Decoder Rings ?

Originally posted by sonship
Then the writer has this:

[quote] Now, the Spirit of God, as he was with Paul, is always faithful to warn us. We need not stumble blindly into this trap, any more than Paul needed to, but what this great study shows us is that we must be very careful to be obedient to the Spirit's voice. When he checks us, clearly and unmistakably, we are to obey. Other ...[text shortened]... I will not make further comment until I get some feedback from you.

Thanks for the article.

Again we have to take another look at punctuation. Did they really say the Lord's will be done? Or did they say "we ceased saying the Lord's will be done?
I believe Paul was zealous to preach to the Jews, but he was called to the Gentiles and Peter was called to the Jews.
Paul had a great love for his countrymen, and even went against God's plan and went to the Jews anyway. It is all over the book of Acts and Epistles if you look at the records with this mindset.
In the end, no one was converted by Paul's preaching except king Agrippa who was "almost persuaded"... Who knows how it would have ended had Paul obeyed?
Like the writer, I have nothing but admiration for Paul and his love for God and Jesus.
He was about the most powerful example of an Apostle walking in love and power.
Even though Paul went anyway, God did His best to make Paul"s journey successful.
But I believe Paul would have lived longer and helped convert more people, had he stayed in God's plan.
Below is my account of how it went down....

Paul called to the Gentiles....

Acts 22:12-21
"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

17 "Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance 18 and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' 19 So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. 20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' 21 Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'"
NKJV


Paul is warned not to go to Jerusalem

Acts 21:4
And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
NKJV

Now in keeping with context the bible does not tell us, but what do you think they peophesied?

Acts 21:8-10
On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
NKJV

More warnings...

Acts 21:10-11
And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"
NKJV

We have to admire Paul's heart, he didn't even concern himself with his life nor suffering..

Acts 21:12-13

12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
NKJV

Here are the two ways to see this verse. Staying with the context, you decide which one is correct....

Acts 21:14

14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."
NKJV

Acts 21:14

14 So when he would not be persuaded we ceased saying "The will of the Lord be done."
NKJV

They said we are not going to continue telling you the will of the Lord be done, because you are going to do what you want.

Originally posted by checkbaiter

I think Acts 20:23 is not a charge but a warning of what will befall Paul if he goes to Jerusalem. However Acts 21:4 the Holy Spirit makes known to Paul through the disciples not to set foot in Jerusalem. And here I have to agree that the Head of the Body through the members was telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

At this point then I would have to agree that he should have taken the charge not to go. He should have obeyed the word from the Head.

Acts 21:10 has the prophet Agabus again warning Paul and the others what kind of treatment he could expect in Jerusalem. This is more along the nature of a warning rather than a charge.

“And while we remained there many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And he came to us and took Paul’s girdle; and having bound his own feet and hands, he said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, In this way shall the Jews in Jerusalem bind the man whose girdle this is and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”

Paul seems to have it in his heart not to follow the charge and fellowship of the Body. Paul would not be otherwise persuaded. And the disciples, including Luke stopped trying to dissuade Paul. The English rendering before me on this is:

“And when he would not be persuaded, we were silent, having said, The will of the Lord be done.”

For this post let me say I agree with you that God told him not to go through the prophesy of the members of the Body for which Paul himself labored continually and faithfully.

There is much more to the account I think we could talk about.
Good job. I've been persuaded.

Originally posted by checkbaiter
Again we have to take another look at punctuation. Did they really say the Lord's will be done? Or did they say "we ceased saying the Lord's will be done?
I believe Paul was zealous to preach to the Jews, but he was called to the Gentiles and Peter was called to the Jews.
Paul had a great love for his countrymen, and even went against God's plan and we ...[text shortened]... to continue telling you the will of the Lord be done, because you are going to do what you want.

Free will continues to exist even when people are led by the Spirit of God. The idea that some Christians have that those led by Gods Spirit, or who have the Holy Spirit or who are sons of God, will not have to account for their sin is incorrect.

All have to give account. Some like Paul whose disobedience is minor, but whose works in Christ are great, will not suffer. Not all will be in that category..

Christians come in all varieties, even those who will be destroyed in the end.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Free will continues to exist even when people are led by the Spirit of God. The idea that some Christians have that those led by Gods Spirit, or who have the Holy Spirit or who are sons of God, will not have to account for their sin is incorrect.

All have to give account. Some like Paul whose disobedience is minor, but whose works in Christ are great, wi ...[text shortened]... hat category..

Christians come in all varieties, even those who will be destroyed in the end.

You could even say that free will increases the more you align yourself with the matrix of your "creation". Unburdening the constraints of millenia of disinformation has freed up the mind to discover itself, and the more we discover, the more we understand about the nature of free will and it's purpose .

Okay. So let's get into some of this "Decoding". But I will not call it "decoding" but the speaking spiritual things to spiritual people.

Do you know why God would not allow Moses to enter into the Promised Land ?
The story of God forbidding Moses to go into Canaan is in the book of Numbers between verses 1 and 13.

Those who have the spiritual hunger please read that portion first. Then we can come back and talk about some of the embedded wisdom so called "coded" in the Hebrew Bible important to Christians.

And WHY did God not allow Moses to enter into Canaan because of this incident?

Originally posted by sonship
Okay. So let's get into some of this "Decoding". But I will not call it "decoding" but the speaking spiritual things to spiritual people.

Do you know why God would not allow [b]Moses to enter into the Promised Land ?
The story of God forbidding Moses to go into Canaan is in the book of Numbers between verses 1 and 13.

Those w ...[text shortened]... to Christians.

And WHY did God not allow Moses to enter into Canaan because of this incident?[/b]

Sorry. I didn't give the chapter - Numbers 20:2-13.