Weekly Bible Study – January 29, 2018

The Sword of the Spirit

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try left clicking the link if it’s highlighted which should open a window with all the verses at the Biblia.com website; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens. If you are running PCMatic, the pop-ups may not work; if that’s the case, email PC Matic Support to see if they can fix that problem for you.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Alphabetical Listing of Terms & Abbreviations used:

STUDY TITLE:

The Sword of the Spirit

All believers must learn to endure against the attacks made on Bible doctrine, 2Ti 4:3, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires;

There is a tremendous price to pay for receiving Bible doctrine, Prov 23:23, Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding. And this means that you may have to travel a little to get it. It’s very interesting that in the days of our Lord’s earthly Ministry they complained about traveling to hear doctrine also. However, our Lord dealt with that issue directly in Matt 12:42 when He said that “The queen of the south shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Experiential sanctification comes only through Bible doctrine, not human works or achievement, John 17:17, “sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth.”

The believer must also have praise toward the Word of God, Psa 56:4, In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?

Psa 56:10 in God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, Rejection of Bible doctrine produces poverty, acceptance produces reward.

Prov 13:13, the one who despises the word will be in debt to it, but the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

Prov 16:20, He who gives attention to the word shall find good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lloyd.

Persecution will arise on the believer who makes Bible doctrine number 1 priority, Matt 13:21, yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Bible doctrine is the basis for the divine judgment at both the Bema seat judgment or the White Throne Judgment.

John 12:48, “he who rejects me, and does not receive my sayings, has one who judges him; the word i spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”

Love for the Lord Jesus Christ is based upon the believer guarding Bible doctrine in their life, John 14:23-24, Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. The one who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

Bible doctrine communicated is that which cleans up the believer’s life, John 15:3, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

Eph 5:26, That He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

It is through the communication of Bible doctrine that disciples increase. ACT 6:7, And the Word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem,

Acts 20:32 “and now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Bible doctrine is the weapon that the believer uses in life.

Eph 6:17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Heb 4:12 For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Only fools despise Bible doctrine, Proverbs.

Prov 1:7, “the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Prov 1:22, “how long, o naive ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?”

Prov 2:10, for wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Prov 10:14, wise men store up knowledge, but with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

Prov 15:14, the mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

Bible doctrine is that which is pleasant to the soul.

Prov 19:8, he who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will find good.

Prov 24:4, and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Prov 24:5, a wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increases power.

Ecc 7:12, for wisdom is protection just as money is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Rejection of Bible doctrine produces destruction.

Isa 5:13, Therefore my people go into exile for their lack of knowledge;

Hos 4:6, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

God desires doctrine in the soul not human works.

Hos 6:6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Rom 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

Even love is based on the intake of Bible doctrine.

Phil 1:9, And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

EphH 6:17, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The sword was called the machaira which was the type of sword that the Romans used. They defeated two the most famous military armies in the ancient world, the Gauls and the barbarians who were staunch enemies of Rome. They were very tall and yet they were defeated by the Roman’s who were only 5 foot 6 inches on the average. Yet the Romans actually beat them every time because they used the machaira rather than the romphaia which was a long broad sword, anywhere from four feet to 6 feet but it only one cutting edge. The machaira was only 18 inches long, but both edges and the point were very sharp.

This was one of the most unusual weapons ever invented was the machaira sword. The Roman machaira turned out to be the most ingenious invention of warfare of its day. The blade of this perfectly balanced weapon [machaira] was usually only eighteen inches long. It had two cutting edges instead of one, and it tapered off to a sharp point. The machaira was very maneuverable and easy to operate in time of warfare. Its outstanding advantage was that the Roman soldier was never off-balance while he used his machaira.

Now, again under the principle of hermeneutics the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. And at this time in the ancient world, it was generally conceded that the machaira sword was the basic weapon for close combat. It’s interesting that if the satanic attack does not succeed from afar off or a distance with the flaming missiles, darts, spears or arrows, that the attack continues until it is at your back door. Therefore, the final piece of military equipment which the believer needs to learn to operate under pressure is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

So, if you put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of integrity, the combat shoes of the gospel, and you lift up the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation. If you do all of those things, and the satanic attack has not succeeded in stopping your momentum, motivation and spiritual progress, then you must be prepared for even a closer combat than before.

Remember what our verse looks like in Eph 6:17, And take [or receive favorably, grasp, and welcome] the helmet of salvation, and [take, or receive favorably, grasp, and welcome] the sword of the Spirit,

Why are we commanded to take, receive favorably, grasp, and welcome the sword of the spirit? Well, the struggle, the fight, the labor, the battle and conflict is two-fold:

1. It is a struggle, a fight, and labor, and at times, even a conflict, to learn the word of God.

2. To stick it out and to stay with it, is a very rare quality to find in the people of God.

There are just too many successful strategies of the devil which distract the believer from positive volition. Especially distractions related to priorities.

1. Social distraction.

2. Mental distraction.

3. Marital distraction.

4. Christian service distraction.

5. Pleasure distraction.

6. Time distractions, the problem of a disorganized life.

So the struggle, the fight, the labor, the battle and conflict is two-fold:


1. It is a struggle, a fight, and labor, and at times, even a conflict, to learn the word of God.

2. It can be a struggle, a fight, a battle and a conflict to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God in a pressure situation.

Eph 4:14, warns us against falling away from doctrine during difficult times.

Eph 4:14, “That we no longer be children, de-stabilized in heavy seas [fragmented] Driven out of control by every wind of false teaching [fragmentation results in accepting false doctrine], by the trickery of people [false teachers], by cunning deception for the purpose of deceitful scheming.”

By the way, this stresses the importance of the accurate and precise communication of the word of God. If your pastor is not accurate in what he teaches than you will not have the accurate information needed to use the sword of the Spirit. The pastor must be accurate and precise in his doctrinal communication. The PPOG is a strict system of procedure based upon the accurate teaching of the word of God. It is based upon the very simple statement that a right thing must be done in a right way. It must be precise and correct in its procedure.

There is nothing sloppy in the procedure of the Christian way of life. With the introduction of human power and energy of the flesh function, sloppiness occurs. With the introduction of putting down your doctrinal differences and loving everyone, apostasy occurs. You are commanded to love everyone but you are never commanded to fellowship with them at the expense of compromising doctrine. That’s why, doctrine says, separate under certain conditions.

So God has developed, in His grace, a system which is totally impossible for human power to live in. In fact, this system that God has designed and that the pastor must be accurate in communicating frustrates human power constantly. The pastor must be accurate with the way that he handles the sword of the Spirit. And the believer must be accurate as well.

Luk 6:40, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”

This means that there is no place in the spiritual army of the lord Jesus Christ for sloppiness. Sloppy procedure is always related to emotion, to human works, and to human activity, and is always a manifestation of arrogance.

And the power of God is not delegated to a system of sloppy procedure.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Internet Church Service –– January 28, 2018

EMBEDDED VIDEO SERMON in HD – NOTES
Dispensation of the Mosaic Law. The First Commandment. Part 2.

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name, and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME

from - Romans 8:38-39

Hymn #1

Hymn #2

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word or participating in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, also called the convincing ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and the pastor’s message is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to convince you what you are learning is true or not.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess [simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins];” NKJV (New King James Version); we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and you will be saved the very second you believe in Him:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have”; it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” NKJV

Weekly Bible Study – January 22, 2018

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare. Part 2. The Doctrine of the Triumphal Procession.

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try left clicking the link if it’s highlighted which should open a window with all the verses at the Biblia.com website; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens. If you are running PCMatic, the pop-ups may not work; if that’s the case, email PC Matic Support to see if they can fix that problem for you.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Alphabetical Listing of Terms & Abbreviations used:

STUDY TITLE:

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare. Part 2. The Doctrine of the Triumphal Procession.

We begin with the principle that when the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected, three days after the Cross, He was on the earth for 40 days and then He ascended to the right hand of God the Father.

1Co 15:1-8, Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

Then in 1Co 15:21-28, For since by a man {came} death, by a man also {came} the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then {comes} the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.

When the Lord Jesus Christ arrived in the presence of God the Father, He arrived as the conquering general. At that time, it was quiet on the earth because Satan and the fallen angels were all in the triumphal procession as captives. As captives, they were probably accompanied by the elect angels because angelic assemblies always included all angels. So, that there was a moment on the earth when things were pretty quiet because all the demons were paraded by the Lord Jesus Christ as He sat upon that throne.

Then they went back to their activities on planet earth because they will be executed as it were at point b the Second Advent which is operation footstool.

At which point they will be incarcerated for 1,000 years before their final judgment.

Rev 20:1-3, And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

Rev 20:7-8, And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

Our Jesus Christ has already had part one or the first part of the Triumphal Procession. It started but, it won’t be over until the Second Advent.

The Doctrine of the Triumphal Procession.

Point 1. Background and Preparation for the Triumphal Procession.

We begin with the fact that there are five different crowns in the Word of God that correlate with the different crowns of the Roman military.

These Crowns are given at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

The Crown of righteousness this crown is awarded at the judgment seat of Christ to the Church-age believer who fulfills the predesigned plan of God by the advance to spiritual maturity. This believer has advanced from spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering to attain spiritual independence or autonomy and from there he goes through spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing all the way to attaining spiritual maturity.

This is given to mature believers with emphasis on their attainment of spiritual maturity in the PPOG. It emphasizes functional virtue directed toward man and circumstances and the fulfillment of the Royal Family Honor Code. The believer who wears the invisible uniform of honor (Eph 6) will receive the crown of righteousness. The function of impersonal love is the manifestation of the invisible uniform of honor. The crown of righteousness is given for your virtue, honor, integrity, passing momentum tests, and fulfillment of the Royal Family Honor Code.

2Ti 4:7-8, I have fought an honorable fight [advance to spiritual maturity]. I have completed the course [execution of the PPOG]. I have guarded the doctrine [as #1 priority]. In the future there is reserved for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me in that day, and not only to me, but to all [winners] who have loved his appearing.

He perpetuated spiritual self-esteem all the way to spiritual maturity. This crown is presented to those believers who advance through the three different stages of spiritual adulthood.

Accompanying the crown of righteousness is a tremendous amount of extra privileges, blessings, and opportunities both in time and then in the eternal state.

The Crown of life – awarded to the Church-age believer who in spiritual maturity passes evidence testing. By passing evidence testing, the mature believer has glorified God to the maximum and so will receive the crown of life. Evidence testing is administered by Satan as an extension of the angelic conflict; James 1:12, Happy is that person who perseveres under testing, for once he has passed the [evidence] test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

This tells us that happiness is not confined to prosperity or to having things going your way. The happiness provided by Bible doctrine exists under the greatest categories of adversity. The Crown of life is awarded to all members of the Royal Family of God who utilize the problem-solving devices and advance to spiritual maturity and then use +H to pass evidence testing.

The Incorruptible Crown – given to those who mastered the O.S.N. [Old Sin Nature] through dedication and devotion to the PPOG. These are the believers who were discipline, faithful, dependable, and self-motivated. They didn’t look for excuses not to give, serve or be faithful to Bible class. They fulfilled their obligations even when they were not present.

The Crown of Rejoicing – given for being a soul winner – 1Th 2:19, For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?

These individuals were accurate in their communication of the Gospel. They were not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

As the apostle Paul said in Rom 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

They are willing to lead others to the grace and truth found in the Lord Jesus Christ. They led many to the righteousness found in the Word of God.

Dan 12:3, And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

They are said to be filled with life and wisdom.

Prov 11:30, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.

The Crown of Glory – is awarded to pastors who faithfully study and teach bible doctrine to their congregation, doctrine by which the pastor and positive members of the congregation will attain spiritual maturity.

There are four categories of Pastors in the Church age.

1) The cosmic pastor, who lives in cosmic one and two, is distracted by social action, crusader arrogance, and is totally disoriented to reality. He is very arrogant, self righteous, and ignorant of doctrine.

2) The baby pastor high profiles his own personality while low profiling the Word of God. He only evangelizes and gives moral lectures.


3) The adolescent Pastor teaches some truth but is distracted by various forms of high profile. He is selling his own personality (rather than teaching doctrine) by visiting the sick, calling on the congregation, conducting programs.

He can be a pseudo intellectual, a crusader, a bleeding heart, self righteous, a pleasing personality, or arrogant. He appeals to those with negative volition toward Bible doctrine. He doesn’t have the time to study.

4) The mature pastor through personal study and teaching advances to spiritual maturity in The PPOG and is leading his congregation there. He has fulfilled the concept of the function of metabolization of doctrine. Motivational virtue toward God, i.e., personal love for God.

Functional virtue toward man and circumstances, i.e., impersonal love for all.
He emphasizes doctrine and is a prepared person academically, knowing where he stands theologically. He focuses on the message, not his personality.

He is described in Heb 6:10, For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.
The motivation for the pastor is occupation with the Lord.

1Pe 5:1-4, Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd [our Lord at the Judgment seat of Christ] appears [rapture], you [faithful pastors] will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Phil 4:1 personalizes this concept: Therefore, my brethren, loved ones [congregation who is respected for their faithfulness], deeply desired ones, my happiness and my crown, keep on being stabilized [winners of the crown of righteousness].

At the Judgment Seat of Christ, those who have attained spiritual maturity are the crown of glory for the pastor. The pastor’s boasting or crown of glory is received because certain members of his congregation do two things by listening to the teaching of the word: They take the giant step to spiritual self-esteem, and they take the victory step to spiritual maturity where they can receive evidence testing to glorify God to the maximum.

The happiness of the pastor comes from the positive response of those who are faithful to the teaching of the word of God. The pastor’s happiness is different from that of anyone else. Believers with P.V.T.D. are the basis for the pastor receiving the Crown of Glory.

The danger to the Pastor is given a warning in 1Co 9:24-27, Do you not know that those who run a race all run but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self discipline in all things. They do not receive a perishable crown but an imperishable crown. Therefore, I do not run without a goal.

I do not box like a person beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and keep it in training, lest having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”

The ultimate decoration: The order of the Morning Star.

The winner who receives the above crowns not only has vast estates in the eternal state, but he receives this decoration and others that go with it. This decoration is taken from and named after our Lord’s third Royal Patent, King of kings, Lord of lords, the bright morning star. Mentioned specifically in Rev 22:16 and 2Pe 1:19.

The order of the morning star is given to winners as the highest of all decorations in escrow blessings given by God. It is a part of the new order of chivalry in the eternal state for the royal family. This decoration is awarded for the maintenance of spiritual maturity in what may be called an ultra supergrace status. This decoration is mentioned as a part of escrow blessings for the eternal state in Rev 2:26, 28, “furthermore, the winner, even he who keeps My assignments [execution of the PPOG] until the end [perpetuation of spiritual maturity through evidence testing], to him I will give authority over the nations. Furthermore, I will give to him the order of the morning star.”

The mature believer will be a king over a Gentile nation and rule during the Millennium. Receiving this decoration is the highest manifestation of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church-age. This same title was given to Him at the ascension and session and is related to both the strategic victory and tactical victory of the angelic conflict.

Rev 22:16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to declare these things to you for the churches; I am the root [Jesus Christ as eternal God], and the descendent of David [Jesus Christ in hypostatic union], the bright morning star [His title for the first and second advents].

Num 24:17, His title is related to his strategic victory, I see Him, but not now, I behold Him, but not near. Behold, a star [Christ as the morning star] shall come forth from Jacob [first advent] and a scepter shall rise from Israel [second advent].

Matt 2:2 is a reference to the morning star related to the first advent, Matt 2:2 Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.

Bible doctrine is related to Christ as the morning star in 2Pe 1:19-21 and the morning star has come up (second advent).

2Pe 1:16-19, For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the majestic glory, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so, we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

The order of the morning star is named after our Lord’s royal title and is given for historical impact in the Church-age. It authorizes the recipient to reign with Christ in the Millennium and hold the highest privileges for all eternity.

These believers can eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God, located in the New Jerusalem. There are at least seven privileges that accompany the order of the morning star.

1. The Uniform of Honor, being invisible and worn in the soul, is exchanged at the judgment seat of Christ for the translucent uniform of glory worn over the resurrection body. It was first modeled by Jesus Christ on the mount of transfiguration, Matt 17, And His clothes became white as light.

The uniform of glory is given as a translucent light which covers the resurrection body, Rev 3:4-5, they will walk with Me in whites…

2. The name of the winner appears on the honors list, and he is presented in the court of heaven during the tribulation on earth. Only those on the honors list are taken to heaven and presented to God the Father. The honors list is made up of those believers who make Bible doctrine their highest priority daily.

Rev 3:5, Thus the winner shall be clothed in white garments and I will never blot out his title [the winner is knighted at the judgment seat of Christ] out of the book of life. In fact I will acknowledge his title in the presence of my father and before his angels [a formal presentation].

3. A new order of knighthood and eternal order of chivalry will be added to the believer’s name in the Lamb’s book of life forever, Rev 2:17 cf Col 3:4,6.

The new knighthood is given to the winner, Rev 2:17, “To the winner, I will give him blessing from the hidden manna [escrow blessing for time and eternity]; also I will give him a white pebble [a decorated resurrection body, God’s final vote of justification they voted with colored pebbles in the ancient world] and on that white pebble has been inscribed a new title [your royal patent in the eternal heraldry] which no one knows [you are an anonymous hero during the Church-age].”

4. The winner will rule with Christ during the Millennium. There are at least seven different approaches with regard to ruling with Christ.

a) The A Fortiori approach, Rom 5:17, For if by the transgression of one spiritual death ruled by that one, much more, they who receive in life this surplus from grace [escrow blessing] and the gift of righteousness, much more, they shall rule through that one Jesus Christ.”

b) The sarcastic approach, 1Co 4:8, You are already filled [with private sins]; you have already become rich [but not from escrow blessing]; you have become kings without us. How I wish you really had become kings, so that we might also rule with you.

c) The eternal security approach, 2Ti 2:12, if we endure [perpetuation of life in the PPOG], we shall also rule…

d) The parable approach, Luke 19:12 ff especially Luke 19:17, 19, Take charge over ten cities = rulership.

e) The direct approach, Rev 3:21, “The Winner, I will give to him the reward of sitting with Me on My throne, as I have won and sat down with my Father on His throne.”

5. The winner’s name is recorded in the permanent historical record section because of his invisible historical impact during the Church-Age, Rev 3:12a.
The impact of the winner is anonymous as far as the record of history is concerned, but not as far as God is concerned.

The mature believer’s historical record will be recorded forever in the heavenly temple.

Each pillar will have the record of his life as a winner.

Rev 3:12, “The winner, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Furthermore, he will never again vanish [go outside] from history. Also, I will emblazon on him the title of My God, and the name of the city of My God.”

This will be his pass to enter the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, a satellite city suspended above the earth in the atmosphere or in space. The temple of My God is the eternal record center in the future. This temple of God will be the historical textbook of the true heros of history. The mature believer as a part of the pivot is the true impact on history.

In Gal 2:9 the mature believer is currently called a pillar of the church.

6. The winner receives his own coat of arms of glory, Rev 3:12b.

7. The winner has special privileges related to the tree of life, the gazebo of the garden, called the paradise of God.

You are a member of a special club with special parties to which only you are invited; you’re a member of the paradise club forever, Rev 2:7, 14.

Rev 2:7, “To the winner, I will give to him the privilege of eating from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.”


Rev 22:14, “Blessed are they [winners] who have washed their robes [rebound], that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city [New Jerusalem].”

The tree of life is the ultimate in eternal reward and blessing.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Internet Church Service –– January 21, 2018

EMBEDDED VIDEO SERMON in HD – NOTES
Dispensation of the Mosaic Law. The First Commandment.

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name, and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME

from - Romans 8:38-39

Hymn #1

Hymn #2

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word or participating in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, also called the convincing ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and the pastor’s message is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to convince you what you are learning is true or not.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess [simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins].” NKJV (New King James Version)

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and you will be saved the very second you believe in Him:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have”; it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for learning God’s Word, if there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Our Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church
and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Terms used by RMBM

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to
teaching the Word of God from the original languages and
making it available at no charge throughout the world.

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

Sermon

NOTES

Unlike the bible study, these notes are not just for reading without watching the video. These notes are more designed to follow along during the sermon and to bring up the “hover pop-up scripture references” (some websites may require to left click the link, if that doesn’t work then look them up in your Bible) when the Pastor asks everyone to turn to that passage in their bibles.

Sermon: Dispensation of the Mosaic Law. The First Commandment.

The first commandment is where true liberty begins in Exo 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

“There shall not be to you any other gods beyond Me.”

What is actually being said is that there is room for only One at the top, and that place is to be occupied by the God of Israel, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, is the only revealed Member of the Godhead, as well as the Creator and Savior of the universe as well as the God of Israel.

The verb translated “Thou shalt have no” literally means “There shall not be.”

Idolatry always begins in the soul with Soul Idolatry.

The first commandment is dealing with idolatry in the soul, while the second commandment deals with overt idolatry.

Freedom begins in the soul.

Most of you recall the story of the golden calf that Aaron and the Jews built when Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the 10C.

Their bodies were free, but their souls were not…….just like many of God’s people today.

God freed the bodies of the Jews; but God could not free their souls because that requires individual volition.

“Operation Golden Calf” demonstrated that the Jews of the Exodus generation had NOT freed themselves from idolatry: they had idolatry in their souls.

Slavery of the soul is a part of the emotional revolt of the soul; such slavery is the most subtle slavery in the world.

(1) Mental attitude sins, such as fear or guilt reaction; (2) Lust pattern, such as approbation or power lust; and (3) human good, such as pseudo-brotherly love or social action, or any combination of the three — all of which are an abomination to the Lord!

God has set up a “squad” a god-squard, if you will, in the soul of every normal human being and has designed the right lobe as “squad leader.”

Let us note the Comparison Between Moses’ and Jeremiah’s Generation.

The slavery of the soul inevitably leads to the slavery of the body.

The Jews spent forty years wandering in the desert to get into the land — from 1440 to 1400 BC; likewise, the Jews spent forty years in Jeremiah’s day getting out of the land — from 626 to 586 BC.

It took a decadent generation forty years to get into the land, and it took a decadent generation forty years to get out of the land.

The Mosaic Law was designed to free the souls of the Jews; thereby their freed souls would be compatible with their freed bodies.

Even though Moses constantly taught them the Law, the Jews of the Exodus generation NEVER understood it as principles of freedom.

That, and their failure in the sphere of the faith-rest technique, were the two reasons why that generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, and their families never went into the promise land.

The next generation of Jews who went into the land lived in freedom as a nation through the provisions of the Decalogue, referred to subsequently by Jeremiah as the “Covenant.”

The overt manifestation of soul slavery was the same in both generations — idolatry.

In the Exodus generation, it was revealed by “Operation Golden Calf”; and in Jeremiah’s generation, it was revealed by “Operation Baal.”

Both forty-year periods were characterized by the constant pouring out of God’s grace; in fact, both periods of time could be called eras of “super grace.”

Freedom Through Doctrine. The Jews were the nation of people appointed by God to receive the gospel from Him and transmit it to Gentile peoples.

Jealousy in reference to God is an expression of possessiveness based upon the fact that God is free. If you are going to respond to God, you must be free to do so.

When God says, “No other gods beyond me,” God is saying, “Beyond me there is nothing.”

In order to maintain freedom, the Source of its origin — God — must be recognised. The principle is also clearly stated in John 8:32: and ye shall know the truth (doctrine), and the truth shall make you free.

Knowing the truth and having the soul freed by Bible doctrine, whether it be from the slave market of sin for the unbeliever, or from the Mosaic Law for the believer, are one and the same with the commandment, “There shall not be to you other gods beyond me.”

You, as a citizen of the United States of America, are twice blessed: you have freedom of soul in what is still a free country, and freedom of body, although this freedom is rapidly being destroyed.

Martin Luther expressed this so beautifully in that great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God”: “… the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still!”

Summary of the first commandment.

By way of summary, this commandment recognizes human volition, which is the basis for maintaining freedom — by knowledge of the truth.

The meaning of 12, which is considered to be a perfect biblical number, is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation.

Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons, each of which represented a tribe begun by a prince, for 12 princes total.

TLJC called and choose twelve men to bear witness to what He did and to spread the good news of the gospel to the entire world.

After He was raised from the dead, TLJC told the eleven disciples (Judas had killed himself) that God had given him ALL power and authority in both earth and heaven (God’s divine authority – Matthew 28:18).

Little did they know at the time that TLJC had a twelfth apostle being prepared to change the world, not Matthias but Saul of Tarsus who later changes his name to Paul.

Also there are twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel (144,000 total) will receive salvation during the end time’s Great Tribulation (Revelation 7).

A set of 144,000 (12 x 12,000), possibly the same as those in chapter 7, will be taken from earth in order to serve and follow the Lamb of God (Revelation 14:1-5).

Christ’s bride in Revelation 12, the church, wears a crown containing, (how many stars?) twelve stars.

The New Jerusalem, which is made in heaven and brought to the earth by God himself, contains 12 gates made of pearl which are each manned by an angel.

The walls are 144 cubits high (12 multiplied by itself – Revelation 21:16-17 says: 16 The city is laid out as a square [cube], and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal [meaning it will be 1,500 miles high, 1,500 miles in width and 1,500 miles in length]. 17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.”), with the city itself being 12,000 furlongs square. [which translates to 1,500 miles square]

The Scripture’s first recording of Jesus’ words occurs when He is twelve years old (Luke 2:42).

The high priest’s breastplate, also called the breast-plate of decision, had twelve stones embedded in it.

Of all the numerals found in scripture, twelve, along with three, four, seven and ten, are unmistakably used in a symbolic fashion in God’s word.

1. A believer under the ML-or the 10C, makes Christ a minister of sin if he thinks that’s the only way God can be pleased with him, Gal 2:17.

2. Believers have received all the benefits of the Spirit through faith not through obeying the Law, Gal 3:1-5.

3. The Mosaic Law brings nothing but condemnation, Gal 3:10-14.

4. God’s blessings to Abraham of which all believers partake of, Jews and Gentiles, Rom 11, came hundreds of years before the giving of the Law.

The Law had and has nothing to do with the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Gal 3:15-17.

5. The Mosaic Law and the 10C has no power to give life or to sustain life, Gal 3:21.

6. The Mosaic Law can become a bondage to the believer if he allows it to, Gal 4:9.

7. The Mosaic Law and grace are mutually exclusive principles; therefore, as believers we must choose one or the other, Gal 4:21-31.

8. The believer has an abiding freedom in Christ never in the ML!

9. If a believer thinks that he should be under the ML-10C, the apostle Paul says that the believer must keep all of the ML, if he would attempt to keep even part of it, Gal 5:2-4.

10. This deception to put the believer under the ML-10C is not from God, Gal 5:8.

11. In the believer’s life, all the ML-10C is fulfilled by God the Holy Spirit, Gal 5:16-24.

12. The life of the believer must be sustained on the same principle as his new birth or regeneration, Gal 5:25, by means of faith and the Holy Spirit.

Hymn #3

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Weekly Bible Study – January 15, 2018

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare.

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try left clicking the link if it’s highlighted which should open a window with all the verses at the Biblia.com website; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens. If you are running PCMatic, the pop-ups may not work; if that’s the case, email PC Matic Support to see if they can fix that problem for you.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Alphabetical Listing of Terms & Abbreviations used:

STUDY TITLE:

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare.

Operation footstool is the ultimate victory behind the wearing of our combat shoes or our footwear.

First of all, let’s begin with a definition of operation footstool.

Operation footstool refers to the termination of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict, by which the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth to establish His kingdom and to remove Satan and all fallen angels.

It constitutes a celebration whereby Satan loses the rulership of the world to the Lord, Psa 110:1; Heb 1:13; 10:13.

This brings us to the ultimate victory of the angelic conflict:

Col 2:13-15, And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

The phrase had disarmed is the aor-mid-part of apekduomai which means to strip off the clothes and throw them away or to strip off from oneself, it means to disarm or neutralize the enemy. The middle voice of this word was used in a military sense. So, when he had disarmed is an excellent translation. And who is being disarmed here?

The angelic forces of evil. The angelic forces under Satan.

Col 2:15, When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, the rulers is the accusative plural of the noun archon which is an old noun that refers to the highest ruler of Athens in the 5th century B.C.; So, the rulers or the archons speaks of the highest rulers in the angelic armies. The word authorities is ezousia which means demon commissioned officers in the demon organization.

While God the Father was cancelling our debt on the Cross the whole satanic system of fallen angel’s superior to man was disarmed and neutralized at the Cross. The Cross broke the back of Satan. Why did the Cross break the back of Satan if Satan has already been sentenced? The answer; the Angelic conflict. Satan appealed the case and the cross was the place of his second judgment.

Col 2:15 when He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, or demon archons and commissioned officers…next it says he made a public display over them.

After they were captured and after they were neutralized. He made a public display which is the aor-act-ind of deigmatizo which means at a certain point of time he began to make a show of them openly. And deigmatizo means to display the captives. A custom in the ancient world after winning a war was to bring the captives back. This was called a triumphal procession or a march through the city of Rome. The general who commanded the forces in the campaign rode in a very beautiful chariot. In front of him would be the captives displayed marching through the streets.

Sometimes if a king had been taken captive he would sit behind the general in the chariots and would be sometimes forced to hold a crown over the general. The idea was to make a display of these people or a public display of the captives.

At the end of the procession it always ended up at the Mamertime prison and there the crowd and the soldiers could fall upon special prisoners whom they wished personally to kill. And they killed them right there. Often many were executed at the end of the procession. So, the triumphal procession which would begin at point a, usually around the capital somewhere and would go through the whole city winding up at the Mamertime dungeon, point b.

Here’s the point, when the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected three days after the Cross He was on the earth for 40 days and then He ascended to the right hand of the Father. When He arrived in the presence of the Father, He arrived as the conquering general and in front of him during the ascension it was quiet on the earth because Satan and all demons were in the triumphal procession as captives. As captives they were probably accompanied by the elect angels because angelic assemblies always included all angels.

So, our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ has already had one Triumphal Procession. It started but it won’t be over until the Second Advent. And Jesus Christ as a man and as our High Priest was superior, and He conquered at the Cross. So, while God the Father was canceling the debt of sin for the entire human race something else was happening…the fallen angels were ultimately defeated. God does not want the creation of robots. He wants all His creatures to have a free will or freedom of choice. If He only gave life to those who would choose Him then true freedom would not exist.

If He said I will destroy or annihilate those who do not choose for Him, then true freedom would also seek to exist.

He says in effect as Moses said in Deut 30:15-20, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

This is the principle of the famous Triumphal Procession. Therefore, we begin with the Doctrine of the Triumphal Procession.

Point 1. Background and Preparation for the Triumphal Procession.

In the Roman army, there were three categories of officers.

1) Company grade officers were called Centurions.

2) Field grade officers were called (Trib-bunes) Tribunes.

3) General officers were called priator or Imperium.

When an Imperium was victorious, his army lined up and saluted him with a tremendous shout: So, the victorious general was called an Imperator, the highest honor that could be given to an Imperator was called the Triumph, Triumphus in the Latin. No general could have a triumph unless he also had led in a battle where at least 5,000 of the enemy had been slain in a single battle. Now a triumph always included a procession. The Senate had to approve the triumph and vote a sum of money to defray some of the expenses. On the day appointed for the Triumphal Procession, the Senate declared a holiday and the entire population of Rome came out of their homes and stationed themselves along the steps of buildings and the streets.

All the temples in Rome were opened and decorated with garlands of flowers. Incense burned on every altar.

The city was literally filled with perfumes and incense. The victorious general, the Imperator assembled his troops outside the gate of triumph and delivered an oration commending his army on their victory. At the end of his speech, the general then decorated the heroes. There were various categories of decorations which were given including the highest honor which would be the coronas.

The highest honor was the Corona (Latin), equivalent to the Greek stephanos, translated Crown.

There were six categories of Crowns given by the military.

Each had a great monetary reward that went with it.

1) Corona gramania, a golden wreath woven of golden strands; also called golden grass. This guaranteed a tax free income. This decoration was given for breaking a blockade.

2) Corona civica, wreath of golden oak leaves, given for the highest type of valor in battle or for unusual acts performed by a civilian.

3) Corona navalis, the medal of honor for the navy. It was given to the first sailor to board an enemy ship during battle.

4) Corona muralis, awarded to the first soldier to scale the wall of a besieged city similar to our distinguished service Cross. This was only given to enlisted men.

5) Corona castrensis, awarded to the first soldier to reach the enemy lines in a battle, or to any enlisted man who did unusual things in battle.

6) Corona triumphalis, awarded to a victorious army general who commanded a winning army, or men who did secondary things of valor. The Corona triumphalis was awarded to the victorious general or Imperator as a part of his triumphal procession. Then the Imperator gave a command, and the finance corps distributed to every Roman soldier a large sum of money for his part in the campaign. Then the general mounted his chariot with four horses and commanded them to fall in.

They presented arms, and he moved in his chariot to the gate. At the gate, the Imperator was met by the Roman Senators and Magistrates of the city.

They welcomed him in the name of the senate and people of Rome, and then he rode through the gate.

Now, there are at least five categories of crowns for believers in the Word of God.

The first are available to all believers; the last is available to pastor teachers only.

1) The crown of righteousness.

2) The crown of life.

3) The incorruptible crown.

4) The crown of rejoicing.

5) The crown of glory.

Some will have the crown of righteousness for loving his appearing or being totally occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ and producing divine good, 2Ti 4:8.

Some will have the crown of life for enduring trials, heartaches, disasters and coming out glorifying the Lord, James 1:12, Rev 2:10.

Some will have the incorruptible crown for mastering their O.S.N. [old sin nature].

Some will have the crown of rejoicing for being soul winners, 1Th 2:19.

Some will have the crown of glory for being willing to feed the flock of God, 1Pe 5:4.

Therefore, there is the warning regarding crowns, Rev 3:11, hang on to what you have, so that no one takes away your crown.

2Jo 1:8, Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.