https://rumble.com/v2yucxw-res....toration-yisrael-fm- SHABBAT MESSAGE: LABOR NOT FOR THE MEAT THAT PERISHES!
The end from https://docs.google.com/docume....nt/d/15LoASSp2rOv-IK
Another thought on Christ's command to be armed: this command is one of multiple cases where Christ prophetically preempts great heresies that would be wickedly attached to his name.
Perhaps the foremost example was when he said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets". No prophet that he had sent previously had to say, "I'm not replacing what was said before me"; yet one of the greatest heresies that would be later taught is that we can ignore, downplay, and disobey everything God said before he came to earth. It's almost like Christ knew this beforehand. ?
Similarly, no prophet Christ had sent previously needed to teach people the importance of the duty of being armed and ready to fight (except perhaps in certain cases, such as "cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood" Jer 48). The sudden emphasis Christ places on this duty was no doubt prompted by the knowledge that in future one of the great heresies would be to blasphemously associate the name of Christ with pagan concepts of blanket non-violence.
Some such ideas of pacifism no doubt were wormed into the cultural view of Christianity via the Roman Catholics, who were simply dressed up pagans from the start. But wherever such ideas came from, they are obviously utterly incompatible with Christianity.
One dramatic example of this incompatibility is when some rationalise pacifism by saying that we should not protect ourselves (or even others!) because this is a lack of faith in God's protection. This is all but straight from the mouth of Satan, who said to Christ, "Cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee", and of course the same answer is given to the pacifists as Christ gave to Satan: "It is written, Thou shalt not test the Lord thy God."
All Christians have the duty to be ready to fight as well as they can to defend others as they defend themselves (they should defend themselves), and to avenge others, as they would have others avenge them.
#sabbathposts 2023/07/08
BIBLE STUDY LESSON 06
SERIES U --- THE EARLY CHURCH
OPPOSITION GROWS
A SHADOW OF HEALING
From Acts 5:1-20
Many believers were selling their houses and lands and giving the money to the apostles to distribute to others who needed it more. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold their land, too, but they conspired to hold back part of the money while pretending to give it all. When Ananias brought the money to the apostles, Peter knew about his plot. [Ananias,] he said, [why have you let Satan control your heart like this? You are lying to Ruach HaKodesh by pretending to give all your money. The land was yours to sell or keep, and the money you received for it was yours to keep or give away. How can you bring yourself to do such a thing? You are not lying to men, but to YHVH] As soon as Ananias heard what Peter said, he fell to the ground and died. Awe came upon all who heard about this. The younger believers wrapped Ananias’ body, carried him away, and buried him. Sapphira had not heard about Ananias when she came in about three hours later. [Was this the price you got for your land?] Peter asked, naming the amount Ananias had given. [Yes,] she said. [That’s it.] [How could you two plot to deceive the Adonai like this?] Peter asked. [Do you hear the footsteps of the young men at the door? They have just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out also to be buried.] Immediately Sapphira fell to the floor dead, and there the young men found her when they walked through the door. They carried her out and buried her beside Ananias. As the news of Ananias and Sapphira spread through the church, a strange sense of awe swept over the believers. The apostles continued to perform miracles and do many wonderful things among the believers. The regular meeting place was the area of the temple known as Solomon’s Porch. The unbelievers didn’t dare join their meeting, although they had great respect for them. However, large numbers became new believers and joined the fellowship of the apostles. Many brought their sick into the streets on cots or stretchers, hoping that the shadow of Peter might fall on them and bring healing. Even the little villages around Jerusalem brought their sick people and the demon-possessed, and all of them were healed. At last the high priest and his friends and family among the Sadducees became so jealous that they reacted violently. They had the apostles arrested and threw them into the public jail. That night an Angel of the Adonai came to the jail, threw open the gates, and let the apostles out. [Go back to the temple and continue to preach the Good News of this new life,] the Angel said.
COMMENTARY
WHO WAS SIMON PETER?
How did a Galilean fisherman come to be the leader of the believers in Jerusalem? Could the frightened disciple who swore that he did not know Yeshua really be the same man who raised the dead through the power of Moshiach’s Name? Who was Peter, this man of contrasts? At home in Capernaum everyone called him Simon, the son of Jonah. He and his brother, Andrew, were partners in the family fishing business. When Yeshua called Simon away from his nets. He gave the fisherman a new name. Peter, or Cephas as he was called in Greek, meant {a rock.} But this rough Galilean showed none of the stability of stone. As the most impulsive of the twelve disciples, Peter’s outspokenness sometimes got him in trouble. On the Mount of Transfiguration, he spoke without thinking, and at Caesarea Philippi Yeshua reproached Peter for protesting against the mission He had come to accomplish. But by the power of Ruach HaKodesh, this awkward fisherman became one of the men on whom Yeshua would build His church. After Moshiach’s ascension, Peter became the leader of the twelve apostles. He preached the Gospel fearlessly in spite of the Sanhedrin’s threats. When the chief priests put him in prison, Peter was freed by an angel. After his miraculous release, Peter could not safely stay in Jerusalem. He left the city and preached the Gospel outside Palestine. What happened to Peter after the story of Acts? Early believers writers record that he was crucified upside down on a cross in Rome during a persecution led by the emperor, Nero.