Genetic Manipulation of Men and Animals

During this time, before the flood, only Noah was found righteous (Genesis 6:8-9). With Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives; 8 people in total, God started the human race all over again. Noah and his family were the only humans who were not genetically infected by the fallen angels. Later, God called Abraham and with Abraham and his wife Sarah, God created a new nation. This is the way God called Abraham,

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing. 
³ I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV)

You can see how God wanted to keep his people separated, holy and not be physically or spiritually contaminated by the rest of the world. Later, we see Moses coming into the picture and we clearly see the struggle against these giants. Some humans were under the evil dominion of these giants. Some, perhaps, were in partnership with them and, some were genetically and/or morally contaminated by the fallen angels. The battles against the Nephilim continues in I Samuel 15:1-3 the Bible tells us, 

Then Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord.² Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (NASB 1995)

Again, we see God doing some serious purging; he is telling Saul, through the prophet Samuel, to kill everything, men, women, children and animals. The reason for such order is because this whole region was generically and morally infected. We see that in Numbers when Moses sent out the 10 spies. In Numbers 13:21-33 the Bible tells us,

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. ²² When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

²⁵ When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,²⁶ they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” ³² So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. ³³ There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (NASB 1995)

There are a few points to pay special attention to. In verse 23 we see the size of the grapes; without a doubt genetically altered. Notice also the connection between First Samuel 15:1-3 and Numbers 13:28-29. Notice that in verse 32 the spies stated, “…is a land that devours its inhabitants…” These Nephilim were eating humans; later we will see the Nephilim were eating each other and drinking their blood… this was truly horrible! In verse 32 we also read, “…all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” Something radical needed to be done. That is the reason for their extermination.

This whole story in the Old Testament is of God delivering his people from the dominion and influence of the Nephilim and, at the same time, purging the earth. It needed to be done, the Nephilim were evil continually and unredeemable. These has been a long struggle and, it will continue to intensify as we approach the last days. After all, Genesis 6:4 tells us, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward.”

To be continued…

Do you remember the excitement of becoming a parent? Holding that baby in your arms was the highlight of your life up to that point. Remember raising your children? You made sure they had love, shelter, food and clothing. You protected them from evil and danger. You never wanted to see them sad; you love to make them happy. 

Some parents, later in life, saw those same children turning against them, something went wrong! They saw their children committing crimes, going to prison and, some even lost them at a young age. Was that a parent’s will? No, that was the freewill of their children, the same freewill that you and I have today. 

I want you to picture God for a minute; He decided to create us humans and, knowing everything that was going to happen, he gave us freewill. After all, we can’t force nobody to love. Love most be free. However, love has plenty of risk and plenty of pain. We have seen that pain all through history. God was willing to go forth with his plan, an unbelievable story of redemption like nonother. 

The reality is that God loves us more than anybody in the world. The Bible tells us that God is love, that he is merciful, slow to anger and compassionate. However, how can a God with these characteristics killed his own creation? Are we, mere humans, willing to kill our own children? Are we more loving than God?  Of course not! So, what is the explanation for God destroying his own creation? Is going to be a long and complex explanation, but there is definitely one. Let’s start in Genesis 6:5-7, 

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” (NASB 1995)

How did we get here? How did men become so evil, to the point that “…every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”? Up to this point, according to Scripture, it was normal for men’s lifespan to be hundreds of years. However, the sin in the world was so great that God drastically cut our days to 120 years. Again, what happen? In Genesis 6:1-4 the Bible tells us, 

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (NASB 1995)

Something horrible happened here. The fallen Angels (Sons of God) saw the beauty of the daughters of men and decided to take them as wives. The result of these forceful unions was the Nephilim. Nephilim comes from the Hebrew word, n^ep̱iyliym meaning, “A masculine noun used only in the plural meaning giants. The celebrated, puzzling passage where this term is first used is Genesis 6:4 which merely transliterates the Hebrew word into English as Nephilim. These beings evidently appeared on the earth in the ancient past when divine beings cohabited with woman, and Nephilim, the mighty men or warriors of great fame, were the offspring. This huge race of Nephilim struck fear into the Israelite spies who had gone up to survey the land of Canaan (see Num. 13:31–33). The sons of Anak, a tall race of people, came from the Nephilim (Num. 13:33; cf. Deut. 2:10, 11; 9:2; Josh. 15:14).”^[1]

To be continued…

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^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 743–744.

Estos son seis minutos y 48 segundos que Youtube no quiso que nadie escuchara. Es por eso por lo que downloaded el video en mi blog directamente en audio y en video. Que lo disfrutes. Hermanos las estadísticas no justifican las medidas extremas que se han tomado. Esto es un engañó y un ensayo para lo que viene en la cultura de los últimos tiempos. La cultura de los últimos tiempos de acuerdo con Mateo 24 esta repleta de engaños. Los protagonistas de estos engaños son la prensa corrupta, los medios sociales y el gobierno. 

“Respondiendo Jesús, les dijo: Mirad que nadie os engañe.” Mateo 24:4 (Reina-Valera Revisada 1960)

Estos son seis minutos y 48 segundos que Youtube no quiso que nadie escuchara. Es por eso por lo que downloaded el video en mi blog directamente en audio y en video. Que lo disfrutes. Hermanos las estadísticas no justifican las medidas extremas que se han tomado. Esto es un engañó y un ensayo para lo que viene en la cultura de los últimos tiempos. La cultura de los últimos tiempos de acuerdo con Mateo 24 esta repleta de engaños. Los protagonistas de estos engaños son la prensa corrupta, los medios sociales y el gobierno. 

“Respondiendo Jesús, les dijo: Mirad que nadie os engañe.” Mateo 24:4 (Reina-Valera Revisada 1960)

Y miren cómo YouTube quita todo video que no promueva su narrativa!

Please click below to watch the video:

Genesis 2:7 tells us, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (KJV) When God created Adam out of the dust of the ground his body and soul were dead. It was the breath of life that brought forth life into that body and, into that soul.From that moment on humans were not supposed to die; we were supposed to live forever. The spirit in us is our deepest part of us. Life itself flows out of our spirit. If our spirit leaves our bodies, we are instantly dead.

In the New Testament we also have examples that the spirit in us is what gives life to the body. In Luke 8:41 a leader of Synagogue came to Jesus. This man’s 12-year-old daughter was dying, and he was desperate. He asked Jesus to come to his house. Before Jesus could get to her, the little girl died. However, Jesus stated that the girl was just sleeping. In Luke 8:52-55 the Bible tells us, 

Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.” ⁵³ And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. ⁵⁴ He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” ⁵⁵ And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. (NASB 1995)

Sin brought a drastic and tragic change; sin brought forth death. That should not surprise us for we know that the wages of sin is dead according to Romans 6:23. After Adam and Eve sin God told them in Genesis 3:19, “…For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” (NASB 1995) The sin of Adam and Eve spread like wildfire starting with Cain killing his own brother Abel. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day in perfect harmony and relationship with Him (Genesis 3:8) However by Genesis 6:1-8 we see sin contaminating the Body, the soul and the spirit of every human being; only Noah was found righteous.

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who wereof old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (NASB 1995)

What we saw here were fallen Angels raping the beautiful daughters of men as they pleased. Don’t think for a minute that these women were voluntarily giving themselves away; this was a horrendous act. The sexual intercourse between these fallen angels and women brought forth an evil species; the Nephilim (Giants). Satan was able to successfully change what God promise in Genesis 3:15,

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

Our bodies were visibly corrupted as these Nephilims were giants; they had a different DNA and a different composition. Our souls were also corrupt as we can see, “…every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” That means that our mindset, the way we think, our decision-making and our emotions were damage greatly. The human race is dealing with a corrupt spirit within themselves. Now our worship belongs to the devil and not to God. The essence of the human race was altered, therefor, God needed to wipeout the whole earth from these Nephilims. The problem is that the Bible tells us that that “…The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward.” What makes us think that Satan will not do this again; there is plenty of biblical evidence that these giants.

In Number 13 God tells Moses to send 10 men to spy the promise land. Eight of these men came back terrified of what they saw. In Numbers 13:31-33 tells us,

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (NIV)

In First Samuel 15:1-3 God tells the Soul through the prophet Samuel,

Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. ² This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. ³ Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy^[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” (NIV)

These Amalekites were giants; notice that just like with the flood, God also ordered the killing of all animals. I have no doubts that these animals were altered to make them bigger for food. God was not only revealing himself through the children of Israel, but he was also judging the land and fighting these giants.

Out of that precious spirit our inner most expression also flows. If we are born again, we are able to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Our spirit is corrupt when we fall into idolatry. Idolatry is to worship anything else outside of God. Idolatry is the worse sin of all. Idolatry is what caused the fall of Israel. Idolatry is the worse sin because the innermost part of us is prostituted. 

The first two commandments are dealing with idolatry not to have any other god before Jehovah and not make idols (Exodus 20). The whole Law is about loving God above all things (Mark 12). Revelation 18 describes the idolatry of the world; how the world has committed adultery with Babylon (The secular world). There is a cry in Revelation 18:4 for folks to get out of such idolatry. 

Your idolatry is manifested in the way you spend your money or resources (Matthew 6:21), in the way you spend your time (Ephesians 5:15-17), in what you talk about (Luke 6:45) and in whom you are around with (First Corinthians 15:33 / Proverbs 18:24).

I strongly believe that the devil will do the atrocity he did in Genesis 6. I believe he is doing it already; but he will do it at a larger scale; not as obvious; as I don’t think they will be giants, but the evidence that they are Nephilims is that these are folks whose only delight is in doing evil continually. 

Beloved, the bottom line is that our spirit must be born again to escape the wrath of God as the direct consequence of our idolatries. In John 3:3-5 Jesus tells us,

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (NIV)

Are you born again, do you have a new spirit within you or is your spirit corrupt with idolatry? God desires to give you eternal life with Him. God desires for you to be born again; for your spirit to worship him above all things, for you to have a relationship with Him. Are you feeling the prompting of His Spirit within you? Do you feel that God is addressing the condition of your heart right now? Are you willing to repent of your sins? Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and that God the Father raised him from the dead on the third day? Then God is already doing a deep work in your heart. Are you willing to confess what God is already doing in you? Pray this prayer,

“Jesus, I believe that you died and that the Father resurrected you on the third day. I believe the good news, you died for my sins. I confess my sins today, please forgive me. I thank you that today I am born again, that my spirit is now alive, that I belong to you. Thank you that I am now a part of the family of God. In Jesus name, amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, please call me at 907-888-0117 so that I can guide you into the next steps. This is free of charge; I don’t need, nor I want your money, but I want to guide you into the things of God so that you may grow, find yourself in His will and be and do all that God is calling you to be and do. 

In Exodus 33 Moses is having one of the many intense conversations he had with God. By this time Moses have seen the power of God manifested like no other man in the history of humanity. Nevertheless, Moses was not satisfied. 

The essence of this conversation was that Moses did not want to go forward with the plan of delivering God’s people, without knowing God more intimately. In Exodus 33:18 “Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” God answered in verse 19 by stating, “…I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” (NASB 1995) Later, in Exodus 34:6-7 we see God fulfilling his promise to Moses. God made a big introduction of himself and in this introduction, we see six moral characteristics of the character of God,

“Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷ who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (NASB 1995)

1. God is compassionate: This is the Hebrew word, raḥûm: meaning, “Merciful. It indicates a merciful and forgiving character and attitude. It is an important word defining the character of God, and every use is in reference to God.^[1]
2. God is Gracious: This is the Hebrew word ḥannûn: meaning “Gracious, merciful. This word is used solely as a descriptive term of God.”^[2]
3. God is slow to Anger: Thank God that he is slow to anger!
4. God is abundant in lovingkindness: This is the Hebrew word ḥeseḏ: “Indicating kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, acts of kindness. This aspect of God is one of several important features of His character: truth; faithfulness; mercy; steadfastness; justice; righteousness; goodness. The classic text for understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136 where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s kindness and love are eternal. The entire span of creation to God’s redemption, preservation, and permanent establishment is touched upon in this psalm. It all happened, is happening, and will continue to happen because of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and kindness.^[3]
5. God is a God of Truth: All truth is found in God. The only thing that God cannot do is lie (Hebrews 6:18). We can trust HIM!
6. God is a God of justice: We have a lot of preachers presenting God as a fluffy God; they only talk about his love, but God is also a God of justice. Our sin, our transgressions brings forth iniquity that will affect up to the third and fourth generation. I want to make a point here; even as our sins and transgressions affect generations to come, the amazing thing is that in Exodus 20:5-6 the Bible tells us, “…for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (NASB 1995) Look at the power of somebody who loves God versus somebody who hates God. Hate will affect three to fourth generations; however, for those who love God, it will positively affect thousands.  

Nothing on this earth is eternally trustworthy. You can have good products, good companies with a great vision and honest; but it will only take one generation and, at times not even that, for that company to go under and be completely unrecognizable. Nothing remains forever, everything and everybody eventually fails. The God that I serve is absolutely amazing! Only somebody with these attributes and moral character is able to self-imposed covenants from Noah to today. These self-impose covenants is what keeps humanity hopeful. In the midst of this fallen world only one thing is for sure; we can count on God.

From the fall of Adam and Eve, to the failure of a world that totally betrayed God, through humanity’s sins, transgressions and iniquities that continued after Noah, through the betrayal of a nation he birthed through Abraham (Israel) and, through the failure of the Law of Moses, God gave us the greatest gift of all, the Hope of Glory, His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 

The Apostle John summarized this way, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV) Beloved, His compassion, His graciousness, Him holding his anger, His abundant lovingkindness, His truthfulness and His perfect justice is still available for us today (Malachi 3:6). 

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^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1047.

^[2] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 355.

^[3] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 360.

So now that we took a look at the central role of the Holy Spirit and gotten a better understanding of the role of the apostle, let’s take a look at the biblical government as it relates to the local church. Let’s first establish that an elder, bishop or overseer is the same (Titus 1:5-7; Acts 20:17,28). Let’s also establish that local church government is never a one-man-show; is always presented in plurality. Some biblical examples are,

Acts 14:23  

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. (NIV)

Acts 20:28

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. (NIV)

Titus 1:5

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. (NIV)

As we can see through these verses, the Elders are appointed by the apostles and is never just one elder. To start a church by ourselves without apostolic covering is not biblical. I will go as far as saying that unless an apostle appoints elders we are out of order. Sometimes we wonder why the church is so messed up; perhaps this is the reason why, so many self-appointed elders and apostles all over the place. 

13 Responsibilities of the Elder

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. ² Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,³ not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full^[a] respect.⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. ⁷ He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. I Timothy 3:1-7 (NIV)

1. Above reproach
2. Faithful to his wife
3. Temperate
4. Self-controlled
5. Respectable
6. Hospitable
7. Able to teach
8. Not given to drunkenness
9. Not violent but gentle
10. Not quarrelsome
11. Not a lover of money
12. Manage his own family well
13. Not a new believer

3 Responsibilities of the Overseers

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. First Peter 5:1-4 (NIV)

1. Never to lord over the Flock
2. Motivated by a genuine love for God’s people: To be an elder should never be approached as career; it must be fully motivated by love. Paul gave us an excellent example of this dedication. Hebrews 13:17 tells us,

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. (KJV)

3. Watching over their disciples’ souls: When dealing with the soul we are dealing mindsets (Man’s will), decision making and emotions. This is the complexity of the work of an elder. That is why is imperative that an elder be able, mature and equip to teach God’s Word.

Conclusion

There are false everything… false apostles, false prophets, false teachers, false pastors and false Christians. These lies should not be a reason for us to change our biblical mandates, titles and protocols established by God. 

Church government is not a mystery; is not one of those topics in the Bible that require deep revelation. All we need here is a little diligence and the willingness to follow what the Bible is telling us… it is that simple! 

In summary, this is the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. He is in charge! He was left in charge by Jesus. The Holy Spirit is doing his work in us and through us; without Him we are wasting our time. 

The characteristics of an apostle are very clear. We know that the 12 apostles have a very special place in the foundations of the New Jerusalem. There will never be anybody else added to those 12 apostles. However, there were more apostles in the Bible. They were not many, not one in every corner, but about 30 apostles in the whole known world at the time of the writings of New Testament. The office of the apostle still exists today because one of the many important functions of the apostle is to establish elders in every church. Obviously, elders are still in existence today! 

Elders run the local churches under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and under the supervision of their assigned apostle. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us that a church is run by one person… none! It is always a body of elders. 

In a personal note, I have been affected by this study. I have been an elder and Senior Pastor in a few local churches. I felt that I needed to repent and confess that I was out of order myself and, that I was not properly appointed. That is because elders are appointed by true apostles. True apostles have specific characteristics as we discussed in this series. One of those characteristics is that an apostle must be of Abraham’s descent. 

So, I asked, where is my connection to the true apostolic order? I don’t know! I have never seen a true apostle. Who is the apostle in Arizona or in my region? Where is the descendant of Abraham with the divine authority to walk in that office? I don’t know! But I have faith that God will honor my desire to be in proper order. 

This is not an easy task and, perhaps, this is the reason why this journey through finding a local church has been so painful; but with this revelation, at least, I know two things… I know what to look for and, what not.

7 Characteristics of an Apostle

As stated before, the original churches struggle with identifying false apostles, Ephesus in particular, was complimented by Christ because they were able to successfully test false apostles. There is no more room for any other apostle as it refers to the twelve, but what about the rest of the apostles? There was a way to determine who was and who was not an apostle by taking a look at the basic characteristics of an apostle.

• The apostle must be a man: There are no female apostles in the Bible. Sorry! In you are a woman and you call yourself an apostle you are out of order.
• The apostle must have a supernatural conversion; a call from Jesus himself:  Let us remember what Jesus states in John 17:18, 

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18 (NIV)

In Acts 9:1-6 the Bible describes Paul’s supernatural conversion where Jesus speaks and call him directly. In Galatians 1:1 Paul stated, “Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” 

In Second Corinthians 11 Paul is responding to harsh criticism against his apostleship; some are questioning that he is even a true apostle. He is literally defending his call.

• The apostles have a notable insight knowledge of the things of God: In 2 Corinthians 11:5-6 Paul tells us,

I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” ⁶ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge…  2 Corinthians 11:5-6 (NIV)

• An apostle must be descendent of Abraham: 

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.” 2 Corinthians 11:21-22 (NIV)

If this is not a qualification for an apostle, why did Paul mention it here? Paul asked the questions very specifically, are they, referring to the apostles, Hebrews? This was the name given to them in connection to Abraham. He also asked are they Israelites? This is the name given to them after Jacob. And then he goes back and asked the question, are they Abraham’s descendants? He gives no doubt that the apostleship must be connected to the descendants of Abraham. So, I conclude that just as women have no business walking around with the title of an apostles, a gentile either.

• The Apostles is a messenger of Christ: (Philippians 2:25) As you see through the New Testament the apostles focus on teaching sound doctrine and, at the same time, confront false doctrine. However, the cross is at the center of the apostolic message. In First Corinthians 2:1-2 Paul tells us,

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (NIV)

• The apostles walk in a great deal of power from the Holy Ghost: In First Corinthians 2:4-5 the Apostle Paul tells us,

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,⁵ so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (NIV)

Even as this power is available for all of us; there is an apostolic distinction. Acts 5:12 tells us, “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people…” (NIV) Notice that these self-proclaim apostles have a lot of talk, but no demonstration of God’s power. In the life of a true apostle, this power is evident.

• The apostles equip and assigned elders on each church: This is one of the reasons I believe that apostles still exist today. They are in charge of appointing elders in each local church. In Acts 14:23 we read,

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. (NIV)

As you can see the characteristics of the apostle are needed as much today as it did 2,000 years ago. I believe that the main reason why the church is so out of order is because of the lack of apostolic order. Lacking apostolic order means a very lose view of theology, doctrine and a water down gospel. Lacking apostolic order is an invitation to all kinds of foolishness to enter the church unchallenged. That is the reason why identifying these false apostles is so important to Jesus; sif the apostle is out of order, the whole church is out of order.

To be continued…

During these days of Covid-19 madness, the gathering of the saints has been challenged; but this is nothing new in America. We have been through this before; yes, during the times of slavery. 

Not all the slaves were believers, but they were allowed to attend their master’s services; some were even allowed to preach. However, it was all fully controlled by their masters. The masters told them what to preach and what the meaning of Scripture was according to their own selfish agendas. These were truly dark pages in our history! But there were slaves who got a hold of the true gospel. Even as, for the most part, they did not know how to read; they did get a hold of the Spirit of God and prayer. 

Some slaves had enough sense to know that what the masters were presented to them was a distorted gospel. Those slaves started holding their own secret services. However, it is important to point out that, “Slaves forbidden by masters to attend church or, in some cases, even to pray, risked floggings to attend secret gatherings to worship God.”^[1] Oh, they were not allowed to preach the truth; the truth got you killed. There was no constitution to protect slaves; religious freedom did not apply to them, after all, they were not considered by science to be all human. 

“Provisions allowed southern states to count slaves as 3/5 persons for purposes of apportionment in Congress (even though the slaves could not, of course, vote), expressly denied to Congress the power to prohibit importation of new slaves until 1808, and prevented free states from enacting laws protecting fugitive slaves.”^[2]

As you can see, slaves got it a little tougher than we are today. However, the devil is the same in his attempt to stop the church, in general, from gathering. 

The Coronavirus is providing the best argument ever against the gathering of the saints. The question we should be asking is, do we have any biblical justification to stop our gatherings?  The slaves risk their lives, what are we risking today? It is nauseating to see churches closing and jumping into this wagon of fear and lies. 

In an effort to encourage my brothers and sisters, I want to take my time and discuss 9 reasons why, biblically speaking, we can’t never… ever… STOP GATHERING. Hebrews 10:19-25 tells us,

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;²⁴ and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (New American Standard 1995).

1. The gathering of the saints strengthens our confidence in the power of the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19) Beloved, the Scripture also tells us in Revelation 12:10-11, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹ And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (NASB 1995) If we do not gather, we will miss the encouragement found when we hear the testimonies of what God is doing in our brothers and sister’s lives. We also see in these verses that a believer is to never be concerned with death, the Scripture tells “…and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” Without the gathering of the saints and in isolation in our homes, what do we consume our days with? Where do we get our information? From CNN, Fox, Netflix? That explains why many, including believers, are walking around scare of Covid? It is in the gathering of the saints that we find confidence in God; it is there that we are reminded of who He is and who we are. Speaking about the power of God via Zoom is not really trusting the power of God.
2. The gathering of the saints teaches us that we have a great Priest over the House of God.(Hebrews 10:21) Have we forgotten about Jesus? Have we forgotten about His power? Have we forgotten about the power of the Holy Spirit? Is Jesus not more powerful than a virus?
3. The gathering of the saints helps us to draw near to God. (Hebrews 10:22) We have a responsibility to find God in our secret places; but we also have a responsibility to draw near to him corporately as a family. As a father I love to talk to my children individually; but how beautiful it is when I can have all of them around the table talking to each other, smiling and having a good time. That’s the way is supposed to be with God.
4. The gathering of the saints strengthens our full assurance and faith in God. (Hebrews 10:22) Again, there is something about that corporate anointing that strengthen our faith. The devil wants to take that away from us and take us to a place of isolation to make his attack easier.
5. The gathering of the saints helps us to hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering. (Hebrews 10:23) What we are witnessing today in some local churches is folks not holding on to the confession of our hope. They are wavering; they are scare, they have lost hope. So, either they never had that hope or, they are victims of the devil’s schemes. 
6. The gathering of the saints helps us to stimulate and grow in love. (Hebrews 10:24) Jesus took the whole Law of Moses and summarized in two commandments; to love God and to love one another (Matthew 22:37-40). We will never learn how to love without coming together. We will never fulfill the “One Anothers” in Scripture without coming together. “The phrase “one another” is derived from the Greek word “allelon” which means “one another, each other; mutually, reciprocally.” It occurs 100 times in the New Testament. Approximately 59 of those occurrences are specific commands teaching us how (and how not) to relate to one another.”^[3]
7. It is within the gathering of the saints that we learn and fulfill ministries of good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24) Every ministry should be connected to a local church; it is within the contents of the gathering of the saints that we learn good deeds.
8. One of the main reasons for the gathering of the saints is to encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:25) The word encouragement is the Greek word, parakaléō; Meaning “To call. To aid, help, comfort, exhort, to call for, beseech or implore.”^[4] Without the gathering of the saints we can’t fulfill our divine call, we can’t receive the spiritual aid we need, we can’t be truly comforted, and we can’t receive that divine push we all need to do what God is calling us to do (Exhort). Beloved this is the magnitude and importance of encouragement. 
9. The gathering of the saints prepares us for the increasingly difficult days to come. (Hebrews 10:25) We all have bad days, don’t we? We are constantly moving towards even more difficult days as we approach the Great Tribulation; those are terrible days. In Matthew 24:21 specifically Jesus tells us, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” (NASB 1995) Again, we as Christians are not called to isolate, we are a part of a family and must function in the contents of that family. We are also a part of an army, we are not called to be Rambo Christians. The gathering of the saints provides the training necessary to endure what is coming. If a virus with a 99% survival rate was enough to scatter us, what would happen when a virus with a 100% mortality rate comes? The question many of us are asking is what have we been preaching that so many in the Body of Christ are paralyzed by fear of the Coronavirus? 

Conclusion

Under no circumstances are believers called to stop our gatherings. We must also remember that we are not the first ones to face such challenge. Satan has tried to stop us from gathering since the beginning of the church; much blood has been shed over such attempts. Even today, in many countries around the world, the gathering of the saints is illegal.^[5] America has been blessed for some time now, but we are about to see an America that will be unrecognizable, an America that will not only resist and reject the gospel, but an America that will make it illegal, an America that will detest us as Christians, an America that will also come against Israel and, a constitution that will be filled with amendments that will make such hate possible. Like never before we must remember the words of the Psalmist and encourage one another with these words, 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore. Psalm 121 (NIV)

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^[1] https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-33/secret-religion-of-slaves.html

^[2] http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/thirteenthamendment.html

^[3] https://www.mmlearn.org/hubfs/docs/OneAnotherPassages.pdf

^[4] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[5] https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/877057/christian-persecution-map-2017-open-doors-uk-study