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Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word
Before we begin, only 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) John 3:16, John 6:47 as a few examples; it is very important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so the Holy Spirit can teach you as to what your reading or hearing is true or false. To be taught by the Holy Spirit you must be filled with the Holy Spirit which means abiding in Christ. To place yourself in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit [also called abiding in the Christ], take a moment to simply name, cite or acknowledge [confess] your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father). Why? Because you cannot grow spiritually if you’re not abiding in Christ [in fellowship with Him] when you take in bible truth.
1 John 1:9, says: “If we confess [meaning to simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known unconfessed 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. Left click the following link to learn more and fully understand the doctrine of Rebound; which answers the question, why do I need to keep confessing my sins all the time? 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:
Why Is The Person of The Holy Spirit A Divine Person?
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:
Why Is The Person of The Holy Spirit A Divine Person?
In every generation, there has always been questions about the personality of the Holy Spirit being a person and not a force. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, who really brought out the fact that the Spirit of God is a person and not a force but a person. To do this, He revealed that the Holy Spirit was called “He,” never she.” Or He is also called “Him” or “Himself,” never is He called any name in the feminine sense.
One of the ministries that the Lord revealed to us is that God has given to us every kind of proof that we would ever need to prove that God the Holy Spirit is a person and not a force. This is one of the reasons that there are times when God the Holy Spirit acts as a “mother” to us in the sense of teaching us WHAT and HOW to love, to be gentle, merciful, and is even called our comforter. We all need to remember that He is a person who the Bible calls Him or “He” but never “she.”
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.”
Jn 15:26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,”
In fact, in Jn 16:7-14 our Lord said, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.”
What we need to address is that these passages and others reveal that God the Holy Spirit is revealed by the miracles of the Spirit which are designed to bring glory to the Lord and power to the believer. Actually, 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.
However, do not miss the miracles that are obvious but not known as such – and that is the miracle of God the Holy Spirit who is conforming us into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. This, in itself, is a miracle that in Rm 8:29 we read For whom He foreknew, He also predestined {to become} conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren; Miracles are normally the work of God who places His protection and His wall of fire upon and around believers in a supernatural way. And even though it may not seem to be a miracle, in Mk 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 we take for granted the power of God, especially that power to make us new creatures in Christ. It is a miracle of God given us life-changing power and words that can change us forever.
In 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. This means that the Lord will supply everything you and I will have or ever need. 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 Hypostatic Union, can perform miracles. To pray for a loved one who is sick is a legitimate priestly prayer of the believer under the principle that God does answer prayer and sometimes uses 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. Since none of us can determine the cause or the reasons for illness or similar disasters, the intercessory prayer of the believer must be worded so as to recognize that the option for healing rests with the sovereignty of God, who has all the facts. A miracle is an event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to divine power as a supernatural phenomenon, not to be confused with the devil’s counterfeit so-called miracles. We do not know all the facts surrounding the sufferings of those whom we love.
We do not know that if their suffering is divine discipline, divine blessing, or an advance in the spiritual life. What we do know is that there are certain individuals who are appointed to be our friends, to be there and help us, or to just build us up by being a true friend. Even the Old Testament, the oldest book in the Bible tells us this. Job said in Job 6:14, “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; Lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty.”
Job 19:14, “My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
Psa 41:9, Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.
Psa 55:12-14, “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend. We who had sweet fellowship together and we walked in the house of God in the throng or crowd.”
Pr 16:28, “A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.”
Pr 17:9, “He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.”
Pr 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.”
Pr 18:24, “A man of many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Pr 19:6, “Many will entreat the favor of a generous man, And every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.”
Pr 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”
Ecc 4:9-12, Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Jm 2:23, and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
Jm 4:4, You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
What we do know is that God the Holy Spirit will never forsake us. He will also be there for us and prepare us for anything we need. Therefore, we do not have the right to ask outright for a miracle, because miracles are the monopoly of God and God knows best. We do 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.
Lk 22:42, “Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.”
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. 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. All miracles come from the sovereignty and wisdom of God. This is because 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 real issue is that 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. Miracles are not a problem solving device. The miracles which came from the Spirit also did not conflict with the Father’s plan, Mat 12:28; Lk 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. And Jesus Christ provided the only solutions to your problems. 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 PSD’s.
Miracles are not a part of the spiritual life.
God does not perform miracles in answer to prayer.
You have PSD’s. For the believer there is no solution to the problems of life apart from the ten PSD’s. Miracles are not designed to solve your problems. Remember, Paul prayed for a miracle three times to have his thorn in the flesh removed and the answer was “No.”
Let’s look at an example, 2Co 12:1, Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Paul is addressing those believers who were saying that his accomplishments were not as great as theirs. He was being forced to brag about His accomplishments because false apostles were continually bragging about how much they have been doing to glorify the Lord. Then notice that they have been glorifying themselves and not the Lord. In 2Co 12:2, Paul begins to tell us about some type of apostles who had a unique calling upon themselves.
2Co 12:2, 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.
Notice the phrase “third heaven” which is not the first time it was used. The First Heaven is the atmosphere above.
The Second Heaven is where the stella universe abides.
The Third Heaven is where the believers reside.
When Christians die, I believe, along with many others that angels will carry us through the first heaven and the second heaven to the third heaven – the home of God.
Now, in 2Co 12:3-5, And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows. The apostle Paul is saying that his experience was to reveal the future of three heavens. In 2Co 12:4 (The apostle Paul says) this man 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.
The apostle Paul is saying that he knew that his experience was real but he was not sure that he was in his physical body when it took place or whether or not he was out of his physical body- only God knows.
In 2Co 12:6-7, 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!
He would be tested either way. We do know he has accepted it either way.
2Co 12:8, Concerning this [his suffering] I entreated or begged the Lord three times that it [the suffering] might depart from me.
Many believers have gone through this type of suffering throughout the Church-age and have gone through this type of suffering without ever knowing what it truly was and did not know what type of suffering it was without ever knowing what type of suffering it truly was.
Therefore, his conclusion is given in 2Co 12:9, “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.”
This means that they could handle it because of all the resources they have. And this resulted in the power of the Holy Spirit with the type of power needed to pass any of the tests God brings our way, 2Co 12:10, “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.”
However, for the believer there is no solution to the problems of life through miracles. Miracles are even used by God for divine discipline, so they are not PSD’s. 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 PSD’s. 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 is why we read in Mat 4:1-11, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge concerning You’; and On {their} hands they will bear You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and {began} to minister to Him.
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. We know that because of a very familiar passage in Mat 4 and Lk 4.
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. However, there is no solution to life through miracles. 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.
No human being ever performed these miracles. These miracles were performed by God the Holy Spirit indwelling these believers to validate their message as being from God. And so, we begin by looking for a miracle from the Lord to help us become restored as a nation and to get us back in fellowship with Him.
I truly believe that we are a Client nation to our Lord that is desperately in need of prayer, power, and perseverance as our personal sense of destiny. Now, I am going to warn you, look and listen to the details our Lord is about to give to the servants. And the one great lesson that comes out of this miracle is that the Lord always saves the best for last.
And so, a miracle is an action or event that is not caused by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be the work of a divine agency or God. A miracle is an action from a supernatural being that we call God who performs unnatural works that violate natural laws. A miracle is an unusual and significant event which requires the working of a supernatural force performing works or deeds that don’t normally function the way that the miracle functions.
Miracles do not have to be subject to the natural laws of nature but can use omniscience, omnipotence or omnipresence or any other divine attribute that the Lord sees fir to perform. The main purpose of a miracle is usually to bring attention to the message and not the individual or the man with a message.
To understand a miracle, I think we have to learned to look at them in the following way: In particular, we want to see what the meaning was for the Jews who saw the miracles and were impressed because the Jews needed or required signs, miracles, or the dog and phony show at times, to get their attention. This is brought out beginning in 1Co 1:17-24, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Also, what was the meaning for the disciples who witnessed the event or the miracles? The main reason for the miracles were to point out the power of God and to illustrate that He is God-Almighty and the main issue is the message that He is trying to communicate and not the miracle or the miracle worker. Miracle workers became like a side show for most magicians using tricks to entertain the principle of using magic as a game to get the attention of the listeners. The miracle workers would try to outdo the others who were drawing people away from attention on the Lord to attention on the miracles.
Let me give you a picture of how miracles were being used by Satan and his kingdom of darkness.
Ac 8:1-23, And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And {some} devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul {began} ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and {began} proclaiming Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For {in the case of} many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out {of them} shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
And there was much rejoicing in that city. Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they {began} laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
Here was a man being used by Satan and his kingdom of darkness selling the so-called power of God for money.
Mic 3:9-11, Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And twist everything that is straight, Who build Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with violent injustice. Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, “Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.”
Our Lord taught this same principle. In fact, He dealt with this problem of making money from the word or the work of God. In the passage that we are noting in our Lord’s miracle, notice how our Lord felt the same way as we do, freely you have received, freely give. In fact, He got real angry at what they were doing in the Temple of God. So angry, He looked like He lost it and went crazy when He saw it; Jn 2:12-25.
Jn 2:12-25, After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and {His} brothers, and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days. And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove {them} all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Thy house will consume me.” The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews therefore said, “It took forty six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.
Thank God it wasn’t fleshly or carnal anger but it was justifiable righteous indignation, which means if He did not get upset at what He saw, He would have failed in living the spiritual life. There are times when righteous indignation is the only way to go but respond by reacting and not ignoring. Our Lord laid down the policy of freely give and freely receive.
Look at Mat 10:5-10, These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go in {the} way of {the} Gentiles, and do not enter {any} city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal {the} sick, raise {the} dead, cleanse {the} lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for {your} journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.’”
This means the Lord will touch people’s hearts and they will give graciously. In fact, He had the apostle Paul put it in writing as a part of the Royal Family Honor Code under the principle of reciprocation or mutual support. Here is where gracious responsibility and accountability comes into the picture. For example, in Rm 15:26-27, “for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased or decided with pleasure to make a special offering for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. yes, they were pleased or have decided with pleasure to do so. And they are indebted or obligated to them. For if the gentiles have shared in the spiritual things they [the gentiles] are indebted or obligated to minister to them in material things.”
The principle is that local churches have benefited spiritually from doctrine and are now motivated by that doctrine to give to the communicators who were Jews living in Jerusalem. These Jewish believers have been persecuted because of doctrine.
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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