And a further definition of what prophesy does

1 Corinthians 14:3
But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort.

dermdoc said:

---

And that is why I respect pastors so much. I can not imagine the pressure of making sure you are preaching to believers and reaching the lost. And that you have the exact right theology and tone. God bless them.

---

There's no such distinction in the Bible. You preach the gospel. A pastor can't know who is a believer and not regardless.

Martin Q. Blank said:

---

dermdoc said:

---

And that is why I respect pastors so much. I can not imagine the pressure of making sure you are preaching to believers and reaching the lost. And that you have the exact right theology and tone. God bless them.

---

There's no such distinction in the Bible. You preach the gospel. A pastor can't know who is a believer and not regardless.

---

Yep. The wheat grow with the tares.

"In Matthew 13, Jesus taught the parable of the wheat and the tares. Tares are weeds that resemble wheat. In the parable, a wheat field had deliberately been polluted by an enemy who sowed the seeds of the weeds intermixed with the wheat. Only after the plants were partly grown did the problem become apparently."

Heritage Foundation, I believe. I just entered wheat and tares into the url area. Sorry that I couldn't link it.
.

This is both about the cooperate aspect of the covenant and the conditional aspect of the covenant.

The covenant is both unconditional and conditional.

1 Corinthians 10:1-6
"For I do not want you to be ignorant(A) of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud(B) and that they all passed through the sea.(C) 2 They were all baptized into(D) Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food(E) 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock(F) that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.(G)

6 Now these things occurred as examples(H) to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did."

Martin Q. Blank said:

---

dermdoc said:

---

And that is why I respect pastors so much. I can not imagine the pressure of making sure you are preaching to believers and reaching the lost. And that you have the exact right theology and tone. God bless them.

---

There's no such distinction in the Bible. You preach the gospel. A pastor can't know who is a believer and not regardless.

---

You are correct. And that makes sense as all the pastor can do is preach the gospel.

And Judas Iscariot was appointed by God to be among the twelve...

"Is God among you?"


For me, it took some time to come to appreciate what is termed, "The Real Presence" of God in the eucharistic sacrament. When I read the question, it was a no brainer... yes. However, for many, it is still just the appearance of bread and wine.

When COVID hit, our churches closed and we were left with watching the mass on Facebook or streaming the mass on TV. It was not the same. The reason was simple, the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist was not in our midst. I remember the first Sunday I was able to attend mass in person. It was in May, Memorial Day weekend - we went fishing to our spot near Palacios, TX. We fished early morning, just beautiful. Went into town to gas up and head home. We drove by the local church and saw a bunch of cars and people in the parking lot. So we changed course and dropped by the church. They were having mass outside! We got out and sat in the parking lot, everyone socially distanced, and we sang, prayed, and worshiped like always! When it came time for the Eucharist, the Priest went over the instructions - put your hand out like this, no tongues! No wine either - It was one of the best days for me, because I really missed Jesus in that way. Thankfully, mass has returned, just a smaller capacity.

What I have come to understand, is simple - God has kept his promise in a very real way. Being pure spirit, he comes to us through this miracle - the Eucharist. It does take a leap of faith - but as Paul has written, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen (HEB 11:1)

Martin Q. Blank said:

---

Frok said:

---

In this context is "to prophesy" to proclaim the truth rather than a prediction of future events?

---

A traditional prophet did not necessarily predict future events, but rather heard something from God, or saw a vision, and repeated it to God's people. With respect to the unbeliever entering, apparently the "secrets of his heart". See the woman at the well where Jesus discloses her sins and she responds "I perceive that you are a prophet."

---

This.