Luke 24:25-27 This week’s lessons teach us about the wide variety of ways in which the whole Old Testament points to Jesus.

Theme

Jesus’ Resurrection Sermon

One of the great accounts of the appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples following the resurrection is His appearance to the two Emmaus disciples recorded in Luke 24. It is an interesting story for a number of reasons, and one is that Jesus preached a sermon on that occasion. It is referred to in verse 27: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

It is interesting simply that He preached to them. If we could have written this story according to our ways of thinking, we might have had Jesus presenting Himself to them dramatically. Wouldn’t it have been natural for Jesus to have said, “Hey, guys, look! It’s me. Look at the nail prints in my hands. See, I’m Jesus, and I’ve been raised from the dead!”? Jesus did not do that, according to Luke’s account. Instead, He preached a sermon using the entire Old Testament as His text.

For that is what the words “Moses and all the Prophets” and “in all the Scriptures” refer to. The Jews saw the Old Testament as having three parts, which they called the Law (that is, the Law of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings (here called the Scriptures). They called it the Tanach, each of the three consonants of the Hebrew word standing for one of these three sections of the Bible. “T” stood for the Torah, “N” for the Nevi’im (the Prophets), and the “K” for the Ketuvim, (the Writings). So when Jesus is said to have preached from Moses and the Prophets and the Writings, it is a way of saying that He preached through the entire Old Testament in that sermon.

Haven’t you ever wondered what verses He used in this first Easter sermon? I know I have. Every time I read Luke 24, I wonder what the texts were that He referred to. They would make a marvelous sermon series, wouldn’t they? Or even a book about “the Lord’s own handling of the Old Testament.” It would be wonderful to take all these verses, study them, explain them, and apply them to our day.

Luke doesn’t tell us what these passages were. He says only that Jesus preached from the Old Testament. Yet I hate to give up on a question like this, and I find myself coming back to it again and again, saying that surely there must be some way to have at least a rough idea what those texts were. I think there is a way to come up with some answers, even though they have to be tentative. It is to suppose, rightly I think, that the sermons the first apostles preached after the resurrection would have been along these same lines. That is, the sermons recorded in the book of Acts and the later reflection on those sermons that we find in other portions of the New Testament were probably based on Jesus’ teaching at this time.

That would be so of the sermon Peter preached at Pentecost, for example, because his message was delivered impromptu, without a great deal of study or preparation, and shortly after the resurrection. Where did Peter get his outline for that sermon? The obvious answer is from the teaching that Jesus had Himself been giving. That is particularly true because it was the nature of rabbinical teaching that what the master said, the disciples memorized. So if Peter and the others who were present when Jesus began to explain these things, as we are told later in Luke 24 they were, they would have remembered the texts. They would have said to themselves, “So that’s what those verses mean!” And when they had an opportunity to explain the Gospel themselves it would have been these texts that inevitably and most naturally came to mind.

Study Questions

1. Why is Jesus’ appearance interesting?
2. The Jews considered the Old Testament as comprising what three parts?
3. How do these parts relate to Jesus’ sermon?
4. What is meant when it is said Jesus preached from Moses and the prophets?

Application

Application: Are you prepared at any given time to explain the Gospel whenever the opportunity comes? Pray and then look for such opportunities.

For Further Study: The message of Easter and missions are connected, as men and women take the Gospel of the crucified and resurrected Christ and share it with others.  Download and listen for free to James Boice’s message, “A Plea for Missions.”  (Discount will be applied at checkout.)

Monday: Jesus’ Resurrection Sermon | Think & Act Biblically

todayintheword.org

Verse 3.—“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” There is nothing like faith to help at a pinch; faith dissolves doubts as the sun drives away the mists. And that you may not be put out, know that your time for believing always is. There are times when some graces may be out of use, but there is no time wherein faith can be said to be so. Wherefore faith must be always in exercise. Faith is the eye, is the mouth, is the hand, and one of these is of use all the day long. Faith is to see, to receive, to work, or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing or receiving, or working, or feeding all day long. Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still believe. “At what time,” said the good man, “I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”—John Bunyan.
Verse 3.—“What time I am afraid,” etc. A divine spark may live in a smoke of doubts without a speedy rising into a flame. When grace is at the bottom of doubting, there will be reliance on Christ and lively petitions to him. Peter’s faith staggers when he began to sink, but he casts a look and sends forth a cry to his Saviour, acknowledging his sufficiency; Matt. 14:30, “Lord, save me.” Sometimes those doubtings strengthen our trust and make us take hold faster on God. Ps. 56:3, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” This was a fear of himself or others, rather than a jealousy of God. Had he had unworthy suspicions of him, he would not have trusted him; he would not have run for remedy to the object of his fear. The waverings where faith is, are like the tossings of a ship fast at anchor (still there is a relying upon God), not like a boat carried by the waves of the sea to be dashed against a rock. If the heart stay on Christ in the midst of those doubtings, it is not an evil heart of unbelief. Such doubtings consist with the indwelling of the Spirit, who is in the heart, to perform the office of a Comforter against such fears and to expel those thick fumes of nature.—Stephen Charnock.
Verse 3.—“What time I am afraid,” etc. I know not what to do, but I’ll try my old way, ‘tis good for me to draw near still; I’ll do so still as I use to do; I’ll cast myself down upon the free grace of Christ in the promises; I’ll lay the weight of my sinking spirit there, I’ll renew my hold, life, expectation there; this is my old path, I’ll never be turned or beaten out here. This Christian in his strength may challenge all the gates of hell. This was David’s course (Ps. 71:5), “Thou art my trust from my youth,” etc. Thence was it that he could say, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee:” his shield and sword was always in his hand, therefore he could make use of it when fear and inward trouble offered themselves. “Afraid!” alas, who is not? but what course will you take then? Even what course you used to take, i.e., believe; use faith always; and have it now.—Elias Pledger (–1676), in “Morning Exercises.”
Verse 3.—“What time,” etc. Literally, “What day.” As “Man daily oppresseth me” (ver. 1), so “Every day, when I am afraid, I trust in thee.”—A. R. Fausset.
Verse 3.—It is a good maxim with which to go into a world of danger; a good maxim to go to sea with; a good maxim in a storm; a good maxim when in danger on the land; a good maxim when we are sick; a good maxim when we think of death and the judgment—“What time I am afraid, I WILL TRUST IN THEE.”—Albert Barnes.
Verse 3.—“I will trust in thee.” Faith and fear stand together; and so fear and love.—John Richardson, 1654.

Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, pp. 468–469). Marshall Brothers.

† 56:3 — Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
The psalmist does not say, “if something ever scares me,” he says, “whenever I am afraid.” Fear is a natural human reaction to danger. God does not tell us to ignore our fears, but to bring them to Him.

Stanley, C. F. (2005). The Charles F. Stanley life principles Bible: New King James Version (Ps 56:3). Nelson Bibles.

The medieval world is the foundational structure of our society. Church history of the medieval period is often neglected in reformed and evangelical circles, which largely emphasize reformation-era history.

Here are thirty-seven talks that I gave on medieval church history to help reformed and evangelical Christians understand our ecclesiastical world and why we needed a Protestant Reformation in the first place.

A Medieval World
Cyril and Methodius
Gottschalk of Orbais
Viking Invaders & Cluniac Revival
Quem Queritis: Passion Plays & Literacy
Anselm of Canterbury
The Great East-West Schism
Abelard, Heloise & the Rise of Scholasticm
Defense of the First Crusade
Oxford & the University System
Bernard of Clairvaux
The Jews of Medieval Christendom
The Second Crusade
Peter Lombard & the Sentences
Notre Dame & the Cathedral Makers
Peter Waldo & the Waldensians
Third & Fourth Crusade
Francis of Assisi
Fourth Lateran Council
Dominic de Guzman & the Dominicans
Thomas Aquinas
Prester John & Christian Ethiopia
The Late Scholastics
Dante & the Divine Comedy
Avignon Captivity & Western Schism
The Great Famine
John Wycliffe
John of Montecorvino & Christianity in China
Black Death
Jan Hus & the Hussites
Julian of Norwich & Female Mysticism
Thomas a’Kempis
Fall of the Byzantine Empire
The Gutenberg Bible
The Spanish Inquisition
New World 15th c. Missions
Erasmus & the Greek New Testament

https://gentlereformation.com/2026/03/16/medieval-church-history/

For two thousand years, the words of the Great Commission have echoed through the corridors of church history: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19, NIV). Few commands are more familiar to Christians. Often quoted, yet so misunderstood in practice.

Statistically, most Christians would say they believe in making disciples, yet nearly 80% confess to not experiencing it in practice — that’s on either side of the divide, whether being discipled themselves or discipling someone else. Despite our churches preaching about it, building programs around the principle, and including “disciple making” in their values, few Christians even know where to practically begin.

It’s not so much that believers are disobedient as much as disoriented.

They know the “what” — make disciples.

They even know the “why” — because it expands the kingdom.

But without the “how,” they’re unable to mobilize themselves into actually doing it.

This explains why the movement Jesus launched seems to be moving far more slowly than it should. But our confusion about how to make disciples has compounded in mistaking discipleship for disciple making, as if they were the same thing … and they’re not.

The Subtle Confusion That Changed Everything

Discipleship is good. It’s the necessary ongoing process of growing as a follower of Jesus. It takes place as we learn Scripture, develop spiritual disciplines, discover our gifts, and mature in healthy community.

But here’s the part we often miss: discipleship is not what Jesus commanded in the Great Commission. It was disciple making.

Deconstruct the Great Commission with me, and the difference becomes glaringly obvious:

• Go — that’s externally focused.
• To all nations — that’s mission talk.
• Baptizing them — that’s what you do when someone converts.
• Teaching them to obey all I’ve commanded you — that’s life transformation, changing the way you live.
• And I will be with you until the end of the age — that’s what you tell people when you want to comfort their fears.

What, after all, is frightening about discipleship? Sitting in a small group on Tuesday nights, going through a Bible study, facilitating discussion, and eating coffee cake are anything but scary.

At the risk of appearing to reject one and praise the other, a contrast must be made. Both discipleship and disciple making are good, but each of them accomplishes something different. Disciple making is outward facing, helping others (often people who do not yet follow Jesus) learn what it means to follow him and obey his teachings. Disciple-making multiplies disciples. Discipleship matures them. Two sides of the same coin. Disciple makers come out of discipleship, and disciple making leads to the need for discipleship.

Somewhere along the way, the church began using these two terms interchangeably. Because discipleship was happening inside the church, we assumed that the Great Commission was being fulfilled. But the results tell a different story. Many churches are strong at forming believers yet weak at mobilizing them. We have turned a command that was meant to move outward into one that primarily turns inward.

Jesus did not say, “Stay and grow,” but “Go.”

Jesus Did Not Leave Disciple-Making to Chance

One of the most striking things about Jesus’s ministry is how intentional it was. He did not rely primarily on crowds, sermons, or religious institutions to accomplish his mission. Nor was he improvising. Instead, Jesus intentionally invested deeply in a small group of ordinary people and modeled a clear and repeatable process, one we can still observe in the gospels today. Over the course of his three-year ministry, Jesus formed his disciples through three core rhythms of disciple making.

When all three rhythms overlap, they produce mobilized disciple-makers.

Time: Where Disciples Are Formed

Jesus spent an extraordinary amount of time with his disciples. He did not simply teach them in formal settings. He invited them into his life. They walked with him, ate with him, traveled with him, and watched how he lived.

Transformation happens in community. Time takes us out of the crowd and into proximity with others, as real life happens. It is in those everyday moments, not just formal lessons, that disciples are formed.

But as all leaders know, community also brings friction. When people spend real time together, weaknesses and rough edges surface. That friction is not a flaw in the process, it is the very place where growth and transformation occur … where the pressure, over time, produces the diamond.

This is why Jesus primarily used the first year to spend time with his disciples in Capernaum. But all that changed in the second year, when Jesus took to the road on a teaching tour.

Teaching: Where Disciples Are Trained

No one disputes that Jesus was a master teacher, but his teaching was never merely informational. He did not aim simply to increase knowledge; he created transformational experiences. He even promised the early disciples that if they joined him on his teaching tour, he would make them fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). They left their nets and found the road out of Capernaum was a journey to disciple making.

That entire second year, Jesus not only taught the message of the kingdom, he brought it. Every miracle was extra grace. Early grace. Grace you experienced before you believed.

The disciples watched and learned. They didn’t do anything. Not yet. That would be reserved for year three, the Tactical year.

Tactics: Where Disciples Are Sent

We call it tactile learning — learning by doing. The final rhythm is often the most neglected. Jesus sent his disciples out before they felt ready. He gave them real responsibility. He allowed them to try, to fail, to return, and to debrief.

Long before the Great Commission, Jesus was practicing it with his disciples. Mark 3:14 (ESV) says, “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.” Sending was not an optional add-on to Jesus’s process. It was essential. Without it, discipleship never becomes disciple-making.

Mobilization Always Comes Before Multiplication

The book of Acts inspires us with stories of rapid growth and bold witness, but that movement did not appear out of thin air. It was the result of three years of intentional disciple making by Jesus himself.

Mobilization precedes multiplication. That’s why Jesus started in the gospels with disciple making, rather than parachuting into Acts and planting churches.

The gospels show us how Jesus mobilized a small group of disciples. Acts shows us what happened once they were sent. When churches attempt to multiply without first mobilizing people, they often reproduce structures rather than disciples. But when ordinary believers are trained and sent, movements begin to form.

Jesus understood this. That is why he focused so much attention on a few. He knew that if those few were properly mobilized, the impact would extend far beyond them.

Disciple Making Is Not Just for Leaders

One of the most damaging myths about disciple making is that it is only for pastors, missionaries, or especially gifted Christians. Jesus chose fishermen, tax collectors, and skeptics. He hand-picked twelve ordinary people who wouldn’t make the cut on the easiest of leadership assessments. But that’s the key to understanding disciple making. It’s about following Jesus and taking someone with you. And anyone can do that.

The apostle Paul captured this beautifully when he wrote, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV). Disciple making is less about having it all together, and more about following Jesus together. In his first year of ministry, Jesus only called three disciples, but each of them called somebody else to follow Jesus with them.

John called James.

Andrew invited Peter.

Philip introduced Nathaniel to Jesus.

That’s what my book Discipology teaches people to do. Is it evangelism? No, but it involves some. Is it discipleship? Not exactly, but it definitely feels like it. It’s Time, Teaching, and Tactics blended together as you pour into someone, proving to them that they matter to God, because they matter to you.

Returning to the Way of Jesus

The truth? The church does not need a new disciple-making strategy. We need to rediscover the one Jesus already gave us.

When we reclaim his rhythms of time, teaching, and tactics, mobilization takes place. Everyday believers, learning to follow Jesus and take someone with them.

To help us return to Jesus’s model, I’ve developed a system of practical tools:

• Discipology: The Art and Science of Making Disciples — A book to help leaders catalyze disciple making.
• Journey to Disciple Making — A daily journal to help you take the first real steps in making a disciple.
• Through the Word Bible Plan — An interactive tool that lets you collaborate with a partner and discuss Scripture with your new disciple.

The question before us is not whether disciple making matters. Jesus already answered that. The question is whether we will continue talking about making disciples or actually learn how to do it … the way Jesus modeled and passed on to us.

The post How Did Jesus Make Disciples? (And How You Can, Too) appeared first on Bible Gateway News & Knowledge.

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

A closed coffee shop prompts my reflection on the importance of “third places”—informal public spaces where community forms and conversations flourish. Such places often provide unexpected opportunities to speak about Jesus, influence listeners, and even lead souls toward salvation through ordinary, unplanned encounters and faithful Christian conversation.

The local coffee shop closed. It was the second time. When the shop closed the first time, another lady bought it and reopened it under her name. I frequented it occasionally for myself, they had good coffee and sandwiches and pastries and such, but more frequently I met there with a young friend. We’d buy a coffee or a tea, and sit and talk about the faith, bat questions around, consult our Bibles, laugh, and pray…all in a relaxing atmosphere in an unhurried public space.

It was nice.

Now that it has closed for the 2nd time, and no word on what, if anything, is going in that space next, I mourn the loss of this “third place”.

What is a ‘Third Place’?

These are informal public gathering spaces that foster social interaction and community building, and are distinct from home (first place) and work (second place). They are important to a community. The term ‘third place’ was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989, who later wrote more about third places with Karen Christensen, in their book “The Great Good Place”. These places are local coffee shops, parks, libraries, pubs, churches, clubs, bookstores…any place where a people gather informally (as opposed to a singular reason for being there such as a concert venue, football stadium, or art museum).

In The Great Good Place, the co-authors defined good third places as having 7 characteristics:

Open and inviting: You don’t need an invitation or appointment, and you can come and go as you please.

Comfortable and informal: You feel that you belong there.

Convenient: It’s close enough to visit often, ideally right in your own neighborhood.

Unpretentious: Everyone is on the same level, there’s nothing fancy or fragile, and it’s not expensive.

There are regulars: And often there’s a host or a clerk who greets people as they arrive.

Conversation is the main activity: Discussion, debate, and gossip are part of the mix.

Laughter is frequent: The mood is light-hearted and playful. Joking and witty banter are encouraged.

Libraries are third places but require a hushed conversation, and if in a meeting room, require advanced booking. Bookstores used to be a good spot to gather, I used to go to Borders a lot, but brick and mortar bookstore/cafes are rare now. Parks are nice but weather is often a factor. Indoor gathering spaces are becoming scarce.

In The Planning Commissioners Journal, we read the article “Our Vanishing ‘Third Places‘“,

Most residential areas built since World War II have been designed to protect people from community rather than connect them to it. Virtually all means of meeting and getting to know one’s neighbors have been eliminated. An electronically-operated garage door out front and a privacy fence out back afford near-total protection from those who, in former days, would have been neighbors.

Where there is no community space,

“Such embers of human association signal the flaw in much of today’s residential land use pattern — all space is used up and there’s no provision for a community life. What should be local is remote, and because it is remote it serves no community at all.” Source Planners Journal again

Third places are important to me for another reason. Informal conversations about Jesus happen in third places. In churches, yes, of course. But I first heard consistently about Jesus in a sort of third place- the Post Office lobby. I wasn’t saved yet. A local Baptist pastor would greet everyone in the lobby and mention Jesus pretty quickly. I was working at the PO at the time behind the wall of mailboxes, putting up postal box mail. You could hear everything and that meant I heard about Jesus every day he came in. I got so aggravated. Saying Jesus’ name was like acid to my sinning soul. It was a first step toward the cross on my journey to salvation.

I remember another time too about 15 years ago, post salvation. A group of us met at a local BBQ restaurant. We sat in a booth. Our conversation meandered to salvation, redemption, then eschatology. We conversed for a long while. Then we got up to pay. As we gathered our things, the couple who had been sitting in the next booth approached us and said they enjoyed listening to our talk about Jesus.

Another time more recently, in this same coffee shop that is now closed, my friend and I sipped tea and I answered her questions about theology. After a while a young man came up to us. If I remember correctly he was Mormon. We had another conversation then!

I appreciate street preachers. I believe they are adhering to the verse at Luke 14:23, “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and the hedges and press upon them to come in, so that my house will be filled.“

But my point is about the places where incidental conversations, overhearers, and gathering spots where Jesus will be exalted, discussed, and cherished.

John Bunyan famously recorded his steps to the cross when he related his own ‘third place’ story. There were some housewives in Bedford, Bunyan’s town, who would sit in the sun outside one of their cottages and speak of the grace of Jesus. Bunyan was an unsaved tinker then, itinerant and mobile, so he would stop and listen. Bunyan wrote:

But upon a day, the good providence of God called me to Bedford, to work on my calling; and in one of the streets of that town, I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door, in the sun, talking about the things of God; and being now willing to hear them discourse, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now a brisk talker also myself, in the matters of religion; but I may say, I heard but understood not; for they were far above, out of my reach.  Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts, also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature; they talked how God had visited their souls with His love in the Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported, against the temptations of the devil: moreover, they reasoned of the suggestions and temptations of Satan in particular; and told to each other, by which they had been afflicted and how they were borne up under his assaults. [emphasis Bunyan’s]

Despite being a ‘brisk talker’, Bunyan soon realized he did not know this Jesus at all. The new birth had never entered his mind, he wrote, and the women’s joy was a supernatural joy he did not possess.

Think if they chose not to gather in the public way, or if they did gather to talk with one another and only gossiped instead. A faith without Bunyan? What a ghastly thought! (I am only making a point, Jesus would have drawn Bunyan in another way. If you’re chosen, you’re chosen). But what grace it is for a person to be used to draw a sinner to Jesus’ bosom, and it happened in a third place.

So nowadays where can incidental or informal conversations happen? Where can neighbors gather to speak of the joys and supports of our mighty Jesus? Or just to gather and relax and be genial with a neighbor or friend? In third places that are becoming increasingly rare.

Pondering these things is a good reminder for me, that speaking of Jesus can not only bring joy to the speaker and the hearers, but can unwittingly convict the nearby sinner. Bunyan wrote-

And, methought, they spake as if joy did make them speak; they spake with such pleasantness of scripture language, and with such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me, as if they had found a new world; as if they were people that dwelt alone, and were not to be reckoned among their neighbours.  Numb. xxiii. 9.

Look how Bunyan describes the next little while:

Thus, therefore, when I had heard and considered what they said, I left them, and went about my employment again, but their talk and discourse went with me; also my heart would tarry with them, for I was greatly affected with their words, both because by them I was convinced that I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and also because by them I was convinced of the happy and blessed condition of him that was such a one.

Therefore I should often make it my business to be going again and again into the company of these poor people; for I could not stay away; and the more I went amongst them, the more I did question my condition; and as I still do remember, presently I found two things within me, at which I did sometimes marvel (especially considering what a blind, ignorant, sordid and ungodly wretch but just before I was). The one was a very great softness and tenderness of heart, which caused me to fall under the conviction of what by scripture they asserted, and the other was a great bending in my mind, to a continual meditating on it, and on all other good things, which at any time I heard or read of.

Conversations like these in third places soften the heart, convict the soul, and transform the mind of all who hear-

Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29).

By Elizabeth Prata

The thread of Christianity depends on a unity from one generation to the next of mutual understanding of our important words. Hence the Word of the Week.

Aseity

“Because God Himself had no beginning, He was already there in the beginning. He antedates the created order. When we affirm that God is eternal, we are also saying that He possesses the attribute of aseity, or self-existence. This means that God eternally has existed of Himself and in Himself.” RC Sproul, “In the Beginning God“

“What does it mean that He is self-existent? … “In Him was Life.” In Him was Life. John 5:26 says it again, that in God is life and in the Son is life. This is an amazing statement. Life not bios, not just physical life, but zoe, the biggest, broadest term for all kinds of life. And what it’s saying is this. Life was in Him. What do you mean by that? Well look at it from a negative standpoint. He didn’t receive life from any other source. He didn’t develop life from some other power. This is self-existence. He wasn’t given life, He didn’t receive life, He possesses it as an essential of His nature. In Him was life.” ~John MacArthur, The Word Became Flesh

Scriptures:

For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. (Isaiah 46:9)

I AM who I AM. (Exodus 3:14)

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (John 5:26)

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25)

Clip is 1 minute 28 seconds. Sproul: “God alone has Aseity”

https://www.ligonier.org/posts/god-alone-has-aseity

By Marsha West

Do the foundational offices of apostle and prophet remain in effect today as some Charismatics claim? Should believers submit to modern-day apostles and prophets? The answer is absolutely not. Fourteen years ago, I wrote a 2-part essay entitled Gladiator-style takedown of demonic forces. In Part 1 I tackled Kingdom Theology, a movement within some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in America. I scrutinized spiritual warfare prayer/deliverance movement that had weaseled its way into the visible Church through New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionist (NAR/DOM) so-called apostles and prophets. In Part 2 I dug into the specifics of spiritual warfare prayer, used to cast out evil spirits from those who are allegedly demon possessed. Next I exposed some of the false teachers who managed to shoehorn their way into high places through their association with the Religious Right movement and their involvement in politics.

Before I move on, you need to know that Kingdom Now a.k.a. Dominion theology does not emphasize the atoning work of the cross and the gravity of sin and repentance. Kingdom Now’s aim is the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth NOW, before Christ’s return. As you will see, proponents’ of this dangerous theology are outside the pale of orthodox Christianity.

Kingdom Now Eschatology

• The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is a mandate for Christians to take control over secular institutions in order to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.
• Most miracles and supernatural gifts described in the New Testament should be practiced today, including faith healing, prophecy, exorcism, and speaking in tongues.
• The church is meant to have authority over earthly governments and institutions.
• Before Jesus returns, the world will experience a great end time revival and nearly all people will convert to Christianity.
• Christ cannot return until a certain amount of spiritual warfare has taken place on earth and until the church has established dominion.
• Kingdom Now Eschatology reflects an “over- realized eschatology where the blessings of the messianic kingdom are expected now instead of awaiting their future fulfillment. (Source: BibleAsk)
• The Kingdom of God: already and not yet — While many Christian traditions affirm that God’s kingdom has begun in the hearts of believers (Luke 17:21) but will be ultimately perfected at Christ’s return, Kingdom Now Theology can tilt heavily toward the “already” aspect. Some adherents believe that as believers walk in faith, they can manifest God’s complete reign in the present age. (Source: BibleHub)

Following is a lengthy excerpt from part 2 of Gladiator-style takedown of demonic forces:

I urge believers and nonbelievers alike to familiarize yourselves with the NAR/DOM because they have managed to mainstream themselves into the pro-family movement a.k.a the Christian (religious) Right (CR). One quick example is “apostle” Rick Joyner who heads the Oak Initiative (OI), a “social justice movement” that is doing political action work with the CR. The OI is a member of the CR’s “supergroup” known as The Freedom Federation. The “basic strategy of The Oak Initiative [is] to be a grassroots movement to find and help develop principled and effective Christian leaders who can mobilize and organize a cohesive force of activated Christians.”

For a couple of decades Sarah Leslie of Discernment Ministries has been reporting on the NAR, which has gone by many different names over the years such as Latter Rain, Manifested Sons of God (who have supernatural spiritual power), Kingdom Now, and most recently the New Apostolic Reformation. According to Sarah,

“The NAR leaders are jumping on the bandwagon political Right issues, which neutralizes much of their potential opposition because people then are fooled into thinking that they are conservative Right. But they have a whole other agenda. They are a cult that descended from the old Latter Rain cult, and as such they have aberrant beliefs that make them very volatile political bedfellows. Cults don’t accommodate pluralism and freedom, especially not religious freedom. They simply want to impose their view on society and turn it into binding law.” (Used by permission)

The person we have to thank for the SWM/NAR is the “Super Apostle” of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICoA), C. Peter Wagner [now deceased]. This demon-battling gladiator has done enormous damage to the cause of Christ. He and his “apostles” and “prophets” have made a mockery of the good news of the gospel and are spreading a false gospel. A few of Wagner’s fellow gladiators are: Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Rick Joyner, Lance Wallnau (7-mountains), Lou Engle (TheCall), Samuel Rodriguez, Che Ahn, John and Carol Arnott, Bill Johnson, Dutch Sheets, Todd Bentley, Mike Bickle (IHOP), Patricia King, Paul Cain, Kim Clement and Bob Jones. Remember their names. Wolves! RUN!!

These people are theological revisionists. All of them claim they’re receiving “new revelation” from Almighty God. “We can hear God’s voice,” proclaims Peter Wagner. “He also reveals new things to prophets as we have seen.”

“We” means modern-day prophets!

Wagner outright rejects the completeness of Scripture. How else can he tempt people into shunning historic orthodox Christianity but to dazzle them with “new” revelation? He knows perfectly well his belief that “super apostles” are coming to lay a new foundation is unorthodox. Moreover, it’s just plain fiction. Let me stress that there is no “new revelation” that can replace the revelations of Jesus and the legitimate New Testament apostles.

Contrary to God’s truth, the NAR/DOM presents a man inspired fairy tale. For example, disciples are taught that God is pouring out “new wine.” Why is God doing this? This is a humdinger….the old wineskins (Scripture) must be replaced with new wineskins (new revelation). That way they can declare that every prophecy uttered by one of their self-proclaimed prophets supersedes Scripture. How convenient!

Take a moment to mull over in your mind the fact that for two centuries tens of thousands of followers of Jesus Christ have been persecuted and murdered in the most monstrous ways imaginable because they understood God’s commanded to “earnestly contend for the faith (purity of the good news) which was once (not to be done again; nothing to be added to it) delivered unto to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

That said, the old wine isn’t intoxicating enough for these deceivers. They demand more, more, more of the Holy Ghost through supernatural experiences. They are intent on “experiencing God” even if it means becoming involved in “Christian spiritism” and all sorts of other occult pagan practices forbidden by God.

A big fad in some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is getting “drunk on the Spirit” and for that you need the “Holy Ghost bartender” that serves up “new wine.”

But even worse, false teachers are pushing the blasphemous practice of “toking the Ghost” which one Ghost toking pusher alleges “doesn’t disturb the Holy Spirit.”

Really?

Speaking of false teachers, Emerging Church leader Brian McLaren believes that the Church must change with the culture and the times. The way he sees it, what the Church desperately needs is a “new paradigm,” “A New Kind of Christian.” Christian apologist Sandy Simpson warns that the “emerging new heretics” are willing to make this happen “using fabrication, exaggeration, disinformation, misrepresentation, vilification, prevarication and even falsification to achieve a complete brainwash in their followers.” (Source)

Peter Wagner also believes the Church must change. Only his idea of a new paradigm differs from McLaren’s. John F. Hart, Professor of Bible, Moody Bible Institute, explains it thusly:

Traditionally, Evangelicals have argued that experience and ministry ought to flow out of theology and Scripture. Wagner offers us a paradigm shift: theology must flow out of ministry (à la experience in exorcisms and healings)! Correspondingly, emphasis is placed on subjective experience over the objective Word of God. Personal experience becomes the verifiable proof of new doctrines about the spirit world. Theology is defined as “a human attempt to explain God’s Word and God’s works in a reasonable and systematic way.” (Source)

In a piece entitled C. Peter Wagner’s “theology”, Herescope sheds light on the man behind the NAR/DOM curtain:

He has opened traditional orthodoxy to new words, new understandings, new doctrines, new practices, new eschatologies, and new gospels. For example, in his 1988 book The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit Wagner admits that he obtained his doctrines about spiritual warfare from extra-biblical sources outside of the Canon of Scripture. He cites the apocryphal Acts of Peter where he says there were highly vivid descriptions of “a spiritual ‘shootout’” and “confrontational theatrics” in the forum, and the apocryphal Acts of John where there was a “power encounter… in the temple of the goddess Artemis” resulting in it splitting in pieces “and half of the whole temple” falling down. (pp. 80-81). He says that including such extra-biblical supernatural stories can be “used to bring people to conversion to Christianity.”

Wagner has been at the helm of strategic level spiritual warfare since the 1990s. One of his Bible shredding cohorts, Cindy Jacobs, always seems to be drunk on the “new wine” as she utters false prophesies. Ironically this poor misguided woman “prophesies” without the foggiest notion that her utterances most likely come, not from the Holy Spirit, but from demonic spirits.

Many involved in the NAR/DOM movement are clueless that their leaders hold that the enemies of God must be conquered and ruled over by self-appointed “super-apostles and prophets” associated with Wagner’s ICoA. “Dominion has to do with control,” says Peter Wagner. “Dominion has to do with rulership. Dominion has to do with authority and subduing and it relates to society. In other words, what the values are in Heaven need to be made manifest here on earth. Dominion means being the head and not the tail. Dominion means ruling as kings. It says in Revelation Chapter 1:6 that He has made us kings and priests — and check the rest of that verse; it says for dominion. So we are kings for dominion.” (There’s not enough space to explain the orthodox view of Rev. 1:6. Matthew Henry’s commentary explains it here.)

Now listen to what “Apostle” Rick Joyner said on July 19, 2007:

The kingdom of God will not be socialism, but a freedom even greater than anyone on earth knows at this time. At first it may seem like totalitarianism, as the Lord will destroy the antichrist spirit now dominating the world with “the sword of His mouth” and will shatter many nations like pottery. However, fundamental to His rule is II Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Instead of taking away liberties and becoming more domineering, the kingdom will move from a point of necessary control while people are learning truth, integrity, honor, and how to make decisions, to increasing liberty so that they can. (emphasis in original) (Source – video his been taken down)

Here Joyner takes us from “necessary control” over people’s lives to eventually giving them liberty — but only after they’ve been sufficiently brainwashed into the beliefs of the neo apostles and prophets who, by the way, are the “kings” over the Kingdom they’ve established here on earth.

The obvious question is will neo apostles and prophets set up the Kingdom of God on earth by using force which would include killing those who rebel against their authority?

Following is excerpted from Herescope’s “The Destiny of Enforcing a Kingdom”:

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND APOSTOLIC GOVERNMENT — We serve a King who is advancing a Kingdom. The King has chosen to position His Kingdom within humankind. He sends those who have His Kingdom within them into every aspect of society’s culture. The Kingdom of God is here now! The seven mountains of society are meant to be influenced and dominated by the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and apostles properly related to prophets’ form the foundation of the Kingdom. Apostles create and execute God’s prototype plan in the earth and through each nation of the earth until there is a house of prayer built for every people group. Jesus taught us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come to earth as it is in heaven….

SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Because we represent a Kingdom, we are at war to enforce Kingdom principles and plans in the earth. We are at war and must be equipped to stand against the enemy. Accomplishing God’s purposes on earth is not without opposition. . . . [emphasis added]

THE COMMISSION TO DISCIPLE and HEAL NATIONS — From the beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham, His plan was to bless all the nations. One of the purposes of the nation of Israel was to show the other nations how they could relate to God. They were to live in such a way that the glory of the Lord would be on them and Gentiles would be drawn to them (Is. 60). His House was to be a joyful House of Prayer for all the nations (Is. 56:6-7). When the Jews rejected Jesus, they missed fulfilling this portion of their destiny…. Jesus sent His disciples out to fulfill this promise and commanded them to disciple the nations — helping whole nations to be disciples of the Lord. From generation to generation, the Lord develops His Church to disciple the nations until the fullness of His plan has been completed and all nations have been restored. < end Herescope excerpt>

 

In closing, it is important to understand the NAR/DOM’s agenda. Their intent is to take “dominion” over societal institutions and government…and then they will take over the kingdoms of this world and build a literal Kingdom of God on earth. Peter Wagner boasts:

Once we have the apostles in place we will then bring the intercessors and the prophets into the inner circle, and we will end up with the spiritual core we need to move ahead for retaking the dominion that is rightfully ours. <end article excerpt>

Helpful Information

To learn more about conservative Christian groups that have united with the NAR/DOM as a way of furthering their political agenda, read my column Christian leaders: It’s about time you test false teachers.

Part 1

Related

We Have Had Enough of False Prophets! – Marsha West

William Branham Historical Research – John Collins

Boom, Bust, and Control: Why Manifested Sons Doctrine Ends in Destruction

The New Apostolic Reformation Exposed

DISCLAIMER

CRN has compiled a list of false teachers and several other professing Christians we’ve warned you about over the years. The list also contains those we must keep an eye on plus movements, organizations and “frauds, phonies and money-grubbing religious quacks” to mark and avoid as per Romans 16:17-18 such as those mentioned in the article.

Source: Dominionism, Kingdom Now: NAR’s Heretical Eschatology

ONE WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (3:28)

Paul focused on the existing, well-defined distinctions of his society that drew sharp lines and set up high walls of separation between people. The essence of those distinctions was the idea that some people—namely Jews, free men, and males in general—were better than, more valuable than, more significant than others. The gospel destroys all such proud thinking. The person who becomes one with Christ also becomes one with every other believer. There are no distinctions among those who belong to Christ. In spiritual matters, there is to be made no racial, social, or sexual discrimination—neither Jew nor Greek, … slave nor free man, … male nor female.
It is not, of course, that among Christians there is no such thing as a Jew, Gentile, slave, free person, man, or woman. There are obvious racial, social, and sexual differences among people. Paul, however, was speaking of spiritual differences—differences in standing before the Lord, spiritual value, privilege, and worthiness. Consequently, prejudice based on race, social status, sex, or any other such superficial and temporary differences has no place in the fellowship of Christ’s church. All believers, without exception, are all one in Christ Jesus. All spiritual blessings, resources, and promises are equally given to all who believe unto salvation (cf. Rom. 10:12).
It was only with great difficulty that Peter finally learned that there are no racial distinctions in Christ, “that God is not one to show partiality” among Jew or Greek, “but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:35). Among the five prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch was “Simeon, who was called Niger,” which means black (Acts 13:1). Paul’s beloved son in the faith was Timothy, whose father was Gentile and whose mother and grandmother were Jewish (Acts 16:1; 2 Tim. 1:5).
Likewise there are no distinctions according to social or economic status. Paul told the Christian slave to be obedient to his master, “as to Christ,” and he told the Christian master, a free man, to “give up threatening, knowing that” the Master of both “is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him” (Eph. 6:5, 9).
James warned, “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?… If you show partiality, you are committing sin” (James 2:1–4, 9). The oneness of the Body of Christ focuses on common spiritual life and privilege, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph. 4:3–7).
Nor are there spiritual distinctions according to sex. There is neither male nor female. In recognizing believing women as the full spiritual equals of believing men, Christianity elevated women to a status they had never known before in the ancient world. In matters of rule in the home and in the church God has established the headship of men. But in the dimension of spiritual possessions and privilege there is absolutely no difference.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Galatians (pp. 99–100). Moody Press.

28 Second, through faith in Jesus Christ all who believe become one with each other so that, in one sense, there is now “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,” but all are “one in Christ Jesus.” In what sense is this true? Clearly, it does not mean that differences of nationality, status, and sex cease to exist. A Jew remains a Jew; a Gentile, a Gentile. One does not lose his identity by becoming a Christian. Paul simply means that having become one with God as his sons, Christians now belong to each other in such a way that distinctions that formerly divided them lose significance.
Race is the first example, for Paul writes that there is neither Jew nor Greek. In Paul’s day there was a deep division between the two. It was national in many respects, but the depth of the feeling (at least from the Jewish perspective) came from the fact that it was also religious. The Gentile was among the goyim. He was uncircumcised and therefore no child of Abraham. He did not have the law or the cermonies. He was not of the covenant. This barrier Paul now claims to have been broken down in Christ (cf. Eph 2:11–18). Today this principle must be extended to deny the significance of all racial barriers. In Christ there must be neither black nor white, Caucasian nor Oriental, nor any other such distinction.
Social status is a second example, for there is neither “slave nor free.” Again, this is not meant to deny that in actual fact there are social distinctions among men. It is merely meant to affirm that for those who are united to Christ these things do not matter. In fact, when such distinctions no longer matter, when men treat each other as true brothers in Christ regardless of their social standing, then the power of such distinctions is broken and a basis is laid for social change. On this pattern the ideal church should be composed of members from all spectra of society: wealthy and poor, educated and uneducated, straight and long-hair, management and labor, and so on.
There is also the example of sex, for Paul declares that there is neither “male nor female.” It is hard to imagine how badly women were treated in antiquity, even in Judaism, and how difficult it is to find any statement about the equality of the sexes, however weak, in any ancient texts except those of Christianity. The Jew prayed, “I thank God that thou hast not made me a woman” (common morning prayer). Josephus wrote, “Woman is inferior to man in every way” (Contra Apion, 2:24). The Gentile world had similar expressions. But Paul reverses this. Indeed, in this statement we have one factor in the gradual elevation and honoring of women that has been known in Christian lands.
When Paul concludes this breakdown of the distinctions that are superseded by Christianity, he speaks of the fact that all who are in Christ are “one,” using the masculine form of the numeral. The distinction is not between masculine and feminine, as if Paul were reinstating male superiority again after having denied it, but between masculine and neuter; that is, between a unified personality and a unified organization. Paul is, therefore, not thinking of a unified church structure but of the church as the living body of Christ. In this body all are truly one in and with one another. The only permissible distinctions are those of function (cf. 1 Cor 12).

Boice, J. M. (1976). Galatians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians (Vol. 10, pp. 468–469). Zondervan Publishing House.

28. There can be neither Jew nor Greek; there can be neither slave nor freeman; there can be no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. In Paul’s day fraticidal class-distinctions were the order of the day, just as they are still in many quarters. See N.T.C. on Colossians and Philemon, pp. 151–154, where this same subject is discussed in some detail in connection with Col. 3:11. For the present purpose it is necessary only to note that the Jews drew a sharp line of separation between themselves and the “swarms” or “hordes” (“goyim”) of outsiders, heathen nations in contrast with Israel. Often such heathen were simply called “dogs.” Even proselytes to the Jewish religion were never fully “accepted.” After all, they were not “children of Abraham.” It seems that the Judaizers of Paul’s day had not broken away from this feeling of disdain for non-Jews. Gentiles, too, were often guilty of similar snobbery. They looked down upon the Jews as much as the latter looked down upon them. And as to their attitude toward slaves, it cannot have been far removed from that of Aristotle, who called a slave “an animated implement,” a mere breathing tool. And as to the distinction between male and female, even such a man of culture as Josephus, if the passage in his work Against Apion (II.xxiv) be genuine, declared, “The woman, so says the law, is inferior in all things to man.” What Paul is saying, then, is that all such distinctions—be they racial-religious (“neither Jew nor Greek”), social (“neither slave nor freeman”), or sexual (“no male and female”)—must be thoroughly and forever abandoned, since in Christ all are equal.
    This does not mean that common sense must now be cast overboard. Because of different historical backgrounds, different vocational interests, different skills, different degrees of educational advancement, and different geographic locations, it may be in the interest of all concerned that at times “birds of a feather flock together.” The Bible recognizes this right. It was not wrong for Bezalel and Oholiab to work in conjunction with other artisans of similar ability in the construction of the tabernacle (Exod. 36:1, 2, 8). Neither was it wrong, as such, for Demetrius, “the silversmith,” to meet with other men of his trade (Acts 19:25). Scripture clearly justifies distinctions of this nature. It teaches not only the unity but also the diversity of all believers and, in a sense, of all men (Acts 17:26; 1 Cor. 7:20; 12; 16:2; Eph. 4:7). Are there not some people today who, in their mania for unity and equality, have left common sense and genuinely scriptural teaching far behind? Is it not absurd, for example, in the interest of “integration” to force into the fourth grade children, of whatever race, who cannot do fourth grade work? Would it not be foolish for ministers, with little knowledge of electricity, to try to crash a Convention of Electrical Engineers? Or for men to barge into a meeting of the Sewing Circle?
    On the other hand, it certainly remains true that in God’s holy sight all men are, indeed, equal, for “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23; cf. 2:11; 3:9–18; 5:12, 18). Also, “the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all that call on him” (Rom. 10:12). For a Jew to confess himself to be a Christian, and then to refuse to eat with Christians from the Gentiles, or to regard himself as being in any way superior to them in moral worth, is an abomination to the Lord. Similarly today the church cannot tolerate hurtful distinctions. All believers are in a sense one person, one body “in Christ” (1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12; Col. 3:15), for he who is the Son of David is also the Son of man; he who is “the seed of Abraham” is also “the seed of the woman.” From God’s side the Holy Spirit, and from man’s side Spirit-imparted faith, link believers with Christ, and thereby also with one another.

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Galatians (Vol. 8, pp. 149–151). Baker Book House.

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The Obama Foundation is recruiting up to 100 unpaid volunteers to help operate the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens this summer.

The positions, described as part of a special volunteer initiative, will involve greeting visitors, directing guests around the campus, and explaining exhibits at the center’s museum tower, athletic facilities, and Chicago Public Library branch.

Foundation officials say the volunteers, referred to as “ambassadors,” will work alongside roughly 300 full- and part-time employees currently staffing the organization.

The recruitment drive comes as the foundation’s latest tax filings show that CEO Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama adviser, earned a massive $740,000 in compensation in 2024.

Financial records obtained by Fox News also show the organization’s payroll has expanded significantly in recent years.

Total salaries and benefits rose from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024, as staffing increased to 337 employees and annual revenue approached $210 million.

I’m the CEO of the Obama Foundation.

The Obama Presidential Center is an $850 million project in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago.

It will be the most expensive presidential center in American history.

We are building it with unpaid volunteers.

I need to explain what…

— Peter Girnus 🦅 (@gothburz) March 15, 2026

The Obama Foundation’s headquarters is located in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, where it runs various leadership and community programs both in the United States and internationally.

Officials say the new presidential center will serve as a major cultural institution on Chicago’s South Side.

Obama’s presidential library looks like a large dumpster.

How appropriate.

This guy’s legacy deserves to end up in a dumpster. pic.twitter.com/jTuOuPZp8H

— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) March 15, 2026

The foundation has promoted the project as a driver of economic growth, citing projections of $3.1 billion in economic activity over the next decade along with 5,000 construction jobs tied to the development.

“Volunteerism has been central to President Obama’s vision of civic life since his earliest days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side,” the foundation said in a press release announcing the initiative.

Jarrett echoed that message, saying the center will be “a place where the world meets the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help bring that vision to life every day.”

The 19.3-acre campus is being built in Jackson Park and is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Tax filings also show several other former Obama administration officials hold senior roles at the foundation and receive six-figure salaries.