Gospels In Harmony – “They” Say and Do Not

Mat 23:1-39, Mar 12:38-40, Luk 20:45-47

[Study Aired July 27, 2021]

Luk 20:45 in the audience of all the people,
Mar 12:38 Jesus said unto them in his doctrine,
Mat 23:1 to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Luk 20:46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes,
Mat 23:5 but all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Mat 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Mat 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Mat 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Mat 23:18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Mat 23:19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
Mat 23:20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Mat 23:21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
Mat 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Mat 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Our last several studies have been a back and forth exchange between Christ and the leaders of the Jews. The Jews have been conspiring how they might catch Christ in His words so that they can put Him to death. Christ has answered their questions and shut them up for now. In this study He warns everyone about their leaders the scribes and the Pharisees.

Luk 20:45 in the audience of all the people,

Mar 12:38 Jesus said unto them in his doctrine,

Mat 23:1 to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

The scribes and the Pharisees do know the law and Christ says to obey what they say about the law but to not follow their example. Here is “his doctrine” on following the law.

Mat 5:17-20 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least command- ments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The issue is “For they say, and do not”. This is Christ’s judgment against the scribes and Pharisees.

Luk 6:46-49 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and  heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

We also must be careful to do what is said by our Lord and not be guilty of the following.

Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Paul warns of this in the following scriptures.

1Co 8:1-13 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

By using our knowledge of Christ against the weak of the church, and even against the world, we would be no better than these scribes and Pharisees.

Luk 20:46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes,

Mat 23:5 but all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

When we believe our righteousness exceeds those that lack the knowledge of God in and of ourselves, we are guilty of sinning against Christ.

Joh 15:1-5 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Continuing with our verses:

Mat 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master,  even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Mat 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Mat 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

What is Christ telling us here? He is telling us that within the church of the living God there is order, and we should not think of ourselves as having more than we receive of Christ. He is our head, and God is his Father, and we are His body.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Christ continues His judgment of the scribes and Pharisees.

Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Does this sound familiar to any of your own experiences? This was my experience while in the churches of the world. I was becoming a good Baptist and doing these very things mentioned. The warnings continue.

Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Mat 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Mat 23:18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Mat 23:19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
Mat 23:20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Mat 23:21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
Mat 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

The point being made here is the scribes and Pharisees are more concerned with their traditions than the actual law. They do not care about true holiness; only their traditions.

Exo 30:22-29 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Everything they do is only for show. They think this convinces everyone they are holy.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all  uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

These next verses show us how arrogant we are at this point of our process of salvation.

Mat 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

We believe we are more righteous than others after we say the so-called “sinner’s prayer”. At first we may be humble about it, but as soon as the “scribes and Pharisees” of this world teach us their traditions, we do believe we are more righteous. As was mentioned earlier, we cannot be anything unless it is given to us by Christ. The righteousness we are given is not ours; it is God’s righteousness.

Here are our final verses.

Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Every one of us is guilty and will be judged and shall be sentenced to death so that we can receive life. Just because verse 36 says “All these things shall come upon this generation” does not give us escape from this judgment.

Mar 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

If Christ gives you the ability to read and understand, then the following will be your calling.

Rom 12:1-21 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. 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. 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. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jas 1:19-25 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Heb 10:19-29 “Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” – Part 3

[Study Aired January 21, 2021]

Heb 10:19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21  And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

This section of Hebrews 10 can be summarized with this section of God’s word in Romans 6:10-11 which states, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In other words, it is through Christ alone that we can with “boldness…enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”.

The fruit which God is working in the lives of those who have been called and chosen to live “by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20-21) is unfolding at the altar of God where God’s workmanship is bound to that altar (Rom 12:1, Psa 118:27). We are learning to trust Him as we put off our flesh and learn of His power and might which works within each member, each joint, that God uses to “maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph 1:12-14, Eph 4:16). If Christ is living in us, we will be learning to trust in him, and we will together be “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”(Jud 1:20-21, Jer 29:13).

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.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

There is a strong emphasis in these verses we’re looking at (Heb 10:19-29) that speak of where the boldness we need to serve the living God comes from (Heb 4:16, Eph 6:19, Col 4:3-6) “in the house of God”, and how it is formed through holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering”(Joh 8:31-32).

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds [Psa 118:27]: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
Col 4:4  That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Heb 10:23)] then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

None of us are exempt from doing our part that brings us into this “new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh“(Heb 10:20) because we are his flesh and bones (Eph 5:30), and so the urgent plea goes out in verses 24 and 25 to “let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some”.

Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

As well, the new and living way will be of no consequence if we don’t consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ, and so we’re reminded that when we do come together, it is to partake of this new and living way in each other that is the communion we have with the body and blood of Christ (1Co 10:16). It is “in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God” unfolding within us, that we can do the same thing with Christ in us as our hope of glory has done before us (Rom 6:10-12, 1Jn 4:17).

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

It is in God’s holy house that we are where we don’t forsake our assembling in Him and where His workmanship is being accomplished (Eph 2:10). It is because of the Godly fear we are given that we can overcome and work together, moving with fear to the saving of our house (Heb 11:7), the house of God that we don’t forsake (Heb 10:25) as a many membered body that Christ is building (Psa 127:1, Psa 133:1).

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

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.

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

God’s elect will be instrumental in helping each other endure to the end as we bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2) and wash each other’s feet (Joh 13:14), and in so doing fulfill the “law of Christ” in our members who are witnessing to the world that we are His disciples indeed. He has separated us for the world’s sake and for each other today, giving us that extra oil for our lamps (Mat 25:7-9) because we have been blessed to receive the counsel from his word that tells us 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”, the very thing we need in order to have that extra oil to help us endure to the end in order to be saved (Rom 12:1, Rev 3:18, Rom 11:15-20, Mat 24:13). God is in the process of burning out any highmindedness (Rom 11:20, Luk 17:10) that when overcome, gives us to see clearly that we are who we are in God’s master plan only because of the root, Jesus Christ, Who is holding us up and delivering us from ourselves for the sake of the rest of His creation (Oba 1:21). Knowing these things is what we look to and remind ourselves of, being established in these present truths as we keep “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”.

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

The new and living way gives us power to enter “into the holiest” and that is done by the “blood of Jesus“. We have read what is in the holiest also called the “Holiest of all” (Heb 9:4). In order for us to be there, we must enter in “by the blood of Jesus“. It takes the blood of Jesus which represents His words, His spirit within us (Rom 9:8, 2Ti 1:7), as it cleanses our conscience to be able to boldly continue to come before God without wavering (Heb 4:16, Heb 3:13-14, Rom 4:18-20).

The “holiest” as we’ve seen is referring to that section in the tabernacle called “the Holiest of all”, and it is there that the “cherubims of glory”, who represent the elect who have gone onto perfection and are accompanied with “the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant” reside (Heb 9:4). We reside there today in earnest, being raised together into that holiest of places (Eph 2:6), as we go through a lifetime of judgment so we can be made ready to do the work of God, which work involves going out and healing the world with His judgments in the earth (Isa 26:9), His words, that are all represented by those purified items in “the Holiest of all”. All of this judgment is now currently upon the house of God, and the present suffering this judgment brings upon us is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed when we go onto perfection on the third day (Rom 8:18).

Christ and His words as our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) is the “new and living way” (Joh 14:6) which Christ, by the power of God’s holy spirit, “consecrated^G1457 for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” That was true for Christ’s flesh that was dedicated for the sins of the world (Heb 9:18), and as he is so are we (1Jn 4:17), being judged in our flesh, and filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake “which is the church” (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30).

Heb 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated^G1457 without blood.

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:

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Heb 10:21  And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The very first chapter of Hebrews explains how great “an high priest over the house of God” our Father has given us (Heb 1:1-7), so we can “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” seeing it is the faith of Christ that makes this possible (Rom 3:27, Gal 2:20, Luk 22:32).

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Heb 1:5  For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Heb 1:6  And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Heb 1:7  And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me [1Jn 4:17]: 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.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee [1Jn 4:17, 1Jn 5:4], that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

When we draw near, we can be assured that our advocate (1Jn 2:1-2) will sprinkle our hearts from an evil conscience with blood on the altar (Heb 9:21) which represents His word that washes us, “our bodies washed with pure water” (Eph 5:25-27).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Heb 9:21  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

It doesn’t say “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” because we are faithful. No! What it does say is that it is because “he is faithful that promised“. Christ is the faithful author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2-3) to whom we look, to whom we hold fast and wrestle with through the night not letting any man take our crown (Gen 32:24-26, Rev 3:11-12).

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.

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

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 himmy new name.

This section of scripture is talking about running the race with the confidence that God has called us to have in Christ to know that we can win with him as the author and finisher of our faith (Php 1:6). Then the scriptures go on to show us that we are not winning this race for ourselves or to our own glory, but we are running to obtain an incorruptible crown together. God says the way we are to run this race is to wash each other’s feet (Joh 13:14), being each other’s servant (Mat 20:25-28), or said another way, “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” as Christ did and does for us.

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

Joh 13:14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

We’re not all given the privilege to be assembled together often, but if we can, we should, and for those who can’t physically come together, we are gifted in this age with internet and email, phones and texts, Zoom recordings and yes, even ‘snail mail’. We pray for each other always with a love that binds us right ‘here’ in spirit (Col 2:5, 1Co 5:3).

Col 2:5  For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
Col 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

To not forsake the “assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is” is a matter of where our hearts are, so when we come together we are told that it should be for the express purpose of “exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching“.

I’m writing these notes while listening in on the fellowship call with Gale beside me, and I keep hearing that spirit of exhorting and carrying and provoking unto love and good works which is our reasonable service, and a witness of Christ’s discipleship being formed within us (Rom 12:1, Heb 10:25, Joh 13:35) as we come together with a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation, unto the edifying of itself in love (1Co 14:26, Eph 4:16).

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.

1Co 14:26  How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

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

Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

We are a living sacrifice in Christ for each other, but if we forsake one another in spirit and do not partake of that living sacrifice we receive in the communion God has given us, that would be an example of sinning “wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth“.

There “remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” if we have lost that desire to be with our body which is a living sacrifice, so we need to keep provoking one another to love and good works as we keep coming together often and so much the more as we see the day approaching (Heb 10:25, Mal 3:16).

Christ does not pull any punches but simply tells us that if we forsake the assembling of ourselves and exhorting each other when we come together or from a distance, “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” awaits us. The adversary needs to be destroyed now, and he needs to fall from our heavens like lightning now. If our names are written in heaven and we are Jesus Christ’s body that is precisely what is going to happen (Luk 10:18-20).

Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Coming together and caring for one another with much exhortation (Act 20:2, 1Co 14:3, 1Ti 4:13, Heb 13:22) testifies to the fact that we are His witnesses, and so the very fitting verses that end this section of our study declare what the two witnesses in Revelation 11 show us in type and shadow (Rev 11:3-6, Rev 11:11-13).

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Those who “despised Moses’ law” typify those who forsake the assembling of the brethren in this manner, not buying that oil needed to trim the lamp, not stirring each other up putting each other in remembrance to continue to be established in the present truth (2Pe 1:1-14), and they “died without mercy under two or three witnesses“, physically, which typifies the second death they will experience, the much sorer judgement to condemnation that will occur in the lake of fire to those who are not judged in this life.

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe 1:11  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
2Pe 1:13  Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

Let us as therefore as the body of Christ continue to look “for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life“.

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

[Study Aired July 30, 2020]

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

In this verse of our study we see in the words that describe God’s spiritual Word, which is likened to a sword, that the elect are the first recipients to benefit from its use regarding becoming a new creation (Eph 1:12).

All the attributes of His word described in Hebrews 4:12 are used against our old man in a judgment which is currently on the house of God today and the sword of His Word is not meant to depart from us (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17, 2Sa 12:10).

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment (Heb 4:16): because as he is, so are we in this world.

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

God’s word, “the sword of the spirit” (Eph 6:17), is not departing from our house for a Godly reason that will bring us unto perfection on the third day, and His love will be perfected in us, if we are granted to endure until the end. (Luk 13:32, Mat 24:13).

The certainty of Christ being able to accomplish this work in us is then discussed in the verses that follow which we will look at next week, stating that He has “passed into the heavens“, meaning He is in our hearts and minds as our hope of glory (Col 1:27). Therefore we ought to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy” before the one who has endured the cross and knows how to comfort and deliver us as we come boldly before His presence where we will “find grace to help in time of need” (1Jn 3:2-3).

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be (Eph 1:14): but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope (Col 1:27) in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

As we are led by the spirit of God, “the sword of the Spirit” (Rom 8:14), the mind of Christ will give us victory over every possible enemy that may come up against us in this lifelong battle against the powers and principalities God created for our sakes to overcome through Christ who is far above all those principalities (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21). We are learning to let our speech be “alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man”.

Through the word, through Christ, God’s elect are called to learn that all things work together for good “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” It is with the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16) that we can be as Christ (1Jn 4:17) and apply these most encouraging promises of scripture to ourselves as a kind of first fruits (Rom 8:27-30).

Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God [with “the sword of the spirit” Heb 4:12].
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

This next section of Romans 8 confirms the promises we just read and reassures us of what we can expect God to do for His children against any and all enemies within and without that come up against Christ, our hope of glory within (Col 1:27).

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter [Mat 16:25].

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Peter’s actions found in this section of John 18:8-10 reveal that he was willing to die for Christ in his flesh but not die with Christ on the cross, which none of us can do without God’s holy spirit within us making that possible (Rom 8:9).

Dying on the cross is described as this spiritual dissection of our old man which is accomplished by God’s word “the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart“, and these very actions we are discussing in Hebrews 4:12 (quick, powerful, sharper, piercing, dividing) define the process of judgment that is upon our carnal beastly nature which is being overcome through Christ against our flesh (Gal 5:17), and it typifies in the sacrifices of the many beasts in the book of Leviticus the very specific order of those sacrifices to the glory of God – just as God’s elect are today being nourished through the beasts being driven from our heavens (“the land”) little and by little as we present ourselves a living sacrifice (Rom 8:36, Exo 23:30, Rom 12:1).

In this same section of scripture (Joh 18:8-10), Christ is contrasted with Peter’s fleshly response to the circumstances God created, with words that explain how we are to truly fight a good fight of faith: “I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”

Christ lays His life down for us, willing to go through the process of suffering, despising the shame and looking to the joy that was set before Him (Heb 12:2), not just for the joy of knowing he would be going back to the fullness of the relationship with our Father but also for the joy of knowing He would now be equipped to accomplish the joyous task of being able to redeem the rest of the world, starting with the propitiation of our sins as our drink offering (1Jn 2:2, Mat 26:29, Luk 17:21).

This is the same joy of serving that has been set before us helping us and giving us vision so we can endure through this life knowing there is a purpose behind all our suffering and affliction as we fill up what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church (1Jn 4:17, Joh 15:13, Col 1:24).

Peter is used to make the point that our flesh witnesses against us (the cock crows 2 times) until we go through a process of judgment (flesh denies Christ three times). This process is accomplished by grace (5) through Christ (2+3=5 [Eph 2:8]) as we learn that Christ won’t deny Himself the purpose for which He has come into our heavens (2Ti 2:13).

Christ being a mature son was able to discern Peter’s present condition of being yet carnal, and prophesied for our sakes the process each of us must go through in order to become mature sons by putting “up again thy sword into his place” and loving our enemies “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Mat 26:33-36, Mat 5:44-45).

Joh 18:8  Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:
Joh 18:9  That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.
Joh 18:10  Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

[Peter’s violent action of cutting the ear off “the high priest’s servant” typifies our trying to force conversion on someone; and then Christ heals the ‘deadly wound’ so to speak, and puts the babylonian ear back on him because it was not Malchus’ time to know the truth, but he was witnessed to through all these actions]

Mat 26:33  Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

All these stories were written for our sakes and were given to us to inspire us to “give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” as we “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” God is working with each of us so that our speech can always be with grace, “Seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

1Ti 4:12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1Ti 4:13  Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1Ti 4:14  Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
1Ti 4:15  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Christ is our example in showing us how to overcome the adversary through a life time of vigilantly looking to God for the power we need to overcome our otherwise helpless flesh as we die daily and cry out to him in that we fear (1Co 15:31, Heb 5:7). While we are in this valley of the shadow of death, we are in our time of need (Heb 4:16) and can rest assured as we labour to enter into the rest of our Lord (Heb 12:1-4) that He can make us more than conquerors over every power and principality that is against us as we come to be convinced that nothing can separate us from His hand (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21, Mat 24:24, Joh 10:28-29, Rom 8:38-39).

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

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.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick,^G2198 and powerful^G1756, and sharper^G5114 than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart [Heb 5:14].

It takes the quick^G2198 and powerful^G1756 and sharper^G5114 than any twoedged sword word of God to discern the heart of man within us and without us. The question is asked therefore “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The answer is in the next verse of Jeremiah: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways [Pro 14:12], and according to the fruit of his doings” [Jer 17:10].

God’s word has to be quick^G2198 and powerful^G1756 and sharper^G5114 than any two-edged sword, to cut through the two-edged sword which represents the witness of man’s knowledge, or the wisdom of men, which is not the power of God (1Co 2:5-8). ‘Knowledge is power’, as the saying goes, but it is the words of eternal life (Joh 6:68) in which we are to have faith as we continue in His word (Joh 8:31-32). Those words sanctify and justify us as we are granted to be established and built on upon our Rock, Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18, Joh 17:17, Mat 16:18).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

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 perfect: 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.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The body of Christ needs to be confident in what we have and never cast away that confidence in the promises found within God’s word that are exceedingly great and precious. They declare the victory that will be ours through Jesus Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure (2Pe 1:4, Php 2:13). (What Godly confidence is and is not, is explained in these verses – Php 1:6, Heb 10:35, Php 3:3)

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

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

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.

Again, in this example of Peter’s confidence in his flesh found in John 18:10, Christ resolved the damage Peter was caused to do – for our sakes – by the quick^G2198 and powerful^G1756 and sharper^G5114 word of God that healed the servant’s ear, and quickly told Peter to “put up again thy sword” (Mat 26:52). Knowing that God’s word has both a positive and negative application, we know that Peter’s example was demonstrating how we all at first want to defend our position in life and strike down anything that gets in our way, especially regarding religious belief, as opposed to dying daily and seeing the need to constantly see the greatest enemy we will ever face is ourselves as we pray the Lord will never let “the sword of the spirit” depart from our house (1Co 15:31, Eph 6:17, 2Sa 12:10).

Here now is some of the etymology of these three words: quick,G2198 and powerful,G1756 and sharper G5114 that will be used to divide asunder “soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart“.

These words that define what God’s word can do within our heavens, will be needed to sharpen us (Pro 27:17) so we can overcome the conditions described in these verses (Mat 24:4-13).

Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The “sword of the spirit” has to convict us and quicken us (Joh 6:63) in order to die daily and overcome through Jesus Christ.

quick G2198   zaō
Total KJV Occurrences: 144
live, 55
Mat_4:4, Mat_9:18, Mar_5:23, Luk_4:4, Luk_10:28, Luk_20:38, Joh_5:25, Joh_6:51, Joh_6:57-58 (3), Joh_11:25, Joh_14:19 (2), Act_17:28, Act_22:22, Act_25:24, Act_28:4, Rom_1:17, Rom_6:2, Rom_8:12-13 (3), Rom_10:5, Rom_14:8 (3), Rom_14:11, 1Co_9:14, 2Co_4:11, 2Co_5:15 (2), 2Co_6:9, 2Co_13:4, Gal_2:14, Gal_2:19-20 (4), Gal_3:11-12 (2), Gal_5:25, Phi_1:21-22 (2), 1Th_3:8, 1Th_5:10, 2Ti_3:12, Tit_2:12, Heb_10:38, Heb_12:9, Jam_4:15, 1Pe_2:24, 1Pe_4:6, 1Jo_4:9, Rev_13:14

living, 34
Mat_16:16, Mat_22:32, Mat_26:63, Mar_12:27, Luk_15:13, Luk_20:38, Luk_24:5, Joh_4:10-11 (2), Joh_6:51, Joh_6:57, Joh_6:69, Joh_7:38, Act_14:15, Rom_9:26, Rom_12:1, Rom_14:9, 1Co_15:45, 2Co_3:3, 2Co_6:16, Col_2:20, 1Th_1:9, 1Ti_3:15, 1Ti_4:10, 1Ti_6:17, Heb_3:12, Heb_9:14, Heb_10:20, Heb_10:31, Heb_12:22, 1Pe_2:4, Rev_7:2, Rev_7:17, Rev_16:3

liveth, 25
Joh_4:50-51 (2), Joh_4:53, Joh_11:26, Rom_6:10 (2), Rom_7:1-3 (3), Rom_14:7, 1Co_7:39, 2Co_13:4, Gal_2:20, 1Ti_5:6 (2), Heb_7:8, Heb_7:25, Heb_9:17, 1Pe_1:23, Rev_1:18, Rev_4:9-10 (2), Rev_5:14, Rev_15:6-7 (2)

alive, 15
Mat_27:63, Mar_16:11, Luk_24:23, Act_1:3, Act_9:41, Act_20:12, Act_25:19, Rom_6:1, Rom_6:13, Rom_7:9, 1Th_4:15, 1Th_4:17, Rev_1:18, Rev_2:8, Rev_19:20

lived, 4
Luk_2:36, Act_26:5, Col_3:7, Rev_20:4

quick, 4
Act_10:42, 2Ti_4:1, Heb_4:12, 1Pe_4:5

lively, 3
Act_7:38, 1Pe_1:3, 1Pe_2:5

livest, 2
Gal_2:14, Rev_3:1

life, 1
2Co_1:8

lifetime, 1
Heb_2:15

powerful G1756   energēs  Total KJV Occurrences: 3

effectual, 2
1Co_16:9, Phm_1:6

powerful, 1
Heb_4:12

sharper G5114 tomōteros  Total KJV Occurrences: 1
sharper, 1
Heb_4:12

I’ve spent a lot of time on this one verse (Heb 4:12) that describes God’s word, His voice, that we are to hear in hearts that are entreatable and miraculously not hardened (Heb 3:15, Isa 66:2), setting the stage for the verses we will look at next week (Heb 4:13-16), which describe what God’s word is able to accomplish right now in our lives through our great high priest, Jesus Christ, who is where He is, in our heavens, so that we can “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need“.

Lord willing, we will look at these last four verses of our study next week that we pray will help us see how we are to be “stedfast in the faith“, moving with fear to the saving of our spiritual house (Heb 11:7) as we overcome the adversary through Christ, and learn that Godliness with contentment is great gain (1Pe 5:8-10, 1Ti 6:6-10).

Heb 3:15  While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

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

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain [Heb 12:2].
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Part 3 – verses 13 to 20

In the first verse of our Psalm in this study, we will see that God tells us how we ought to go into His temple, into fellowship with one another, as He declares that it is with “burnt offering[s]”. In other words, it is through our collective trials and becoming comfortable in the fire together that we come to know our Lord and become purified as one body (Dan 3:22-27).

Many stories in God’s word describe this process of purification, but this particular one in Daniel is one of the most loud and dynamic parables of how God is both able to and continually is going about perfecting His saints through fiery trials via a process of judgment by which we are saved, even at the expense of people being put in very uncomfortable positions, and in many instances life and death scenarios for our sakes (2Co 4:15, 2Ti 3:16).

Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

These verses below express the fruit of our fellowship, the sweetness that comes about as a result of going through the exercise of being in the fire and becoming comfortable within it (Isa 33:13-16). If we are not given to acknowledge our need to be in the fire, then it is akin to saying that we say we see and our sins will remain (Joh 9:41). If we are given to repent and acknowledge our need to die daily, then we can continue to say that we have a hope within (Col 1:27) that is purifying us (1Jn 3:3, 1Jn 1:8). The glory of this mystery among the Gentiles within us is to go from glory to glory through a process where we are blessed to continue to endure through the trials that change us and bring us to a point of being comfortable in the fire right unto perfection on the third day (2Co 3:18, Luk 13:32).

It may seem obvious now, but I remember reading these verses in particular and not seeing myself as the one who was “far off” or the sinner in Zion who was afraid, and it truly is only after God shows us that ‘we are the ones’ in fearful hypocritical flesh that we can begin to do the work that our Lord alone is going to accomplish in all those who He is making comfortable in the fire in this age (Php 2:13).

Cause

Isa 33:13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
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;
Isa 33:16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

Effect

Psa 133:1 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

Pro 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt G2585 the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The opposite of speaking in Christ by the power of God is to do what our flesh naturally does in the court to make merchandise of our brethren, to be respecters of persons (Rev 22:9), and to idolize the flesh of men, which is all we can do until God burns this spirit out of us which naturally corrupts God’s word. It takes the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth which is found in those who have been blessed to be in the process of being unleavened by the life of Christ working in us in this age (1Co 5:8-9).

1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

corrupt G2585

– Original: κu945 πu951 λu949 υu769 ωpar – Transliteration: Kapeleuo
– Phonetic: kap-ale-yoo’-o
– Definition:
1. to be a retailer, to peddle
2. to make money by selling anything
a. to get sordid gain by dealing in anything, to do a thing for base gain
b. to trade in the word of God
1. to try to get base gain by teaching divine truth
c. to corrupt, to adulterate
1. peddlers were in the habit of adulterating their commodities for the sake of gain
– Origin: from kapelos (a huckster)
– TDNT entry: 13:03,4
– Part(s) of speech: Verb

– Strong’s: From κu945 ́u960 ηu955 οu962 kapēos (a huckster); to retail that is (by implication) to adulterate (figuratively): – corrupt.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
•corrupt, 1
2Co 2:17

In order for the word of God to no longer be corrupt (G2585) in our hearts and in our mouth, we must go through this process discussed above, through the purifying that comes as a result of being able to lose our life so that we might find it (Mat 16:25, Joh 12:24). These following verses show us that this is God’s grace and favour and mercy that He bestows upon a few in this age to actually have hearts that are being purified unto conversion and not inclined unto evil.

It is in asking God to purify us of the weakness and sin we see in ourselves that we are blessed, if He hears us and proceeds to purify us by the chastening and scourging where needed and gives us the ability to lay aside the weight of sin and know that we are forgiven and anointed by His hand. The prayers of the saints lead us to become “the whole ram upon the altar”, “a burnt offering unto the Lord”, and these verses below describe that process very well.

Psa 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Psa 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Psa 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

Exo 29:18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Deu 12:27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

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.

Psa 66:13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Psa 66:14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
Psa 66:15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

These verses remind us that it is upon a burnt offering (Lev 1:4) that our vows are paid and fulfilled, as we saw so clearly demonstrated through the email string of late in regards to being salted with fire, which we know that every sacrifice must be, in order to be accepted of the Lord (Mar 9:49, Heb 12:6).

Our lips utter “my vows” to God that declare we are a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) and He comes at times of duress “when I was in trouble” (Job 5:7). God holds us up through the fiery experience so that our sacrifice is accepted before our Father through Christ (Eph 1:6) who is represented by the fatlings, the rams, the bullocks and the goats of verse 15.

Psa 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
Psa 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

What God has done for our soul is what we have been discussing all along. He has been purifying it through the fire of His word which must be tried and tested in this age if we are going to be able to reveal Christ to the world as Christ presented the Father to the world (Joh 5:43, Mat 11:27, Joh 6:38, 2Ti 2:12).

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Psa 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psa 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

A reprobate heart, as we have discussed in the past, is an unbelieving and faithless heart (2Co 13:5-6, Rom 14:23), and when we are in this state of mind, God tells us plainly that such prayers are not heard because of their faithless nature (Jas 1:7). Our prayer is that God will keep us from this spirit of unbelief which was given to the Israelites in the wilderness for our admonition (Heb 3:7-13).

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

We can’t help it when we don’t have faith or are given over to a reprobate mind (2Co 4:4, Rom 1:28), but God does bring the elect to cry out and ask for help in our unbelief if we are his, and he delivers us by the saving grace and faith (Eph 2:8) that come from Him alone and is manifested through the body of Christ that “exhort one another daily, while it is called To day” (Heb 11:6, Mar 9:24).

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

When God does not turn away from our prayer, we are experiencing His mercy (Rom 11:16) in this age, which acts upon those fervent and continual prayers which God grants the elect to abide in to His glory (Joh 8:31-33, Psa 119:133).

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

“Exhort one another daily, while it is called today” (Heb 3:13)
Psalms 66:1-20

Part 2 – Verses 8 to 20

God has blessed His people to “Come and see the works of God:” and how He is “terrible (H3372) in his doing toward the children of men.

What is terrible (H3372) or fearful is to fall into the hands of the living (G2198) God (Heb 10:31) and to see how our nephesh, soulish sea of a life naturally commits adultery and fornication (physically and spiritually) and abides with strange creatures within as we progress from the sea unto the dry land as God supernaturally leads us “through the flood on foot:” by quickening us with His spirit (Joh 6:63).

It is through this process which we discussed last week that we learn to “rejoice in him” and come to learn and believe our powerlessness over sin (Joh 8:34), and how we are only beasts in this flesh with a much higher potential than we could have ever understood without God revealing this to us (Ecc 3:17-18, Gen 7:21).

Ecc 3:17 And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.
Ecc 3:18 I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.
Ecc 3:18 I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts. (ASV)

Gen 7:21 And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.

Ecc 3:17 shows us that it is through the judgment of our just behaviour and wickedness (Pro 16:4, Jer 17:17) that we come to understand how God is Sovereign over the light and darkness (Isa 45:7) and working all things according to the counsel of His will (Ecc 1:11, Rom 8:28).

These verses below and especially the first one (Psa 51:10) reveal to us the spiritual creation process of Jerusalem above (Psa 137:6) where we abide as God tells us “I Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” and this all happening in “heavenly places.”

Creating heavenly places (Joh 14:3)

Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Isa 4:5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isa 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

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

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

It is most humbling and reassuring to come to learn of God’s power and might that works through the Alpha and Omega who declares the end from the beginning (Rom 4:17). We are blessed to know in this age that His judgments are upon our first man Adam (1Pe 4:17) remaking the vessel of clay which was purposefully marred in the hand of the Potter to become something that “seemed good to the potter to make it.” (Jer 18:4). The ‘all things are new’ promises found in (2Co 5:17, Rev 21:5) are being created or formed within us through an ongoing process that God has promised to finish through Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith, as He makes known “by the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Heb 12:1-2).

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

This week we will once again look at the need to “exhort one another daily, while it is called today” and how it is through this exhorting, encouraging and comforting (1Th 4:1, Heb 3:13, 1Th 4:1, Act 2:40, Rom 15:4, 1Co 14:3, 2Co 1:3) of the body of Christ that we can stay the hand of Satan and the sin in our lives which can so easily beset us (Heb 12:1, 1Co 13:5).

1Th 4:1 Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk, – that ye abound more and more.

Heb 3:13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:

1Th 4:1 Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk, – that ye abound more and more.

Act 2:40 And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope.

1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation.

2Co 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;

Psa 66:8 O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
Psa 66:9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

We praise God because He truly does bring us to see that He “holdeth our soul (H5315) in life” and “suffereth not our feet to be moved” and we are reminded of verses (Psa 91:12, Luk 4:11) to make the point that God uses the angels of God, the church to minister to Christ’s body and hold us up and witness to those who will come after of the discipleship of Christ.

Some verses, like those found in (Luk 12:5-15) show us God who “holdeth our soul (H5315) in life”. We are reminded that we are in the same nephesh life as the sparrows and yet are of much greater value because God is destroying our soulishness to make it anew. Whereas the rest of the creation is being sacrificed for our sakes to demonstrate how God is destroying all the carnal realm (man’s heart) typified by beasts (Ecc 3:18).

Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Luk 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Luk 12:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. Luk 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
Luk 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
Luk 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. Luk 12:13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
Luk 12:14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Psa 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Psa 66:11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
Psa 66:12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

The result of God proving us and our being tried of the Lord is to be brought into a “wealthy place”.

These verses in Matthew best describe that wealthy place:

Mat 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mat 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

In order to get to this place however, we know that there must be much tribulation (Act 14:22) that God brings about and describes in these words in verse 12: “Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.” and “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water“.

The water and fire demonstrate the process of baptisms that we are called unto as well.

Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Psa 66:13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Psa 66:14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
Psa 66:15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.

These verses remind us that it is upon a burnt offering (Lev 1:4) that our vows are paid and fulfilled as we saw so clearly demonstrated through the email string of late in regards to being salted with fire, which we know that every sacrifice must be, in order to be accepted of the Lord (Mar 9:49, Heb 12:6).


Our lips utter “my vows” to God that declare we are a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) and come at times of duress “when I was in trouble” (Job 5:7). God holds us up through the fiery experience so that our sacrifice is accepted before our Father through Christ (Eph 1:6) who is represented by the fatlings, the rams, the bullocks and the goats of verse 15.

Psa 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
Psa 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

What God has done for our soul is what we have been discussing all along. He has been purifying it through the fire of His word, which must be tried and tested in this age if we are going to be able to reveal Christ to the world, as Christ presented the Father to the world (Joh 5:43, Mat 11:27, Joh 6:38, 2Ti 2:12).

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Psa 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psa 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

A reprobate heart, as we have discussed in the past, is an unbelieving and faithless heart (2Co 13:5-6, Rom 14:23), and when we are in this state of mind, God tells us plainly that such prayers are not heard because of their faithless nature (Jas 1:7). Our prayer is that God will keep us from this spirit of unbelief which was given to the Israelites in the wilderness for our abmonition (Heb 3:7-13).

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

We can’t help it when we don’t have faith or are given over to a reprobate mind (2Co 4:4, Rom 1:28), but God does bring the elect to cry out and ask for help in our unbelief if we are his and he delivers us by the saving grace and faith (Eph 2:8) that come from Him alone and is manifested through the body of Christ that “exhort one another daily, while it is called To day” (Heb 11:6, Mar 9:24).

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

When God does not turn away from our prayer, we are experiencing His mercy (Rom 11:16) in this age which acts upon those fervent and continual prayers which God grants the elect to abide in to His glory (Joh 8:31-33, Psa 119:133).

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.