord's coming in the form of express revelation, shewing how they would be with Him so as to come with Him when He appears. The living will not take precedence of those who sleep in Jesus. The Lord Himself will come as the Head of His heavenly army, dispersed for a time, to gather them to Himself. He gives the word. The voice of the archangel passes it on, and the trumpet of God is sounded. The dead in Christ will rise first, that is to say, before the living go up. Then we who shall be alive and remain shall go with them, all together, in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we be for ever with the Lord.

It was that that the Lord Himself ascended; for in all things we are to be like Him — an important circumstance here. Whether transformed or raised from the dead, we shall all go up in the clouds. It was in the clouds that He ascended, and thus we shall be ever with Him.

In this part of the passage, where he explains the details of our ascension to the Lord in the air nothing is said of His coming down to the earth; it is our going up (as He went up) to be with Him. [8] Neither, as far as concerns us, does the apostle go farther than our gathering together to be for ever with Him. Nothing is said either of judgment or of manifestation; but only the fact of our heavenly association with Him in that we leave the earth precisely as He left it. This is very precious. There is this difference: He went up in His own full right, He ascended; as to us, His voice calls the dead, and they come forth from the grave, and, the living being changed, all are caught up together. It is a solemn act of God's power, which seals the Christians' life and the work of God, and brings the former into the glory of Christ as His heavenly companions. Glorious privilege! Precious grace! To lose sight of it destroys the proper character of our joy and of our hope.

Other consequences follow, which are the result of His manifestation; but that is our portion, our hope. We leave the earth as He did, we shall for ever be with Him.

It is with these words that we are to comfort our selves if believers die — fall asleep in Jesus. They shall return with Him when He shall be manifested; but, as regards their own portion, they will go away as He went, whether raised from the dead or transformed, to be for ever with the Lord.

All the rest refers to His government of the earth: an important subject, a part of His glory; and we also take part in it. But it is not our own peculiar portion. This is, to be with Him, to be like Him, and even (when the time shall come) to quit in the same manner as Himself the world which rejected Him, and which has rejected us, and which is to be judged.

I repeat it: to lose sight of this is to lose our essential portion. All lies in the words, "so shall we ever be with the Lord." The apostle has here explained how this will take place. [9] Remark here, that Verses 15-18 (1Th_4:15-18) are a parenthesis, and that 1Th_5:1 follows on 1Th_4:14; Chapter 5 shewing what He will do when He brings the saints with Him according to 1Th_4:14.

In this important passage then we find the Christian living in an expectation of the Lord, which is connected with his daily life and which completes it. Death then is only an accessory which may take place, and which does not deprive the Christian of his portion when his Master shall return. The proper expectation of the Christian is entirely separated from all which follows the manifestation of Christ, and which is in connection with the government of this world.

The Lord comes in Person to receive us to Himself; He does not send. With full authority over death, which He has conquered, and with the trump of God, He calls together His own from the grave; and these, with the living (transformed), go to meet Him in the air. Our departure from the world exactly resembles His own: we leave the world, to which we do not belong, to go to heaven. Once there, we have attained our portion. We are like Christ, we are forever with Him, but He will bring His own with Him, when He shall appear. This then was the true comfort in the case of a Christian's death, and by no means put aside the daily expectation of the Lord from heaven. On the contrary this way of viewing the subject confirmed it. The dead saint did not lose his rights by dying — by sleeping in Jesus; he should be the first object of his Lord's attention when He came to assemble His own. Nevertheless the place from which they go forth to meet Him is the earth. The dead should be raised — this was the first thing — that they might be ready to go with the others; and then from this earth all would depart together to be with Christ in heaven. This point of view is all important, in order to apprehend the true character of that moment when all our hopes will be consummated.

(From "Commentary on the Book of 1 Thessalonians" by John Nelson Darby; emphasis added).

See also: 
A Mystery 
The Quickening


 ¹By Unknown - John Nelson Darby - in the public domain due to copyright expiration.

²Wikipedia, "John Nelson Darby," 11 August 2018.

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Drusilla

The Last Days of Pompeii, 1864.¹

“This post remains under construction!

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:24-25).

 “While Felix was procurator of Judea, he saw this Drusilla; and fell in love with her: for she did indeed exceed all other women in beauty: and he sent… one of his friends… who endeavoured to persuade her to forsake her present husband, and marry [Felix]… Accordingly she acted ill; and because she was desirous to avoid her sister Bernice’s envy; for she was very ill treated by her on account of her beauty; was prevailed upon to transgress the laws of her fore¬fathers, and to marry Felix: and when he had had a son by her, he named him Agrippa” (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, xx.7.2).

As Drusilla looked on, what could she have thought as Claudius Felix, the ‎provincial governor of “Judea,” reduced to trembling and terror of “the judgment to come” ─ yet Paul, manacled and chained before him, exuberantly glorifying God?

She obviously had heard the gospel and, in all probability, much more, perhaps “on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city” when, at Festus' command Paul was brought forth (Acts 25:23) ─ and on the day to follow, of how the Lord reveled His self to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:12-18) ─ followed by her brother’s words: “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28).



James Hamilton (American, 1819-1878). The Last Days of Pompeii, 1864. Oil on canvas, 59 15/16 x 48 1/16 in. (152.2 x 122 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 55.138 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.55.138.jpg)

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.

Moral Confusion

Papyrus 46, 2 Corinthians 11:33-12:9.¹

“Whatever was the fate of the moral fence posts we began removing in the ’60s, the job today is figuring out how to get that fencing back in place” writes a conservative columnist this morning.² 

Yet, the reality is “Moral fence posts” are but an illusion ─ an illusion that leads to “hell” ─ we are not saved “by” moral living, we are saved “for” moral living! 

We can never be moral enough ─ that is why the Son of God had to die for each and every sin we have ever committed ─ or ever will commit ─ we are saved by His grace when we call upon the “name of the Lord” ─ believing the gospel: 

 “I declare unto you the gospel… . By which also ye are saved… how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). 




However, how shall they call upon the name of the Lord and be saved? “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (cf. Romans 10:14-15). 

 “As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things,” the apostle Paul was that preacher, and each of us are to be that preacher today! 

See also: 
The Gospel 
The Church a Mystery? 
The Gospel of the Kingdom


¹Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=612499

²William Murchison, The American Spectator, “Of Moral Messes — and Traps,” October 9, 2018.

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Son of God

Earth rise, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter¹

In Ephesians, the Body of Christ is introduced to God Our Father ─ In Hebrews, the Son of God is introduced to a remnant of the sons of Israel “according to the election of grace”:

 God… Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. …  

Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. … I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.  

Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. … 

 
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. (Hebrews 1:1-13)

See also:

God Our Father 

The Face of God

¹By NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University - Flickr, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45854207

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Contingent Kingdom

This post remains under construction!

In Thy Book

“The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity” “tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

“Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” “thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.”

 “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

 “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

 “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” as he calleth your child by name, to be from that very first day ─ yours forever!

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” 

 (cf, Isa 57:15; Psa 56:8; Psa 139:12-13; Psa 139:15-16; Psa 147:4; Isa 40:11).





¹ByNews release ID: STScI-2016-03. Material credited to STScI on this site was created, authored, and/or prepared for NASA under Contract NAS5-26555. Unless otherwise specifically stated, no claim to copyright is being asserted by STScI and it may be freely used as in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

"But if Not..."

This post remains under construction!

A Day of Remembrance

Photo courtesy of the Franklin Collection.

My father who never told us anything about the second longest battle in WW2, in his nineties recalled being driven beyond flesh and blood endurance ─ during the Battle of Buna’s perpetual rain ─ covered in and laying in the mud, and in the paresis of exhaustion, he overheard two new recruits question: “Is he dead.” 

Almost a year later, after being release from a military hospital, he finally went home to that farm in Missouri ─ got on his Oliver 70, with iron lug wheels, and plowed, in the rain, throughout the night.

 "Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalms 56:8, David in the vale of tears).

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Brought Forth in One Day

This post remains under construction!

The Bride of Christ

A cursory inspection of Scripture suggests that Paul never used the phrase the “Bride of Christ” — the classic motif of the church. However, Paul does say “We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph 5:30), i.e., “ye are the body of Christ (sōma Christos), and members in particular” (cf. 1Co_12:27). 

 It is plausible that we are not the “Bride of Christ,” in as much as such is never explicitly stated or supported in Scripture. However, our identity as the “Body of Christ” by comparison is robust, explicit, and redundant — we are the “Body of Christ” (cf. Rom_7:4; 1Co_10:16; Eph_4:12). 

Does not mutually exclusivity preclude our identity as both bride and bridegroom? 

Before addressing the “quintessential” “Bride of Christ” prooftext, it is essential to comprehend that which Paul had built and watched over so faithfully — Paul “in his time plays many parts,” a nursing mother, a vigilant father, and a jealous husband:

“We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children” (cf. 1Th 2:7). 

“Have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (cf. 1Co 4:15). 

“I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (cf. 2Co 11:2 ).

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:2, espoused the “Body of Christ” to “himself” that he “may present [us] as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 

 Koine Greek scholar A. T. Robertson expounds the so-called 2 Cor 11:2 “prooftext”: I espoused (hērmosamēn). First aorist middle indicative of harmozō, old verb to join, to fit together (from harmos, joint). Common for betrothed, though only here in N.T. The middle voice indicates Paul’s interest in the matter. Paul treats the Corinthians as his bride.

Paul sees for himself the ruin of that which he had built and watched over so faithfully. He had spent himself for the assembly, accomplishing that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ; and he had to see that which he had so much loved (which he had cared for even as a mother cherishes her nursling which he had planted as God's plant on the earth) grow feeble as to its condition and testimony in the world, depart from the source of strength, and become corrupt. What a painful experience! But it is that of the servant of God in all ages and in all dispensations.” John Nelson Darby (1800 – 1882)

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Bride

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Rev 19:7-8). “And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,” and she shall mourn making “herself ready.” 

 Yet, “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,” looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a ‘bride’ adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). 

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Joh 14:2-3).



By Joseph Martin Kronheim (1810-1896) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons ©2018

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold.

Babylon, the Glory of Kingdoms

"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 

 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 

 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged” (Isaiah 13:19-22).

 Alexander the Great, arguably, the greatest military leader who ever lived, after subduing the Persian Empire which previously had subdued the Babylonian Empire, died, at the age of 32, in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, in Babylon! 

“Babel, like the cities of the Pentapolis, had now become a perpetual desert… . When Alexander once thought of making Babylon the metropolis of his empire. He was carried off by an early death.

Ten thousand workmen were at that time employed for two months in simply clearing away the rubbish of the foundations of the temple of Belus (the Nimrod-tower)” (K&D; Isaiah 13:20-22).<sup>2


1</sup>By Gustave Doré (http://www.danshort.com/bible/page1.php?p=239) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

²Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament; Johann (C.F.) Keil (1807-1888) & Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890).
©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

The Fulness of Times

Earth rise, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter¹

“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times (καιρός kairos G2540) he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him" (Eph 1:9-10).

 Our Father hath purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the “fulness of times” He would gather together in one all things in Christ. However, there is confusion regarding this “fulness of times” in so much that many believers will never understand “the mystery of His will" pertaining to the Body of Christ!

 Contributory to that confusion is another passage, and the phrase the “fulness of time,” unrelated to the Eph 1:10 phrase “fulness of times”!

 “But when the fulness of the time (χρόνος chrónos G5550) was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law” (cf. Gal 4:4-5).

 The word translated “times” in Eph 1:9-10 is of uncertain derivation; a space of time² while the word translated “time” in Gal 4:4-5 designates a fixed or special occasion.²

 The fulness of “times” when the Father gathered together in one all things in Christ, was of uncertain derivation, a space of time, i.e., the dispensation of grace prophesied by Paul.

 The fulness of “time” when God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, was the fixed and special occasion when Christ was born, prophesied by Old Testament prophets.

 ² χρόνος chrónos G5550; of uncertain derivation; a space of time (in general, and thus properly distinguished from καιρός kairos G2540, which designates a fixed or special occasion. (cf. Strong’s Definitions).


¹By NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University - Flickr, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45854207

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

One Hundred and Forty-nine Souls

Captain Shults¹

“Southwest 1380 has an engine fire, descending.”²

After being “cleared to Philly” and after “skipping to Philly air space”

 “Southwest 1380, down to 6000.” 

 “One hundred and forty nine souls on board” 

 “We need a single channel, no more channel switching”

 “We’re gonna need a long final” 

“Can you have medical meet us on the runway? We’ve got injured passengers.” 

 “They said there is a hole and someone went out”

“In sight” (visual approach). 

“Going 27L switching to tower good day” 

 Some years ago, Captain Shults reminisced: the captain's chair gave her "the opportunity to witness for Christ on almost every flight." 

 This time the Captain guided “one hundred and forty nine souls” to safe harbor save one.

 "... I declare unto you the gospel... By which also you are saved... first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

¹Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57170362
²Abbreviated cockpit audio

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

God Our Father

Into the Night, NASA, Hubble¹

“He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies” (Psa 18:11).

“Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:2).

Paul introduces each of his epistles by bringing to remembrance God “our Father,” with the singular exception of his final letter. However, in the Ephesian epistle, Paul reveals “our Father” in ways He has never been revealed before:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3).

Our Father “hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (cf. Eph 1:4).*

Our Father “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" (cf. Eph 1:5).*

Our Father “To the praise of the glory of his grace… hath made us accepted in the beloved.”In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (cf. Eph 1:6-7).*

Our Father “hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence” (cf. Eph 1:8).*

Our Father “made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” (cf. Eph 1:9).*

Our Father “in the dispensation of the fulness of times” gathered “together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (cf. Eph 1:10).*

Our Lord Jesus Christ “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of” Our Father “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (cf. Eph 1:11).*  

“We should be to the praise of” Our Father’s “glory, who first trusted in Christ” (cf. Eph 1:12).*

Our Lord Jesus Christ “In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of [our Father’s glory]" (cf. Eph 1:13-14).*

 *Not an exact quote -- cf. (Latin: confer/conferatur, i.e "compare") – please compare with referenced text.



¹ News release ID: STScI-2016-03. Material credited to STScI on this site was created, authored, and/or prepared for NASA under Contract NAS5-26555. Unless otherwise specifically stated, no claim to copyright is being asserted by STScI and it may be freely used as in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/

 ©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

That Unsettling Feeling

This post remains under construction!

What I have written I have written

“They crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” And as was the custom Pilate wrote a title, for the condemned: his name, his city, and his “crime,” and put it on the cross.

“And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written I have written” (cf. John 19:18-22).

©2018 Christian. Textual content may be copied and distributed, but it may not be sold. https://a-hillside-church.blogspot.com/

Last Night

"He give his honour unto others" —  last night did not have to be:

 “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 

 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 

 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 

 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?" (Pro 5:3-20). 

 Thomas Annan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons