the easy questions come later right? So yes that
Post# of 1012
So yes thats true but peoples many and varied understanding of that varies depending on which sect of xtian and which pharisee sect of xtian (the 3 largest cults in the usa).remember the church leaders of jesus day were pharisees and most of them were witches.
the bible uses the term 'in the beginning' as a frame of reference for humans to partially comprehend but of course the one true God(presented to primitive and largely still rebellious 3 dimensional beings unable to comprehend more than our 4 dimensional understanding as the Father Son and Holy Spirit. -e.g.Mt 28:18-20. After Jesus resurrection,Jesus said All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. THEREFORE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS,baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit. Delegating authority to US to heal the sick, cast out demons witness etc Mark 16 ;15-18 mt 10:1,7,8 etc as they did through out the new testament and continue to do
Jesus job to reconcile us to the Father was completed at the cross. But our job as born again xtians was NOT. Our job had just begun.
Jesus had temporarily given his disciples authority to witness, cast out demons,heal the sick etc and the demons wold be subject in His name. But AFTER his resurrection he would not even allow his disciples to witness,let alone the rest,until after they had received the power which would come upon them from on high(Acts 1:4-.
the disciples who had faithfully waited for it[after Acts waiting was no longer required] received the power -the Baptism of the Holy Spiirt-which jesus had told them about at length (see John ch 14,16 etc).
when the day of pentecost came they were all in one place.Suddenly a sound like ..a violent wind came form heaven and filled the entire house.. they saw .. tounges of fire that separated and came to rest on EACH one of them. ALL of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tounges as the Holy Spirt enabled them"Acts 2:1-4).
the Holy Spirit brings warmth- satan brings a very real chill and arrogance.
when you cast demons out sometimes so much power is present you feel like you and the whole room are on fire.
In EVERY case in the new testament where ppl were born again they began spontaneously speaking in toungues!! in fact bc of such an instance peter was convinced such a group(gentiles- heaven forbid as per then jewish thinking) had received the Holy Spirit "in the same way as we did"Acts 10:44-48).
the true church had to go underground sometime after the council of nicea,replaced by syncretism - a combination of xtian terms with the existing pagan religion of the roman empire,where jews and believers were considered to be anathema by the roman empire who hunted and killed them. a different god thus ruled through the dark ages where even priests were banned from owning or accessing a bible unless they had special permission.
so the gifts of the holy spirit were not much known during such time when believers were separated form each other.
But something like the experience of Acts 2 Holy Spirit baptism complete w fire came upon a group in wales in 1896 and in Los Angles ca 1907, marking the above ground return of Acts 2.
true evangelicals (they say,"we beleive in the holy spirt but we dont believe he lives in us honey"[well then they are not saved] dont understand this bc they have not yet received the Holy Spirit baptism and once called as a ---- i was not allowed to enter their churches:
"Do not enter. they dont belong to me. They are a pharisee church"
Billy Graham and his kin are believers in the Holy Spirit baptism- so hybrid full gospel. I've used Billys book on the Holy Spirit Baptism and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to bring evangelicals to Christ bc otherwise they think they have all knowledge without the Holy Spirit!!! and are harder to bring to Christ than a pagan and think they are already in like flint.
the command to repent referred to removing the huge veil re who Jesus was-which otherwise was only revealed to 3 of jesus disciples on the mount of transfigeration before Acts 2.
( exists apart from the universe and existed prior to His creation of the universe-And jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the word(Rev 13)-before earth or the universe,which jesus created w the Father(John,ch 1) at the beginning of the universe before time existed and at which time time began.I.e God is transcendant - not limited to the universe He created but separate and apart from but still watching over the universe.
Going back jesus was wounded in 7 places so that we might healed in our mind body and spirit if we used the gifts of the spirit to do so
voluntarily stripping himself of Godly powers while walking in the flesh among us He communed w the Father frequently,fearing the loss of such fellowship on the cross when he who was sinless had to become sin to be judged and so the Father had to turn away for 3 hours - the eclipse of 3 hours from noon to 3pm- as men had rejected the light of God(john.ch 1 and 2:19-21).
and when Jesus part {not our part] in the reconciliation on the cross was finished the curtain in the temple was torn in two.. The earth shook and rocks split.The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy ppl [from the old testament some of whom were recognized as we will recognize each other in heaven]who had died and were raised to life. They came out of the tombs and appeared to many ppl.(Mt 27;51-53).
Many have noted how this event helped spread xtianity so fast. the pagan gods were in thier graves permanently never to be seen or heard from again-except thru their demons.
dont know if i have addressed everything but better post before this disappears