Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 63:7-14 In All Their Affliction He Was Afflicted
Isa 63:7-14 In All Their Affliction He Was Afflicted
[Study Aired August 2, 2020]
Isa 63:7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Isa 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Isa 63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Isa 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
Isa 63:12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Isa 63:13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
The first three verses of our study today remind us of this same message in the New Testament:
Isa 63:7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Isa 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
The Lord was afflicted with Israel’s afflictions, and this is what we are told about our Lord in the New Testament:
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Because our Lord divested Himself of the glory He had with His Father before the world was and took on “the seed of Abraham”, which is also the seed of Adam, He can identify with us and with all the struggles of being in a body of sinful flesh and blood, even though He never once caved in to the pulls of His own sinful flesh:
Php 2:5 Indeed have this way to think in you, that also was in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God something to seize and hold.
Php 2:7 But he emptied himself, having taken a form of a bondman, having become in a likeness of men.
Php 2:8 And having been found in a form like a man, he lowered himself, having become obedient until death, even of death from a cross.
Php 2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name,
Php 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the heavenly, and the earthly, and the sub-earthly,
Php 2:11 and that every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ACV)2Co 5:21 Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him. (Darby)
It is by the Lord’s design that He has high hopes for us even as He knows that of ourselves we can do nothing. So, we are told:
Isa 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Indeed, as humble children we first come to our Lord with little or no knowledge of the trials ahead. Like Queen Esther, we become the Lord’s wife before our trials begin to come upon us. What is also like Queen Esther is that we are the apple of the king’s eye, and our deliverance is sure and secure even as we struggle to believe He will hold out His scepter and spare our life.
Est 4:15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Est 4:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
We, too, come boldly before the throne of grace in a manner “which is not according to the law” of Moses.
Est 5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
Est 5:2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
Est 5:3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
Our high priest identifies with us in our struggles, and He actually suffers with us:
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
We are not just naturally capable of seeing past our circumstances, and at the time of being betrayed by our own brothers, our own family and our own friends… at the time of seeing the armies of Egypt on one side and the deep Red Sea on the other side… at the time of facing the fiery furnace and the lion’s den, our faith is put through fiery trials, and we will stumble and fall “seven times” before we overcome our fears and our weaknesses of every sort. “The way of the Tree of Life” is securely guarded by a cherub wielding a fiery sword. The only way to the Tree of Life is through the fiery sword which guards the way of the Tree of Life, and it takes patience to go through that fiery sword, which ‘fiery sword’ is “the things written therein” (Rev 1:3).
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Jas 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
However, we all like sheep first go astray and must all be the prodigal son before we come into His presence to stay and never again go astray:
Isa 63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
The prodigal son “rebelled and vexed his [Father’s] holy spirit” and “coming to himself” came only through being brought “to [his] wits’ end” through the seven golden vials of the Lord’s wrath being poured out upon that prodigal son, whom we all are at our own appointed time:
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
Stumbling and falling seven times requires “seven vials” which “fill up the wrath of God” against all our sins and failings:
Rev 15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Both the Old and New Testaments verify that the Lord will not forsake those He knows to be His:
Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Lord never really forgets His elect, though it appears to our flesh that He does, and with our Lord we cry out:
Psa 22:1 To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Withdrawing His presence from us for a “small moment” in which He pours out His wrath upon the kingdom and throne of our rebellious, carnal-minded old man is, in the end, the best thing that will ever happen to anyone in this age. Oh yes, it seems like an eternity while it is taking place, but the glory that will be revealed in us will make it all far more than worth-while:
Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
Isa 54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. [You “shall not be hurt of the second death”]
Our Lord was judged in this age. Consequently, He came up in “the resurrection to life”, and He was given a crown of life and a kingdom which was prepared for Himself and His few elect from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
In this age the scriptures are addressed only to those with whom the Lord is working to give His kingdom and His glory. These words are not addressed to “the goats on [His] left… hand”. Yes, we are all rebellious ‘goats’ before we surrender our heart, the Lord’s throne, to Himself. Nevertheless, before we will understand His doctrine, He must bring us to become as little children and as lambs who realize we were deceived into thinking we are the Lord’s sheep, when in reality we were being devoured by ravening wolves, and we didn’t even know it.
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
We must be brought to see that we need a shepherd to save us from all the ravening wolves just looking for the opportunity to destroy us and to rob us of our lives. It is few indeed in this age who are granted to see with spiritual eyes that the ‘light’ in them was really deep darkness, and it is few indeed in this age who will be given a “place for repentance… [in] this present time”:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
A “place for repentance” is a place which is written in our book before the world began. If that experience in not written in our book before the world began, then we will “[find] no place for repentance” in this present age… “this present time” (Rom 8:18):
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
The story of Joseph, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the prodigal son all serve to demonstrate that going into Egypt and being lost in sin must precede coming out of Egypt and coming out of Babylon for all of the Lord’s people, for all of His elect. That is where they all are before He drags them out “by a mighty hand”:
Deu 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Knowing that all this deception and suffering is an integral part of the Lord’s plan, for all whom He calls in “this present time”, brings us to our next verse in today’s study:
Isa 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
The Lord is again asking questions which He Himself then immediately answers:
Isa 63:12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Isa 63:13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
It was the Lord who “led them by the right hand of Moses with His [The Lord’s] glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name.”
Moses did not part the Red Sea and destroy the Egyptian army while simultaneously delivering His people. It was not Moses who caused the earth to open and swallow apostate Korah and company. Moses typifies what we are. Moses was just a tool in the Lord’s hand. It was the Lord who “led [Israel] through the deep”, through the Red Sea. “The spirit of the Lord caused [Israel] to rest” while they were all led by the Lord… No, they were dragged by the Lord deep down into the waters of the Red Sea. It is all being done by “the spirit of the Lord”, and it was all ordained “before the world began”.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
The passing of Israel through the Red Sea typifies our crucifixion with Christ who also entered into His rest upon the cross. Death is commonly called ‘sleep’ in scripture. When Christ told His disciples that Lazarus was ‘asleep’ this is what they naturally thought:
Joh 11:12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
We are to “reckon [ourselves] dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. That is what it means to be a beast being “led through the deep”:
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are all aware that our calling is to be the “living sacrifice… the scapegoat” to bear with Christ the sins of mankind.
Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.Lev 16:20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
Lev 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the [scape]goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22 And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
“The Lord’s lot fell… upon… the goat… which [was] for the Lord, and the other lot [was] for the scapegoat.” The sacrifice of “the Lord’s… goat” signifies the life and death by crucifixion of our Lord Himself, and the “living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1) which we are clearly told “shall [also] bear upon all the iniquities of “the camp of Israel” is the scapegoat. What these Old Testament types are very clearly telling us is that it takes both goats, both Christ and “His Christ”, to “bear… all their iniquities…”
We will now examine the scriptures which plainly teach that we are “a living sacrifice”; that we “are crucified with Christ” while we yet live, and that our afflictions, as the afflictions of Christ were, are also “for His body’s sake which is the church”. The scriptures all teach that this scapegoat is just as much a part of the “atonement” as “the Lord’s goat”. The scriptures teach that we, as this scapegoat, are the living sacrifice who must “fill up in our bodies that which is [yet] lacking in the afflictions of the Christ”, and we are even told that we are to do so “for His body’s sake which is the church”:
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Even while in Babylon we all heard and believed we were to “present our bodies a living sacrifice to God.” We believed that this was “our reasonable service”, considering the great sacrifice Christ has made for us. However, who among us thought, or were ever taught while in Babylon, that “many members in one body” (Rom 12:4) had anything at all to do with “filling up what was behind of the afflictions of Christ”?
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Who among us was ever taught while in Babylon that there was anything “behind of the afflictions of Christ”???
About 25 years ago in Melbourne, Florida, I asked an 80-year-old minister, with two others of the leading ministers of his denomination, one on either side of him, what Colossians 1:24 meant to him. I am to this very day amazed at his unhesitating, forthright answer. He looked me in the eye and said, “If you can explain that verse, you will be doing more than anyone in this room can do.” That was at the very end of an extended, very animated discussion about the function of grace in the work of God with mankind. That particular denomination believed, as do many other denominations of men, that Christ’s death upon the cross was in and of itself sufficient to finish the work of God with mankind. That denomination taught that Christ’s sacrifice paid the price for our sins and for the sins of all men, past, present and future, and that His grace covers our sins once and for all. That doctrine is known as “the doctrine of substitutionary atonement”, and it will, in the end, be recognized as one of the most damnable doctrines ever concocted from the depths of the “abussos” of the carnal minds of mankind.
There are many and varied applications of this damnable doctrine. Most denominations apply it only to the few who they say will be saved, but not just by ‘the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ’. In the most basic way they boldly teach that their salvation comes by choosing of their own free will to accept Christ’s so-called substitutionary sacrifice for their sins. The doctrine which teaches that God gave mankind a will which is free of Him and His will for each of us is another damnable false doctrine, which is widely believed and accepted by most denominations of men. But I digress.
Getting back to the false doctrine of ‘the substitutionary death and atonement of Christ’, that damnable doctrine teaches that there is nothing at all which is “behind of the afflictions of Christ”, and without actually saying so, it is implied that you really don’t need to “present your body a living sacrifice unto God” at all. After all, so they reason, Christ did all that messy stuff for you so you do not need to die at all. I quote, “He died in your stead so that you do not need to die.” This insidious doctrine subtly denies any need to “suffer with Christ…[be] crucified with [Christ or] die daily” with Christ.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Yes, indeed, Paul taught that, “Christ… gave Himself for me.” For what reason and to what end did Christ ‘give Himself for us’? Did Christ give Himself for us so we would not have to die? Did His death substitute for our death? Absolutely not! Christ died for us so we also can “die daily [and be] crucified… daily… with Christ”. That is not the doctrine of “the substitutionary death of Christ”!
Two major Truths are completely hidden from all the churches of Babylon. One is the function of grace, which chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live Godly lives in this age:
Tit 2:11 For the saving grace of God has appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 disciplining us, so that, having denied irreverence and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and piously in the present age. (ACV)Tit 2:11 For the favour of God, bringing salvation for all men, hath shone forth,
Tit 2:12 Putting us under discipline—in order that,—denying ourselves of ungodliness and worldly covetings, in a soberminded and righteous and godly manner, we should live, in the present age,
The King James reads:
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
The Greek word translated “teaching” in verse 12 is ‘paideuo’, and this is how this word is variously translated in the New Testament:
G3811
παιδεύω
paideuō
Total KJV Occurrences: 13
chastened, 3
1Co_11:32, 2Co_6:9, Heb_12:10chasteneth, 2
Heb_12:6-7 (2)chastise, 2
Luk_23:16, Luk_23:22chasten, 1
Rev_3:19instructing, 1
2Ti_2:25learn, 1
1Ti_1:20learned, 1
Act_7:22taught, 1
Act_22:3teaching, 1
Tit_2:12
Of the 13 times this word appears in the New Testament, it is translated into some form of the English word ‘chasten’ eight times. Chastening is the very function of grace. Anything less turns the grace of God into lasciviousness.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing the true function of grace and not just the definition, which is ‘favor’, should give us a much better understanding of what Paul meant when he told us:
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace [God’s chastening hand] did much more abound:
If the Lord loves us, He will chasten us. It so happens that the Greek word translated as ‘chasteneth’ in…
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
… is the Greek word ‘paideuo’, and it is “by [God’s chastening] grace through faith [we] are saved, and that not of our [own free will], it is the gift of God”:
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
The proper understanding of the function of grace is the exact opposite of the insidious, false doctrine of a “substitutionary atonement”.
Accepting Christ’s ‘substitutionary’ death through our own free will is nothing less than self-righteousness and the enshrinement and worship of our own will over God’s will for us. Nevertheless, lies are lies, and Truth is Truth, and Truth is totally unaffected by lies. The Truth remains the Truth whether anyone believes it or not.
You and I, if Christ is living His life within us, are Christ’s Christ. It matters not who believes that to be true. We are indeed Christ’s scapegoat who will be rejected of all men, just as He was because:
Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Exactly what did our heavenly Father send Christ to do and to accomplish?
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
That is what “even so send I you” means. Those words right out of the mouth of our Lord Himself prove that we are indeed the scapegoat who is as much a part of the atonement for the sins of the people as is the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell. One last confirming verse for this doctrine that we “fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church” is:
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Christ was sent by His Father to save the world. We are sent by Christ to save the world by “presenting [our] bodies a living sacrifice… for His body’s sake, which is the church, [by] filling up in our bodies the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church, by bearing the sins of the world along with our head, Christ.
Lev 16:22 And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
The only “land not inhabited” is the grave, the land of death, where we with our Lord give our lives “for His body’s sake, which is the church”.
The second major Truth which is not understood by the churches of Babylon is the function of judgment. Once again, the Lord has used the definition of this word ‘judgment’ to blind our eyes from the function of that word in our lives.
‘Judgment’ is not simply the statement or pronouncement of guilt or innocence. Rather, as with the word ‘grace’, ‘judgment’ is also a process we must endure if we are to enter into “the house of God… His temple, which we are”:
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man [including our own old man] defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house [the temple] of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
Why must the seven plagues of the wrath of God be fulfilled before any man can enter into the Lord’s temple? The answer to that question is what reveals the function of judgment:
Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
“When [the Lord’s] judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”, and that is the function of judgment. Judgment is not merely the pronouncement of guilt or innocence. Judgment is the process of “learning righteousness”. Hence all judgment is a work of chastening (Greek: ‘paideuo’) grace, with the view of ‘learning righteousness”:
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
All judgment, both the judgment which is now on the house of the Lord as well as the judgment of the great white throne judgment, all of the Lord’s judgments are the Lord’s chastening hand to teach mankind righteousness.
It is with the loving chastening hand of the Lord that we are all led “through the deep… baptized into His death… led [dragged] by a fit man unto a land not inhabited… the valley of the shadow of death”:
Lev 16:22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth [drags] me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy [chastening] rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy [bringing me to my wits’ end (Psa 107: 27)] shall follow me all the days of my life: and [after being judged] I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Yes, we must die, or more accurately stated, we must “reckon ourselves as dead [and we must be] dying daily” before we will even begin to be judged in “this present time”:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Being with us as He leads our beast through the judgment of the valley of the death of our old man is the very meaning of our concluding verses of this study:
Isa 63:13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead [drag, Joh 6:44] thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: ‘hekuo’, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
G1670
ἑλκύω, ἕλκω
helkuō helkō
hel-koo’-o, hel’-ko
Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): – draw. Compare G1667.
Total KJV occurrences: 8
That is our study for today. In our next study we will learn just how involved the Lord’s chastening rod and staff are in our walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Here are the verses for our next study:
Isa 63:15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
Isa 63:16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Isa 63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Isa 63:19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.
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