The Consecrated Life

Click here for a great little PowerPoint demonstration Tony was going through on Wednesday June 15, 2016 (at Maccas).
If that first link doesn't download, try this one.
It's in relation to the prayer and talk we had together at Hillsong, May 25 2016. See below.

Feeling somewhat poetic :-) that letter "C", keys and seeds

Hi all
Lovely having Tony with us on behalf of Bible League, he talked about “Keys” of the Kingdom, followed by a regular usage of “C’s”.

Starting with Peter’s straightforward answer, and Peter then being “granted” the keys: when he answered the question of Whom do you say “I am”?

“You are the Christ / Messiah (Anointed one), the son of the living Theos / Elohim (God)”. Matthew 16:16-19

Brief thoughts, yes, Jesus, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:45, is the “second man”, the “last Adam”.

And in our modern understanding of molecules, the first Adam had both “X” and “Y” chromosomes formed from the ground, about 6,000 and a bit years ago by God’s miraculous activity, granting Adam (and us) our “Name-forming dominance” over the earth.

But Jesus had his “Y” chromosome formed inside Mary’s womb directly from our Living Father in heaven, the Word becoming flesh. God’s Son. Stunning revelation from Peter.

And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid [lock] on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit [open] on earth will be permitted in heaven."

So when Peter preached repentance (that change of "nous" inside), it followed the preaching of that straightforward word, and many hearts turned to God and received the Holy Spirit

  1. on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:14-40 to Judaea)
  2. with the Samaritans about a year or so later (Acts 8:14-17 to Samaria)
  3. in the house of Cornelius (a word that means a Horn, a Trumpet)  in Caesarea (Acts 10:34-48 to Romans, a number of years later, thus to Gentiles to the ends of the earth). Actually, Cornelius, according to the Coptic Church in Egypt, then became bishop, overseer in Caesarea.

Then we talked about “what happens next”, and Tony’s use of “C’s”, reminding me of Jesus’s parable and the “Seeds” Matthew 13:18-23

Contrary — some seed will fall by the wayside, and the birds will eat them up. Some, like Elymas the magician/sorcerer in Acts 13:6-12, will contrarily work at turning people’s attention away, and then eat up the words spoken. They’re seeds that fall on the wayside. But Paul, seeing what was going on, got shot of this man who was in the consul’s ear, and the consul, Sergius, then believed.

Confusion — some seed fell among rocks. There will be direct opposition from others which can be very confusing. As Jesus said to the legalistic lawyers with their numerous laws in Luke 11:52, you take away the key of knowledge (of God), you do not enter, and you hinder, you just lop away at (the wings, the limbs) of those entering (so they become all flap, and no fly).

Compromise — some seed fell among thorns. Ok, there’s belief, initially, see Simon in Acts 8:9-13, but cares of the world and the deceitfulness that comes with riches, binds people up in unrighteousness, and there is no (or minimal fruit). Acts 8:18-24

Commitment, followed by, perhaps, Consecration — Good soil, of various qualities, with fruitfulness accordingly as we go through life.  Hallelujah.

https://www.swcs.com.au/SeekingGod.htm

Blessings all   Steve

 

Update Monday, June 20, 2016 7:47 PM — Talking further about seeds, Paul, the Spermologos, in Acts 17:18 and also in Acts 16:16

Acts 17:18 “some said — what point is this babbler (spermologos) trying to make?”

Paul gets called a “spermologos”, a little seed-gathering bird, from sperma = seed + lego = collect or gather, in Athenian slang, one who is living hand to mouth in the markets by picking up anything that falls from the loads of merchandise being carried about, an intellectual’s Greek "put-down" for somebody who gathers bits of information and spouts them off second hand without any understanding of their meaning, a "babbler", like a baby, no apparent human coherence.

“others said — he appears to be preaching down to us a message about foreign daimonions”
because Paul was announcing the good news of Jesus Christ and his arising — his resurrection”.

Greek philosopher Socrates had spoken of his daimonion, his personal spirit-guide. Daemons were invisible "energies" in Greek, they rose and bestowed fortune, luck. Territorial gods of power.

In Deuteronomy 32:17, Moses speaks of them as Shed (from Shuwd in Hebrew) — swollen up beings.
Associated with judgment, with devastation and waste. Seen again in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20, when Paul says, “the idol is nothing”, but believers in worship are not to provoke the Lord’s jealousy by having communion with demons.

As seen with Jesus, and his refusal to let them witness to his divine background.

And also in Acts 16:16, we see Paul, followed by a lady possessed with a "spirit of Python" in Phillipi, his refusing to communicate with her, for days, until finally, grieved through a “channel of pain", she just provoked his rebuke, and the lady was freed, but then the whole city got into an uproar. Messy stuff.

But, flogged and chained, praising God, the foundations of their jail were then destroyed at midnight in an earthquake, and then the jailer, and his family were saved, and then the following morning, coming to their senses, and learning Paul was a Roman, in fear, the rulers of the city apologised for the injustice done to them, beseeching them to leave, please.

Great story.

Blessings all Steve

Stephen Williamson Computing Services Pty Ltd

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