Author: hillturnfs

Roman Catholics have been taught that God and Jesus are too busy and unapproachable to hear our prayers and they should pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who will then go petition her Son for an answer to those prayers. Why is this done when the Scriptures clearly say we are to pray directly to the Father in Jesus’ name because He is our Mediator and High Priest in heaven?

Catholics are taught Mary is the divine Queen of Heaven, sinless and a perpetual virgin. Why is this done when the Scriptures clearly say Mary was born in her sin like we all are and had to forgiven just like us. Mary is not the Queen of Heaven and she went on to have several more children with her husband Joseph.

Here are some examples of Catholic traditions which cannot be supported by the Scriptures:

1. Prayers for the dead and the sign of the cross – 310 AD

The dead do not need prayers. If they died in Christ they are in heaven and if not they are in hell and can’t be helped.

2. The Mass – approximately 394 AD

Each time the Catholic Mass is is performed the faithful are led to believe the bread and wine are miraculously turned into the actual body and blood of Christ so, in effect, it is a bloodless sacrifice of Christ for our sins all over again. The real thing didn’t do it. The Bible tells us Christ’s death is a once-for-all event and the Eucharist is in memoriam and not a literal statement.

3. The worship of Mary (approximately 431 AD) and the Immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary (Approximately 1854 AD) have already been discussed.

4. The doctrine of purgatory – approximately 593 AD

The Bible is clear those who die in their sin go directly to hell from which there is no escape and just as clear that forgiveness of sins is free for the asking and no works are needed.

5. Holy Water – approximately 850 AD

This was borrowed from paganism.

6. Confessions to a priest – approximately 1215 AD

The Bible is clear only Jesus is our High Priest and only God can hear and forgive our sins and not some sin-marred human being sitting in a box.

7. Canonization of dead saints – Approximately 995 AD

No human being is worthy of this.

8. Fasting on Fridays and during Lent – approximately 998 AD

Nowhere in the Bible does God mandate this so it of no value to God.

All three persons of the Trinity have always existed as God and all three persons had a part in creation but they differ in their relationship to each other. If the Trinity were compared to a construction company God the Father would represent the owner of the company. Jesus would represent the project superintendent. The Holy Spirit would represent the general contractor who does the actual building work. See: Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30, Job 26:13 and 33:4.

The Holy does almost all the heavy lifting for God and is intimately involved in every aspect of God’s salvation plan for man and the governance of God’s creation. The Holy Spirit was the real father of Christ’s body and the Holy Spirit led Jesus his entire life. Before Christ the Holy Spirit was present in the world but not as pervasive as today. The Old Testament documents 16 people who were anointed by the Holy Spirit for various lengths of time. Of those 16 I’m only aware of King David being indwelt by the Holy Spirit all his life.

At Pentecost in 33 AD the Holy Spirit came to earth from the Father permanently to indwell all believers as their helper, guide and comforter during their walk with God. It’s the Holy Spirit who enlightens us to the truth of God’s Word as it’s preached and read. It’s the Holy Spirit who regenerates our spirit, indwells us and seals us as God’s property. It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us the spiritual gifts of God as He sees fit and it’s the Holy Spirit who will take our eternal spirit back to God when we die. It’s the Holy Spirit who convicts the unsaved of their sins and upon their salvation translates them from death to life.

People think it’s the body of Christ, the church, that is holding back the spirit of the antichrist from manifesting itself. That isn’t true. We don’t have the power to do that. It’s the Holy Spirit that acts as a divine dam, holding back and limiting the full power of Satan and of sin. When the rapture removes all believers from the earth and the Holy Spirit along with them, the start of the tribulation won’t be far behind. The end will come come very quickly, like the floodwaters after a dam bursts.

In the Bible God throws light upon the nature and mission of the Holy Spirit by the use of six designated emblems that identify with the Holy Spirit. The repeated use of these metaphors in Scripture visualizes the Holy Spirit in our minds eye to enhance our understanding of who He is.

1. A dove – indicating purity, peace and modesty

John 1:32 – And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.”

See also: Psalms 55:6, Song of Solomon 2:14, 6:9

2. Water – indicating life and cleansing

John 7:38 – (Jesus speaking) – He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Isaiah 44:3 – For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

3. Oil – indicating light, healing and anointing for service

Luke 4:18 – (Jesus speaking) – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

4. A seal – indicating ownership, finished transaction, identification, security, genuineness, value and authority

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 4:30 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:22 – Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

5. Wind – indicating unseen power

John 3:8 – (Jesus speaking) – The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

See also: Acts 2:1-2

6. Fire – indicating presence, approval, protection, gift, judgment and purifying

Hebrews 12:29 – For our God is a consuming fire.

Exodus 13:21 – And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

See also: Acts 2:3, Exodus 3:2, Leviticus 9:24

I know the Holy Spirit is deity because God’s Word says so. Scripture also confirms there is only one God, therefore the Holy Spirit is also God in addition to the Father and the Son. All three persons of the Trinity are equally God and when I see a reference to any one of the three I automatically think, “this is God.”

Genesis 1:2 – The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of god was hovering over the face of the water.

Psalm 139:7-10 – Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 – But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

In biblical times names were important, much more so than today. A person’s name back then meant something specific and everyone was aware of that meaning. We see that time and again in the Bible. A lot could be learned about a person just by knowing their name. Names were important to God too because He changed the names of Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah and Jacob to Israel. When we get to heaven God will also give us a new name which we’ll carry throughout eternity. When it come to the Holy Spirt, we can learn much about Him by knowing the various names and titles ascribed to Him.

1. The Spirit of God

1 Corinthians 3:16 – Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

2. The Spirit of Christ

Romans 8:9 – But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now id anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

3. The eternal Spirit

Hebrews 9:14 – How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Names and titles of the Holy Spirit (cont’d):

4. The Spirit of truth

John 16:13 – (Jesus speaking) – However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

5. The Spirit of grace

Hebrews 10:29 – Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

6. The Spirit of glory

1 Peter 4: 14 – If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of god rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

7. The Spirit of life

Romans 8:2 – For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

8. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation

Ephesians 1:17 – That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

9. The Helper

John 14:26 – (Jesus speaking) – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.

10. The Spirit of promise

Acts 1:4 – And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father.

11. The Spirit of adoption

Romans 8:15 – For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

12. The Spirit of holiness

Romans 1:4 – And declare to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

13. The Spirit of faith

2 Corinthians 4:13 – And since we have the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.

Many people look upon the Holy Spirit as the red-headed stepchild of the Trinity, as if He is somehow inferior to the Father and the Son. While the Holy Spirit clearly occupies a place of submission within the Trinity to both the Father and the Son He is nonetheless co-equal, co-eternal and co-divine with the other two persons of the Triune Godhead. All three persons of the Trinity are of the same divine essence but differ in their relationship to each other, by mutual consent.

What cleared up the confusion for me was knowing that whatever the Holy Spirit knows the Father and Son knows and and whatever the Holy Spirit does the Father and Son are in agreement. The persons of the Trinity are always of one mind and one will so when you read in the Bible about any of the three persons of the Triune Godhead just say to yourself, “this is God.” People seem to think the Holy Spirit is some kind of glowing power source that God can switch on or off from heaven. The Holy Spirit has a mind, a will, and a personality which makes Him a person. The following is a list of some of the attributes of the Holy Spirit:

1. He has a mind

Romans 8:27 – And He (Jesus) that searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because He (the Holy Spirit) makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

2. He reveals things of God

1 Corinthians 2:10 – But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

3. He has a will

1 Corinthians 12:11 – But one and the same Spirit works all these things (Spiritual gifts), distributing to each one individually as He wills.

4. He forbids – One one of Paul’s missionary trips he and Silas were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach in Asia.

Acts 16:7 – After they (Paul and Silas) had come to Mysia (Asia), they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.

5. He permits

Acts 16:10 – Now after he (Paul) had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

6. He speaks – The Holy Spirit spoke to Philip in the desert, Peter on a housetop, the elders in Antioch, and to each of the seven churches in Asia Minor. Here is one reference:

Acts 8:29 – Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

The Holy Spirit was directing Philip to witness the gospel to a court official of Queen Candace of Ethiopia so he could return and spread the good news in Africa.

7. He loves

Romans 15:30 – Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me (Paul).

8. He grieves

Ephesians 4:30 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

9. He prays

Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

In the New Testament there are 261 passages that refer to the Holy Spirit. He is mentioned 56 times in the Gospels, 7 times in the Book of Acts, 112 time in the Pauline epistles and 36 times in the other New Testament books.

The first rule of Bible interpretation is when a verse of Scripture makes plain sense seek no other sense. It should be obvious when God is using a metaphor, allegory, parable or some other figure of speech. If it’s not obvious look outward to the surrounding verses to give you clues. Take the word “day” for example. A day can be the 24 hour solar day we’re used to. Or it can refer to the general time in history in which a person is living. A day can also be a prophetic God-day which is 1,000 years long. God created the heavens and the earth in six solar days and then rested on the seventh day.

In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because, “In the day you eat, you will die.” If you take that verse literally you’d expect Adam to be dead in 24 hours which obviously wasn’t the case. Adam was around 35 years old when he and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve went on to have many more children and Adam died at the age of 930. What happened? God cannot lie and the Bible is without error. When God told Adam he would die that day He was speaking prophetically about a God-day of 1,000 years. As long as Adam didn’t live to be 1001 and go into a second God-day then God’s Word was still fulfilled. Before the flood all men lived long lives. In the first 10 generations after Adam seven lived to be over 900 years old. Since they all inherited Adam’s sin nature they too were under God’s judgement to die within one thousand-year God-day.

Psalm 90:4 – For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night (three hours).

2 Peter 3:8 – But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Hosea 6:1-2 – Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two day He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.

The entire Book of Hosea is God lamenting about having to punish Israel for their sins but He promises to restore them eventually. It’s obvious in the above verse God is not talking about solar days but prophetic God-days of 1,000 years. When the Jews crucified Jesus, their Messiah, God cut them off temporarily in favor of the Gentiles to spread the gospel of Christ. The time allotted to the Gentiles was two days or 2,000 years. AFTER the church age is over in 2033 (two days or 2,000 years after Jesus was crucified in 33 AD) God will again deal with Israel for seven years (revive them). The church age is not officially over until the saints have been raptured and taken to heaven which I predict will be at the end of the Feast of Trumpets in 2033. The third day referred to in Hosea is the 1,000 year millennial kingdom set us by Jesus five days after His Second Coming when Scripture say the Jewish people will live in the presence of Jesus and have a place of honor (raised up). The phrase, “the day of the Lord,” we find a lot in Scripture which can refer to a solar day when people and nations receive final judgement from Jesus after the Second Coming or it can mean the 1,000 year long millennial reign of Christ on the earth.

Fall festivals (cont’d):

After the Feast of Trumpets the next festival in God’s divine order is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which is a clear picture of God’s judgement in the Tribulation. I’ve previously stated the time of the Gentiles (2,000 years) will run out on Pentecost of 2033 but won’t officially end until the rapture, which will occur four months later during the Feast of Trumpets. In the Book of Daniel the angel Gabriel told the prophet Daniel that God would deal with Israel for 490 years but would be cut off at 483 years because of the crucifixion of Jesus. Scripture also tells us that the timeclock on the last 7 years of Jewish history will begin ticking when Israel signs a peace treaty. The peace treaty can’t be signed until after the rapture of the church which ends the time of the Gentiles. The rapture will occur four months after Pentecost during the 9 day Feast of Trumpets in the year 2033. The last day of the feast features four kinds of trumpet blasts, over 100 in all. The last trumpet, known as the Tekiah Hagadol, is a great and long final blast to close out the festival. This is the last trump the apostle Paul is referring in 1 Corinthians 15:52, that will call all believers alive on earth to be translated and meet Jesus in the air (the rapture). Since Israel must sign the peace treaty after the rapture but before the Day of Atonement it has to occur within the same 9 day window of the Feast of Trumpets of 2033.

The Tribulation will begin at the signing of the peace treaty by Israel and end exactly 7 years later during the Feast of Trumpets of 2040, when Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives at His Second Coming. The coming of the Lord to the earth the next two times will both be heralded by the sound of trumpets which is why the rapture and the Second Coming both occur during the Feast of Trumpets, only 7 years apart. Another reason the Second Coming occurs during the Feast of Trumpets is because the day after this feast is over we have the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year for Jews. On this day God weighs the sins of the people and shortly after Jesus comes to earth He will weight the sins of all people and all nations and dispense His judgement. The tribulation is clearly concealed in the patterns of the Day of Atonement.

The seventh and final Jewish festival is the Feast of Tabernacles which starts 5 days after the Day of Atonement. This feast commemorates when Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and lived in tents and God dwelt in their midst. The 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles is a picture of the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth where God will once again dwell in their midst. This time Christ will be ruling as King for a thousand years. The Bible foretold Jesus would come twice to the earth, once as a suffering servant and the Messiah and once as the ruling King. The first coming of the Lord was a composite of the first three Jewish spring festivals, Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. The second coming hasn’t happened yet but when it does the Lord will appear as the ruling King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The next time Jesus appears it will be in all His glory and His angels with Him. The Second Coming of our Lord will mirror the three Jewish fall festivals, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. The fall festivals clear up any misunderstanding about the divine order of events to come: the rapture comes first, then comes the Tribulation, and last comes the millennial reign of Christ – in that order.

Fall festivals:

Notice that God has prophetically followed a perfect order for the first four festivals. It stands to reason that He will fulfill the three remaining fall festivals in the very order they were revealed to Moses. These would be Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. We are currently living at Pentecost (or the church age) which won’t end until 2033 according to Hosea 6:2. The next festival on the prophetic calendar is the Feast of Trumpets which begins on the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (Tishrei) and four months after Pentecost. This would be September or October on our calendar. God established this festival as a period of rest, a sabbath, for the Hebrews. God decreed Trumpets as a holy convocation memorialized by the blowing of trumpets. This is the only festival where God didn’t give a specific reason for having it. I think God was keeping the rapture of the saints during this festival a mystery until the end times.

Leviticus 23:23-25 – Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.’ “

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:52 – In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

As indicated in Scripture, one of the central features of Christ’s return will be the blowing of trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets is a clear picture of the trumpet of God that sounds and brings God’s family into a season of sabbath-rest. In Hebrews 4:9-10, the Greek word for rest is “sabbatismos” which is different from “rest” when used anywhere else in the Bible and it means believers entering into their rest when they arrive in heaven on trumpets.

Hebrews 4:9-10 – There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has also ceased from his works as God did from His.

This is a picture of the rapture of the church when Jesus comes in the air to gather the saints and take them to heaven. God is precise with his timing so the rapture will occur in 2033 during the Feast of Trumpets because the church age will have reached its appointed time four months prior, fulfilling the prophecy in Hosea 6:2. The Feast of Trumpets is the only feast without a set time to start because it’s based on the cycle of a new moon which is always changing. That’s why Scripture says no man knows the day or hour of his coming. But God has left us clues in His Word that pinpoint the year of His coming and which festival the Lord will come for His saints. It’s not a sin to try to guess when the Lord is coming. We’re told to pray and watch for the coming of the Lord and guessing is part of that.

Summer festival:

The one Jewish festival all by itself is Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost is also referred to as Rosh Hashanah. Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover, hence its name, and sometime in March or April. In 33 AD this feast of the Lord was when the Holy Spirit first descended from heaven to indwell all believers which ushered in the time of the Gentiles, what we refer to as the church age. The original “Pentecost” was when Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai to receive God’s law. On the first Pentecost after the ascension of Jesus there were numerous conversions to Christ, water baptisms and fulfillment of the promise of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. This represents the three primary messages that we are to preach: go into to all the world and preach the gospel, baptize believers in water and encourage believers to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The power of the Holy Spirit authenticated the resurrection of Christ at Pentecost by empowering all believers, especially the disciples, to spread the gospel to all nations. After the infilling of the Holy Spirit the timid disciples were turned into lions of the faith who preached to all the world. All the disciples except John were martyred for preaching the gospel of Christ. The church was anointed on Pentecost and assigned to spread the “good news” of salvation to all nations. Once the Jews crucified Jesus, their promised Messiah, God turned to the Gentiles to spread the gospel of Christ. Two God days of 1,000 years each (2,000 years) were assigned to the church age so the time of the Gentiles is over at Pentecost in 2033 but does not officially end until the church is raptured four months later during the Feast of trumpets. This will fulfill the prophecy of Hosea 6:2. Again we see the parallel between an Old Testament feast of the Lord and the coming of Jesus into the world to save us from our sins. All of the Hebrew feasts were established by God to point to the coming of Jesus Christ. Some historians believe Jesus died in 32 AD and not 33 AD which, if true, would throw all my dates off by a year.