CTR 7/2 (Spring 2010): Mind-Body Connection

Posted on April 1, 2010 by

The Spring 2010 edition of CTR is devoted in its entirety to exploring the mind-body connection. To this end we have invited scholars from the disciplines of theology and psychology to address the issue.

Mind-body research is an exciting field of inquiry. Neuroscientists are beginning to prove quantitatively the amazing power of the human brain to accomplish tasks hitherto unthinkable. Now biblical scholars are beginning to ask what relationship exists between soul (mind, spirit, personality) and brain. Our authors address this question from different perspectives.

Joel Green, Associate Dean for the Center for Advanced Theological Studies and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary (CA) pens our lead article. Green argues that a dualistic view of the human person (body and soul) is inconsistent with both science and Scripture. His book, Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible (Baker, 2008), which deals in-depth with this subject, has caused quite a stir among biblical scholars, even to the point that an entire section, including a panel discussion, at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) annual convention was devoted to assess Green’s thesis. In this article Green presents his case for human monism, offering case studies and Scripture exegesis to support his position.

Scott Smith, Associate Professor of Ethics and Christian Apologetics at Biola University (CA), writes our second article, “Joel Green’s Anthro-pological Monism: Biblical, Theological, and Philosophical Considerations,” in which he challenges Green’s presuppositions, methodology, definitions and conclusions. Smith makes a case for a traditional anthropological dualism (body and soul), and points out that if personhood is inextricably bound up with our physicality, as Green suggests, then it was so in Jesus’ case.  Thus, when his body died, Jesus the human person also died, i.e. ceased to exist. Smith finds such conclusions troubling.

Our third entry comes from the creative pen of Rod Sadler, Associate Professor of Bible at Union Presbyterian Seminary (Charlotte, NC campus), who offers a witty, yet critical article-length review of Joel Green’s book Body, Soul, and Human Life. For those who have not yet read the book, this is an excellent overview and evaluation, which might whet your appetite to purchase and read it in its entirety.

The editor of CTR conducts a fascinating interview with Gary Elkins, Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Baylor University (TX). Elkins is a mind-body specialist who is on the cutting edge of scientific research in the field. He has studied extensively mind-body interventions, and particularly the therapeutic use of hypnosis to treat various physical illnesses. He has also conducted scientific investigations into the efficacy of prayer on those recovering from a hospital stay. The National Institutes of Health recently awarded him a $2.6 million grant to continue with his research.

John Court, a retired professor at the School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary (CA), and author of the book Hypnosis, Healing and the Christian (Wipf and Stock, 2002), now retired to Australia, analyzes the legitimacy of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool for Christians. He addresses both the positive and negative sides of this controversial mind-body modality. While recommending its use as an adjunct to other treatments, he warns of its potential danger in the hands of untrained practitioners.

Lee Pelletier, President of the Clergy Special Interest Group of the National Guild of Hypnotists, shares with CTR readers the preliminary results of his ongoing survey on clergy attitudes toward hypnosis. What do most ministers believe about hypnosis? Do they associate it with the occult and demon possession? Would they recommend hypnosis to a church member who wishes to quit smoking? How many have consulted a hypnotist themselves? You may be surprised by the answers. These findings provide insights into where clergy get their information and how they form their opinions about hypnosis.

We close out the journal with 30 pages of book reviews of some titles that have come recently off the presses. We hope these reviews help you as you seek to spend your money wisely on book purchases.

Yours for Christ and the kingdom,

R. Alan Streett, Ph.D.

Editor

CTRCoverSP2010 _1_

Advertisements
This entry was posted in Journal. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to CTR 7/2 (Spring 2010): Mind-Body Connection

  1. Rich Robinson says:
    August 4, 2010 at 9:08 pm

    Hi, There doesn’t seem to be a way to contact the editor other than by leaving a comment, so … is CTR available by subscription as PDF or will it be? Pls. respond by email to rich.robinson@jewsforjesus.org.
    Best,
    Rich Robinson

  2. Eddie Eddings says:
    February 4, 2011 at 5:15 am

    Dr. Streett, would you contact me at calvinist12345@gmail.com ?
    …and keep up the God work!

  3. anne robare says:
    May 28, 2011 at 6:54 am
    Does the following apply to the “Mind-Body Connection”? It most certainly does! Satan’s River of Eternal Death and God’s River of Eternal Life Rev 12:15-17, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water, as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up (drank up) the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.” I don’t recall seeing verses 15-17 as a separate single paragraph in any Holy Bible but they should be. These verses summarize how the serpent, who is also called “Satan”, “the devil” and “the dragon”, has been attacking God’s people with his river that is the teachings and traditions of men, distorting God’s Word into lies, especially during the time of the Old Covenant, Mt 3; Jn 8. “The rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus,” belong to the New Covenant. The “generation” living during the time of the New Covenant has also been attacked with the serpent’s river and Satan is still deceiving with it, Mt 11-12; Mt 16-17; Mt 23-24; Mk 8-9; Mk 13; Lk 7-11; Lk 16-17; Lk 21. In these very Last Days, exactly as prophesied in many OT and NT Scriptures, he has been extremely successful in deceiving multitudes thereby turning them away from God’s River of eternal Life that is the Word of God, Rev 22. Throughout the OT, God’s faithful bondservants of His Righteousness have revealed that our sins have alienated us from God and only God is able to cleanse us of our sins. In Ps 51:1-14, David cried to God, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness. According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. [How? With physical water?] For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in thy sight, that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest Truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know Wisdom. [And God hasn’t changed.] Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear Joy and gladness that the bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice. Hide thy Face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. [How? With physical water?] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with a willing Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy Ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. [This is also an excellent description of a true Christian’s attitude.] Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my Salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy Righteousness.” [Read Ps 72. This Psalm is about the One who is “greater than Solomon”, Mt 12. What River is this in Ps 72? It is the River of Rev 22. What kind of Water is in the River of Rev 22? The real Lord Jesus Christ and His true Church have always called everyone to come to God’s “Water of Life”.] In Isa 1:16-20, Isaiah wrote God’s Word to us all: “Wash you, make you clean! [How? With physical water?] Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek Justice [Righteousness from God, Mt 6:33a; Ro 1:16-25]. Relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now and let us reason together,” saith Yahweh (the LORD). “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. [How? Read 1Co 6:9-11; Rev 7.] If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. [Read Jn 6, especially Jn 6:27.] But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the Sword. For the mouth of Yahweh (the LORD) hath spoken it!” “And out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged Sword,” Rev 1. “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any (physical) two-edged sword and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart,” Heb 4:12. [Who is “the Word of God”? Is He “living and active” even today? Are mere humans able to “discern the thoughts and intents of the heart”? Read Isa 55.] Isa 55:3a, “Incline your ear and come unto me! Hear and your soul shall live!” [To whom must we go for Water? How is the Word of God described in Isa 55? The call to drink God’s free spiritual Water in Isa 55 is the same call to drink God’s free spiritual Water in Rev 22.] Rev 22:17b, “Come! And he that is athirst, let him come! He that will, let him take the Water of Life freely!” [To whom must we go for Water? What must we be hungry and thirsty for?] “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousness, for they shall be filled!” Mt 5-7. Jn 4:4-26, “But whosoever drinketh of THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE him shall never thirst. But THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE him shall become IN HIM a well of Water springing up unto eternal Life!” [God, through the Son of God, gives His “Living Water” to true Christians and then He sends us with His Living Water, Jn 7:37-39.] In Jer 2:11-13, Jeremiah wrote God’s Word: “Hath a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their Glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens at this and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate,” saith Yahweh (the LORD). “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the Fountain of Living Waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no Water.” [Read Jer 17. Who searches human minds and tests human hearts? Who is “the Fountain of Living Waters”? Who is “cursed” by God? The Greek word for “cursed” in the LXX version of Jer 17:5, is the very same “cursed” word that Paul used in Gal 3 for everyone who has not been redeemed from the OT Law through Faith in Jesus Christ’s Righteousness and, as a result, has not received “the Promise of the Spirit through Faith”. What will happen to everyone who forsakes the Fountain of Living Waters and, instead, uses water from Satan’s river, the teachings and traditions of men, Gal 1-3?] Jn 12:48, “He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my sayings, hath One that judgeth him: the Word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the Last Day!” “And out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp Sword, that with it He should smite the nations,” Rev 19. Many of the Jews of 2000 years ago had been forsaking the Fountain of Living Waters, Jer 17; Jn 8. They were drinking from, washing in and baptizing with the water from Satan’s river instead of God’s River. Are the vast majority of those, who call themselves Christians today, also guilty of the very same sins, especially of following the teachings and traditions of men? Let’s look at the Scriptures and see. Mt 15:1-20, “Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said unto them, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother and he that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death.’ But ye say, ‘Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother: That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God,’ he shall not honor his Father. And ye have made void the Word of God because of your tradition. [Are there other, much worse, teachings and traditions of men that are making “void the Word of God” in these Last Days? Yes, there are!] Ye hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honoreth me with their lips but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.\'” [Must we also honor God the Father and His Word above all human fathers and mothers?] And He called to Him the multitude and said unto them, “Hear and understand: Not that, which entereth into the mouth, defileth the man but that, which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.” Then came the disciples and said unto Him, “Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” But He answered and said, “Every plant, which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They are blind guides and if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.” And Peter answered and said unto Him, “Declare unto us the parable.” And He said, “Are ye also even yet without understanding? Perceive ye not that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings. These are the things which defile the man. But to (physically) eat with (physically) unwashen hands (spiritually) defileth not the man.”” [Also, read Mk 7:1-23. Now, if that which proceeds out of the mouth and heart is what spiritually defiles the man, then why do today’s so-called churches physically baptize the outside of their new members’ physical bodies? In Jn 6, we read that we must hunger for the “Bread of God … which cometh down out of Heaven and giveth Life unto the world.” What kind of hunger will the spiritual “Bread of Life” satisfy forever? How must we be spiritually washed before we are able to spiritually eat this spiritual Bread of Life? With physical water or with spiritual Water? Devour the little NT, Rev 10!] Read all of Mt 23 and Lk 11. Isn’t most of what was said to the unbelieving Jews also true of today’s so-called Christians? What did Jesus Christ call them? What did Jesus Christ ask them about the Judgment of hell? The cups and platters symbolize our physical bodies. How is the inside of our physical body made spiritually clean? Three words can answer this very simple crucial question. If the outside becomes clean when the inside is made spiritually clean, as Jesus Christ clearly said it does in Mt 23:26, then why do today’s so-called churches baptize the outside of physical bodies with physical water? And, where was God’s Love in Mt 23? It is there, in the entire chapter! Mt 23:37-39, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate! [It was and it still is.] For I say unto you: Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say: ‘Blessed is He (Spiritually praise the One) that cometh in the Name of the Lord!\'” Who will come to us when we call upon the Name of the Lord to be saved, Ac 2:21; Ro 10:12-13? Who is the woman of Rev 12? In Gal 4, Paul described the heavenly Jerusalem as a freewoman with her children, who are children of the Promise born after the Spirit, and the Jerusalem that now (still) is as a handmaid with her children, who are in bondage for being born after the flesh with their works of the flesh. “The Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our Mother,” wrote Paul in Gal 4, and she is the woman of Rev 12. Gal 4:28-30, “Now we, brethren (true Christians only), as Isaac was, are children of Promise. But as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now. Howbeit what saith the Scripture? ‘Cast out the handmaid and her son! For the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman.\'” Who is “the great harlot” of Rev 17-19? How did she become “drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,” Rev 17? Satan, then and now, has multitudes of “foolish” and “bewitched” followers who remain in bondage with their works of the flesh, Gal 2-4. They would rather believe in his river of the teachings and traditions of men, Gal 1. For true Christians, who are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, Satan’s river has been dried up forever, Php 3. We know the Word of God must teach us, spiritually cleanse us of our sins and spiritually keep us clean, Jn 5; Jn 8; Jn 13-17; 1Jn 1-5; etc. The multitudes of false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs, who still prefer Satan’s river to God’s River, have not benefited from the earth drinking up the river. They have not repented and believed in the Righteousness from God that is revealed in the Gospel but true Christians have, Ro 1-5. Therefore, we have been drinking from, washing in and baptizing with Water from God’s River, Jn 4:4-26; Jn 7:37-39; 1Co 6:9-11; 1Co 12:13. But how did the earth help the woman when “the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up (drank up) the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth”? I believe the following paragraph is the answer to this question but keep in mind that the earth helped the freewoman and her children, not the handmaid and her children, who insist upon remaining in bondage with their works of the flesh. Also, another reminder: What is written in The Revelation is often highly figurative and symbolic. If you have not yet asked God to help you understand, then you should do it now. Jn 3:22-4:3, “After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judea and there He tarried with them and baptized. [Don’t jump to conclusions about who was baptizing and how.] And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized, for John was not yet cast into prison. [“John was not yet cast into prison.” This is crucial information because Jesus Christ did not begin His Ministry as the Son of Man until after John was put in prison, Mt 4; Mk 1. You need to find out why this is crucial. Ask God to reveal it to you when you read His Scriptures to study baptisms and Righteousness, especially in Matthew and Romans.] There arose, therefore, a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purifying. [Paul described true Jews in Ro 2:28-29.] And they came unto John and said to him, “Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth and all men come to Him.” [Again, don’t jump to conclusions about how Jesus Christ was baptizing.] John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing except it have been given him from Heaven. Ye, yourselves, bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ (the Anointed) but that I am sent before Him.’ [John the Baptist, as prophesied, was sent to proclaim the Son of God before He began His Ministry as the Son of Man, Isa 40. Most of John’s disciples, those who had listened to him, were going to Jesus Christ, as they were supposed to do. Some of them already believed He was the Messiah from God as John declared, Mt 4; Mk 1; Jn 1.] He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom but the friend of the Bridegroom, that standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom’s Voice. [John had been listening to His “Voice”. Jesus Christ’s Words “are Spirit and are Life!” Jn 6.] This my Joy, therefore, is made full. [John’s baptism ended when he went to prison but his work was finished even before that and he knew it, Ac 1; Ac 10-11; Ac 13; Ac 18-19.] He (Jesus Christ) must increase but I (John the Baptist) must decrease. [Not only in regard to the number of disciples each one had. Jesus Christ, as John the Baptist clearly declared, would baptize with God’s Holy Spirit, not as John did with physical water, Mt 3; Mk 1; Lk 3; Jn 1.] He that cometh from above is above all. [And His Baptism is also “from above” with the Water of Life, Living Water, from God’s River of eternal Life, Lk 24; Jn 3:1-21; Jn 4:4-26; Jn 7:37-39; Ac 1; Rev 22. His “Kingdom is not of this world” and neither is His Baptism, Jn 18.] He that is of the earth is of the earth and of the earth he speaketh. [Yes, “and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up (drank up) the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Although John’s ministry was from God, he was not from above but “of the earth” and he proclaimed, not as the Son of God but “of the earth he speaketh”, as His human herald. And, the physical water baptism John was calling repentant sinners to come to was also “of the earth”. Now, wonder why the sinless Son of God was baptized with John’s physical water baptism of repentance! It most certainly was not done as an example for us. No other physical water baptism has ever been or ever will be followed with God the Father speaking from Heaven and the Holy Spirit coming down as a dove upon the person who is being made physically wet. What John the Baptist proclaimed about God’s Son and His Holy Spirit Baptism, along with another extremely crucial Gospel Truth that took place during John’s ministry, forever finished the works of the flesh required in the Old Covenant, including all physical circumcisions and all physical water rituals, even physical water baptisms, Mt 3; Mt 11; Mk 1; Lk 3; Lk 16; Jn 1; Ro 1-8; Gal 1-6; Heb 1-10. Ask God to reveal this extremely crucial Gospel Truth to you. The Old Covenant, especially its works of the flesh, was temporary, “a shadow” of the spiritual things to come through the New Covenant that God promised before the Old Covenant existed, Ro 4; Col 2; Heb 1-10. Now the Old Covenant is known as “the Law of Sin and of Death” and the New Covenant is known as “the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus”, Ro 1-8. At John’s baptism the transition from the Old Covenant, with its works of the flesh, to the New Covenant, with its Works through God’s Power, had begun, Ro 1-8. In Ac 10-11, the apostles finally understood that this transition was complete. Now if the works of the flesh that were required in the Old Covenant are not to be continued in the New Covenant, then how could anyone continue with the works of the flesh that are required in the teachings and traditions of men, which were never approved by God? How much more are they to be discontinued because of what was said and done during the ministry of John the Baptist! Works of the flesh are no longer allowed, Ro 1-11; Gal 1-6; Heb 1-10! Everyone, who follows the teachings and traditions of men, is very easily identified now. Everyone, who remains in bondage to the works of the flesh, can never please “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ”, Ro 8. “For the mind of the flesh is (eternal) death but the mind of the Spirit is (eternal) Life and Peace because the mind of the flesh is enmity (hatred, hostility) against God for it is not subject to the (New Covenant) Law of God, neither, indeed, can it be. And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye (only true Christians who have the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ) are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU! But if any man hath not THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he is none of His!” Ro 8:6-9. And now, continuing with the Scripture from Jn 3:22-4:3.] He that cometh from Heaven is above all. [And His Baptism is a heavenly Baptism, not of this earth as John’s baptism was, Jn 3-7.] What He hath seen and heard, of that He beareth Witness and no man receiveth His Witness. [Yes, even some of John’s disciples still went to John to ask about purifications, not to Jesus Christ, as they should have done, Jn 5. Very few have believed in Jesus Christ’s Holy Spirit Baptism, even in these very Last Days, even among multitudes who call themselves Christians today but they are not. This is why “many are called but few chosen”, Mt 22! Read Mt 3; Mk 1; Lk 3; Lk 24; Jn 1; Ac 1; Ac 10-11, about John’s baptism and the Holy Spirit Baptism he said Jesus Christ would give that almost everyone has inexcusably misunderstood, ignored or rejected, exactly as prophesied in many OT and NT Scriptures.] He that hath received His Witness hath set his seal to this: That God is True. For He whom God hath sent speaketh the Words of God for He giveth not the Spirit by measure. [Another reference to the Holy Spirit Baptism of the Name, THE WORD OF GOD, that Jesus Christ gives to repentant believers, Mk 1:14-15; 1Jn 1-5.] The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath eternal Life but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see Life but the Wrath of God abideth on him.” When, therefore, the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus Himself baptized not but His disciples, He left Judea and departed again into Galilee.” [Who was baptizing with physical water? John the Baptist and John’s disciples, most of whom had gone over to Jesus Christ and at least some of them continued to baptize with John’s baptism as they had been doing before. This was allowed until the Pharisees and everyone else could see the transition of John’s disciples to Jesus Christ. However, after John went to prison and Jesus Christ began His Ministry as the Son of Man, the twelve disciples He choose and the other disciples He later sent out two by two never again baptized with physical water except in Ac 8. In Ac 8 and Ac 10, the apostles were witnessing to people they considered to be Gentiles and they had a temporary problem accepting Gentiles without first baptizing them as John the Baptist had baptized Jews. In Ac 10, Peter ordered a physical water baptism for the saved Gentiles, who had already been spiritually baptized by God, even after Peter had heard God tell him, three times, not to call unclean what God has made clean, Jn 15-17. Then, in Ac 11, Peter realized he had begun to oppose God by ordering a physical water baptism. Peter said, “And I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John, indeed, baptized with water but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit!\'” God will spiritually baptize Gentiles who repent and believe His Word just as the repentant believing Jews in Ac 2 were baptized by God with His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism, Ac 1-4; Ac 10-11; Ac 15. And, was the apostle John being untruthful when he wrote that “He (Jesus Christ) tarried with them and baptized”? No, not at all. Jesus Christ is “the Fountain of Living Waters”, Jer 2:11-13; Jer 17; Jn 4:4-26. His Waters are the Water of Life flowing from God’s River of eternal Life, Jn 2-4; Jn 7; 1Co 6:9-11; Eph 5; Rev 22; etc. His Words “are Spirit and are Life!” Jn 6. You can be sure John’s disciples, who were coming to Jesus Christ, also heard His Voice and, therefore, Living Water was being poured upon them! Living Water, the Water of Life, is one of the three that testify the Name of the Holy Spirit Baptism that we must all call upon to be saved, Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-20; Ac 2; Ro 10; 1Jn 5. His Name is THE WORD OF GOD! Jn 1; 1Jn 1; Rev 19.] “He that believeth on Him is not judged. He that believeth not hath been judged already because he hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God,” Jn 3:1-21. “But these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have Life in His Name!” Jn 20. And how does the dragon “make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus”? In Mk 1:14-15, when Jesus Christ began His Ministry as the Son of Man, He commanded all of us to REPENT AND BELIEVE! In Mt 6:33a, Jesus Christ commanded all of us adults, who have access to the Scriptures, to SEEK FIRST GOD’S KINGDOM AND GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS. This is the Gift of Righteousness from God that Paul described most clearly in Romans. In the Gospel, especially in Matthew, there is a Righteousness from God revealed that we must find and have the one Faith in, that we must believe in. When we repent and believe in the Righteousness from God that is revealed in the Gospel and become bondservants of God’s Righteousness through His Power and for His Glory, then we will be declaring “the testimony of Jesus” as we must. God’s bondservants are “His saints to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the Glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is CHRIST IN YOU [His Name is THE WORD OF GOD, Rev 19!], the Hope of Glory whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all Wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ!” Col 1. These are the New Covenant “commandments of God” that we must obey to be saved. This is how we Love God and Love our neighbor, Lk 10; Jn 13-17. But, everyone, who declares this testimony of Jesus Christ, will become an enemy of the dragon and his followers, Jn 15-16. Who are his followers? They are the ones who do not know that it is totally impossible to believe in both New Covenant physical water baptisms and in the Gift of Righteousness from God because God has made it totally impossible to believe in both. It is totally impossible to belong to both the Law of Sin and of Death and the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus at the same time, Ro 1-8. Remember Ro 8:7. Therefore, only true Christians will declare God’s one Baptism and condemn the works of the flesh that include all physical water baptisms. Only true Christians are able to declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord and why He is the Lord, Ro 10; 1Co 12. To whom do all so-called Christians belong who have continued with physical water baptisms from Satan’s river of the teachings and traditions of men? When people have in mind “the things of men”, they belong to Satan, Mt 16! The real Lord Jesus Christ said so. When people justify themselves “in the sight of men”, they are “an abomination in the sight of God”, Lk 16! The real Lord Jesus Christ said so. Now, what is “the abomination of desolation”, Mt 24? The answer has been in plain sight for almost 2000 years! No sign was given to this adulterous, evil and wicked generation, living during the New Covenant Age, except for “the sign of Jonah”, Mt 12; Mt 16; Lk 11-12; Jn 2:12-25. The real Lord Jesus Christ said so. But false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs, who love their physical water baptisms, will hate hearing that they are wrong and they will hate true Christians who warn them for their own good, Jn 15-16. The real Lord Jesus Christ clearly declared why true Christians will be hated, “And ye shall be hated of all the nations for my Name’s sake,” the Name of His Holy Spirit Baptism that we must call upon to be saved, Mt 24; Mt 28; Ac 2; Ro 10. There is only one Baptism allowed, given by one Lord through repentance and the one Faith in His Righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel, Eph 4. This last sentence exposes all false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs because they do not, cannot, believe it as long as they continue to believe in their physical water baptisms and ignore or reject the Righteousness from God that is revealed in the Gospel. No one could write a sentence like this unless it is God’s Gospel Truth, Jn 3:21. False Christians, heretics, anti-Christs, who have not believed in God’s one and only Baptism, have not been taught by God either, Jn 6:44-45,63-65. Because of their hard hearts and stiff necks, they have not understood crucial Scriptures, including Jn 3:22-4:3. They have not known that the apostle John’s Gospel in not in chronological order. Jn 3:22-4:3 took place before Jesus Christ began His Ministry as the Son of Man. And His Ministry began after John the Baptist went to prison. I will spell it out with the Scriptures because i know most people refuse to verify what they are being told. Verse 24 from Jn 3:22-4:3, “For John was not yet cast into prison.” Mt 4:12,17, “Now when He heard that John was delivered up (into prison), He withdrew into Galilee … From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, “Repent ye! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”” Mk 1:14-15, “Now after John was delivered up (into prison), Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand! [What “time is fulfilled”?] Repent ye and believe in the Gospel!”” And, after John the Baptist went to prison, God never sent anyone to baptize with physical water again, not with John’s baptism or with any other physical water baptism, Jn 5. Here are the facts with Scripture references that prove John’s baptism was not to continue but even common sense should tell us that John’s baptism was not to be continued after Jesus Christ began His Ministry. John was sent to prepare the Way for the Son of God and he accomplished the task that God had given him to do. “The voice of one that crieth, ‘Prepare ye in the wilderness the Way of Yahweh (the LORD), make level in the desert a highway for our God!\'” Isa 40:3. No one needed to continue to prepare the Way once Jesus Christ began His Ministry as the Son of Man. All of John’s disciples should have followed Jesus Christ and believed in His Holy Spirit Baptism because the time is fulfilled and John’s baptism with physical water of the earth was not to be continued. Ac 1:22a, “beginning from the baptism of John.” Ac 10:37b, “after the baptism which John preached.” Ac 13:23-26, “Of this man’s seed (king David) hath God, according to Promise, brought unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus, when John (the Baptist) had first preached before His coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What suppose ye that I am? I am not He! But behold, there cometh One after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose!’ Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham and those among you that fear God, to us is the Word of this Salvation sent forth!” Ac 19:1-6, “And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples and he said unto them, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?” [This was the one and only Baptism Paul was always concerned about and always writing about. Notice: “when ye believed”! Read Mk 16:14-20. Is this Scripture about a physical water baptism or is God’s Holy Spirit Baptism being described in Mk 16:14-20?] And they said unto him, “Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.” And he said, “Into what then were ye baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” [No doubt by Apollos, who needed the Way of God expounded to him more accurately because he had only known the baptism of John, Ac 18:24-28. And now, what should the name “Apollyon” remind us of, Rev 9?] And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.” And when they heard this, [When they heard the Word of God that Paul was preaching about believing “on Him”, “that is on Jesus”!] they were baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus. [This is the Name of Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:14-20; 1Jn 5; etc. His Name is THE WORD OF GOD! Rev 19. The certain disciples had repented at John’s baptism but they also needed to believe on Jesus and what John had said about Him. What did John say about Jesus Christ and His Baptism? What else was said between them? Through preaching God’s Word, Paul was pouring the Living Water of the Word of God on the disciples, Jn 7:37-39; Mt 28:18-20; 1Co 1:17. When they believed, then God through Jesus Christ spiritually cleansed them with the Water and the Holy Blood of the New Covenant, 1Jn 5. Remember Mk 1:14-15, REPENT AND BELIEVE!] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied.” [God’s Holy Spirit would have come upon the believers whether Paul had laid his hands on them or not, Ac 10-11. They believed the Word of God that Paul spoke and God, who alone sees inside hearts and minds, baptized them as He had the repentant believers in Ac 2; Ac 8; Ac 10; etc. Mk 1:15b, “repent ye and believe in the Gospel!”] What is the Gospel, exactly? Ro 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it (the Gospel) is the Power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What “Power” is this? Lk 24:45-49, “Then opened He their mind, that they might understand the Scriptures [And He must still open our minds, Jn 6:44-45,63-65. Who taught you?] and He said unto them, “Thus it is written: That the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [The Name of the three that testify: the Water that is Living Water, also called the Water of Life, the Holy Blood of the New Covenant and the Spirit of Charitos (Greek word), Heb 10; 1Jn 5.] Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the Promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye in the city until ye be clothed with Power from on High!” [What is the “Power from on High”? God’s Power from on High is the “Promise” as the Son of God clearly said in Lk 24. Read Ac 1-2. What is the Promise?] Ac 1:4-5, “and being assembled together with them, He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, said He, ye heard from me. “For John, indeed, baptized with water but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence!”” [“The Promise of the Father” is God’s “Holy Spirit” Baptism!] Ac 2:33, “Being, therefore, by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear!” [“He hath poured forth this” that is “the Promise of the Holy Spirit!”] Ac 2:38-39, “And Peter said unto them, “Repent ye and be baptized, everyone of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ [“In the Name!” Just like “into the Name” of Mt 28:18-20, etc.] unto the remission of your sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the Promise and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him!”” In Ac 2:38-39, Peter loosely quoted from Isa 59:21, “And as for me, this is my Covenant with them,” saith Yahweh (the LORD). “My Spirit that is upon thee and my Words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed,” saith Yahweh (the LORD), “from henceforth and forever.” [And the Promise of God’s Power from on High, His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism into and with His Name, is still being given to “all that are afar off”, who repent, believe and obey God’s Word as the 3000 did in Ac 2. We know “that God is True” and He has kept His Word, Jn 3:33. There were no physical water baptisms in Ac 2, none, zero, because “the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved!” And He hasn’t changed. All, who called on His Name, that is His Holy Spirit Baptism, were saved, Ac 2; Ro 10; 1Jn 5. Are all, who believe in physical water baptisms, calling the Son of God a liar and denying that He is the Lord, 1Jn 5? Yes, they are and because He receives His Words from His Father, they are also calling His Father a liar, 1Jn 5. They are all denying the Power of God, 2Ti 3. So then, what is the Power that is the Gospel as Paul wrote in Ro 1:16?] Ac 1:8, “But ye shall receive Power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth!” [God’s Power is His Promise of Power from on High through His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism, Eph 4. God’s Power is Wisdom from God, Righteousness from God, Sanctification from God and Redemption from God, 1Co 1-2. Without His Power, there is no “Redemption”! God’s Power is His “Grace” that will never remain with false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs as long as they continue with the Lie of New Covenant physical water baptisms, 2Co 12:9; 2Th 2; Tus 2; 1Jn 2. Isn’t it blasphemy to believe that a physical work of the flesh has something to do with God’s Power that is His Holy Spirit Baptism into and with the Name that is THE WORD OF GOD?] Ro 2:24, “For the Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written.” [What do you false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs think the Unforgivable Sin is?] In Jn 2, we read about the Cana wedding and it is followed by the apostle John’s account of the one temple cleansing of 2000 years ago. Yes, there was only one temple cleansing by Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. Remember, as proven above, that John’s Gospel is not in chronological order. And, there is more proof that it isn’t, just ask. The temple cleansing took place at the very end of Jesus Christ’s Ministry as the Son of Man and the temple cleansing frightened the Pharisees the most. Before this, they were often offended because Jesus Christ healed on the Sabbath, He forgave sins, He said God was His Father and He insulted them, or so they thought. But the temple cleansing frightened them the most; it finally made them want to follow through with killing Jesus Christ. Now why does the apostle John’s account of the temple cleansing follow the Cana wedding? First, understand what was symbolized in the Cana wedding. In Jn 2:1-11, Jesus Christ revealed the Water and the Blood of the three that testify the Name that is His Holy Spirit Baptism, 1Jn 5. Jn 2:6, “Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece.” And six times we read that John the Baptist baptized with water but Jesus Christ would baptize with God’s Holy Spirit, Mt 3; Mk 1; Lk 3; Jn 1; Ac 1; Ac 11. The waterpots had been used for Jewish purification rituals with physical water but works of the flesh are not allowed in the New Covenant and that includes all physical water rituals, even physical water baptisms, Ro 1-8; Gal 1-6; Heb 1-10. The waterpots also symbolize our physical bodies. We must be filled with the Word of God, His Living Water, Jer 31; Jn 15; Heb 8-10. We must be filled with the Living Water from the Fountain of Living Water that became the Holy Blood of the New Covenant, Jn 4; Jn 6; Heb 1-10. Who ordered the waterpots to be filled with water? He hasn’t changed. Who did the actual work of filling the waterpots under His direct Authority? “All Authority hath been given unto me in Heaven and on earth!” Mt 28:18b. He hasn’t changed. Who turned the water into wine, symbolizing how the Living Water becomes the Holy Blood of the New Covenant that all true Christians spiritually drink, are spiritually washed in and spiritually baptized with? Jn 4; Jn 6; 1Co 12:13; Rev 7. He hasn’t changed. And, the Cana wedding symbolizes ” the marriage of the Lamb”, Rev 19. The old wine is the Old Covenant. The new wine is the New Covenant. We must become new wineskins filled with new wine that symbolizes the Living Water and the Holy Blood, two of the three that testify, Mt 9; Mk 2; Lk 5; 1Jn 5. This must take place before we can be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, the third of the three that testify, Jn 5-6; 1Jn 5. How can this take place? Repent and believe in the Righteousness from God that is revealed in the Gospel, Mk 1:14-15; Ro 1:16-25, the Righteousness that we must seek first and find, Mt 6:33a. Without Righteousness from God, we cannot be saved, Mt 5:20. But who has believed? In Jn 2:1-11, Jesus Christ “manifested His Glory and His disciples believed on Him” but false Christians, heretics, anti-Christ are clueless about this Scripture and His Glory, Eph 1-3. Read the interpretations of Jn 2:1-11 in the Study Bibles and other various so-called Christian books that claim to be explaining the Scriptures and see who has understood this crucial Scripture. What is wrong with them? Well, what baptism did those authors receive? There can be only one Baptism given by one Lord through repentance and the one Faith in His Righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel, Eph 4-5; 1Jn 1-5. One Baptism, not two. Why don’t multitudes know the difference between one and two? To believe in a physical water baptism is to automatically deny the one Lord and the one Baptism of His Name, Eph 4-5. “The Last Days” that Paul prophesied in 2Ti 3 have been here for a very long time already. Multitudes, who think they are Christians, only have “a form of godliness” because they have denied “the Power” that is the one and only saving Holy Spirit Baptism of the New Covenant. Therefore, they are “ever learning and never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth” but many of them do not hesitate to peddle their lies about God’s Word for their own profit. They are Satan’s profits, not God’s prophets! They were prophesied throughout the NT and even in the OT, including in the temple cleansing of Jn 2:12-25. Multitudes have followed these false profits of the teachings and traditions of men who not only don’t understand the Scriptures but who don’t freely give their lies, they sell them. And yet the itchy ears still run to them to hear what they want to hear and they willingly pay for it, 2Ti 4. Multitudes think they can buy the Way to Salvation from someone who preaches lies or teaches lies for pay, or from some liar who sells media, such as books, but it is not possible. We must all be taught by God, Jn 6:44-45,63-65. Did the apostles sell their letters? Did they charge anyone for witnessing Salvation to them through God’s Power and for His Glory? Multitudes of false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs buy and sell what a true Christian could never or would never buy and sell, Rev 13. It does not cease to amaze me how God’s simple saving Gospel Truth, freely offered and freely given, is repeatedly ignored or rejected but false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs will even spend small fortunes for scholastic degrees that can only destroy them forever, 1Co 1-3. The Last Days’ so-called churches and all of their related schools are nothing but dens of robbers and worse. Wasn’t the first temple cleansed because it was “a den of robbers”, Mt 21; Mk 11; Lk 19-20; Jn 2? What will happen to today’s dens of robbers who, like those unbelieving Jews, are also totally clueless about the water that is Living Water and the wine that is the Holy Blood, Jn 2:1-11; Jn 3:1-21; Jn 6; Heb 10? If they know next to nothing about the Gospel of God’s Power, then who sent them? Most certainly not the real Lord Jesus Christ whom they have denied and blasphemed! They belong to “another Jesus” who is really Satan masquerading as an angel of Light and as his servants, they are peddling a false righteousness that will only send their followers to the Lake of Fire forever, 2Co 11. In 1Co 16:22, Paul wrote: “If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema!” To Love God is to obey God, exactly, Jn 14. Anathema means “cursed, condemned to damnation”. So, what Paul meant was: If any person does not obey God and His Word, let that person be cursed, condemned to damnation! If the exact Word of God does not remain in a person, then that person is like a branch that “is cast forth … and is withered.” The withered branches will be gathered and cast “into the fire” that is “the Lake of Fire”, Jn 15; Rev 19. The withered branches are also known as the “tares”, the bad “fish”, the foolish “virgins”, the “goats”, the synagogues of Satan, the beasts, etc. They will all be thrown where there is “the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” when God cleanses His Temple in the Last Days, Mt 13; Mt 25; Rev 14-22. They have all ignored or rejected God’s Water and God’s Wine and God’s Oil! In Rev 16, “the altar” says, “Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, True and Righteous are thy Judgments!” Why? Consider what those “bowls” do! The unbelieving Jews of 2000 years ago rejected the Son of Man in sinless human flesh as their Messiah. After the temple cleansing of almost 2000 years ago, the unbelieving Jews questioned Jesus Christ’s Authority, Mt 21; Mk 11; Lk 19-20. What did He ask them instead, Mt 21; Mk 11; Lk 19-20? Lk 20:4, “The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or from men?” This question also applies to the horrific Temple cleansing to come, Isa 63:1-6; Rev 19. The false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs have denied the Holy One of God and the Anointing of His Power and Wisdom in the flesh of His true Christians as the apostle John prophesied that all anti-Christs would do, 1Co 1-3; 2Th 2; 1Jn 1-5; 2Jn; Rev 2-3. 1Jn 2:18-20, “Little children, it is the last hour and as ye heard that anti-Christ cometh, even now have there arisen many anti-Christs [“Many anti-Christs”, not just one.], whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. And ye (true Christians only) have an anointing from the Holy One and ye know all the things.” [Who performs the physical water baptisms in today’s so-called churches? The Holy One? After new members are physically baptized in the so-called churches, do they “know all the things” through the Power and Wisdom that Paul also wrote about in 1Co 1?] 1Jn 2:22, “Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-Christ, even he that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1Jn 4:2-4, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God and this is the spirit of the anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it cometh and now it is in the world already. Ye ARE OF GOD, my little children, and HAVE OVERCOME THEM because GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU than he that is in the world!” [“The spirit of the anti-Christ” was “in the world already” almost 2000 years ago! It began long before it took over.] 2Jn 1:7, “For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the anti-Christ.” [And every adult, with access to the Scriptures, who believes in New Covenant physical water baptisms is an anti-Christ. Anti-Christs deny God’s Holy Spirit Baptism. They deny that God through His Son must write His Word on the hearts and in the minds of all true Christians thereby denying “the Father and the Son”, Jer 31; Heb 8-10. Who is the Word of God, Jn 1? His Name, THE WORD OF GOD, must be written in our foreheads by God through the Son of God, Rev 14. All false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs also deny Jesus Christ’s Authority while they claim to believe in Him and they even have the audacity to call Him “Lord” while their works of the flesh declare otherwise. They have denied the Righteousness of the real Lord Jesus Christ who was sent by His Father!] Gal 4:4-7, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law that He might redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye (true Christians only) are sons, GOD SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON INTO OUR HEARTS, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So that thou art no longer a bondservant but a son and if a son, then an heir through God!” [Whose Spirit is in the flesh of true Christians? Does God send “the Spirit of His Son” into the hearts of true Christians through physical water baptisms?! How did He “redeem them that were under the Law”? Like the first synagogue of Satan, made up of unbelieving Jews, the second synagogue of Satan, made up of false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs, hasn’t listened to John the Baptist either, Rev 2-3. Instead, the false churches have invented their own “false christs”, their own false gospels and their own false baptisms to fill their pews and collection plates, Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21. Woe to those of you who do not repent of drinking from, washing in and baptizing with Satan’s river, the teachings and traditions of men! Woe to those of you who mark your new members by getting their heads wet, especially their foreheads! How does this write THE WORD OF GOD on their hearts and in their minds? How does this make their hearts and minds spiritually clean before God? How are you different from the unbelieving Jews of 2000 years ago who thought that physically washing their hands made them spiritually clean before God? Read Col 1-4. As always, Paul was describing God’s one and only Holy Spirit Baptism in Col 1-4. True Christians set our minds “on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.” Is physical water of the earth? What John the Baptist said, what was said during his ministry, what took place during his ministry, has not only ended forever all Old Covenant physical rituals for the flesh but, even more so, all physical rituals from the teachings and traditions of men. Satan’s river should have been dried up for everyone but not everyone wants to believe in God’s one Baptism from above. God’s greatest human enemies of all time are false teachers and their followers. They are all being exposed and they will all be punished most severely.] Mk 12:36, “David, himself, said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, “Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.”‘” [In Lk 20, who will receive “greater condemnation”?] Dan 12:2-3,10, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting Life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the stars forever and ever. … Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined. But the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but they that are wise shall understand.” [How is someone turned “to Righteousness”? How shall they “purify themselves”? How shall they “make themselves white and be refined”? Through a physical water baptism? Do you understand or not? There will be no excuses.] What has been called “Daniel’s last week” in Dan 9 is not some obscure seven years in the future, as many liars have taught; it is the seven churches of Rev 2-3. The seven churches are an amazing prophecy of the entire Church Age. As also prophesied in the feeding of the two multitudes in Mt 14-15; Mk 6; Mk 8; Lk 9; Jn 6, “the early and latter rain” of Jas 5, the “barley” and “wheat” of Rev 6, “the two olive trees and the two candlesticks” of Rev 11, as well as the “two witnesses” themselves, there were only two large groups of true Christians. There were and still are other true Christian individuals and small groups but there were only two large groups of true Christians in the last 2000 or so years, who were prophesied in the Smyrna and Philadelphia ages. The Ephesus age is a description of the first true Christians and a description of all true Christians when we begin to repent and believe exactly what God wants us to believe. True Christians in Ephesus and everywhere else understand how important the Name is that we must call upon to be saved. What are “the first Works”, also called “thy first Love”, that the Ephesians and all true Christians must continue in or our candlestick will be removed? Smyrna was the first large group of true Christians that in “patience” endured “to the end”, as we are all called to do, even when they were horribly persecuted and, like all other true Christians, they didn’t physically fight back, Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21. The unbelieving Jews of 2000 years ago, the first synagogue of Satan, began the persecutions against them. After many of the first true Christians were martyred the false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs began to gain control of some of the physical visible churches, 3Jn. This is the Pergamum age where some true Christians remained who had not denied the Name of the one and only Holy Spirit Baptism from God. However, the false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs were being tolerated when they were supposed to be exposed and expelled. Their false teachings and false practices, the teachings and traditions of men, is the river of lies flowing from “Satan’s throne” in imitation of God’s Throne and River, Rev 22! Then came Thyatira with its Jezebel that is the wicked Roman Catholic false church. Her fellow spiritual adulterers are the other old false churches such as the Orthodox and Coptics. “Her children” are their followers even including the Protestants who have continued to physically baptize their children and celebrate their Christ-mass. Jesus Christ said He will put them through a “Great Tribulation” and He “will kill” all of their followers if they do not “repent of her works”. Jezebel and her fellow spiritual adulterers have been around for a very long time, having had lots of time to repent but they haven’t. In the Thyatira age, the middle of the Church Age, the lies became even worse and the liars often had great worldly power. Exactly as prophesied, near the beginning of the Thyatira age, the woman of Rev 12 used “the two wings of the Great Eagle” to fly into the wilderness and the spirit of the anti-Christ began to rule in all of the physical visible churches, 2Th 2. Then came the physical immersion water baptizers who are perfectly described in the Sardis age. They claim they are celebrating or sharing in the death, burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ during their physical water baptisms but this is only another version of the Great Lie of physical water baptisms, 2Th 2; 1Jn 2. Ro 1-11 condemns all works of the flesh, including all New Covenant physical water baptisms. Ro 1-8, is a Scripture that false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs distort as they do many others that are about God’s one and only Holy Spirit Baptism. In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul wrote about wicked blasphemers who shipwrecked their Faith, who lied about the Resurrection that hasn’t even happened yet for the true Christians. They are among all of the liars who are “evil beasts”! Who ended up in the physical water after a shipwreck? Who sank into the physical water when he lost his Faith? Who walked on physical water? Who called His disciples to become fishers of men? What do fishermen do when they fish? According to the real Lord Jesus Christ in His Word to Sardis: They are already spiritually dead if they do not wake up. They have soiled their clothes with their blasphemous baptisms instead of spiritually washing themselves in and with His Word that is His Holy Name: the Living Water, the Holy Blood of the New Covenant and the Power and Light of His Holy Spirit! True Christians’ robes are washed whiter than snow in the Living Water and Holy Blood of the Lamb, Rev 7! How can false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs dare to claim that they can imitate or perform this Holy Act of God with their physical water rituals given to the flesh by the hands of flesh? Blasphemy! If they do not wake up, their names will be blotted out of God’s “Book of Life” forever. And, what was used to blot something out? Then, after Sardis, came the last large group of true Christians that was perfectly prophesied in the Philadelphia age: the true Christian Quakers of the 1600’s and early 1700’s, not today’s false Quakers. About 350 years ago, the false churches with their false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs were all exposed by this last large group of true Christians. The true Christian Quakers knew that the false churches were like the first synagogue of Satan, also known as the first beast that came up out of the (Red) Sea, Rev 2; Rev 13. The second synagogue of Satan, made up of the false churches and their members, had become an image of the first beast, Rev 3; Rev 13. The true Christian Quakers could not worship in the false churches anymore because God’s Light does not fellowship with spiritual darkness but they did teach, reprove, correct and instruct as all true Christians will do, 2Ti 3. What they wrote proves it and much of what they wrote is still available. Ask me for the free proof and it is freely available online. Of course, the true Christian Quakers were hated by everyone who loved being a false Christian, heretic, anti-Christ. Therefore, the doors to the false churches were closed to the true Christian Quakers but Jesus Christ did not close His Door to them, the Door to God’s heavenly Temple! Also, as a result of holding the testimony of Jesus, the true Christian Quakers were severely persecuted by the false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs but, like the true Christians of Smyrna, they didn’t physically fight back. Unlike the synagogue of Satan, that severely persecuted them, the true Christian Quakers kept God’s Word and did not deny His Name that we must be spiritually baptized into and with. They knew why physical water baptisms were not allowed in the New Covenant and, therefore, Jesus Christ poured His Love upon them through His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism, Ro 5. Rev 3:12b, “and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from my God, and mine own new Name!” And He did write His Name upon thousands of true Christian Quakers through His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism of the Name that is THE WORD OF GOD! But even if this fails to convince someone, then know this: The true Christian Quakers of 350 years ago perfectly fit each phrase of the Philadelphia age in Rev 3:7-13 before they founded Philadelphia, usa, in 1682! If you want the free details about each phrase, just ask me. But, sad to say, the false churches that persecuted the true Christian Quakers still exist along with those who have evolved out of them or have had fellowship with them. They all belong to the second synagogue of Satan, the image beast with its symbolic false prophet, that came out of the nations of the earth which is saturated with Satan’s river. They have all followed the teachings and traditions of men that the unbelieving Jews of 2000 years ago were also guilty of, Mt 23; Rev 13. Rev 17:8, “The beast that thou sawest was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was and is not and shall come.” Indeed, multitudes of false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs, who have already physically died, have heard to their horror when it is too late: “I NEVER KNEW YOU! DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY!” Mt 5-7. Who are they? They thought they were Christians but they never had “the Mind of Christ” through His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism, 1Co 1-2. Many of them, if not all of them, thought they were saved but they were not! Instead of Heaven; it is the abyss and the eternal Lake of Fire! And, it is this beast that kills the two witnesses, who also symbolize all true Christians of all time, especially those in the Smyrna and Philadelphia ages, Rev 11. Who persecuted the first true Christians? Who persecuted the true Christian Quakers of 350 years ago? Yes, it will be a wonder when the beast comes out of the abyss only to be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire. All of you, who belong to the synagogues of Satan, are no longer separate beasts but one great big deadly monstrous satanic beast because you are all guilty of the same sins and worse, Dan 7. In one way or another, you are all guilty of shedding the blood of God’s Righteous ones, Mt 23; Rev 17. Wake up now because we have been in the last age for some time, the Laodicean age, Rev 3. Who is standing at the door of people’s hearts? Not the false shepherds but the one and only real Shepherd of all true Christians, Jer 23; Eze 34; Jn 10; Rev 7. Not the false heads of false churches but the Head of God’s one true spiritual Church, Mt 16; 1Co 11-12; Eph 1-5; Col 1-2. His supper is spiritual and so is His one and only saving Baptism. But by now false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs are used to thinking that they have to “buy” their Salvation. So, go to Him to buy “eye salve” to spiritually see His simple saving Gospel Truth, buy His “gold” that is Faith in His Righteousness and buy “white garments” from Him to “put on Christ” through His one and only Holy Spirit Baptism, Jn 9; Gal 3; 1Pe 1. Have you heard His “Voice of many Waters”, Rev 1? Everyone, who belongs to the Truth, will hear His Voice, Jn 18. The Door to true Salvation won’t open until you listen to His Word and do it! REPENT AND BELIEVE! SEEK FIRST AND FIND! “He that OVERCOMETH, I WILL GIVE to him to sit down with me in my Throne, as I also OVERCAME and sat down with my Father in His Throne! He that hath an ear, let him hear what THE SPIRIT saith to the churches!” Rev 3. In 1Jn 1-5, the apostle John clearly wrote how we may overcome as we must do. How do we overcome? Who is “the Spirit” of Rev 2-3? Also, read Ro 12. What kind of food and drink heap “coals of fire” on someone’s head? The Revelation was written to all of the churches of all time, the false churches and the one true Church, Rev 2-3; Rev 22. The Revelation is not about a physical world ruler or a physical world government in the future as the liars have falsely claimed. The Son of Man was not concerned about who was physically ruling in Rome. He was never “wrestling with flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places,” as we must also do, Eph 6. “The world rulers of this darkness” are the false teachers of the false churches and their false schools who drink from, wash in and baptize with Satan’s river of eternal death, the teachings and traditions of men. The real Lord Jesus Christ and His true Church have always called everyone to God’s Water of Life, His Living Water of the Word of God, the Water from God’s River of eternal Life, Jn 3:1-21; Jn 4:4-26; Rev 22. Why do you think the call to drink His Water of Life is mentioned at the very end of the Holy Bible as a last reminder? Don’t you false Christians, heretics, anti-Christs know that you are going to be guilty of the Unforgivable Sin if you physically die belonging to your false churches and believing in your false gospels and your false baptisms? Yes, you will be, Mt 12; Mk 3; Lk 11-12. And, those of you who are guilty of the Unforgivable Sin will be tossed into the Lake of Fire even before the 1000 years and you will never get out for all of eternity, Rev 19-22. Is your blasphemous, foolish, wicked work of the flesh worth that?! Give it up! Start over as Paul did, Ph 3. Repent, seek first, find, have the one Faith in God’s Righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel and become a bondservant of His Righteousness through His Power and for His Glory. This is the True Gospel in one sentence! But what does God think of those of you who still refuse to believe in His True Gospel and who, instead, continue to drink from, wash in and baptize with Satan’s river of eternal death? The herd of 2000 or so demon-filled pigs that ran into the physical water to die is a prophecy of all of you physical water baptism lovers in these last 2000 or so years, Mk 5. Peter called all of the false teachers “dogs” who eat the vomit of their own lies and he wrote that their washed pigs go right back into the mud of their sins, Mt 23; 2Pe 2. Paul called all false teachers dogs too, the ones who do not worship “by the Spirit of God” but who, instead, put their “confidence in the flesh” as all of you physical water baptism lovers have done, Php 3. Even the Son of God called you people dogs and pigs, Mt 7. What happens to the dogs and their followers who love lies as we read in Rev 22? And here is a short little fragment, called “Oxyrhynchus 840″, found in 1905: ” . . . before he does wrong makes all manner of subtle excuse. But give heed lest ye also suffer the same things as they. For the evildoers among men receive their reward not among the living only but also await punishment and much torment. And He took them and brought them into the very place of purification and was walking in the temple. And a certain Pharisee, a chief priest whose name was Levi, met them and said to the Saviour, “Who gave thee leave to walk in this place of purification and to see these holy vessels when thou hast not washed nor yet have thy disciples bathed their feet? But defiled thou hast walked in this temple, which is a pure place, wherein no other man walks except he has washed himself and changed his garments. Neither does he venture to see these holy vessels.” And the Saviour straightaway stood still with His disciples and answered him, “Art thou then, being here in the temple, clean?” He saith unto Him, “I am clean for I washed in the pool of
  4. anne robare says:
    May 28, 2011 at 6:56 am

    My nine little pages were just too much, so here is the rest:

    He saith unto Him, “I am clean for I washed in the pool of David and having descended by one staircase I ascended by another and I put on white and clean garments. And then I came and looked upon these holy vessels.” The Saviour answered and said unto him, “Woe ye blind, who see not. Thou hast washed in these running waters wherein dogs and swine have been cast night and day and hast cleansed and wiped the outside skin which also the harlots and flute girls anoint and wash and wipe and beautify for the lust of men but within they are full of scorpions and all wickedness. But I and my disciples, who thou sayest have not bathed, have been dipped in the Waters of eternal Life which come from . . . But woe unto the . . . ”

    In the Service of the Holy One who baptized me with His one Baptism and who taught me, 1Jn 2,
    anne robare / canawedding at aol dot com

    PS: If you haven’t yet read “REV 13: THE MARK OF THE BEAST: 666! HAVE YOU BEEN DECEIVED WITH THE MARK OF THE BEAST?”, which is a one page summary of the above with additional information, just ask for it.

    George Fox (a true Christian Quaker, 1624-1691) on baptisms and the Holy One who must baptize us from “The People of God, in scorn called Quakers, their Love to all Mankind Asserted”: So your directory and church faith, as you call it, may lie and mould for we understand according to sobriety. That as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith, His Gift, so he is to walk by, in which he pleases God through Christ Jesus. Whom all Christians must look unto, Jesus, who is the Author of their Faith and Finisher of it. Who is the Author of ours, Glory to God forever! And the wise man’s eye is in his Head, Christ Jesus, who is the Head of all. Who bruises the serpent’s head that led men from God and hath been between men and God. And he that doth this, leads man again to God, to wit – Christ, who is the True Baptizer. Who baptizes with Fire and with the Holy Spirit! Whose fan is in His hand and He will cleanse His floor, the floor of your hearts. And will gather His wheat into His garner but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable Fire. And they that know this Baptizer, to wit – Christ, are the true Christians and will never plead for the chaff, their body of death and sin to the grave. For when Christ sets Fire in your hearts and minds, that never shall be quenched till the chaff is burnt up. Such will not plead for the chaff but for Christ and His Baptism, which we own, and would have all people come to. For in the time of the Law, things were to pass through the fire and water, to be made clean. So you must pass through Christ’s Fire and Water, which purifies and washes, before you will be clean to enter into His Holy Kingdom and know His Baptism, as in Lk 3:16-17. For Simon Magus may go into the outward water and yet not come to Christ’s Baptism and think he can buy the Gift of God for money, which was judged by the apostle and by all that be in the same Spirit. And this is the one Baptism: “for by one Spirit we (the true Church) are all baptized into one Body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” And for want of (the lack of) this Spirit’s baptizing of you and you drinking into it, there are so many bodies and sects in Christendom, and so many baptisms and ways. And so do not drink all into one Spirit, in which the unity and fellowship and the bond of the Prince of princes’ Peace is, which we say all true Christians are bound to keep. And then they will seek the good of all men and the Peace of all men. Let them be of several sects formerly, yet by one Spirit they are all baptized into one Body. As they come to the Spirit then they drink into one Spirit, then here is fellowship in the one Spirit, 1Co 12:13. So all Christians are to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace.

    “O you kindreds of the people! Ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour!” Ascribe them not unto yourselves because they [the apostles] also, who have declared it unto you, have not declared their own but His honour. Do ye then “ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour” and say, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us but unto your Name give the praise!” Put not your trust in man! If each of you is baptized, let him say, “He [the Lord Jesus Christ] baptizes me,” of whom the friend of the Bridegroom [John the Baptist] said, “He baptizes with the Holy Spirit!” For when you say this, you ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour! “Ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour!” [Amen! Amen!] From Augustin’s exposition on Ps 96, paragraph 8, written circa 400 AD.

    Augustin on Baptism from the Gospel of John, Tractate 5.6. Since, then, John [the Baptist] had accepted a baptism which may be properly called “the baptism of John” but the Lord Jesus Christ would not give His Baptism to any, not that no one should be baptized with the Baptism of the Lord, but that the Lord Himself should always baptize, that was done, that the Lord should baptize by means of servants, that is to say, those whom the servants of the Lord were to baptize, the Lord baptized, not they. For it is one thing to baptize in the capacity of a servant [as John the Baptist was], another thing to baptize with Power. For [His] Baptism derives its character from Him through whose Power it is given, not from him through whose ministry it is given.

Comments are closed.