Friday, July 15, 2005

Leaving Babylon


A Gathering of the Church

Sorry I have been so absent. We have been dealing with taking care of a dying parent. My "mother-in-law" passed away on Monday of lung cancer. As you may imagine it was a very difficult time to do any writing. We had a constant stream of relatives and friends visiting and staying over so there was lots to attend to.
In answer to Susan's question about leaving Babylon, America (the land itself) is not Babylon, it is run by the Gods of Babylon, (The Corporations) but then so is the whole Earth. The organized "Church" truly is Apostate and yes I do believe we must come out of her. Now let me explain what that means. I do not believe that means we must not go to the gatherings, but to not be identified with them as the "Church" The Church is the Body of Christ where ever it may exist; The true believers. We are not Catholics, Methodist, Baptists or any other man made order, but Christians plain and simple. Our purpose for gathering together is not to do some religious duty, but for fellowship, learning, and teaching among other things. There are many sincere hungry people that go to the denominational system, and God may use you there to spread the word. To "come out of her" means be separate, not a part of the value system, not subject to it's authority. The word CHURCH actually means "Called out ones". It is not a building nor an organization, but a living breathing entity. As far as leaving America, I don't know that would be necessary. I do think that the major seats of our society like New York City, Washington DC London Paris and the major cities will experience one plague and disaster after another in the days ahead; So it may be that you would want to begin to seek an alternative to the city. I do not want to create any fear, but that you learn more and more to hear Gods voice and seek his leading. If you trust Him, He will show you what to do as the time comes, and you will know in your heart that you are making the right choices. I would warn you about listening to anyone's directives for what you are supposed to do. In the days ahead, the light will get brighter and the darkness will get darker. You will know what to do if you seek the truth. We would all rather carefully lay out plans, but God seems to have a way of spoiling them. Plans are our way of avoiding the leading of The Spirit. "The just shall live by faith". Fear Not!! We can not save ourselves. Mk:8:35: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."
You ask about how many will be saved... My belief is that God has won this war. By that I mean that in the end a majority of the people that have lived will be saved from damnation. I would say that 1/3 will be damned and 2/3s will be saved. In Revelation 12:4: it says that Satan's tail drew a Third of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. The Stars are both a type of the Angels and the people (souls). I wouldn't build a doctrine on this but just seems to fit to me. I also believe that there is a difference between being saved and Phil:3:14: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the HIGH CALLING of God in Christ Jesus." or Eph:4:15 "Growing up " or the Narrow Gate of Mt:7:14. We will discuss this subject more at a later time.
When I continue on with the subject of Babylon, I fear some may think me a loon. But I must preach what God has given me and let the consequences be whatever they are.
May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil:4:7

12 comments:

nathandave said...

Hey Peter,

Your not a loon at all. and I am sorry to hear about your loss. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard, and it is often both a blessing and a curse ot see it finally take the suffering away. Know that you are in my prayers.

Peter, I tend to keep a hopeful attitude. I believe that God has put a hook in the nose of the leviathan that is Babylon and is forcing it out in the open to destroy it. The field is ripe, and the tares are mature and ready for the fire. I think our Lord is preparing a way for us out of the fire of this judgement if we as you say are able to hear. Well, just my opinion. God bless.

Living Positive said...

In past posts you spoke about the rapture and how it is unsupported biblically.

I came across some scripture today - actually, it was the Gospel reading:

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

as you can see, Jesus says here that the "tares" (the followers of the evil one) will be gathered first.

PursuingTruth said...

thank you both

Anonymous said...

PeterZ,
I'm really sorry to hear about your mother-in-law's suffering and death, and also, for you and your wife; to watch a loved one suffer is always painful. I know God's Spirit will comfort to you.

Your answer was worth the wait, though! It is like listening to my own heart when I hear your words. My heart doesn't express itself as well as yours though.

I pray everyday for discernment from my own voice and His. I confuse the two occasionally. I like for Him to be as clear to me as He has been before, but that's not always the case. But, as you said, the light will become brighter, so I will just be patient, and know that He answers everything in His time, not mine.

Another question, PeterZ, if you were pressed into giving a time frame for Jesus' glorious return, (I know nobody knows but the Father), but I bet you have an idea or a feeling (or at least an educated guess), and would you share this? My uneducated, heartfelf guess is 2 - 5 years.

I look forward to meeting you in Heaven. I know I will know you.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom,
Sincerely and Truly,
Susanne

nathandave said...

to steph,

Salvation is the gift of God's very life. As Paul says, through faith we become adopted sons and daughters of God. That new life grows within us unseen, and must eb cared for and nurtured so that it comes to maturity.

I guess what I am saying is that you cannot lose salvation because since is is the gift of God's life, you never possessed it in the first place. However, the new life growing inside can become stale thorugh neglect. It needs to grow, develop, and gradually replace the old false self that we have up to this point identified with as our true self. This process is hard, and requires a sort of "dying" so that the new can rise in its place. It requires looking at the world thorugh the eyes of Jesus, and accepting all of his teachings, even the ones we think are "unrealistic" like his teachings on non-violence. In this way we can become what we were destined to be. If not, then the seed within us can whither, but it can never be truly lost. The ember sof the fire may burn lowly, but it only takes one spark to reignite it. I hope this answers your question.

PursuingTruth said...

Susanne,.. To answer your question about when Jesus will return, I have given some hints of what I think in previous posts. I don't see it as a easy question. There is much more to His return then just an appearance. I have said that I believe in a sense that there will be two comings. one in us and one for us. I don't believe that the end of this age is the same as Jesus physical return. We have entered a timeframe that the Devil will stomp around for a while and bring much havoc, then he will be bound and the age of the Kingdom will begin. The birth pangs have already begun. I will give you a couple of scriptures for you to contemplate concerning his coming. Acts:3:20: And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:21: Whom the heaven must receive (and retain) until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. He is coming for a "glorious church" Eph:5:27. We would not yet be able to receive him. His Glory would burn us up. 1Jn:3:2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I hope these give you something to think and pray about.
Steph,.. Your question is a bit like asking "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" If what we have is eternal life, then it is eternal; but here though is the problem, Eternal Life is a person, not a duration of time. So I guess my answer is Yes and No. Sorry to be evasive. I believe it is a danger to rely on a doctrine rather than the person of Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is something that is an ever-present tense verb. We were saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. So rather then worry about a doctrine, get to know Him better and the doctrine won't matter, because you will know "Whom you have believed" 2Tm:1:12: "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." We have been in the mind of God from all of eternity,and Eternal Life begins now, not just when we die. It is known in our walk with Him. The Bible says He is faithful, and He would never leave us, but could we ever leave Him? I would say if what you have is really The Lord Jesus Christ, you can never leave Him, so the question would really be if some one left Him was what they had real in the first place. This is not to say one may not have struggles with sin and doubt, but you can never be the same and can never truly turn your back on Him. When we see the excitement of His plan, we will have all the comfort we need.
God Bless you both.

Anonymous said...

PeterZ,
You have given me so much to think and pray about. Thank you SO MUCH. My heart is burning for Him everyday in a way that is almost consuming, and maybe it's that first coming that you spoke of. Do you think that's possible? I pray He continues to bless you with understanding; you are truly a blessing for me.
Susanne

PursuingTruth said...

Peace, I have not read that book, but I see also from what I read he has some truth. He also has let a lot of the protestant garbage in as well. Same old rhetoric about the Pope, while missing the big picture. The information about the dates in the book of Daniel is not new, but I would doubt, anyone could at this point calculate the actual day that Jesus was crucified since we would be missing a lot of data.
There are many good books out there with lots of truth and error mixed in. I am currently reading one by a man named Patrick Heron. titled "The Nephilim" He has lots of good stuff on the subject, but then he goes off into the same ole BS about the rapture and the 7 years of tribulation after the church is taken. What a shame. If he had just used the same seeking spirit he had about the one subject, he would have had so much more revelation. All I can say about so many writers is to eat the meat and spit out the bones. I think Hanchett has one of the purest insights I have ever read anywhere.

Anonymous said...

PeterZ,
Have you heard about this Federalist Society that John Roberts belonged to? Pretty scary stuff. Their agenda is to control the Federal Courts and State Courts that will put a stranglehold on our legal system (no civil rights for anyone). I thought he looked spooky! And he says he does not remember being a member - wow, do they think we are stupid.

Also, is the pullout of the Gaza strip biblical in any way? I've been looking, but I can't find anything definitive.

Waiting to hear from you.

In Jesus' name,
Susanne

Anonymous said...

PeterZ,
Why are you guys so hung up on sex? I see you answered (in length) on the other site, but have not addressed this one....'was up with that?
Susanne

PursuingTruth said...

Susanne, You are keeping me on my toes. I don't feel we are hung up on sex, I have only posted about it on this site once. I replyed to To Mr. Hanchett's site because I felt I had something to add. I have not added a new post on here, because I have been working on it and very busy dealing with lots of other things, also having to do with my In-law passing. If I don't answer a question like your last one, it is because I don't have an answer. As the Lord gives to me I try to share. God bless, and please be patient with me.

Anonymous said...

PeterZ,
Please forgive my impatience and accept my sincere apology. I value your insight GREATLY.

In my limited understanding,I have come to accept that many things have to be left for God(and one of them is definitely complicated relationships between humans).

And I would like to take a moment to tell you that I am thankful that you share what the Lord gives you. People like me are thriving on it. I look forward to the next post, as all of them.

It sure sounds like the invasion of Iran is not far off; and as much as I don't look forward to another war, of course, I look at it as one step closer to Jesus' return.

Peace from Jesus be with us all.
Thank you, PeterZ.
Susanne