“The glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter” Part 3

(Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God) (Pro 25:17-28)

[Study Aired February 5, 2026]

Pro 25:17  Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Pro 25:18  A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
Pro 25:19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
Pro 25:20  As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
Pro 25:21  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Pro 25:22  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Pro 25:23  The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
Pro 25:24  It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.
Pro 25:25  As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Pro 25:26  A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Pro 25:28  He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

For the most part this last section of Proverbs 25 is talking about the interactions that we have with others in this life, and the examples given reveal that our walk is our conversation and way of life at all times, whether in fellowship or at work, wherever the Lord has us we are called to “Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God”, which is the temple that we are, going with us wherever the Lord leads us (Rom 8:14-16).

God is with us always, and so we are always from His perspective, raised in heavenly places together and therefore in the house of God. The world thinks the house of God is a place we build for God, however we know what the scriptures say regarding the things that we build versus the things that God is building within us (1Ch 29:13-15, Isa 66:1-2, Psa 127:1, Eph 2:6).

1Ch 29:13  Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
1Ch 29:15  For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Pro 25:17  Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

Our “neighbour’s house” represents their temple, where they’re working out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-13), or where they’re living and moving and have their being in Christ (Act 17:22-28) unaware that God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). Paul’s approach was a gift from God as he was given the wisdom and discretion to know how to approach the men of Athens.

Act 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

We have no dominion over the measure of faith the Lord has given anyone (2Co 1:24, 1Jn 5:4, Rev 14:11-12), and this proverb implies that when we don’t remove our foot from someone else’s temple we can inadvertently come across as wanting to have dominion over their faith. As always, it takes God’s spirit, His discretion and wisdom, to know the right balance in all things, both with those who are unconverted, and those who are superstitious as these Athenians were. The more we grow in the mind of Christ the better equipped we will be in knowing when to remove our foot from our neighbour’s house, and when to speak, and when not to speak (1Ti 4:16, Pro 26:4-5).

When we see that everything is dependent on the faith of Christ working within us (Php 2:12-13), the discretion we show when we witness to others, will be manifest in how we “Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.”(Luk 9:5, Tit 3:10, 2Jn 1:9-11)

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

Pro 25:18  A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Not withdrawing our foot at the appointed Godly time turns our witness into a “a false witness against his neighbour”. We are at that point becoming like Peter, “a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow” when using the word of God without discretion and cutting off the ear of those ‘other servants’ and thinking we are doing some great service (Luk 22:49-51). Thankfully God can repair the damaged ear for another day.

Luk 22:49  When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?
Luk 22:50  And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
Luk 22:51  And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

Pro 25:19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

We are of the generation who have no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3) and do not know even Christ after the flesh (2Co 5:16).

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.(“whose praise is not of men, but of God” Rom 2:28-29)

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

We are not looking to men any longer for deliverance in time of trouble, but rather are telling each other to ‘follow me as I follow Christ’, as we look to the Lord together, and resolve our differences through the multitude of counsellors, which is the way that God has ordained that we resolve conflict in the body of Christ.

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

The unfaithful man is you and me, our flesh, and it is Christ alone who can be Christ, and so we try the spirits in every situation to discern God’s will in any matter (1Jn 4:1), and in doing this we will do away with our trusting in the flesh which is akin to trusting in a “broken tooth, and a foot out of joint”.

You can’t eat spiritual food with a broken spiritual approach, and we can’t walk a Godly walk if we are leaning unto our own understanding, upon a foot out of joint, which is what all flesh is in God’s sight (Rom 3:10). When we acknowledge and accept our out-of-joint hip, and leg, or foot, or whatever physical infirmity God has placed upon us (2Co 12:8-10), we are then given His power to overcome by recognizing how to put our confidence in God alone.

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Pro 25:20  As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

This is an admonition to know how to behave ourselves in the house of mourning, which is what the house of God is (Ecc 7:2). The garment we take away from others is their spirit of mourning that is needful and necessary for the time that that person is being exercised with the blueness of that wound that is actually bringing healing (Pro 20:30).

There is  right way to comfort each other is what this proverb is explaining, and as we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2Pe 3:18), we will grow in becoming greater comforters as a result of the comfort that God gives us in our times of sorrow (2Co 1:3-4). With Christ’s mind growing in us we will not take away others’ comfort in cold weather, and with the best of intentions sing songs to an heavy heart, whose hearts’ heaviness does not need that song at that time.

Imagine coming up to someone in their hour of great grief and saying, “oh you’ll be okay, you can get over this”, no, that’s singing a song at the wrong time, putting vinegar in baking soda (nitre) so to speak. Lord willing we will always be given greater sensitivity toward each other and learn by God’s hand how to be the proper comforters that He can turn us into, knowing that the affliction of the widow is really a parable that speaks of the entire body of Christ’s need to be sensitive to one another’s dying daily mourning process that we are going through.

Pro 25:21  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Pro 25:22  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

In one instance if an enemy is having a change of heart, and bringing forth fruit meet unto repentance, they will have a hunger for the word of God, “If thine enemy be hungry”. We don’t turn away our enemy like the church wanted to turn Saul of Tarsus away, but by God changing our hearts, we are then able to give them bread to eat: and if they are thirsty, we give them water to drink: both symbols of the word of God.

God’s elect will be giving bread and water for a thousand years to the world who end up rebelling against the camp of the saints. Our love toward the world is being demonstrated by those actions of giving food and drink, sometimes very physically, or with the word of God, just as Christ loved us while we were yet in our sins (Rom 5:6-10).

Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

In feeding our enemies we have obeyed God’s command to love our enemy, and those very actions may be the turning point for them to acknowledge that God is indeed in this place. Your kindness and love toward your enemy heaps coals upon their head, coals being the word of God that end up destroying the enemy’s false doctrines in his head, if God will permit this (1Pe 4:7-8, Heb 6:3).

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

The reward will come from the LORD, “and the LORD shall reward thee”, for such ordained actions and is explained this way in the books of Jude and James (Jud 1:23-24, Jas 5:19-20).

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins [that is our reward, that is our joy 1Th 2:19-20].

Pro 25:23  The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

Pro 25:23 A north wind travails forth a downpour, And a clandestine tongue makes a menacing face.” (CLV),
Pro 25:23 As surely as rain blows in from the north, anger is caused by cruel words.  (CEV)

Judgement comes from the north (Jer 50:41, Psa 75:6-7), and its wind comes with driving rain that physically hurts and stings. The wind and rain in this instance typifies the damaging use of God’s word that results in unmerciful judgement, using cruel words instead of a “soft answer” (Pro 15:1, Pro 25:15).

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Pro 25:15  By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

Positively, when God receives us we are received through his chastening judgement (Heb 12:6) that comes from the north and brings with it spiritual increase from God (1Co 3:6).

Psa 75:6  For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psa 75:7  But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.(Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28)

Pro 12:18  There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

Pro 15:2  The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

A backbiting tongue is a tongue that speaks maliciously or slanderously about someone. It is a sure way to create discord in the body of Christ and something that God considers an abomination (Pro 6:16-19)

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 25:24  It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

The brawling woman in a wide house is clearly Babylon, whose ecumenical house is very broad or wide and not the narrow way that is only achieved by our communion in the upper room (Luk 22:12), the housetop where we are raised in heavenly places and resting on the corner stone Jesus Christ who God drags us to so that we can achieve that blessed spiritual rest in Him (Joh 6:44, Heb 4:10-11).

Luk 22:12  And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.(1Co 10:16)

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Pro 25:25  As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

The far country is the heavenly places that we are now blessed to be together in (Mat 25:14), and ultimately the fullness of the country that we seek is going to be realized in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye (1Co 15:52). The “good news” is the gospel of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is now within, and one day going to be revealed to all the world both within and without (Rev 11:15).

Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Pro 25:26  A righteous man falling downH4131 before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

It’s true these things ought not to be so (Jas 3:10-11), but we live by every word of God and therefore we are going to stumble or fall seven times in the wilderness (Pro 24:16) and bring forth the bitter waters of Marah (Exo 15:22-23) that need to be made sweet by the body and blood of Christ (Mar 8:24, Exo 15:25).

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jas 3:11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Exo 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. [this is how the waters can be made sweet within the body of Christ via the holy spirit that washes and cleanses the bride of Christ and delivers us from all our spiritual diseases].

Our prayer is that God will hold us up in His ways.

Psa 17:5  Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slipH4131 not.

The second encampment of the Israelites was ElimH362, which symbolically represents a witness of where God is taking the elect spiritually in this life as we ‘come out of her my people’ (Exo 15:27).

H362 ‘êylim BDB Definition:
Elim = “palms”
1) second encampment of the Israelites after the Exodus
Part of Speech: noun proper locative
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: plural of H352 (From the same as H193; properly strength; hence anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree: – mighty (man) lintel oak post ram tree.)

Exo 15:27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Pro 25:28  He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

In last week’s study we reviewed verse 16, “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it”, which speaks about the measure of faith that we need, and being grateful for what God supplies, knowing that He knows our needs and is teaching us to be content whether we have a little or a lot (2Co 8:15, Exo 16:18, Rom 12:3, Php 4:12). Honey is the symbol for the word of God (Rev 10:10), and we are to eat such as is sufficient for us, operating in the measure of faith that the Lord gives us, lest we find ourselves with this spirit of wanting more honey to glorify our own selves in those things which God says we are to receive in the right measure (Rom 12:3-4).

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

God will always provide what each joint needs to supply in love (Eph 4:16), so that we learn how a many-membered body works together for the church to grow (1Co 12:18), in order that we may “know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15, Joh 13:35).

Together we are learning how to rule over our own individual houses, by the grace of God that teaches us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12).

Having no rule over our spirit is another way of saying the Lord is not working in our heavens, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. God’s elect are called to learn to hold fast to the crown of life that God has given unto each of us who love His daily appearing in our heavens, an appearing, or visitation, that gives us the ability to have rule over our spirits, and proper spiritual defenses, the “walls” that keep us safe (Rev 3:11-12, 2Ti 4:8).

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Heb 12:1-8 “Our God is a consuming fire” – Part 1

[Study Aired April 8, 2021]

Heb 12:1   Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
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 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The very first verse (Heb 12:1) of our study reveals something reiterated in the last verse of chapter twelve of Hebrews that should help us possess our souls patiently as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Heb 12:29, Luk 21:19), and that something is who we are in Christ Jesus as the light of the world (Mat 5:14-16) explained by our Lord in this manner: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (Joh 14:20). That is what it means to have His righteousness, His light, that has been given unto us as His workmanship (Eph 2:10).

That new clothing of righteousness is made possible through fiery judgement “Teaching^G3811 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Tit 2:12) which is how God destroys the grass of the field (2Pe 3:10-13) that represents all flesh. “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?” (Psa 104:1-7, Eph 2:10). It’s critical we realize right from the start that this process of being clothed is accompanied with God’s mercy that rules over that judgment (Jas 2:13). God will save all men by casting flesh “into the oven” a metaphor for the lake of fire, but for God’s elect today that judgment and clothing is taking place right now via our merciful Father and Christ so we can be among those few first fruits in the blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:6) who will be used to administer God’s judg ments and show mercy in that regard to the rest of humanity (1Co 10:13, Rom 8:18, 1Pe 4:17, Rom 11:25, Rom 11:31-32).

Joh 14:20  In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved^G3089 with fervent heat, [1Pe 4:12] and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up^G2618. [1Co 3:13-15, Jer 23:29]

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it [“the day of the Lord“], 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.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

2Pe 3:11  Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved^G3089, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, (Tit 2:12)
2Pe 3:12  looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved^G3089, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  But, according to his promise, we look [Mat 6:33] for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness [‘the new clothing of Christ’s righteousness‘].

Psa 104:1  Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty: [Mat 6:28-33]

As this section of the gospel shows us in Matthew 6:28-33, we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and this is something that happens as a result of God blessing us with the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16) in which we are growing (2Pe 3:18). That mind of power, love and soundness (2Ti 1:7) makes it possible for us to become more and more like the “lilies of the field” which typify Christ (Son 2:2). Solomon in all his glory that represents our confidence in our flesh was not arrayed as beautifully as one of these little lilies of the field that is used to contrast with Solomon the new creation we have become in Christ (1Co 2:5).

Christ in us gives us the ability to be clothed as one of these with the gift of faith that He gives God’s elect today, which was the subject of Hebrews 11 and is the subject of this parable: “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?” Therefore we are told “Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” [Joh 6:27, Heb 11:6]

Reading the next few verses of Psalm 104, we then learn where God’s honor and majesty are manifest, and we will see that it is in the lives of those who were called to be the light of the world in this age and the temple of God where His glory was to be made manifest (Eph 3:10, 1Co 3:16, Mat 5:14).

Psa 104:2  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment [Isa 61:10, Rev 19:8]; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; [Exo 26:31-33, Eze 1:4, Heb 10:19-22, Eph 5:30]
Psa 104:3  Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; [Jas 1:17, 1Ti 3:15, Rev 3:12] Who maketh the clouds his chariot; [2Ki 2:11, 2Ki 6:17] Who walketh upon the wings of the wind; [Exo 25:18-21]

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Heb 10:19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20  by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Heb 10:21  and having a great priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22  let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience [1Jn 3:20, Gal 6:1-2, 1Pe 4:8, Jas 5:20]: and having our body washed with pure water, [“Is not my word like as a fire?”]

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.[“We enter into that holiest place through His flesh which is the church where the manifest knowledge of God is being made known“]

1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Gal 6:1  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

God is working all this workmanship in our heavens for a reason, and that reason is eluded to in the next few verses of this Psalm that show the fruit that is produced as a result of Christ clothing us with His righteousness: we become “flames of fire“(Psa 104:4), a consuming fire because God has placed his words in our mouth, words that have the ability to “devour them” (Jer 5:14) meaning we can now judge righteous judgement in the earth so men can learn righteousness (Isa 26:9, 1Pe 4:17). God’s family will be the ministers and are today the ministers who are laying “the foundations of the earth (‘the church, the temple of God we are’ Mat 7:24, Mat 13:11, Mat 13:16, Psa 127:1, 1Ti 3:15), that it should not be moved for ever” (Mal 3:6).

Psa 104:4  Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers;
Psa 104:5  Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever.
Psa 104:6  Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains.
Psa 104:7  At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Isa 50:11  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow [Isa 53:3-4, 1Jn 4:17]. Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged.

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him [Col 1:27] purifieth himself, [“look unto the rock whence ye were hewn“] even as he is pure.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light [1Jn 4:17], we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin [1Co 10:16].

Heb 12:1   Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
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.

God’s elect are that great “cloud of witnesses” and the singleness of the body of Christ is represented with these verses, (Eze 1:4-28, Rev 6:4-9), that are accompanied with the word ‘fire’ which represents the much tribulation (Act 14:22) we will have to go through in order to have that unity in the body of Christ. We can now look through the ages with the mind of Christ and be given hope of what has happened to others who, being just like us, were easily beset by sin and had to learn to “lay aside every weight” and overcome the accuser of the brethren by “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.”

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Eze 1:27  And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

We look to Christ’s example in each other, and when we see what others are able to endure through Christ, we are learning of “him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself” (Act 26:15). That is the powerful witness God creates in each of our lives for one another so that we don’t become “wearied and faint in your minds“. Stephen was the first recorded martyr in the church (Act 7:59, Act 22:20), and we learn from his example that where there is no vision people will perish (Pro 29:18), but God will always be faithful to provide us the vision we need in our time of need making a way for His little flock in whom it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32) to bear the trial and see the gates of hell not prevail against us (Mat 16:18). In Stephen’s case it was a supernatural event of having a vision to help him cross that finish line called enduring until the end (Mat 24:13), resisting sin unto the shedding of blood as he did, God making “a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear” through the vision of “Jesus standing on the right hand [power] of God” whom we reflect (Joh 17:3) as Christ did our Father. This example of Stephen was written for our sakes to give us comfort that God will never leave or forsake us (Act 7:55-56, Joh 20:21, 1Co 10:13, Joh 14:9).

Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, [‘power of God‘]
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

If we are as Christ was in this world, we are going to be accused by the accuser who works in the children of darkness that we all were at one point (1Th 5:5, Eph 5:8). When we consider Christ  who “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself“, we are being reassured that we can drink the cup by the same power that was given to our Lord to endure all that he had to endure (Php 4:13, Mat 20:23). God held Christ in His hand just as Christ holds us in His hand today, and so when we truly are dragged to Christ we need to know that He can give us the power to overcome so that we don’t become “wearied and faint in your minds“. We are being dragged to Christ for that very reason (Joh 6:44), to come to learn that nothing can separate us from the love of God and that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom 8:36-37).

In order to continue to look to the joy that was set before him, Christ needed to be strengthened by an angel in the garden (Luk 22:43), which resulted in him enduring the cross as well as despising the shame. This was all being made possible because of the power that God was giving him, and so in earnest he was “set down at the right hand of the throne of God” and knew that the fullness of the relationship He had with God would return to Him after He was resurrected, and He would be more than a conqueror through the strength that would be given Him of God to lay down His life (Joh 10:18, Joh 5:30). For Christ, “the joy that was set before him” was the vision to which God gave him to hold fast so He could endure the cross, and endure “such contradiction of sinners against himself“, just as Stephen was given hope with the vision that was given to him. We are called to consider what He endured, looking to that joy set before us, and so we cry out to God and He hears us because we fear Him and keep His commandments, just as Christ did (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17). Then we are delivered, otherwise we would “be wearied and faint in your minds“. We are that angel in the garden for each other that strengthens each other so that we can endure to the end through Christ and His body through whom He works, strengthened in our time of need and given the vision we need so that we don’t perish spiritually (Luk 21:17-19).

Joh 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

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;

Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

So when we consider him who “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds“, let’s consider what we are covering and understand that what Christ went through was for our sakes to give us the absolute assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 5:10).

Our last study with Hebrews chapter 11 brought this point out in a very telling way via the life of all those who died in various ways, demonstrating the typical patience and faith of the saints in which we are growing day-by-day (Jas 5:10). Now in chapter 12 we see who all those people who were martyred were typical of – Christ and His Christ (Act 4:26-29).

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

God loves us with a perfect love that does not falter in any way (Joh 16:27, 2Co 13:11). Christ’s wounds (1Co 10:16) are faithful toward us because God loves us (Pro 27:6). Nobody naturally wants to resist “unto blood, striving against sin“, including Christ who is our example of how this can be done (Luk 22:40-46).

Pro 27:6  Faithful are the wounds of a friend [Joh 15:15-20]; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: [Jas 1:18] that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you [Rev 12:11].
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also [Luk 21:17-19].

Luk 22:40  And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luk 22:45  And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
Luk 22:46  And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

This is a very familiar section of scripture to God’s people, to the sons of God (1Jn 3:1), that explains what it is to have true sonship with Him, and it explains what it means to be received of our Father and to be loved of God stated this way: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth“.

Initially we want to be accepted of God, or received of him, on our own terms and conditions (Isa 4:1), but God loves His sons with whom He is working in this age and burns up those idols of our hearts so that we go from thinking we are rich and increased with goods like the rich young ruler (Rev 3:17, Mat 19:21). By the grace of God He destroys those filthy garments and defiled bread which represent our own righteousness, bringing us to acknowledge that we are “miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. It is because we say we see that our sins remain, and the only solution to overcoming that blindness is to have our Father cleanse us of these powers and principalities in our heavens via fiery trials (1Pe 4:12). So, we are told: “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 3:18)

We don’t of ourselves by our own might or power endure the chastening (Zec 4:6) whereof all are partakers, but rather we endure all things through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13) so that we are not sifted like wheat as Christ told Peter of Satan’s desire of him, but alas Christ prayed for Peter that his faith fail not (Luk 22:31-32).

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

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

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Flesh has to learn obedience by the things that it suffers, and this includes Christ’s flesh (Heb 5:8-9, 1Jn 4:17, Psa 73:26, 2Co 12:9-11). The difference between Christ and ourselves is that our own iniquities chasten or correct us (Jer 2:19, Pro 24:16) whereas Christ was spotless and never had a self-righteous attitude, which would be sinful (1Pe 1:19). Christ’s mind was without fault “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” so we could become the righteousness of God through him “which is of God by faith” (2Co 5:21, Php 3:9).

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

We see how Christ was made sin being “made of a woman, made under the law”, shapened in iniquity, which is what self-righteous flesh is by nature (Gal 5:17, Heb 4:15, Jas 1:14), yet always did what was pleasing and obedient to our Father (Gal 4:4, Psa 51:5) to the end that He would “redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:5-6).

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Both goats of (Lev 16:8) were beasts [representing sinful flesh] of the field, but one represented the perfect sacrifice of Christ’s life, and the other represented what Christ’s spirit could do within the scapegoat that was taken by the hands of a fit man into the wilderness (Lev 16:10). Our sonship is explained by the story of that scapegoat that, in type, must fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ through the power of God’s holy spirit, that gives us the ability to endure to the end through the much tribulation, which must accompany us throughout our journey in the wilderness (Col 1:24, Act 14:22, 2Co 1:5-7, 2Co 4:10, Gal 6:2).

To be dealt with as a son means we must wrestle with our flesh all through this life and endure until the end to be saved (Mat 24:13), and that is what this verse means: “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” The scapegoat that represents the beasts we are must be dragged through the wilderness by the hand of a fit man (Jesus Christ) and be made to err or stumble (Isa 63:17, Pro 24:16) as we bow down to our flesh as Jacob did with Esau seven times (Gen 33:3). When we’re granted to acknowledge our need for the blood of the dove that will be used to sanctify the live bird being sent into the field (the world), that bird typifies our being alive in Christ and dead to sin (Lev 14:7, Gal 2:20). It will be because of God’s goodness that has led us to repentance (Rom 2:4) that we will overcome in this life.

We need to acknowledge our sins and our need for the seven last plagues to purify our heavens through chastening and scourging so that we can enter into the temple of God. We know we could never endure this process without Christ having prayed for us that our faith fail not (Luk 22:32). The fervent prayers of the body will avail much (Jas 5:16) and help us bear about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, witnessing to the world our discipleship that is in Christ (Joh 13:35, Rev 15:8, 2Co 4:10).

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Our God is a consuming fire, and He is using the body to minister today in each of our lives those red hot coals that are around the altar (Isa 6:6-7). We are being purified so that we can properly discern good and evil by experiencing the plagues that must be poured out upon our heavens in this age if we are going to rule in the next, otherwise this verse would apply to us if we did not go through this sanctification process: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Rev 15:6-7, 2Ti 2:12)

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 29 Discussion

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Isa 6:11-13 Until The Cities Be Wasted Without Inhabitant... and There Be A Great Forsaking In The Midst of The Land

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13  But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

We have learned that the seraphims are just another symbol of God's elect who are "in the midst of and round about the throne of God in heaven":

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

The book of Revelation adds the "four and twenty elders" to the various Biblical types and figures of God's elect who will rule with Him through the millennium and then be used by God as the saviors of all mankind in and through the lake of fire, which is merely one more type and figure of our Lord's elect, whose words will devour the kingdom of our old man:

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?
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;

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

"My Words in your mouth fire", for those who  can receive it, is the Biblical definition of "the lake of fire", which will be used by God to judge the whole world, which will be raised up into the realm of the spirit:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The "four and twenty elders", the "four beasts", tell us plainly who they symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So the seraphims of Isaiah six are the "kings and priests "redeemed unto God out of all nations [who] shall reign [with Christ] on the earth... for a thousand years".

The "one hundred forty and four thousand" of Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 are also "redeemed from among men", and are just another symbol of Christ's firstfruits, who will reign with Him on this earth and will then become the 'fire' of "the lake of fire".

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 14:4  These [144.000] are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

This brings us to the judgment of 'angels', of resurrected spiritual bodies (1Co 15:44), before the great white throne:

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

These seraphims and cherubims fly, wing touching wing, as a single-minded body "proclaiming the everlasting gospel, and crying one to another", affirming the wonderful works of God to the children of men. This is the message of the seraphims, and this is also our message "one to another":

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

These destructive judgments against the kingdom of our old man are "His wonderful works to the children of men". Our rebellious old man thinks God's ways are wicked ways, and that we, His marred creation, are much more righteous than our Creator. Being brought "to [our] wits' end", to our old man, is simply nothing less than sadistic torment from an unjust God, and like Job, we all come to our wits' end and reprove, contend with, and condemn God, to make ourselves appear righteous in our own minds (Job 40:1-8).

1Kg 6:27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

Isa 6:3  And one [seraph] cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

As these seraphim, cherubims, twenty four elders and 144,000, what is it we are to proclaim as "the everlasting gospel"?

We need not guess. It is no coincidence that immediately after seeing the seraphims around the throne of God, having "a live coal from the altar" placed upon his lips, Isaiah is sent as a witness to preach the gospel, and to proclaim the Lord's judgments upon the Lord's rebellious people. It is no coincidence that Ezekiel had the exact same experience, immediately after having a very similar vision. Immediately after being shown the Lord's throne and the cherubims around God's throne, Ezekiel is also sent to proclaim the gospel and to declare the Lord's judgments upon the Lord's people, the people of Israel:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Notice that Ezekiel's experience is exactly the same as Isaiah's. Immediately after being shown the Lord's throne and the cherubims around His throne, Ezekiel was given this commission:

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest;eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

This commission to us actually appears three times in scripture. Here is where John was also shown the the throne of God in heaven and was given the exact same commission:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 
Rev 4:3  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 
Rev 4:5  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

In Revelation 10 John gives us the exact same commission given to us in Isaiah and Ezekiel. It is worded slightly differently, but the variations in the description of the throne of God and of what takes place around the throne of God simply adds to our understanding of why we are shown His throne and the living creatures, which symbolize those saints who are seated round about God's throne, with Christ in the heavens.  We are given the same commission the third time here in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. This is what we are commanded to proclaim as His gospel:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:8  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Why does the devouring of this "little book" make our belly bitter? It is because this is the same book we are commanded to eat in the book of Ezekiel, and we are given the same commission:

Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

In all three prophets we are given the same commission to give His words to His people and to leave nothing out nor add anything to it.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We are given to be seated with Christ in His Father's throne in the heavens (Eph 2:6), and this is how John describes part of our experience while being seated with Christ in the heavens:

Rev 10:1  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Rev 10:2  And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
Rev 10:3  And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Rev 10:4  And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

There is only one thing concerning what is written of the things we are to keep, as verse 3 of chapter one tells us, which we are not given to know:

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

God has given us the revelation of His Christ and the things which must shortly come to pass within our own lives, but He has done so in signs and symbols, and in very definite, yet very general terms. We have been plainly told that as the disciples of Christ we will "be hated of all men", and that "it is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God". We are plainly told that "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him", and that we are not to "think it strange concerning the fiery trials which [are] to try [us]:

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.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

We are also plainly told we are to "present our bodies as a living sacrifice [and to be] crucified with Christ":

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.

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.

So much for the damnable false doctrine of "the substitutionary death of Christ" which the Lord Himself has given to the adversary for so many long years to rob so many of their salvation in this age. God is honest with His creatures, and He wants us know up front that while the rewards for our obedience far outweigh the price we must pay, nevertheless we are bought with a price and that we, too, are expected to be crucified with Christ and to fill up in our lives what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ, "for His body's sake, which is the church":

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

But this is all presented to us in these general terms, and we only see them if we are "caused... to eat" the words of God by being given eyes to see the things of the spirit and ears to hear the things of the spirit:

Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

This is how we will be received by those who are not given to receive our witness:

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.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are [being] perfect[ed]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We are granted to see all these spiritual things and to understand the spiritual significance of all the spiritual symbols only because we are "saved by grace", and through that saving grace we are given the spirit which gives us the eyes that see and the ears which hear "the things of the spirit":

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in [the] heavens[...] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

We are granted to be shown in Christ and with Him as the finished product of His chastening grace. We are given spiritual eyes and ears only through God's saving grace. And this is what God's favor and His grace does to us. This, again is why the digesting and devouring of "the little book" which is "open[ed]" to us is sweet in our mouths, but is bitter in our bellies.

Here is what God's grace does to us and accomplishes within us:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

"By grace ye are saved" is not thrown in just to fill up space or to make God appear to be gracious. "By grace YOU are saved" has everything to do with what is involved in coming to see an open door in the heavens, and seeing and understanding what it means to have our lips touched with a live coal from the altar of God in the temple of God, to eat a scroll written within and without, and to "receive the things of the spirit".

Those who value the flesh and who have been given to hate their own Creator, "cannot receive the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him [and he] can[not] know them, because they are spiritually discerned".

"But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit: for the spirit searches out all things, yes, the deep things of God", and nothing is any "deeper than what we, as the seraphims around the throne of God are given to understand and are commissioned and to proclaim to the Lord's people.

It is not a popular message to our old man, and it is completely rejected by a world to which it also applies at the appointed time. Isaiah speaks for us all when he inquires of the Lord:

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Isa 6:13  But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

A tenth will return, and even that tenth will be eaten "as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves.

What specifically must we  proclaim and prophesy is not a popular message. It is revealed to be the same in the words given to Ezekiel, and to John in the book of Revelation:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

This message is repeated in the next chapter:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

And what does the holy spirit say of this message? The next verse tells us who it is who must "keep the sayings of the prophesy of this book" (Rev 1:3), who must "fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels" before they can enter into the temple of God in heaven:

Rev 14:12  Here [verses 6-11] is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

"Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God... is the patience and faith of the saints.

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

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Isaiah's lips being touch by a live coal from the altar, Ezekiel's eating of the book and John eating of the roll are one and all types and figures of Christ's commandment He has given us to "eat [His] flesh and drink [His] blood." We do so first to let those words do their fiery work within us and then so we can be used of Christ to give His words to others just as He used others to bring His words to us.

But just as we at first hated and ridiculed His words, Ezekiel informs us that our words will also not at first be received by God's own people:

Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
Eze 3:5  For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Eze 3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. 
Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
Eze 3:11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

Christ required that His disciples "eat My flesh", which He equates with "the bread of life". He also equates His blood with the water of life:

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Christ is the bread of life, the tree of life, the water and river of life, and He is also the book of life, simply because He is the Truth and the life, and because having eternal life is a matter of knowing Him and His Father:

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Joh 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 
Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

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.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 
Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

As the verses we are discussing today will demonstrate, Isaiah himself is a type of those who are sent as “His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire”.

Heb 1:7  and unto the messengers, indeed, He saith, `Who is making His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire;’ (YLT)

Before I learned what were the ‘spirits’ we were to try and how a spirit is placed on trial, I was at that time mystified by this admonition to all who claim to know Jesus Christ:

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.

What is it that necessitates that we “try the spirits whether they are of God”? Why should we concern ourselves with whether a spirit is of God? The reason we should concern ourselves with whether a spirit is of God is “because many false prophets [proclaiming many false doctrines] are gone out into the world”. That is the very thing against which Christ so solemnly and so often warned His disciples:

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mar 8:15  And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Luk 12:1  In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

This was the first thing Christ mentioned when He was asked about the signs of the end of the age:

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 
Mat 24:5  For many [“false prophets”, 1Jo 4:10] shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

The Greek word translated as ‘many’ in Mat 24:5 is the same word translated as ‘many’ in:

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.

It is also the same Greek word ‘polos‘, translated ‘many’ in this verse:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

This harlot “sits upon many waters [because] the great dragon… the devil and satan [has, through this great harlot] deceived the whole world”:

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The world was also deceived “in the year Uzziah died”, when Isaiah had this vision of the throne of God with the seraphims around the throne, crying to each other with words which caused the posts of the door of the temple in heaven to be moved with their words. It was only after one of the seraphims had spoken to Isaiah that we begin to see the function of, and the purpose for having these creatures around the throne of God in heaven. The fact Isaiah was there at the Lord’s throne demonstrates that Isaiah himself, just as all the Old and New Testament prophets are types of all those who are seated with Christ on His Father’s throne as we learn from a later prophet:

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

I did not embolden the word ‘places’ simply because it is not in the Greek. We are all seated with Christ in the heavens just as Isaiah and later Ezekiel were in type privileged to be placed there in the heavens, and to tell us what takes place in the heavens and around the throne of God.

So let’s read about what Isaiah experienced and see what we can learn about the purpose and function of these seraphims around the throne of the Lord. In the first seven verses we have already covered, we learned that the seraphims have six wings each, and we saw that they have a message about the holiness of God which they confirm to each other in a way which causes the doorposts of the temple in heaven to be moved. This is what we learned they do as they are flying through the heavens:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The message of the gospel is received only by those who, like Isaiah, have been granted to be brought to the Lord’s throne in heaven through the same fiery experience Isaiah experience when He told us this about the function of the seraphims:

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

That is the message which caused the posts of the door of the Lord’s house to be moved. It is a great earthquake indeed which is so ‘fiery’ an experience as to affect our lives to the extent that it can be said: “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Applying the Biblical key to the Lord’s kingdom of “Line upon line and precept upon precept” we were given spiritual eyes to see that these seraphims are but another symbol of the four creatures and the four and twenty elders we see around the Lord’s throne in Ezekiel 1 and 10 and in Revelation 4 and 5, where they themselves tell us who these creatures symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 5:11  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Rev 5:12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Rev 5:13  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Rev 5:14  And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Now that we know that these seraphims are one of the heavenly symbols of those who are ‘redeemed to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”, and that these seraphims are those who will “reign on the earth”, for a symbolic thousand years, we should now understand that when that seraphim got the live coal of fire from the altar he was, in spiritual language, carefully handling the Word of God in a way which would cause God’s fiery Word to affect Isaiah’s life, as another symbol of the Lord’s elect, in such a way as to symbolically ‘take away his iniquity and purge his sins’.

It is essential that we note this cleansing is accomplished with fire and not with the blood of calves and goats or by the washing with literal water:

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Where does the fiery baptism take place? Where is “the holy place” into which Christ entered to obtain our redemption?

Heb 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 

What an incredible revelation! “The heavens themselves” are the hearts and minds of God’s elect into whom He comes to dwell with His seraphims, or four cherubims or four beasts and four and twenty elders, “which are [one and all] figures of the true”. They are all symbols which “signify by His angel unto his servant[s] things which must shortly come to pass” within the lives of all of Christ’s Christ, His “very elect” (Rev 1:1).

We are twice told in no uncertain terms who this “angel” of Rev 1:1 is who was sent to show all these things to John and to us. Those who have been given eyes that see and ears that hear will see and hear who this angel tells us he is:

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

There it is twice: 1) “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: 2) I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book.

How is it possible to make it any clearer than that as to who are these seraphims, cherubims and beasts and elders and angels who show us these things? They are the symbols of my fellowservants, and of my brothers the prophets who have the testimony of Jesus, and who keep the sayings of the Word of God. They are those who believe Christ when He said “Mankind shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4).

So what are the various functions of the messengers and ministers of Christ and His heavenly Father? Let’s read about in the context of our sinful dying state in which they are given to us:

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.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah is a type “of [our] fellow servants and of [our] brothers the prophets, which keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev 22:9). It is we, His “fellowservants” who have come to “see God”. What does that tell us of what we have been through to bring us to “see God”? The answer to that question has everything to do with the purpose and function of those who are in the midst of and round about the throne of God”.

Here is what must be taking place within all those who are about the throne of God in the heavens, and in His house:

Exo 33:20  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

Christ repeats Himself with another way of saying the same thing in:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

That is the same as saying, “For there shall no man see me and live”, and the apostle repeats this same message in:

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.

And again:

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.

In Christ’s own mind He had already died to this world long before he was literally crucified upon the cross, and that is the same mind set we must have before we will be granted to “see [Christ] and live”. We, too, must count ourselves as already dead to this world. “Present[ing our] lives as a living sacrifice” is what is symbolized by what Isaiah experienced in vision when trembling he proclaimed:

Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

There is only one way this seraphim could “have a live coal in his hand [and] touch [our] lips” and take away our iniquity and purge our sins. Such a function is not at all difficult for a seraphim if he himself is “like burning coals of fire [with fire in [his] mouth”:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Eze 1:13  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

The cherubims “appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the apearance of lamps” because those are words describing the words of God and the work of His words upon the ways and the kingdom of our carnal-minded, rebellious old man. It is living by and speaking the Words of God which causes the posts of the door of the Lord’s house to move and to fill the house with smoke, as all the wood, hay, and stubble are burned out of our lives.

Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

When we have our iniquity taken away and our sin is purged, we are now in a position to be of service to our Creator, and if indeed our iniquity is taken away and our sin is purged, we will be more than willing to present our lives a living sacrifice as the Lord reveals He wants us to humbly present ourselves to Him:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

As the experience and the words of the captain of our salvation demonstrate for us, the “baptism with fire” (Luk 3:16), which is His words in our mouths (Jer 5:14), is not well received by our godless, rebellious, carnal-minded, old man. As “the man of sin” he is (2Th 2:3) he thinks he is God sitting in the temple of God and he is loath to lose his kingdom or relinquish his throne, and the power he holds over us. So we, as Christ’s messengers, His angels, His ministering spirits who are flames of fire (Heb 1:7), we, too, will be hated of all men, just as we hated those who first brought the words of Christ to us. This is why that is so:

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

So we all first reject Christ and His Words, and it is only by the sovereign work of His chastening grace, and its miraculous work in the lives of the few who are chosen to be given that calling, that God through His seraphims, cherubims and four beasts and four and twenty elders, that we are dragged to our Lord and into His service. Until that time His words are parables which serve to keep Him and His mind hidden from us right there in plain view, just as He Himself, quoting these words of Isaiah six, told us when He was asked by His apostles why He spoke to the multitudes in parables:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
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 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

These words describe every one of us before we are, through God’s chastening grace, humbled to the point of being able to see and hear the words of life.

In our next study we will begin to see the judgment we must all endure to be brought to have the state of mind which is able to be in heaven, in the temple of God, speaking His words and moving the posts of His house, and filling His house with smoke from the fiery coals from His altar with which we are given to minister to those who are to be the heirs of salvation:

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

It is a very messy and bloody experience from the perspective of our old man. He is repulsed by what those around the throne of God must endure, but any suffering we endure in this life is not even worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.