Neglected Kerygma -- Lecture 17

[Rebbe]

THE NEGLECTED KERYGMA OF CHRIST
a series of lecture essays on the biblical concept of a universal salvation in Christ

LECTURE SEVENTEEN

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2021 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling, Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)

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Audio Lecture is now available for members: THE NEGLECTED KERYGMA OF CHRIST [17]: Lecture Seventeen

I never cease to be amazed at how often so many Gentile Christians – with whom I come into contact at religious services and/or as visitors to the IMCF (and otherwise) – literally recoil when they are exposed to authentic biblical information which conflicts with “what they have always believed.” Some “unbelieving believers” labour under the delusion that their beloved AV (or King James Version) is essentially correct in all its details and some are actually somatised by its lovely poetic rhythm. There have been some who have ventured to dare to challenge me on issues about which they have known nothing – zero! This is essentially due to their indoctrination at the hands of priests and sectarians who have trampled over the Word of God – being of the opinion that they have been enlightened by the Spirit of God and felt the need to correct me as to my heterodox, mendacious, dishonest and invalidated notions as to what the Bible contains as vital Salvation-oriented information.

Of course, I am more than delighted when proven to be in error, and I am always eager to publicly correct any and all errors that can be substantiated as such by my opponents. I am only and ever interested in what GOD has inspired to be confidently shared with others. The apostle James makes it candidly clear that teachers who are sharing erroneous data will receive the double judgment! It seems the case, as far as the Lord is concerned, that knowing more makes one MORE accountable. As I said, James, the brother of the Lord wrote:

“Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]” (Jam 3.1 AMP).

During my sojourn in deputised ministry with the world's largest international missionary radio organisation I was once confronted by a sweet old lady wearing a blueish or grey felt hat (she was one of the “blue rinse set”) who stood waiting at the door of a High Anglican Church (Episcopalian in the USA) in order to shake my hand and to thank me for my sermon. (I had given both a sermon and earlier had conducted a “Sacraments” ritual.) She asked what Bible I had used in my teaching that morning. I replied, “The King James.” She responded, “Oh, wonderful. I am so glad to hear that! I think if the King James Bible was good enough for the Lord and His disciples it should also be good enough for us!”

True story. I have since read a “Reader's Digest” short story which was much along the same lines, but perhaps such an incident occurred with the writer who sent it to RD, as it had also occurred to me.

In any event, to illustrate how difficult it can be for someone to acknowledge truth and to accept new understanding let me share a verse that has been totally obscured as to its true meaning and yet it is used by “unbelieving believers” to attempt to prove that the idea of transmigration is invalidated by the Spirit of our God Yehovah.

TRUTH CONCERNING THE “INNER MAN” OFTEN REJECTED
The truth concerning our “inner man” is located in the indepth circular Letter to the Hebrew Essene Converts to Yeshua, penned by an unknown author just prior to the collapse and fall of the Second Temple.

“It is appointed unto men once to die and after this – judgement” (Hebrews 9.27).

“It is appointed unto men once to die.” Now I have written extensively on the subject of man's derived immortality (derived directly from the Source of immortality and incorruption) and the reality of what is called “reincarnation” or “transmigration” or “metempsychosis.” It is A BIBLICAL FACT lost to the awareness of the vast majority of Christian believers. I have written extensively on the matter. Our calling involves restoring lost Jewish thoughtform to the biblical revelation and this (of necessity) must involve the teaching about our SPIRIT. Christians will go as far as to denounce our teaching as demonically-inspired, which is coming very close to being blasphemers against the holy Spirit. What a tragedy.

Without my being repetitious, let me say that recent research by Jewish authorities (and others) into the so-called New Covenant Letter to the Hebrews reveals that it is essentially a correspondence with sectarian Jews of Qumranic faith, whether they were Essenes or not is not the point. There was a group of collectivist Jews who lived at Qumran as sectarians who were opposed to an apostate Jerusalem and what they considered an apostate Sanhedrin. They had “new Scriptures and formed a new Jerusalem” and called themselves “The Way” which appellation also appeared amongst the primitive Nazarene Christians. The Qumran sectarians formed the basis of the new Messianic Movement which evolved over the centuries into what became the Christian Church.

Josephus informs us that the Qumran sectarians accepted the view of the human spirit's immortality, and others point out that they contributed to a belief that ancient prophets were to make an appearance in different bodies at “the end of days” which they also believed was a period in which they had already entered. The Synoptic Gospels corroborate this view. That they acknowledged transmigration of “the soul” cannot be argued against, and John the apostle – equally a previous adherent from the among the sectarians – wrote about reincarnation in his narrative.

DOES MAN DIE JUST ONCE?
In the Qumranic opinion men would live once and then die and come before a judgment in the Temple of God (or an “assessment of the life lived”) and then return to earth being reborn into a new body with a new name in a new place – leaving the sacred precincts of the heavenly Temple of God until they died again and returned to be once more evaluated. This is the thinking behind Hebrews 9.27!

For those who would belligerently argue against this truthful proposition let me say this – please evaluate the following texts and come to realise – FINALLY-- that your opposition to God's WORD is entirely groundless.

IF “man is appointed ONCE to die” in such a perverse promulgated theology then PLEASE EXPLAIN how it is that Lazarus (the close friend of Yeshua, and son of Nakdimon ben Gurion, the older brother of Josephus) DIED and was resurrected to life by Yeshua (Jn 11.43,44) only to later die again of natural causes? Lazarus died TWICE!

“It is appointed unto men once to die.” Oh, really?

Yeshua was not the first person to be raised from the dead, but he was most certainly the first to rise to eternal life never to die again. Others were previously (and later) raised from the dead but they were raised physically in their mortal bodies: the point being that they DIED AGAIN – they died twice. The son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17.17-23), the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kgs 4.32-37), the young man laid to rest in Elisha's grave (2 Kgs 13.21). Then there was Jairus' DEAD daughter (Lk 8.49-55), also resurrected from death by the Saviour. She did not then live forever from that point onward. Are our enemies willing to admit to the obvious – that, like Lazarus, she was destined to die TWICE in her life?

It doesn't stop there. There was the widow's son (Lk 7.12-15). Let's not overlook Dorcas (Ac 9.37-40) and Eutychus (Ac 20.9-12).

Every single person who was ever raised from the dead ended up dying naturally a second time. In a sense they experienced a “second death.” Ever thought about that? The ONLY person to be raised from the dead as SPIRIT never having to die a second time was Our Lord Yeshua. Of course, in a real sense Christ did experience a second death because he not only expired physically on the cross or tree, he also was estranged spiritually from God the Father, for a very short agonising time-period, was he not?

So, those who would accuse us of false teaching about reincarnation on the basis of a single text claiming that “men would only ever die once” and then they would face  “THE last Judgment” really need to become charged with the holy “Spirit of right knowledge” (of “Truth”) and become impregnated by Her Presence within the human spirit. After all, we have just seen for ourselves that they can't explain the efficacy of their interpretation of Heb 9.27 even in relation to THIS life – let alone future lives.

It is always helpful to be appropriately educated into a little of the background to the Scripture texts in order to avoid embarrassment when confronted by the truth of God.

THE “AV” – “KJV” – TEACHES ETERNAL DAMNATION
It is written that Christ warned his followers that religious authorities would not hesitate to commit murder in His Name in order to restore a proper fellowship in regard to association with those whom they regarded as being like-minded as themselves.

“An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he offers service to God” (Jn 16.2).

Intriguingly, the phrase of this passage “he offers service to God” should be more properly transliterated from the Greek as “a sacrificial service to God.” Kenneth Wuest so translates it as “a sacred service to God.” Professor Marvin Vincent clarifies further, that the Greek “means, strictly, service for hire... used... frequently of the service of God” (Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol.ll, The Writings of John, 255). And immediately following this warning, Christ tells us why such a horrendous outcome could be anticipated.

“These things they will do because they did not come to know the Father nor me in an experiential manner.”

It happened to Christians at the hands of Jews in the late Second Temple period. It happened again during the Roman Catholic “Babylonian Captivity” interval, and it will certainly be repeated in the “End of Days.”

When it comes to the teaching of “a universal salvation IN Christ” as being exonerated in our unique approach (from a Jewish perspective) there will always be the “KJV ONLY” representatives who would (if they could) TERMINATE anyone who could possibly reasonably detract from the false notion that God wouldn't have given us the KJV with any issues of doubtful authenticity in transcription.

Oh really? 

HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT?
Such folk really need to STOP and THINK. For, there exist countless millions of “believers” who have never ever experienced an original thought. Some eagerly adopt the thoughts of others who may well be capable of better expression. Many of them come naturally under the mesmeric influence of a more persuasive, more charismatic personality than the one they themselves possess. They begin to mindlessly emulate that person, copying and fast-tracking even personality traits and dressing like them. Try as they might they cannot seem to remove themselves from the thinking of the individual who presents facades of “smooth-tongued glamour” in the presentation of their own peculiar biblical interpretations. There are myriads of nominal Christians who have unquestioningly listened to religious authorities and “traditionalists” since early childhood and remain thus programmed to error. All of this is DANGEROUS. God expects us ALL to develop our personalities as long as they are OUR OWN. I knew a man once, decades ago now, who talked like John Wayne and acted like Alan Ladd as he presented himself in the movie Whispering Smith (released in 1948 and co-starring Brenda Marshall). He unceasingly drove me nuts!

Having said all this, think about the beloved KJV.  When was the KJV (the AV) created? Why, in 1611.

Back in 1611 – 410 years ago – the men who gave us the AV under the auspices of the drooling pervert King James 1 of England (King James VI of Scotland) were rather hindered by a number of factors. Let me list some of them.

(1) These men (largely uneducated by today's standards) did not have access to the treasure house of ancient mss, versions and revisions, which current day scholars possess.

(2) “They did not have the science of textual criticism which teaches the value and the best methods of dealing with the ancient documents, all of which has sprung up since.”

(3) Further, “neither did they possess the wide and thorough acquaintance with the sacred languages and the ability to distinguish and express the delicate shades of meaning that scholars of today are capable of doing.”

(4) Moreover, “they were also circumscribed by fourteen rules devised by King James, as to how they should proceed” (Adlai Loudy, God's Eonian Purpose, 1929, 1974, 36).

Certainly, I have mentioned in earlier lectures and in lengthy articles that King James threatened [1611] the English translators to alter the sacred text if they found anything that discredited current church practice. This can be substantiated in Bagster's edition of the 1611 AV of the Bible which states that King James ordered that his scholars were “To sanction no innovation that would disturb the orthodoxy or peace of the church.” The translators trod carefully to respect the rules laid down by the king.

“Some withdrew and refused to serve when the rules were submitted,” writes Adlai Loudy. “They had no system by which to effect a true version, they simply trusted to their own judgment in the matter, and when not certain, they simply arrived at an agreement among themselves on their opinions and put it in!” (Loudy, ibid).

At the moment King James attempted to force his “Authorised Version” onto and into English churches, eminent Hebrew scholar of the time, Dr Hugh Broughton, was compelled to notify the King that “I would rather suffer my body to be rent in pieces by wild horses than any such translation by my consent should be urged upon poor churches... The new edition crosseth me. I require it to be burnt” (Christian History magazine, Issue 100, Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the KJV, 2011 by Christian History Institute).

I have previously lectured on a series entitled The Overwriting of the NT Corpus which grant details of the mistakes and errors found in the so-called “Authorised Version.” Advocates of the KJV ought to be made aware that religiously clinging to this (per)version of the Scriptures (really, a version of a version of a revision of already existing and widely prevalent Bibles) with its outright inclusions of misogyny, false Trinity emphasis – replete with devilishly devised inserted texts of spurious origin – entire stories composed and imposed, and personal names altered to further subjugate women to men, along with a damnable doctrine of eternal misery for offenders of Christ's generous offers of salvation (and I might add to that, the inalienable “divine right” of kings and clergy to rule the unthinking general masses known as laity) will only usher in on that person the absolute guarantee of a Great White Throne Judgment!

It is incumbent on EVERY believer in Yeshua as Lord and Saviour to become more appropriately educated into biblical realities and less rigidly obligated to align with the peer pressure of like-minded UNthinking pseudo-intellectuals who “lord” their utterly UNbiblical views over God's tender-hearted sheep, and little lambs, who sincerely desire nothing else (and nothing better) but to acknowledge and accept with enormous GRATITUDE the loving devotion of our smiling, radiantly joyful Creative God who brought into an existence His Gospel of Salvific GRACE in order to encourage and console sinners – the lost, the sorrowful, the heartbroken, and the exhausted.

So ask yourself why it is that so many of our friends and relatives ENJOY the very thought of a negative judgment of God that is nothing less than (not “Good News) but very, very bad news indeed. An eternal hell-fire of unrelenting torment and pain and suffering – to no purpose, to no conclusion, to no end result?

CHRIST'S TWO MAJOR OBJECTIVES
God, I would like to remind everyone, near and far – is never, ever PURPOSELESS.

God is PURPOSE in Himself.

God sent Christ to earth with two major missions:

(1) To save humanity – all of it.

(2) To destroy the “works of the devil.”

In 1 Jn 3.8 we read: “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (NASB).

Those idolaters who “keep in step” with the “KJV ONLY Frantic 'Bed-Wetters' Association” cannot but fail to embrace point 1. This is because the KJV as it appeared in 1611 – and still appears to this day – espouses a thoroughly spiritually delinquent aberration with its references to “eternity,” “forever,” and “forever and ever” ad nauseum.

While they espouse the position of point 2 somewhat eagerly (as their literature specifies) they really do not –  in the last resort – believe it.

How can I say such a thing? Quite easily! While the Greek word for destroy means to “annul,” or to “bring to nothing” one of the prime “works of the devil” – who was “a liar from the beginning,” and “the father of lies” (Jn 8.44)  – is to distort, malign, garble, detract, deviate, warp, misrepresent, wrest apart, belie, contradict, twist, falsify, and render utterly useless the sacred words of the holy Spirit-inspired original texts as She breathed them out onto parchment through the quills and pens of the prophets and apostles.

The Devil worked his wonders with astonishing agility and ability. He particularly ingratiated himself into the sacred records by falsifying, through “slight-of-hand,” the words of the New Covenant Scriptures – making God out to be little better than himself by caricaturing God to be satiated only by the unrelenting flow of human blood, tormenting the race of humankind with the bitter fruits of God's supposed own purposelessness and greedy malevolent nature. In other words, by substituting his words for the WORD of God, Satan took the sacred place of God and turned God into the Adversary. Great trick if you could get away with it.

The Devil will never get away with it for it is written in the Apocalypse “The devil knows that he has but a short time” (Rev 12.12). It must send chills up his spine (if he has one).

If the Catholic church, its Protestant daughters, and the Orthodox church are correct in their theology then the Dark Lord without question already has the vast multitudes – the entire deceived majority – on his side and his booming, flourishing, prospering work is anything but destroyed. Orthodoxy insists that at the very conclusion of “Time” – at “the Last Judgment” – only a scant few will be saved as God the Father plunges the billions of hapless, sinful, depraved humankind down into the raging inferno of an eternal burning hell to be forever tormented in unrelenting, uninterrupted, incessant and endless misery.

As we have proclaimed relentlessly for well over 40+ years, if Christendom is right theologically, then haSatan's “work” – which has wrought rebellion and death and decay and depravity of “the flesh” – will continue to exist to mar the beauty and excellence of the Creator God's universe forever. God is not the Sovereign VICTOR in this maniacal scenario.

Scholar Loudy has written, “Regardless of how much we may prize the King James “Bible” for its sacred memories, when we know that it does not bear out the final and crucial test of faithfulness to the original text, we should not be slow in discarding it for a newer and more accurate version. Truth lovers desire that the Old Hebrew and Greek writings should speak to them as they spoke to their first readers in the days of the apostles, freed from the human traditions imposed upon them by later eras, and from unconscious errors of imperfect scholarship. Regardless of sacrifice, we should ever seek for the version that will give the clearest and purest expression of the original. A version that fails to meet this demand may serve the needs of a few for sentimental purposes, but it will fail to fill the hearts of a wider humanity who love the truth so deeply they will be satisfied only with a version that expresses exactly what God has really spoken” (Adlai Loudy, God's Eonian Purpose, 1929,1974, 53).

We shall continue our lectures on the Neglected Kerygma of Christ anon.

THIS CONCLUDES THE CURRENT LECTURE