THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT part three
Holy spirit in the New Testament
Things in this world change. Administrations in the Bible change, but God never changes. So it is with
God and the holy spirit. God was, is and will forever be THE HOLY SPIRIT. However, there was a change,
on the Day of Pentecost, in what was spiritually available.
In the Old Testament holy spirit was given:
1) to people to do a job.
2) It was given on condition and could be lost
3) It was given in a portion
None of this is true after the Day of Pentecost. With the events of Jesus Christ’s death, crucifixion and
ascension we now have something much better.
Ephesians 1:19-20 (KJV)
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of
his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places,
We have, that’s right, WE have because of the holy spirit in us, the exceeding greatness of God’s power
when we do – one thing – believe and it all started on the Day of Penticost.
Acts 2:1-4 (KJV)
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
As I mentioned, in the Old Testament, only a select few were given holy spirit and it was always for a
purpose. NOW, it is not only God’s will for every man, woman and child to have holy spirit IT IS
AVAILABLE to everyone that believes!
1 Timothy 2:3-4 (KJV)
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Romans 10:8-13 (KJV)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word
of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
To be “saved” is to be mentally, physically and spiritually whole!
In the Old Testament the spirit was given on condition. If a person didn’t meet those conditions they
could lose the spirit. Not so, now! Now it is, as it says in I Peter, incorruptible seed. Seed is something
that is inseparable. For example, i am a physical product of my mother and father. My Mom provided
the egg and my Dad provided the seed. Now I cannot separate me from my father’s seed. I was and
always will be the son of my father. The same holds true for me and God. Since, I did what it says in
Romans 10:9,10 I was born of spiritual or incorruptible seed. From that point forward I will always be a
son of God. This is the same for every Christian!
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV)
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever.
1 John 3:1-2 (KJV)
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
In the Old Testament men and women were given varying amounts of holy spirit. In the New
Testament, including the time we live in, Christians are given “the measure of faith (spirit.)
Nobody gets more or less, we all get the same amount.
Romans 12:3 (KJV)
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith.
Ephesians 4:7 (KJV)
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
So, what is the holy spirit? What are its attributes. What can it do and what can’t it do?
The holy spirit is a life quickening spirit. Whereas we were dead in trespasses and sins before we were
born-again now we are alive spiritually.Romans 8:11 (KJV)
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
The holy spirit is our seal, our earnest and token of what we will have.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (KJV)
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians 1:12-14 (KJV)
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.
Philippians 1:27-28 (KJV)
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or
else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together
for the faith of the gospel;
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you
of salvation, and that of God.
God was and is in Christ. Christ is in you. So, not only is it God in Christ in you. It is the power and ability
that that implies. The holy spirit does not have a mind of its own, so, It is never possession, but, it is a
direct connection to and with God. it is the power of God latent in us and comes into concretion as we
believe His promises.
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
John 14:12-14 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Christians have the greatest gift, the greatest spiritual ability and the greatest power the world has ever
seen! To see it come into concretion all we have to do is what it says in Romans 12:2.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT part two
Holy spirit in the Old Testament
In, both, the Old Testament and the New GOD is THE – HOLY – SPIRIT. Any time a woman or man has
holy spirit upon or in them it is because God gave it to them.
In the Old Testament men and Women had holy spirit upon them it was given by measure or portioned
out. Elisha asked and was given twice the portion of spirit that Elijah had. When the burden of
leading the children of Israel got to much for Moses God took some of the spirit that was upon
Moses and put it on other men.
Again, in the Old Testament, holy spirit was given on condition. A prophet could be so far out of
fellowship with God that God removed or took the holy spirit away from that prophet. A good example
of this is King Saul.
Saul was a magnificent specimen of a man and the first king of Israel.
1 Samuel 9:1-2 (KJV)
1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror,
the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not
among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was
higher than any of the people.
God chose Saul and put holy spirit upon him.
1 Samuel 10:6 (KJV)
6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be
turned into another man.
However, good looks or other qualities are not important to God. The most important quality in the eyes
of God is obedience. Saul’s sin was so grievous that God took the Kingdom of Israel and the holy spirit
away from Saul.
1 Samuel 15:24-29 (KJV)
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the
LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the
LORD.
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the
LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and
hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should
repent.1 Samuel 16:14 (KJV)
14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
All men and women of God had spirit upon them. Joseph was one.
Genesis 41:38 (KJV)
38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is (Joseph), a man in whom the
Spirit of God is?
God wanted the best when His tabernacle was built, so, He filled men with the holy spirit to accomplish
the work.
Exodus 31:1-6 (KJV)
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of
workmanship.
6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in
the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have
commanded thee;
In Psalm fifty-one King David prays to God not to take the holy spirit, that God had put on him, away.
Psalm 51:11 (KJV)
11 Cast me (King David) not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Unlike soul the holy spirit, given before the Day of Pentecost, during the Old Testament times, was given
when men or women were ready to go to work for God. The only person who had holy spirit “from the
womb” was John the Baptist. Soul is received with the first breath. it, holy spirit, stayed with the person
until the time of their death.
Soul life is the energy that energizes the body, whereas, holy spirit given to men and women of God was
their connection, their link, to God whereby they receive revelation information, from God.
The last point that I want to make is that the holy spirit was much like a tool. Men and women operated
the holy spirit. It never controlled them (I Corinthians 14:32). Each person that received holy spirit only
had the one holy spirit, never more than one, and always on condition. In other words, they could lose it
if they messed up.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT (part one)
I came across an article, the other day, that said souls flit in and out of bodies, at will, when people are
asleep. This article was from a good sincere Christian person, but, sincerity is no guarantee of truth. The
spam calls that anyone with a phone get are sincere, but, not honest or true.
I am here to take you into God’s Word, The Bible, to show you what GOD says about the matter. First,
we will look at the word “soul.”
On the fifth day God gave soul life to the animals, birds and fish. On the sixth day God gave Adam “soul
life.”
Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul.
There is no difference between the soul life of the animals and the soul life of man! No, I am not kidding.
Look at Ecclesiastes 3:19.
Ecclesiastes 3:19 (KJV)
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one
dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a
beast: for all is vanity.
So, what is soul life? Soul life is the energy that energizes a body, just like electricity energizing an
electric motor. It is called “the breath of life.” It is spirit, but, not “holy” spirit. It is common to every
living creature on Earth. Soul life, by itself has no consciousness.
Soul life comes into a person when he or she takes their first breath and it leaves when and only when a
person takes their last breath.
Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 6:17 (KJV)
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the
breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Genesis 7:15 (KJV)
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
Genesis 7:21-22 (KJV)
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.Psalm 104:29 (KJV)
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their
dust.
Any time soul is present in a body, any time the person is breathing he/she is alive. When the soul
departs the breath stops and the person dies. Souls do not flit in and out of people. It is a one time deal.
You get it at birth and it stays with you until you die.
HEALING OF A MAN BORN BLIND
God can deliver to the uttermost and, yet, people doubt and walk away from the fountain of
living waters never getting their deliverance. Below is a story of a man born blind. He was a
man, not a child, not a teenager, but, a man. What I am pointing out is that this man was at least
twenty years old maybe thirty or forty. But even twenty years is a long time. He had lived with
the blindness from his birth. Never, in the history of the World, had a person been delivered from
being born blind. It would be easier to win all the lotteries of the World than to be delivered from
the blindness. Even when the physical eyes are healed there is another part of the equation. The
mind has to recognize what the eyes are seeing. I have read where a blind man that rode a bus for
years had an operation to repair his sight. When his eyes were healed up he, again, began to ride
the bus. But, because he had only experienced the bus from the entry door back in his blindness,
with his sight he could not see the front of the bus. So, to be healed of blindness means a lot
more than just healing the eyes themselves.
Let us now look at this great deliverance.
John 9:1-38 (KJV)
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was
born blind?
Please, read verse two again. Do you understand what exactly his disciples were asking? First,
they asked if the man sinned. Well, for the man to sin he had to have been alive. What they were
asking was from a prevalent belief then, and still is, of reincarnation. Did he sin in a previous
existence? Secondly, they asked if his parents had sinned. Every parent, that has a child that is
born with a malady, wonder if they did something wrong, if they sinned against God and that sin
was what caused the problem with their child.
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God
should be made manifest in him.
Could the man or his parents have done something so far off that he or his parents brought this
punishment on the man when he was a baby? That’s what they were asking. The man couldn’t
have sinned. He wasn’t yet born! There is no reincarnation because in Hebrews 9:27 it says that
“it is appointed to man once to die but after this the judgement.” There is no such thing as
reincarnation and Jesus closes the door on such a belief by stating “Neither hath this man
sinned.”
The parents could have sinned, but to the point that God would punish the baby for their sakes?
Never! Jesus states that they didn’t sin. All men sin, it says so in Romans 3:23, but, what is the
context? The context is punishment on the child because of what the parents did. Jesus settles it
for the disciples by telling them that it wasn’t the parents fault! “ Neither hath this man sinned,
NOR HIS PARENTS.” This should be clarion call to every father and mother that has a child
born with a malady or physical or mental impairment. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Things get
messed up.There was no punctuation in the original manuscripts, it was added much later and verse three
has a glaring error. The way it is punctuated means that God caused the man to be blind from his
mother’s womb so that Jesus Christ some twenty, thirty or forty years later could heal him. That
idea is straight from the pit of Hell. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:15)
Light is life, light is deliverance, healing, love etc. Darkness is pain, sickness and suffering.
Verse three and four should be punctuated as follows:
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. But, that the works of God
should be made manifest in him, I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the
night cometh, when no man can work.
There should be a period after the word “parents.” So now the meaning is clear and fits with the
rest of the Word of God. “No, the man didn’t sin. No, the parents didn’t sin. But, because God
has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Because of this I must work the works of God by healing this
man blind from his mothers womb!”
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Jesus Christ was the light he was the deliverance he was the healing!
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
In the Orient, they believed that the spittle of a holy man had healing. Does this mean that every
person who is blind should have clay made from spit dabbed in his eyes? No! But, Jesus Christ
by revelation knew where this man’s believing lay. It wasn’t the spit nor the dirt that had power
in it. It was the man’s believing! The man believed! How do I know he believed? Because in the
next verse Jesus tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam and the man went and washed.
Believing is an action verb. The man obeyed Jesus Christ. He went and washed!
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went
his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not
this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and
said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them,
He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not thesabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a
division among them.
17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?
He said, He is a prophet.
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight,
until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he
now see?
20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born
blind:
21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he
is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed
already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
Fear always encases, fear always binds. It stops a person from being the man or woman they
know to be. In the time of Jesus Christ to be thrown out of the synagogue meant that you
couldn’t buy groceries, no one would talk to you. You would be totally excommunicated from
society. This fear gripped the parents so, instead of proclaiming the joy of having their son
delivered from something that had never been healed before they said “he is of age ask him.”
24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we
know that this man is a sinner.
25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that,
whereas I was blind, now I see.
26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it
again? will ye also be his disciples?
28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not
from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth.
32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind.
33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
This is the problem in pulpits today. They want to control people, they want to be the leaders
and, yet, they know not what the teach or whereof they affirm.
Rather than being happy for this man they want to accuse Jesus Christ. The reason they did this
was because this healing could impact their authority. People would stop coming to the
synagogue and start following Jesus.34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?
And they cast him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost
thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Here is a great lesson to all leadership! Until this point, Jesus Christ didn’t tell the man who he
was. He didn’t say “come follow me” or “from now on you need to come to my fellowship!” All
Jesus did was dabbed mud in the man’s eye and sent him off to wash. No commitment was
required just believing.
It should have been the greatest day in the man’s life. He was healed from an incurable illness.
You would think that everyone would be rejoicing with him. But, his parents turned their backs
on him, the neighbors drug him to the religious leadership and the religious leadership chastised
him and threw him out of the synagogue. The only one to look for him after he was cast out was
Jesus Christ!
37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
LORD I BELIEVE!
What are the burdens that hold you back what fears worries and doubts do you have? Isn’t it time
to cast off those weights and declare “LORD I BELIEVE!”
KEYS FOR UNDERSTANDING
To understand the Bible you have to known the keys to study and research. One of these keys is
understanding the authority of the scriptures, when holy men of God were given the Word versus what
man has done to it in the centuries following.
Originally, the Bible, the God breathed Word was perfect, but, there were no chapter headings, there
were no capitalization, there was no punctuation, no paragraphs. You could say that each book of the
Bible looked like one very long word. That is why Luke chapter four verse nineteen is so astounding.
Luke 4:16-20 (KJV)
16 And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
In verse nineteen Jesus read from the scripture and ended after the word “Lord.” He put a period there.
But, if you look at Isaiah chapter sixty-one, from which he quoted, it is punctuated totally different.
Isaiah 61:1-2 (KJV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God;
Where Jesus put a period, after “Lord” by closing the book the King James translators put a comma. You
may say “so what.” I will tell you why this is so important. If Jesus left a comma there the whole Bible
would fall apart. WHY? Because the day of vengeance of our God does happen until the book of
Revelation at the end of the world thousand of years after the record in chapter four.
Because the original God breathed Word didn’t have any punctuation, capitalization, paragraphs or
chapter headings translators added all of these to make it easier for us to read. But, being man added all
of these things do not have the authority that the original “God breathed” Word has. As we will see they
could be right and they could be wrong.
Let’s look at capitalization. Many, many good intentioned Christians have misunderstood the difference
between God and His gift due to incorrect capitalization.
God is THE Holy Spirit. Signified by the “H” and the ‘S” being capitalized. What God gave or poured out
on the Day of Pentecost and is still available today is “holy spirit” with a small “h” and a small “s.”Let’s look at a few verses to see how important this differentiation is.
John 7:37-39 (KJV)
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
So, in verse thirty-nine is the word “Spirit” talking about God or His gift. It is obvious that it is His gift and
should not be capitalized.
Acts 2:1-4 (KJV)
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
In verse four, were the Apostles filled with God or His gift. His gift, of course! So, it should be
lower case “h” and lower case “s.”
Who gave them the utterance? God! So, the translators capitalized “Spirit” correctly.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (KJV)
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed:
and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
“Spirit of God” and “Holy Ghost (spirit)” are both talking about God’s gift and should be lower case and
not capitalized.
In Ephesians 1:3, I Thessalonians 4:8 and Ephesians 4:30 the translators should have translated holy
spirit with a small “h” and a small “s.” Instead, they left the word “holy” lower case and the word “Spirit”
capitalized, which makes no sense at all! Each verse is talking about what God gave us, His gift of Holy
Spirit and therefore both the “h” and the “s” should be lowercase.
As an aside, look at I Thess. 4:8, the last three words “his holy Spirit.” Not only did the translators miss
by capitalizing “Spirit”, but, they used a small “h” to describe God. Whenever anyone writes the word
“God” OR the pronoun “His”, “He”, “Him” they should ALWAYS be capitalized.
Ephesians 1:13 (KJV)
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
1 Thessalonians 4:8 (KJV)
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
John 4:24 (KJV)
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Here in John 4:24 the translators got it right.
By understanding that the original God breathed Word was perfect, but, the punctuation, capitalization,
chapter headings and paragraphs were added by men and may be right or may be wrong we are free to
allow the Bible to explain itself.
THE MERCY AND GRACE OF GOD
To understand why Christians have so much, so rich, you have to understand God’s mercy and God’s
grace.
To have justice there has to be judgement. For instance, if a little boy hit a ball and sent it through
Mom’s kitchen window when Mom told him not play ball near the house that would be broken
fellowship with Mom. The boy and Mom aren’t in harmony. There is a rift between them. That, in the
Bible is called “sin.” When Mom tells the little boy that he did wrong and that she was going to punish
him is the sentence. When she punishes the little boy that is judgement. However, if the little boy pleads
with his mom not to punish him and she recants and doesn’t punish him, that is mercy.
Mercy is the withholding of merited judgement. When Adam sinned, there should have been
judgement carried out. But, God had mercy on Adam. Mankind, because of what Adam had done, are all
born in sin (broken fellowship with God) and yet God had mercy on us by sending His only begotten son
to save us.
Mercy and grace go hand in hand. You can’t have grace unless you first have mercy. We were strangers
to the things of God. We were without God and we were in the world. Being in the world means that we
were the property of the Devil.
Ephesians 2:12 (KJV)
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
God, because of His mercy, allowed us to live. By His grace we were saved (made whole). Grace is God’s
unmerited divine favor. We didn’t deserve it, but, He gave it to us anyway. This is just the opposite of
work(s).
Work is you doing something for a payment. Just like most people working for a paycheck. The things of
God are so big, so wonderful, so awesome that no one could work long or hard enough to deserve what
God has for the Christian. Israel tried it for thousands of years and never got close to deserving God’s
mercy and grace.
As I mentioned, justice requires judgement, but, love requires grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of
God and God delivered Noah and his family from the flood.
Genesis 6:5-8 (KJV)
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both
man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have
made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
God’s grace was upon Mary.Luke 1:30 (KJV)
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour (grace) with God.
God’s grace was upon Jesus.
Luke 2:40 (KJV)
40 And the child (Jesus) grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of
God was upon him.
The grace of God was on Noah, it was on Mary, it was and is on Jesus Christ and it is on every
born-again believer, Christian, those who have done what it says to do in Romans chapter ten
verses nine and ten!
So, we have the grace of God on us. So what? What good is that you may ask. IT MAKES ALL
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD! You were headed straight for hell and now you’re going
to go to Heaven and nothing can stop you from going!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (KJV)
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will
God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
We have the authority AND ability to be super conquerors in every situation that we are in.
Romans 8:37 (KJV)
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
We have healing and health available to us.
1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
We can go to God’s great throne in time of need, expect help and get it.
Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.
Because of God’s mercy and grace we can live an abundant life now and forever more.John 10:10 (KJV)
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
WHAT CHANGED?
When you read the Bible, you will read sections where great signs, miracles and wonders are performed.
You will read where Jesus healed hundreds if not thousands of people and how the apostles and
disciples delivered people of all sorts of maladies. Then logically you must ask yourself why then, but,
not now. Why them and not us? What has changed that we are not seeing the great deliverance now?
Did something change with and for the things of God? Did God’s relationship to man change? Did God
change?
John 3:16-17 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved.
God said “whosoever!” Are we in that category? Yes! So, God sent His son, not only for the people in the
first century, BUT, for you and for me!
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
God hasn’t changed nor has Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:1-2 (KJV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s grace and peace to “all the faithful.” Both in the first century and now!
Ephesians 1:3-6 (KJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to
the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Since you have confessed Jesus as your lord and savior and believed in your heart that God raised him
from the dead you ARE a Christian and all of this God has done for you!So, the answers are, God hasn’t changed, Jesus Christ hasn’t changed, God’s relationship with and to
mankind and specifically Christians hasn’t changed! So what is so different now that we don’t see the
miracles? We can start to see the problem in Matthew chapter thirteen.
Matthew 13:53-58 (KJV)
53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch
that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Jesus Christ went back to his hometown, to the place he grew up. The people around there knew
Jesus and his family. They knew he wasn’t from the Levitical priestly line. They were used to
seeing him working or going to the store. They saw him grow up! And, you know what they
said?
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and
Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
They said the family and nothing good can come out of that family! After all Jesus was born
illegitimately! That’s what they thought.
57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour,
save in his own country, and in his own house.
58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Jesus Christ didn’t change. God didn’t change. The thing that changed was the people. Jesus
Christ got in a group of people that refused to believe!
Let’s look at the Gospel of John chapter five.
John 5:2-9 (KJV)
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda,
having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him,
Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the
pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was
the sabbath.Think about this for a moment. The was a great multitude of infirmed people and, yet, only one got
delivered. Why? One reason and one reason only. He was the only one that could rise up at that
moment to BELIEVE and claim his deliverance. Do you know how I know he claimed his deliverance?
Because, when Jesus told him to rise, take up his bed and walk the man did just that. He didn’t argue, he
didn’t whine and say “ I can’t Jesus, you know I can’t.” No! He did the impossible by standing up and
walking. That’s how you get deliverance you BELIEVE the promise of God and literally walking out on it.
Let’s look at one more.
Mark 9:14-27 (KJV)
14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes
questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to
him saluted him.
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which
hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth,
and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long
shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he
fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst
do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help
thou mine unbelief.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto
him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead;
insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
In verse twenty-two the father said “have compassion on us.” A parent is responsible for
believing for the child and this father still had doubts. So, Jesus knew the problem and
confronted the father. Finally the father got to the place that there was no doubt left. He got to
the place where he believed! Because of that Jesus was able to deliver the son.
Let me show you one more example.
Mark 3:1-5 (KJV)
1 And he (Jesus Christ) entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had
a withered hand.
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accusehim.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life,
or to kill? But they held their peace.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of
their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his
hand was restored whole as the other.
The man with the withered hand had courage and he BELIEVED the promise of God. The Jews
were looking for a way to kill Jesus. Anyone associating with Jesus could get the same thing they
were planning for Jesus. But the man didn’t care. When Jesus said stand forth the man stood
forth. Then Jesus told the man to do the impossible. He told him to stretch forth a hand and arm
that, by the five senses, was impossible to stretch forth. But, the man BELIEVED the promise of
God and stretched forth his hand.
What changed between the first century and now? Men quit believing the truth! The men and
women in the pulpit refuse to believe that the Bible is the word and will of God. Consequently,
they teach the people in unbelief and where the blind lead the blind they both fall into a ditch.
God is still God! God still wants the best for you. But, it is up to each one of us to know the
promises of God and claim them.
THE PARABLE OF THE FORGIVING FATHER
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Christ told the story of what has come to be known as the Parable of
the Prodigal Son. To understand why he told this story and to whom he told this story gives more
depth and understanding to this story. Also, knowing that this is a parable and knowing what a
parable is gives us cleared understanding of this passage.
The publicans and sinners in verse one where there, yes, but, who else was there? The Pharisees
and scribes.
Luke 15:1-3 (KJV)
1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with
them.
3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
“Them,” them who? The scribes and the Pharisees. Understand that a pronoun is controlled by it
closest associated noun, in this case the scribes and the Pharisees. The publicans and sinners
could hear him, but, he was looking directly at the scribes and Pharisees.
Now a parable is an extended simile and a simile is a figure of speech which compares two
things by likeness. For example, someone might say about a fast runner, “he was like lighting.”
Or someone might say someone who eats a lot “he eats like a cow.
A parable is an extended simile and is made up of two Greek words, para and ballo. Para means
“beside” and ballo means “to cast or throw.” It literally means to cast along side of a narrative
with a hidden meaning.
The meaning consists in likeness and is usually in one salient or great truth. An example of this
is Christ being compared to a thief in the night. He is not a thief, but, the one great truth is the
unexpectedness, the suddenness of his coming.
Another thing to know is that a parable must be possible. If it is not possible, like trees talking, it
would be a fable.
Knowing these truths 1) Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and scribes and 2) he is telling a story
that has a hidden meaning let us read this parable.
Luke 15:11-32 (KJV)
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to
me. And he divided unto them his living.
Notice that one son asks for his inheritance, but, the other son doesn’t. The father loved both of
them and treated them the same.13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far
country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in
want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to
feed swine.
Feeding swine is as low down as a Jew can get! There is no lower station in life. The Jews,
especially the scribes and Pharisees wouldn’t even think about touching a pig let alone care for
them. Also, in that culture when a man tends a herd of swine he is counted as one of them. He
eats what they eat he lives with them and when the owner of the herd is asked how many pigs he
has, if he has ninety-nine and he has one herdsman taking care of them he would say he has one
hundred.
In verse sixteen the word “fain” is to desire or to lust after. Not only did he have to eat the husks
he was so hungry he wanted to, he lusted after them.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave
unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
He came to himself! Hallelujah! I could teach a few sermons on this! The day in a man’s or
woman’s life when they wake up and see the situation and know there is a better way is great
freedom. It is like a cool breeze on a hot day. It is life changing.
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him,
and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Why did the father see him? Because the father was watching! Just like God. God is always there
he never leaves us or forsakes us. He doesn’t walk away from us, we turn our backs on him, we
walk away AND YET God is always watching, always waiting for us to come back! God
hungers for fellowship with his sons and daughters. If we only knew how much. If we would
only come to ourselves and say “my father has more than the things of this World. My father can
and WILL take care of me.” What a day that would be in our lives!
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no
more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring
on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be
merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard
musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because
he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither
transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might
make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast
killed for him the fatted calf.
“I did everything right, father and he did everything wrong. Why on earth would you kill that
fatted calf.” What should have been the son’s response? One of happiness that his brother was
alive and had returned. Instead, it was a response of anger and of jealousy. But, what does the
father do? He lovingly set his son straight.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found.
This parable is not a parable of a prodigal son. They were both prodigal. In different ways, but, both
were way off track. Yet, the father forgave them both.
What is the hidden meaning to this parable? Jesus was standing in the midst of two diverse groups, the
publicans and sinners (who the scribes and Pharisees distained) and the haughty and self-righteous
scribes and Pharisees. Two groups so far apart, so off the beam. Both were gone astray, but, God was
waiting to forgive and bless each and every one of them.
This is not the Parable of the Prodigal Son, this is the Parable of the Loving and Forgiving Father, God.
JONAH
Jonah was a prophet of God. A prophet has the responsibility to speak exactly what God tells him to
speak, when God tells him to speak and where God tells him to speak. By walking outside or contrary to
the direction of God the prophet exposes himself to harm. The Book of Jonah tells of such a man and
how he finally carried out God’s will.
Jonah 1:1-3 (KJV)
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before
me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to
Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
The reason that Jonah fled isn’t told, but. Jonah was concerned about Nineveh. Nineveh was the
capital city of Assyria. Assyria was always against Israel and Judah. It would have been good in
the eyes of Johan for Nineveh to be destroyed and, yet, God wanted to give Nineveh a chance to
change their ways and not be destroyed.
So Jonah tries to run away from God and his responsibility to God.
Jonah 1:4-15 (KJV)
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so
that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that
were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the
ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call
upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is
thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath
made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the
men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for
the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm
unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea
wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee,let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast
done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
I think it admirable for the men of that ship to try and save Jonah. I think I would have grabbed
Jonah and thrown him overboard right quick and in a jiffy! But, not these mariners. They did
everything they could to save Jonah. When they saw it was to no avail, they reluctantly tossed
him overboard.
Jonah 1:17 (KJV)
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
Notice it says “fish” and not “whale.” Jonah was swallowed by a big fish.
I have seen pictures of Jonah sitting cross legged in front of a fire while a whale transports him to the
safety of land. This is not at all what happened. When the fish swallowed Jonah, Jonah drown. He was
dead all the time he was in the fish’s belly. How do I know that? Look at Matthew chapter twelve.
Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s (fish’s) belly; so shall the Son of man be
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus doesn’t make random comparisons. If Jonah had not died then Jesus could not have used this for a
comparison of him being dead in the grave for three days and three nights.
Jonah 2:10 (KJV)
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Jonah 3:1-4 (KJV)
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh
was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
A person can walk at least two miles in an hour and probably more like two and a half or three. But,
even at two miles an hour a person would travel approximately fifty miles in three days. That is a big
city!
Jonah 3:5-10 (KJV)
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from thegreatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe
from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king
and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not
feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn
every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish
not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil,
that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Do you see what it says in verse five? The people BELIEVED God and they changed their ways. That is
what repent means. It means to change your ways. What is so miraculous about this is ALL of them
believed and ALL repented. Try that in our day and time and you will get a few here and a few there to
believe. But, you won’t find a small town of a hundred that will all believe let alone a city that is fifty
miles in diameter!
The city of Nineveh obeyed God and since they obeyed God did not destroy that city! What a gracious,
kind and merciful God.
When we turn from our own ways unto the light of God’s direction, just like the people of Nineveh, we
will find great deliverance.
Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.v
TWO TYPES OF WISDOM
The Bible was not written for atheists, agnostics and unbelievers. It was written for those who want to
believe!
You see, the physical things around you every day, the land, the oceans, the sky, people, animals, stars,
etc., but, you don’t see what made them because that which made all of the things that you see is
invisible.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (KJV)
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
What’s not seen? GOD, Jesus Christ, angels and the spirit that resides in every born-again believer. In
other words, the spiritual things. The natural things were made by the spiritual. Spiritual things cannot
be seen, smelled, touched, heard or tasted. So, it is by believing the Bible that one gains access to holy
spirit and the wisdom there in. That is why there is so much controversy in the World today concerning
the authenticity, the accuracy and the authority of the Bible. Some people believe and some don’t. Look
at Acts chapter thirteen.
Acts 13:45-47 (KJV)
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things
which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have
been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo,
we turn to the Gentiles.
47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou
shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
I have shared the Word of God (the Bible) with people, in the past and some of them laughed, some
even mocked me, but, look at what it says in verse forty-six. Those that spoke against the teachings of
Paul, the teachings of Christianity judged themselves unworthy of eternal life!
In I Corinthians chapters one and two God again lays it out very simply. The knowledge of this World, all
the philosophers and all the Ph.Ds. in all the colleges and universities cannot know the spiritual side of
things unless they are born-again ( Rom.10:9,10..)
1 Corinthians 1:17-31 (KJV)
17 For Christ sent me (Paul) not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is
the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world?21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of
God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2:1-8 (KJV)
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
God kept secret from before the foundation of the World, what would happen if the Devil had
Jesus Christ crucified. If it had been known the Jewish leadership under the direction of the
Devil would not have crucified Jesus Christ. Adam transferred the rulership that God gave him
over to the Devil when he, Adam, ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Jesus
Christ was not the property of the Devil because he was the Son of God and not the son of Adam
and he lived a sinless life. The Devil had no right to have Jesus Christ crucified. When he had
Jesus Christ crucified he overstepped his authority. So, by his death Jesus Christ paid for the sins
of all mankind. By his resurrection and ascension Jesus Christ made it available for anyone who
believes to become a child of God.
1 John 3:2 (KJV)
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.Ephesians 2:1-9 (KJV)
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Let’s go back and read some more from I Corinthians and the two types of wisdom.
1 Corinthians 2:9-14 (KJV)
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (KJV)
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The things of the Bible are foolishness to the natural man because they have no spiritual perception, no
spiritual awareness, no spirit thus they are without God in this World. Christians have given so much by
God that we should be excited to share the Word of God with others. We as Christians and believers
have a responsibility to speak God’s Word to a sick and dying World. We are not responsible for their
reaction.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (KJV)
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which
ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which
effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Visit Us on YouTube
