I HAD SOME KIND OF PROPHETIC DREAM ABOUT THE TWO WITNESSES!!? I WAS TOLD TO COME HERE AND POST, PLEASE READ!

Well, since you insist,

I have two or three question based on Scripture that I suppose you can answer in your wisdom.

1. Why do you call yourself "seraphim" which is a plural Hebrew noun? Do you not know that the singular noun is SERAPH?

2. Since you call yourself SERAPHIM (though erroneously), what would you say that the SERAPH ("fiery flying serpent") in Isa 14:29 means. What is the TSEPHAH ("cockatrice") the fruit of which the SERAPH is according to Isaiah? I suppose a "SERAPHIM" knows the true answer and can show it from the Scripture. Let me also tell you that if you do not understand these things I do indeed!



Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Listen,

I have cold no holy angel a devil, that is just your baseless accusation! But I do call fallen angels who teach lies and stupities "devils". Nobody forced them to do the iniquity that they do.

That you mention hell and 666 has no relevance whatsoever to truth, for you cannot calculate the number of the beast in Rev 13. I have already done it!

I am not a person who care to answer to stupid question that even blaspheme and contradict God and Scripture. They are put forward by a person who should be in the madhouse!

I do not care to answer false things that you attribute to me, for honest people will see how wrong your are! The rest who believe your lies and care about your stupid questions are such who are bent to follow lies, so I will let them go to where they belong.

I have not claimed to be THE prophet, so again you lie in public!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Listen,

I have called no holy angel a devil, that is just your baseless accusation! But I do call fallen angels who teach lies and stupities "devils". Nobody forced them to do the iniquity that they do.

That you mention hell and 666 has no relevance whatsoever to truth, for you cannot calculate the number of the beast in Rev 13. I have already done it!

I am not a person who care to answer to stupid questions that even blaspheme and contradict God and Scripture. They are put forward by a person who should be in the madhouse!

I do not care to answer false things that you attribute to me, for honest people will see how wrong your are! The rest who believe your lies and care about your stupid questions are such who are bent to follow lies, so I will let them go to where they belong.

I have not claimed to be THE prophet, so again you lie in public!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

My judgments are not final, and my heart is pure.

It's the whole I know more and am better than you feeling I get from you. It may just be my online perception, I don't know. Ignore me :)

Listen, dear you,

I do tell what is true, so why should anybody oppose me, ridicule me, neglect me, or take exception to WHAT I SAY if the reason is not that falsehood has totally entered their mind and soul?

I do not understand it or find it easy to live according to the fact that God has indeed called me to be His witness during these evil days.

I have not seen visions, I have not had exceptional dreams, I have not seen any angel of God, for what has been seen and experienced are such that people around me can tell about as related to me. Am I therefore false, or are those around me false? I do not lightly claim to be special, only that what God has showed me IS TRUE! Will you accuse me and my brother of being very ordinary, and not the MONSTERS that teachers of the Antichrist try with deception to convince you that the two witnesses of Rev 11:3 will be?

Nevertheless, if you distrust me ... on what sound grounds do you do it? Are not my words and testimony sound and reasonable to the balanced spirit of man, as expected from what is foretold in the Bible, and therefore also in accordance with God's incorruptible truth? Is it also impossible for you to realize that there is an in-depth scriptural knowledge given to me, such as I would never be able to summon if it were egotism and self-love that sent me to usurp it for myself and a sick ego?

Well, judge me if you have a righteous basis yourselves, but let me not hear downright lies!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Rejoice you people who love the coming of God's everlasting gospel to enlighten you and the whole earth!

Rejoice, for God's true witnesses are now doing their work, and when the powers of iniquity become more aware of it, that their worst opponents are already come, they will be awake too late to what happens on the battlefield to have any chance of victory, for God has come as a thief and will not let you be lead astray, you God's chosen ones, for your eyes and ears are already being opened, and your heart and soul much awed at hearing the everlasting gospel being proclaimed for you to hear and believe in, much to the extent of incredibility! This happens because our God, the Almighty One, does what He has decided as foretold through His prophets, and nobody can hinder Him!

Therefore, rejoice, for your names will be written in the book of life, and no power, calamity, opposition of whatever sort will have the power to drag you out of the saving power and hand of your Saviour!

We, God's two witnesses sware in the name of God Almighty that now is come the time for you to see through the darkness that has ruled the world, and by our mission you will find the way and peace of God's everlasting love!

Holy, Holy, Holy You are, God Almighty, who called us out of diaspora in order that we may become Your sons and daughters, and our hearts are filled with joy to see your wonders now being revealed from Scripture. We now see that what You have foretold comes true, and in spite of our once having been in deep sorrow we now can shout aloud and praise your name, God Almighty of the four cherubim with their six wings, the 24 elders, the numbered ones, and the 7 ones that will be there at your order when the opposition becomes fierce.

Oh, Mighty God, You will open a way to truth-seeking people and reveal Your word that has been hidden for so long. Our sisters and brothers will come, some from America, some from the south, from Africa, some from the Arabic countries, some from Russia, some from India, some from China, some from Indonesia, and some from the lesser countries, and we will become one household within your love, for nobody will anymore learn to war but to be a loving human being.

God Lord, You Almighty, teach us, Your creatures to fight iniquity with justice and win, as You have decreed, for in spite of the silence after Gog You will raise those many out of the ashes to partake of one race of humanity.

Lord Almighty, I long for the time to come when no little girl, no little boy, no elderly person, no sick or lonely person, will feel alone, neglected, and without hope for tomorrow.

Lord Almighty, your rising of the sun in the north country has been seen, and the voice of your man child is heard, and its power will be overwhelming for all good-willing people to find hope in.

And I bow my knees, for who am I to tell this, the brand of the fire only.

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

" This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666. "

" Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. "

144000/666 = 216.2162162162162

216*5 = 1080 ( The number associated with the holy spirit )

6*6*6 also = 216

but 144000/1080 = 133.3333333333333

and 133.3333333333333*5 = 666.6666666666667

Neato, but there is still the 2 and the 7 at the end of the above divisions ^^that seem out of place.

The value of my full name, first middle and last = 1080

The value of my last name alone, which is half of 1080 = 540

144000/540 = 266.6666666666667






and also...










...













HAPPY NEW YEEAARRRRRRR !!!

Stupid you,

Where is it said that "the number of a man" means "the NAME of a man"?

You are fantasizing!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

You're just mad cause you know it's true

Hi PehJeshuah,

I must give credit where credit is due, you certainly are consistent. If you are sincere and you do this because it is something you are passionate about - then more power to you. However, if you do it only to shed light on others short comings and to make yourself feel more superior then...

Regardless, God Bless You.
oLOVEz

Last Edited by Ozarkian on 12/31/2012 09:42 AM

Amen. Thanks be to God Almighty.

RockyMtnLady

Seraphim,
please continue and answer the questions you asked. I am honestly interested in the answers.

By the way, it is not the time of the two witnesses. Scripture says other things must happen first. And since these have not happened who ever claims to be one is a fraud.

The father and Son want you to only depend on them. The witnesses are not for the spiritually awakened but for those who are asleep. For those who are on the edge of being in the kingdom or out.

The witnesses are one of the Fathers last graces to us before the end.

Maybe the glp forum is the metaphorical interpretation of the present day "wailing wall"...

PJ,

I hate to point this out, but I WAS asking a question... THUS the "why", and the big (?) IN the sentence structure.

I also have yet another question.... WHY on earth do you have to be so hateful and condescending when you address someone... errrr nearly everyone?
Neverthless, I guess that is the "answer" you gave unto me to deal with or ponder.... or whatever.....

To be quite honest, I thought it not only a valid question, but one with REAL scriptural depth to it as well. Soooo, I thought YOU the person to ASK/confirm. How you read all of THAT into it, I shall NEVER know.

Anyway, I hope things are going well for you PJ.

PS: you call other people "devils" and such, yet you continually spit venom at persons who truly love the LORD with all their heart, mind, and strength. I am supposing that IF I have any further questions, that might pertain to Scripture, then you are not the one to ask.....

Blessings, and I wish you a peaceful rest of the week.

I agree with you through and through. For me Christmas is a hard one to break. It's a tradition, which I know is not a Holy Convocation with God. I am the only person in my family who doesn't agree with it or Easter.

But I have children and the father is very adamant about it. He doesn't see it as the pagan sun god worship or santraline (spelling?)

Do you celebrate Christmas?

Hello,

So, in your opinion the question you asked that started with WHY did have relevance to what I have written from the Word of God? I found your way of asking very condescending.

The second question is more like an accusation than a question, as though your words "when you address someone" were unconditionally true. All I write from Scripture is true and ought therefore be taken into consideration, not only by you but by all people who seek the truth of the Bible. I do not call people names without reason, that is for sure, but only when I see their needless(!) stupidity and disrespect for what Scripture reveals. You ought to know (also from Scripture) that God's true witnesses do not seek your acceptance and favor but but your honesty and sincerity! Since the world is all enmeshed in falsehood the true witesses will by necessity be deemed to be harsh and impolite in spite of accusing falsehood in people, not people per se.

Yes, I call those people "devils" who twist, spurn, defy and scorn and make light of the true message of the Bible, which is in line with what John the Baptizer said using these words (Luke 3:7):



The word "vipers" used by John means "devils".

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

P.J. (no disrespect in shortening your name. I 'll miss spell it and you may view that as intentional)

Are you stating as a point of fact, that you are one of the two witnesses or are you a watchman on the wall?

Honest question... sometimes you confuse me in your responses.

In defense of Paul the apostle


Nowadays there are many people who criticize Paul the apostle and teach that he was a false apostle, and among them are such who call themselves Messianic Jews and a person here on GLP, using the nick "TheSeventhGate". They falsely maintain that Paul the apostle teaches his "false" gospel at the cost of God's law. Since they do not understand the spiritual meanings hidden in the Holy Scripture they dare claim that Paul the apostle teaches a doctrine that is against the law. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let us therefore take a look at what the Bible in fact tells us and see whether Paul is guilty of what he is being accused of. I could perfectly well leave out what Paul the apostle has written himself and still prove from Scripture that he is totally trustworthy as a teacher of truth.

Jesus is the firm foundation on which we can trustfully rely when asking the question whether Paul was true or false. In Luk 16:16-17 he says these words:



Since Jesus used the words "until John" would anybody spitefully accuse him of having said that the law and the prophets would be void after the time of John? That would be a ridiculous claim, for Jesus not only said that the law cannot fail but also that he had not come to make away with the law, as Mat 5:17 shows us:



Nevertheless, what Jesus did reveal was that with his fulfilling the law there was ushered in a new time period while another was at an end. He came in accordance with the prophecies, statutes and ordinances given by God to Israel, which foretold his coming that happened in the time of John the Baptizer, so in that meaning he became their terminus ad quem. Since Jesus ushered in the time for the kingdom of God to be preached, and not only to be preached but to be such as people could "press into", everybody ought to realize that there came about an important change with him. That is exactly what Heb 7:12 tells us, and what Paul the apostle kept teaching in his epistles:



When Jesus said that the law was "until John" he did not for that reason do away with the law. So how are we going to understand His words? Was there or not a change? In order to find the answer we ought to listen more to what Jesus says and pay heed to His words about John the Baptizer. We read what He says in Mat 11:11-13:



Have you ever thought about these words, what they mean? Is not Jesus himself born by a woman, so how does John the Baptist compare with Him?

Dear people, please notice that Jesus did not say that John the Baptizer was the greatest ever among those born of women. What He did say was that among those born of women there had not RISEN anyone greater than John. To understand what "born of women" means we ought to read what Jesus says in Joh 3:6:



The answer, therefore, is partly that John was born of the flesh whereas Jesus was born of the Spirit, without sin, which means that in the context of Mat 11:11-13 Jesus could not be included "among them that are born of women". John the Baptizer and Jesus thus were not comparable.

What therefore remain for us to consider now is what Jesus meant when He said that "there hath not risen (Greek: egeegertai) a greater than John the Baptist." In doing so there are, as relevant to our discussion, two scriptures we ought to take a look at, namely Mark 1:4 and Mat 3:13-15. From reading Mark 1:4 we learn that John baptized with water, his baptism being called "baptism of repentance":



and, from reading Mat 3:13-15 we learn that Jesus came to John in order to be baptized by him. What then happened, as it is told, was that John, since he realized that Jesus was born of the Spirit whereas he was himself born of the flesh, first declined to baptize Jesus.

Dear reader, it is exactly at this point we ought to be very careful listeners when Jesus gives His answer to John, for our Saviour is also talking to us! He said:



Again I say, dear reader, that you and I ought to be good listeners! The answer Jesus gives seems to mean that when a person is being baptized with water in a baptism called "baptism unto repentance" that person will become righteous (in the eyes of God). Since being "righteous" in biblical meaning is tantamount to being in a "state of having been forgiven all sins", was Jesus therefore telling that through the "baptism unto repentance" we attain to that state? And why else would He ask the chief priests and the elders of the people, as told in Mat 21:25-27, the following question:



The answer as to what the baptism of John was must be that it was indeed from heaven, for why else would Jesus Himself partake of it, and even tell us that no greater than John has risen among those born of women.

The strange thing that happened when Jesus had been baptized by John and coming up out of the water (thus fulfilling all righteousness) is told in Mark 1:10-11:



Let us now remember what John, the Baptizer himself, had said about his own baptism, telling us the difference between it and that of our Saviour (Mark 1:8):



What we ought to realize now is that even though the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus after his having been baptized by John, it does not mean that before that event Jesus had not God's spirit. Whoever says that Jesus had not the spirit of God before it decended upon him after the baptism for John to see is a liar, for Isaiah had prophesied these words about Jesus (Isa 9:6):



Also, because God's spirit decended upon Jesus after the "baptism unto repentance", performed by John, it does not mean that the spirit of God has ever been given to any person through "the baptism unto repentance". John's baptism remained to be just a baptism with water, never changing into baptism with the spirit of God, and, nevertheless, it was indeed from heaven!

After having discussed the baptism of John, which was called "baptism unto repentance", we now ougth to look at the baptism with which the disciples of Jesus baptized, and what we can read about in John 4:2:



Was their baptism different from John's baptism? We know that Jesus later sent them out to baptize, saying these words (Mat 28:19-20):



Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, let us now start looking into the biblical fact given to us about baptism with water, whether it be John's "baptism unto repentance" or "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus", the one performed by the Lord's disciples who later became His apostles. First of all, both the baptism of John and the baptism of the apostles (in the name of the Lord Jesus) were such that sometimes those going through baptism received the spirit of God and sometimes not. That this is true about John's baptism we will see when we compare Mark 1:10-11, which was quoted earlier, with Acts 19:2-3:



That this is true also about "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" we see when we read Acts 19:5-6:



and compare it with Acts 8:14-17:



These scriptures therefore reveal to us that baptism with water, regardless of its being baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus compared to baptism of repentance (Acts 13:24) does not (necessarily) cause the spirit of God to fall upon the baptized person. On the contrary, Holy Scripture tells us that the spirit of God is not bound to natural baptismal water, as we can see from Acts 10:43-48:



Therefore, since the happening described in Acts 10:43-48 shows us that people can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost independent of the natural water used in baptism, regardless of whether it be John's baptism or baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus, we now ought to believe that Peter is not saying in Acts 2:38 that through baptism with natural water believers receive the spirit of God.

Since this fact is irrefutably established we can now ask one of the last very important questions: Why are there two baptisms with natural water mentioned in Scripture, when not one of the two are such through which people can by necessity receive the gift of God's spirit?

Since the Paul the apostle, who some dare call a false apostle, had realized that neither of the two baptisms with natural water were of the kind through which people received the gift of God's spirit he wrote as he did in 1 Cor 1:14-17:



Notice that Paul makes a difference between baptizing and preaching the gospel! The former was not necessary while the latter was. Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, do you understand what this means?

If not, then let me explain this mystery of the gospel to you, for what I tell you is irrefutably true! Read Eph 6:18-19:



At this point it would be natural for adherents to baptism with water to point out what Jesus says in Mat 28:19-20, telling me that I am wrong:



Yes, Jesus commanded His apostles to go on baptizing with water, but that fact does not annul another fact that is put forward for us to read by Paul the apostle in Eph 4:4-5:



Will any of you who still do practise baptism of water tell me which baptism you prefer, for of baptism with water there are in two types? If you practise baptism with water in the name of the Lord Jesus, are you not overlooking or neglecting the fact that Jesus did say that through the baptism of repentace it becometh us to fulfil ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS? In what way do we fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of repentance? You know that without fulfilling all righteousness we will not be saved.

The answer is easy if you care to listen to what Scripture teaches. First of all, there is only ONE baptism acceptable to God today, namely the one which Paul the apostle mentions in Eph 4:5, and neither of the two baptisms with water that we have discussed about until now. Those who keep baptizing today are such as overlook the prophetic fact that Christianity has fallen away from the apostolic truth, a reason why some daredevils do not refrain from calling Paul the apostle a "false" apostle.

Since we must accept the irrefutable fact that all of Christianity has fallen away we also ought to realize that there is nobody left in her that can go on fulfilling the words of Jesus in Mat 28:19-20:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 Quoting: The Bible

Since according to what Jesus says in John 9:4 no man can work during that night, let us believe Him:



Therefore, since the apostolic church fell away nobody could go on fulfilling the command of Jesus to baptize with water.

Let us therefore, while we accept this fact of the falling away, look closer at what Jesus really meant when he said that "no greater than John (the Baptizer)" had risen among those born of women, that the prophets and the law (Luke 16:16: "were"; Mat 11:13: "prophesied") were until John, by whose baptism of repentance "it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness".

1) Jesus says in Mat 11:11 that no greater than John hath "risen" among those born of women, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. What Jesus meant is that with his doctrine of baptism of repentance John had attained to the hightest level of mankind, namely to true repentance of one's sins. No man can get passed this level by his own deeds. Therefore, nobody born of women was greater than John, for everybody could at his or her best attain only to the level of John, not beyond it.

2) The answer to the question how can a human being fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of John , as it becometh man, explains the first part of the mystery of the gospel. Those who realizes the answer will be able to sing what is called "the song of Moses" in Rev 15:3. To understand the way we ought to read what Jesus says in Mark 9:49:



What is called "fire" is the temptation of sin, or what Paul the apostle calls "the law of sin" in us (Rom 7:23), that repentance must endure in order that the sacrifice, the Old Man in us, be saltet with salt, i.e. be condemned and killed by God's law from ruling us any more. This much we can do, and this is what Jesus speaks about in Mat 16:24-25:



If denying oneself and one's Old Man could save man, then there would be no need of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In that case "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven" would not be greater than John, as Jesus says in Mat 11:11. But since the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John who symbolizes us on this level with his baptism of repentance, we are not yet in the kingdom of heaven by our repentance.

3) The answer to the third question what does it mean that the prophets and the law were until John? is very important to learn to know. I means that if we endure the temptation of sin in us while we truly repent all former evil things we have done, then the law of sin loses its power over us, and, being always salted by the law of God as the evil we through faith have decided to sacrifice and surrender to be judged in us, dies more and more from lack of power to live in and through us. In that manner the word of God becomes the law of life in us by our faith in Jesus Christ, so instead of the Old Man in us God gives birth to the New Man, who is life, to live in us instead of the evil one who was sacrifice and killed by salt.

All people who experience this receive a new life, who is Jesus, their Saviour, to follow on the street of gold, which is God's righteous law, and the Old Life, which in fact was Death, is put under the judgment of God's law in our limbs. He is felt in the believers but not given the chance to live his will in them, so in that way the believers have become such who are greater than John, in attaining to the level of being God's saved people.

Dear people, all of you who read these words, I pray you to give yourselves the chance to understand what I expound for you in this writing. I swear in the name of God Almighty that what I tell you here is all true and mighty to help you further in your search for the everlasting truth. This is the way, listen to what Isa 30:21 reveals to you, for now it is heard by your ears:



Now is the hour of temptation for you, for Satan will whatever he can to tempt you to reject my true words, in spite of me being what I tell you, the true witness of God after Rev 11:3.

May God help you and bless you!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

In defense of Paul the apostle


Nowadays there are many people who criticize Paul the apostle and teach that he was a false apostle, and among them are such who call themselves Messianic Jews and a person here on GLP, using the nick "TheSeventhGate". They falsely maintain that Paul the apostle teaches his "false" gospel at the cost of God's law. Since they do not understand the spiritual meanings hidden in the Holy Scripture they dare claim that Paul the apostle teaches a doctrine that is against the law. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let us therefore take a look at what the Bible in fact tells us and see whether Paul is guilty of what he is being accused of. I could perfectly well leave out what Paul the apostle has written himself and still prove from Scripture that he is totally trustworthy as a teacher of truth.

Jesus is the firm foundation on which we can trustfully rely when asking the question whether Paul was true or false. In Luk 16:16-17 he says these words:



Since Jesus used the words "until John" would anybody spitefully accuse him of having said that the law and the prophets would be void after the time of John? That would be a ridiculous claim, for Jesus not only said that the law cannot fail but also that he had not come to make away with the law, as Mat 5:17 shows us:



Nevertheless, what Jesus did reveal was that with his fulfilling the law there was ushered in a new time period while another was at an end. He came in accordance with the prophecies, statutes and ordinances given by God to Israel, which foretold his coming that happened in the time of John the Baptizer, so in that meaning he became their terminus ad quem. Since Jesus ushered in the time for the kingdom of God to be preached, and not only to be preached but to be such as people could "press into", everybody ought to realize that there came about an important change with him. That is exactly what Heb 7:12 tells us, and what Paul the apostle kept teaching in his epistles:



When Jesus said that the law was "until John" he did not for that reason do away with the law. So how are we going to understand His words? Was there or not a change? In order to find the answer we ought to listen more to what Jesus says and pay heed to His words about John the Baptizer. We read what He says in Mat 11:11-13:



Have you ever thought about these words, what they mean? Is not Jesus himself born by a woman, so how does John the Baptist compare with Him?

Dear people, please notice that Jesus did not say that John the Baptizer was the greatest ever among those born of women. What He did say was that among those born of women there had not RISEN anyone greater than John. To understand what "born of women" means we ought to read what Jesus says in Joh 3:6:



The answer, therefore, is partly that John was born of the flesh whereas Jesus was born of the Spirit, without sin, which means that in the context of Mat 11:11-13 Jesus could not be included "among them that are born of women". John the Baptizer and Jesus thus were not comparable.

What therefore remain for us to consider now is what Jesus meant when He said that "there hath not risen (Greek: egeegertai) a greater than John the Baptist." In doing so there are, as relevant to our discussion, two scriptures we ought to take a look at, namely Mark 1:4 and Mat 3:13-15. From reading Mark 1:4 we learn that John baptized with water, his baptism being called "baptism of repentance":



and, from reading Mat 3:13-15 we learn that Jesus came to John in order to be baptized by him. What then happened, as it is told, was that John, since he realized that Jesus was born of the Spirit whereas he was himself born of the flesh, first declined to baptize Jesus.

Dear reader, it is exactly at this point we ought to be very careful listeners when Jesus gives His answer to John, for our Saviour is also talking to us! He said:



Again I say, dear reader, that you and I ought to be good listeners! The answer Jesus gives seems to mean that when a person is being baptized with water in a baptism called "baptism unto repentance" that person will become righteous (in the eyes of God). Since being "righteous" in biblical meaning is tantamount to being in a "state of having been forgiven all sins", was Jesus therefore telling that through the "baptism unto repentance" we attain to that state? And why else would He ask the chief priests and the elders of the people, as told in Mat 21:25-27, the following question:



The answer as to what the baptism of John was must be that it was indeed from heaven, for why else would Jesus Himself partake of it, and even tell us that no greater than John has risen among those born of women.

The strange thing that happened when Jesus had been baptized by John and coming up out of the water (thus fulfilling all righteousness) is told in Mark 1:10-11:



Let us now remember what John, the Baptizer himself, had said about his own baptism, telling us the difference between it and that of our Saviour (Mark 1:8):



What we ought to realize now is that even though the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus after his having been baptized by John, it does not mean that before that event Jesus had not God's spirit. Whoever says that Jesus had not the spirit of God before it decended upon him after the baptism for John to see is a liar, for Isaiah had prophesied these words about Jesus (Isa 9:6):



Also, because God's spirit decended upon Jesus after the "baptism unto repentance", performed by John, it does not mean that the spirit of God has ever been given to any person through "the baptism unto repentance". John's baptism remained to be just a baptism with water, never changing into baptism with the spirit of God, and, nevertheless, it was indeed from heaven!

After having discussed the baptism of John, which was called "baptism unto repentance", we now ougth to look at the baptism with which the disciples of Jesus baptized, and what we can read about in John 4:2:



Was their baptism different from John's baptism? We know that Jesus later sent them out to baptize, saying these words (Mat 28:19-20):



Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, let us now start looking into the biblical fact given to us about baptism with water, whether it be John's "baptism unto repentance" or "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus", the one performed by the Lord's disciples who later became His apostles. First of all, both the baptism of John and the baptism of the apostles (in the name of the Lord Jesus) were such that sometimes those going through baptism received the spirit of God and sometimes not. That this is true about John's baptism we will see when we compare Mark 1:10-11, which was quoted earlier, with Acts 19:2-3:



That this is true also about "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" we see when we read Acts 19:5-6:



and compare it with Acts 8:14-17:



These scriptures therefore reveal to us that baptism with water, regardless of its being baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus compared to baptism of repentance (Acts 13:24) does not (necessarily) cause the spirit of God to fall upon the baptized person. On the contrary, Holy Scripture tells us that the spirit of God is not bound to natural baptismal water, as we can see from Acts 10:43-48:



Therefore, since the happening described in Acts 10:43-48 shows us that people can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost independent of the natural water used in baptism, regardless of whether it be John's baptism or baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus, we now ought to believe that Peter is not saying in Acts 2:38 that through baptism with natural water believers receive the spirit of God.

Since this fact is irrefutably established we can now ask one of the last very important questions: Why are there two baptisms with natural water mentioned in Scripture, when not one of the two are such through which people can by necessity receive the gift of God's spirit?

Since the Paul the apostle, who some dare call a false apostle, had realized that neither of the two baptisms with natural water were of the kind through which people received the gift of God's spirit he wrote as he did in 1 Cor 1:14-17:



Notice that Paul makes a difference between baptizing and preaching the gospel! The former was not necessary while the latter was. Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, do you understand what this means?

If not, then let me explain this mystery of the gospel to you, for what I tell you is irrefutably true! Read Eph 6:18-19:



At this point it would be natural for adherents to baptism with water to point out what Jesus says in Mat 28:19-20, telling me that I am wrong:



Yes, Jesus commanded His apostles to go on baptizing with water, but that fact does not annul another fact that is put forward for us to read by Paul the apostle in Eph 4:4-5:



Will any of you who still do practise baptism of water tell me which baptism you prefer, for of baptism with water there are in fact two types? If you practise baptism with water in the name of the Lord Jesus, are you not overlooking or neglecting the fact that Jesus did say that through the baptism of repentace it becometh us to fulfil ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS? In what way do we fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of repentance? You know that without fulfilling all righteousness we will not be saved.

The answer is easy if you care to listen to what Scripture teaches. First of all, there is only ONE baptism acceptable to God today, namely the one which Paul the apostle mentions in Eph 4:5, and neither of the two baptisms with water that we have discussed about until now. Those who keep baptizing today are such as overlook the prophetic fact that Christianity has fallen away from the apostolic truth, a reason why some daredevils do not refrain from calling Paul the apostle a "false" apostle.

Since we must accept the irrefutable fact that all of Christianity has fallen away we also ought to realize that there is nobody left in her that can go on fulfilling the words of Jesus in Mat 28:19-20:



Since according to what Jesus says in John 9:4 no man can work during that night, let us believe Him:



Therefore, since the apostolic church fell away nobody could go on fulfilling the command of Jesus to baptize with water.

Let us therefore, while we accept this fact of the falling away, look closer at what Jesus really meant when he said that "no greater than John (the Baptizer)" had risen among those born of women, that the prophets and the law (Luke 16:16: "were"; Mat 11:13: "prophesied") were until John, by whose baptism of repentance "it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness".

1) Jesus says in Mat 11:11 that no greater than John hath "risen" among those born of women, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. What Jesus meant is that with his doctrine of baptism of repentance John had attained to the hightest level of mankind, namely to true repentance of one's sins. No man can get passed this level by his own deeds. Therefore, nobody born of women was greater than John, for everybody could at his or her best attain only to the level of John, not beyond it.

2) The answer to the question how can a human being fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of John , as it becometh man, explains the first part of the mystery of the gospel. Those who realizes the answer will be able to sing what is called "the song of Moses" in Rev 15:3. To understand the way we ought to read what Jesus says in Mark 9:49:



What is called "fire" is the temptation of sin, or what Paul the apostle calls "the law of sin" in us (Rom 7:23), that repentance must endure in order that the sacrifice, the Old Man in us, be saltet with salt, i.e. be condemned and killed by God's law from ruling us any more. This much we can do, and this is what Jesus speaks about in Mat 16:24-25:



If denying oneself and one's Old Man could save man, then there would be no need of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In that case "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven" would not be greater than John, as Jesus says in Mat 11:11. But since the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John who symbolizes us on this level with his baptism of repentance, we are not yet in the kingdom of heaven by our repentance.

3) The answer to the third question what does it mean that the prophets and the law were until John? is very important to learn to know. I means that if we endure the temptation of sin in us while we truly repent all former evil things we have done, then the law of sin loses its power over us, and, being always salted by the law of God as the evil we through faith have decided to sacrifice and surrender to be judged in us, dies more and more from lack of power to live in and through us. In that manner the word of God becomes the law of life in us by our faith in Jesus Christ, so instead of the Old Man in us God gives birth to the New Man, who is life, to live in us instead of the evil one who was sacrifice and killed by salt.

All people who experience this receive a new life, who is Jesus, their Saviour, to follow on the street of gold, which is God's righteous law, and the Old Life, which in fact was Death, is put under the judgment of God's law in our limbs. He is felt in the believers but not given the chance to live his will in them, so in that way the believers have become such who are greater than John, in attaining to the level of being God's saved people.

Dear people, all of you who read these words, I pray you to give yourselves the chance to understand what I expound for you in this writing. I swear in the name of God Almighty that what I tell you here is all true and mighty to help you further in your search for the everlasting truth. This is the way, listen to what Isa 30:21 reveals to you, for now it is heard by your ears:



Now is the hour of temptation for you, for Satan will whatever he can to tempt you to reject my true words, in spite of me being what I tell you, the true witness of God after Rev 11:3.

May God help you and bless you!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Hi,

I think my testimony is the best test for you to find the true answer to what you ask. Are my words true or are they wrong and false, and are they of myself or are they based on Scripture?

It is said in Scripture that God gives testimony about those He sends, listen to Him (Joh 5:37):



Therefore, the answer you will find in Scripture!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Dear people,
I warn you against the twistings of the person who calls himself Neim-Ya'shar. He tries to make you believe that he compares scriptures in an honest way, but he does not.

In his thread { PART 2 } THE ROAD TO IDENTIFYING THE TWO WITNESSES OF REVELATION CHAPTER 11 he erroneously tries to show you that Jesus Christ and the man child in Rev 10 is Jesus in person, which is a great lie.

He also misplaces Zech 12:12 to mean the same as Mat 24:30, in spite of Zech 12:12 foretelling what happens in the time period of the seventh trumpet and Mat 24:30 in its spiritual sense what happens in the beginning of the time period of the sixth trumpet.

Dan 7:13 tells about the coming of the man child in Rev 12 and not about the personal coming of Jesus Christ on the last day. Mark 13:26 in spiritual sense talks about what happens after the great tribulation, not about what happens before it. In its historical sense it tells about the very last day. This is the case also with Luke 21:27, which in spiritual sense cover what happens on earth when the man child and God's two witnesses come to proclaim God's true doctrine.

The Lamb being described in Rev 5 does symbolizes the same as does the man child in Rev 12. These scriptures reveal the spiritual coming of Jesus Christ, which is like a thief, to start his war against the falsehood of the beast in Rev 13.

All these things this Neim-Ya'shar has no inkling about, so his quoting scriptures is like a blind man throwing stones without any aim! Beware of this false person!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

In defense of Paul the apostle
(revised)

Nowadays there are many people who criticize Paul the apostle and teach that he was a false apostle, and among them are such who call themselves Messianic Jews and a person here on GLP, using the nick "TheSeventhGate". They falsely maintain that Paul the apostle teaches his "false" gospel at the cost of God's law. Since they do not understand the spiritual meanings hidden in the Holy Scripture they dare claim that Paul the apostle teaches a doctrine that is against the law. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let us therefore take a look at what the Bible in fact tells us and see whether Paul is guilty of what he is being accused of. I could perfectly well leave out what Paul the apostle has written himself and still prove from Scripture that he is totally trustworthy as a teacher of truth.

Jesus is the firm foundation on which we can trustfully rely when asking the question whether Paul was true or false. In Luk 16:16-17 he says these words:



Since Jesus used the words "until John" would anybody spitefully accuse him of having said that the law and the prophets would be void after the time of John? That would be a ridiculous claim, for Jesus not only said that the law cannot fail but also that he had not come to make away with the law, as Mat 5:17 shows us:



Nevertheless, what Jesus did reveal was that with his fulfilling the law there was ushered in a new time period while another was at an end. He came in accordance with the prophecies, statutes and ordinances given by God to Israel, which foretold his coming that happened in the time of John the Baptizer, so in that meaning he became their terminus ad quem. Since Jesus ushered in the time for the kingdom of God to be preached, and not only to be preached but to be such as people could "press into", everybody ought to realize that there came about an important change with him. That is exactly what Heb 7:12 tells us, and what Paul the apostle kept teaching in his epistles:



When Jesus said that the law was "until John" he did not for that reason do away with the law. So how are we going to understand His words? Was there or not a change? In order to find the answer we ought to listen more to what Jesus says and pay heed to His words about John the Baptizer. We read what He says in Mat 11:11-13:



Have you ever thought about these words, what they mean? Is not Jesus himself born by a woman, so how does John the Baptist compare with Him?

Dear people, please notice that Jesus did not say that John the Baptizer was the greatest ever among those born of women. What He did say was that among those born of women there had not RISEN anyone greater than John. To understand what "born of women" means we ought to read what Jesus says in Joh 3:6:



The answer, therefore, is partly that John was born of the flesh whereas Jesus was born of the Spirit, without sin, which means that in the context of Mat 11:11-13 Jesus could not be included "among them that are born of women". John the Baptizer and Jesus thus were not comparable.

What therefore remain for us to consider now is what Jesus meant when He said that "there hath not risen (Greek: egeegertai) a greater than John the Baptist." In doing so there are, as relevant to our discussion, two scriptures we ought to take a look at, namely Mark 1:4 and Mat 3:13-15. From reading Mark 1:4 we learn that John baptized with water, his baptism being called "baptism of repentance":



and, from reading Mat 3:13-15 we learn that Jesus came to John in order to be baptized by him. What then happened, as it is told, was that John, since he realized that Jesus was born of the Spirit whereas he was himself born of the flesh, first declined to baptize Jesus.

Dear reader, it is exactly at this point we ought to be very careful listeners when Jesus gives His answer to John, for our Saviour is also talking to us! He said:



Again I say, dear reader, that you and I ought to be good listeners! The answer Jesus gives seems to mean that when a person is being baptized with water in a baptism called "baptism unto repentance" that person will become righteous (in the eyes of God). Since being "righteous" in biblical meaning is tantamount to being in a "state of having been forgiven all sins", was Jesus therefore telling that through the "baptism unto repentance" we attain to that state? And why else would He ask the chief priests and the elders of the people, as told in Mat 21:25-27, the following question:



The answer as to what the baptism of John was must be that it was indeed from heaven, for why else would Jesus Himself partake of it, and even tell us that no greater than John has risen among those born of women.

The strange thing that happened when Jesus had been baptized by John and coming up out of the water (thus fulfilling all righteousness) is told in Mark 1:10-11:



Let us now remember what John, the Baptizer himself, had said about his own baptism, telling us the difference between it and that of our Saviour (Mark 1:8):



What we ought to realize now is that even though the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus after his having been baptized by John, it does not mean that before that event Jesus had not God's spirit. Whoever says that Jesus had not the spirit of God before it decended upon him after the baptism for John to see is a liar, for Isaiah had prophesied these words about Jesus (Isa 9:6):



Also, because God's spirit decended upon Jesus after the "baptism unto repentance", performed by John, it does not mean that the spirit of God has ever been given to any person through "the baptism unto repentance". John's baptism remained to be just a baptism with water, never changing into baptism with the spirit of God, and, nevertheless, it was indeed from heaven!

After having discussed the baptism of John, which was called "baptism unto repentance", we now ougth to look at the baptism with which the disciples of Jesus baptized, and what we can read about in John 4:2:



Was their baptism different from John's baptism? We know that Jesus later sent them out to baptize, saying these words (Mat 28:19-20):



Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, let us now start looking into the biblical fact given to us about baptism with water, whether it be John's "baptism unto repentance" or "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus", the one performed by the Lord's disciples who later became His apostles. First of all, both the baptism of John and the baptism of the apostles (in the name of the Lord Jesus) were such that sometimes those going through baptism received the spirit of God and sometimes not. That this is true about John's baptism we will see when we compare Mark 1:10-11, which was quoted earlier, with Acts 19:2-3:



That this is true also about "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" we see when we read Acts 19:5-6:



and compare it with Acts 8:14-17:



These scriptures therefore reveal to us that baptism with water, regardless of its being baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus compared to baptism of repentance (Acts 13:24) does not (necessarily) cause the spirit of God to fall upon the baptized person. On the contrary, Holy Scripture tells us that the spirit of God is not bound to natural baptismal water, as we can see from Acts 10:43-48:



Therefore, since the happening described in Acts 10:43-48 shows us that people can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost independent of the natural water used in baptism, regardless of whether it be John's baptism or baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus, we now ought to believe that Peter is not saying in Acts 2:38 that through baptism with natural water believers receive the spirit of God.

Since this fact is irrefutably established we can now ask one of the last very important questions: Why are there two baptisms with natural water mentioned in Scripture, when not one of the two are such through which people can by necessity receive the gift of God's spirit?

Since Paul the apostle, who some dare call a false apostle, had realized that neither of the two baptisms with natural water were of the kind through which people received the gift of God's spirit he wrote as he did in 1 Cor 1:14-17:



Notice that Paul makes a difference between baptizing and preaching the gospel! The former was not necessary while the latter was. Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, do you understand what this means?

If not, then let me explain this mystery of the gospel to you, for what I tell you is irrefutably true! Read Eph 6:18-19:



At this point it would be natural for adherents to baptism with water to point out what Jesus says in Mat 28:19-20, telling me that I am wrong:



Yes, Jesus commanded His apostles to go on baptizing with water, but that fact does not annul another fact that is put forward for us to read by Paul the apostle in Eph 4:4-5:



Will any of you who still do practise baptism of water tell me which baptism you prefer, for of baptism with water there are in two types? If you practise baptism with water in the name of the Lord Jesus, are you not overlooking or neglecting the fact that Jesus did say that through the baptism of repentace it becometh us to fulfil ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS? In what way do we fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of repentance? You know that without fulfilling all righteousness we will not be saved.

The answer is easy if you care to listen to what Scripture teaches. First of all, there is only ONE baptism acceptable to God today, namely the one which Paul the apostle mentions in Eph 4:5, and neither of the two baptisms with water that we have discussed until now are that ONE baptism meant. Both the baptism of repentance and the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus were foreshadows (symbols) of the ONE true baptism, which is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

That ONE baptism consists of two phases, which the "baptism of John" and the "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" symbolize, both being from heaven. Therefore, when we hear the gospel and receive it with faith (the only thing we are able to in order to fulfil all righteousness) God places the law in us in order to fulfil what is said in Hos 13:14:



This is what the baptism of repentance by John symbolizes, for through His prophet God promises to destroy the death of sin in us (Rom 6:23), becoming its plague in us, and to destroy the grave that sin had prepared for us. When we receive the gospel in faith God's law will start redeeming us from the tyranny and rule of sin over us in us, becoming a plague to sin, as Hosea says. Since the prophets and the law were until John but still not annulled, we now understand what Jesus meant. He meant that the prophecies and the law are meant to fulfil all righteousness in us by destroying sin's power in us, which the baptism of John was a foreshadow of.

This does not mean that there is no more sin in those who receive the gospel in faith, only that sin in them is put under the judgment of God's law and held in custody in them until they die bodily. This is what is meant in Isa 65:20:



The prophet tells us that when a believer dies in the age of hundred years the sin held in custody in him will be "accursed". Only when God's people die bodily they will get totally rid of sin, from feeling its cravings and temptation in their limbs.

Now I hope that you do understand in what way the prophets and the law were until John, i.e. that they pointed to the fulfilment of God's will in our body, which is to destroy death and grave.

Therefore, those who keep baptizing today are such as overlook the fact that the prophets and the law were until John. They are also oblivious of the prophetic fact that Christianity has fallen away from the apostolic truth, a reason why some daredevils in their blindness do not refrain from calling Paul the apostle a "false" apostle.

Since we must accept the irrefutable fact that all of Christianity has fallen away we also ought to realize that there is nobody left in her that can go on fulfilling the words of Jesus in Mat 28:19-20:



So, since according to what Jesus says in John 9:4 no man can work during that night, let us believe Him:



Therefore, even though Jesus gave his apostles the command to go and baptize people with water there is nobody left in today's fallen-away Christianity who can fulfil that work. There is also attached a certain condition to the work of baptizing, namely true teaching, as can be seen from Mat 28:19-20:



Notice what Jesus says, namely that first they should teach people to observe all things He had commanded them, so this means that nobody who teaches fallacies can claim to be in the position to baptize people with water!

Let us now, therefore, make a summary of what we have found to be true from Scripture.
What we will look at are these things: (1) What does Jesus mean when He says that "no greater than John (the Baptizer)" has risen among those born of women? (2) What does Jesus mean when He says that thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness? (3) What does Jesus mean when He says that the prophets and the law (Luke 16:16: "were"; Mat 11:13: "prophesied") were until John?

1) Jesus says in Mat 11:11 that no greater than John hath "risen" among those born of women, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. What Jesus meant is that with his doctrine of baptism of repentance John had attained to the hightest level of mankind, namely to true repentance of one's sins. No man can get passed this level by his own deeds. Therefore, nobody born of women was greater than John, for everybody could at his or her best attain only to the level of John, not beyond it.

2) The answer to the question What does Jesus mean when He says that "thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness" is that the first thing we ought to do when we hear the true gospel of God is realize that we are in the grips of sin and need to repent and seek the Lord and His forgiveness. This is in spiritual meaning the "baptism of repentance", the one we ought to partake of in order to become God's people. We cannot save ourselves, only repent of our sins and pray to God for forgiveness. Those who goes through this baptism will be salted with fire, i.e. experience the temptation of sin, whereas what they sacrifice, (the rule of) sin, will be salted with salt, i.e. judged by God's law through their obedience to it. In experiencing this they learn to sing "the song of Moses", which is mentioned in Rev 15:3. Therefore, we must if we are believers experience what Jesus says in Mark 9:49:



He also says what we read in Mat 16:24-25:



If denying oneself and the rule of sin in one's limbs could save man then there would be no need of our Saviour Jesus Christ. What Scripture teaches us is that when we receive the gospel and repent our sins, God's law starts destroying the death in us that sin is, and when that work is fulfilled, if we endure it (always resisting sin), we become like widows, having lost our first man, who is meant by Paul the apostle in Rom 7:1-2. In this state we would be without hope if God had not sent Jesus as a ransom for us, soul and body. Therefore, in His great love God now gives birth in us to a new life, who is Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Contrary to our former life and man, who always led us to do sin, this new life and man of ours always does what is God's will, as He says in John 4:34:



Therefore, when we by faith experience that God gives birth in us to this good Will and Life, we are in spiritual meaning being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus! Whoever goes through this spiritual baptism learns to sing the "song of the Lamb" mentioned in Rev 15:3. Those who learn to sing this song, even the least of them in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than "John" (Mat 11:11), for they have not only learnt the "song of Moses", which "baptism of repentance" symbolizes, but also the "song of the Lamb", which "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" symbolizes.

3) The answer to the third question (3) What does Jesus mean when He says that the prophets and the law were until John? (Luke 16:16) is a very important one to know. In Mat 11:13 the word "prophesied" is used instead of "were". I means that the prophecies about Jesus, our Saviour, and the fulfilment of God's law through Him pointed to the time of John, when Jesus would come and be the end and fulfilment of God's promises through His prophets and of the Law and its foreshadows. When Jesus came and become a ransom for us the prophecies and and the Law got a new dimension which bears on the spiritual life of God's people.

Dear people, all of you who read these words, I pray you to give yourselves the chance to understand what I expound for you in this writing. I swear in the name of God Almighty that what I tell you here is all true and mighty to help you further in your search for the everlasting truth. This is the way, listen to what Isa 30:21 reveals to you, for now it is heard by your ears:



Now is the hour of temptation for you, for Satan will whatever he can to tempt you to reject my true words, in spite of me being what I tell you, the true witness of God after Rev 11:3.

May God help you and bless you!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Sorry, let me try again!

In defense of Paul the apostle
(revised)

Nowadays there are many people who criticize Paul the apostle and teach that he was a false apostle, and among them are such who call themselves Messianic Jews and a person here on GLP, using the nick "TheSeventhGate". They falsely maintain that Paul the apostle teaches his "false" gospel at the cost of God's law. Since they do not understand the spiritual meanings hidden in the Holy Scripture they dare claim that Paul the apostle teaches a doctrine that is against the law. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let us therefore take a look at what the Bible in fact tells us and see whether Paul is guilty of what he is being accused of. I could perfectly well leave out what Paul the apostle has written himself and still prove from Scripture that he is totally trustworthy as a teacher of truth.

Jesus is the firm foundation on which we can trustfully rely when asking the question whether Paul was true or false. In Luk 16:16-17 he says these words:



Since Jesus used the words "until John" would anybody spitefully accuse him of having said that the law and the prophets would be void after the time of John? That would be a ridiculous claim, for Jesus not only said that the law cannot fail but also that he had not come to make away with the law, as Mat 5:17 shows us:



Nevertheless, what Jesus did reveal was that with his fulfilling the law there was ushered in a new time period while another was at an end. He came in accordance with the prophecies, statutes and ordinances given by God to Israel, which foretold his coming that happened in the time of John the Baptizer, so in that meaning he became their terminus ad quem. Since Jesus ushered in the time for the kingdom of God to be preached, and not only to be preached but to be such as people could "press into", everybody ought to realize that there came about an important change with him. That is exactly what Heb 7:12 tells us, and what Paul the apostle kept teaching in his epistles:



When Jesus said that the law was "until John" he did not for that reason do away with the law. So how are we going to understand His words? Was there or not a change? In order to find the answer we ought to listen more to what Jesus says and pay heed to His words about John the Baptizer. We read what He says in Mat 11:11-13:



Have you ever thought about these words, what they mean? Is not Jesus himself born by a woman, so how does John the Baptist compare with Him?

Dear people, please notice that Jesus did not say that John the Baptizer was the greatest ever among those born of women. What He did say was that among those born of women there had not RISEN anyone greater than John. To understand what "born of women" means we ought to read what Jesus says in Joh 3:6:



The answer, therefore, is partly that John was born of the flesh whereas Jesus was born of the Spirit, without sin, which means that in the context of Mat 11:11-13 Jesus could not be included "among them that are born of women". John the Baptizer and Jesus thus were not comparable.

What therefore remain for us to consider now is what Jesus meant when He said that "there hath not risen (Greek: egeegertai) a greater than John the Baptist." In doing so there are, as relevant to our discussion, two scriptures we ought to take a look at, namely Mark 1:4 and Mat 3:13-15. From reading Mark 1:4 we learn that John baptized with water, his baptism being called "baptism of repentance":



and, from reading Mat 3:13-15 we learn that Jesus came to John in order to be baptized by him. What then happened, as it is told, was that John, since he realized that Jesus was born of the Spirit whereas he was himself born of the flesh, first declined to baptize Jesus.

Dear reader, it is exactly at this point we ought to be very careful listeners when Jesus gives His answer to John, for our Saviour is also talking to us! He said:



Again I say, dear reader, that you and I ought to be good listeners! The answer Jesus gives seems to mean that when a person is being baptized with water in a baptism called "baptism unto repentance" that person will become righteous (in the eyes of God). Since being "righteous" in biblical meaning is tantamount to being in a "state of having been forgiven all sins", was Jesus therefore telling that through the "baptism unto repentance" we attain to that state? And why else would He ask the chief priests and the elders of the people, as told in Mat 21:25-27, the following question:



The answer as to what the baptism of John was must be that it was indeed from heaven, for why else would Jesus Himself partake of it, and even tell us that no greater than John has risen among those born of women.

The strange thing that happened when Jesus had been baptized by John and coming up out of the water (thus fulfilling all righteousness) is told in Mark 1:10-11:



Let us now remember what John, the Baptizer himself, had said about his own baptism, telling us the difference between it and that of our Saviour (Mark 1:8):



What we ought to realize now is that even though the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus after his having been baptized by John, it does not mean that before that event Jesus had not God's spirit. Whoever says that Jesus had not the spirit of God before it decended upon him after the baptism for John to see is a liar, for Isaiah had prophesied these words about Jesus (Isa 9:6):



Also, because God's spirit decended upon Jesus after the "baptism unto repentance", performed by John, it does not mean that the spirit of God has ever been given to any person through "the baptism unto repentance". John's baptism remained to be just a baptism with water, never changing into baptism with the spirit of God, and, nevertheless, it was indeed from heaven!

After having discussed the baptism of John, which was called "baptism unto repentance", we now ougth to look at the baptism with which the disciples of Jesus baptized, and what we can read about in John 4:2:



Was their baptism different from John's baptism? We know that Jesus later sent them out to baptize, saying these words (Mat 28:19-20):



Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, let us now start looking into the biblical fact given to us about baptism with water, whether it be John's "baptism unto repentance" or "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus", the one performed by the Lord's disciples who later became His apostles. First of all, both the baptism of John and the baptism of the apostles (in the name of the Lord Jesus) were such that sometimes those going through baptism received the spirit of God and sometimes not. That this is true about John's baptism we will see when we compare Mark 1:10-11, which was quoted earlier, with Acts 19:2-3:



That this is true also about "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" we see when we read Acts 19:5-6:



and compare it with Acts 8:14-17:



These scriptures therefore reveal to us that baptism with water, regardless of its being baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus compared to baptism of repentance (Acts 13:24) does not (necessarily) cause the spirit of God to fall upon the baptized person. On the contrary, Holy Scripture tells us that the spirit of God is not bound to natural baptismal water, as we can see from Acts 10:43-48:



Therefore, since the happening described in Acts 10:43-48 shows us that people can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost independent of the natural water used in baptism, regardless of whether it be John's baptism or baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus, we now ought to believe that Peter is not saying in Acts 2:38 that through baptism with natural water believers receive the spirit of God.

Since this fact is irrefutably established we can now ask one of the last very important questions: Why are there two baptisms with natural water mentioned in Scripture, when not one of the two are such through which people can by necessity receive the gift of God's spirit?

Since Paul the apostle, who some dare call a false apostle, had realized that neither of the two baptisms with natural water were of the kind through which people received the gift of God's spirit he wrote as he did in 1 Cor 1:14-17:



Notice that Paul makes a difference between baptizing and preaching the gospel! The former was not necessary while the latter was. Dear people, you who seek the truth of God, do you understand what this means?

If not, then let me explain this mystery of the gospel to you, for what I tell you is irrefutably true! Read Eph 6:18-19:



At this point it would be natural for adherents to baptism with water to point out what Jesus says in Mat 28:19-20, telling me that I am wrong:



Yes, Jesus commanded His apostles to go on baptizing with water, but that fact does not annul another fact that is put forward for us to read by Paul the apostle in Eph 4:4-5:



Will any of you who still do practise baptism of water tell me which baptism you prefer, for of baptism with water there are in two types? If you practise baptism with water in the name of the Lord Jesus, are you not overlooking or neglecting the fact that Jesus did say that through the baptism of repentace it becometh us to fulfil ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS? In what way do we fulfil all righteousness through the baptism of repentance? You know that without fulfilling all righteousness we will not be saved.

The answer is easy if you care to listen to what Scripture teaches. First of all, there is only ONE baptism acceptable to God today, namely the one which Paul the apostle mentions in Eph 4:5, and neither of the two baptisms with water that we have discussed until now are that ONE baptism meant. Both the baptism of repentance and the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus were foreshadows (symbols) of the ONE true baptism, which is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

That ONE baptism consists of two phases, which the "baptism of John" and the "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" symbolize, both being from heaven. Therefore, when we hear the gospel and receive it with faith (the only thing we are able to in order to fulfil all righteousness) God places the law in us in order to fulfil what is said in Hos 13:14:



This is what the baptism of repentance by John symbolizes, for through His prophet God promises to destroy the death of sin in us (Rom 6:23), becoming its plague in us, and to destroy the grave that sin had prepared for us. When we receive the gospel in faith God's law will start redeeming us from the tyranny and rule of sin over us in us, becoming a plague to sin, as Hosea says. Since the prophets and the law were until John but still not annulled, we now understand what Jesus meant. He meant that the prophecies and the law are meant to fulfil all righteousness in us by destroying sin's power in us, which the baptism of John was a foreshadow of.

This does not mean that there is no more sin in those who receive the gospel in faith, only that sin in them is put under the judgment of God's law and held in custody in them until they die bodily. This is what is meant in Isa 65:20:



The prophet tells us that when a believer dies in the age of hundred years the sin held in custody in him will be "accursed". Only when God's people die bodily they will get totally rid of sin, from feeling its cravings and temptation in their limbs.

Now I hope that you do understand in what way the prophets and the law were until John, i.e. that they pointed to the fulfilment of God's will in our body, which is to destroy death and grave.

Therefore, those who keep baptizing today are such as overlook the fact that the prophets and the law were until John. They are also oblivious of the prophetic fact that Christianity has fallen away from the apostolic truth, a reason why some daredevils in their blindness do not refrain from calling Paul the apostle a "false" apostle.

Since we must accept the irrefutable fact that all of Christianity has fallen away we also ought to realize that there is nobody left in her that can go on fulfilling the words of Jesus in Mat 28:19-20:



So, since according to what Jesus says in John 9:4 no man can work during that night, let us believe Him:



Therefore, even though Jesus gave his apostles the command to go and baptize people with water there is nobody left in today's fallen-away Christianity who can fulfil that work. There is also attached a certain condition to the work of baptizing, namely true teaching, as can be seen from Mat 28:19-20:



Notice what Jesus says, namely that first they should teach people to observe all things He had commanded them, so this means that nobody who teaches fallacies can claim to be in the position to baptize people with water!

Let us now, therefore, make a summary of what we have found to be true from Scripture.
What we will look at are these things: (1) What does Jesus mean when He says that "no greater than John (the Baptizer)" has risen among those born of women? (2) What does Jesus mean when He says that thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness? (3) What does Jesus mean when He says that the prophets and the law (Luke 16:16: "were"; Mat 11:13: "prophesied") were until John?

1) The answer to the question What does Jesus mean when He says that "no greater than John (the Baptizer) "has risen among those born of women? Nevertheless, according to His words in Mat 11:11 the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. What Jesus meant is that with his doctrine of baptism of repentance John had attained to the hightest level of mankind, namely to true repentance of one's sins. No man can get passed this level by his own deeds. Therefore, nobody born of women was greater than John, for everybody could at his or her best attain only to the level of John, not beyond it.

2) The answer to the question What does Jesus mean when He says that "thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness" is that the first thing we ought to do when we hear the true gospel of God is realize that we are in the grips of sin and need to repent and seek the Lord and His forgiveness. This is in spiritual meaning the "baptism of repentance", the one we ought to partake of in order to become God's people. We cannot save ourselves, only repent of our sins and pray to God for forgiveness. Those who goes through this baptism will be salted with fire, i.e. experience the temptation of sin, whereas what they sacrifice, (the rule of) sin, will be salted with salt, i.e. judged by God's law through their obedience to it. In experiencing this they learn to sing "the song of Moses", which is mentioned in Rev 15:3. Therefore, we must if we are believers experience what Jesus says in Mark 9:49:



He also says what we read in Mat 16:24-25:



If denying oneself and the rule of sin in one's limbs could save man then there would be no need of our Saviour Jesus Christ. What Scripture teaches us is that when we receive the gospel and repent our sins, God's law starts destroying the death in us that sin is, and when that work is fulfilled, if we endure it (always resisting sin), we become like widows, having lost our first man, who is meant by Paul the apostle in Rom 7:1-2. In this state we would be without hope if God had not sent Jesus as a ransom for us, soul and body. Therefore, in His great love God now gives birth in us to a new life, who is Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Contrary to our former life and man, who always led us to do sin, this new life and man of ours always does what is God's will, as He says in John 4:34:



Therefore, when we by faith experience that God gives birth in us to this good Will and Life, we are in spiritual meaning being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus! Whoever goes through this spiritual baptism learns to sing the "song of the Lamb" mentioned in Rev 15:3. Those who learn to sing this song, even the least of them in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than "John" (Mat 11:11), for they have not only learnt the "song of Moses", which "baptism of repentance" symbolizes, but also the "song of the Lamb", which "baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus" symbolizes.

3) The answer to the third question (3) What does Jesus mean when He says that the prophets and the law were until John? (Luke 16:16) is a very important one to know. In Mat 11:13 the word "prophesied" is used instead of "were". I means that the prophecies about Jesus, our Saviour, and the fulfilment of God's law through Him pointed to the time of John, when Jesus would come and be the end and fulfilment of God's promises through His prophets and of the Law and its foreshadows. When Jesus came and become a ransom for us the prophecies and and the Law got a new dimension which bears on the spiritual life of God's people.

Dear people, all of you who read these words, I pray you to give yourselves the chance to understand what I expound for you in this writing. I swear in the name of God Almighty that what I tell you here is all true and mighty to help you further in your search for the everlasting truth. This is the way, listen to what Isa 30:21 reveals to you, for now it is heard by your ears:



Now is the hour of temptation for you, for Satan will whatever he can to tempt you to reject my true words, in spite of me being what I tell you, the true witness of God after Rev 11:3.

May God help you and bless you!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Explain please I would very much like to hear both views on this. esp Luke 21:27.

Thanks
Michael.

Hmm leave for few weeks and look what happens. Although I would have appeciated having a small debate with that fellow who was calling himself an angel.

Very eloquent message about baptism PJ. Shows a real understanding as I guess you should.

I'll drop by in a couple of days to say hi again. I've been a tad busy over a lot of nothings.


Dave

PS I hate when they put words into Paul's mouth too. Didn't he address the issue of the Law? I don't have a Bible handy.

OH heck I had to a cut and paste


28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?


I won't comment tonight folks, but think about it

Dear Michael,
Sorry that I have not answered to your question yet but I have been busy at a work together with a colleague of mine. I suppose I will be back with my answer tomorrow (my time, Jan 9 2013, 15:48 PM). See you!
Your question was about this text, was it not?

Your question:


Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Dear Michael,

I will now answer your question that you put me on the basis of what I have written.



Your question:


In Dan 7:13 we read about the messenger of God who is called the man child in Rev 12:5:



This verse and the next verse do not speak about the personal coming of Jesus Christ or say that he will rule on this earth in person but that he will do so through His people. The dominion on earth will be given to God's people, so in that way the kingdom of God will make an end of the unrighteous rule of the existing worldly kingdoms. The one like the Son of man is mentioned in Rev 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, and 3:21, and he is the one also spoken of in Dan 7:14:



What I have said about Mark 13:26 is backed up by Mark 13:24. After the great tribulation peoples on earth will know for sure that the doctrine and testimony they heard from the mouth of God's true witnesses (Rev 11:3) was true, so therefore they will see and understand that he spiritual coming of our Lord happens through His messengers, who are the "clouds"( with living water) that are mentioned in Mark 13:26-27:



This gathering is spiritual true faith. When Jesus Christ returns on the last day He will come in person for all to see on the clouds, and the He will send his invisible angels to gather together His elect. That is the literal fulfilment of this prophecy.

To understand Luke 21:27 we can take a look at it in context, Luke 21:25-27:


In spiritual sense these verses tell about the change that takes place when the Lord changes the heavens as a vesture, as is foretold in Psalm 102:25-26:



It means that the is no more time for the old dispensation of baptism with water, what is meant in Rev 10:5-6, as sworn by the man child:



The changes in the sun and the moon and the stars are spiritual changes, for falsehood that was said to be God's truth, His word and spirit, will be shown to have been instead corrupted doctrines of the Devil, and when God's witnesses reveal them the sun changes, as will also the moon, that symbolizes the law. That stars change means that false teachers are debunked with all their fallacies, which will be water turned into blood. The true prophets of the Bible will also change in the sense that they will be seen to condemn the false doctrines of the fallen-away Christianity instead of backing them up.

This is what I wrote, and I hope you will understand what I say.

May God bless you and everybody who seeks truth in sincerity!

Greetings from
PehJeshuah

Thank you PJ.