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In The Shadows
Kat:
Hi sonofone,
When Jesus Christ lived on earth, the way they learned the Scriptures was to go to the Temple or a synagogue, where the scrolls of the Laws, the Prophets and the writings (the OT Scriptures) were kept. Jesus Christ and the Apostles and all Jews followed this custom. Now when Christ began His ministry and started teaching in the Temple and synagogues, well you know they eventually killed Him, because of what He was teaching. Now the Apostles carried on this same teaching and did it go any better for them?
Paul -
Acts 9:29 And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him.
Acts 21:31 And as they were seeking to kill him, the news came to the chiliarch of the cohort, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
Stephen -
Act 7:58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
James -
Act 12:2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword;
Act 12:3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.
John was the only apostle who escaped a violent death. The belief of the early Christian writers and history verifies that all the rest of apostles did face martyrdom.
There are a few Scriptures that show that the Apostles didn't only go to the synagogues or Temple.
Acts 12:12 And thinking about it, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose last name was Mark; where many had gathered together to pray.
Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.
I do not believe that Paul's letters to different churches were to the synagogues, but to the different groups of Believers in different cities. As in the following Paul is addressing one of these groups. There is no mentions of meeting in a synagogue, but "assemble as a church," which could have been anywhere.
I Cor. 11:17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
v. 18 For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it,
v. 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
v. 20 When you meet together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.
So now we, just like the Apostles, start out in the church. While we are deceived we believe we are in His church, but when our eyes are opened we see it for what it really is, the Synagogue of Satan.
We have to understand the difference between 'going to church' and assembling together with like mind Believers. Of course we want to seek out the Believers and share in learning the Truth. I think God has provided that here at Bibletruths.
As Paul was addressing problems in I Cor. 11 that they were having, maybe that is a reason we do not have the assembling in person. Because God does not want us to be distracted by the physical, that we are still susceptible to.
Through the ages He no doubt provided different ways for those of like mind to fellowship. But now it seems like this is what He has given us - the fellowship on the internet.
That was more then I intended to say, but I hope it helps :)
mercy, peace and love
Kat
sonofone:
Thanks for the feedback everyone I really appreciate it.
indianabob:
In the Shadows
Friend Steven,
All that needs to be said has been said and I cannot add anything more.
I would however like to summarize what has become more clear to me personally.
Those that God has called out of Babylon, out of the organized church, are the only true believers.
As nice as those other folks may be, humanly speaking, they are still in Babylon and don't intend
to come out no matter what I may say to them. So, I leave them alone spiritually and fellowship
with them ONLY as neighbors and members of the local community. They are not yet God's chosen
and when they are they will seek me out just as I will seek them.
Therefore, it is obvious to me that my present task is to learn all that I can through prayer, Bible study,
sacrificial love toward all people and spiritual fellowship with the very few that God has bound me to
in this phase of my spiritual development. It is now my task to work with others of like mind, IRON
sharpening IRON and not to correct or offer enlightenment to any who have not yet been chosen.
I am not an evangelist at this time, I am still and shall remain a student.
In this group I have noticed that there is ONE teacher. One at a time is a good plan, it avoids confusion.
The rest of us, all of us, are students. We can share our personal visions and our tests or trials
and share how we have struggled to overcome our own limitations and how God has worked on us,
sometimes without our knowledge until it suddenly became apparent and that is good. However, we
need to consciously avoid the temptation to become teachers ourselves. Why?
We are something like undergraduate students in God's University. We all know that we shall become
Bachelors and Masters and Philosophers eventually (BA, MA, PhD) but for now we do not stand before
any other persons, outside the University, and present ourselves as competent instructors.
Yes, we do write theses and present them to our Teacher once per semester. And yes we do present
our ideas and theses to one another for practice and to check the spelling and appropriate use of
words according to accepted meaning, but we are not graduates, we are not professors, we are yet
students and have not earned the right and are not qualified to speak for God.
This time of testing is to allow us to grow in knowledge and wisdom and the grace of our Lord. We are
to grow in grace by exercising grace, by patiently enduring the daily trials that come to all who love
God more than self. There will be time enough for us to teach in the resurrection to LIFE.
As Martin King has said, "I have gone to the mountain top and I have seen the promised land."
We few have been given the vision of God's true plan for mankind, we need to treasure it in our secret
place, our heart of hearts, until the time for its revealing is given.
It is a wonderful thought and that thought will motivate us to remain faithful until the end.
See King's final thoughts below. (If he only knew the full story)
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
sonofone:
Bob I just wanted to acknowledge your reply,and say that I love you for your heart.I appreciate your feedback,I have come to learn as I have at one time not seen your heart and intentions clearly;that you are considerate in what you write.
I am a person that has to study to be quiet.It's hard for me. There is a lot I want to say and share;but this is a season where I need to be more ready to listen than to speak. So I'll be around,even if you don't hear from me.Thanks
hillsbororiver:
--- Quote from: sonofone on December 10, 2007, 10:37:33 PM ---
but this is a season where I need to be more ready to listen than to speak.
--- End quote ---
Hi sonophone,
I too am presently in that same season.
As you can see by the number of posts I have made in my time here these seasons tend to be infrequent and there are times when I am quite manic in writing, sometimes to my own chagrin.
To be patient is perhaps the most difficult thing for me personally, although I have observed many others who (often unaware) share the same weakness of spirit. Instead of waiting on the Lord to clear things or shed His light I can fall prey to forcing (by my own will) answers to questions that are even of themselves immature, maybe even irrelevant to what He is presently teaching me or showing me. How does one discern these things? Sometimes we only see what we want to see or should I say when we are impatient we can only see what our "old man" wants us to see. Even Satan can appear as an angel of light, how much more susceptible to deception are we when we are anxious and groping for straws to tickle our ears?
Perhaps it is as simple as quiet reflection, meditation, thinking about where we have been, where our real hope is, shedding this need for acknowledgement and validation from other human beings or to be well thought of in the here and now.
Thanks to all of you who have posted here in this thread, there are many good points to consider.
Bob, that was and is a great reminder to me that we should be giving thanks for the opportunity of being a student, that God has called us to learn more of Him and that being anxious to teach or lead can be a real stumbling block to those who put their faith in personalities and "friendships" or succumb easily to praise or validation whether it is sincere or merely as bait to lead others away from His light and back into carnal darkness and confusion.
Not everyone is called to teach and even those who are spend a fair share of time observing, learning, meditating even praying in the wilderness before they are prepared for their mission, Jesus is quiet for 18 years from the time He showed Himself to the "doctors" of the Temple at 12 years old, Paul is quiet for years in between declaring himself (his conversion) to the synagogue(s) even exiling himself to Arabia before beginning his calling to minister to the Gentiles.
This is an interesting journey to be sure, impatience is not our friend as we travel it.
His Peace to you,
Joe
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