The Bible continually gives testimony of its inherent truth. This is true concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is an apparent discrepancy between the gifts manifested through Jesus and those manifested through the Church. This apparent discrepancy, however, results in an amazing testimony of the truth of God's word.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul listed the gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:7-11). Included in this list of the gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues and the interpretation of tongues. The first seven of these gifts can be seen in the ministry of Messiah Jesus as recorded in the gospels. However, there is no indication that He exercised the gift of tongues and, therefore, there was no interpretation of tongues. Yet, these gifts were manifested immediately through the Church beginning on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). Why were gifts manifested through the Church which were not manifested by the Lord? The answer to this question is very interesting and a bold confirmation of the truth of the Scriptures.

The Webster dictionary defines feminism as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. During my years in college, I often heard Muslim students claiming that one of the superiorities of Islam was the fact that it had elevated women from a subservient position. This statement seems preposterous considering the condition of women in much of the Muslim world.

Islam sees women as chattel, and despite attempts by "moderate Islam" to portray actions such as honor killings as an aberration, it is obvious that the treatment of women as inferior beings is fully condoned in the Koran and Hadiths. The Muslims with whom I have spoken claimed that the Judeo Christian tradition had, in fact, enslaved women to their base desires, and had created the decadent western values, which caused every woman to be seen as little more than a prostitute. Leaving us with the question, is this truly the position of women in Christianity, and is the Muslim position "superior"?

It is bad to be judged by God. It is much worse to be judged by God and not have sufficient discernment to perceive that it is happening to you. I believe that America is in the latter situation today.

A Warning to the United States

In 1973, the Arab-Moslem nations attacked Israel with the hope of annihilating her. They almost succeeded. Israel was in desperate need of supplies after the war wore on for a few weeks. President Nixon decided to send necessary supplies to Israel and, as a result, she was able to turn back her attackers and prevail. The Arab-Moslem nations blamed America for their defeat and their inability to annihilate Israel. As a consequence of this defeat, the oil-producing Arab-Moslem nations initiated an oil embargo against the U.S. Many of us remember the long gas lines that we endured at that time. Fortunately for me, I owned a small VW “bug” and got by better than most.

I remember a newspaper picture from that era: the King of Saudi Arabia, who was attending an Arab Summit in North Africa following the War, was pointing his antique rifle westward toward America. His gesture was symbolic: it conveyed his intentions of waging war on America. Oil prices increased by over an order of magnitude from between $1-$2 per barrel to $30-$40 per barrel. Now, over 30 years later the Saudis must be surprised and delighted at their success in this war.

What is the meaning of the seventh month festivals? We hear so much about them, but do we really understand them? Let us examine them that we might have a better understanding of God's purpose in these festivals. The first seventh month festival is Trumpets, celebrated on the first day of the seventh month of Tishri. On that day, "you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation", says the Lord (Leviticus 23.24). This day is a Sabbath and, in addition, on this day the Lord says it is to be a "reminder". Yet what is it the Lord has called us to remember?

Biblical prophecy is an area which offers great insight concerning those things that are evolving in the world. Prophecy can also be used incorrectly and made to say almost anything. Wisdom lies in knowing how to interpret the general trends outlined in prophecy and in refraining from interpreting in great detail. This is true of the beasts of Revelation.

The Bible uses the terminology of "Beast" to describe a human empire. Daniel (Daniel 7:17) and John (Revelation 17:9-13) both interpret the term "Beast" as a king or kingdom. In modern usage, we believe that the word empire best describes the concept of beast.

There seems to have always been the tendency in man to form empires through which to dominate part or, if possible, all of mankind. The first Biblical empire that we read of is Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) which evidently was the handiwork of the tyrant Nimrod. God, of course, struck this empire. Yet, we see in every age the quest to revive Babel. History records a long sequence of empires which struggled to dominate the civilized world of their days. We recall Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome from the Biblical era. All of these were very similar to one another. Since the decline of the Roman Empire, there have been a number of efforts at empires which were regional in extent. Eventually technology developed which allowed for a truly global empire. The British Empire was almost global in nature (We recall the phrase, "the sun never sets on the British Empire"). In the 20th century we have seen a truly global empire evolve. It is the United Nations. Today, near the close of the 20th century, the United Nations is nearing the point of exercising dominance over all national sovereignty. This was spoken of by both Daniel and John (Daniel 7:23 and Revelation 13:7). We believe that the UN represents the current Anti-God, Anti-Messiah (Anti-Christ) and Anti-Israel government.

Are you experiencing salvation? An ongoing witness of deliverance from the enemy? Can you say, with King David, that the Lord is restoring your soul, having lifted you out the slimy pit and setting your feet on a rock? Do you see the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit being manifested in you as part of a local body of Messiah Jesus?

By definition, every Christian asked would perhaps answer "yes" to the question of whether or not they had been "saved" or "born again" or "come to a saving knowledge of Jesus" (or whatever terminology might be familiar to a person); and yet, many would have difficulty answering "yes" to experiencing the Biblical concept of Salvation as expressed by the questions in the opening paragraph. How is it that people come to believe that they are experiencing the fullness of Salvation when, in reality, they have not even been introduced to its Biblical essence.

Excerpt #5 from the book, Bible Prophecy, by Pastor Ken Garrison (Excerpt #1, Excerpt #2, Excerpt #3, Excerpt #4)

(Note: in order for this article to be effective, the reader needs to read the listed Scripture references. The full text of the Scriptures have been removed for copyright and space concerns.)

One way to understand God's redemptive purpose is to realize that God is restoring all things in the earth to a situation like that which existed in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man. In this "New Creation" there will be no manifestation of evil. God's name (authority) will be the only authority. God's wisdom, knowledge, and power will be exercised through man. All offending souls will have been isolated in the "Lake of Fire" with Satan and the host of spiritual beings (demons) who are under his authority and in alliance with him. This state will be eternal or timeless.

We call this final state the "New Creation". Isaiah introduced the concept of a New Heaven and a New Earth. John, in the book or Revelation, developed this theme further. We will outline here some key concepts concerning the "New Creation".
The final period just preceding the “New Creation” age may have been prophesied by the weekly shabbat. God continued His creating activities for six days and rested on the seventh day. We may consider this prophetic of six “days”, (one day = 1000 years) of the transgression of man on earth and one day (shabbat) under Messianic rule.

The following "article" is class material taken from the Torah 1 course of the Tzemach Institute. New classes for this unique, two-year Bible Study begin every September...

CLASS 3: GOD LIMITS EVIL IN THE EARTH

A. Evil is Loosed in the Earth

People often ask the question, "Why did God destroy everything during the flood" (except that which was preserved in the ark)"? The answer to this question comes when one considers what was taking place in the earth and what God wanted to do. Evil had gained an inroad into the earth through Adam. Thereafter it spread rapidly throughout the world and increased to an alarming degree. Evil was so fully manifested that God's first impression was to destroy everything, presumably, in order to begin again. Of course He decided otherwise.

At any rate, God chose to limit the degree to which evil was manifested by three specific acts:


In this way the extent of the manifestation of evil was limited as God implemented specific redemptive steps.

Excerpt #4 from the book, Bible Prophecy, by Pastor Ken Garrison (Excerpt #1, Excerpt #2, Excerpt #3)

(Note: in order for this article to be effective, the reader needs to read the listed Scripture references. The full text of the Scriptures have been removed for copyright and space concerns.)

The fact that God intervenes in the history of the human community is evident from the earliest pages of the book of Genesis. As we consider this concept in its broadest sense, we can discern the rationale for God’s redemptive activities. God has intervened from time to time to limit the manifestation of evil while, in a positive sense, He is implementing redemptive activities. Eventually, when redemption is complete, evil will not be manifested at all. Satan, the spirit of evil, those spiritual beings under Satan’s authority (Matthew 25:41), and all those of the human community who became victims of Satan by actively cooperating with his activities will be isolated in the place referred to as the “Lake of Fire”. Evil will have no means of manifestation in the new creation. This is the most fundamental goal of redemption.

Excerpt #3 from the book, Bible Prophecy, by Pastor Ken Garrison (Excerpt #1, Excerpt 2)

(Note: in order for this article to be effective, the reader needs to read the listed Scripture references. The full text of the Scriptures have been removed for copyright and space concerns.)

One of the most important subjects of Bible Prophecy has to do with God’s indwelling presence in the midst of the human community. The subject is virtually ignored by Christian writers because of the strong gnostic influence that occurred during the era when Christian doctrine was developed. The gnostics believed that the physical creation was evil and, therefore, unsuitable for God’s presence. Gnostic doctrine saw man advancing to a higher spiritual plane to the presence of God. We hear this influence in Christian terminology in such expressions as, “going to heaven when I die”.