Discuss Acts 20 Page 3

Hello Mr. Adam Clark:

God is a God of numbers. In Matthew and Mark, God was speaking to the Jews about the end time.

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: I agree with you about Jeremiah. I also put in bold letters key words, Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it PERPETUAL desolations. Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in EVERLASTING righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to ANOINT THE MOST HOLY. I agree with you about Daniel 9:24 speaks about Jesus. It may very well be a double applications. The next verse 25 is saying the going forth to restore and to build Jerusalem seven weeks=49 years, and threescore and two weeks=434 years. Then v26 talks about the flood as in Rev 12:15-16 Rev 11:2; 13:5 talks about 42 months that equates to 3.5 years within the 70th week=7 years in v27 (49+434+7=490). The saints are no longer exist here as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. Acts 20:28; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:19. BeComforted.

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.

These verses signified what happened when Apostles were killed. Any Religious sect Leaders who perverted the church will account to all their lies. From the beginning till end of the Acts of the Apostle, Luke the wrier clearly stated in transitional way who God chosen Apostle after Judas Iscariot. God is so bold that after he died he would not let any man decide the most important decision here on earth. The fallacy of any religious sect is that they could not outsmart God. We are purchased with Jesus Christ blood. Jesus knows who are those who follows men and not God. That makes the division who are the sheep and the goat. We are in perilous times and this warning has been written 2,000 years ago. There is an important reason why Paul, Jesus Christ chosen 12th Apostle, is our Apostle Today for the Jews first then to Gentiles, both Jews and Gentiles can be saved before Jesus comes, as we are warned in 2 Corinthians 6 in its entirety: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,. Then reiterated in Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and

Dear 17sharp:

Stay with prayers and supplication and reading the Bible. A person who truly seek the truth will be guided by the Holy Spirit. Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Acts 20:28-32

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Revelation 18:4

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Agape.

The time frame of the book of Acts, appears to be many years. Starting right about the time of the Resurrection of Jesus CHRIST. Please note Acts 1, Acts 2, - Acts 4:34-35, shows time passage, because those events cannot be done in one day, but over time. Acts 7, young man Saul, Acts 8,

Acts 12 again shows process of time, note Acts 12:25, Acts 14:21-28, again Acts 15, note Acts 15:33,36, Acts 27, Acts 28:11,

Acts 18:11,18, Acts 19:10,22, Acts 20:3, Acts 24:27, Acts 28:30

Hopefully these are helpful

Hi Ruth. Genesis chapter 1 to Genesis 2:2, tell us that God was involved in His Creative Work over a six day period. And on the following day, He "rested from all his work that he had made". Since there were no days of the week named, as we have now (Sunday, Monday, etc.), the indication was that God worked on the first six days & on the seventh day, His work stopped. So, according to our calendar, Sunday is the first day of the week (even as we see in Acts 20:7; John 20:1), therefore Saturday becomes the seventh day, or the Jewish Sabbath Day (i.e. from Friday evening to Saturday evening).

Hi Peter,

It sounds like you're assuming the Sabbath and worshipping God are supposed to be the same day instead of two separate days. Do you recall what led you to draw this conclusion?

We are to worship, follow, and honor God every day. First century Christians met on the first day of the week which I believe is Sunday. This custom has continued until today, but it is good to gather and worship anytime. Jesus was resurrected on Monday and some believe this is the Lord's Day. Bible references: Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:1-2, Psalms 118:24

I noticed you tried to discredit Sunday by referring to a pagan name, but not Saturday even though the same smear tactic could be applied. For me, pagans don't own the days, don't own the names, and have no power, just like they don't own Christmas and won't prevent me from celebrating Christ's birth, and just how sodomites don't own the rainbow, which God made and means God's promise, not the sin that some cults and loud bullies associate with it.

Believers are the Body of Christ, the Church. Matthew 7:13-29, Luke 19, Matthew 10:16-42, Acts 20:28-30, Jude 1, whole chapter.

Hopefully this is helpful

Elmer,

Paul wrote two letters to Timothy who was pastoring the church in Ephesus. Timothy's name is mentioned 24 times in the New Testament. Timothy was from Lystra and he was saved during Paul's first missionary journey ( Acts 14:19-20; Acts 16:1-2)

His mother Eunice, and his grandmother Lois, were godly Jewish women. In fact, Timothy was taught the Old Testament scriptures since he was a little boy. So he has a scriptural background. Timothy was about 15-years-old when he first met Paul. And when Paul writes his letter to Timothy, he's approximately 35. So he has spent approximately 20 years with Paul in ministry learning.

Even though Timothy's mother and grandmother were godly Jewish women, his father was a pagan Greek. ( Acts 16:1; 2 Timothy 1:5). Timothy was raised hearing Old Testament Scriptures. ( 2 Timothy 3:14-15). He joined Paul, along with Silas and Luke, during second missionary trip. ( Acts 16:3).

Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he might have the freedom to preach the gospel in Jewish synagogues. ( Acts 16:3; 1 Corinthians 9:20). He could not do that unless he was circumcised. Timothy was ordained by Paul and the Presbytery. ( 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6). He accompanies Paul on his third missionary trip. ( Acts 19:22; Acts 20:4; 2 Corinthians 1:1, 1:19).

Timothy ministered in at least five churches as Paul's representative:

1) Thessalonica ( 1 Thessalonians 3:2, 3:6)

2) Corinth ( 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10; 2 Corinthians 1:19)

3) Philippi ( Philippians 2:19-23)

4) Berea ( Acts 17:14)

5) Ephesus ( 1 Timothy 1:3)

Timothy was with Paul during Paul's first imprisonment ( Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1:1) and went to Philippi after Paul's release. ( Philippians 2:19-23). Timothy was around 35-years of age when Paul wrote I Timothy. Timothy also suffered imprisonment. ( Hebrews 13:23).

Hope this helps!

Conelle Floyd,

I find it amazing, in the scriptures we can experience a full literary picture by the details.

The Bible is called "A Living Word" by some believers; I believe it's because we can always receive more wisdom, direction, & insight, year by year through reading again & again, study & researching the Bible's pages, stories & scritures.

You ask about 2Timothy 4:13, please see 2Timothy 4:21,22,

Note 2Timothy 4:16,17,

The emphasis seems to be, needing his cloak before winter, because he was imprisoned, left in the mercy of men

What's beautiful to me is he says "especially the parchments", that's most possibly our scriptures, by their service, faithfulness, determination & dedication. I've even considered how difficult it was in that time to find & obtain parchment.

2Corinthians 2:12, "Carpus" might have been that "open door"

Acts 16 & Acts 20, mention also the place called Troas, it may have been during the days they were there, in Troas,

Please notice; Acts 20:13,22,23,25,37,38,

See also 2Timothy 2:1,3,9,11,

We can just make assumption, did Paul leave it there, because he didn't think he'd make it to winter?

Please note: The website now has a Concordance included. If you click on the verse= it goes to another page. At the bottom of the page, it has definition, translation & the Concordance number for specific word translated, you can further research greek & other original translation.

Hopefully these are helpful in your study.

Because Paul literally was a prisoner. Ephesians 3,

Philemon 1:9,10,22,23, Philippians 1:7,12,13,14,15, here Paul encourages others while in "bonds" , even saying it gives others boldness & confidence to speak the gospel without fear, resulting from Paul's example. Note: Philippians 1:18,20,21,28,29,30, 2Timothy 2:1,2,3,9,10,11,12,

Ephesians 6:10-24, Colossians 4:18,

Acts 20:22-25, Acts 20:37-38,

Please read the following chapters: Acts 24, Paul is accused of sedition Acts 24:5, Acts 26, Acts 27, Acts 28,

These 2 lineages in Matthew and Luke are based on Joseph being the Father of CHRIST JESUS....Which is not true...Joseph was neva the Father of JESUS....God just used Mary as a vessel to carry the Child...The lamb of God...I Don't think that Jesus was actually of the tribe of Judah..Mary's placenta did not allow her blood to be mingled with the fetus s' Blood .. Acts 20: 28 ....Feed the church of God that has purchased with HIS OWN blood...Not the blood of the tribe of Judah...Nutrients are passed from the fetus to the Mother etc but neva the blood...Google it if ya like

......The early writters cd not believe that a woman a Virgin cd birth God the son so they figured that Joseph MUST BE the father of Jesus and they give us these 2 lineages...Matthew and luke going all the way back to ADAM....But man cd not be involved in this heavenly birth it had to be a Virgin BIRTH elimanating mans corruptible seed altogather...The lamb of God had to be perfect in every way...Is not this the carpenters son ( Joseph ) but he was not the carpenters son..Jesus told Joseph that he must be about HIS fathers business....Not Josephs business.... luke 16 : 41

.....The Angel of the lord told MARY that the H.G. shall over shadow thee and that holy thing that shall be born unto thee shall be the son of God.

David had said its the LORDS doings and is precious in our eyes

Page 3.

4. So which is the Sabbath Day? The Sabbath was given only to Israel ( Exodus 31:12-17) - no one else. It, along with Circumcision, marked them as 'belonging to the LORD'. No other people or nation ever received this, or any other, Law to obey. The Gentiles coming to Christ after the Gospel was preached & received, were never compelled to come under the Law in any shape or form. How could they be brought under the Law that only killed? Efforts were made to bring them under the Law, but that was rejected ( Galatians 2:11-21). For indeed, "if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." The Jewish Sabbath, along with all Laws, was cast aside, having no more bearing on the one 'in Christ'. Our righteousness, given by God, can never be from the Laws to obey or the Sabbath to observe - our righteousness is found in Christ alone, Who not only perfectly fulfilled the whole Law on our behalf, but opened the "new & living way", that only by His Power can we ever properly do His Will.

As soon as we appeal to the Laws, even the Sabbath, we place ourselves under them, & by them we will be judged. And Sunday (the first day of the week) has never been a Sabbath for those in Christ - it is & always has been the day prescribed to be set aside to come together for worship ( Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).

Hi Richard.

Thanks for posting, you make some good points, but in reading your post you seem to be stating that Paul is preaching a different gospel than Jesus. Please correct me if I am interpreting your post wrong.

I believe it is very important that we understand that Paul and Jesus preached the same Gospel. This is: The Gospel of the Kingdom.

The gospel of the kingdom is the "Good News" that can be embraced by anyone who surrenders their life to Christ and begins to follow Jesus in their daily life.

Jesus talks about the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout his ministry.

Mark 1:15

"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

Paul also taught the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Acts 20:25

"And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more."

It is the "same gospel" yesterday, today, and tomorrow - forever!

God Bless.

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a CHEERFUL giver.

Malachi 3:8-12 - Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:10 - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Matthew 6:1-4 - Take heed that ye do not your giving before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye give withal it shall be measured to you again.

Luke 11:42 - But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Luke 18:12 - I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [don't brag]

Acts 2:44-47 - And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

Acts 20:35 - I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

1 Corinthians 16:2 - Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 2 Corinthians 8:1-24

Give to missionaries

Yes, Dear Junnybug, your pastor is right about that "where we still give as we feel led to and where we feel led to", although in my opinion this has nothing to do with the Law that was fulfilled by Jesus, simply such a thing is not mentioned in the NT.

On the contary, Paul in his epistle to 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 is very clear about it. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come".

See also 2 Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" If there would still be tenths he wouldn't ask this but he would demand that corinthians kept the commadement.

No one can demand such thing.

Paul in his last meeting with the elders of Ephesus Acts 20:17-36 (see v 33-35) asks them to serve the members of the church there free, like he was always doing. Why? Because he didn't want them to put such a heavy weight on christians there. So how about asking now for 10%? No, certainly not. GBU

Your concern leads me to wonder if Jesus is calling you to evangelize the lost. You need to seek God in much prayer.

A Love for lost souls would be a requirement. Certainly The Lord desires for us to reach out to the lost: in sin, confused with drink or drugs; visual sins.

Or, you may be called to be an intercessor: one who stands between the evil and the Lord, and prays heaven down to earth to save that soul.

John 22

14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

>This depends upon our willingness to follow Jesus in the work that he performed upon earth. Jesus is part of the Godhead ( Romans 1)

We are called by reading the Word of God, the Bible. I was at a private home, praying with others

The room was ablaze with the fire of faith, at work in ordinary Christians

Indescribable fire came up through my legs to my head. I sorta slumped.

The leader in the room gave me a slip of paper with this scripture: with Ezekiel 3:19, Acts 20:26

I pray continuously for the Church, wherever they are. The Holy Ghost knows. I pray for Israel daily. I've seen the Orthodox Jews with their rituals, much books of doctrines etc. I pray for their release.

God is alive and in search of prayer warriors. Learn Eph.6

Pray Luke 4:18-20

We are The Minister.

Hi Haold, or maybe, Harold. That's a difficult question to answer, as we are not told an exact number of people resurrected. Some that come to mind from the Old & New Testaments are: Widow of Zarephath's son ( 1 Kings 17:9-24); Shunammite woman's son ( 2 Kings 4:8-37); an unnamed man ( 2 Kings 13:20,21); Widow of Nain's son ( Luke 7:11-17); Jairus' daughter ( Luke 8:49-56); Lazarus ( John 11:1-45); of course, our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke chapter 24); an unknown number of saints buried in Jerusalem ( Matthew 27:50-54); Tabitha ( Acts 9:36-42); Eutychus ( Acts 20:7-12).

Hi John. From my understanding of the Word on this subject, I don't connect the Jewish Sabbath (the 7th day), with the Lord's Day (the 1st day of the week). True, there are some who call this day, the Christian Sabbath, but I believe they are errant, as no such special day has been given to us, nor practised by the early Church. When they came on the first day of the week to break bread or collection for the saints ( Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2), it wasn't a Sabbath celebration, but a Christian coming together for worship & fellowship.

Now some believers wish to keep the Jewish Sabbath holy & desist from all work. If that is their desire then so be it, but if one amongst them doesn't keep 'that' Sabbath, there shouldn't be a thought or a snide look or comment to their apparent failure. The one in Christ is free to keep any day for worshipping together & also any day for physical rest (see Romans 14:5,6; & the whole chapter of how a believer should consider others who do things or believe differently from others).

Lets talk about Sabbath first.

Many things from the OT are not valid now Sacrifices, offerings, commandments, holy days etc have no place in NT. One of them is Sabbath.

See Colossians 2:16. Here apostole Paul says to Colosians that no man can judge them because they didn't follow OT's practises, including (pay attention) Sabbath as some Jewish christians claimed. Paul dismisses this idea.

Christians soon chose the first day of the week for their formal congregation during which they "broke bread" that is take the Body and Blood of Jesus Crist or as some churches name it have Holly Communion, see Acts 20:7,

Also in 1 Corinthians 11:20 Paul talks about Lord's Super, (but the greek text says Lord's Day super "Kyriako deipno") . Lord's Day is how early Christians called Sunday. Early Christians had the Holly Communion during a super just as Jesus did with His Disciples. This practice was abandoned sometime during the 2nd century AD and the Holly Communion was transferred from the church's super to the formal Sunday service.

Also see 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul says to Christians in Corinth to gather money on Lord's Day.

Also in Revelation 1:10 apostole John talks about Lord's Day

So the formal day for christians at the time that the apostles lived was Sunday,. Sabbath has nothing to do with us now Many other verses that i cannot remember now verify that the Sunday and not Sabbath was the formal day for early christians.

You can find all those things in books about the history of church.

Now as far as commandments are concerned to be honest i have no idea what the Catholic church has done.

God bless you.

Hi Steve. Yes, the RC version of the Decalogue involves taking the first three commandments & reducing them to two. Therefore, the fourth commandment becomes the third. And of course, the tenth commandment is split into two, making it the ninth & tenth.

Nowhere in Bible has the Sabbath Day (the seventh day - in the fourth commandment) been changed to the the first day of the week. When Christians choose to worship on the first day of the week, this is not a Sabbath replacement, as the Sabbath was a day of complete rest for Israel, as ordained by God. Sunday for the Christian is a day chosen to meet together for worship (i.e. in most parts of the world; some countries have other days). This might be in line with the early Church meeting on the first day of the week, called the Lord's Day ( Acts 20:7).

OK my brother lets take it from the begining

Christians must forsake wealth. Yes and no. What Luke 14:33 says in simple wordords is that we must put away anything that becomes obstacle in our way to Heaven. That maybe wealth, a person, my own plans for life, my desires etc. IF THEY ARE OBSTACLES, IF NEEDED.

Christians cannot work for money Not right. See Thessalonians 3:11-12, Acts 20:33-35, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 etc.

Christians do Not pay taxes. Not right. See Romans 13:6-7

Christians travel and trust in God for daily food. Not right. Where do you get that travel? Birds fly all the time because this is how they find food, they just not sit on a branch expecting for food to drop from heaven. the same with people, they must go and find a job and work (and God will help them), they should not sit on their bench expecting God rains money from above. Yes trust that God that will not let us down to meet our material needs.

Christians live together 24/7. Ye and no. That was the case in the Jewish christian church, BUT it was not in the gentile churches in Thessalonika, Berea, Corinth, Ephesus...

Christians give to the needy in secret. Thats right

Women can be leaders in the church . Not quite. The Ancient church did not allow women to teach or preach. See 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. And if somebody argues that Paul was oldfashioned like the whole world at that time, well as far as i am concerned i wouldn't dare disagree to apostle Paul.

If you are a Christian you own nothing in this world. Not right. So far in the history of Christianity there have been the medieval gospels of poverty and nowadays gospels of prosperity. They are both wrong. The Christian is a normal balanced person. We live just like aill the other people but without sin and not forgetting that our citizeshipis is in Heaven.

Christians are nonviolent Thats right

Christians forgive as much as they can. Thats right. Even our enemies with the power and grace of God

God bless u

A lot can be said about this topic Lets see what is written in the Gospel about it.

1 Corinthians 9:1-18.

Apostle Paul clearly states that God gave the right who they teach the Gospel to live from the Gospel. But Paul denied that privilege and worked with his own hands to meet his and his accompanions' needs although sometimes he accepted help from the churches he established. i.e Thessalonians.

Acts 20:32-35

During the meeting with the elders from Ephesus he suggests that they follow his example.

So yes the right to live from the church is given by God (but nowhere in the New Testament that right is defined as 10%, on the contrary everybody may give anything he wants, 2 Corinthians 9:7) but the best thing is to follow Paul's example.

In the congregation i attend, the bishop, the elders and the deacons have a job to live from and get nothing from the church. The members of the church give every Sunday anything they want and can to meet church's expences. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Finally being a bishop IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE A PROFFESION just like all the other ones to live from.

Hi Bill.

It means apostasia a "defection from the truth." ( Apostasy).

There is many opostates in our midst today. I wouldn't call them members of the Church, they're not called out. These can be called tares as seen in Mathew 13:24-30. You see Jude mention of certain men crept in our midst in

Jude 1:3-4.

It was going on in Pauls day. Acts 20:29-31.

Jesus warned his disciples of this in Matthew 7:15.

So Apostasy isn't something new to the Church.

But 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. has a future climax.

vs.2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

vs.3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Jesus asks in Luke "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find the faith on the earth?" The answer is No.

We have 2 departures going on here,

1) The organization has departed from the faith.

2) The true Church has departed from the Earth.

There can be no total Apostasy until the Church is removed.

This notes what must happen before the great tribulation.

God bless.

Dear brother in Christ I am mundla Chinna kotaiah gurrapusala church of christ. Some days I tried to work part time Job to feed my family.When I went to that work that time I received many calls from our Congregation members to pray for their problems and for their needs and they want to talk with me.But I did not meet to them Because I was in Job that time.So they disappointed so much and left my Congregation.So I faced this problem many times.So I humble request to you Please pray for me,for my family and for our area Lord's work.

My dear beloved brother I am facing lot of difficulties to maintain my family and our area Lord's work, our area is Totally Uneducated,Illiteracy,Daily wage earning and mostly Hinduism Traditional people.So they are very poor.In Some areas people moving with false Doctrines by Denominations and False Teaching.So I would like to Teach them the Truth word of God and to show them to add to them into real Truth Church of Christ[Mathew 16:18, Acts 20:28].

So I humble request to you Please lift up our area Lord's work by your right hand fellowship.please share my latter with our congregation members and our church elders and they are doing prayers and scriptural encouragement, I can spread our Lord's Great work into many unreached areas and I will visit more people and will teach the Gospel by your kind prayer.I will save many people who are getting false teaching.Because my desire is WOE, TO ME IF I DO NOT PREACH THE GOSPEL.like apostle Paul.

So My dear Beloved brother in Christ,Please share this letter with your elders,Church members for my area lord's work development.They could pray for us and they will give their kind praying to me by yours.Thank you very much for your kind patience to read my message.

We are waiting for your fruitful,faithful prayer support along with your kind response as soon as possible.Convey my family hearty greetings to you and to all of your family and especially my beloved sisters and brothers and our Church

No offense taken. Just wanted to be clear that I was here for a no-nonsense, impersonal, discussion of the facts of The Word.

I pray that you will look into some of what I presented. It is very important for Christians to see through all of the false doctrine that is being foisted upon us from every side these days.

Acts 20:28-31

God bless.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. This was my belief . although I did not want to make the bible conform to my beliefs I wanted evidence that I was thinking what was written in the bible.Gods will not mine..i thank each and everyone that replied.

May God richly bless each and everyone that did reply

From further probing, a dictionary defines 'more than a little/ not a little' as 'a large amount or to a large degree'. The example it gave is: "They had sincere respect for her, and not a little affection." "The team was more than a little unlucky to lose by just one point."

In both examples, the meaning is 'much or greatly'. It's just the way our language can be sometimes used, sadly, making it a little more complex for many readers.

If they were NOT a LITTLE comforted perhaps that means that they WERE a LOT comforted . That's my take on it .

I agree but that is not the words that is in the bible it says NOT

I'm sure they were greatly conforted bit that is not what is writen.

Thank you for the reply

Hi Ken. I believe that even though it's not the usual way of expressing it, the intention of that wording is that they were 'greatly comforted' that the young man was still alive.