Jesus

The Positive confession - July 3, 2010 by David Bergsland

One of the more common heresies running around the church today is that we must always speak positively, that negative confessions are, by definition bad. The truth of the matter is quite different.

II Timothy 3:16 {NKJV}

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

God tells us the purpose in the next verse [let's use New Living this time]:

“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

Please notice that the second use of scripture if “for reproof”. The amplified expands this (and correction) to the following:

“for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience”

This does not sound like the power of positive speaking to me.

Jesus could be quite negative

Take the verse I harp on all the time—spoken to the church-goers of the day:

Matthew 7:21-23 [Amplified]

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].”

Notice that these are people using the name of Jesus in power—those whom we would call spirit-filled today. They prophesied, did exorcisms, and miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet, Jesus says to them the scariest words in scripture, “I never knew you: depart from me”.

May it never happen to any of us!

So, how are we to speak?

Paul says it best in Ephesians 4:15

“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him”

OK, I understand speaking the truth, but that is to be done “in love” . Again Paul says it best in I Corinthians 13: 4–6 [NASB]

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

So, even if the truth hurts we are responsible to be patient, kind, humble, meek, un-offended, in the moment, and happy with the truth as it is reveled. But, we mustn’t pull back if the truth requires a rebuke, a warning, or a so-called negative expression.

If we are prayed for about healing, we are not to lie if it still hurts but positively confess that we’re healed. However, I see nothing wrong with saying, “I haven’t seen the manifestation yet, but I am convinced that He will heal me and stop the pain.” [But only if that is really the truth about how you feel.]

God never requires us to lie. If you think that is what is happening in your life, bite your lip, zip your yap, and don’t say anything until you can say the truth. Sure that is difficult sometimes. But the Christian walk requires nothing less.

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Pulling punches? - June 27, 2010 by David Bergsland

Guilty as charged!

Maybe it’s just me, but I rarely find a place where I can really say what I feel. A lot of it is my shyness and timidity on social situations. I can hear the laughing and the “yea, right!”s—but I ask you, “How many of you have seen me in a social situation?” Surely you can see my motivation to teach and write.

However, as a writer and teacher, I really need to be careful. First of all, scripture says I’ll be judged more severely than non-teachers.

James 3:1 esv Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

So, I really want to be in control of what I say. In addition, I really find that it is easy to miss opportunities by offending people—especially Christians. I really don’t know why that is such a problem. One of the fruits of the spirit is to not be easily offended. I usually write it off to personal taste; that I do not like fashion; that I do not like crowds; that I do not like sports; and on & on. It’s more likely that my flesh is really obnoxious.

However, there’s no place for speaking in the flesh

That’s one of the main reasons I do not like the phone or face-to-face meetings. It’s not that my reactions are bad—they’re not thought out. Every time I get off the phone and talk about the conversation I always get, “Why didn’t you ask…” “What are they doing…” I never have an answer. Talking in reaction to interaction is fearful for me because I do not trust my flesh at all. It always gets me in trouble.

What about my call?

Maybe the problem is who I am designed to be. I know the Lord has used me as a prophet—and no one likes prophets. I know that I was trained as an “artist” dealing with getting in touch with my personal vision. I know that I’m creative, in my limited up-tight manner. But this cannot be an excuse to be rude or uncaring or self-centered. I must put down my flesh and walk by the Spirit. Only in the Holy spirit do I have any hope of getting past myself.

I must pull my punches

There is no room for me to allow the flesh free rein at all. My ideal and goal is peace, joy, gentleness, self-control. I have to focus on my audience and seek to hear what they need—what the Lord would have me share, what Jesus wants to say in the situation.

It is always fascinating to watch one of these postings as it develops. So far I have written and tossed a half dozen complete paragraphs and several more sentences. I began with a four/five paragraph stream of consciousness and I think all of that is gone now. The entire point and focus of it has radically changed as I pray and repent to hear better. This is the way it should be. I’m not an apostle or leader. I’m a prophet/teacher. My responsiblility is to be much more careful of what I say. Jesus’ words are really scary to me,

Matthew 12:36-7 esv “… I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What could be more worrisome to an artist/author who merely tries to be a good steward of the ideas he is given? Before Jesus, I was the arbiter. I was taught in school that good is defined as what I like. What a shock it was to discover absolute truth and its personification [& what a relief]. Now, the Holy spirit has the final say—I hope.

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The baptism of the Holy Spirit: empowerment - May 24, 2010 by David Bergsland

Receiving the empowerment of the Lord

As we remember the first Pentecost of the church, it is important that we make sure we have experienced our personal pentecost.

How is this baptism different?

John the Baptist separated it out before Jesus began his ministry. In John 1:29-34, John clearly says what we have experienced as reality.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” ESV

Jesus explained the concept further in Acts 1:5&8 before He ascended. Not only is it different from the baptism of water for forgiveness, it has a different purpose.

“…for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” ESV

Paul explains a little in Acts 18 & 19

The end of chapter 18 talks about the powerful teachings of Apollos in which it is said, …being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of Jesus, though he only knew the baptism of John.

In 19:4-6 Paul explains it like this, calling John’s baptism of water for repentance. Then he lays hands on the disciples (using the phrase baptizing in the name of Jesus) and they receive the Holy Spirit—speaking in tongues and prophesying.

It’s a separate event

In Acts 8:14-17 we see Peter and John going to Samaria. These people has received Jesus and baptized in the name of Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them. Verse 17 says it this way in the RSV: Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

What is clear is simple: the baptism of the Holy Spirit is one of the things that Jesus does for us and to us.

Is this baptism necessary for salvation? I doubt it, but it might be.

However, I wouldn’t relax into that. Look at the quote above out of John 1. Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Luke says the same in Acts 1—adding that we shall receive power. Is seems to be part of the normal equipment of a born again believer. So, if you haven’t experienced it yet, you should be asking the Lord why not.

It is silly [at best] to not have the power available active in your life

The Spirit Skips, God Dances (gatheringinlight.com)

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Giving the Holy Spirit control - May 23, 2010 by David Bergsland

Possession has a really bad ring to it, doesn’t it?

However, that is simply due to the fact that we almost always preface possession with demon. This is a bad thing. However, the Holy Spirit is God himself and a gentleman at the very least. This is a spirit you should covet. This is a spirit you want to possess you, to fill you to overflowing.

Maintaining spiritual security

The manner of living this way mimics what we have to do to maintain security on the Web.

We do not listen to anyone we don’t know.

Spiritually, this is incredibly important. Demons lie and pass themselves off as beings of light that we like and want to befriend—much like in an unregulated chat room.

Spiritually trustworthy people are very rare. Be extremely careful who you trust: be they pastor, bishop, evangelist, friend, lover, spouse, child, whomever.

We only accept information from sources we trust.

This goes much further than you might think. Scripture is clear that the world is under the authority of the evil one. This is the spiritual power behind almost all movies, TV shows, music, books, Websites, and so on.

Even the Bible must be read with care. KJV has many archaic words that need careful translating to the modern usage. Gender neutral translations abound, but more common are those written by paternal bigots. I’ll do a list of the versions and link from here if any one is interested.

We never give our password to those who ask.

Our soul, worship, & allegiance: we do not sell our soul to the devil, give allegiance to the enemy, get committed to heathen organizations, and so on. We all work in the world within heathen groups under demonic authority, but we do not have to give them our allegiance, worship, or unqualified support.

We have strong junk filters

We need to learn to recognize junk in the same way we filter junk mail & email. If Jesus is not openly proclaimed as Lord of Lords, both man & God—beware!

We only register on trusted Sites

Be careful of which churches & ministries you get involved with. Many of them are apostate. They do have believers within them, but official policy is commonly anti-scriptural and far outside the normal Christian life.

We need the Holy Spirit

This security itself is impossible without the Holy Spirit. We need to give Him as much authority over us as He will provide. As I mentioned, He is a gentleman and you will need to constantly reaffirm your desire to be under His control. You will need to actively seek a stronger, closer relationship.

If you sense someone or something aggressively demanding access, that’s not the Holy Spirit. He does not do that.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Let us know how you feel

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The three comings: baby, king, & judge - May 14, 2010 by David Bergsland

Do not be confused! (Visit the prophecy section of the site)

One of the major things that became clear as I studied prophecy was the over-emphasis on “the second coming”. It became very clear that prophecy was talking about three comings at least.
What people couldn’t seem to understand was that the prophets wrote what they were given without understanding how everything fit together. Isaiah, for example, clearly did not understand that the phrases that we now call Isaiah 61:2 cover two of the comings.
Look at verses 1 & 2: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God…
Jesus fulfilled all of this, except the last line. He left that for the coming of the King (or the end & judgement). The question remains if the day of vengeance comes before or after the Millennium.

The prophets couldn’t sort it out

One of the things about prophecy (speaking as a man who has been used often in that gift) is that the prophet often needs an interpreter to understand the message that the Lord has spoken (or written) through him or her.
The Psalms (as you see below) are confused by the fact that several different people wrote Psalms. For a prophet with complexly mixed messages, we need to look at Isaiah. We’ve already looked at 61:2 but there are countless others.

Let’s look at Psalms

Here we can see the three comings clearly. Let me give you a list of some of them which talk about Jesus, the King, and the End. This is not a complete or prophetic list. It reflects my years of study, but many assignations are debatable. It is certainly worthy of study, and you can clearly see the three events after a while.

Psalms 8:4-6 (maybe); 16:10; 18: 4-7 & 18-24; 22: 1-19; 31:5 & 11; 35:9-12; 41:9; 45; 46; 47; 48; 69:8-9, 19-21, 26; 72:mixed with King; 78:2; 118:22-24;

The King

Psalms 2:all; 15:all, 18:43-45; 21:most; 22:22-31; 24:all; 50:3; ?58:10-11; 67; 68; 72:mixed with Jesus; 75; 76; 87; 93:1-2; 98; 110;

The Judge at the end of time

Psalms 9:all; 10:16; 18:7-15; 29:not clear; 50:4-5; 97:1-5; 102:25-28;

Is this debateable?

Of course! It’s a quick list, much of it based on old notes from I Bible I used when teaching in the nineties. If you look these up though, the pattern should become clear.

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Is the rapture really going to happen? - May 13, 2010 by David Bergsland

Where does this teaching come from?

As you can see to the right, the whole concept is rather recent. There is pre-, post-, and mid-tribulation rapture theories. In fact, there are countless theories.

They are all theories

Scripture is clear in not stating anything definite. The popular view that all true believers will be caught up into the clouds to be with the Lord is strongly stated in I Thessalonians 4: 13-18. However, this passage states pretty directly that this will take place at his coming. In other words, it seems to indicate a post-trib view.

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 also says that this will happen at the “last trumpet”—presumably just as the Lord arrives as King: “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

I was perplexed & sought the Lord’s mind on this

I was really into all of this speculation and was getting increasingly confused. The Lord is not confused, so I knew something was wrong. So, I spent several years seeking His position on the matter. I was led to several scriptures that are almost never covered when teaching on end times, the later days, or the rapture.

as in the days of noah (Matthew 24:37 & Luke 17:26)

This was the first place I ended up in my quest. As far as I can tell, this is key to our understanding of the events we are facing. Jesus clearly says that his coming will be “as in the days of Noah”. The verses following talk about one taken and another left—so there will clearly be believers around at that time. The key is looking at what actually happened in Noah’s day.

Look at Genesis 7: 13-17. The New American Standard says the most clearly (I’ll clear out the irrelevant copy for you):” On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark… male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days…”

This would seem to bless the pre-trib theory—if we assume that the flood symbolizes the tribulation for us.

Will anyone notice?

The next verse I was led to seems to state rather strongly that the world will not notice. Isaiah 57:1 states that clearly and strongly: The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands…

To me this eliminates the possibility of driverless cars, pilotless planes, and all the other absurdities often told together with the rapture story.

Will the church be taken out?

I definitely believe this will happen. there are several scriptures that state this pretty strongly. I’ve already mentioned Isaiah 57:1.

Psalm 12:1 is more definite: Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. That has not happened yet, so my assumption is that this happens at the end.

Micah 7:2 says the same thing: The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind…

So, it is clear that believers are pulled, and that this has not happened yet.

What about the conflicting theories?

This is my opinion. I would state it as the word of the Lord if I thought it was. I am convinced, but you need to search it out for yourself. It is radically different that anything currently taught.

I think all three:pre-, mid-, and post- are true!

I think some (probably the weak in faith) will be pulled before the tribulation gets very bad. I think some will be pulled throughout the tribulation. And some will be pulled out just before he comes—the two witnesses come to mind.

But then I think the Great Tribulation started a while ago. Possibly, during the Acts of the Apostles, maybe in the 19th century, almost certainly by the time Israel became a nation again in 1948. But we will talk about that another time.

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