Exo 23:20-33 By Little and Little I will Drive them out from Before Thee

[Study Aired September 19, 2022]

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 
Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 
Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 
Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

This section of Exodus chapter 23 deals with the Lord’s provision to make us His people overcomers of the flesh. The Lord’s resources available to us to become overcomers are spelled out clearly in His words as follows:

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The whole essence of our walk with Christ is that we end up being presented blameless before God. This takes a whole lifetime. Sometimes, when we focus on ourselves, we see how frail we are and our inability to live according to the standards of the Lord. The effect of this is that we become discouraged. We are therefore admonished to focus on the goal and not on the hiccups in-between. Our Lord also went through what we are going through and has become the best example of one who persevered in spite of all the odds against Him to win the prize.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

We are therefore admonished to encourage ourselves in the Lord, just like David did when his whole world had been turned upside down.

1Sa 30:6  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

Are you in distress, sickness, burdened with sin or facing any obstacle that you think is insurmountable? Then do as David did – encourage yourself in the Lord. To encourage ourselves in the Lord means that we do not know how things will end, but we are confident of this, that what He starts, He is able to bring to completion.

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.

Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart and know that the Lord is here to let you know that He cares and has provided all you need to make it to the finish line!! May His name be praised!! Let’s now explore His available provision to make us His overcomers as we go through His words as follows:

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 

The Angel here is our Lord Jesus Christ who led the people of Israel to the promised Land.

Amo 2:10  Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 
Amo 2:11  And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. 

Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 
Deu 1:31  And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

We know that Jesus Christ is the word of God. It is His words which keep us in the way and are able to bring us to the place He has prepared as stated in verse 20.

Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

This verse is another way of saying the following:

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

In the Bible, there are several examples of those who provoked or refused to obey our Lord’s voice and therefore, suffered the consequences of their actions. These are all written for our admonition upon whom “the ends of the world are come”.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
2Pe 2:4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2Pe 2:5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 
2Pe 2:6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

This verse assures us that our protection lies in being obedient to the Lord. Our disobedience breaks the hedge the Lord has put around us giving way for the devil (serpent) to have us as a meal (bite us). We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Ecc 10:8  He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Isa 1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

As we have indicated, the angel that shall go before the Israelites is Christ our Lord, who is the word. The Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites and the Canaanites represent the flesh or the beast within. It is the fire of His words which destroys or cuts off the enemy of our land which is our bodies. The fire of the word is the tribulation and the persecution which arises because of the word we have received, and it is these that destroy the flesh or the old man.

Mat 13:21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

The gods that are being referred to are the gods of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and the Canaanites which represent the flesh. The gods of the flesh represent the deeds of the flesh to which we bow down. They are summed up as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We are admonished to overcome these deeds of the flesh.

1Jn 2:15  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

This verse is to show us that the Lord is not only interested in us serving Him. He is also interested in every aspect of our lives to ensure that we have all that it takes in this life to serve Him faithfully. Physically, the Lord will take care of what we eat and drink as we serve Him. There will always be bread on the table as we serve the Lord in truth and in spirit. This is all to ensure that we do not behave like people of the world whose focus in this life is what to eat and drink and being clothed.

Mat 6:25  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 
Mat 6:26  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 
Mat 6:27  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 
Mat 6:28  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
Mat 6:29  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Mat 6:31  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 
Mat 6:32  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 
Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 
Mat 6:34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Spiritually, what this verse is saying is that as we serve the Lord in truth and in spirit, He will enlighten our understanding regarding His word which is represented by bread and water.

Isa 1:19  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
Isa 1:20  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Eating the good of the land is being given the privilege to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Another privilege we have been given by the Lord as we serve Him, as seen in verse 25, is that He will take sickness away from our midst. Spiritually, sickness refers to sin as shown in the following verses:

Isa 1:4  Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.
Isa 1:5  Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 

Jer 6:7  As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Jer 6:8  Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.”

So, the Lord taking away our sickness means He will cause us to have victory over sin. Physically, the Lord takes away our sickness by healing us from our diseases.

Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

The Lord’s elect will not cast their young. This means that the birth of the new man after the image of Christ within us shall not be aborted. That is to say that the Lord will complete what He starts within us.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Being barren means being unfruitful. Again, the Lord assures us that we shall be fruitful, although in this life it may seem that we are being unfruitful, in the fullness of time, we shall not be barren.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

In verse 26, we are also told that the Lord will fulfill the number of our days. This means that what has been written in His book concerning us shall be fulfilled. Again, we are being encouraged by the Lord that what He starts, He will finish!!

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 

The birth of the new man within us makes the old man within us afraid knowing that a time will come when he will be overcome completely. This is demonstrated clearly by the story of David (represents the new man) when he spared the life of Saul (representing the old man) when he saw Saul in a cave sleeping. Saul’s admission that David will surely be king is to let us know that the new man will surely usurp the old man.

1Sa 24:16  And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 
1Sa 24:17  And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 
1Sa 24:18  And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 
1Sa 24:19  For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 
1Sa 24:20  And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 
1Sa 24:21  Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 
1Sa 24:22  And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Our victory over the flesh is not a one-time victory. It is a process that takes a lifetime. Here in verse 29, we are being given a reason why our defeat of the old man or the flesh is a process that takes time. This verse is another way of saying the following:

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

In verse 30, we are told that the Lord wants us to increase as He drives out the old man. That is the only way that the beasts of the field will not multiply within us. The increase here refers to the growth of the new man who is after the image of Christ. As the old man continues to die, the new man also continues to grow within us.

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.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

Another reason why the death of our old man is a process is given in the Book of Judges as follows:

Jdg 3:1  Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 
Jdg 3:2  Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
Jdg 3:3  Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.

Here in the Book of Judges, we are told that the reason that the Lord did not drive away all the enemies in the land was to teach the children of Israel how to war. In God’s wisdom, He leaves some of the nations in our land to train us how to war against the flesh. This war against the flesh is about how to overcome our carnal nature.  In the early stages of our walk with Christ when we are carnal, we are easily overcome by the flesh, and God uses this to teach us that this war against the flesh is not our fight but His. He teaches us to war by causing us to fail so that we can learn to depend on Him to overcome on our behalf. This happens only after we have gone through several cycles of defeat so that we come to acknowledge that we are the worst of sinners and that He alone can defeat the enemies on our behalf. When we have learned this lesson of knowing that we are the worst sinners and that we cannot help ourselves, except the Lord does it for us, then we have learned how to war.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Psa 18:31  For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
Psa 18:32  It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 
Psa 18:33  He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 
Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Verse 34 says, “He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.” We all know that a bow of steel cannot be broken by our arms. That is to show us that this war against the flesh is like breaking a bow of steel.  Only God can accomplish it for us so that no flesh can glory in His presence!! That is why the righteous must fall seven times to know that the battle is the Lord’s and that is what this cycle of defeat by Israel is all about. Falling seven times means a complete domination by the flesh.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

This verse tells us the thoroughness of the Lord’s work within us. Nothing of the enemy must remain within our members.

Rom 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 
Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Any sin that is not dealt with can disqualify us from the reward. That is why we are admonished to purge out the old leaven of sin from our members.

1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 
1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

These verses continue to admonish us to get rid of all that belongs to the flesh within us. If we fail to do that, we shall end up being dominated by the flesh as we serve the god of this world. As we have indicated, this is not the work of man. We have to depend on the Lord entirely to do this work for us. If we allow our old man to dominate us, we will be ensnared to serve another Jesus.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

May the Lord continue to do His work in us as we die daily to the old man!! Amen!!

Fear Not!

We have been called to preach the good news of the kingdom of God, even as we live at a time when there are stories on the news every day about how precarious the entire world economic system is. The national debt of almost 17 trillion dollars [as of this writing] overshadows like a very dark cloud everything that is taking place throughout the entire world. An impending economic collapse seems unavoidable, accompanied by the present economic tensions between east and west. We seem to be on the brink of a nuclear war with North Korea, and at the same time we are threatening to go to war with Iran.

It appears at this time that China is the manufacturing base for every country in the world, and there are many people who resent the fact that so many manufacturing jobs have been shipped to China.

The completely incompatible doctrines of the Islamic religion and the Christian religion and the Jewish religion have added acts of terror to this already strained mix. Add to all this the fact that things are now more polarized than ever within all the western so-called Christian nations over social issues like race, the homosexual lifestyle, guns, abortion and even global warming.

In the news almost daily there are stories of school shootings, drunken drivers killing groups of school children, bombings in various cities and, as I write these notes, another horrific accident at a plant in Texas killing and injuring scores of people.

In the midst of all of this, God has called out a few whom He has told to preach the good news of the kingdom of God, “Fear not” and just stay above the fray, and simply love God and keep His commandments.

Here is what we are told of our calling:

2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

We are even told that we are just “strangers and pilgrims” on this earth and that our citizenship is in the heavens.

Php 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (ASV)

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

So, all we have to do to be saved is to love God and keep His commandments, and not allow ourselves to become entangled with the affairs of this life, and we are told that His commandments are not grievous. Yet we are also told that, if indeed we have Christ living His life within us and we are granted to obey God, then we are promised “Ye shall be hated of all men, [and if we] endure to the end, [then we] shall be saved”. If Christ is truly within us, we are told He did not come to send peace but a sword, and we are told that Christ came to turn father against son, daughter against mother, etc.

Mat 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Being “put to death” and “losing our life” are both daily spiritual experiences as well as literal experiences for some, as it accords with our Lord’s plan. Nevertheless our carnal old man just naturally asks, “Who, in his right mind wants any part of that?” What is ‘not grievous’ about any of that?

If indeed “his commandments are not grievous”, what, pray tell, is ‘not grievous’ about what we are told keeping His commandments produces?
For example:

Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Here is Luke’s account of this same statement:

Luk 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, rejoice and leap for joy, when we are being persecuted, reviled and people are speaking all manner of evil against us just for obeying God and keeping His commandments? Is it even possible to rejoice and be exceeding glad and leap for joy in that day? Is it possible to “fear not” while being hated by our own household and all men?

Purpose For This Study

In today’s study I want to convince you that, if we are Christ’s elect, we really do not have anything to fear even as we are watching society melt down into polarized groups who want to kill each other and us. I want to assure you that even as the whole world hates us because we refuse to take sides in any of “the affairs of this world”, and even as our friends and families hate us and turn against us, we really do not have anything to fear. I hope to convince you that all these things really are, as Christ affirms, signs that you and I are on the right track and that we must be doing something right, and we really should, under these circumstances, rejoice and leap for joy because our redemption really is near.

To begin with, I want to give you just a few very familiar verses of scripture which establish beyond any doubt that God is actually the one Who is working everything that takes place, according to His own plan and purpose. I want us all to consider the significance of this great truth, which by the way, if you really do believe that and teach it and refuse to deny your Lord in doing so, will itself cause you to be “hated of all men”. Then, after we consider the significance of that great truth, I want you to ask yourself, “Why would God reveal this to you and to me” and then tell us “Fear not… rejoice and be exceeding glad…”?

In answering that question I want to share with you the incredible lessons which are to be found in two stories in the scriptures. They are the story of Christ healing a man who was born blind, and the hatred that man encountered simply because he was healed of his blindness and began to see that the established religion was woefully ignorant of who the true God is. After that we will consider one of the Old Testament types of God’s very elect, as it is revealed to us in the harrowing story of the “three Hebrew children” and how their faith in the words of their God served them very well even in very trying circumstances.

What I hope to impress upon us all is that God is revealing to us just how rare the person is who has been granted to hear all of this and say, “Yes, that sounds like a real good deal to me. I will gladly endure being turned upon by my own household and hated of all men, and have the whole world hating me, and telling lies about me. I can do that! After all the suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us in the next life. So please, just show me where I can get signed up for all of this!”

This is the person who will be ruling and reigning with Christ in His kingdom. There will not be one single lukewarm person in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”. There will not be one person who is willing to compromise on the doctrines of Christ, to get along with the rulers of the synagogues of this world, in that particular resurrection. Instead it will be this person who will “dwell [comfortably] in the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings”. Many are called to do so, but few are chosen to do so and to “endure to the end”.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? [The answer is obvious… it is the person who is already doing so.]
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; [Now that is a “fiery trial” (1Pe 4:12)].

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Let’s look at these verses of scripture which inform us that the Lord Himself really and truly is working all things that take place in this world, and which therefore proves beyond any doubt that we really and truly do have nothing in this world to fear:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

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.

Dan 4:16 Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So, we are told in a very straightforward way that God gives us eyes that cannot see; that nothing which occurs happens because of our will, but it is all the work of God. The Lord has done all the evil in the city, and the Lord creates evil, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. Yet, in the face of all of this, we are at the same time told:

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Later in this same gospel we are told why all of this is needed and why we are told “fear not”. Notice carefully what we are told:

Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luk 21:26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

“Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” means that just as you and I are brought to fear God, so will our enemies be brought to fear God when the whole world witnesses the first resurrection:

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

We can so easily overlook the connection being made here between the heavenly signs and the distress of nations; also men’s hearts failing for fear of those things which are coming on the earth. The word translated ‘for’ in verse 26 is the Greek word ‘gar‘, and it is most commonly translated as ‘because’.

Here are two verses where it is translated as ‘because’:

Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because [Greek: G1063 gar] their deeds were evil.

Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because [Greek: G1063 gar] ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

Christ’s sheep believe Him. Those who do not believe Him, do so because they are not of His sheep. Keep that in mind as we are shown who does and who does not believe Christ.

Here is how Strong’s defines this Greek word:

G1063 gamma; alpha; rho;
gar

A primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles): – and, as, because (that), but, even, for indeed, no doubt, seeing, then, therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

This word means “properly assigning a reason”. So the reason assigned for “distress of nations… upon the earth… with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; The reason assigned for “the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear…” is that there are “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars [and] the powers of heaven [are being] shaken“. The message our Lord is giving us here is only understood when we hear it in “the demonstration of the spirit and power” (1Co 2:4). It can be heard in that way only by those who are given ears that hear and eyes that see; and those are very few indeed. It is not many, it is few:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

How in the world do we ‘demonstrate the spirit’ in our speech? Christ made it abundantly clear that His words all had a spiritual meaning behind them, which were never intended to be understood by the multitudes:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given..

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

All of this being true, it is obvious that only when we are given to know that “the temple of God” is located in “the [spiritual] heavens” and that the throne of God is located in His spiritual temple, then we will understand what Christ is telling us in Matthew 24 and in Luke 21. Only when we are granted to understand that “[we] are the temple of God” can we understand that God’s throne is actually in the realm of the spirit, ruling over us within and through our hearts and minds. Only when we are given to understand that inwardly “the earth”, where all this “distress of nations” is taking place, is actually our earthen vessels of clay, our physical bodies, will we understand that what we are being told by our Lord is our own day of judgment commences only after our ‘earth’, our lives in these physical bodies, begins to experience a time of great conflict and great distress, coupled with the heavens of our hearts and minds themselves being shaken to their very foundations. When we understand all of this, then it makes perfect sense for our Lord to conclude:

Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my [spiritual] words shall not pass away.

Here is the spiritual meaning of the ‘earth’ where all of this “distress of nations” is taking place:

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

The “earth” here is God’s people.

Jer 22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

When our heavens are shaken, we begin to discover that everything we ever thought to be true has actually been a lie. That is the very definition of “war in the heavens”. When that war begins to take place, then those lies, all the false doctrines of the dragon and his ‘stars’ by whom we have been taught all those lies, will begin to fall like dominoes from the heavens. Notice how the scriptures connect the lies of these false prophets with the foreboding heavenly signs:

Mar 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Mar 13:23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

What are these “signs and wonders” which would seduce the very elect if it were possible? Let’s let those who are seduced by those signs and wonders answer that question:

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

There it is. Those are the “signs and wonders” which would deceive the very elect if possible.

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

These signs and wonders are powerful sermons, casting out of devils in Christ’s name and doing many wonderful works”, yet refusing to be faithful to Christ’s doctrine. Just look at the next few verses here in Matthew 7.

Here is what caused Christ to reject those who were not the very elect and who were instead seduced by prophesying in Christ’s name, casting out devils and doing many wonderful works, thinking that is more important than being faithful to His doctrine. Here is how is possible for those who are not faithful to Christ’s doctrines to be seduced:

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Getting back to Mark 7, we continue to see this same point being made by our Lord:

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Christ is connecting those who have falsely prophesied in His name with the days when the sun is darkened:

Mar 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
Mar 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
Mar 13:26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

“Those days” of verse 24 are the days when false Christs and false prophets arise to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. That is when the stars fall from the heavens and the powers in the heavens are shaken as this spiritual war is taking place within our hearts and minds.

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds)

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Let’s look at what God tells us is the Truth about this warfare, and where it takes place.

We are told God “dwells in the heavens”:

Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

God sits on His throne in His temple, which is in the heavens:

Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Now for the part of God’s word which the natural mind cannot even comprehend. Here is where that “temple of God…in the heavens” really is:

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 defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Now we can better understand this statement made by our Lord:

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

What Christ is telling us in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 is that only after we have experienced a time of great trial, and only after all the spirits in our heavens, which are all the doctrines which we have never before taken the time to try against the Word of God, have been tried and found wanting, then, and not until that time, will we begin to experience the great distress of nations in our earth, which is the judgment of our old man.

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.

Only after we experience the shaking of our heavens, do we begin to “see” [the Truth], which is “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great glory”. Seeing Christ “in a cloud”, as we have seen so clearly in our studies in Job 37 and 38, is seeing him within and through His elect.

This is what we experience when we do begin to try the spirits of the doctrines of Babylon which we have taken for granted all of our lives.

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

As long as we think we know the truth, when in reality we haven’t even bothered to “try the spirits or to check out what we have been taught by all “the stars of heaven” against the Word of God, we will remain as blind as a bat, not even able to understand what is meant by “the powers of heaven shall be shaken”.

Let’s read it again:

Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luk 21:26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Here is this same pivotal experience as it is described to us in Matthew’s gospel:

Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Peter said that all of this happened to him and those with him during the events surrounding the day of pentecost:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

“The sun… shall… be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light” is telling us that we must come to understand how blind and deceived we have been all our lives up until this time. Then, and only then, does the “great and terrible day of the Lord arrive in our life and our judgment begin.

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 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

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 Healing of the Man Who was Born Blind

Here is a story which demonstrates just how blind we all are by birth, and how the sun is turned into darkness, the stars fall, and the powers of heaven are shaken within all who will come to know and worship the Son of God:

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Our Lord Himself is telling us that the story of this blind man’s experience makes manifest to us “the works of God”. When we put His words here together with His words to the Adversary, then we know that the story of this blind man’s experience makes manifest the works of God in our own lives:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man [Greek: anthropos, mankind] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

So in the story of this event we have a condensed version of how ‘there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth’. Here is a condensed version of how ‘the powers of heaven are shaken’ and how this man saw the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.’

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Joh 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Joh 9:7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
Joh 9:8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
Joh 9:9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
Joh 9:10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
Joh 9:11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
Joh 9:12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
Joh 9:13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
Joh 9:14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
Joh 9:15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
Joh 9:16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
Joh 9:17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
Joh 9:18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
Joh 9:19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
Joh 9:20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
Joh 9:21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
Joh 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews [the established religious leaders of that day]: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
Joh 9:23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
Joh 9:24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
Joh 9:25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
Joh 9:26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
Joh 9:27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
Joh 9:28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
Joh 9:29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
Joh 9:30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
Joh 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
Joh 9:32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
Joh 9:33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
Joh 9:34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins [Psa 51:5] and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Joh 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
Joh 9:36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Joh 9:37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Joh 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

This man, who was born blind, typifies the spiritual blindness into which we are all born. The Pharisees in this story typify the self-righteous leaders of today’s Christian synagogues, who prefer the doctrines of men, and refuse to accept Christ’s words as the final word from God. The clay formed from “the ground” and the spit from the mouth of our Lord typifies the words coming from His mouth, but placed into the clay vessels of those who will later take His word to others who are all born spiritually blind.

Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places [Greek: in the heavens] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

The great honor and respect which, to this very day, is given by today’s religious leaders to the teachings of men like Augustine, Martin Luther and Calvin, above the doctrines of Christ, witnesses against all these daughters of the great harlot, who sit on the peoples of this world; and just like this blind man’s parents, we all first fear the leaders of today’s synagogues more than we fear God.

Joh 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews [the established religious leaders]: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
Joh 9:23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

Augustine was very instrumental in making the blasphemous doctrine of eternal hell fire the doctrine of Catholicism, and that blasphemous doctrine has been retained by Luther and Calvin, both of whom also spat upon Christ’s doctrine of loving our enemies and refusing to resist the evil in this life.

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Those are literally fighting words to most so-called Christian ministers, who encourage those in their charge to go to war for God and country. One such minister is well known for saying on international television, “It may be legal to burn the American flag, but if you do it next to me, I will whip you if I can.” How much respect does this man have for our Lord who tells you and me to ‘resist not evil… turn to him the other cheek’? This minister’s doctrine tells anyone who knows the voice of the true shepherd who the spiritual father of this minister is and of all those ministers who agree with this man and refuse to teach the doctrines of our Lord. They indeed do “many wonderful works” in Christ’s name, but they will still hear these words, “I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity.”

Augustine’s words concerning eternal torment mean more to the leaders of Christendom than do these words of God:

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

What orthodox Christian minister today believes that the fire of scripture is an agency of salvation?

Luther and Calvin despised these words of Christ:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luther is quoted as saying:

“To kill a peasant is not murder; it is helping to extinguish the conflagration. Let there be no half measures! Crush them! Cut their throats! Transfix them. Leave no stone unturned! To kill a peasant is to destroy a mad dog! If they say that I am very hard and merciless, mercy be damned. Let whoever can stab, strangle, and kill them like mad dogs.” (Erlangen Vol 24, Pg. 29).

It was Calvin who was party to having Michael Servetus burned alive at the stake for denying the false doctrine of the trinity. Here is a quote which to this very day attempts to justify Calvin’s part in this murderous act:

In his essay, John Calvin and Reformed Europe, J. I. Packer wrote:

The anti-Trinitarian campaigner Servetus was burned at Geneva in 1553, and this is often seen as a blot on Calvin’s reputation. But weigh these facts:
1. The belief that denial of the Trinity and/or Incarnation should be viewed as a capital crime in a Christian state was part of Calvin’s and Geneva’s medieval inheritance; Calvin did not invent it.
2. Anti-Trinitarian heretics were burned in other places beside Geneva in Calvin’s time, and indeed later — two in England, for instance, as late as 1612.
3. The Roman Inquisition had already set a price on Servetus’ head.
4. The decision to burn Servetus as a heretic was taken not only by Calvin personally but by Geneva’s Little Council of twenty-five, acting on unanimous advice from the pastors of several neighboring Reformed churches whom they had consulted.
5. Calvin, whose role in Servetus’ trial had been that of expert witness managing the prosecution, wanted Servetus not to die but to recant, and spent hours with him during and after the trial seeking to change his views.
6. When Servetus was sentenced to be burned alive, Calvin asked for beheading as a less painful alternative, but his request was denied.

Yes, indeed, let us “Weigh these facts” and let us “try the[se] spirits to see whether they are of God”.

So since “the denial of the trinity was a capital crime in a Christian state” that is accepted by Dr. J. I. Packer (who, according to Wikipedia “is considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America”) as reason enough to deny our Lord and accept Calvin’s doctrines over the doctrines of Christ. That is reason enough to consider Calvin to be a great spiritual leader of historical Christianity, as he is to this very day regarded by millions in the Protestant world. The fact that the Roman Catholics had already “set a price on Servetus’ head” is used by this ‘Christian’ writer to justify Calvin’s part in the murder of Michael Servetus. It is this very same spirit which was in the ministers of the Pentecostal churches which I attended as a young man. When I was being drafted, I was counseled by three different ministers that the church leadership of the Pentecostal church, the Pentecostal Church of God, and the Assemblies of God, would “support me either way” – meaning they would support me as a conscientious objector or as a “Christian soldier”. What a spineless denial of our Lord and His doctrines!

The truth is that there is not one single “historical Christian” leader of any orthodox Christian church who does not hold to these false doctrines of men like Augustine, Luther and Calvin over the words of our Lord to this very day. If indeed anyone does so, then he is neither an “historical Christian” nor an orthodox Christian. As A. E. Knoch, one of the founders of the Concordant Publishing Concern, and the main contributor to the publication of the Concordant Version of the Bible, said, “Loving your enemies is at best extremely impractical, and at worst disastrous in today’s world.” That is how little regard he, and all of orthodox Christians, have for our Lord’s commandment to “Love your enemies”. It is completely understandable from a natural point of view, but the mind of the spirit of Christ, is not the natural point of view.

Here, for what it is worth, is Christ’s point of view on this subject. It is 180 degrees the opposite of the doctrine of orthodox Christianity:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Indeed, it is impossible for any man to obey the words of our Lord of himself. However, if our Lord is living within us, we can be “as His is in this world”:

1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
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.

Since we are as He is in this world, if He is living within us, we can love our enemies. In fact, if Christ is within us, we can do and abide by all of his commandments to the extent that sin will no longer dominates our lives.

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

When we are “made to err” from God’s ways, His grace will chasten us to return to a godly life (Tit 2:11-12; Heb 12:6).

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

“The Three Hebrew Children”

Now let’s look at the story of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. This is an Old Testament type of the faith of Christ within you and me. These events are nothing more than Old Testament shadows of Christ facing the shame and death of the cross, and of you and me facing the pressures of every day life, dying daily with Him. I am assuming that we are all familiar with the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image which he erected to his own glory and how he commanded everyone to bow down before and worship his god or else be cast into a burning fiery furnace. God’s elect are daily facing this same situation. Will we bend and compromise to fit into this world and avoid persecution by denying our Lord, or will we “lose our life” in order to find it? This is a story of the spiritually refined gold, tried in the fire to which our Lord refers here in Revelation 3:

Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Here is what happened when these three men were brought before Nebuchadnezzar and given the chance to save their own lives. This is the story of the lives of all of God’s elect who will neither bow down to nor compromise with the pressures of this world and deny their Lord:

Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Dan 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

This is where we are today when we remain faithful to Christ and His doctrine in the midst of a polarized world which demands that we take part and take sides in the affairs of this age. Nebuchadnezzar is a religious leader who is demanding the worship of his citizens. What we do under such pressure shows us who truly dwells within us.

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Dan 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
Dan 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Dan 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
Dan 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. As such he typifies the priests and Pharisees who wanted Christ’s life for His iconic ways and His rejection of the weekly sabbath and for claiming to be the son of God.

Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

These men are the type of God’s true people. They are ‘three’ to signify the process of the trying of their faith. Our faith to this very day is being tried by the very same spirit which challenged the faith of these three men and the faith of our Lord. The trip through that fiery furnace is the Old Testament type of Christ going to His cross and dying for our sins. It is also the Old Testament type of Christ’s death within us on a daily basis.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
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 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

This is not just an historic event. Yes, it did literally happen, but it is also a prophecy of what we must endure if we are indeed “partakers of His sufferings” and of His glory. We are to consider ourselves as being dead to this world and its powers and alive unto Christ:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
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 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.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

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.

This story is not written as a history lesson, as most people receive it. This story is written for you and me to know what it means to “lose our life [in order to] find it”.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Conclusion

As the parents of the man who was born blind, we all first fear men above our fear of God. That man’s blind physical condition at birth was just the type of the spiritual condition of all men at birth. Then, when Christ comes to us and heals us of our naturally blind condition, He also strengthens us to fear God more than men, and we find that we will be cast out of their synagogues and have our heavens shaken until we come to know the true Christ and His voice.

It is obvious that those who will be in the first resurrection and given rule of this world during the thousand years and then judge angels in the lake of fire, will be those whose greatest fear is “the fear of the Lord”. That is who we are to fear:

Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Israel was afraid of the Egyptians, and Moses realized that he was nothing of himself, but he, too, feared God more than he feared the Pharaoh. Israel by the Red Sea is us in type while we are “carnal… babes in Christ” being led by those who are far more mature, yet even then we are learning not to fear men above the fear of God.

Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego were waiting to see what the Lord would do, and while they no doubt were afraid of the fiery furnace, they feared God even more, and God honored their faith in His ability to deliver them out of the fiery trials which God, through evil men, sends to try us for our own good. So we are instructed again:

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Our Lord Himself feared the death of the cross to the point of “strong crying and tears”.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect [“through death”], he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

He was granted to fear His Father more than the death of the cross, and while it may have appeared to be a couple of days late, our Lord “was heard in that He feared” [His heavenly Father more than men who could] kill the body, and after that have no more they can do.

Paul was on the sea in a storm for many days when we are told this:

Act 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

This is the sun turned into darkness and the great distress on the earth which must precede our Lord’s coming, because He will not come to those who have any hope of saving themselves and condemning their own God. It is at this point, when all hope is lost, that we hear from our Lord, and we know His voice, and we know what He says is true:

Act 27:22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
Act 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
Act 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Act 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

We are saved by grace through faith, and that is a gift of God. Either we are given that gift, or we are not given that gift.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

When we are given saving faith, we no longer fear men as much as we fear to disobey or fail to believe these words of our Lord:

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Heb 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

In closing I want to share an e-mail from a gentleman with you. I think it sums up in a very few words what this whole talk was all about.

He writes:

Just a simple, and I hope correct, observation – no wonder my flesh recoils at the thought.

1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

The gospel is to announce the GOOD news, not carnal good news like; “Jesus will protect me forever, and I will stop suffering the instant I say the ten-second sinner’s prayer.” Rather the GOOD news is the cross of Christ where I am decreasing, dying daily. Like I said, no wonder my flesh recoils!!

Wow, I actually enjoyed this refreshing revelation. Glory be to God!

God Bless you ALL!

Hi Mike,

I hope all is well with you? My question to you is this: is it possible for someone to have a pentecostal experience like the disciples had on the day of Pentecost and fall (or at least backslide; fall away or backslide may be the same; not sure?) away from the Lord? Like a dog who returns to his vomit? This is just a question I have pondered about.

Ybic,
T____

Hi T____,

Thank you for your question. You ask if it is possible to be truly converted and filled with the spirit and still backslide?

The answer is: yes, definitely. It is possible to be truly converted and then to backslide and be lost in this age. Judas is a New Testament type and shadow of just such a person. Please note I said a “type and a shadow”. When so many who had been following Christ, “went back and walked no more with Him”, Judas remained faithful.

Joh 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

“Then said Jesus unto the twelve“ proves that Judas remained faithful through this trial only to backslide at a later date, serving to emphasize these words which are addressed to any who are so foolish to ever think there comes a time, while still in these bodies of sinful flesh and blood, that we can ever say that we are beyond the temptations and struggles of “dying daily” to these corruptible bodies.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Why would we “fear and tremble” if there is no chance of our being lost to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”? Why should we fear and tremble if there is no way that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches can reach and seduce us? Whether we fail or succeed is already known by our Lord, because it is His work either way, and our salvation or our loss of salvation in this age is really all of God. So we are told in the very next verse.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Here is how the apostle Paul followed Christ, and this is how we should do the same concerning our attitude toward facing the trials of this life. It is right here in this same epistle:

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect [ Greek, are being perfected], be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

“I count not myself to have apprehended.” Paul was very much aware that our Lord had said, “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” Paul did not consider himself to be above failure. He was always sober, vigilant and diligent to fight against all the pulls of his flesh and this world. He considered his backsliding as a definite possibility, if he became lackadaisical in His service to our Lord. He even tells us this:

1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Please do not take any of this to mean that Paul or you and I must go through life in fear. No well-armed warrior lives in fear. He has complete confidence in the power of his military strength to fight the fight in which He is engaged. At the same time, however, he realizes that he of himself cannot win the battle.

Christ and “the armor of God” are our military strength, and all the nations are as dust.

Isa 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

So while we are diligent and sober and vigilant, we do not need to be anxious or fearful.

Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?
Mat 6:26 Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?
Mat 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?
Mat 6:28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Mat 6:29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Mat 6:31 Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.(ASV)

“The morrow will be anxious for itself.” We are to be “sober and vigilant, but we are not to worry or be anxious.

1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you].

I will close with these very comforting verses which are just a much a part of the Bible as those which exhort us to work hard, be diligent, sober, and vigilant.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
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.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Yes, it is possible to backslide. Backsliding is in our flesh. “I am the chief of sinners.” If you and I acknowledge that and repent, then we are “the apple of His eye”, if indeed Christ is living in us.

Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
1Ti 1:15 This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

God bless you as you seek to know Christ and His Father better each day, and learn to think as they think.

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Your brother in Christ,

Mike