THE NEW BIRTH - John 3:1-5

Upon repentance, a new order of life opens to the believer in Jesus ChrisJesus used the figure of "new birth" to dramatically indicate three things:

1) Without New Birth, there is no life and no relationship with God (John 14:6)

2) In New Birth, new perspective comes as we "see the kingdom of God (John 3:3), God's Word become clear, and the Holy Spirit's works and wonders are believed and experienced - faith is alive.

3) Through New Birth we are introduced - literally we "enter" (John 3:5) - to a new realm, where God's new kingdom order can be realized (2Cor. 5:17).

New Birth is more than simply being "saved." It is a requalifying experience, opening up the possibilities of our whole being to the supernatural dimension of life and fitting us for a beginning in God's kingdom order

Examine yourself now, do you really have that experience?

If not, the time us now. Delay not, come to the cross of Calvary and receive the life procured by Christ's death and resurrection. If you've had it before but you're no longer sure of you standing, cling again to the cross of Calvary, Christ is expecting and waiting for you.

If you've had it and possess the New Birth, go and occupy, colonize your area of influence for Christ. Let the sweet aroma of Christ permeate the air and atmosphere. Let the shine shine for others to see.

May God bless you as you do.

Shalom

Gabriel A S Ogunfowote +234(0)7032048852, +234(0)8082173683

*WHICH VOICE ARE YOU?* John 1:19-27

For roughly 400 years or thereabout, no active prophet was available in the the land of Judah. There was no "thus says the Lord." The people were in prophetic darkness. The law of the Lord, the written word had been diluted, misinterpreted, manipulated and turned into a burden.

The prophetic messianic expectations was high, especially with the religious, political and economic situation on ground. The people were in earnest expectation of their Messiah that will deliver them. Suddenly, there was this voice ringing through the wilderness. There was this ruggedly clad man baptizing by river Jordan. His appearance reminded them of the historical prophetic icon, Elijah. They all flocked to the river to hear him. History turn to reality.

The question is "Who is this man?"

The religious leaders sent delegates to him with the poser, "Who are you?"

They wanted to know. Is he the expected Messiah, the prophet that was foretold will come or any of the olden days prophet?

John did not leave them in darkness or doubt. He made them understand that he was neither the prophet nor the expected Messiah.

His answer and identification is "I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord."

The voice was telling the people to make straight the way of the Lord. Be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Which voice are you?

Are you preparing the people for the coming of the Lord?

Are you preaching the gospel of the kingdom?

Are you waking up the people from their spiritual slumber?

Are you sensitizing the people to the person, work and second coming of Christ?

Are you encouraging the church for the work of ministry and taking over of the land for God?

Are you busy building people or you're busy building edifices?

Or You're busy building your empire, making yourself the centre of attraction. You're material conscious and worldly minded.

Remember, the work and message of the King demands urgency. The night is far spent, the dawn of righteousness is about to break. The urgency of warning the Church and the world at large is more paramount now than before.

The mystery of iniquity is now more active than before: take a survey of what is happening around us

√ Politically

√ Economically

√ Religiously

√ Containment called entertainment

√ Technological advancement

√ Scientific discoveries and manipulations

√ Rebellion against moral standards

√ Child molestation, abuse and prostitution

√ Human trafficking, drug and weapon trade

√ Disasters of various capacities both natural and man made, farmine, outbreak of diseases, epidemics, war, terrorism

√ Rebellion against God and His authority, etc.

The list can go on and on.

Which voice are you?

The time is ripe for the Church to arise, minister of the gospel arise...let the voice go out...let it ring into the four corners of the world...the nations hear about the power of His blood. Let Christ be preached. Let the work of Calvary be proclaimed and made known. Let the world know that their salvation has being procured by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Shalom

THE BELIVER’S SALVATION EXPERIENCE (From Beginning to End)

It is my understanding the vast majority of believers do not have a very good grasp of the “entire salvation experience” from beginning to end. They know they are saved, and that one day they will go to heaven, but the "time in-between” is almost always a confusing, frustrating experience for them. So, here in a nutshell is what the Bible teaches concerning the believer’s salvation experience — beginning to end.

God created man in "His image," but when Adam sinned that image in large part was destroyed — Adam not only ultimately died physically, he also died spiritually; that is, he immediately exper-ienced estrangement from God, and no longer possessed the "God life" that he was endowed with at creation — he now only possessed the "Self life." God's plan of redemption was not only to resolve man’s sin problem (by dying on the cross), but also to "re-create” man into the image of Christ. If we were to diagram the believer's salvation experience from beginning to end, it would look something like this (all three aspects of salvation are depicted — past, present and future — the "Road to Glory" goes from left to right (from being a SAVED SINNER to becoming a SINLESS SAINT — the "Sanctification Process" is depicted in the middle section of the diagram); so read each line from left to right:

SAVED SINNER(The life of self, Justification, Beginning) ----------->The Road to Glory (The Process of Being Transformed into the Image of Christ, The Process of Growing in Grace, Faith and Love, Cultivating an Intimate Walk with Christ, The Sanctification Process)----------->SINLESS SAINT(The Life of God, Glorification, End)

The salvation experience starts with conversion — being “Born Again.” At this stage the believer is still a sinner, but he is now a “Saved Sinner.” From that point on the believer then goes through a “transformational process” whereby he is slowly changed into the image of Christ — this is the present life of the believer, or the “Road to Glory” if you will. It is not until after the believer physically dies that he is “fully conformed to the image of Christ” — at that point every trace of sin and the self-life is removed from him… he no longer inhabits sinful flesh… he is now given a glorified body… and he is now like Christ (1 Jn 3:2).

The "Road to Glory" is the path that every believer must travel in life… and there-in is the difficult part. This transformational part of the journey involves pain, suffering, problems, trials, temptation, sin, failure, tribulation, affliction, the testing of one's faith, and dying to self. You ask, “WHY ALL THESE UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCES?” They are the chief motivational elements that God uses to transform the believer’s character and life — only pain, death and the cross move us toward Christ; such is the "divine economy" that God established to transform us into the image of His Son. . . there is no other path to glory (and death is never pain-free). The author of Hebrews tells us that “the Author of our salvation (Jesus) had to be made perfect (complete, adequate) through sufferings (the cross)” (Heb 2:10) — the idea of Jesus being “made perfect” does not refer to His being made perfect in His character, but being made perfect as our Savior. In order to purchase our eternal redemption, Jesus had to suffer all the punishment that our sins deserved — it was consistent with the holy character of God that He should suffer, bleed, and die to put away sin. Now if Christ had to be made perfect through sufferings, how can we expect to be made perfect any other way? (cf. Mt 16:24; Jn 12:24; 2 Cor 1:5; Phil 1:29; Col 1:24; 1 Pet 2:21; 1 Pet 4:1).

By the way, everything God permits the believer to experience in life has "redemptive value;" it is not redemptive in the sense that it "saves" us, but in the sense that it "changes" us. The word “redeem” means to “set free, liberate” — when applied to the believer “spiritually,” it means to free him from the bondage of sin or liberate him from his fleshly nature. Every difficulty the believer goes through in life has redemptive value — or GOD WOULD NOT PERMIT IT. Though the difficulties we go through are often extremely painful (Heb 12:5ff), they are not punitive in nature, but always corrective and instructive. The Bible never speaks of God punishing His children or taking punitive action against them. All of the believer’s “punishment” was born by Jesus upon the cross — ALL OF IT — so every painful trial the believer experiences in this life is permitted by God (it is God’s will for him) because it has “redemptive value” (if it did not, He would not permit it).

The big thing for us as believers is that we learn to “fully accept that fact”... learn to cooperate with God in the process. . . strive to live a life of holiness and seek His kingdom and His righteous-ness. . . and cultivate intimacy with Him. To not do so is to seek our own “selfish agenda,” and the “self life.” The truth of the matter is, every believer struggles with saying “no” to the self life… it should also be noted that no believer lives FULLY FOR HIMSELF or FULLY FOR GOD. Every believer strives with God in some measure — but some believers are more “self-oriented” and less “God-oriented” than others. Regardless of how much a believer cooperates with God, however, God is at work in him “to will and to do His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). A part of God’s work is that of “chastening, disciplining and training” His children. God is ever at work training and changing us (in the workshop of life) through the various things He permits to come into our lives — obviously, the more stubborn and rebellious we are, the more severe the level of discipline. . . and the more change God wants to produce in our lives (because of His “unique plan” for us as individuals), the more difficult and painful the training — we do not all have the “same calling” in life (reflect upon the life of Job). So all of the training we are subjected to in life is not just the result of our disobed-ience and stubbornness. It should also be understood that EVERY BELIEVER struggles with “wanting to do his own thing” (that is the norm, and we are all normal!), and DYING TO SELF is a gargantuan task. Furthermore, NONE OF US “DIE EASILY,” contrary to what some would have us believe… and NONE OF US ARE BY NATURE “ONLY GOD-ORIENTED” IN LIFE; that is, none of us are “supra-spiritual” without a flesh problem; any such understanding is totally contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The “pretense” that characterizes so many believers lives is actually very misleading to Christians who are not well-grounded; and such pretense can have devastating effects upon them, because they don’t see themselves as “measuring up.”

Following are some of the more poignant New Testament passages that describe the “painful road to glory” for the believer. Study them carefully —

Matt 16:24 – Stop living for yourself, and take up your cross daily.

John 12:24 – Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will not bear fruit.

John 16:33 – In the world you will have trials and tribulation.

Rom 5:3-4 – Exalt in tribulation, because it produces the character of Christ in you.

Rom 8:17 – The reason for our suffering is that we may one day be glorified.

Rom 8:18 – The sufferings of this age are not worthy of being compared to our future glory.

Rom 8:22 – All of God’s children groan and suffer as they await the redemption of their bodies.

Rom 8:36 – For thy sake we are being put to death all day long.

1 Cor 10:13 – God does not suffer us to be tempted beyond that which we are able.

1 Cor 15:31 – Paul said, “I die to myself daily.”

2 Cor 1:5 – The sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance.

2 Cor 4:17 – Momentary light affliction in this life is producing for us an eternal weight of glory.

Eph 4:22 – Die to your old self.

Phil 1:29 – It has been granted to you not only to believe in Him, but to also suffer for His sake.

Phil 3:10 – Pray that you may know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.

2 Tim 2:3 – Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ.

Heb 12:5-6 – The Lord disciplines and scourges all of His children.

Heb 12:11 – All discipline from the Lord is painful and seems sorrowful.

Jam 1:2 – Trials and tribulations produce spiritual maturity.

Jam 3:2 – We all stumble in many ways.

1 Pet 1:6-7 – You are distressed by trials that your faith might ultimately be found praiseworthy.

1 Pet 2:21 – You have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps

1 Pet 4:1 – Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with this same purpose.

1 Pet 4:12 – Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal you are experiencing; it is for your testing.

1 Pet 5:10 – After you have suffered for a little while, God will perfect, confirm and establish you.

by Dr. D. W. Ekstrand

Daniel’s Seventieth Week

‘Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make an atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place’ (Dan 9.24). Introduction

Here we examine one of the most fascinating prophecies in scripture: The word ‘week’ is translated from the Hebrew ‘shabuwa’, which means ‘sevened’ or ‘units of seven’. It can mean a literal week, as in Lev 12.5 and Gen 29.27,28, or a symbolic week lasting seven years. It is generally accepted that Dan 9.24 refers to symbolic weeks since historical events fit this interpretation extremely well. Accordingly, it is widely accepted that Dan 9.24 refers to a period of 490 years.

Historicist View

Depending upon interpretation, Dan 9.24 could refer to milestone events that have already happened, or it can refer to both past and future events. Historicists see all 70 weeks as past and contiguous, with week 70 (seven years) commencing with the 3½ years of our LORD’s ministry, and concluding with the stoning of Stephen. They believe the ‘firm covenant’ made in Dan 9.27 is the New Covenant: ‘And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week …’ (Dan 9.27) and that full ‘atonement for iniquity’ was achieved when Christ was crucified or ‘cut off’ in the midst of week 70 (Dan 9.26,27): ‘Then after sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing … in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering …’ (Dan 9.26,27)

Historicists believe that the cessation of the Jewish sacrificial system in Dan 9.27 was achieved when the temple veil was rent from top to bottom, and that the ‘destroyer’ of Dan 9.26,27 was Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD: ‘… and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary … and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even a complete destruction …’ (Dan 9.26,27)

There are several problems with the Historicist interpretation. First, it is difficult to see how the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the holy temple are compatible with the anointing or re-dedication (GNB) of the holy place in Dan 9.24. In what sense was the temple in Jerusalem anointed over the past 2,000 years for example? In what sense are Daniel’s people (Israel) ‘finished’ in a transgression sense (v24) if week 70 has expired? ‘Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make an atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place’ (Dan 9.24).

Secondly, is the ‘prince’ of v26 necessarily the same person as ‘the one who makes desolate’ in v27? There could be a significant time period between the two individuals. And if the firm covenant in Dan 9.27 was made by Christ, why don’t Bible translators denote this by using the pronoun ‘He’ rather than ‘he’ in verse 27? Also, as we shall see, the Historicist view fails to blend Dan 9.24 with many other prophecies (particularly those concerning Israel) and with modern day observation.

Nevertheless, the Historicist view has been widely held by respected preachers such as Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Moody, and Spurgeon, and the Church of England accepted it in the 17th century. This is understandable when we recall that these years saw the height of Papal persecution, some 50 million believers being martyred for their faith. The TIME, TIMES AND HALF A TIME of Dan 7.25 is interpreted as one TIME = 360 years giving a total of 1260 years of Papal supremacy.

Futurist View

Daniel’s timing is given as follows: ‘So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks …’ (Dan 9.25) Daniel’s 7+62 weeks therefore span 69 x 7 = 483 years. Bearing in mind that Daniel used the Hebrew calendar year of 12 lunar months or approximately 360 days, this period amounts to approximately 476 solar years. The exact start of the 70 weeks is unknown although there are two favourite dates. Many believe the decree of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7.11-28) could be the beginning of Daniel’s 7 weeks or 49 years (Dan 9.25). This decree was issued about 458BC, although it does not specifically refer to ‘rebuilding’. If we take 458BC as the start of Daniel’s 69 week period, then 476 solar years brings us to about 18 AD. But no significant Biblical event is recorded around this period. Others see the commissioning of Nehemiah in 445BC by the same king as the starting point of the prophecy (Ne 2.8-17). Starting from this date, 476 solar years brings us to about 32AD. Significantly, this date lies within the widely accepted bounds for the date of the crucifixion (30-33AD). In other words, starting from 445BC, Daniel’s 69 weeks brings us very close to the crucifixion date or the ‘cutting off’ of the Messiah (Dan 9.26), as indicated in Table 1. Note that in this interpretation, the times of the Messiah in v25 and v26 are taken as synonymous, and not as two separate dates.

In contrast to the Historicist viewpoint, the Futurist view places an unknown time period between weeks 69 and 70, with week 70 still future. The interpretation of the first 69 weeks is therefore similar to the Historicist view e.g. Dan 9.26 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus. However, futurists believe the crucifixion took place ‘after the 62 weeks’, i.e. after the 69th week, but not in the 70th week. The problem lies in the interpretation of Dan 9.27, since the subject of the verse is ambiguous. Grammatically, the pronoun ‘he’ in v27 should refer to the subject of the preceding sentence, and some take this to be the Messiah. If this true, translators should have used ‘He’ rather than ‘he’, as discussed. It is more likely that the subject of the sentence is ‘the prince who is to come’, v26. In particular, many take the ‘he’ of v27 to refer to a future successor to the prince of v26, and this is the view assumed here. This successor is taken to be the final Antichrist of history, who comes to the Jews in particular on a ‘wing of abominations’ (Mat 24.15).

The correct interpretation of Dan 9.27 must be one that is harmonious with the rest of scripture, and with modern day events. If week 70 has elapsed around the time of Christ there is no framework within which to fit many end-time prophecies, such as Jer 30.4-7; Dan 7.23-28; Dan 11.21-45; Dan 12.11,12; Mat 24; 2 Thes 2.3,4 Rev 7.3-8; Rev 12.6; Rev 13

It seems Historicists generally have difficulty accommodating such texts, particularly those inferring a worldwide dictatorship and a cashless society (Rev 13), both of which seem imminent. For example, consider: ‘He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, … and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.’ (Dan 7.25) This refers to severe persecution of ‘the saints’. Whilst Historicists assume that the major persecution has already occurred under the Papacy, futurists take one TIME = 1 year and consider Dan 7.25 to refer to a future 3½ years of (probably Jewish) persecution under a final world dictator. As we shall see, this view is compatible with the modern-day scenario, such as worldwide computer control of people and the cashless society, both of which were veiled to Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, and Wesley. This is not to say that all Historicist teaching is erroneous, rather, the truth probably lies in a blend of both viewpoints e.g. persecution under Papal power may once more emerge. As shown in Table 1, at the end of week 70 eternal justice is established under the reign of Christ during the millennium, and the holy temple is rededicated (anointed) to the Lord after being ravaged by Antichristian forces (Dan 11.31).