The Church Age

THE PRE-CHURCH AGE
(OLD TESTAMENT TIMES)

The Pre-Church Age (Old Testament times)
was from:
            Creation
until:
            Pentecost.
,         ,         Pentecost was approximately two-thousand years ago.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
The Pre-Church Age started when God quickly:
            o    created the material that formed the universe
,         ,         ,         All its structures are temporary structures.

            o    made us 
,         ,         ,         Made us entirely out of the material of the the universe.

            o    made us eternal.
,         ,         ,         Made us eternal, despite us still being made of the material of the universe.


            We humans (Adam & Eve)
            started off doing only good-&-right.
            So God had no reason to do anything but good-&-right to us.

            Then we, Adam & Eve,
            responded positively to Satan’s temptations
            and so spiritually sinned against God.
,         ,         Perhaps see later section: 1) SPIRITUAL SINS.


            Thus we had become, at least potentially,
            evil, dangerous, etc.

            So God had no choice
            but to get us away from the tree of life.
            We were already eternal.
            But the fruit of the tree of life would have made us
            eternal and substantial (i.e. not like a ghost: Gen c3 v22). .

 

            So God drove us out of the garden of Eden.    Gen c3 v23-24 .

 

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN
,         ,         and
,         ,         third cell
,         ,         of earlier section: THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD & THE KINGDOM OF DEMONS   
,         ,         and
,         ,         perhaps see later section: WHY IS THE UNIVERSE SECOND CLASS?. , , , , , ,

            We increased in number.

 

            And, at one point, to start afresh,
            God killed everyone with a flood;
            everyone that is except Noah & his family.
,         ,         Though not actually everyone. 
,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: THE FLOOD: Gen c6 – c8.


            Then God changed his mind about such solutions.
            Gen c8 v20-22:
            God declared that such solutions
            could never engineer the sinning out of us.   my abbreviation

,         ,         Certainly God appeared to change his mind.
,         ,         I reckon such apparent progressions of thought are purely for our benefit.
,         ,         See earlier section:
,         ,         IT SEEMS AS IF GOD DOES NOT FORESEE EVERY FUTURE EVENT.,,,

            Then God made the Jews and interacted with them.

            God made the Jews by:
                       Miraculously enabling Abraham, & his wife Sarah,
                        though both old, to have a second child, Isaac.   Gen c17

                        Then Isaac and Rebekah had Jacob.   Gen c25 v19-26 
                        Then God renamed Jacob Israel.   Gen c35 v9-13 

                        Then Israel and his two wives & their two hand maids
                        had twelve sons (& a daughter).
                        Then the twelve sons became the twelve Patriarchs
                        of the twelve tribes of Israel.   Gen c35 v16-29 

            God’s relationship with the Jews was sometimes stormy
            because of their rebelliousness.    Num c16   

 

            God was also hard on the Jews’ enemies.    Num c21 v1-3

            So the Pre-Church Age
            was an age of God doing
                       both:
                                   o    good-&-right
                       and:
                                   o    bad-yet-right.

.

 

,         ,         Perhaps see earlier section: GOOD & BAD, RIGHT & WRONG,,,
,         ,         and second & third cells
,         ,         of later section: GOD IS ALWAYS CONSTRUCTIVE IN THE LONG RUN,,,
,         ,         and
,         ,         previous webpage: The good & bad that God does., , .

 

.

 

THE CHURCH AGE

 

The Church Age is from:
            Pentecost
until:
            Judgment Day.

 

            The Church Age
            is an age of God doing
            only:
                       o    good-&-right, 
                             God loving everyone.

.

 

,         ,         Perhaps again see links near end of previous section
,         ,         and see
,         ,         later section:
,         ,         GOD DOES NOT CHANGE BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH US CHANGES, , .

.

 

THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH AGE

 

The beginning of the Church Age was announced
by the Father
through his angels, at Jesus’ birth:

            Luke c2 v13-14:
            And suddenly there was with the angel
            a multitude of the heavenly host
            praising God, and saying,
                 Glory to God in the highest,
                 and on earth peace, good will toward men.   KJV

 

The beginning of the Church Age was announced
by Jesus
when he read from the, then 700 year old, book of Isaiah:

            Luke c4 v18   (Isa c61 v1):
            The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
            because he hath anointed me
            to preach the gospel to the poor;
            he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
            to preach deliverance to the captives,
            and recovering of sight to the blind,
            to set at liberty them that are bruised,   KJV

,                  Although written, about Jesus, by Luke,
,                  the above is: Isaiah’s use of the word heart,
,                  inside the word brokenhearted.

 

            Then, of the next verse, Isa c61 v2,
            Jesus read only the first half
            but not the second half:

                       Isa c61 v2   (Luke c4 v19):
                        to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
                        and the day of vengeance of our God … ctd   KJV

            Jesus read only the first half
            because only the first half
            is about the Church Age:
            an age of God doing:
                  o    good-&-right,
                       God loving everyone.

            The second half
            is about the next ‘age’, Judgment Day:
            a day of God doing:
                       both:
                             o    good-&-right
                       and:
                             o    bad-yet-right.

,         ,                                      Perhaps see earlier section: FUTURE BAD-YET-RIGHT. , , , , ,

.

 

PAUL STARTS THE CHURCH AGE PROPERLY

 

Jesus had preached, and practiced:
Love everyone, even your enemies.

      So, later, what were God & Peter doing –
      killing deceitful people?
            Acts c5 v1-10:
            Peter, by the power of God’s Spirit,
            punished Ananias & Sapphira, for lying to God,
            by making them drop down dead.  my abbreviation

      And, later, what was God doing – killing king Herod?
            Acts c12 v21-23:
            God killed Herod when Herod did not stop his audience
            idolising him.   my abbreviation

 

This is what makes Paul’s epistles (letters) so valuable:

            Paul finally, & thoroughly, preached that
            we, and God’s Spirit in us, should love everyone
            because,
            until Judgment Day, that’s what we, and God,
            want to happen.

,                  By ‘we’, I assume that:
,         ,         ,         we believe
,         ,         ,         and that we have renewed our minds accordingly.


            And, apart from, by God’s Spirit,
            making Elymas blind for a while, Acts c13 v6-12, 
            Paul practiced what he preached.

,                  God and Paul had to do that.

,         ,         Perhaps again see earlier section: GOOD & BAD, RIGHT & WRONG,,,,,
,         ,         and second & third cells
,         ,         of later section: GOD IS ALWAYS CONSTRUCTIVE IN THE LONG RUN,,,,,
,         ,         and
,         ,         previous webpage: The good & bad that God does.,,,,,

 

To conclude:

 

            Peter started the Church Age, with a bang.   Acts c2 – c4.

 

            But Paul, soon afterwards,
            completed the start of the Church Age:
                       with his epistles
                       and his actions.   Acts c8 – c28. , , ,

 

,                  Paul’s name was originally Saul.
,                  But, on becoming a Christian, he changed it to Paul.

.

 

SO, WHERE DO TODAY’S BAD THINGS COME FROM?

 

So, God does no bad in this Church Age, this age we are in now.

 

So, where do today’s bad things come from?
I now give four sources (bold font):

 

1)  Adam & Eve were the first people
      to sin and thus gain knowledge
      of both good and evil.
,         Every generation repeats that choice, that mistake.
,         Perhaps see later section: THE FIRST SIN.


                 That event made God eject Adam & Eve out of:
                             the miraculously tweaked, perfect, garden of Eden
                             containing the tree of life
,                                               We were already eternal.
,                                               But the fruit of the tree of life would have made us
,                                               eternal and substantial (i.e. not like a ghost: Gen c3 v22). . 

                 and into:
                             the un-tweaked universe around it.

                 Hence many may find life hard work, may get ill,
                 and all of us physically die.    Gen c3 v16-19
                             Perhaps also see later section:
                             WHY THE UNIVERSE IS SECOND CLASS. , , , ,

 

2)  Demons telepathically encourage us to believe:
                 the potency of
                 our sicknesses/problems/wrong ways/etc
                 that we see
      more than we believe:
                 the potency of
                 Jesus’ self-sacrifice in our place
                 that we don’t see.

      Demons also work in non-verbal ways, material ways:
                 Luke c13 v16:
                 And ought not this woman,
                 being a daughter of Abraham,
                 whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years,
                 be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?   KJV

,                            Perhaps see earlier section:
,                            HOW DEMONS ARE ABLE TO DO THINGS. ,,,

 

3)  Your own sins can cause bad things to happen to you:

 

                 John c5 v14:
                 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple,
                 and said unto him,
                       Behold, thou art made whole:
                       sin no more,
                       lest a worse thing come unto thee.   KJV

 

4)  Combinations of   1)   2)   &   3)  
      can also cause bad things to happen to you &/or others.

            a)   You sinning:
                             could cause demons to cause you illness or loss.
                 And, if you also embraced that sinning:
                             could cause demon possession.
,                                               Perhaps see later section: DEMON POSSESSION.


            b)  Demons outlive humans.
                  So one human’s ‘legitimate’ hatred of another human
                  could include his/her descendents.
                 Hence such a hatred could authorise a demon
                 to ‘legitimately’ carry out that hatred: a curse.
,                            Perhaps see later webpage: Demons love laws.


                 Then, after the person dies,
                 the demon could act against the victim’s descendants.
                 Hence, in Mark c9 v14-27 (Matt c17 v14-18),
                 a child has a demon.

            c)   If you believe wrong religious teaching:
                       o    that God is unloving or weak,
                       o    or that God has not Forgiven all sins
                             past present & future,
                       o    or that God is doing you bad
                             in order to do you good,
                 then the demon will:
                             deliver your expectations,
                             work on God’s behalf anonymously,
                             ensure that your faith is rewarded
                             and that God gets all the credit.

,                                               Perhaps again see earlier section:
,                                               HOW DEMONS ARE ABLE TO DO THINGS, , , ,

,                                               See last three cells (starting Our account with the Father)
,                                               of later section: THE TWO ACCOUNTS.

 

                 All your words matter.

 

                             We think of a prayer, or a curse,
                             as having a beginning and an end.

                             But God and demons
                             don’t switch on & off like that.
                             They inspect all of our words
                             to see what they can make of them.

                             Matt c12 v36-37:
                             But I say unto you,
                             That every idle word that men shall speak,
                             they shall give account thereof
                             in the day of judgment.
                             For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
                             and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.   KJV

.

 

If you are ill then I highly recommend
Andrew Wommack’s Audio Teachings:

            In particular God Wants You Well
,                  You may find the first file a bit slow.


            and Christian Survival Kit.
,                  You may find the first few files a bit slow.


See the good results of Andrew’s teachings
in Healing Testimonies, , .

.

 

THE FIRST BAD-YET-RIGHT ERROR:
“SURELY, JOB’S TWO TESTS
SHOW THAT GOD STILL DOES BAD”.

 

            Job c1 v6-22:   my abbreviation
            Satan visited God, along with the angels.
            God said:
                 “Seen Job?  What a good man.”
            Satan said:
                 “Nah.  He’s only good because you’ve blessed him.
                   Destroy it all and he’ll curse you to your face.”
            God said:
                 “It’s a deal.  You destroy all he has.
                   But don’t harm Job himself.”
            So Satan destroyed all that Job had.
            But Job did not then curse God,
            even though he thought it was God who’d done it.
            So Satan lost the bet.   my abbreviation

            Job c2 v1-10:   my abbreviation
            Again Satan visited God, along with the angels.
            God said:
                 “Seen Job?  He’s still a good man
                   even though you got me to harm him.”
            Satan said:
                 “I got it wrong that time.
                   But I bet he’ll curse you if you make him really ill.”
            God said:
                 “OK.  You make him really ill.
                   But don’t kill him.”
            So Satan made Job really ill.
            But Job still did not curse God
            even though he again thought it was God who’d done it.
            So Satan lost that bet too.   my abbreviation

 

The Old Testament tells of many such instances
when God did bad-yet-right.
Perhaps see first cell
of earlier section: PAST BAD-YET-RIGHT.

 

But Job’s tests are not such instances:

 

            Job did not know that it was Satan
            who was behind his losses.
            Nor that God would
            more than compensate him afterwards.

            So, Job made an honest mistake when he responded with:
                  Job c1 v21:
                  ctd … Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
                  and naked shall I return thither:
                  the LORD gave,
                  and the LORD hath taken away;
                  blessed be the name of the LORD.   KJV

 

So, Christians:
            who see Job’s two tests
            as evidence that God is still The Taker, as well as The Giver,
are mistaken:

            God wasn’t The Taker then.  Not overall.
            And he certainly isn’t a Taker now, not in this Church Age.

.

 

THE SECOND BAD-YET-RIGHT ERROR:
“SURELY, GOD DID BAD
BY BLINDING THIS MAN
BEFORE MAKING HIM WELL AGAIN”.

 

John c9 v1-4:
      1    And as Jesus passed by,
            he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
      2    And his disciples asked him, saying,
                 Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents,
                 that he was born blind?
      3    Jesus answered,
                 Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:
                 but that the works of God
                 should be made manifest in him.
      4          I must work the works of him that sent me,
                 while it is day:
                  the night cometh, when no man can work.   KJV

 

Verses 3 & 4 seem to say that:
      God made the man ill
      so as to get glory later
      by making him well again.

      Colouring the punctuation in red helps show this:

      3    Jesus answered,
                 Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:

                 but that the works of God
                 should be made manifest in him.

      4          I must work the works of him that sent me … ctd   KJV

 

However, this is silly,
and the concept doesn’t occur elsewhere in the Bible.

So I, and a number of Christians,
reckon that this passage is wrong
but can easily be made right
by changing the punctuation.

      3    Jesus answered,
                  Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents.
                 But, that the works of God
                 should be made manifest in him,

      4          I must work the works of him that sent me … ctd   KJV

 

We reckon that this error occurred
because of unbelief in the scribes who had the job
of adding punctuation
to the original, punctuation-less, Greek text.

Perhaps see the first two cells
of later section: UNBELIEF IS A BREAK IN THE CIRCUIT. , , , , ,.

.

 

THE THIRD BAD-YET-RIGHT ERROR:
 “SURELY, GOD DID BAD
BY ALLOWING SOME PEOPLE TO REMAIN SICK”.

 

Jesus did not heal all the sick people he got near:

 

            John c5 v1-9:
            Jesus visited the pool of Bethesda
            where many sick people lay.
                 (They were all waiting for a rare moment
                 when the water moved, all on its own,
                 and the first one in it got healed.)
            But, Jesus healed only one of them, a cripple.   my abbn

,                  The last seven words of v3, and all of verse 4, are, I reckon, forged.
,                  So I omit them in my abbreviation.
,                  Perhaps see earlier section: BIBLE VERSES THAT I OMIT, , , ,

 

In the above scripture: Jesus’ conversation
with the one sick person
that he did heal
indicates that he did not heal the others because
he could not heal them
because they had a fixation, on the pool,
that worked like unbelief.
Perhaps see the first two cells
of later section: UNBELIEF IS A BREAK IN THE CIRCUIT.

 

            The others had no belief that Jesus could heal them.
            But they did have a belief that the pool could heal them:

            Such a fixation, in the mind,
            is like unbelief, doubt, in the mind,
            and needs to be switched off.

 

            That’s why the Spirit led Jesus to only the patient
            who had lain there for thirty eight years
            and whose attempts to get into the pool
            were now the most futile:

                 He would have had the least fixation on the pool,
                 the least expectation that the pool could deliver.

                 He would no longer automatically see, as inferior,
                 an alternative healing, were it to come his way.

.

 

TO CONCLUDE: ALL THE BAD-YET-RIGHT THINGS
THAT GOD DID, IN THIS CHURCH AGE,
WERE EARLY ON

 

All the bad-yet-right things that God did, in this Church Age, 
were early on.

And these bad-yet-right things quickly became less harsh
as the Church Age progressed, soon to disappear altogether.

 

In chronological order:

      1st       Acts c5 v1-11  (Perhaps read c4 – c5 for context.) :
                 Ananias & his wife Sapphira
                 both sold a piece of property
                 so as to give the money to the work of the Apostles.
                 But they then kept part of it,
                 and lied, said they’d given all of it.
                 Peter then gave them each a stern, short, lecture
                 after which they each dropped down dead.   my abbn

 

      2nd       Acts c12 v21-23:
                  And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel,
                  sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
                  And the people gave a shout, saying,
                  It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
                  And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him,
                  because he gave not God the glory:
                  and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.   KJV

 

      3rd       In the following Bible text, Elymas the sorcerer
                 was actively impeding the spread of Christianity.
                 So Paul miraculously, temporarily, blinded him.

                 Acts c13 v11:
                  And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee,
                  and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.
                  And immediately there fell on him
                 a mist and a darkness;
                  and he went about seeking some
                 to lead him by the hand.   KJV

.

 

BUT NOW, BAD COMES, NOT FROM GOD,
BUT FROM GOD’S ENEMIES

 

In this Church Age, if a believer:

            loves everyone,
            has faith to forgive anyone,
,                                      Luke c17 v3-5:
,                                      Take heed to yourselves:
,                                      If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him;
,                                      and if he repent, forgive him.
,                                      And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day,
,                                      and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent;
,                                      thou shalt forgive him.
,                                      And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.   KJV

            and has no unbelief (doubts),
            such that they can command, and pray for, miracles
,                                      Mark c11 v22-24    (Matt c21 v21-22):
,                                      And Jesus answering saith unto them,
,                                      Have faith in God.
,                                      For verily I say unto you,
,                                      That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
,                                      Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
,                                      and shall not doubt in his heart,
,                                      but shall believe that those things which he saith
,                                      shall come to pass;
,                                      he shall have whatsoever he saith.
,                                      Therefore I say unto you,
,                                      What things soever ye desire,
,                                      when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
,                                      and ye shall have them.    KJV


            then the only bad thing a believer cannot avoid
            is persecution.
            And persecution is from people, not from God.

,                                      Mark c10 v29-30    (Luke c18 v29-30):
,                                      And Jesus answered and said
,                                      Verily I say unto you,
,                                      There is no man that hath left house, or brethren,
,                                      or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
,                                      or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
,                                      but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time,
,                                      houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers,
,                                      and children, and lands,
,                                      with persecutions;
,                                      and in the world to come eternal life.   KJV

 

To conclude:

 

            Now that we are well into this Church Age
            God no longer does bad.

,                  Perhaps again see later section:
,                  GOD DOES NOT CHANGE BUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH US CHANGES, , .

.

 

THE PROBLEM WITH BELIEVING
THAT GOD STILL DOES BAD

 

Even though, in this Church Age,
God does not do bad,
you may nevertheless think
that he has done bad to you.

Or at least has neglected to do good to you.

 

            Some time may have passed since then,
            and no-one can turn the clock back.

            So, it may be that God:
                       cannot give to you now
            what he:
                       would have given you back then
            had it not been
            for a combination of:
                       1.   the world
                       2.   the flesh
                       3.   the devil
                                   (demonic strategy, even through others)
                       4.   your lack of belief
                                   (belief that would have counteracted 1. 2. & 3. )
                       5.   your unbelief 
                                   (your unbelief counteracts your belief).

,                  Perhaps see the first two cells
,                  of later section: UNBELIEF IS A BREAK IN THE CIRCUIT. , , , ,

 

.

 

God still wants to do good things in your life.

 

But, if you blame him for the past,
you would also resist receiving from him in the present:

            You would resist receiving good things from a human
            if you blamed them, even hated them.

            Likewise you would resist receiving good things from God
            if you blamed him, even hated him.

 

So, believe that God:

 

            Does no bad to anyone in this Church Age
            and owes you nothing.

 

            Has loved you gigantically, by way of Jesus’ crucifixion.
            And loves you still.

,         ,         See sixth cell
,         ,         (starting All this makes sense only if)
,         ,         and the links within it
,         ,         of later section: GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY.
,         ,         (This link does not open a new tab.)

 

            Indeed, Jesus’ Punishment in our place
            is God’s door
            through which you get both:
                        Heaven in the next life
                 and:
                       blessings in this life.

 

                       The key to the door is your faith.
,         ,         ,         ,         Faith = belief acting.


            John c10 v1-10:
            Verily, verily, I say unto you,
                 He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
,                            [a collective sheepfold, of several flocks,]
                 but climbeth up some other way,
                 the same is a thief and a robber.
                 But he that entereth in by the door
                 is the shepherd of the sheep.
                 To him the porter openeth;
                 and the sheep hear his voice:
                 and he calleth his own sheep by name,
                 and leadeth them out.
                 And when he putteth forth his own sheep,
                 he goeth before them,
                 and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
                 And a stranger will they not follow,
                 but will flee from him:
                 for they know not the voice of strangers.
            This parable spake Jesus unto them:
            but they understood not
            what things they were which he spake unto them.
            Then said Jesus unto them again,
            Verily, verily, I say unto you,
                 I am the door of the sheep.
,                            [the porter would lie down, in the gap, would become the door]
                 All that ever came before me
,                            [The ‘religious’ wicked (John c9 & Matt c23) and, logically, demons.] 
                 are thieves and robbers:
                 but the sheep did not hear them.
                 I am the door:
                 by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,
                 and shall go in and out,
                 and find pasture.
                 The thief cometh not, but for to
                 steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
                 I am come that they might have life,
                 and that they might have it more abundantly.   KJV

 

            Mind you, the Christian life is more than just
            good things happening to you.   Luke c12 v13-34
 
            The Christian life is also you renewing your mind
            so that you have God’s Holy Spirit throughout your mind
            so that, as well as God miraculously doing good to you,
            you miraculously do good to others.  John c14 v12  .,

,                  Perhaps see earlier section: WHY GOD’S WORDS HAVE POWER. , , , , ,

.

 


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Persecution.