The American Wisdom Series

Predestination

Some of us after the first earth age, God chose, predestined, for a special purpose in this flesh life.  He chose not to give those of us in this group free will because He knew we had already made the choice to be faithful to Him in the first earth age. These brothers are referred to as "the elect" in the Bible.

This group has in the past and will continue to come to this earth age the same as the rest of us, born of water, to daughters of eighth day man, except without free will. God has special duties for each to perform according to His plan.

(click link to see pamphlet)
The "mysteries" of God's plan and His will...
#5161 God did not inspire Paul to attend a tent revival to convert him, nor did Paul come forward to an altar call. Jesus Christ simply knocked him off his horse with a lightning bolt and said "you're mine, dude"!
#1029     No "Altar Call" for Paul
#1026    "God's Elect"
#1792 "What predestination means"
#5101    It is unfortunate that traditional Christianity does not teach about the first earth age that existed back when Satan rebelled.
#4116  Many predestined according to God's will.
#5162 Man's "recorded" history, since the planting of the garden of Eden, only spans about 6000 years or SIX DAYS and the LORD'S DAY, the Millennium, fast approaches.
#4250   Most of us were created with "Free Will"  Most of us can choose good and therefore; life or evil and therefore; death. I say "Most of us can choose", but not all of us!
#2547But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
#5161Has God chosen you in Him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and without blame before Him in love:
#1517    He who speaks his own words is on an ego trip and you'll need a pooper scooper if you listen to them.
#4143    2 groups of humans:  The predestination group and The free choice group.
#4084    Some of us were chosen in the first earth age to be followers of Christ in this earth age.
#4116     Many predestined according to God's will.
#4119     I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life,
#4147     Paul was not saved by any alter call!  Paul was made an apostle by the "will of God", not by the "will of Paul".
#4250     Most of us were created with "Free Will"
#4094 We/Us (1st earth age) Ye (this present earth age)
#1532     Do you think you were born on __/__/__ by accident or has it occurred to you that you could be part of His plan?
#1549So if you are one of God's elect here is what John has to say to you:
#4084   Some of us were chosen in the first earth age to be followers of Christ in this earth age.
#4094   We/Us (1st earth age) Ye (this present earth age)
#4147     Paul was made an apostle by the "will of God", not by the "will of Paul".
 
 

See(LIVE LINK)-Ephesians


Haggai
God will ask the question at the end of this Book, Haggai,
"Is the seed still in the barn?"

The Book of Haggai is the 10th book among the 12 Minor Prophets
which are called "minor"  because of their length,
not because of their importance.

In that regard Haggai is "minor" indeed for it is only two chapters long.

However, to those servants of the Most High God who have "come out of Babylon" in these last days
and graciously been given eyes to see and ears to hear,
these two chapters are of MAJOR importance for they contain both instruction and admonition
for the chosen builders of His Temple, the many membered body of Jesus Christ,
as we approach the feast of the final harvest in this flesh age.

In fact, the name "Haggai" in Hebrew means "feast" or "my feast"
and his work concerns the "feast" during the famine,
i.e. the bringing forth of God's Word, the building of the temple before Jesus Christ returns.

You see, God will ask the question at the end of this Book,
"Is the seed still in the barn?",
meaning has His Word been taken out and sown sufficiently for "harvest"
for it is soon time for Him to come and "shake the nations and the heavens"
and "overthrow the throne of kingdoms" (Haggai 2:21-22)!

The historical setting and timeframe for this marvelous work is Jerusalem, 410 BC,
sixteen years after Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple.

Haggai's prophecy which contains four distinct messages covers but a short season of about four months
from the sixth month to the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar,
which corresponds to our Aug./Sept. to Nov./Dec.

He was the first prophet through whom God spoke following the return from the 70 year captivity in Babylon,
the period of time which lays between Zephaniah and Haggai.

He was also a contemporary of Zechariah
who began his prophecy in the eighth month of the second year of Darius (Zech. 1:1),
two months later than Haggai and midway between Haggai's second and third messages.

(See Companion Bible, pg. 1276.) The two books of Haggai and Zechariah together
will give you a clear and concise picture of the "work" of God's hands,
His elect, in this final generation!

live link to-Haggai

Zechariah
Zechariah prophesied how God will sow His elect, His mighty ones, among the people to teach His sons and daughters, to give them hope, and in that day His people shall turn again, which means they will return to Him!
#1110Zechariah Chapter 10
 
 

Understand Zechariah's Visions About These End Times!

We live in the most exciting "Bible Times" in the history of mankind, bar none!

We live in the "time of the end" that the prophet Daniel wrote of and spoke of and desired to "see",
a time when "many would run to and fro" and "knowledge would be increased"
and the "seals" of the great book, God's Word, would be opened
and "unveiled" by the Lamb of God (Rev. 6:1) to "the wise",
who are simply those who sincerely study His Word and hear His voice.

Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Daniel was told the words of his prophecy were to be closed up and sealed until the time of the end.

Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Then the wise in "the time of the end", aka "the last days",
would understand what was written concerning the events of the final generation.

We are living in that time now!

We can read and understand.

[10] Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Consider now the times!
Think about the incredible technological age of increased knowledge
and information and global communications in which we live!

Here are the words of Joel as quoted by the apostle Peter
on that first Pentecost Day following the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

All the events that shall happen in and unto this final generation were prophesied long, long ago,
even as Jesus said in Mark 13:23 "...behold, I have foretold you all things".

The eight visions the Lord gave to Zechariah  in 410 BC, concerning these end times, can now be understood.

Let's log untoo the book of Zechariah and learn about these eight visions:
        1. The Rider on the Red Horse.
        2. & The Four Horns
        3. The Measuring Line
        4. The Branch
        5. The Golden Lampstand
        6. The Flying Scroll
        7. & The Ephah
        8. The Four Chariots

live link to -Zechariah


Nahum
Nahum kc 1-1

It is written in both the Old and New Testaments
that it SHALL come to pass in the last days
that God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh
and the sons AND daughters,
those "seed" who shall come and serve Jesus Christ in the final generation
and shall declare His righteousness (Ps. 22:30),
will both "See" (understand) the "Visions" of the prophets
and they shall "Prophesy" (which means to teach the prophet's) to their brothers and sisters.

Here is Peter on that first Pentecost Day following the resurrection of our Lord quoting (in the New Testament) from the Book of Joel (in the Old Testament):

Acts 2:17 (from Joel 2:28) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Again, the visions they understand and teach are the visions of the prophets
like the vision we are about "See" which God gave to the prophet Nahum the Elkoshite.

By the way, not only will the sons and daughters of the final generation of the fig tree see the visions,
as in understand the visions, but they will also "see them come to pass".

Truly this is the most exciting of all "Biblical times" in which to live.

It is the time of the event-packed "last days",
the time that all the great prophets and the disciples heard about
and wrote about and yet incredibly,
it is you and I who are the ones privileged to actually be living in those days!

We have now come to the seventh book (chronologically) of the Minor Prophets
called the Book of Nahum, whose subject, purpose, and time spoken of
are all derived from an understanding of the very first verse.

Nahum 1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Live link to-Nahum

Peter 1 & 2

 “Where’s the altar call? Well, there was none when Peter was called nor for any one else who had been chosen before the foundation of the world!"

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to walk with Jesus Christ? I don’t mean to “walk daily with the Lord” in the sense that Christian’s today keep Him in their hearts, but to actually physically walk along side of the Savior, and listen to Him and touch Him and eat with Him and witness the miracles and healings He performed.

Well, just such an one wrote this Book of 1st Peter. He was a common man, a big ole lovable fisherman named Simon Bar Jona. “Bar” means “son of” and “Jona means “dove”, so he was the son of the dove, but many of us today would call him a “pussycat”. And once you get to know him you’ve got to love him.

Here’s what happened.

One day Simon, who was called Peter, was out fishing with his brother Andrew, just minding their own business, telling stories and jokes no doubt, and Jesus Christ walked up to them and said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:18-19
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.[19] And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Did Peter turn to his brother and say, “Who’s this guy?”

No, they just knew He was the Shepherd. So without hesitation or excuse, upon hearing His voice, they followed Him.

Read John 10:4 “And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice."

Matthew 4:20
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Note: You may be asking yourself “Where’s the altar call?” Well, there wasn’t any for the disciples, nor was there one for the apostle Paul when he was knocked to the ground. When we get to chapter one verse two we will explain about the “elect”, who were chosen before the foundation of this world.
So Peter was a plain old fisherman with the gift and the ability to communicate with the common people.
He appears in all the Gospels and it would be this Peter to whom Christ would say, “upon this rock I will build my church.”

Matthew 16:18

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Of course Christ was the immovable Rock upon which the church would be built, but Peter’s name is Petros in Greek, which means a (piece of) rock.

Also his surname was Cephas which means stone or petros, i.e. rock.

And Jesus would make him a strong pillar in the apostolic church.

John 1:42

And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
Now, before we begin this Book of 1st Peter let’s get a glimpse of the character of the human author himself, Peter.

You will see that he had a strong, very animated personality.

Here are some examples:

We read in John 13 where Jesus came to Peter to wash his feet and Peter said “What? No way Jose!” to which Christ simply said, “If I can’t wash your feet you’re out pal!” Peter then instantly did a 180 degree turnabout and said “OK, OK, but while you’re at it how about doing my hands and head too.” He probably had a big silly fisherman’s grin on his face. What a funny guy. As I said, you’ve got to love him.

John 13:8-9
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

[9] Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Then we have the incident where Mr. Impulsive, this time in his role as a hothead, drew his sword in the garden, over the brook Cedron, when the lynching crew came for Jesus, and proceeded to slice off the ear of the high priest’s servant.

The reason he cut off his ear was because the servant no doubt “ducked”, otherwise Peter would have cut off his head, the object of his swoosh.

John 18:10
Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

Note: You’d think after all the time Christ spent with His disciples before His crucifixion that He would have had ample time to tell them to lay down their arms and become pacifists. You know, “Love, Peace, Woodstock Baby!” I mean swords can kill people and not only that; criminals could use them to commit crimes. We need sword control laws!

Next we will see that Peter not only had animated behavior, he had an animated mouth on him and always spoke up first, and rather rashly at times.

Do you remember the account in Matthew 14 where Christ had sent the multitude away and walked up the mountain to pray?

When evening came He was alone and the disciples’ ship was in the midst of the sea being tossed about.

No problem!

Christ just started walking out across the water and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were startled, to say the least, and thought they were seeing a ghost!

But Christ called out to them and said “Hey fellows, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

Then Peter immediately yelled back “Oh yeh! Well if it’s really you then bid me to come to you and walk on the water too.”

Matthew 14:28-29
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.[29]And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

So Peter actually got out there and walked on the water, a gutsy move if you ask me.

And you can be sure the other disciples were watching this brave soul [nut] and Peter knew it and so he probably said, “Hey guys, look at me! I’m walking on water.”

Then reality set in and he saw the wind boisterous and he said “Uh Oh!”

Then he started to sink and his pulse went ballistic.

Matthew 14:30
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

“HELP!” cried the big man! “Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:31
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Now it’s Jesus’ turn to have big grin on His face.

Yes, there is no doubt about it. You just know this big lovable character had a heart of gold.

And Jesus would use him to feed His flock and be a strong leader in the apostolic church.

And Peter would faithfully obey His Lord’s command.

And it would be this Peter who would stand up on Pentecost Day in Acts chapter two and quote from the Book of Joel and explain to all exactly what they were witnessing.

And yet it would be this same Peter who would deny Christ thrice during the events leading up to His crucifixion.

Here we once again see the well-intentioned Peter talking big:

John 13:37
Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

Peter just told Christ he would give his life for him [he meant as long as he didn’t have to die, of course].

Well, that’s easier said than done, Peter, you human being you.

[38]Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

And it came to pass that Peter did deny Christ three times, just as He said he would. And when Peter realized what he had done, his big heart broke, and he was devastated by his actions, and he wept bitterly.

Luke 22:61-62
And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

[62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

What a great character this Simon, son of Jona, called Peter was.

Some scholars would argue that he was not really the author of the books bearing his name.

Hogwash!

Their problem is they don’t know Peter, for if they did they would see that he is unquestionably the writer.

The Epistle of 1st Peter, written by Peter himself, was written from Babylon (5:13) in approximately 60 A.D. and we will begin with chapter 1, verse 1, in our next study.

And just as you can’t help liking the personality of Peter, just wait until you hear what he has to say!

You’re going to love it.
Live link to-Peter 1 & 2

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To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


The "American Wisdom Series"