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 right clicking the link then open in new tab or window; 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.
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 known unconfessed 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 [your 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 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
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
The Problem-Solving Devices are more powerful than depending on Miracles from GOD.
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 right clicking the link then open in new tab or window; 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.
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 known unconfessed 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 [your 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 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
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
The Problem-Solving Devices are more powerful
than depending on Miracles from GOD.
Turn to John 2 which is the passage where our LORD performed HIS first miracle; Jn 2:1-11, And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw {some} out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it {to him.} And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when {men} have drunk freely, {then} that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Our first important principle: This is the mother of the humanity of Christ, it is not the Mother of GOD. There is no such person as the mother of GOD. There is the woman who is called just that, “woman” by our LORD. There are times when GOD the Holy Spirit acts as a mother to us in the sense of teaching us how to love, to be gentle, merciful, and is even called our comforter, but we need to remember that HE is a person who the Bible calls HE not she.
Jn 1:32, And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
Jn 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; {that is} the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
I say this because there are those who believe that the Trinity is made up of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as the mother, but she was a sinner needing to be saved; See Luk 1:47. We need to address some of the definitions concerning miracles. A true but unseen miracle produces the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, all controlled and used in some way to bring glory to our creator. Miracles are normally the work of GOD who places HIS protection and HIS wall of fire upon and around believers in a supernatural way.
It may not seem to be a miracle, in Mr 1:8, we read from John the Baptist, “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Being baptized by the Holy Spirit is another miracle that GOD performs at the moment of salvation – this is a life changing event. It is a miracle that many take for granted that we are made new creatures in Christ. It is a miracle of GOD given us life-changing power and words that can change us forever.
Jn 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.:
True and real miracles are the monopoly of the Sovereignty of GOD. No human being, including the human nature of Jesus Christ, has ever performed a miracle. Only the sovereignty of GOD, including the Deity of Christ in the Hypostatic union, can perform miracles. To pray for a loved one who is sick is a legitimate prayer of the believer under the principle that GOD does answer prayer and will sometimes use a miracle to do so. None of us can determine the cause or reason for any disaster that overtakes someone we love, or someone we know, or someone who has requested our prayers. Therefore, the intercessory prayer must be worded so as to recognize that the option for healing rests with the Sovereignty of GOD, who has all the facts. We do not know all the facts surrounding the suffering of those whom we love. We do not know if their suffering is Divine discipline, Divine blessing, an advance in the spiritual life. We have the right to petition GOD under the concept “if it be Your will.” Sometimes it is the will of GOD and the prayer becomes effective under those conditions. There are also counterfeit miracles where Satan removes demons from those who have demon induced illnesses to make it appear as if a so-called “faith healer” has healed the person. The point is that GOD has given every Church-age believer the type spiritual life which has equivalent power to miracles on a day by day basis, and there are no miracles in our spiritual life. Our spiritual life has the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit and the power of Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer, but real miracles depend upon the sovereign will of GOD.
There are two categories of miracles found in the Bible. There are supernatural miracles. These are beyond natural laws or phenomena and are performed by GOD either directly or indirectly (when GOD the Holy Spirit is the agent).
There are extra-natural miracles. Something beyond the ordinary, which is the function of angels, especially demons who produce healing when they leave a person’s body.
Miracles are the decision of the sovereignty of GOD when all the facts from divine omniscience demand it. Then. the omnipotence of GOD goes into action and a miracle is performed. Again, all miracles come from the sovereignty and wisdom of GOD. No human being ever performed a miracle. This was even true in the use of the gift of miracles during the pre-canon period of the Church-age. GOD the Holy Spirit produced the miracle using men and women with a message. The sovereignty of GOD plus the wisdom of GOD plus the power of GOD equals a miracle.
However, it is vital for you to know that you have a spiritual life which is far greater than a miracle. Remember, Miracles are not a Problem-Solving Device.
There are three categories of miracles performed by our LORD during the hypostatic union.
1. Creation related miracles were performed by the omnipotence of the divine nature of Christ because HE is the creator of all things. Creation related miracles were done by the Deity of our LORD not HIS humanity.
These miracles are based on the fact that Jesus Christ created the universe and during the Hypostatic union HE continually used HIS Divine power to perform certain miracles like holding the universe together, calming the storm, turning water into wine, and bringing Lazarus back from the dead.
2. Messiah related miracles which were performed by the Deity of our LORD to give accreditation to the humanity of Jesus Christ as the son of Abraham, the son of David, and the Messiah of Israel. Jesus Christ in His divine nature is the GOD of Israel. In HIS humanity HE is the King of Israel. Messiah related miracles are direct from the deity of our LORD Jesus Christ. An example was the casting out of demons, the healing of the blind, lame, etc.
3. Agent related miracles which were performed through the agency of the Holy Spirit during the Hypostatic-union, Mat 12:28; Luk 4:14-18. Agent related miracles were performed by the omnipotence of GOD the Holy Spirit. The humanity of Christ could not perform miracles; they had to be performed by GOD the Holy Spirit. No miracles are related to the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.
The miracles which came from the Spirit also did not conflict with the Father’s plan, Mat 12:28; Luk 4:14-18. These miracles were designed to give credibility to our LORD’s messages. Jesus Christ refused to solve a problem apart from the spiritual life. When you go to outside solutions, like psychological therapy, you have rejected the greatest spiritual life in history. Why pray for a miracle when you have a day-to-day spiritual life that is far greater and far more powerful in a moment-by-moment existence?
Miracles are not Problem-Solving Devices. Miracles are not a part of the spiritual life. GOD does not perform miracles in answer to prayer. You have Problem-Solving Devices. For the believer there is no solution to the problems of life apart from the ten Problem-Solving Devices. Miracles are not designed to solve your problems. Paul prayed for a miracle three times to have his thorn in the flesh removed and the answer was “No.”
2Co 12:1-10, Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the LORD. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, GOD knows such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, GOD knows was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to {my} weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain {from this,} so that no one may credit me with more than he sees {in} me or hears from me. And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the LORD three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
The strategy of Satan was to use a false, compromising, or spurious miracle to destroy both kenosis and the spiritual life. Satan tempted Jesus Christ to operate independently of Bible doctrine and to get HIM to reject the Problem-Solving Devices. The temptation was to do a right thing in a wrong way. Satan tempted the human nature of Christ to use His divine nature to turn the stones of the desert into bread to perform a miracle to do so. This was tempting the humanity of Jesus Christ to use His deity and perform a miracle which no member of the human race could ever follow. Satan underestimated the power of the spiritual life. Our LORD defeated Satan with the power of Bible doctrine, the word of GOD metabolized in the soul. The spiritual life is far greater than any miracle or any ecstatic experience. Miracles come from the sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipotence of GOD and are not performed by human beings unless that human being is the direct agent of GOD or it is being done through the filling of the Spirit. Miracles were performed by GOD during the pre-canon period of the Church-age related to various spiritual gifts to validate the message of the apostles until their authority was established. These miracles were performed by GOD the Holy Spirit indwelling these believers to validate their message as being from GOD.
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.
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