None of These Diseases

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Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Introduction

“Egypt” is the Biblical symbol for the world out of which we first come as we begin our journey toward knowing God and His Son, Jesus Christ. In Christ we are to consider ourselves as dead to the world and alive in the spirit. That is why Christ calls those who put the world ahead of Himself, “the dead”.

Mat 8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer [ allow] me first to go and bury my father.
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

That is also why we read of ourselves as being considered as dead in the streets of that “great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified”.

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

According to the scriptures, if you know God and His Son, you smell like death to the natural- minded man of Babylon.

2Co 2:15 for we are a fragrance of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing:
2Co 2:16 to these [“those who are perishing”], indeed, an odor of death for death, yet to those [“who are being saved”] an odor of life for life. And for this who is competent?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking.

Rev 11:8 is speaking of Babylon the great and equates Babylon the great with “Sodom and Egypt”. So the “diseases… which [ God]… brought upon the Egyptians” is a type and shadow of the diseases which afflict us while we are in Babylon. What were the diseases which afflicted Egypt and exactly how are we to avoid those same afflictions and diseases?

First Plague

Exo 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Exo 7:21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

The waters of Egypt are the corrupted words of God. Those waters turning to blood tell us what happens when we begin to see how we have been believing the heresies of heretics, and we begin to see how our teachers have been twisting and polluting the words of God. Only then does our old man begin to die from drinking that bloody water.

Second Plague

Exo 8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exo 8:2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
Exo 8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading troughs:
Exo 8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
Exo 8:14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

These frogs, and the lice and flies which follow them, are all symbols of the 200 million false doctrines which come against the Truth of God’s Word, blotting out the light of the Sun:

Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

How many of these witnesses to the lies and heresies of the adversary are there?

Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

This is all the result of the doctrine of “tolerance in the nonessentials” versus “diligently listening to the voice of the Lord thy God, [ and] keeping all His statutes”.

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

“Diligently listen… keep all His statutes”. Does that sound as if there is anything which is ‘nonessential’ about to be said by the Lord they God?
Here is what heretics, heresies and lies do for our spiritual life:

Psa 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

This is speaking of the spirits and words of the false prophets to which we have all fallen victim in our own time.

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen
Rev 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Third Plague

Exo 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 8:17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 8:18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Fourth Plague

Exo 8:24 And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

Both these plagues and the innumerable swarms are just to tell us how many heresies of the heretics there are that will always be there to keep us from seeing the light of “the Sun of righteousness” when we believe that there are nonessential statutes that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord our God.

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Notice the “healing” that is promised both here in Mal 4:2 and in Exo 15:26. Healing comes when we ‘diligently listen to the Lord our God”. It is the Truth of God word which gives us the healing we so need.

Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Fifth Plague

Exo 9:2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
Exo 9:3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: t here shall be a very grievous murrain [ H1698, deber pestilence, diseases].
Exo 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.
Exo 9:5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
Exo 9:6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
Exo 9:15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence [ H1698 deber – diseases]; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
Exo 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
Lev 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence [ H1698 deber – diseases] among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Num 14:11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
Num 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence [ H1698 deber – diseases], and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

Livestock in scripture represents our possessions and our wealth, and the wealth of the children of Abraham are riches in gold and silver and cattle which all belong to God and are again the symbols of the wealth we have in Him and His Word.

Gen 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Diseased cattle are just another way of telling us how we have fallen victim to the heresies of heretics and false prophets. Both Lev 26:25 and Num 14:11-12 demonstrate that the diseases of our cattle are our own diseases, and just like the frogs and the flies and the lice, they spiritually devour and destroy us and all we spiritually own, simply because we would rather tolerate the so- called nonessential words that proceed out of the mouth of God, rather than to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord our God”.

Sixth Plague

Exo 9:8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
Exo 9:9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 9:10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.
Exo 9:11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

We have seen that Job suffered from boils because of his pride in his own, nonexistent righteousness. But the same pride that restrains our old man from letting loose the throne of God within our hearts, is the same pride that kept Pharaoh from letting Israel leave Egypt, and it was the same pride which kept Job from acknowledging that he was vile of himself and not righteous at all.

Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

So once again it was the words of Job’s mouth, the false doctrine of proud self- righteousness, which was used of God for an occasion to bring “these diseases”, the boils and blains upon him, and it is the lies of spiritually proud Egypt which brings “these diseases” and boils “upon man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt” within us.

Seventh Plague

Exo 9:22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
Exo 9:23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
Exo 9:24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
Exo 9:25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

What do you suppose this destruction of Egypt and its wealth by hail signifies in spiritual terms? Could it possibly be false doctrines and failing to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord our God” rather than to tolerate the so- called nonessential words which come forth from the mouth of God? What do the scriptures reveal to be the spiritual function of hail?

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Judgment is being laid “to the line and… to the plummet” with the righteousness of the Truth of God’s Word. Jerusalem, God’s own people are no exception to those words proceeding out of the mouth of God. The fact is that God’s own house will be the first to be judged:

2Ki 21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

“The house of Ahab” tolerated the nonessential doctrines of “that woman Jezebel”:

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

It behooves us all to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord our God” and to never even consider “tolerating the nonessentials”, as if any of the words which proceed forth out of the mouth of God were “nonessential”. Here is what happens when we allow that woman Jezebel to teach in our midst:

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;

A ‘canker’ devours us just as do the locusts of the eighth plague or ‘disease’ upon Egypt.

Eighth Plague

Exo 10:3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exo 10:4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Exo 10:5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
Exo 10:6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
Exo 10:7 And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Exo 10:14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exo 10:15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Again we are made to know that the diseases God brings upon the Egypt within us are heretics with heresies which are worse than any preceding plague of this kind. It is ordained that we buy into especially egregious doctrines like believing there is no law or that Christ died to sin so we can live in it, before we are given to see that our world is being destroyed by our own stubborn desire to destroy the Christ within us. That is exactly what Pharaoh’s determination to keep Israel in slavery represents.

Exo 1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
Exo 1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

The very threat of this plague of locusts makes Babylon, which spiritually is Egypt, begin to realize that “Egypt is [ being] destroyed” within us as we contend with, reprove and condemn our own Creator who seems intent on destroying our old man, Egypt within us. We have already seen that it is the lies, falsehoods and heresies we so willingly tolerate, that these locusts symbolize. It is these lies represented by these locusts which block out the light of the Sun of righteousness.

Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Ninth Plague

Exo 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Exo 10:22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
Exo 10:23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

It is the lies and heresies that constitute the smoke coming up from the abusos, or “bottomless pit” within us, which blots out the light of the sun and produces the locusts which devour and destroy the old man who is symbolized by Egypt and Egypt’s Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the symbol of that “man of sin, the son of perdition” who is still hanging on to the hope of “withholding” the destruction of our old man and the birth of our new man within.

2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [ withholds] will let [ withhold], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

The “love of the Truth” is contrasted with failing to “diligently listen to the word of the Lord thy God”. It is the sin in our members that desires to be accepted of this world and fit in with this world. But that ninth plague of darkness brings us to condemn our Creator more than ever before. The darkness of this plague is the same darkness of the fifth of the seven last plagues of Rev 16.

Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Pharaoh is the type of our proud, rebellious “old… first man Adam”. Pharaoh never repented, and he was destroyed, just like that generation whose carcases fell in the wilderness. Christ made it clear that the birth of our new man comes only through the death and destruction of our old man.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

And that is exactly what the tenth plague symbolizes within us:

Tenth Plague

Exo 11:4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Exo 11:5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
Exo 11:6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
Exo 11:7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians [ our old man] and Israel [ Christ in us].

The coming of this death angel, is the destruction of the man of sin of 2Th 2:8.

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

This death angel is also the “mighty earthquake… such as was not since men were upon the earth”, ushering in the judgment and destruction of the great harlot with all of her pride, her lies, her heretics and heresies within us all.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Remember, it is the hail that “shall sweep away the refuge of lies” that make up the very foundation of that great city, Babylon.

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

So Babylon, that great city where our Lord was crucified within us all, which is spiritually called Egypt seeks to destroy the people of God by keeping them in the bondage of darkness, which is given to God’s unsuspecting people by evil angels bringing evil spirits which must be tried and found wanting of the truth which is the Word of God.
Here is how King David sums up the Egypt and Babylon experience within us all:

Psa 78:42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
Psa 78:43 How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:
Psa 78:44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
Psa 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
Psa 78:46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.
Psa 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
Psa 78:48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
Psa 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
Psa 78:50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
Psa 78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

These words are not addressed to some bad man somewhere else. These words are addressed to you and to me. When we read that “He spared not their soul from death”, we are reading about what God is doing to the old man, the first man Adam within each of us. Christ said so:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat [ our old man within us all] fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Now let’s review what God has promised us if we obey Him:

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

If we “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord thy God… and keep His statutes, [ God] will put none of these diseases upon [ us]”. Those are the stipulations for staying spiritually healthy. We cannot serve God as we want and expect Him to just go along with our rebellion. Here is what happens when we do that:

Jer 14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence [ H1698 deber – diseases].

Of course, this is the same as saying:
“All things are [ ours]”, and we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. What we are told not to do is nothing less than a prophecy of what is in our flesh and what we will do, and what we are told to do is a prophecy of what is not in our flesh and a prophecy of what we will not at first do.
The first commandment mankind was ever given is a perfect example of how “the law of sin in [ our] members” works (Rom 7:21-23).

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

We all know just how “diligently” our original parents “listened to the voice of the Lord… God”. Contrary to the heretics and heresies of Babylon, God Himself had already placed a “law of sin” within the members of our original parents. It was the operation of this law within their members which assured that they would eat of the tree of which they were told not to eat. That law of sin is to this day sustained in us all, by the “one [ and only] lawgiver”.

Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

So none of us will just naturally “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord thy God and… do that which is right in His sight”. “No not one” will at first, just naturally “give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes”. Consequently all of these diseases will at first come upon us.
Here is one of those afflictions and diseases which in type and shadow come upon us when we refuse to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord [ our] God:

Jos 7:11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
Jos 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

That is the cure for the disease of “the law of sin in our members”, or as it is worded here in Joshua, “in the midst of thee”. “Sanctify the people… you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you”. That is what we must do if we are to maintain a healthy spiritual life individually as well as the corporate health of the “body of Christ” and the corporate family of God. How are we sanctified? Do “tolerance of the nonessential” words of God sanctify us? Absolutely not! That is the accused thing itself. Achin thought there were some things that simply were not essential in the words God had spoken to Israel, but this is the only way God’s people can be sanctified:

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: THY WORD is truth…
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

It is “through the foolishness of preaching” that we remind each other that the cure for “all of these diseases… the body of this death”, in which “the law of sin and death” has been granted free reign, is accomplished. It is only by “taking away the accused thing from among [ us]. We ‘destroy the accused thing’ by being “sanctified”, and we are “sanctified through the Truth”, and the Truth is “Thy Word”.
So let’s take the time to “Listen diligently to the voice of the Lord… and do that which is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all of His statutes”. That is the only thing which will sanctify us and “destroy the accursed thing from among [ us so we can] stand before our enemies” and “fight the good fight of faith”.

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Here now are just a few of the verses of scripture which are the “commandments, and… statutes” which are specifically designed to keep us spiritually healthy both individually and corporately. It is ignoring these verses of scripture which has given us the tens of thousands of harlot daughters of Babylon the great with which the world is plagued to this very day.

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

How can we know who is and who is not “an heretick”? Here is what we must do if we are to stay spiritually healthy. If we fail to do this, we will be “swallowed up by the earth” (Num 16:32-35), and descend into the darkness of spiritual death itself:

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

We “believe not every spirit, [ but] trying the spirits… because many false prophets have gone out into the world”, tells us that the false doctrines of these false prophets are the spirits which we are to try. And yet it is those who “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord” and who insist on trying “every spirit” and every doctrine to be certain that they are “abiding… in the doctrine of Christ” who are always condemned and accused of being divisive and of being unloving. But when we see what happened to Christ as to all his apostles who were “forsaken of all men” for simply remaining faithful to the word of God, it is clear that the lesson of the scriptures is that it is better to be divided by the Truth than to be united in a lie and in the false doctrines brought to us by the many false prophets who have gone out into the world to deceive.
But is it possible for us to know what is the spirit of Truth and the spirit of error on every doctrine? What is the answer from the scriptures? For those who who have been granted to be able to “try the spirits to see whether they are of God”, here is the answer to that question.

1Jn 4:4 Ye [ who “try the spirits to see whether they are of God”, vs 1] are of God, little children, and have overcome them [ false prophets who refuse to try the spirits of all the false prophets who have “gone out into the world”, vs 1] : because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They [ the heretics and false prophets] are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

There it is. That is how “know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error”. That is the only way we can remain spiritually healthy and have “none of these diseases upon [ us] which [ God]… brought upon the Egyptians”.

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

If we “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord [ our] God, and… do that which” we have been commanded in all these verses, then we will be “diligent” to “Keep [ this another of]… His statutes”:

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that [“diligently listens to the voice of the Lord” and] abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

If we fail to “try the spirits” and we allow false doctrines coming from our own brothers to come into our fellowship, then we are simply disobeying our Lord’s commandment to “try the spirits whether they are of God”. Here is how Christ Himself tells us we are to handle any and all such trespass against us:

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault [ including his false doctrine] between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

It is in keeping with this commandment from our Lord that the apostle Paul commands us:

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

It is so much easier to simply tolerate differences of opinion concerning doctrinal matters. Here is the the verse which would keep us from ever having heresies in our midst if we lived by this verse:

1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

That sounds fairly conclusive. It certainly seems to be saying that in matters which concern every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God we should “all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
But notice now how the adversary has managed to completely neutralize and nullify those life giving healthy and wholesome words of scripture. Here is what the Calvinist rebel Albert Barnes has written in his very popular commentary concerning this incredibly important and powerful verse of scripture:

“That ye all speak the same thing – “That ye hold the same doctrine” – Locke. This exhortation evidently refers to their holding and expressing the same religious sentiments, and is designed to rebuke that kind of contention and strife which is evinced where different opinions are held and expressed. To “speak the same thing” stands opposed to speaking different and conflicting things; or to controversy, and although perfect uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects, yet on the great and fundamental doctrines of Christianity, Christians may be agreed; on all points in which they differ they may evince a good spirit; and on all subjects they may express their sentiments in the language of the Bible, and thus “speak the same thing.”

There it is, ” uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects“.
That is the doctrine which has been accepted by the world and by many who were once a part of our fellowship. That is not exactly “diligently listening to the words of the Lord thy God”. That is much more akin the the accursed thing which will keep us from being able to stand up to the false doctrines of our enemies. That is the reasoning of a carnal mind which wants to serve God in its own way with absolutely no fear of twisting and ignoring a very plain commandment to “all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Mr. Barnes thinks nothing of reading those words and telling us that the holy spirit is simply not incapable of keeping us “all… perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” as concerns “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”.
Here is a verse which comes to mind at this point:

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe [ those words of God]? shall their unbelief make the faith [ and word] of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Mr. Barnes lies when he says “uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects”. The Truth is that when Christ lives in those people, they will have His mind. If Christ is in any man, Christ has but one mind, and that is the same mind which we too, must have:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man [ Albert Barnes included] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Albert Barnes and the entire ecumenical Christian movement will tell you that it is impossible to have the mind of Christ. You choose who the Lord leads you to believe.
We are doing nothing short of being slothful and even disobeying our Lord when we allow unrepentant brothers in our midst, spreading their heresies after having been twice admonished against those heresies which they have brought into our fellowship.

Pro 18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

What is the blood of Christ? What does that blood accomplish in our behalf?

1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

All the admonitions we have covered thus far are in the New Testament. If we apply these words “the plague shall not be upon [ us] to destroy [ us]”. If we do not abide by these words, along with Mr. Barnes, we will be destroyed as “the land of Egypt” within us.

Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

The only reason the plague is not upon us to destroy us is that we have already died to this world, and we no longer care what anyone thinks but God himself, and now we can “diligently listen to” this commandment from out Lord:

Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Contrary to what you may hear, Mike Vinson makes no unilateral decisions concerning who is and who is not a heretic in our midst. The words of our Lord, Lord willing, always have and always will be “diligently listened to” and will be followed, and it will be in the mouth of two or three witnesses that every word will be established, and such decisions will be made on after “a multitude of counselors have been consulted.
I will close by quoting the words of our beloved brother, Jim Ross in Australia, which he sent me just this past week:

“I try to remind myself that the closer that I get to our Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ puts me on a priority list for Satan to test my faith. He is not as interested in my loved ones as me or you or our family who seek the things that are above and the mind of Christ. I pray the Lord will direct your steps … for the protection of the flock”.

He then quoted this verse:

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Thank you, Jim, for your sober vigilance, and thank all of you for your sober vigilance in diligently listening to the voice of the Lord our God.


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