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And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.
And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.
And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
The Impartial Power of God
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified —Hebrews 10:14
>>> The Third Commandment
by John W. Ritenbaugh
It is not hard to determine what the most common sin is. It is idolatry, a sin of commission. Five commandments bear directly on it: the first, second, third, fourth, and tenth. In addition, the others easily become involved in idolatry by being broken in their spirit. This article will focus on another commandment, the third, that connects directly with the sin of idolatry. Many of us do not generally understand its purpose. In fact, most of us understand it only in its most obvious application, and thus unknowingly, we may break it frequently.
Recall that the first commandment deals with what we worship. Our worship is to be directed toward the unique Creator, the Source of all things, and toward Him only. The second deals with the way we worship, in spirit and truth. No one has ever seen the unique Creator God, so we must use no figments of human imagination to portray Him. The third involves the sincere truthfulness, purity, and quality of our worship. It deals with glorifying God.
Isaiah 40:18, 25 asks, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? . . . 'To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?' says the Holy One." From the second commandment, it is obvious that God expressly forbids the making of any representation of Him. Any such picture or statue is automatically a lie because, other than knowing that we are in His physical image as to form and shape, everything else that He is cannot be expressed in a mere physical depiction.
>>> And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3
The term "know" implies intimate, experiential knowledge, not merely bookish or theoretical knowledge. He suggests that having an intimate relationship with the Father and Son causes us to become one with them. The only way we can do that is by living the way God does by faith. He walks—lives life—with those who agree with Him. The One who already had this unique relationship with God reveals to us the knowledge of how to do that.
Originally given to a spiritually faltering people, Amos 5:4 adds a vital command: "For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: 'Seek Me and live.'" The word "seek" is not being used in the sense of "search" because God had already revealed Himself to them. Instead, it conveys the sense of "turn to Me," "seek to live as I do," "turn to My way of life," "seek to know Me in intimate detail."
In John 17:3, "eternal" is translated from the Greek aionis. Here, it deals not so much with duration of life, since by itself living forever would not necessarily be good. Rather, it implies "quality." Eternal life is the life of God, the way He lives life. To possess it is to experience a small measure of its splendor now.
Four times in verses 3 and 11, Jesus uses the word "name" in reference to God. "Name" represents, identifies, signifies, and encompasses what He is revealing to us about God. It includes what He is in His Person, His attributes, and His purpose. God's name keeps, guards, and sustains us, both by our trusting what it signifies and then, through obedience, expressing what it means.
Psalm 9:2, 10 declares, "I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. . . . And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." "Name" does not refer to what He is called or the sound of that name, but to what He is like in His nature and character. We can trust what He is. This has marvelous implications for us. Matthew 28:19-20 says:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
The word "in" in verse 19 can just as correctly be translated as "into," meaning that we are immersed into the name of the Father and Son. We now bear that name! They are God, and we are children of God. Baptism and the receipt of the Holy Spirit are the entrance into that name and all it implies! We have entered into the Family of God! Just as a son bears his father's name, God's name is our spiritual family name.
John W. Ritenbaugh
>>> Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 ~~~
Capitalism >> Bernanke Urges US to Start Cutting Record Budget Deficit
The capitalism method ~ brainwash, corruption, moral decay, material satisfaction lure, temptation, etc.
Now, Americans are already brainwashed to spend to bankruptcies, they are targeting China.
http://www.iamthewitness.com/Protocols-of-Zion.htm
http://www.thesynagogueofsatan.com/
| 19 Oct 2009 | 11:48 AM ET
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday called for the United States to whittle down its record-high budget deficits and for countries like China to get their consumers to spend more, moves that would help combat skewed global trade and investment flows that contributed to the financial crisis.
Bernanke's remarks to a Fed conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., comes just days after the federal government on Friday reported a $1.42 trillion deficit for 2009 budget year that ended Sept. 30. The previous year's deficit was $459 billion.
The Fed chief's comments were aimed at reducing global imbalances, and echo pledges made by leaders of the Group of 20 nations at their summit in Pittsburgh last month.
"As the global economy recovers and trade volumes rebound, however, global imbalances my reassert themselves," Bernanke warned. For the United States' part, "the most effective way" to boost national savings in this country "is by establishing a sustainable fiscal trajectory, anchored by a clear commitment to substantially reduce federal deficits over time," Bernanke said. He didn't suggest ways to do so.
And, for trade surplus countries like China and most Asian economies, they need to get their consumers to spend more and rely less on export-led growth, Bernanke said.
"In large part, such action should focus on boosting consuption," Bernanke said.
» Slideshow: The Biggest Holders of US Government Debt
The bulk of Bernanke's remarks largely offered a scholarly assessment of Asia and how it fared during the global financial crisis, the focus of the Fed's conference. The Fed chief didn't discuss the state of the U.S. economy or the future course of interest rates.
Bernanke and his colleagues last month held a key bank lending rate at an all-time low near zero and pledged to hold it there for an "extended period." Many economists believe that means through the rest of this year and into next year.
Deciding when to boost interest rates and reel in the unprecendented amount of money plowed into the U.S. economy will be one of the biggest challenges facing the Fed in the coming months. Remove the supports too soon and the recovery could be derailed. Leave the supports in place for too long risks unleashing inflation.
In terms of the world economy, "Asia appears to be leading the global recovery," Bernanke said. "Recent data from the region suggest that a strong rebound is, in fact, under way."
Many economists predict the U.S. economy — the epicenter of the financial crisis —started growing again in the third quarter at a pace of at least 3 percent, and is still expanding in the current quarter. Economic activity contracted in the second quarter at an annualized rate of 0.7 percent, marking a record four straight quarters of decline.
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/33381140/
Capitalism >> Who would know what is really going on ~ only God knows all of the truth.
~*~ Is Ra (sun) El (God) ~*~
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Israel is really claiming "sun is god" as the individual word shows. Inherently the name itself worshiping Jesus as He said that He is the Light. Sun gives the light to us, and Jesus was symbolically saying that He is the Light which spiritually enlightens us. Therefore, whether all Israel people knows it or not, they are proclaiming "Jesus as God" even though they deny Jesus as the Son of God.
My Redeemer Lives - Team Hoyt
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. -Mark 11:22-24
In Kenneth Hagin's book, New Thresholds of Faith, he states that the margin of his Bible reads "Have the faith of God." He goes on to state that Greek scholars say that this should be translated as "The God Kind of Faith."[1] This is one of the expressions and teachings that have been the hallmark of his ministry – and one of the most criticized areas. Many of his critics have gone beyond just disagreeing with Rev. Hagin on this issue. Due to this teaching, some have accused Hagin of being "heretical" and a false teacher.
The teaching of "The God kind of Faith" implies that God has faith. Hagin is not shy about stating this as he says in the same lesson that God believed and spoke the world into existence. This type of teaching has caused so many critics of the Faith Movement to condemn it, consigning it and Hagin to be heretical and cultic.
It would have been helpful to us if Hagin would have given the names and book titles of the Greek Scholars he referred to when he made the statement. This may have been efficient to shut the mouths of his critics. Adding to the fact that Rev. Hagin does not waste time answering his critics, nor does he even read or listen to their criticism, it's not likely that we may find those Greek scholars that were referenced.
http://www.victoryword.100megspop2.com/godkind1.html
Michael W. Smith - I´ll lead you home
Almighty GOD knows all of hidden facts even though we do not know and are deceived. He will return and bring His Justice.
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Pres. BUSH, if any of youtube video does not contain truth, please take off from net!!!
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Bush family picture ~ they don't look evil, greedy, deceptive; how can this be and I am wondering whether they know the truth?
If Union Bank Bush is not factual, they could have sue or take the youtube off. They should take youtube video which does not contain truth off of net.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=42520631
Praise GOD,
We can imagine how the mother of the child would feel as she is looking at her child. God as our heavenly Father and the creator, He created us to praise HIM.
Only God can fight the demonic mammon.
-- I give up.
True History: The FED Bernanke and its slaves have done to America and Americans using Bush -- now Obama. I believe that history will be able to tell what the Fraudulent greedy entity has done to America and many around the world even though they are writing false American History. Even though we may never see true history in published books, GOD knows all the facts.
Praise To God - The Importance of Praise
Praise to God is what we offer in acknowledgement of God's excellent being. You might think that praise is the same as saying "thank you," but there is a difference. Thanksgiving describes our attitude toward what God has done, while praise is offered for who God is. Psalm 18:3 says "I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise…"
All believers are commanded to praise God! In fact, Isaiah 43:21 explains that praise is one reason we were created, "This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise." Hebrews 13:15 confirms this: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name."
Praise originates in a heart full of love toward God. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Are you a Christian today? If so, you know that you love God because He first loved you! Without God's love, any praise you can offer is hollow. Love, born from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, is an essential part of your praise.
Praise To God - How to Praise God
How can you bring praise to God? What can you do to make it an integral part of your life? Praise can be expressed in song, in verse, or in prayer and it is to be done continuously! Psalm 34:1 instructs, "I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." Psalm 71:6 says, "From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you."
Praise to God is expressed outwardly through our everyday actions, as well as inwardly in our thoughts. Praise is an act of Christian worship.
"Where do I begin?" you may ask. "How do I start praising God?" If praising God is new to you, try praising God for who He is to you, personally. Proclaim that God's goodness is without measure; it is abundant and overflowing! Here are some ways to get started:
* Praise God for His holiness, mercy, and justice (2 Chronicles 20:21, Psalm 99:3-4).
* Praise God for His grace (Ephesians 1:6).
* Praise Him for His goodness (Psalm 135:3).
* Praise God for His kindness (Psalm 117).
* Praise God for His salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Praise to God can be offered anywhere! In time, it will become as normal as taking a breath. Sometimes we praise God inwardly as in Psalm 9:2, "I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." Other times we have opportunity to give glory and praise to our God publicly. Psalm 22:22 says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you." Search out opportunities to bring praise to God!
Praise To God - Who Praises God?
Praise to God, while offered particularly by His children as the freewill expression of grateful hearts, will one day be offered by everyone! The Bible says that when He comes again, all mankind will praise Him and acknowledge Him as Lord. He is King over all the earth. When we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, our hearts long to praise His name. Philippians 2:9-11 tells us His name represents His being, describing who He is, "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The Bible also records:
* All nature praises God (Psalm 148:7-10).
* The sun, moon, and stars praise Him (Psalm 19:1 and 148:3).
* The angels praise Him (Psalm 148:2).
* Even the wrath of men is used by God to praise Himself (Psalm 76:10).
* Children are to be taught to praise God (Psalm 78:4).
Praise To God - Do You Proclaim His Praise?
Your praise to God is evidenced through your salvation. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
How are you offering praise to God today? Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? If not, why not begin there. Learn more about salvation. When others look at you, do they see a reflection of God's praise? Psalm 113:3 declares, "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised."
http://www.allaboutprayer.org/praise-to-god.htm
May GOD send "His Angels" to slay 100 year old dragon as in Revelation. May GOD slay the dragon which is satan and legions against GOD.
Praise GOD ~
May GOD Strike against the FED mammon demons. JESUS IS our Strength! GOD ALMIGHTY is OUR STRENGTH!!
The Holy Spirit of GOD working in our lives.
~*~ Praise the Lord ~ You are the True Lord.
The spiritual vision noted below communicates the message of God in this last days. As in Matthew 8:28-34, we need to guard against the demonic deception by wearing the holy armor of GOD in Ephesians 6:11-17.
The mammon power is using all kinds of deception fighting against the Lord Almighty deceiving those who follow Jesus and love GOD who created the Universe.
Even though the mammon is much powerful than us, GOD Almighty will deliver us from the demonic hands and deception as He promised that He will return and take us truly believing Him to the Heaven of God. Praise the LORD, ALMIGHTY!
Glory to GOD!! Amen
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re: Swine Flu: An End-Time Vision...
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/09_Prophetic/090728.swine.flu.dream.html
Lord Almighty - God will deliver His Justices against greed evil FED.
May GOD rescue Americans and the United States from the hands of the greedy evil FED who deceived Americans and the Nation for decades!! Because of the greed evil demons, many are suffering and tortured as well died because of the greedy manipulation.
MAY GOD DELIVER HIS JUSTICES to the FED deceivers!!
May GOD deliver His Justices and rescue us from all kinds of greedy deceivers who are defiling Christians, Jesus, and GOD ALMIGHTY.
GOD Almighty will deliver His Justices to the Fed evil deceivers defrauding millions of Americans for decades -- using the name of GOD misleading the Americans with intent of deception. May GOD deliver His Justices to all who disguised and hid the truth aiding the evil Fed to continue to defraud Americans and the nation.
The demonic deceivers defiled Americans and the nation with corruption and immorality as we now see that many are turned away from GOD and churches.
May the Lord Almighty GOD deliver us from the deceivers and demons!!!
GOD WILL DELIVER US FROM YOU, THE FED DECEIVERS -- greedy evil demons!!
GOD WILL DELIVER HIS JUSTICES AGAINST YOU for deceiving Americans and the United States!!!
***************************************************************************************************************************
Bernanke is mega Traitor as is the FED!!
The FED is massive deception disguising as if it is the US government, and millions of Americans are deceived!
No Wonder why Americans and the Nation is going bankrupted.
7 out 10 of the Fed is owned by non-US.
The top 10 owners of the Fed are:
1. The Rothschild Family - London
2. The Rothschild Family - Berlin
3. The Lazard brothers - Paris
4. Israel Seiff - Italy
5. Kuhn-Loeb Company - Germany
6. The Warburgs - Amsterdam
7. The Warburgs - Hamburg
8. Lehman Brothers - NY
9. Goldman & Sachs - NY
10. The Rockefeller Family - NY
The federal Reserve bank of NY is owned by:
1. Chase-Manhattan (controlled by the Rockefeller Family) 32.3%
2. Citibank - 20.5%
*****************************************************************
update: Should the Fed be abolished?
~*~ U.S. House to Hold Hearings on Federal Reserve Audit ~*~
H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Should the Fed be abolished? * 16871 responses ~~>>> Yes 91%
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32881898/
The Poll is at the bottom.
The USD currency lost 96% of its value since the FED started in 1913.
The FED bankrupted millions of Americans and now in the process of bankrupting the nation.
Millions of Americans are still thinking that the Fed is a government entity --
in reality, 7 out of 10 owners of the FED are non-USA as listed above.
The FED does not have any interest for Americans, but deceives Americans for profit
as we have the evidences of decades of the Fed operation.
As a result, millions of Americans have gone bankrupted, our nation is going bankrupt,
and 1% owns over 90% of wealth -- and the wealth disparity is getting worse.
May GOD rescue Americans and the United States from the hands of the greedy evil FED who deceived Americans and the Nation for decades!! Because of the greed evil demons, many are suffering and tortured as well died because of the greedy manipulation.
MAY GOD DELIVER HIS JUSTICES to the FED deceivers!!
May GOD deliver His Justices and rescue us from all kinds of greedy deceivers who are defiling Christians, Jesus, and GOD ALMIGHTY.
GOD Almighty will deliver His Justices to the Fed evil deceivers defrauding millions of Americans for decades -- using the name of GOD misleading the Americans with intent of deception. May GOD deliver His Justices to all who disguised and hid the truth aiding the evil Fed to continue to defraud Americans and the nation.
The demonic deceivers defiled Americans and the nation with corruption and immorality as we now see that many are turned away from GOD and churches.
May the Lord Almighty GOD deliver us from the deceivers and demons!!!
GOD WILL DELIVER US FROM YOU, THE FED DECEIVERS -- greedy evil demons!!
GOD WILL DELIVER HIS JUSTICES AGAINST YOU for deceiving Americans and the United States!!!
***************************************************************************************************************************
Bernanke is mega Traitor as is the FED!!
The FED is massive deception disguising as if it is the US government, and millions of Americans are deceived!
No Wonder why Americans and the Nation is going bankrupted.
7 out 10 of the Fed is owned by non-US.
The top 10 owners of the Fed are:
1. The Rothschild Family - London
2. The Rothschild Family - Berlin
3. The Lazard brothers - Paris
4. Israel Seiff - Italy
5. Kuhn-Loeb Company - Germany
6. The Warburgs - Amsterdam
7. The Warburgs - Hamburg
8. Lehman Brothers - NY
9. Goldman & Sachs - NY
10. The Rockefeller Family - NY
The federal Reserve bank of NY is owned by:
1. Chase-Manhattan (controlled by the Rockefeller Family) 32.3%
2. Citibank - 20.5%
*****************************************************************
update: Should the Fed be abolished?
~*~ U.S. House to Hold Hearings on Federal Reserve Audit ~*~
H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Should the Fed be abolished? * 16871 responses ~~>>> Yes 91%
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32881898/
The Poll is at the bottom.
The USD currency lost 96% of its value since the FED started in 1913.
The FED bankrupted millions of Americans and now in the process of bankrupting the nation.
Millions of Americans are still thinking that the Fed is a government entity --
in reality, 7 out of 10 owners of the FED are non-USA as listed above.
The FED does not have any interest for Americans, but deceives Americans for profit
as we have the evidences of decades of the Fed operation.
As a result, millions of Americans have gone bankrupted, our nation is going bankrupt,
and 1% owns over 90% of wealth -- and the wealth disparity is getting worse.
MAY THE LORD ALMIGHTY GOD deliver us from the demons.
May Jesus return to take us to His Kingdom out of this demonic world.
The implication of the Fed/US corruption, greed, and deception. e.g. swineflu shot
-- actually this is done globally, obviously per G20.
-- it is the return of the demons in Matthew 8:28-34.
US Swine Flu Vaccination Effort Starts Monday: CDC
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33171756
~*~ Spirit of GOD vs Mammon ~*~ e.g. swineflu shot
The spiritual vision noted below communicates the message of God in this last days. As in Matthew 8:28-34, we need to guard against the demonic deception by wearing the holy armor of GOD in Ephesians 6:11-17.
The mammon power is using all kinds of deception fighting against the Lord Almighty deceiving those who follow Jesus and love GOD who created the Universe.
Even though the mammon is much powerful than us, GOD Almighty will deliver us from the demonic hands and deception as He promised that He will return and take us truly believing Him to the Heaven of God. Praise the LORD, ALMIGHTY!
Glory to GOD!! Amen
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re: Swine Flu: An End-Time Vision...
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/09_Prophetic/090728.swine.flu.dream.html
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Financial greed demons and deceivers going to ~~>>
Will be shot to there
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=011008&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=81090cc3-4847-4b66-804c-a1ba82d1e9ea&referralPlaylistId=playlist
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Lord, You are my strength and power. I rest in You as only You can fight against the big demonic power gobbling up the world.
Jesus, you taught us to focus on YOU, not on this world -- as I give all my burden to You as You said, "My burden is light, my yoke is easy." Matthew 11:30
Praise GOD, only GOD, I can find my strength as this world is increasingly possessed by demonic power faster pace than ever before. Lord, many are deceiving themselves as Christians, but they don't truly love you. Lord, refine me to truly love you and reflect You -- Your Message, Will, and Power -- for You are my Lord and Savior. I serve you as I follow Your Will in faith as You have led me. Praise GOD.
Lord, I love Your Truth, grant me the strength according to Your Mercy and Grace. GLORY to GOD
~*~ GLORY to GOD!!! ~*~
Free from being slaves by believing GOD, but now many are slaved to Mammon demon using all kinds of subtle deceptions taking believers in GOD away from Him. JESUS is coming back SOON!!! GLORY to GOD!!!
re Swine Flu: An End-Time Vision...
August 27, 2009
Pastor Joh. W. Matutis
While trying to prepare my message, the Lord showed me a vision.
I saw a large pasture with very many sheep. All of a sudden, from every direction and from all over, came wolves upon the herd, mixing themselves amongst the sheep. Neither the shepherds nor the shepherd dogs (of utmost importance) sounded any alarm. They lay on the floor as if hypnotized. There was just a bit of panic within the herd. The sheep did notice that something was wrong, but they took no serious note of what was happening. They just continued grazing in a relaxed manner. The shepherds and the shepherd dogs on the other hand noticed nothing.
As I observed closely, I saw the wolves, which had fangs like snakes in their mouths, tweak (pinch or prick) the sheep on their buttocks. These twitched briefly, and then continued their relaxed grazing. After a short while, the wolves ran from the herd, withdrawing themselves again into the mountains, without having stolen a sheep or inflicted any visible harm on them.
On seeing all these things, I thought to myself. 'This is not at all possible, that wolves would come amongst sheep and not harm them. This is out of character!' Then as the wolves left the sheep, I saw all of a sudden the leader of the wolf pack, together with his whole wolf followership on a high cliff. It was like a great beast; a monster. Then the wolves began to howl and yelp. The shepherd, shepherd dogs and all the sheep were terrified, shivering and shocked.
And the leader of the pack began, like a demon, to speak with a deep human voice. “My dear shepherds, dogs and all my dear sheep. You now belong to us. We have you completely in our hands. We were amongst you, without your noticing anything. We worked amongst you in disguise. We even inoculated you with a 'serum' that makes you now ours. You are all, as at now, bearing our 'mark'. We have also inoculated you with our spirit and data, without your having been aware. There is now no more escape for you. The whole flock is now under our control.”
I then said in my spirit “No! The Lord is my shepherd. I will have nothing to do with the devil and his demons. I will not have them as my shepherds.” Then spoke the leader of the wolf pack even further with a sneer on his face, saying “The sheep here ate and slept. Your bellies and welfare was more important to you.”
Now hear what this demon said to me very clearly: “We have now come to take revenge for our man of the Gadarenes. (See Matt 5:1-17) Back then, your Lord cast us out of him, and we had to flee into swine and spring into the abyss. Now though, we have recovered and are strong enough to leave our cursed dwellings again. We have therefore returned from the abyss to take revenge against him (Jesus) and his works. These sheep all grazing here have been infected by our demons from the abyss. They can no longer escape. They belong to us absolutely.”
I was shocked!
Here, God spoke to me saying 'my son, every person will be asked to compulsorily take immunization against the swine flu in the next few days. This is a disguise. They will in the process be infected with demons from the abyss; all who do not have my spirit and my seal upon them. Yes, it will be such that that they will receive a deadly spirit inoculated into them. This will allow the wolves do with them what they like. Whoever does not follow them, antagonizes or stands against them in any way, will be eliminated at the touch of a button.
'For such will there be no more escape from them. Yes it is true, my son,' says the Lord. 'These cursed spirits will arise again out of the abyss and return through the “swine” to continue their mischief amongst the people who neither know nor follow me. I however, with my church will do same as then. We will depart from that area. So will those demons from the abyss exterminate one third of humanity.'
Then said the Lord to me further, 'But you, my children, who follow me, must be bold and brave, and say NO! Do not allow yourselves to be pricked and inoculated. You must consistently trust me. I will take you with me to the other shore, and we will continue there. For you my children, life goes on quite normally. You are my sheep. You hear my voice and follow me. And I send you as sheep amongst wolves. Warn all my children and all men of good will against this worldwide compulsory inoculation. It appears harmless. It is not!
'It is more the return on the ancient demons of the abyss. Warn everyone! Even when you are termed “paranoid” and “terrorist”. You are my children, and my people. You are holy. You should therefore have no other “stigma” in your bodies. Your body is a temple for my holy spirit, and not a secret dwelling for demons, which had been cast out by me, from which I delivered you,' says the Lord.
I am passing on this message as it was given me.
Dear friends, we are right in the end times. Watch quite carefully, what happens to you and your children. The devil is, and remains a liar. And he has no good intentions. I was shaken, when God showed me this vision with the swine, in connection with the whole thing about immunization against swine flu.
The believers are about to undergo the end times test, where will be shown, whether we have enough resistance power, enough to say NO. You are not defenseless. God gave you his Holy Spirit and the whole armor (see Ephesians 6: 16-17). These you will now need and must soon make use of. If you are not yet a true child of God, repent! Be baptized and be filled the Holy Spirit, so that the seal of God will be upon your life (Ephesians 1:1,13, 4:30 and Revelations 7:3&4) and you cannot be touched for the devil.
Do write me a few lines.
I would like to keep praying for you.
Pastor Joh.W.Matutis.
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/09_Prophetic/090728.swine.flu.dream.html
We must remember that JESUS didn't abolish the Law in O.T., but He fulfilled the law as we can see that the latter part of the New Law is parallel to the O.T. law ~~~ Law 6-10 which is the latter half of the ten commandments.
Exodus 20:
7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13Thou shalt not kill.
14Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15Thou shalt not steal.
16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
~*~ Justice and Grace ~*~
Genesis 18:23-25
God's justice is according to His righteousness, His holy character. Psalm 119:172 defines righteousness, stating "All Your commandments are righteousness." Those commandments reflect in writing the character of God.
What God does is always consistent with who and what He is, and what He has written. His righteousness is absolute purity. He is utterly incapable of an unholy, unrighteous, unjust act. For God to act unfairly, He would simply have to cease being God. It is totally impossible for Him to commit an injustice.
When Abraham uses the word "righteous" in verse 23, he is not saying, "Would You destroy the sinless with the wicked?" He means people who, through their fear of God and being conscientious, have kept themselves free from the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's concern was that there were people in the city we might consider to be really good citizens. They were not sinless, but if there was a fear of God in them, maybe they were trying with all their might to obey God, but they were caught up simply in being in the environment which God had decided He was going to destroy.
God does not always act with justice; sometimes He acts with mercy. That is what He did with Lot and his family. God acted with justice against the city because it was so corrupt, so evil, so filled with sin that it even offended God's sense of what is right and wrong. It even offended God's patience, His longsuffering. And so in justice He wiped the city off the map, but in grace and mercy He spared Lot, his wife, and two children.
Mercy is not justice, but neither is it injustice, because injustice would violate righteousness, and God always acts according to His holy character, which is total righteousness. Therefore mercy, which manifests kindness and grace, does no violence to righteousness, and we may see non-justice in God-- which is mercy--but we never see injustice in God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
May the LORD smite the evil greed >> 'Capitalism: A Love Story' - OPENS NATIONWIDE OCTOBER 2nd!
(((~~ Capitialism is so corrupt, it is evil and has no hope. It is against God, the nation, the people -- it has turned into corrupted alliance against GOD, and there will not be a turning back -- irreconcilable with GOD. Only GOD can deliver His Justices against the greedy capitalists defiling the nation and people, globally. It is just a matter of Time, not if God will deliver His Justices against the greedy capitalists. May GOD show HIS POWER and GLORY against those who corrupted this country to satisfy their greed - as Jesus said, it is the eternal condemnation of GOD under the law in O.T. and Jesus is the eternal life. PRAISE GOD! MAY THE LORD SHINE HIS GLORY -- the END is coming SOON! ~~~)))))))
Confronting Error with Condemnation, Not Conversation
Luke 20:45-47
45Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,
46Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
47Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
http://www.gty.org/AudioPlayer/Sermons/42-250
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/42-250
And now we come to the Word of God again, and Luke 20 is our text...Luke 20. We have arrived at the end of this chapter and we’ll look at the final three verses...Luke chapter 20 verses 45 through 47. Let me establish them in your mind, follow as I read. Luke chapter 20 beginning at verse 45.
“And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
Strong words. Unmistakable words. Backing up a little bit from this text and approaching it from afar off, we need to be reminded that the Bible warns us about false teachers from beginning to end. There have always been and there always will be false religious leaders who operate for Satan. They operate out of the kingdom of darkness, but they operate as if they are messengers from God.
In the twentieth chapter of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul met with the Ephesian elders and he said to them this, “I have not ceased to warn you night and day with tears for three years.” Warning you about what? “Savage wolves who will come in not sparing the flock and of your own selves perverse men who will arise to do destruction with their heretical teachings,” is the implication. “Expect it from the outside and from the inside.”
In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 13 to 15, the Apostle Paul said that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. That is to say he comes as if he represents God. So don’t be surprised if his messengers are also disguised as angels of light.
False teachers robe themselves in the garments of God. They want people to believe that they represent God, that they know God, that they have insights into spirituality and divine truth and divine wisdom, even though they are the emissaries of hell itself. The Apostle Paul in writing to Timothy, helping him to understand ministry in the church said this in 1 Timothy 4, “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times, these times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons by means of the hypocrisy of liars.” Demon doctrine energized by demon spirits in hypocritical false teachers who lie.
Peter...2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1....says, “False prophets also arose among the people just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies. They will bring swift destruction upon themselves, many will follow their sensuality. Because of them the way of truth will be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, their destruction is not asleep.”
And you remember, of course, the words of Jude. “I make every effort to write to you about our common salvation, but I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith.” Why? “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Beware...beware...beware of false teachers. As we read in 1 John chapter 2, there are many antichrists. They are everywhere and you who know the truth must protect yourselves from them.
Never were false teachers more aggressive than during the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was as if hell amassed its heaviest assault on any one person on the Lord Jesus during those three years. And we would understand that. We would understand that. To thwart the gospel purposes of God, Satan unleashed everything he had on Jesus Christ. And when we ask...Who were the agents of hell? Who were the agents of Satan who attempted to thwart the purposes of God? Were they the criminals in the culture? Were they the tax collectors, the traitors? Were they the prostitutes, the thugs, the thieves? No. The emissaries and agents of Satan were the most devout, the most religious, the most respected religious leaders in Israel...the scribes and the Pharisees, along with the Sadducees and the Herodians. They all came together against Jesus Christ. They amassed all their ability, all their demonically designed spiritual ability to attack Him, to bring Him down to thwart the purposes of God. Keep it in mind, the enemies of the gospel were and always are most formidable when they are religious...especially the Pharisees and the scribes because they controlled the dominant religion of Judaism at the time. They are relentless in their assault on Jesus.
They didn’t get along with the Sadducees because they had very different theology. They didn’t get along with Herodians because the Herodians were political and they were attached to Herod who wasn’t even a Jew. They had great differences with one another, did the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians, but on one thing hell brought them all together and that is on getting rid of Jesus. And on Friday of Passion Week, they succeeded by the purpose of God, they succeeded in having Him crucified.
As we come to Luke chapter 20, however, it is Wednesday of Passion Week. It is Wednesday. It’s been a long day, a long day in which Jesus has been in the temple moving in and around the masses of people in the temple, He has been teaching the crowds. And He has been engaged in confrontation with the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests, the Sadducees, and the Herodians who all have made their assaults on Him trying to discredit Him publicly so they would have a just cause to have Him executed because He was such a threat to the kingdom of darkness and to their own earthly position. They’ve tried everything they know and they have not succeeded.
So we read in chapter 20 and verse 40, they didn’t have enough courage to question Him any longer about anything. They were done. They had exhausted all their options. It was over. They asked Him no more questions. And then we said in verse 41, Jesus begins to ask the questions and mercifully, compassionately, kindly He brings up the issue again of the identity of Messiah as not just a Son of David but a Son of God, THE Son of God.
In verses 41 to 44, you remember from last week, He takes them back to Psalm 110 in which David calls Messiah, “My Lord.” So Messiah is both David’s Son and David’s Lord, and therefore He is a man yet to be born, but He must also be God who was alive at the time David spoke. So in one more compassionate effort, Jesus affirms again His deity and the necessity of Messiah being both God and man. That is an act of compassion. In a sense, it’s a final act of compassion, one more time to speak of His identity as the true Messiah, Son of David, Son of God.
And now He is done. He’s done talking to the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians except by necessity at His trial. He is done speaking to the crowds, the people and verse 45 says, “While all the people were listening, He said to His disciples...” This is a transition. People are still listening but He turns to speak to the disciples, this is what He will now do from here on. No more messages to the crowds. From now on He speaks to His disciples. Very important transition. He said all there is to say, nothing more can be said. He’s answered every question that could be raised. He will turn and give instruction to those who are still following, still showing interest, still wanting to learn from Him, still following Him. The attackers are gone and the crowd fades away.
But there’s one final message for everybody to hear, disciples and people. And it is the message of verses 46 and 47, “Beware of the scribes.” He goes out with a warning. The final message, any time somebody gives a final message, it’s got to be an important one. What is the last thing Jesus has to say to the crowds? We want to know what that last word is, it is a word of warning. Not only a word of warning, but a word of condemnation. Beware of them, they are dangerous and they will receive greater condemnation...end of verse 47. So He warns the people about them and He pronounces damnation upon them. Very strong words.
Now before we look at this, let me frame the importance of this text in a current context, okay? Some months ago I wrote a book called The Truth War. It is the latest in a series of books through the years that I have written to address what I think are dangerous errors that exist in the church. I wrote the book, The Truth War, to expose and to bring the judgment of the Word of God on the aberrations and the dangers of a new movement called “The Emerging Church,” or “The Emergent Church Movement.” It is really post-modern relativism corrupting the church. It has moved in among so-called evangelicals who now reject doctrinal certainty, Scripture-clarity, and gospel exclusivity. I’ll say that again. The mark of this movement is a rejection of doctrinal certainty, Scripture clarity, and gospel exclusivity. It is neo-liberalism. It’s just the old liberalism that destroyed the major denominations in this country, the old higher critical theory, it’s the old liberalism back in a new dress, if you will, calling for comradery, collegiality, tolerance with those who do not believe the gospel, do not even believe Christianity is the true religion. Extols the virtues of generous, open dialogue rather than dogmatism. Calls for respect, tolerance and diversity. And just to pull it all down, they have found a buzz word to define what marks the movement of the emerging church, it’s the word “conversation.” That’s their word. They want to engage everybody in a conversation so that we can all contribute our spiritual insights.
One of the leaders of old liberalism was a man by the name of Harry Emerson Fosdick. In 1928, Fosdick said this, “Many preachers indulge habitually in what they call expository sermons. They take a passage from Scripture and proceeding on the assumption that the people attending church that morning are deeply concerned about what the passage means, they spend their half hour or more on historical exposition of the verse or chapter, ending with some appended practical application to the auditors. Could any procedure be more surely predestined to dullness and futility? Who seriously supposes that as a matter of fact one in a hundred of the congregation cares to start with what Moses, Isaiah, Paul, or John meant in those special verses, or came to church deeply concerned about it? Nobody else who talks to the public so assumes that the vital interest of the people are located in the meaning of words spoken two thousand years ago.” So Fosdick makes a prophecy in 1928. “The future...he says...belongs to a type of sermon which can best be described as an adventure in cooperative thinking.” Conversation...an adventure in cooperative thinking...1928.
Just recently, 2005, Doug Pagitt, one of the leaders of the emerging movement says, “Our sermons are not lessons that precisely define belief so much as they are stories that welcome our hopes and ideas and participation.” Let’s have a conversation. Conversation with those who disagree, conversation with those who have another religion. No more dogmatism. We set aside condemnation for conversation.
Brian McClaren(?) who is one of the leading, if not THE leading writer in the Emerging Movement has a new book called The Secret Message of Jesus. That’s always scary. Jesus doesn’t have a secret message, He revealed His message. But anyway, he says in The Secret Message of Jesus, “In an age of global terrorism and rising religious conflict, it’s significant to note that all Muslims regard Jesus as a great prophet, that many Hindus are willing to consider Jesus as a legitimate manifestation of the divine, that many Buddhists see Jesus as one of humanity’s most enlightened people and that Jesus Himself was a Jew.” Hey, he’s saying, “Isn’t it great? We all like Jesus. Let’s start the conversation.” He goes on, “A shared reappraisal of Jesus’ message could provide a unique space or common ground for urgently needed religious dialogue. And it doesn’t seem an exaggeration to say that the future of our planet may depend on such dialogue. So we’ll set aside all our doctrinal differences to save the planet, let the people go to hell.”
His last comment, “This reappraisal of Jesus’ message may be the only project capable of saving a number of religions, including Christianity.” So we all have to find the secret message of Jesus which no doubt is hidden in our own spiritual psyches and have a conversation. Instead of condemning these other religions, we need to sit down and have a conversation and learn from their spirituality, learn from their spiritual experience, learn from God in them.
Another prominent advocate in the Emerging Movement is a somewhat familiar name, Tony Campollo who is a very popular speaker. Here are Tony’s own words that give you some idea of where this movement’s going. Don’t normally read these kinds of things but I think it’s very helpful to know what’s happening. This is what he says, quote: “What we have to do is show respect to one another and to speak to each other with a sense that even if people don’t convert, they’re God’s people. God loves them and we do not make the judgment of who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. I think that what we all have to do is leave judgment up to God. What Muslims will not do is condemn Jews and Christians to hell, if in fact they do not accept Islam. Islam is much more gracious toward evangelical Christians who are faithful to the New Testament than Christians are toward Islamic people who are faithful to the Koran.” Now there’s an interesting spin. Obviously he hasn’t been reading the papers about the massacre of Christians in Islamic environments.
But the idea is, we just have to be generous with everybody. He goes on to say, “Mohammed was very understanding that there was great truth in Christianity. He differed with us in that he felt he had a more complete truth and Islam would hold to that. But Mohammed contended that we would ultimately be judged in terms of the truth we had at our disposal. I think there are Muslim brothers and sisters who are willing to say you live up to the truth as you understand it, I will live up to the truth as I understand it and we’ll leave it up to God on judgment day. I’ve got to believe that Jesus is the only Savior, but being a Christian is not the only way to be saved.”
Further he says, “Our Muslim brothers and sisters can say Islam is the only true faith, but we’re not convinced that only Muslims enjoy salvation. I’m not convinced that the grace of God doesn’t go further than the Christian community.” Here’s another sentence, “What we have to do is say that we believe different things. But there’s so much goodness in the Islamic community, it cannot be ignored. It seems to me that when we listen to the Muslim mystics as they talk about Jesus and their love for Jesus, I must say it’s a lot closer to New Testament Christianity than a lot of the Christians that I hear.”
In other words, if we’re looking for common ground, can we find it in mystical spirituality even if we can’t theologically agree? Can we pray together in such a way that we connect with a God that transcends our theological differences? This is the conversation. You can have it with anybody and everybody because we don’t have doctrinal clarity. We don’t know what the real interpretation of Scripture is.
January 2006, the Emergent USA group met with Synagogue 3000, 24-hour inter-religious conversation centered on themes of sacred community learning and worship. A Jewish Blog(?) called Cineblog(??), sounds like a bun you buy at the airport. Cineblog reports on what happened. “Synagogue 3000 has identified a contemporary Jewish religious phenomenon that is called Jewish Emergent. This week Synagogue 3000 convened for the very first time a working group on emergent sacred communities, visionary Jewish leaders committed to the establishment of transformative sacred communities unbound by conventional expectations about what a synagogue is supposed to be.” So the Emerging Church, that’s their motto, that they’re going to come up with churches that aren’t bound by the conventional idea of a church, now the Jews are joining, they’re not going to be bound by conventional ideas of the synagogue. To enrich the conversation, Synagogue 3000 invited members of the working group to exchange ideas with forward thinking Christian leaders from Emergent US, meeting of the working group on Emergent sacred communities mark the first time ever that Emergent US had met with any religious group outside the Christian faith. It was exciting, inspiring and historic. And emergent people, it’s a perfect environment, you go there, you learn about their spirituality and their knowledge of God. And you have a conversation. And out of that conversation comes some kind of enlightenment with those of Judaism or Islam, or Mormonism, or Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodox religion. Or Jehovah’s Witnesses, whoever.
Now all that to say this. When I wrote The Truth War, the book, I was curious to see what the response would be. The response from the Emerging church people was they did not like it. I was not shocked. And the response was this. “The book is divisive. The book is unloving. The book is intolerant.” And they said, “If I really cared about people and if I really had the Spirit of Jesus, I would humbly join the conversation and openly embrace the useful spiritual insights in other religions.”
Conversation, huh? Not condemnation. And besides, as is becoming very, very popular nowadays, Jews don’t have to believe in Jesus any way, they have a different way of salvation.
Well in response to this criticism, why don’t I join the conversation, I only have one question to answer, it’s this...How did Jesus deal with those who didn’t believe the truth? How did Jesus deal with those who didn’t believe the truth who were totally religious? Who set spirituality at the pinnacle of human experience? How did Jesus deal with people in religion, religious leaders? Did He have a conversation? Or did He issue a condemnation? Cause I just want to do what Jesus did.
Well clearly Jesus did not engage in post-modern conversation. He did not deal in some abstract relativistic dialogue on the themes of spirituality, throwing around ideas about God and ideas about Himself as Jesus that were as flexible as rubber. Here are our Lord’s final words about religious leaders, not irreligious, religious, Jewish religious leaders. And what He says here frankly is not new. Go back to chapter 11 of Luke, it’s not new. Verse 37, “When He had spoken a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him.” Now there’s a perfect opportunity to have a conversation. This isn’t even a formal setting. This isn’t even a synagogue, a sermon or public meeting in the temple. This is lunch at the Pharisee’s house.
So He went in and reclined at the table. And the Pharisee would have had a lot of other Pharisees there as well. And when the Pharisee saw it he was surprised that He hadn’t first ceremonially washed before the meal. He didn’t follow the Pharisaic prescription for some ceremonial washing, He just sat down and ate. And here was the Lord’s word to him.
“Now the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the platter but inside of you, you’re full of robbery and wickedness.” That is a short conversation. That is a go-nowhere conversation. And then to make it worse, verse 40, “You, fools, did He not who made the outside make the inside also? But give that which is within as charity and then all things are clean for you. Woe to you, that’s damnation, curse you, Pharisees, you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb and yet disregard justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees, you love the front seats in the synagogue and the respectful greetings in the marketplace. Woe to you, you’re like concealed tombs and the people who walk over you are unaware of it. You’re being defiled...” That is some kind of conversation.
Chapter 12 of Luke, when this massive crowd comes together. Verse 1, so many that they were stepping on one another. “He began saying to His disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven or the influence of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy. And know this, there is nothing covered up, hypocrites cover things up, nothing they cover up that will not be revealed, nothing hidden that will not be known. I’m going to unmask their hypocrisy.”
Now the text before us in Luke 20 has a parallel in Mark 12...also a brief text. But it has another parallel in Matthew 23. Only in Matthew 23 it takes up an entire chapter. The full text of what Jesus says about the Pharisees and the scribes is in Matthew 23. And you can read it on your own, we’re not going to go through it today. But it is the full text of what Jesus said on that Wednesday of which Luke only gives us a small portion. It is a blistering denunciation...a blistering diatribe on the false religious leaders. No conversation, no collegiality, no dialogue, no cooperation, confrontation, condemnation. Without compassion? No. Remember chapter 19 verse 41, when He came to the city, what did He do? He wept. And we just heard again that He declared to them that He is the Messiah, Son of David, Son of God. That is a merciful effort again to declare who He is. These days are full of sadness on His part, and full of compassion, as He gives invitation to them to believe. But when compassion is exhausted and invitations have ended, you have condemnation.
Now let’s look at the text. Three points...a caution, characterization, condemnation. Any one with a corrupted view of Jesus Christ and the gospel is under condemnation. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t know the Father. If you don’t know the Son, you don’t know the Father, 1 John 2. Let’s look at the caution.
Very simple, “Beware of the scribes...beware of the scribes.” In Matthew’s lengthy record of the Lord’s denunciation, it is “Beware of the scribes and Pharisees.” Scribes were Pharisees...scribes were Pharisees, they were the law experts, not all Pharisees were scribes, but scribes were Pharisees. There were non-scribal Pharisees, but scribes were Pharisees. They were th experts in the law, they were the legalistic self-righteous sect. In fact, the Jews had a saying, the saying went like this, “Moses received the law and gave it to Joshua, Joshua received the law and gave it to the elders, the elders received the law and gave it to the prophets, the prophets received the law and gave it to the Pharisees and the scribes. They were the treasurers of the Law of God. They were the ones given the trust. They were experts. They were the lawyers of Israel. Now remember, you’ve got a theocratic kingdom where all law is viewed as God’s law, not just biblical law, but the law of tradition, the laws that had grown up through the years. All that composite of law was viewed in a theocratic way. It was all the law of God.
So, those who knew the law of God interpreted the law of God and applied the law of God were the lawyers in Israel. They were not just giving Pharisees and rabbis and priests and others insight into the meaning of Scripture, they were also interpreting all the law, not only in its interpretation, but in its application. They were the lawyers in Israel. They cared for all matters legal. They were the dominant force in Judaism, not only religiously but socially. They handle all legal matters for people, property, estates, contracts, resolutions. All those things fell into the hands of these lawyers.
It was no different then than it is for us. All legal matters ultimately end up in the hands of lawyers. And so it did end up in the hands of the scribes. But from their viewpoint, everything was sacred. And every adjudication that they rendered and every position that they took was in fact supposed to be a representation of God and what God willed...a stewardship, if you will, from God. Because they then were the agents of God, they carried with them tremendous weight and trust. People had no where else to turn because there were no others than the scribes to handle all their matters. He warns everybody, both the crowd and the disciples to beware, prosechote apa(?), take heed, guard yourself against.
How you going to do that? How you going to do that? Because they are in to everything. How are you going to extract yourself from this theocratic environment where everything falls into the lap of the scribes and they render their will on everything? The last thing that Jesus would say to them is, they’re basically good guys, they have religious intentions, they have some spiritual insights, let’s have a conversation with them. Push them away, get away from them. Like Jude 23 talks about, “You’re going to get your garments stained, or you’re going to get burned if you get too close.”
Why are they such a threat? Because they are not godly. They do not know God. They do not have spiritual wisdom. They are destructive. They are agents of Satan sent to fight the purposes of God.
Do you understand? And this is such a basic thing and I’ve said it many times through the years, false religion never restrains the flesh. So these people all operate like the worst of the unregenerate, only it isn’t apparent on the surface. False religion can’t subdue the wretched heart. That can only be subdued by regeneration, and that only happens by means of gospel truth. So they are always going to be one thing on the outside and something else on the inside. Beware of them. They are not godly. They don’t have anything spiritually to offer. They can’t give you anything beneficial. They are destructive. They are deadly. They are dangerous. Don’t get near them, you’ll get singed, stained. Stay away.
That’s why Psalm 1, something as basic as Psalm 1 says this, at the beginning of the Psalms, “Lesson one, Blessed is the man that doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked., who doesn’t stand in the path of sinners and sit in the seat of scoffers. Don’t assemble with them.”
From the caution comes the characterization. Here’s how He characterizes them. Verse 46, “They like to walk around in long robes, love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, chief seats in the synagogues, places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers.” Wow. All that sums up in one word, hypocrites. All people in false religion are hypocrites. They don’t know God. They do not know God. You can’t get there except through Christ. Our Lord pulls no punches. The main element is that they are all spiritual phonies, they are all spiritual frauds.
Now His audience would be very familiar with these kinds of things that they did. Let’s just work our way through, six of them. First, they like to walk around in long robes, Greek word stole, from which the old word stole comes, a robe to the ground. And they began to develop robes that were very different than other people’s robes. They were robes that had certain little things on them, markings and fancy things. They became unique and fancy and expensive robes that would identify them as the holy people. They lengthened the tassels on their robes, Matthew 23:5 says. And that comes from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, back in Numbers 15 verses 38 to 40, God had ordained that the Jews could put little tassels on the bottom of the robe and it was a really wonderful little kind of symbol to remind them of the law of God. Everywhere you go you see that, it reminds you of the law of God. Jesus had them on His robe, according to Matthew 9:20. It was what they did. But the scribes and the Pharisees lengthened the tassels, not for the sake of a better memory device, but for the sake of ostentation, appearance. They weren’t trying to bring attention to God and His Word, they were trying to bring attention to themselves as if they were holy. It was a way to position themselves, to posture themselves to achieve what they wanted. And what they wanted was to get into the lives of the people and abuse and use the people for their own self-will. So they wore special clothes.
I think about that every time I see somebody dressed in some ridiculous religious garment, parading around as if this is some indication of greater holiness. Instead of a little thing on the bottom of the robe to signify submission to God’s law, they had developed these kinds of robes that just brought status to them. Still the way it is today. People wearing religious robes.
Secondly, they loved respectful greetings in the marketplace. As they moved in and out of people in the daily life, public life, they expected to be addressed with titles of dignity. Back to Matthew 23 again. In that full treatment of Matthew 23, our Lord’s words about them, He does tell us the particular titles that they liked. It says in verse 7, they want to be called by men rabbi. We’ll use the English transliteration, rabbi. Meaning exalted teacher, excellency, most knowledgeable one, most wise. It would be tantamount to I suppose calling someone doctor today. They were at the top. In fact, they were so exalted, if you were called rabbi, you were so exalted that in the Talmud, Sanhedrin 88 is the location in the Talmud, it says that. “It is more punishable to act against the words of a scribe than the words of Scripture.” They wanted to be called excellency, elevated one, most knowledgeable one, exalted one. That’s what they sought.
They also wanted to be called father. Verse 9, “Do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your Father, He who is in heaven.” Father meaning source, not only are they exalted in their wisdom but they are the source of spiritual life, they are the source of spiritual truth. They want to be father, progenitor, creator.
So they want to wear fancy robes. They want to take exalted high and mighty sanctimonious titles. And they want to be called father as if they are the source of spiritual life. They want to be called leader, verse 10, “Do not be called leaders, for one is your leader, that is Christ.” Call yourself servant. They want to be leader. That is the one who determines direction, the one who determines destiny, the one who sets the course. False teachers are never humble. They wear the facade of humility. But keep it in mind. If you reject the truth, that’s the proudest thing you can do to set yourself against God and His Word, right? You reject the Bible, you reject the gospel, that’s the ultimate act of pride. False teachers are never humble. The proudest thing you can do is reject the Word of God, rebel against it. That’s what they do. Then they want to be exalted by title and by garb.
Thirdly, they love not only respectful greetings in the marketplaces, same verb, they love chief seats in the synagogues. They had elevated platforms on the front of the synagogue. The important scribes, Pharisees would sit up on that elevated platform, recognized as the experts in the law. Visiting scribes coming from their own place to another synagogue would expect to be ushered up to the elevated place.
Starting to get the picture? Now you know why I am not called doctor, why I don’t wear a robe, and don’t sit on the platform. It’s just a small way to keep from any of this.
And then, fourthly, they love places of honor at banquets. Any kind of a special occasion, they want the place of honor which is next to the host. They want to be the center of attention, the most honored of all.
This is what they’re after. It’s all about pride. All four of those things have to do with pride...elevation, that’s what they seek, religious leaders are after this...false religious leaders. It turns a corner with the fifth one. Verse 47, “Who devour widows’ houses.”
Now what is this? First of all, let me just tell you, the word devour is a very strong word. There is a verb in the Greek, esthio. It means to consume, or devour, or that’s metaphoric, literally it means to eat...the word for eating. But metaphorically, to devour or consume. This is not esthio, this is katesthio. Always when you add a preposition at the beginning, you intensify the verb. This is to totally consume, to plunder, to eat up. Hence, devour in the strongest sense. They go after the most defenseless. Like the false teachers of whom Paul writes to Timothy, they go after silly women. They go after the unprotected and the weak. They devour widows houses. Widows are the easiest ones to get to.
What do you mean? Well first of all, widows were to be protected, right? Back in the Old Testament, pure religion, says James, is to care for widows. Exodus 22:22, Deuteronomy 10:18, Malachi 3:5, and other Scriptures call upon the people of God to care for widows. God cares for widows. These scribes devour them.
How do they do that? Now keep in mind, that they were the lawyers of the system. So when a woman who was a widow needed someone to protect her, she would turn to the lawyer with the idea that he’d protect her home, her property, all of those things. Some interesting study has been done, some interesting research on the kind of behavior that was going on. Here’s just a brief look at it.
First of all, they would take support, money for themselves from widows although it was forbidden. Knowledge without price. Knowledge without price, that was the code of a true rabbi, certainly with regard to widows. They would disobey that and whatever wisdom they would give to widows, they would charge them and do so exorbitantly. What could a widow do?
Secondly, they would cheat widows of their estate by getting in to the legal machinations under the guise that they would provide legal protection. They would literally begin to eat away the estate of that widow.
Thirdly, they would leach on and abuse hospitality, take advantage of available room, board, food. There are some stories about gluttony and excessive drinking...taking that from poor widows.
Another way, by mismanaging the property of widows so that out of complete carelessness a widow was absolutely made destitute. One of the popular ones was to take money from older widows with deficient mental powers, take advantage of those who were unable to defend themselves mentally.
And maybe the worst, they would accumulate debts the widow would owe them and owe them and owe them and be unable to pay and so they would take the widow’s home as pledge for the debt...and thus devour the house. When the widow couldn’t pay, they threw her out. That is why they are characterized in the words of Jesus, I’ll read it to you again, Luke 11:39, “You are full of robbery. You are full of robbery and wickedness.” Or the words of Jesus in Luke 16, or the words of Luke, I should say, in Luke 16:14, “The Pharisees who were lovers of money.” Proud and greedy, that characterized them, that’s typical of false teachers. They do what they do for filthy lucre. They elevate themselves. They put on a facade of spirituality. And they bilk the most helpless defenseless people.
Now there are lawyers who do that. Thank the Lord for Christian lawyers and lawyers with integrity who don’t do that. But there are lawyers who do that. But you know something? There are evangelists that do that, false evangelists, false religious teachers take money out of people’s pockets. And false religions prey of people in third world countries who are already impoverished to start with. The newest episode of that is happening in Africa, by the way. As the health, wealth, prosperity purveyors have now gone to Africa with great success. You’ve got a population of people who are hopelessly poor, who can’t see any kind of a future, who live on a meager amount of money, who are in a sense defenseless, living on the edge of hopelessness, you promise them health, wealth and prosperity. This is so successful.
I’ll just give you one illustration. In Logos(?), Nigeria there is one church where this stuff is being proclaimed with 54 thousand people in the church. And in order to get the health, wealth and prosperity, you have to give the leader one month’s salary. This in the name of Jesus, fleecing the abused, fleecing the poor, fleecing the defenseless. And this is spreading across Africa. They’re building the biggest churches on the planet in Africa in the name of the health, wealth, prosperity gospel, preying on poor people who have no hope. It’s a scheme that makes the guy at the top rich.
So, false teachers are proud and greedy...not all to the same degree. And then sixth, for appearances sake, they offer long prayers. Nothing wrong with a long prayer. I’ve prayed a few myself. But something wrong with praying one for pretense, praying just to be seen. Remember Matthew 6:5 and 6 where Jesus condemns that kind of praying in the Sermon on the Mount which was so characteristic of these false leaders. He says this, “When you pray, you’re not to be as the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners in order to be seen by men.” Spiritual frauds, spiritual phonies taking advantage of people. They do it under pretense.
By the way, the word “under pretense” interesting word, prophasis is the word. That which is put out in front to hide the true state of things. That’s what it is. They hide the reality of what they are. It’s a specious cloak that they wear, long prayers. It’s a game false teachers play. Again in Matthew chapter 23, the Lord describes this kind of hypocrisy. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees,” verse 25, “hypocrites. You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you’re full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the dish that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you’re like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. And even so, you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you’re full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Those are the most religious people in Israel. You have evangelicals today who are saying we need to cooperate with Israel. We need to link arms with them because they’re the people of God and share our spiritual insights. No...no. Jesus didn’t have a conversation with the most religious in Israel. He issued a condemnation. That’s why Matthew 23, again, as long as you’re there, look at it, verse 15, “Woe,” that means damnation, cursing, verse 16, “Woe,” 23, 25, 27, 29...woe, woe, woe, woe, woe...pronouncing horrendous, horrific judgment on them. Verse 33, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?” That’s a condemnation, not a conversation.
Now let’s go back to Luke and we see the last words of the chapter. We saw the caution and the characterization. Here’s the condemnation. “These will receive greater condemnation.” The key is greater, not lesser because they’re religious. The Lord isn’t going to like them all of a sudden because they’re religious, because they’re good, because they’re moral, because God loves all religions, and all religions love God and Jesus loves all religions, and all religions love Jesus. This is wonderful. No. He pronounces on them a more severer damnation. Greater, perissoteron, it’s a comparative, krima, judgment. Perissoteron, a far greater, an excessive, a more abundant. Or if you will, an extraordinary condemnation, more than the usual. Religious people get a greater damnation, not a lesser one. Far from pleasing God somehow because they’ve lived up to whatever truth they had, they receive a greater condemnation...especially if they’ve trampled underfoot the blood of the covenant, counted it an unholy thing, Hebrews 10:29 to 31...rejected Christ.
The idea is clear, if you’re in the wrong religion, you’re going to be condemned. If you’re a purveyor of the wrong religion, you’re going to receive a far-greater suffering and damnation in hell. They’re dangerous, be warned. They’re hypocrites, they’re worthy of condemnation. Compassion...yes, gospel, give them the gospel, pray for their salvation, have a sad heart, but in the end, we have nothing to learn from false teachers and false religions. And they must know that they are under sentence of divine condemnation. They must know for their sake and the sake of those who need to be protected from them. Let’s pray.
Lord, we can only thank You that this is in Scripture. Were we to speak like this independently of clear teaching of Scripture, it might be more than people could bear. But we know it’s Your mind and Your will because You put it in Your Word. Yes we are sad. Yes we weep over those who are part of these false systems. Yes we desire mercifully to give them the truth, proclaiming the truth, even this message is a mercy to any false teacher who hears it. But we must warn them of their coming condemnation and we must warn those who might be seduced by them and fall into that same condemnation. Thank You for this gracious and merciful warning. And we thank You, Lord, for the truth. We thank You that we who know You have come to the truth because of Your power and Your Spirit. We do want to come together and find out what Moses and Isaiah and Paul and John meant by what they said because it’s You speaking in Scripture. We don’t want to have a conversation with anybody but with You and we don’t want to even answer, we just want You to speak. We have nothing to say, we have nothing to offer. We can’t improve on Your Word. We’re not going to find a better understanding in a conversation with anybody anywhere, especially with those who are dead in trespasses and sins and void of the truth. So, Lord, may we bow only to the Word and joyfully to the Word cause it is the truth and the truth sets us free. We thank You for it. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Praise GOD, let all seek the LORD and repent many turned to materialism, idol worship, and moral corruption. PRAISE GOD, May the LORD restore America to seek HIM rather than this world pleasure and glory. May GOD lead and direct us to seek HIM -- may the Lord chastise us to turn away from many kinds of idol worship and restore us to worship HIM! Let all repent before GOD. Praise the LORD, deliver us from the demonic mammon's deception as they are defiling the nations to serve mammon instead of the TRUE GOD!! ALMIGHTY GOD, let Your GLORY shine on the earth so that we worship you!! PRAISE THE LORD!!
LET GOD SHINE FORTH HIS GLORY and smite all false faith so that HE shows HIS POWER and MIGHT which created the Universe!!
((((( Praise the LORD )))))
Solving Problems Through Prayer
2 Chronicles 20:4-15
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/10/01/n_detroit_god_jobs.cnnmoney
Detroit residents turn to God
Oct 1, 2009 filed under Business News
'God's reasoning I don't have a job' says as an attendee at the National Baptist Convention in Detroit.
When the king of Judah called for a nationwide fast to seek God's help, the people from every town responded and came together to pray. Jehoshaphat's actions and words teach us some important truths about solving life's problems through prayer.
Our Father is bigger than our problems. The king stated God was the all-powerful ruler of nations against whom no one could stand (v. 6). While many difficulties are beyond our ability to solve, nothing is impossible for Him (Matt. 19:26). If we pray while focusing on His greatness, our troubles will shrink into proper perspective.
God often wants to involve others in praying with us. Whole families from all over Judah answered the king's call and came together before God (2 Chron. 20:13). Prayer had a central role in the life of the early church as well (Acts 2:42).
Through prayer, the Lord will give us a solution to the problem. His answer could be just what we asked or something entirely unexpected; He might tell us to wait in our current situation instead of taking action, or He could direct us to become involved in something new. In any case, God's direction will be according to His perfect will. What's more, He may ask us to take a step of faith. God uses every opportunity to strengthen our trust and grow us in righteousness.
We don't know how long the people had to wait for an answer, but they didn't act until they heard from the Lord. He told the nation not to be afraid or discouraged, but to trust in Him. Through prayer, we, too, can enter into His presence and receive strength and direction for life's challenges.
PRAISE THE LORD!!! >> Turkish Student Throws Shoe at IMF Chief (((~~ Holy Anger of the LORD ALMIGHTY is coming against the mammon defiling the world with deception and greed!!! Greedy pigs will be thrown into eternal hell. Praise GOD, ALMIGHTY!!! GOD is coming with HIS HOLY ANGER against all those who are deceiving and oppressing the world. Praise the LORD -- HE IS COMING SOOON!!! ~~~)))))))
| 01 Oct 2009 | 08:27 AM ET
A Turkish student threw a shoe at International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Thursday as he made a speech to students in Istanbul ahead of the IMF's annual meeting.
Hundreds of protesters from left-wing parties and unions marched peacefully through central Istanbul, chanting anti-IMF slogans.
Security has been stepped up across the city ahead of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, which begin on Saturday with a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers.
- Watch the video above to see the shoe-throwing incident.
Security guards dragged Selcuk Ozbek, 24 -- who is also a journalist at small left-wing newspaper Birgun -- away after he threw a white sports shoe and rushed towards the stage.
The shoe landed at the feet of Strauss-Kahn.
"Get out of the university, thief IMF," Ozbek shouted during Strauss-Kahn's speech at Istanbul's Bilgi University as part of the IMF-World Bank events.
A female student, who tried to unfurl a protest banner, was also dragged away by security guards. Strauss-Kahn shrugged off the incident.
"It is important for us to have an open debate. I was glad to meet students and hear their views. This is what the IMF needs to do, even if not everyone agrees with us, one thing I learned, Turkish students are polite. They waited until the end to complain," he said in a statement.
The incident echoed that of an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes, a grave insult in the Muslim world, at then U.S. President George W. Bush last December.
Up to 30 students started chanting slogans against the IMF and Turkey's AK Party government, such as "collaborators AKP" outside the university as police took Ozbek away in a car.
Police detained some of the protesters at Bilgi University.
"Throwing a shoe exceeds the limits. This is sad for us. Turkey is hosting an important meeting and we have to pass it well," Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay told reporters.
He said security measures had been taken for the IMF-World Bank meetings.
"He (Strauss-Kahn) is the representative of global capitalism. I tried to raise my views by protesting against him at a time education and health services here have been privatised," student Emre Avci, a member of the Turkish Communist Party, who was among the protesters, told Reuters.
There is significant opposition among Turkish students to the IMF, which helped bail Turkey out of a financial crisis in 2001.
Ankara and the IMF are negotiating a possible new loan agreement after the last one expired last year.
"As we are a left-wing newspaper, we congratulate him (Ozbek) on his protest," Baris Ince, news editor at Birgun newspaper, told Reuters.
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/33116863/
>> Indonesia quake toll soars past 400 (((~~ Judgment of GOD is coming for this world has chosen to follow the greedy evil corruption instead of worshiping GOD. Praise GOD, HE IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!! The HOLY Anger of The LORD Almighty is coming severely to judge all those who turned away from HIM. COMING LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD ALMIGHTY!!! HOLY ANGER of THE LORD ALMIGHTY is coming to judge all those who have turned away from HIM. Praise GOD!!! Physical death is nothing compared to the Eternal Death in hell. And The LORD will show HIS POWER, and all will tremble before HIM. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! The LORD ALMIGHTY HOLY GOD hates all those who sin against HIM, deceive HIS PEOPLE to fall into hands of demonic power. There is no hope in this demonic mammon powered world, except the LORD Almighty shows HIS POWER in HOLY Anger! Jesus said it in the Matthew 24, COME LORD JESUS -- Jesus is coming with His HOLY ANGER!!! LORD hates sin against HIM and HE will judge this world soon.
Praise the LORD -- Let this corrupted world know who is GOD, Almighty.... all will tremble before the Creator and will WORSHIP HIM ONLY!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! ~~~)))))))))))))
* Story Highlights
* Death toll soars past 400 from earthquake in Indonesia
* Aid agencies kick into gear to help those in need
* Second quake hits; thousands feared trapped by collapsed buildings
* Bridges down, phone lines in disrepair, says World Vision Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Another strong earthquake rocked Indonesia early Thursday as the Southeast Asian nation was reeling from an earlier jolt that killed more than 400 people and caused widespread destruction.
The 6.8 magnitude quake Thursday hit South Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), about 89 miles (143 kilometers) from Bengkulu, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The earlier quake Wednesday was 7.6 magnitude.
At least 464 people were dead and more than 500 were injured, said Tugiyo Bisri, spokesman for the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry's Crisis Center said Thursday. The worst hit was the West Sumatra capital of Padang, where 376 people perished, he said.
Officials had little information on those who were missing and feared the death toll would climb into the thousands. Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Ministry of Health's crisis center said that thousands of people may be trapped by collapsed buildings and houses.
Officials were expecting casualties to surpass those of the massive Yogyakarta earthquake three years ago, given the intensity and the spread of the damage this week. The second temblor Thursday only magnified the scope of the disaster.
The second quake was on a smaller scale than the first, said meteorology official Fauzi, who uses only one name. There were no damage reports yet.
In May 2006, a 6.3 magnitude quake centered in the central Java city of Yogyakarta quake killed more than 5,000 people and triggered fears of an eruption of a nearby volcano.
Wednesday's quake struck around 5 p.m., about 33 miles (53 kilometers) from Padang, a city of more than 800,000 people.
It reduced buildings to rubble. People used hammers, chisels and even bare hands to dig through debris for survivors and belongings. Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies of the dead lay in makeshift morgues.
The earthquakes caused widespread power and phone outages, making it difficult for authorities and aid organizations to evaluate damage.
"The situation is quite devastating," said Amelia Merrick, the operations director for World Vision Indonesia.
"Bridges have gone down, phone lines are in total disrepair; it's difficult for us to assess the situation," she said. The organization had said it would send assessment teams to the area Thursday morning.
"We know there's no electricity tonight ... many of the families will be spending the night outdoors, in pitch black. I'm very afraid of what might happen next," she said, referring to the possibility of aftershocks.
State-run Antara news agency cited Pakaya as saying he had received reports that part of a hospital had collapsed and that people were buried under the debris.
Wayne Ulrich, the Red Cross disaster management coordinator in Indonesia, said hundreds of houses were damaged, the extent still unclear.
"We have concerns that a hospital has been partially damaged; a market has caught on fire; the airport was closed down for inspection because of the fear if they landed any planes," it might cause problems, Ulrich said.
He said access to the affected areas was obstructed in parts.
It's "blocked by all kinds of problems: frightened people out in the streets, cars, and people trying to get out of the city ..." VideoWatch Ulrich discuss rescue efforts »
The earthquake was felt in nearby cities, such as Medan and Bengkulu, where people panicked and ran outside in search of higher ground, fearing a tsunami.
But it was also felt as far away as Singapore and Malaysia.
"I did feel the tremor in office today somewhere between 5-6 p.m.," said Ratna Osman, who works in a single-story office building in Petaling Jaya, just outside Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.
"I asked [a co-worker] if there's an earthquake somewhere -- either that or I was hallucinating."
"At first, I thought the chair I was sitting on had a screw loose or something," Osman said.
The region is accustomed to earthquakes, and locals have been taught to identify safe places in case of a tsunami, according to Sean Granville-Ross, the Mercy Corps country director for Indonesia.
"We hope that preparation is now paying off," he said.
But if many homes have been destroyed, people may be spending the night with no shelter, he said.
Earlier this month, an earthquake in West Java killed 57 people.
Indonesians trying to find out more about the quake flooded the Internet, including Twitter. Some expressed concern for relatives and friends in Padang.
"Dear God, please send down your angels to hug and protect my grandpa in Padang," said one Twitter post.
The Web site for one of Indonesia's main newspapers, The Jakarta Globe, crashed for a while, partly as a result of the heavy traffic from people trying to find out about the quake, the paper said in a Twitter post.
Aid agencies kicked into gear to help those in need.
"We had aid ready because this area of Indonesia is susceptible to this type of tragedy," said Jane Cocking, humanitarian director for Oxfam. "Communications with the quake-zone are difficult and we are hoping for the best but having to plan for the worst."
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a tsunami watch for Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia, but canceled it soon after.
The quake did generate a tsunami just under one foot high, the >> Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. (((~~~ The Judgment of GOD is coming -- in this corrupt world. Praise GOD, the LORD ALMIGHTY is coming soon. More natural disasters are coming for many have turned away from worshiping the Creator of Universe. The ALMIGHTY GOD angers against this world for many have turned away from HIM. The greedy mammon defiled the world -- they will be in eternal hell. God's Judgment is coming!!! Praise GOD!!! ~~~))))))))))))
On Tuesday, a magnitude 8.0 quake-triggered tsunami killed at least 111 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga. Read the latest on the Samoa quake and tsunami
The tsunami waves swept across a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean, killing dozens and flattening or submerging villages.
The U.S. Geological Survey declined to say whether the two quakes were linked.
"The simple answer is we can't speculate on a connection," said Carrieann Bedwell of the USGS. "Both are in highly seismic areas."
The epicenters of the two temblors are about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) apart.
WORSHIP GOD, ALMIGHTY!! Many are fallen into satanic mammon lure worshiping money idol. This world is condemned by the mammon as many are fallen into the deception.
God's judgment is coming. TURN AWAY from the materialism as preached by Rabbi Weiss.
We are living in the last days -- the LORD ALMIGHTY IS COMING SOON.
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Seeking God Through Prayer
2 Chronicles 20:1-3
During the reign of Jehoshaphat, a vast army assembled to attack the nation of Judah. His response to the situation can guide us in handling our own crises.
The Bible records that the king "turned his attention to seek the Lord" in prayer (v. 3). Likewise, when we face hardship, our best response is to cry out to our heavenly Father. As God's children, we can be certain that He loves us and cares about the details of our lives. Through the cross, He established a new covenant for those who place their trust in the Lord Jesus (Luke 22:20)--He agreed to forgive our sins, adopt us into His family, and watch over us. This salvation does not depend upon our good actions but upon the
completed work of Jesus, who died in our place (Eph. 2:8). God also sent His Spirit to live in us as proof of our salvation and to be ever-present with us. He is interested in every aspect of our lives and promises to hear our prayers.
Jehoshaphat was ready for this crisis because he had developed the habit of seeking the Lord in various situations (2 Chron. 19:3). If we want to be prepared for the unexpected, then we must discipline ourselves to seek God every day, acknowledging His Lordship and our dependence upon Him.
By examining our habits and thought life, we can know whether our attention is on the Lord or other things. If we start our day thinking about Him instead of our own plans, and regularly read and apply Scripture, then we demonstrate a heart that is pursuing Him.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org
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