Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

  Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now, many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing [ chrisma ] from the Holy One, and you know all things .                    1 John 2:18-20 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you , and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him .                        ...

  Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship [proskuneo] the Father in spirit and truth; for such people, the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth .              John 4:20-24 In Old Testament times, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars to the Lord and called on His name. In Genesis 24:63, And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening, and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming . This kind of worship of God was unstructured and required no priest to c...

  I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living .              Psalm 27:13 I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living .               Psalm 116:9 I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living .                                   Psalm 142:5 In each of the above verses, the psalmist refers to the quality of life available to the one who finds his life within a personal relationship, in communion with God. There is a clear sense of walking in His presence and the provision for life that this relationship brings to the believer. It speaks of a purity of heart that allows him to see the Lord (Matthew 5:8). Hezekiah’s Prayer A writing of Hezekiah, ...

  I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My church [ ekklesia – called out ones], and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. "             Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus’s public ministry began at His baptism, followed immediately by His temptation in the wilderness. While still ministering in Galilee, He introduced the principle of kingdom life, proper behavior in the kingdom of heaven. It meant a radical change in the laws given at Sinai, those commandments that focused on the public activities of the believer. The Sermon on the Mount was intended to focus attention on the private, inward life. In the beginning, Jesus centered on the inward convictions that would result in blessings of the kingdom. In the above passage, J...