The Spiritual Significance of the Color Green – Part 3

Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

This bitter water will kill you. The false doctrines of the world will kill you. Israel is green. They are being worked with by God. They knew this water was killing them and cried out for God’s intervention.

Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

What did He prove about them? He proved they didn’t have any faith. To ‘prove’ someone is to show what they are. God already knows what we are. He is proving us to ourselves.

Lev 27:30  And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

The tree which the Lord showed Moses, which made the waters sweet, signifies Christ as our healer and deliverer. If you are beginning to get the picture here, you can now see trees can signify men. It is we who should give shade to those babes in Christ who cannot yet stay long in the Sun. We don’t just dump all the meat of God’s word on an immature Christian. Everything we are and have is the Lord’s, and the Lord teaches us as we are able to hear it.

Mar 4:33  And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
Mar 4:34  But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

Deu 21:22  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deu 21:23  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

These scriptures are telling us that we are guilty of the death of Christ. It is through the curse of Christ hanging on the tree that we are purified.

It does seem contradictory that someone who has done nothing worthy of death is accursed of God. It is through dying, rotting flesh that life comes. It seems to be the exact opposite of what would be true, but that’s the way God has ordained it.

Deu 24:20  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

The olive trees were beaten to make the olives drop for harvest, but some were to be left on the trees for the needy.

What is that verse telling us? It is saying that all we have is of God, and we give our lives in service to God, but in so doing we serve our fellow man. You serve God when you serve your brother.

Jdg 9:8  The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

This parable is being put forth by the only remaining son of Gideon, who was also called Jerubbaal and who had judged Israel and delivered them from the Midianites.

Israel had been vasty outnumbered by the Midianites, but God led 300 of Gideon’s men to conquer a huge number of Midianites when He put such fear into them at the sound of Gideon’s men blowing their horns that they thought they were under attack in the night and ended up killing each other. The spoil of gold became Gideon’s, which made him a wealthy man. As polygamy was allowed under the old covenant, Gideon ended up with 70 sons.

One of these sons was born to Gideon by a concubine. That son was named Abimelech, and Abimelech decided that he wanted to be king of Israel and he declared himself king. He talked his mother and family into ‘campaigning’ for his kingship. Afterward he killed all his brothers except for the youngest, Jotham, who hid himself and gave us this parable as a warning to his overly ambitious brother, Abimelech:

Jdg 9:8  The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
Jdg 9:9  But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

This verse tells us what God means by the ‘green olive tree’ (Psa 52:8, Jer 11:16). This olive tree signifies men who honor God and man with their fruit and their oil, signifying their fidelity to the Lord’s words and His doctrines.

Jdg 9:10  And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
Jdg 9:11  But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Figs taste good. In the old days they were like eating candy.

Jdg 9:12  Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.
Jdg 9:13  And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

How does wine cheer God? Does God need wine to be cheered up? Christ said the cup of wine represented the new testament. God does not need to be cheered up, nevertheless it does please Him when we are obedient to His words and His doctrines, and He expresses that pleasure with the words “wine, which cheers God and man”.

Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Finally, the trees come to the bramble, and it takes them up on it.

Jdg 9:14  Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
Jdg 9:15  And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

The bramble represents Abimelech who wanted to be king over Israel. He was a lowly briar which thought to rule over the cedars of Lebanon. What was the fire that destroyed the trees?

The ‘fire’ signified a civil war in Shechem. Abimelech’s own people turned on him and killed him. That’s the definition of fire in this particular story. Fire burns every tree and bramble in its way.

What you should see in all of this is that trees are men. Different trees represent different stages in our growth. Even in the new testament this is made known to us.

Mar 8:22  And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. [We all first come to Christ spiritually blind.]
Mar 8:23  And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
Mar 8:25  After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. [God makes us to understand His word and His will more clearly as we mature in our knowledge of Him.]

We are told how to judge a person…by their fruits, signifying their actions. Christ is not talking about literal trees.

Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them [false prophets] by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Trees as Types of God’s Elect

Jer 11:19  But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Time after time we are told what these trees stand for. Trees planted by the water are a type of God’s elect.

Psa 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

What are cedar trees? What are palm trees? They are righteous men. This doesn’t mean they are necessarily spiritually good, but they are good men. We have Job as an example.

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job was a righteous man. He was a cedar of Lebanon, but he didn’t have the fruits of the spirit.

God doesn’t always use unrighteous men to deceive the world; He uses righteous men – good people, respectable, honorable men of whom the whole world speaks well. Billy Graham and the Pope are both cedars of Lebanon, but they don’t have one bit of the holy spirit. They are not fruit trees.

Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

This is a tree planted by waters, a good tree yielding fruit. Let’s see what trees have to do with the temple of God. What is the temple of God? The body of Christ as a church corporately and each member individually.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

With that in mind, let’s read:

1Ki 6:23  And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.

Remember this not the tabernacle but the temple.

The side posts, the pillars of the tabernacle, are God’s elect. The only pillars were at the door of the tabernacle and the door of the holy of holies. The cherubim acted as the channel to get to God. What is that telling us? Christ said no one comes to God but by Him. As the christ of Christ, we are used as that channel by which God saves all mankind. That’s how important our function is (Rom 11:31).

Trees in The Temple of God

1Ki 6:31  And for the entering of the oracle [the door of the holy of holies] he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.

What does Revelation tell us about olive trees?

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.

The two witnesses are the two olive trees. This is not just two men but God’s people down through the ages through whom all mankind must come. The two doors of the temple are olive trees. The light which poured forth out of the candlestick is God’s word poured out. We must want to share these truths with others or we are not getting it at all.

1Ki 6:32  The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.

Cherubim and palm trees are on the door that leads to God. Cherubim represent the elect. How do we know? They tell us in Revelation 5.

Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Palm trees are the same thing; those who bring mankind to Christ.

1Ki 6:33  So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.

The door of the temple is not the same as the doors of the oracle. The doors of the oracle lead to the holy of holies.

1Ki 6:34  And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.

Fir trees are not fruit trees, but they can still by used by God when they have been cut down and cut up.

1Ki 6:35  And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

Cherubim and palm trees are on both doors that lead to God. That gold fitted upon the carved work is beaten so thin it only needs to be rubbed on.

1Ki 6:36  And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.

2Ch 3:5  And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.

Fine gold, palm trees and chains were on the ceiling of God’s house.

Men as Trees

Eze 20:45  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 20:46  Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
Eze 20:47  And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

Who is God talking to when he is talking to a forest? He is talking to men. This is a negative application of trees, but it shows trees are men in symbol. This tree needs to be burned up.

Eze 20:48  And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
Eze 20:49  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

Yes, it’s a parable – trees are men.

Dan 4:9  O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.
Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.
Dan 4:13  I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
Dan 4:14  He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches:
Dan 4:15  Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
Dan 4:16  Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

This particular tree of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was Nebuchadnezzar himself. Daniel is explaining to him that Nebuchadnezzar will lose his mind for seven years and be sent to the field to eat grass like an ox. Yet after that time, he will return and get back his kingdom.

Hos 14:5  I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
Hos 14:6  His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

These verses in Hosea show a positive application to trees.

Mat 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees [men who don’t produce good fruit]: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits [because men are trees]. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

When you hear a minister saying to go fight for your country, he is not bringing forth good fruit. He can’t because he is a corrupt tree.

Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

You don’t know them by their lofty sermons or their miracles, but rather by how they adhere to the doctrines of Christ.

Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

The Tree of Life

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Those cherubim represent God’s elect as we have reiterated before. These are those who love God’s mind, who are impressed with God’s mind and love it.

Listen to all these scriptures that talk about the tree of life.

Pro 3:13  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom [Christ], and the man that getteth understanding.
Pro 3:14  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
Pro 3:15  She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her [wisdom – Christ].

Christ is her [wisdom] because He is God’s wife as well as His Son, and we are Christ’s wife as well as his sons.

Pro 3:16  Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Pro 3:17  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Pro 11:30  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Talking about men again who are olive trees and a tree of life to those who are brought to God through those men.

Pro 15:4  A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

Watch what comes out of your mouth! Don’t let it be perverse.

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

If you see that through your mercy people will obtain mercy, this will be understood by you. It is impossible for the natural man to understand how a tree can be in the midst and on either side and that the cherubim are in the midst of the throne and also round about it. We are in Him, He is in us and He is in His Father – that’s what is being said.

The fruit of righteousness is the tree of life, and Christ is the tree of life. It’s talking about the fruit of righteousness in our lives.

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

Conclusion of Green – Both Negative and Positive

Green is associated with a process which involves the work of the Spirit on the flesh, a dying vessel of clay. Green is associated with death because it is the combination of yellow and blue. Yellow is leprosy which consumes human flesh. Blue is associated with things of the spirit, in the heavens.

Green is not intended to be anything but green. Like yellow, it can’t inherit the kingdom of God. Green is positive inasmuch as it brings us to the blue. Green is negative as it is associated with the flesh which cannot enter the kingdom of God.

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

On the positive side, green identifies with those who have the seal of God in their foreheads. Green typifies God’s elect, green typifies the tree of life, and all who are ‘in Him’ as saviors of mankind.

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Green is shade from the burning sun, green is spiritual growth – God working in mankind.

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge” Part III
(“A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth”)

(Pro 12:14-21)

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.
Pro 12:15 The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.
Pro 12:16 A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent [man] covereth shame.
Pro 12:17 [He that] speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
Pro 12:18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
Pro 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.
Pro 12:20 Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy.
Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

This second to last section of proverbs chapter twelve that we’ll look at is primarily focused on the subject of the fruit of our mouth, and how we are to rule over our lips. God’s people are a peculiar and zealous people in this world who are warning, through our actions and witnessing with God’s fear within us (1Pe 3:15-16), that the world around us is going to fall (Babylon has fallen Rev 18:2), and that we need to strive towards ‘saving ourselves from this untoward generation’ (Act 2:39-40).

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience;(1Jn 3:20) that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

It takes God’s cleansing of our temples (Heb 9:23, Rom 2:4) to know that Babylon is falling within us, as the life of Christ increases within us and we decrease (Joh 3:30, 2Co 6:17, Eph 1:6). We all miss it at first but the temple spoken of in (Joh 2:19) does not just represent modern day Christianity that is not torn down, rather Christ is speaking of His own body which is the church that must be torn down and rebuilt in three days, by coming out of her (Joh 2:19, Mat 12:40). This is another witness of how Babylon within us must fall, and a new creation be formed through Christ “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Joh 2:19, 2Co 5:17, Rev 21:5).

If God is working with us in this life we are going to see Babylon falling within us through the chastening and scourging process that we’ve been called unto that will in time bring us to be able to bring our tongue under control, and when our thoughts are under control our tongue will be as well (2Co 10:5-6, Jas 3:8).

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Babylon will be busily trimming their lamps at the end of this age as God’s elect will also be (Mat 25:4-5), and iniquity will abound that can only be overcome by the faith of Christ, or extra oil He has promised those who have been predestined to endure unto the end (Mat 24:13). We know we are unprofitable servants having done that which “was our duty to do” (Luk 17:10) because God wrote those actions in our books, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” which is to give us the kingdom of God that is now within us (Luk 18:8, Php 2:12-13)

Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

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.

God’s elect will be given the ability to wholeheartedly acknowledge the unprofitableness of our flesh and how only Christ can bring us to be scarcely saved (1Pe 4:18, Eph 2:8) vis-a-vis the extra oil that the body of Christ will be granted, making them prepared for those ‘end of age’ moments. If we think otherwise, the man of perdition will be right back on the throne of our hearts telling us surely we were the ones willing and doing the trimming of our own lamps (Rev 19:7-8, Php 2:12-13).

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.(Luk 5:35, Act 17:11)
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

If we truly are given to love God’s instruction and love God’s knowledge, our diligence will be directed in a path of Godly fear that will have us being about our Father’s business in this life, speaking his words, and doing his works (Eph 2:10), as we lose our life (Mat 10:38-39) in order to build up the body of Christ, the church which is likened unto the ark that Noah built to the saving of his household (Heb 11:7).

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.

Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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.

With these verses as a backdrop to our study let’s look at the hope that we have today, if Christ is judging us as our hope of glory within (Col 1:27).

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of [his] mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

It takes God’s reproach in our lives to purify our lips, and what He is reproaching is our iniquity (Isa 6:7).

Isa 6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

If we are blessed to have this experience of judgement in this life we will know that “the recompence of a man’s hand” that is rendered unto us has nothing to do with us, but rather what God does within us through Christ both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13).

The “fruit” of God judging His elect in this age is being discussed in type and shadow in these verses (Heb 11:26-27).

Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Pro 12:15 The way of a fool [is] right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel [is] wise.

By God’s estimation a self-righteous man is a fool. A fool in his heart has said there is no God (Psa 14:1), and the believer may say, well that’s not me, but in reality that is you when you deny God as being the one who is doing the works within you, to which we have nothing to boast about (Rom 3:27, Eph 2:8).

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

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

A fool is self-righteous and has no need to “hearkeneth unto [the] counsel” of the “wise“. We are told several times throughout scripture, being warned and admonished to heed such counsel, because we simply do not by nature (Pro 19:20, Pro 24:5-6).

Pro 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Pro 24:5 A wise man [is] strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors [there is] safety.

Pro 12:16 A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent [man] covereth shame.

The prudent man is the brother who mercifully covers the shame of his weaker younger brother who can’t help at this immature stage in his walk to openly or “presently” make known his foolishness that is manifested in wrath that demonstrates he has no control at this point over the entirety of his spirit (Pro 16:32).

Pro 16:32 [He that] is slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

But God is merciful who not only bears our iniquity but also gives us the opportunity in due time to bear the iniquity of others in love. Notice how Joseph’s brothers acknowledge that they are the ones who brought this evil upon themselves (Gen 42:21), not yet acknowledging what Joseph is going to say to them in regard to God’s sovereignty (Gen 45:5).

Gen 42:21 And they said one to another, We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Pro 12:17 [He that] speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

This proverb seems pretty self evident regarding speaking truth that is not possible without Christ in us, who is the truth (Joh 14:6). So too, we can speak the truth as a false witness with a deceitful heart, because speaking the truth in love or in righteousness is only made possible by the righteousness of Christ being shed abroad in our hearts by which we are saved (Rom 5:5, Rom 8:28). Christ, in other words, is our righteousness (1Co 1:30) and only Christ can be Christ! (1Jn 2:20, Mat 13:16)

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, [Rom 5:5] to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus [Col 1:27], who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

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

If we look throughout history, it is the basest of men that God has used to demonstrate this spirit of speaking words that pierce like a sword, “There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword“. In that sense, this is the negative example of the two edged sword that witnesses against our flesh, but “the tongue of the wise [is] health“. We pierce the heart of others at first, leaving Mary who represents the true bride of Christ pierced in her heart for the revelation of her son’s plight that we are all guilty of (Luk 2:35).

Luk 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed […”but the tongue of the wise [is] health“].

It takes God bringing us to acknowledge our own personal part in piercing Christ (Zec 12:10) and killing him, in order for us to then be able to have a tongue that is wise and able to bring the health of God’s word to others, “but the tongue of the wise [is] health“. God is dragging us to the tree of life (Joh 6:44) for that very purpose, to fulfill our joy as we “retaineth her” (Rev 1:3), so our earth and heaven can be founded and established through Christ (Pro 3:18-19, Mat 16:18, Mat 6:10).

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.

Pro 3:18 She [is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retaineth her.
Pro 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

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.

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.

With that establishing of our hearts and minds, we can then care for our brothers and sisters both now and in the age to come, with encouraging words and admonitions of Truth that brings the healing we all need, “being oppressed of the devil” (Mal 4:2, Mat 9:35, Act 10:38, Rev 22:2).

Pro 12:18 There is talk that is like stabbings of a sword, Yet the tongue of the wise is healing.” (CLV)

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

Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.

Pro 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.

The lying tongue, unknowingly to the world, is within themselves, in Babylon (Pro 30:20), as it was with us in our former conversation (Eph 2:2-4). We didn’t believe we were wrong in our convictions of ‘truth’ at that time, but at God’s appointed time we came to learn of His eternal purpose for his children that involved our being strengthened, settled and established, “The lip of truth shall be established for ever” (Mat 16:18) in Christ (1Pe 5:10-11).

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].
1Pe 5:11 To him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Pro 12:20 Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy.

It is our own deceitful and wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) that wants us to stop examining ourselves and stop being introspective. However, as we die daily by keeping under ourselves, God will lead us unto repentance by His holy spirit so we can gain victory over sin in our life through Christ our hope of glory within (Rom 2:4, Eph 2:13-15).

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;

We become the fool spoken of in (Pro 26:12) when we stop seeing the need for the body of Christ in our lives and the safety that is found in a multitude of counsellors (Pro 11:14, Pro 24:6, Pro 20:18-19).

Pro 26:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? [there is] more hope of a fool than of him.

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

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

Pro 20:18 [Every] purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Pro 20:19 He that goeth about [as] a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

Conversely, our peace and joy in this life comes when the understanding of His salvation is restored unto us (Psa 51:12-15), and in this we greatly rejoice, “but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy“, knowing that we serve a merciful God in heaven who, in time, will save all of His children, each man in his own order.

Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.
Psa 51:13 [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

Our former conversation in this world (Eph 2:1-3) was “filled with mischief“, and being the sinning machines we were made to be, it came to us naturally. The result of that mischievous spirit is that evil would happen to us, and if the Lord is working with us in this life He will deliver us from that spirit so that “There shall no evil happen to the just“. That means that the evil which wants to overtake us as it used to, will not be able to do so through Christ, through whom we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:35-39).

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Through Christ we can now have dominion over sin as we go onto perfection on the third day as God’s little remnant that have been separated from the world, and for this very purpose of demonstrating the power of God that takes the weak of the world and brings them to love knowledge and love instruction, which will be the fruit of the mouth of God’s ‘kind of first fruits’ (Rom 9:27, Rom 11:5, Jas 1:18).

Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We’re not perfected, but we are going onto perfection (Php 3:14, Luk 13:32), we are not sinless, but we are sinning less, and confessing our faults, and knowing that the Lord is cleansing us through this great process we’ve been incredibly blessed (Heb 9:23, 1Pe 4:17-18) to be partakers of, for the rest of the world (1Jn 1:8, Rom 7:24-25, Oba 1:21).

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

The Book of Romans, Part 24 – Preach the Gospel

[Study Aired January 15, 2024]

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 
Rom 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 
Rom 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Rom 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. 

In Romans 10:14-21, Paul emphasizes the crucial role of preaching and spreading the Gospel. He raises a series of questions highlighting the interconnectedness of faith, belief and the need for preachers to proclaim the message. The passage emphasizes the importance of hearing the word of God, which is essential for faith to take root. Despite the widespread proclamation of the Gospel, not everyone has obeyed its message. Paul draws on the Old Testament, quoting Isaiah and Moses, to illustrate that God’s plan extends beyond Israel to include the gentiles from all nations. The passage concludes with a poignant reminder of God’s persistent outreach to a disobedient Israel. This study will explore the significance of actively sharing the Gospel and the universal invitation for all to embrace faith in Christ.

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 

Paul quotes Isaiah 52 1-12.:

Isa 52:1-12 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 

Isa 53:1-12 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Rom 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 
Rom 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Rom 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Christ came to preach the gospel to the Jews first and was rejected and put to death. He changed the law, and they were not able to hear the truth of Christ’s words. The Father sent His Son to show the way of salvation. His own kinsmen were not given the ability to understand the message of Christ. He spoke in parables for the purpose of causing deafness and blindness in them.

Mat 13:10-15 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Paul desires for his kinsmen of the flesh to seek salvation, but it is not meant to be. He has been chosen to preach the message of the gospel to the gentiles. He understands that the scriptures must be fulfilled. Paul is our example of preaching to the nations. We also desire for our kinsmen to be saved in this age. We are to share the gospel with anyone that desires to hear it.

Psa 96:1-13 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Our sharing of the word today may not produce fruit in this age, but in the ages to come fruit will be produced. We are commanded to preach the gospel to every creature.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

[Study Aired December 30, 2021]

1Ki 8:14  And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;) 
1Ki 8:15  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
1Ki 8:16  Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 
1Ki 8:17  And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 
1Ki 8:18  And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. 
1Ki 8:19  Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. 
1Ki 8:20  And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 
1Ki 8:21  And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
1Ki 8:22  And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: 
1Ki 8:23  And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 
1Ki 8:24  Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 
1Ki 8:25  Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
1Ki 8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

The title of our study is taken from John 14:12 which reads “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” It is with this statement of Christ that we are being reminded of the certainty of the fruit in our lives that has been prophesied to come forth (Joh 15:16) as a result of the life of Christ within us (Col 1:27). It is “because I go unto my Father” which was expedient for Christ to do (Joh 16:7) we can be assured that what God has predestined to be fulfilled in our lives will be accomplished through Him who is the vine. As we abide in Him, we will bring “forth much fruit” (Joh 15:5).

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

[Who brings forth much fruit within the gentile flesh that I abide in through spiritual circumcision (Rom 2:28-29) “that ye should go and bring forth fruit“]

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Joh 15:5  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.

The temple of Solomon is now complete, and Solomon, who is a type of the elect, typifies those who have Christ’s spirit within them. Solomon is now proclaiming, in type and shadow, the blessing that is ours unto which we have been called (1Pe 3:9) and that is to be God’s workmanship who will be a blessing for the rest of the world, given as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1, Joh 3:16).  We are ordained to bring forth much fruit through the faith of Christ (Joh 15:16, Rom 7:4, Rom 7:24-25, Luk 22:32), having become the apple of God’s eye through Christ, and a light unto the Gentiles (Act 13:47) as a result of His life in us (Rom 8:9).

1Pe 3:9  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (1Jn 4:17), that whosoever believeth (Joh 6:28-29) in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

It is those who believe and abide, or continue, in the truth (Joh 8:31-36), who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear where our hope resides (Mar 4:11, Col 1:27). Then, with these things in mind, we will look at this section of Kings which points to that hope of glory within, via the typical language of king Solomon. Solomon is now able to bless the nation of Israel from the completed temple that represents the mature life of Christ in us which will be used to bless all the nations of the world in time.

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.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? [Mat 24:13]
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. [“If ye continue^G3306 in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Joh 6:44)]

1Ki 8:14  And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood; ) 

The whole or “all the congregation of Israel stood” is typical of all the world beholding the salvation of God as they stand (Act 1:10-11, Exo 14:13, Deu 18:6-7).

Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven [in time into the hearts and minds of all of God’s creation].

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

Deu 18:6  And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose; 
Deu 18:7  Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the LORD.

It is when “the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel” that they were told of the blessing that God was bringing to them that came about by His choosing, “David to be over my people Israel“. David represents Christ, and Solomon represents those who have been granted to turn their faces about and see what God is doing within our lives which is represented by the temple (Rev 1:10-12).

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
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 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

1Ki 8:15  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 
1Ki 8:16  Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 
1Ki 8:17  And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

Solomon’s blessing, given before the congregation of Israel, is a shadow of these words in Revelation 4:10-11 and 1 Chronicles 29:14 that God’s elect will profess before all the world and that we declare to each other as we witness His power working in our lives (Rev 11:3).

Rev 4:10  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 
Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. 

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.

It is David, who is a type of Christ, through whom the Father spoke (Joh 1:1-4), and so when we read of this event, it is typical of our heavenly Father speaking through Christ, the YAHWEH of the Old Covenant. “The LORD God of Israel” who “spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it.” Christ came to reveal the Father and was speaking only what the Father had predestined Him to say (Joh 12:49-50).

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Joh 12:50  And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

What David spoke was a declaration of what Christ would declare while He was on earth, and that is, “Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.” This statement is symbolic language telling us that many are called and few are chosen. God “brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein” represents the many called but not chosen to have the life of Christ within them, and “but I chose David to be over my people Israel” represents Christ and His body who are chosen^G1588 out of the called^G2822 (Mat 20:16).

Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called^G2822, but few chosen^G1588.

G2822klētos klay-tos’

From the same as G2821; invited, that is, appointed, or (specifically) a saint: – called.

Total KJV occurrences: 11

G1588 eklektos ek-lek-tos’

From G1586; select; by implication favorite: – chosen, elect.

Total KJV occurrences: 23

Then we’re told in 1 Kings 8:17 that “it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel” which further confirms that David is a type of Christ whose desire was to drink of the fruit of the vine with the body of Christ but plainly said “For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” It is when the kingdom of God comes within us (Luk 17:21) that a “house for the name of the LORD God of Israel” is built by Christ (Psa 127:1). However, it is Solomon who typifies the elect through whom God builds this new creation, doing greater works than Christ as Solomon did greater works than David, typified by the building of the temple which we are (Joh 14:12, 1Co 3:16). The words  “greater works than these shall he do” means God’s elect are blessed to be able to be instrumental in the conversion of someone which Christ, while he was in the flesh, never did (1Ti 4:16).

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue^G1961 in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

1Ki 8:18  And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. 
1Ki 8:19  Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

These two verses (1Ki 8:18-19) are saying the same thing as 1Kings 8:16-17, that it was in Christ’s “heart to build an house unto my name” (Luk 22:15) as it was in David’s. That desire would be accomplished in time but was not going to be accomplished while Christ was in His flesh (Joh 16:7). The true spiritual communion we have in Christ was not going to be realized until the holy spirit was given on Pentecost, making it then (and only then) possible for Christ’s disciples to be as Him (1Jn 4:17) having the same desire “to eat this passover with you before I suffer” which is how the spiritual house is built (Luk 18:34, 1Co 10:16). Breaking bread and drinking wine at the Passover were symbols that revealed how the word of God nourishes the body and prepares our hearts to endure the suffering required in this life if we are going to mature in Christ and rule with Him in the next (2Ti 2:12-13). It sounds like the scriptures are saying that David of himself did well to have this desire in his heart to build the temple, but the sum of God’s word tells us otherwise: “thou didst well that it was in thine heart” (Pro 16:1).

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Luk 18:34  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. 

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? 

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 
2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself [Joh 10:28-29, Mat 16:18].

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. 

“Nevertheless” is a word that means ‘never what we want in our fleshly desires, but God’s will be done’, which Christ always submitted to while He was on the earth, and this is what God’s elect pray is being accomplished in our lives now as it was in His (Luk 22:42, 1Jn 4:17). So Christ himself would “not build the house” which was not God’s will for him, but His sons “thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name” (Joh 16:7). Abraham, who is a type of Christ, reminds us of this point (Gen 15:2-6). We are so few now who are being used to build that house with God’s spirit within us, but we know that in time Christ’s other fold will be saved, and God will ultimately be all in all (Joh 10:16, Gal 4:27, Rev 19:7, 1Co 15:28).

Gen 15:2  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 
Gen 15:3  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 
Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. [“thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins” (Gal 3:16)]
Gen 15:5  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be [Gal 4:27].
Gen 15:6  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Joh 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd [1Co 15:28].

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

1Ki 8:20  And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 
1Ki 8:21  And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
1Ki 8:22  And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

The first section of this verse reminds us that we are raised in heavenly places with Christ: “I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel” (Eph 2:4-7), Solomon, being a type of the elect, “risen up in the room of David my father” and David being a type of Christ our Olam^H5769 Father. (Deu 32:39-40, Eph 2:6)

With Christ as our high priest (Heb 4:15-16), we are promised we can be more than conquerors through Him, just as the covenant of the Lord being within the ark is symbolic language telling us we will overcome through the exceedingly great and precious promises of God (2Pe 1:4). We will overcome the powers and principalities we wrestle against through Christ, which overcoming is typified by the covenant (‘promise’ Exo 19:5, Luk 24:49) that the LORD “made with our fathers” when “he brought them out of the land of Egypt“.

2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust [Tit 2:11-12].

“Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven” is a shadow of God’s elect that tells us when we are before the altar of God which is symbolic of the cross, we can then spread forth our hands toward heaven to bless others as a wave sheaf offering (Lev 23:17), or like the cherubim that sat on the ark with wings that were “spread forth” symbolizing the mercy that God will extend to all the world one day as a mother hen does her chicks (Mat 23:37).

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!

1Ki 8:23  And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 
1Ki 8:24  Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand^H3027, as it is this day.

We serve a merciful God who “keepest covenant” meaning what God has promised to do, He will do (Heb 6:18-19), and what He has promised to God’s elect in this age is that He is going to show “mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart“. That mercy is expressed through “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” that leads us to repentance in this age, which we are not to despise (Rom 2:4) as we seek the Lord with all our hearts (Heb 11:6-7, Jer 29:13-14). The corruption of this world is escaped by giving all diligence and following these steps outlined in 2 Peter 1:4-12.) Do we rip the veil with Christ in us (Rom 5:10)? The answer is yes, and we are called to believe that the One who we are committing our ways unto is faithful, and promises we will be more than conquerors through Him (1Pe 4:19).

Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: [Rom 8:25]
Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

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.

[God turns away our captivity by blessing us to move with fear as we build the ark which is represented by the church, Christ’s body (Col 1:24), that is being led by God’s holy spirit (Rom 8:14)]

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet [Rom 8:25], 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.

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

David is again mentioned, in context with this covenant of mercy, as a type of Christ who brings to the body of Christ the understanding that we have been given promises which are exceedingly great and precious (2Pe 1:4). “Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand^H3027, as it is this day” tells us that all of God’s desire is going to be fulfilled in each of the elect’s lives by God’s power (Heb 10:7, 1Jn 4:17, Php 2:12-13). As God accomplishes His will through the body of Christ, we are told not to murmur which is the bad fruit of despising “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” that leads us to repentance.

Heb 10:7  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

1Ki 8:25  Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. 
1Ki 8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. 

If the LORD God of Israel will keep “with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him“, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church (Mat 16:18), which is what this symbolic statement means: “There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel.” Why this must happen is “so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me“, meaning because of God’s purpose being fulfilled in the body of Christ through God’s power, the world will in time “take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

Solomon, who is a type of the elect, goes on to say “And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified^H539, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father“, demonstrating the right desire to want to see God’s plan move forward through the judgment of the rest of His creation brought about by God’s word being spoken, which words are the fiery words of eternal life (Rom 10:1, Num 11:29, Rev 6:10, Jer 5:14).

verified  H539  ‘âman  aw-man’

A primitive root; properly to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain; once (in Isa 30:21; by interchange for H541) to go to the right hand: – hence assurance, believe, bring up, establish, + fail, be faithful (of long continuance, stedfast, sure, surely, trusty, verified), nurse, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the right.

Total KJV occurrences: 108

Rom 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Num 11:29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! 

Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [Our blood is avenged by fulfilling its purpose of washing the sins of the world, seeing our blood has now become the blood of Christ, his bones and flesh that will devour all carnality in time (Eph 5:30, Oba 1:21, Jer 5:14)]

1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? 

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth?” was answered to Philip with this verse (Joh 14:9), written for our sakes to help us understand our relationship with our heavenly Father and Christ “at that day” (Joh 5:30, 2Co 3:5, Joh 14:20). We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is God who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13).

If ever there was a verse that witnesses to the fact that we have God’s spirit in earnest (Eph 1 :14) this would be the one: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”. We are those marred vessels that must be made new again (Jer 18:4), weak and “not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof” (Luk 7:6). Yet “he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psa 103:14). “The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The LORD hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all” (Psa 103:17-19, Heb 12:2, Php 1:6).

It is only by the power of God that we, as His body, can be partakers with Christ and strengthened “in the inner man that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts by faith” (2Co 13:4, Eph 3:16-19, Joh 15:5, Col 1:24, 1Pe 1:3-5).

2Co 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 
Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 
Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

Joh 15:5  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.

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: 

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

The verses that show us God would have “respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication” can be found in 1 John 5:14 and John 16:23-24, to name a few. David is typified as Christ through whom our prayers are accepted, which is what “respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication” is a shadow of (Eph 1:6).

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 

Joh 16:23  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Joh 16:24  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 

This last verse of our study reminds us again that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church if we are the apple of His eye (Zec 2:8). He is wakeful over His word so “that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place“, symbolized also by the sparrows that over which He watches, and whether they live or die, it is unto the Lord because of our belief (Jer 1:12, Mat 10:29, Rom 14:8). This concept ties in with our title for this study taken from John 14:12,  which reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [“The works that I do shall he do also” (Lev 14:5-7)].

Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

God is the one who is making a holy people unto Himself which is what “my name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place” symbolizes, and this is being done for the purpose of perfecting praise within us as we worship Him in spirit and in truth for the wonderful works (Rom 2:4, Pro 3:11, Gal 6:9) He is doing unto the children of men (Joh 4:23-24, Psa 107:8, Psa 107:15, Psa 107:21, Psa 107:31), which we will look at more closely next week, Lord willing.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh [1Pe 4:17], and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

1Ki 6:8-12 “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel”

[Study Aired October 7, 2021]

1Ki 6:8  The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third. 
1Ki 6:9  So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
1Ki 6:10  And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
1Ki 6:11  And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
1Ki 6:12  Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

When we look at the construction of the physical temple of Solomon, every part of it has some spiritual significance for God’s elect to draw wisdom from. The building of the temple, like Noah’s ark represents our working out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is God who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12, Heb 11:7). God is preparing our hearts and warning us as Noah was warned, to be able to endure until the end (Amo 3:7), and we are learning together the strength that is ours when we operate together as one body, one ark, or one solid temple of God with Christ as our corner stone of support (Eph 2:19-20).

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

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.

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

If we are God’s workmanship in this age (Eph 2:10) then we’ll know that Solomon’s temple and all of the measured and fitted materials represent the words of God that we laboured for over the years ‘proving all things and holding fast that which is good’ (1Th 5:21) so that our Father and Christ will make their abode with us (Joh 14:20-23). It is with us that the manifest knowledge of Christ is made known through the church via God’s holy spirit, as the comforter leads us into all truth (Joh 16:13).

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.

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him [(Eph 3:10) becoming measured and fitted materials by God’s power and might explained (Rev 11:1)].
Joh 14:22  Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world [Heb 13:10, Eph 3:10]?
Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him [This is how God manifests Himself to us through every joint that supplieth – “every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph 4:16) which is the fruit that is brought forth if we are granted to continue to abide in Christ, keeping His words (Joh 14:25-26)].

Christ manifests Himself to His bride through the church, which is His body and temple that we are, which houses God’s spirit (Col 1:24, 1Co 3:16, Rom 8:9). The temple is where the gospel is being preached to all men (Col 1:28, 1Co 9:22) as the light of Christ shines forth from the temple where we worship God in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23) and continue to stay unspotted from this world as we visit the fatherless and widows who represent the elect in their affliction; which affliction is central to our communion in Christ (Jas 1:27, 1Co 10:16).

Christ has promised to make his disciples fishers of men (Mat 4:19), who are learning to always be ready to give an answer for the hope of the gospel within them which is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (1Pe 3:15, Rom 1:16). As we near the end of this age, the witness of Christ will shine forth more and more to this dying world both within, and consequently outwardly, as He increases and we decrease (2Pe 1:19, Php 2:15).

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

John the baptist was a physical witness who represents our own fleshly minds that can’t decrease without Christ increasing in our heavens, and so John’s type-and-shadow comforting words tell us that we must decrease and Christ must increase as was the case physically in his life having been beheaded (Mar 6:27). The spiritual reality for God’s elect is that we must be granted to continue in the truth which will cause our flesh to be put off as Christ increases within us through our being buried with Him into His spiritual baptism (Col 1:24) as John was not (Joh 3:30, 1Co 3:6, Rom 6:3).

We must follow Christ in order to be overcomers and fulfill our role of being witnesses in this age, and so we are promised that if we follow Christ (“Follow me”), we will be more than conquerors through Him, and the truth will set us free (Joh 8:32-36). Following Christ means our first Adamic head, represented by John the baptist, must be put off. The least in the kingdom is greater than John because of the new creation we have become through Christ who is our new head. John also represents the keeping of the law, which will never justify anyone (Mat 11:11, Gal 3:11).

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men [Php 2:12-13].

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [“Follow me“] then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The temple being built will be of little use unless its true function for the elect, of being the two witnesses within that temple, is accomplished, and once again we see that it has been prophesied to be accomplished not by might or power, but by God’s holy spirit which gives us the power to fulfill God’s will on earth as it is in heaven (Rev 11:3). If John was able to accomplish what he did in his flesh pointing to Christ, then it is certain that if we are Christ’s body, that we can be armed with the mind and suffering of Christ in order to overcome and witness to the world the life of Christ in us to which John was only pointing (Gal 2:20, Rom 5:10). John was pointing to the lamb of God Who would take away the sins of the world, but he was also unknowingly pointing to the saviours who would come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, the body of Christ (Col 1:24, Oba 1:21).

In this section of Kings there is a bright admonition that was given to Solomon “Concerning this house which thou art in building” which went this way: “if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.”  This admonition to Solomon symbolizes our need to not only be hearers of the word who have built up our knowledge of God, represented by the temple, but doers of the word who now must lay a good foundation of predestined works against the day of evil that is to come upon this world (Mat 7:24, Eph 6:14-15, 1Ti 6:19, 2Ti 2:19).

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his [and I will make you fishers of men]. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity [We depart from iniquity by believing these words (Php 2:12-13)].

God is the only one who can permit (Heb 6:3) our hearts to be softened (Heb 12:6-7) in order to be received so we can lay up this foundation of good works, otherwise we will be found in the second resurrection having to have that hardened foundation softened through judgment at that time (Rom 2:5, Heb 6:1).

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Our future and present ability to overcome is accompanied with the promise that Christ will never leave or forsake us (Heb 13:5) as we go about our Father’s business of being fishers of men. A blueprint for God’s people regarding how His power will be used in the lives of those who have been called and chosen and remain faithful unto death as living sacrifices or witnesses with God’s power in their lives (Rom 12:1-2, Rev 11:7-8) can be found in these verses in Matthew 10:8-42, verses that represent the works and fruit that will manifest in us if our Father and Christ are abiding in us and we are continuing in the truth (Joh 15:5, Joh 5:30, Joh 8:31-32). Our life in Christ is one of witnessing to the kingdom of God, of which we are ambassadors, and how we pronounce that kingdom to the world is detailed in these verses (Mat 10:8-42). None of this is possible without Christ in us, but through Him we can be the light of the world that glorifies God in what we do and say in this life (Mat 5:14).

With such exceedingly great and precious promises in our lives, we can be assured that with the faith of Christ and the determined hand of our Father who is working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11), we will be more than conquerors through Him who loved us, and the witness to which we have been called will be accomplished through the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ, who is the true and faithful witness (Rom 5:10, Mat 16:18, Heb 12:2, Php 1:6, Rev 3:14).

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

These verses (Mat 10:8-42) represent the witness that must come forth and will come forth through the body of Christ. It is a testimony of what Christ is going to do through the church, not what He might do, or that we in our flesh may prevent God from accomplishing, but rather it represents the fruit that is born out of the church that Christ is building (Mat 16:18). If it is Christ’s church, it will flourish and a witness will manifest and fruit will remain and be established and the tree will be known by its fruit (Joh 15:16).

We need wisdom to know how to walk in this age as we are led by the spirit of God with the knowledge He gives us to know how to discern spirits as we interact with the world today and minister to each other as we go through this life of much tribulation and judgment that is upon God’s house (1Pe 4:17). If we are in that blessed and holy first resurrection, these words of Christ will be no less applicable for the period of time when the true gospel will go out to all nations, with various degrees of acceptance and non-acceptance, always all unfolding according to the counsel of God’s own will (Mat 10:8-42, Mat 11:21).

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 [within me].

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you [to be fishers of men who know that the seed of God that we plant will not return void (Isa 55:11)].
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

In this section of the book of Kings, the temple that Solomon built was announced to be finished: “So he built the house, and finished it“. Christ’s physical life was also announced to be ready to do the work God had set before him in (Luke 2:52). Solomon’s temple was finished and made ready to serve its function, just as Christ’s life and the body of Christ represented by the temple (1Jn 4:17) will be made ready to fulfill our function in God’s plan (Col 2:17). The witness can now go forth through the body of Christ in power and might as we fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ, not by physical might or power but by God’s holy spirit that is the hope of glory that we have within making this possible (Act 1:8, Rev 11:3, Col 1:24, Col 1:27, Php 4:13).

1Ki 6:8  The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

The middle chamber is the one which is six cubits (1Ki 6:6) which represents the number of man, so “winding stairs” that go up “and out of the middle into the third” are a witness to the process of judgment our carnal nature must go through in order to go on to perfection in the third chamber, which is seven cubits, the number for completion. It is found “in the right side of the house” as the “right” represents power, specifically the power of God which we will need to overcome. The stairs do not go straight up and down like an elevator, because God’s plan and our growth is not a linear event, but rather our Father gives us hope of what is ahead of us and a vision as such that sustains us through the body of Christ, through the angels of God that ascend and descend these stairs (Gen 28:12).

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Christ’s growth in us is predetermined and likened to Jacob’s ladder, where we ascend up and down that ladder which represents Christ. Christ’s purpose within us is never going to be thwarted seeing He is the One who is accomplishing this work within us as we are taught that it is through the chastening in this life that our ways are made straight as we learn to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts (Tit 2:12, Joh 1:23). There can be no ascending or descending of Christ in our life if grace and faith are not effectively a part of our day-to-day walk which, as we mentioned in last week’s study, is the reason why the first chamber is five cubits, which begins this process of being able to ascend into the third chamber as we die daily, being saved by the grace and faith of Christ (Joh 3:13, Eph 2:8).

The angels Jacob saw in his dream on that ladder represent the body of Christ and its various functions in Christ’s body found in Ephesians 4:9-13.

Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) [Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21]
Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

1Ki 6:9  So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.

Building the house and finishing it is not the same as continuing in the truth in order to be saved, which is what is required to become fishers of men (Joh 8:31-32, 1Ti 4:16, 1Jn 4:6). In type and shadow, however, the stage has been set to continue in the truth: God’s servant Solomon was used to cover “the house with beams and boards of cedar”.

Those “beams and boards” are produced from cedar trees that are non fruit-bearing trees that represent the knowledge and experience of Christ we had in Babylon that needs to now be rightly divided by Christ and properly fitted into the temple of God. We can have a lot of understanding with no true conversion or comprehension in our hearts as Hebrews 6:1-6 teaches us, but if God will permit (Heb 6:3), those beams and boards, which now cover the house, will resonate with a new relationship of maturity in Christ where we worship our Father in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23).

The beams represent the strength of Christ that is ours when we are obedient to our Lord (Act 5:32), and the boards of cedar represent the beauty of holiness (Psa 92:12, Psa 96:9) that comes about by rightly dividing the word of truth (2Ti 2:15).

The temple is also likened to a bride coming down from heaven who is adorned, and so all these elements that make up the physical temple represent that preparing or strengthening of the body of Christ taking place in our lives if God has ordained it (Rev 21:2, Rev 19:7).

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.

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews [Rom 2:28-29].
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

1Ki 6:10  And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
1Ki 6:11  And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

Again the mention of how they “built chambers against all the house, five cubits high:” accompanied with the thought “and they rested on the house with timber of cedar” tells us that we labour to enter into the rest of Christ represented by those “chambers” and that it is “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8, Php 2:12). The “five cubits” represent that grace through faith process whereby we are being saved when we find our rest in Christ which comes to us through the storms of this life God raises and through which we labour (Heb 4:11) and are delivered from (Psa 107:25-29).

It is through much tribulation that we enter into the rest of Christ (Act 14:22), and it is when we experience this communion of suffering found in our Lord’s body that the “word of the Lord” then comes to us (1Co 10:16, Luk 24:30-32).

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?

Luk 24:30  And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
Luk 24:31  And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight [Joh 20:29].
Luk 24:32  And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

1Ki 6:12  Concerning this house which thou art in building^{H1129 [H8802]}, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

Solomon, who is a type of the elect, is now given the house rules so to speak of this marvellous temple “Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them“, and was told if he did these things “then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father“.  We are being told, in type and shadow, that if Solomon/we will continue in being a doer of the word, then God will “perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father“.

God’s word being ‘performed with David’ symbolizes the life of Christ that is faithful and well pleasing to God. David’s life typified Christ as a man who was after God’s own heart (1Sa 13:14, Joh 8:29), and with Christ in our ‘built and finished temple as our hope of glory’ (Col 1:27), we can fulfill the spiritual function of this temple which we are, as God gives us that increase making this possible (1Co 3:6). It is that love and care the body of Christ has for each other which is a gift from God typified by David’s love of the Lord (Eph 4:16) which Solomon was admonished to show by walking “in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments” (Joh 14:15).

1Sa 13:14  But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

Joh 8:29  And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Without God giving us the increase which comes from him, we can water and plant all day long, or build glorious churches in the name of the Lord, or temples as Solomon did, but the only one through whom God is going to give us increase is the one who is our mediator (1Ti 2:5) and the one through whom we are accepted (Joh 15:5, Eph 1:6).

The lesson for God’s elect today is that we must be given to keep dying daily and give God all the glory and honour in every aspect of everything we do, confidently rejoicing that our names are written in heaven (Php 1:6, Php 4:4, Rev 19:7-8, Luk 10:20) making it possible for us to go through a process of maturing in the Lord that will make us “meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (1Co 10:31-32, 1Ch 29:14, 2Ti 2:21).

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:

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

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.

1Co 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
1Co 10:32  Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

These verses mentioned earlier in the study in Matthew 10:8-42 explain the life of witnessing that will happen in our lives when these type and shadow words which applied to Solomon apply to God’s children today who are now able to accomplish and fulfill God’s will, not by might or power, but by God’s holy spirit “then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father“.

God will perform his word with us, if we keep His commandments, and if we keep His commandments our Father and Christ will abide with us and make Their abode with us (Joh 14:23) as we have been promised (Joh 14:13-17, Joh 15:10-11, Joh 14:13). Our desire with Christ in us as our hope of glory will be to preach the gospel to all nations as a witness, which Christ is doing through us everyday as we die daily and are ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us as His workmanship who need not be ashamed (2Ti 2:15, Rom 1:16-17, Mat 10:32).

Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith [Gal 2:20].

Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Christ will not deny Himself in this process of turning us into fishers of men as He witnesses to all the world through us of God’s power and might working boldly within us (2Ti 2:13). That is the promise God’s elect have been given which was typified in the promise made to Israel on behalf, or for the sake of, the elect who are the Israel of God (Gal 6:16): “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel“

Heb 9:11-17 “But Christ Being Come an High Priest of Good Things to Come” – Part 5

[Study Aired December 24, 2020]

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 
Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 
Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 
Heb 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 
Heb 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Last week’s study discussed the redemption process God’s elect are blessed to go through in this life. The process of redemption and the holiness it produces is something that comes at the expense of our carnal old man being destroyed, meaning our carnal mind that was represented by the forty and six years (4+6=10 number for flesh) that it took to build the temple in Jerusalem. Christ told those of His day, “Destroy this temple…and in three days I will raise it up.” “But he spake of the temple of his body” which we are (1Co 3:16, Rom 12:5) where the new mind of Christ is freely given to those who are called and chosen by God (Heb 9:15) to receive His spirit (Joh 2:19-22, Psa 127:1, 1Co 2:16, Mat 13:11).

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Joh 2:20  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22  When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

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 [“I will raise it up”].

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

There is no amount of time specified for how long it will take to “destroy this temple” but Christ’s life, which is that temple that we’re talking about, was destroyed at a specific time and paralleled with the oblations and sacrifices which were taken away in the middle of the week in Daniel 9:27. This reminds us of how God’s judgment was taken out of the earth when Christ died, leaving the elect with the other half of Christ’s ministry. It takes our filling up what is behind of His afflictions, symbolized by the second half of that week (Col 1:24), in order to be made ready to be kings and priests. Our lives are judged and made ready through that judgment to rule and reign under our Lord (Isa 26:9), accomplished by the holy spirit. This righteousness learned is the righteousness of the saints which is represented by the fine linen (Rev 19:8) God gives to Christ’s bride “for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”.

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

This thought of Christ raising up the church, “the temple of his body” which we are (1Co 3:16, Eph 2:4-6), introduces the first verse of our study which reads, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.” The building up of the body of Christ is the “greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands” and can only come about by our being granted the power to overcome “trespasses and sins” (Eph 1:1-2, Joh 8:36) which left us dead when “in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Christ is our example of “being come an high priest of good things to come” by overcoming those powers and principalities. He would later give His disciples the same power, through God’s spirit, to start to overcome (Joh 16:7, Joh 8:36,  Jas 4:7-17). These verses in John 16:7 and John 8:36 explain how we can fulfill these verses in James 4:7-17. It is the most humbling process we are going through (1Pe 4:12), but God tells us to not grow weary of His correction (Pro 3:11) and that nothing is going to separate us from His love if we are being humbled “under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (Rom 8:28, 1Pe 5:6).

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

It is through “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” that we are blessed “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” where we are raised “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 4:6). It is this love that we have toward one another, supplied by each joint that builds up God’s temple, which witnesses to the world that the “three days I will raise it up” process of judgment the church is going through is something that is being made manifest in the church as He abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence (Eph 4:16, 1Pe 4:17, Eph 1:8, Eph 3:10).

We are reminded in these verses of Ephesians about the truth that He has “predestinated” us (Eph 1:5, Eph 1:11) “unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” [and it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom and therefore we are not to fear but rather rejoice that we are being saved through this process that causes us to lose our life but gain the new life of Christ within us (Luk 12:32)].

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

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

We are being saved, or redeemed “through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace^G5485“, and it is that grace or favor that is called the “riches of his grace” because His favor is demonstrated through those who are being chastened and scourged and judged in this age so that we can be “accepted in the beloved” (Eph 1:6). God has “abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” (Col 1:27). God purposed to make this wisdom and knowledge known or manifest through the church, and it is through the “riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” that we are able to be led unto repentance, otherwise it would not happen (Eph 3:10-12, Rom 2:4).

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

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,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

“For a testament is of force after men are dead” (of verse 17) is a true statement for God’s elect as well if we see ourselves as dead to sin and alive in Christ (Rom 6:11), which is the only way we should see ourselves (Gal 2:20) being in constant need of “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2Co 10:5). We can work toward that mark through Christ who makes this all possible as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14).

God gives the elect great incentives to want to put off the flesh today, working within the body of Christ where His grace is abounding in our lives where sin abounded (Rom 5:20). This is all happening to those who are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27), being those who first trusted in Christ unto the saving of our souls (Heb 10:39, 1Co 10:13). Christ was saved for the elect’s sake, and we are being saved for the world’s sake who are being reserved unto judgment in the lake of fire (2Pe 2:9, 2Pe 3:7). If God is judging us in this age, we are being preserved through His judgments that He does not hold back or reserve against our old man of sin as He will against those who will be judged in the second resurrection.

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

The things that we build and take pride in through this life are represented by that first temple which took forty six years to build (Joh 2:20). It is through the destruction of the fleshly mind of the first Adam represented by that temple that we can become a new creation on a new foundation Jesus Christ. Very few will be blessed to experience this judgment in this lifetime that will result in our seeing “a greater and more perfect tabernacle” formed which is made by the hand of the master Potter (Jer 18:4). It is His vessel, His workmanship that He is cleansing through a lifetime of fiery trials, much tribulation, affliction, persecution, along with chastening, scourging and yes, pruning, represented by the tearing down of that old temple that was made “with hands“, independent of the knowledge that God is sovereign and in control of all things. That first temple we are is not made according to the pattern shown in the mount but is the marred vessel God deemed necessary to fulfill His purpose within us (Exo 25:40, Rom 9:20, Jas 4:14-16).

Exo 25:40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

God has made all things through Christ (Col 1:16-17), and is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). It is God the Father “who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us” who is showing us His love by receiving us through the chastening and scourging of this life (Heb 12:6) which we can endure through Christ (Php 4:13) so that we are no longer “dead in sins” but rather “quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)”. Our goal in this life as God’s elect is to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” knowing that God is able to purge our conscience from all sin and make us “meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21). By following these commandments of our Lord we can become more “prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21-26).

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work [Mat 20:23, Rev 19:7].
2Ti 2:22  Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2Ti 2:23  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The “good things to come” spoken of in this first verse of our study have already begun to manifest in the lives of those who have God’s holy spirit within them as “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14). Christ is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure (Php 2:13), to make us a “more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building”. Christ himself, who is the author and finisher of our faith, knows how to make this building, this body, this temple, come together as a “whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Heb 12:2, Eph 4:16, Rom 5:5).

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.

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 
Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Christ’s life was precious in the sight of His Father (1Pe 1:19) who said “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mat 3:17, Joh 1:29). Christ always pleased the Father, and we are told, “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” Christ was declaring the Father whom we cannot see physically (Heb 11:27) but could see through Christ’s declaration of Him, with His words and actions (Joh 1:18, Joh 14:9-11). Today we are being sent as Christ was sent (Joh 20:21), which is also pleasing to the Father as we declare Christ as lively stones that give witness to the fact that we abide in heavenly places with Christ and our Father (1Pe 2:5, Joh 14:20).

All the “blood of goats and calves” and “the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling” were for our sakes. They were symbolic, ritualistic exercises that are types of Christ who would offer Himself once for the sins of the world. These sacrifices were not able to cleanse the conscience of the one doing the sacrificing, and yet just going through those motions as we did in Babylon made our flesh feel appeased; that somehow we had done something that made us acceptable to God such as taking “the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh” (Luk 18:21-22). We know that nothing we do in our flesh makes us acceptable to God and that we are only accepted through the beloved (Eph 1:6-7). That is the great take away from these verses that we need to hold onto. We are unprofitable servants who have done that which is expected of us (Luk 17:10), both in our immature days as a babe in Christ offering sacrifices to God in the earth, and then becoming a more mature sacrifice to the Lord as we learn that the only sacrifice He is concerned about is our presenting our entire life as a living sacrifice to the glory of God (Rom 12:1-3).

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The actions of those priests did not have eternal consequences, only earthly consequences that never cleansed the conscience of the one making the offering. When Peter was inspired to say to Christ, “To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (Joh 6:68), he was speaking above his understanding in declaring what these words tell us: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit (Joh 6:63) offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

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

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 

We will “receive the promise of eternal inheritance” if our high priest, Jesus Christ, “is the mediator of the new testament” within us (Col 1:27), giving us the power to lay down our life (Rev 11:3) “that by means of death” both Christ’s death and our being given to die daily and being buried into His death (Rom 6:3-4), we can be redeemed “of the transgressions that were under the first testament“, which represent our own righteousness being shown in all those carnal ordinances we just read about that cannot cleanse our heavens. Those offerings of goats and bulls and heifers were all patterns of what Christ was going to do in the lives of those who were predestined to be bound to the altar in this age so our heavens can be purged of all ungodliness (Heb 9:23, Tit 2:12-13).

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Heb 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 
Heb 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Christ said this same point with these verses:

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

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Let’s look at the last three verses of tonight’s study in the Easy-to-Read version:

Heb 9:15  So Christ brings a new agreement from God to his people. He brings this agreement so that those who are chosen by God can have the blessings God promised, blessings that last forever. This can happen only because Christ died to free people from sins committed against the commands of the first agreement.
Heb 9:16  When someone dies and leaves a will, there must be proof that the one who wrote the will is dead.
Heb 9:17  A will means nothing while the one who wrote it is still living. It can be used only after that person’s death.

With that in mind, we can see that the prophesies in the book of Daniel serve to confirm Christ’s words which were written for the elect to give us encouragement at this time. (Dan 9:25-27, Dan 12:8-13, Joh 16:7, Joh 8:36).

Dan 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem [Think of Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26)] unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks [69]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

[‘Troublous times’ is the time of judgment that must come upon all men in their appointed time, and it begins at the house of God, starting with our Saviour whose flesh was judged during a very outwardly troublous time. The outward circumstances reflected what was going on in Christ’s heavens just as God’s elect must endure through perilous times. We are as Christ “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Heb 9:27, 1Pe 4:17, Ecc 7:2, 1Co 15:31, Job 5:7, Isa 53:3, 1Jn 4:17)]

Dan 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks [62] shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

[Christ was cut off at 62 weeks, which represents the foundation or rock that he told Peter the church would be built upon (2×6=12) (Mat 16:18, Joh 12:24). Christ did not sacrifice His life for Himself but for us (“Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” Dan 9:26). Christ made a way for us by being judged in His flesh 69 (Dan 9:25), but it was going into “the holiest of all” which happened when Christ died in the symbolic 62nd week that we then had a high priest who could and can “save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Rom 5:10, Heb 7:25).

The complete ministry of Christ (7) is seen in these numbers as well 69-62=7 notwithstanding God completed this work in Christ so that the greater works than these could be accomplished within the body of Christ starting on Pentecost “For a testament is of force after men are dead” which is why Christ told us “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”. The “much fruit” that is brought forth is the life of Christ being manifest within the church, and Abraham and his one seed is the parable which explains this truth for us that will one day apply to all of God’s creation (Gal 3:16, 1Co 15:22). That holy seed is called to do greater works than Christ as we fill up what is behind of His afflictions “for his body’s sake, which is the church” that one seed that is being used to bring healing to those whom God drags to Christ and His body (Joh 14:12, Col 1:24, Joh 6:44)].

Dan 12:8  And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Dan 12:9  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end [Luk 10:24].
Dan 12:10  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand [2Ti 3:13].
Dan 12:11  And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, [in the midst of the week (Dan 9:27)] and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days [1290].

[This period is a type and shadow of when the man of perdition is realized in our own heavens who must be destroyed by the brightness of His coming through judgment (2Th 2:8)].

Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth [Rev 20:6, Rev 1:3], and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days [1335].
Dan 12:13  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

All of these numbers point to the life of Christ and His Christ who are predestined to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:6), blessed to be judged now in order be those who “first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12) “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” [1335-1290=45]. The numbers 4 and 5 when added give us 9, which is why we would be blessed to endure through this period knowing that this judgment must antecede our going onto perfection on the third day if our Father in heaven has determined this to be the case (Mat 20:23).

These are the “good things to come” that “Christ being come an high priest” is able to work in the lives of those who will be blessed to see this verse fulfilled in their lives through Him (Luk 13:32).

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

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

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Study Aired March 26, 2020]

Psa 147:12  Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. 
Psa 147:13  For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. 
Psa 147:14  He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
Psa 147:15  He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. 
Psa 147:16  He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
Psa 147:17  He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? 
Psa 147:18  He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
Psa 147:19  He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 
Psa 147:20  He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

As mentioned at the start of all three studies with Psalm 147, there are three logical breaks that divide the Psalm into three sections, with the start of the first section simply declaring “praise ye the Lord” (vs 1), the second section declaring we should “sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving” (vs 7),  and then the third section showing us who it is that should “praise the Lord” (vs 12).

We are praising God for the judgment that is in our lives today, not just a baptism of water judgment, typified by John the baptist who pointed us to Christ typifying that time when we stumbled unto Christ, but rather a fiery baptism that comes after we receive the word of God so true spiritual healing can come to us as a result of the unquenchable fire Christ brings into the lives of those who are being crushed in this age (Luk 12:49-50), so that we can bring forth fruit meet for repentance by being blessed to zealously continue in the truth.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50  But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

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:
Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. [through the fiery trials, the unquenchable fire of 1 Peter 4:12 that forms fine flour from the “finest of the wheat” of vs 14, explained later in study].

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. [“fruits meet for repentance”]

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.

Once again this section of the Psalm also reminds us of God’s great faithfulness toward the Israel of God through typical language that speaks of the ancient nation of Israel which we know represents both our stage in Babylon in the churches of this world as well as our ‘coming out of her my people’ as we die daily (2Co 6:17, 1Co 15:31).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

We praise God continually and rejoice in the Lord always because we know that he who has begun a good work in us will finish it, as He has promised.

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:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

It is his good pleasure to give us the kingdom and to show the world through that process how great his faithfulness is toward those things that He declares He will do from the foundation of the world (Jas 1:12, Php 4:13, Rom 8:29, Eph 1:5).

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

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. [“according to the good pleasure of his will“]

This last section of Psalm  147 should really encourage us to see how great God’s faithfulness is to His first fruit remnant that he is going to save through the fiery trials and the much tribulation of this life (1Pe 4:12, Act 14:22). Clearly God has not spoken something He can’t and won’t accomplish (Luk 12:32), and He has declared we are a holy nation, a peculiar people, the bride of Christ, whom He is going to use to save the rest of humanity through a process of judgment that causes the seed to die (Joh 12:24), the one seed (Gal 3:16), as Christ sets us free from sin (1Pe 2:9, Oba 1:21, 1Co 6:3, 1Pe 4:17, Joh 8:36).

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

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Psa 147:12  Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. 

The following verses that will conclude our three part study of Psalm 147 demonstrate why we ought to “Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion“.

The first thing to notice is that it is speaking of God’s people, Jerusalem and Zion who typify the elect, who are praising God because he has chosen us from the foundation of the world to give witness to His great faithfulness toward those things which he has declared would be accomplished “according to the good pleasure of his will” (Rom 8:29, Mat 20:22-23, Php 1:6).

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

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:

The verses that follow verse 12 of this psalm will go into detail as to what things God is doing specifically in the lives of those with whom he is working in this age, and why those things should give us continual reason to praise the Lord for His faithfulness toward His people within whom he has given this hope of glory “which is Christ in you”.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Psa 147:13  For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. 

The gates of hell spoken of in Matthew 16:18 represent the powers and principalities against which we wrestle (Eph 6:12), and “the bars of thy gates“, on the other hand, represent the positive mind of Christ within us that declares nothing shall separate us from the love of God even as sin lies at the door or the gates of our hearts (Gen 4:7). We are promised that through Christ we will continue to be able to die daily and keep under ourselves if He has called us to endure until the end (1Co 9:27, Mat 24:12-13, Php 4:13).

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.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

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

We are not able to be separated from God’s love (Rom 8:35-37) because “he hath strengthened^H2388 the bars of thy gates” and “blessed thy children within thee”, which represent correct doctrine or the words of eternal life abiding in us (Deu 12:28, Isa 54:13, 2Jn 1:2-4). That strengthening is what God’s faithful gift of continuing in His word (Joh 8:31) is speaking of in this verse, as we continue to overcome through God’s gift of grace and faith that make that process of overcoming possible (Eph 2:8-9).

Deu 11:8  Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strongH2388, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

Deu 12:28  Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

Isa 54:13  And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

2Jn 1:2  For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
2Jn 1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2Jn 1:4  I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

Psa 147:14  He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

Our borders also represent our mind that now have a peace that surpasses all understanding (Php 4:7). It is only our Father in heaven who can give us this highly cherished gift of peace as we are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) and raised in heavenly places where we are filled “with the finest of wheat” (Eph 2:6).

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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

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

The “finest of wheat” represents Christ and the word of God that sanctify us, and this process of sanctification is made known to us in the wave sheaf offerings discussed in Leviticus, knowing now that this was written for God’s elect, the kind of first fruits (Jas 1:18, Eph 1:5) who we are (Lev 23:10-18).

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Leviticus describes Christ and His Christ as fine flour:

Christ

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you [Joh 14:20], and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you [Eph 1:6]: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:12  And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:13  And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil [Joh 3:34], an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour [Rom 12:1, Isa 52:14]: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin (Isa 53:12). Both the “fat”^H2459 of Lev 17:6 and “finest”^H2459 of wheat of Psa 147:14 are speaking of this “sweet savour” we are unto the LORD through Christ.]

Lev 17:6  And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat^H2459 for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Lev 23:14  And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: [Heb 4:15, Rev 15:8, Heb 5:8-9]
Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD [2Co 5:17].

His Christ

Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves [Rev 11:3, Psa 104:15, Pro 24:10] of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven [Lev 5:6]; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

[God’s first fruits – His Christ filling up what is behind of Christ’s afflictions as the trespass offering]

Lev 23:18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year [Rev 15:8], and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire [Mar 9:49], of sweet savour unto the LORD [Col 1:24, Col 1:27].

Psa 147:15  He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. 

This section of the Psalm tells us again what God is doing in the hearts and minds of the elect whom he is sending “forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly“(Joh 6:63, Heb 4:12, Joh 16:13).

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

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.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Christ is the bridegroom who is running this race in our heavens, and like a “bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race“ so we are encouraged with these following verses of the certainty of his finishing this work of faith within his little flock, a short work (Rom 9:28) that will convert the soul (Psa 19:5-11).

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

Psa 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Psa 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. [Heb 4:12]
Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psa 19:8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psa 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psa 19:11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. [Joh 8:31-32]

Psa 147:16  He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
Psa 147:17  He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? 
Psa 147:18  He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. 
Psa 147:19  He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 

These four verses are speaking in typical language of the judgement that is first upon the house of God today (1Pe 4:17). It is He who delivers all these things into our heavens that represent the judgment that must come upon our old man, and it is that judgment that will quicken us in His service. It is the cleansing of the temple that we are to rejoice and give thanks to God for as He faithfully carries out all of these very precise custom made trials in each of our lives that are the wonderful works unto the children of men (Psa 107:24-30), that are all working together for the good of the body of Christ who love God and have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28).

Notice the language surrounding those things that God gives, how it is connected to mourning and death because that is indeed what his judgements are going to produce for our old man of sin within.

In vs 16 he gives “the snow like wool” (Rev 7:1-15, Heb 9:14, Isa 1:18)

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; …Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

In verses 16-17 “He is dispersing hoarfrost like ashes, He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?“, which is another way of expressing judgment that will go forth and no one will be able to withstand His strong arm of judgment. Every knee shall bow in that day of judgment (Rom 14:11), our old man shall not stand, but our new man in Christ having done all will stand (Rev 6:17, Rom 8:35-37, Eph 6:13).

Job 37:9  Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
Job 37:10  By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

In verse 18 the imagery now changes to describe God’s word as “wind that blows” and “water that flows” and is able to “melteth them” (Eze 21:7, Psa 68:2). We are both washed with the word (Eph 5:26) and the spirit of God is also likened unto wind making the connection for us in this verse of Psalm what His fiery judgements do for us within (Joh 3:8, Joh 7:38).

Psa 68:2  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psa 68:3  But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

In vs 19 we are simply being told once again that it has been given to God’s elect to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 13:11). In order for us to have eyes that see and ears that hear, those things that we just read in  verses 16, 17 and 18 must unfold in our heavens (1Pe 4:17).

Psa 147:20  He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD. 

No, God “hath not dealt so with any nation“, meaning He has dealt so with this nation of Israel which typifies the holy nation, the peculiar people we are who are zealous of good works (1Pe 2:9) because of His judgments or pruning in our lives which promise we will bring forth much fruit (Joh 15:2-4).

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Joh 15:2  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.
Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  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.

The rest of the world has not “known them“, His judgments that are upon the elect specifically. It is given unto us “that fear my name” that can grow and mature as “calves of the stall” (Mal 4:2). We fear His name (Luk 12:5) because we experience His judgments in this age and are not given, Lord willing, to be hardened as Israel of old in the wilderness, that, because of a spirit of unbelief were held back from inheriting the promises (Heb 3:8, Pro 3:11).

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

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.

Heb 3:8  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

The main message of this Psalm is that God’s faithfulness is great toward those with whom He is working first, and what he has started and determined from the foundation of the world He will finish because “great is thy faithfulness“. They are truly “new every morning”.

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lam 3:24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Hi Mike,

I was reading something you wrote a few years ago that caught my attention.

It’s from an FAQ reply, and here’s the link:

Why Was Eve Deceived but Not Adam

Here’s the part I wanted to ask you about. It’s the very first sentence:

“I very much agree that Adam knew what he was doing, and he placed his love for Eve above his own spiritual life and his standing with Christ, bringing the plan of God into action to have all who are in Adam subject to death.​”

Adam’s love for Eve is the part I was curious about. Here’s a few scriptures I wanted to share. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden we read this:

Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten from the tree? whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen 3:12 And the man said: The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

This doesn’t sound like an act of love to me. Sounds to me like Adam was throwing his wife under the bus just like any carnal man would. He tried to save his own skin by passing the blame onto Eve, despite the fact Adam knew what he was doing was wrong.

Adam had the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7), but he did not have the Holy Spirit, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6)

Your brother in Christ,

C____

Hi C____,

Thank you for your question about whether Adam loved his wife, Eve.

You point out that Adam passed the buck and blamed Eve for eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then you rightfully say:

“… [Adam] did not have the Holy Spirit​, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6).”

I think you will agree that I never said Adam’s love for his wife, Eve, was “unfeigned [Godly] love”, which is specifically defined as obedience to God.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

This is how Adam and all in Adam, including his wife, Eve, will know if Adam had true Godly love for Eve:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

This is certainly not the love of Eve that Adam had. His love of his wife led him to disobey the Lord’s commandments. Here is the love of Eve Adam had:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

In all three synoptic gospels,​ Christ included wives in the Mat​thew​ 10:37 equation:

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.

Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

Luk 18:29  And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,

As you said: “… [Adam] tried to save his own skin by passing the blame onto Eve, despite the fact Adam knew what he was doing was wrong.”

That is exactly right, but that does not keep Adam from loving his wife more than he loved God. If Adam had loved God more than Eve​, he would have obeyed God instead of his wife.

But as you also pointed out:

“Adam had the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7), but he did not have the Holy Spirit, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6).”

Here is that verse you reference:

2Co 6:6  By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

You and I both know the holy spirit was not available to Adam or to anyone else until fifty days after the crucifixion of Christ. So the only ‘love’ Adam was capable of having​ was a physical ‘love’ which did not put place obedience to Christ ahead of his wife:

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.

Even in placing the blame on Eve, Adam was, as you said, attempting to “save his own skin” instead of “losing his life for Christ’s sake”​:

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

The ‘love’ Adam had for Eve was “the love of the world” which will always place one’s wife above the “love of God” regardless of how clearly we are told to do otherwise:

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

I hope you can see what I meant when I said, “I very much agree that Adam knew what he was doing, and he placed his love for Eve above his own spiritual life and his standing with Christ…” What I am obviously referring to is his ‘spiritual life’ and his favor with Christ. Adam was not capable of such Godly love because the holy spirit was not yet given to perform such a selfless act as to leave his wife for “[Christ’s] sake, [or] for the kingdom of God’s sake”. But the fact that he knowingly disobeyed the Lord and did what his wife asked of him demonstrates that he loved her more than the Lord.

1Ti 2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Your brother in Christ, Mike

Outstanding explanation, Mike. Thank you so much for clearing this up for me, I was always confused on this issue, but now I understand what you meant by that particular statement. It makes perfect sense now. Please keep doing what you’re doing. Your ministry is a great blessing for me.

Your thankful brother in Christ,
C____

Isa 40:1-10 The Glory of the LORD Shall be Revealed, and All Flesh Shall See it Together - Discussion

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Isa 40:1-10 The Glory of The LORD Shall Be Revealed, and All Flesh Shall See It Together:

Isa 40:1  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isa 40:2  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa 40:6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isa 40:9  O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

We are all aware that the scriptures are addressed only to those who have been given ears that hear and eyes that see the mysteries of the kingdom of God. They were never intended to be understood by the multitudes who claim the name of Christ and who gather every week in His name:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [The “multitudes… gathered unto Him”, vs 2] in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

We are also aware that whatever the Lord desires is what He does and that none of us, and no man, can thwart His will:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

If indeed the Lord does what He desires, then this is what He desires, and this is what He is doing:

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

If we are those “who first trusted in Christ [then] we have obtained an inheritance [for the very  purpose of] be[ing] to the praise of His glory” as “firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb” and as judges who will be in the first resurrection and will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years preparatory to judging angels in the lake of fire, which is the second death, as these verses make abundantly clear:

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

When will the saints judge “the world” in the outward sense referred to by the apostle Paul in the context of these two verses, which includes the judging of angels? The phrase “the world” tells us that Paul is speaking of outward judgment. This is when that outward judging of the kingdoms of this world will begin:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel trumpeted. And there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world became our Lord's, even of His Christ; and He shall reign to the ages of the ages.

This is a very general statement which tells us that our reign with Christ will begin at the “seventh” trump of the seventh angel. But Christ wants us to know all that His Father has revealed to Him. Not just the fact that the saints shall judge the world:

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Christ is revealing to us “all things that He has heard of [His] Father”. Do we believe that? Or do we believe that we are nothing special to our Lord? Is a “friend” more special than a ‘servant’ who is not made privy to the activities of his Lord?

It is manifestly evident that the Lord is telling us that we are “special to Him above every nation on the earth”:

Deu 14:2  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar [Hebrew: special] people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

While the vast majority of the Word of God is dedicated to the judgment of the inward kingdom of our old man and the judgment of the outward kingdoms of this world, this section of Isaiah centers around the blessings promised to those who are made to overcome this world and are given “place for repentance”.

Isa 40:1  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isa 40:2  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

What wonderful words of comfort are these to ‘the chief of sinners’ who is also ‘the man’ who has done as bad or worse than those who are not yet being judged. Yes, it is we, whom the Lord has chosen, who are the least worthy to be chosen and who are typified by the lowly tax collector in the parable of the two men who go to the temple of the Lord:

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

This tax collector is not simply a humble man. He is ‘the man’ spoken of by the prophet, Nathan (2Sa 12:1-14). He sees himself as “the basest of men” whom God has placed over the kingdoms of this world (Dan 4:17). This tax collector typifies those who have already come to see themselves as this self-righteous Pharisee, and he counts himself as chief… of sinners” (1Ti 1:15). He has “received of the LORD'S hand double for all (his) sins”, and he is now “at his wits’ end”, crying out for the Lord’s mercy, and the Lord is in the process of comforting him because he has been humbled and given a “place for repentance”.

These words are all about this publican who sees his flesh for what it is, and is not focused on the sins of anyone but himself:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Look at what we have just read: “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord… Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”.

Contrast these words with the words of Christ with the words of Christ concerning those who do not “die in the Lord… while in [their] flesh”:

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Christ made it clear that this publican had already come to see himself as this self-righteous Pharisee and had repented and had come to see himself as a sinner.

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Such humility comes only after being humbled by the Lord to the extent of being hated of all men:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Only from this “hated of all men” position can we become the bearers of the Lord’s words to this lost earth:

Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

This is the prophecy John saw as referring to his position of announcing to this world the coming of the Lord:

Joh 1:19  And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
Joh 1:20  And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Joh 1:21  And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Joh 1:22  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh 1:23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Joh 1:24  And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

John the Baptist did not realize that he really was a type of the prophesied “prophet Elijah”, but Christ tells us he was:

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Mat 17:9  And as they [Christ, Peter, James, and John - vs. 1] came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Mat 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Three men - Peter, James, and John - saw a vision of the transfigured Christ, but the day is coming in which ‘the glory of the Lord’ will be revealed to all flesh, and all flesh will ‘wither and fade because the spirit of the Lord blows upon it’.

Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

“All flesh shall see… the glory of the Lord] together”, but seeing the glory of the Lord requires the death of the flesh, and that is a process which “begins at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). It is this process of judgment and the dying to this world to which Isaiah refers with these words:

Isa 40:6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

“The grass withers… because the spirit of the Lord blows upon it”, and that “spirit [is what] gives life, [and that spirit is] the words which [Christ] has spoken to [us]:

Isaiah’s words were inspired by Christ Himself, so of course they accord with Christ’s own words which also tell us “the flesh profits nothing”:

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

It is the flesh which withers and fades, “but the word of our God stands for ever”. Christ amplified these words and expounded on them when He told us:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

When we read that ‘all these things are near, even at the door’ and ‘this generation shall not pass, till all these things shall be fulfilled’, it becomes evident to all who have eyes that see and ears that hear, that “the abomination of desolation” of verse 15, the “great tribulation” of verse 21, and “the coming of the Son of Man” of verse 27, must “all… be fulfilled [in] “this generation” of verse 34, meaning the generation of “whosoever readeth [and] understands” in verse 15. These “words are spirit” (Joh 6:63) which therefore “shall not pass away” in any generation since the death and resurrection of Christ, Who is the first of the firstfruits.

That the “all things” of Mat 24:32-35 apply to us as God’s elect there can be no doubt, simply because we are plainly told:

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

The “Zion” of our next verse symbolizes both “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” of Revelation 14:4 and the “saviors” of Obadiah 21:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

These 144,000 are “redeemed from the earth” and are “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb”. These are what Paul calls “those who first trusted in Christ” and have been “blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavens”. Look at all the Lord has revealed to us through the apostle Paul which we can add to our knowledge of what has been given to this most blessed group of men. Let us all “Have respect to the recompense of the reward” (Heb 11:26):

Eph 1:3  Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things in Christ.
Eph 1:4  Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love.
Eph 1:5  Who predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the desire of his will,
Eph 1:6  for appreciation of the glory of his grace, by which he blessed us in him who is beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, according to the wealth of his grace,
Eph 1:8  which he abounded for us in all wisdom and intelligence.
Eph 1:9 Having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his desire, which he purposed within himself
Eph 1:10  for an administration of the fullness of the times. To gather together all things in the Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth,
Eph 1:11 in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will.
Eph 1:12. For us to be for appreciation of his glory, men who have first hoped in the Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the good-news of your salvation, in whom also having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
Eph 1:14  which is a pledge of our inheritance for the redemption of the acquired possession, for appreciation of his glory.

Why does the holy spirit use all these personal pronouns if all men are “the first to have trusted in Christ”? Why are we told that we are “to be for the appreciation of His glory” if this blessing is granted to all men at this time? Why are we told that the holy spirit is “a pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” if there is no order in which mankind is being saved?

The Truth is that all these personal pronouns are used because the holy spirit want us to have “respect unto the recompence of the reward” Christ has in store of His chosen few.

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

The fact is that we are called “the first to have trusted in Christ” because we are “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb… the first to appreciate His glory”, and we have been given the holy spirit as a pledge of our inheritance of “the resurrection of life”, having been judged “at this present time” (Rom 8:18) and not to take part in the resurrection to judgment, which is “the second death… prepared for the devil and his angels” as well as all “the rest of the dead”, whose names are not in the book of life at the “blessed and holy… first resurrection”:

In Matthew 25 we are told that Gehenna is prepared for the devil and His angels, but in the book of Revelation we learn that “the rest of the dead are also there with the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

What a blessing it is to be chosen by Christ to be His friend and to be made to know all His Father has made known to Him!

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

If we are the chosen of Christ to endure to the end, then the good news is that nothing can keep that from happening:

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.

Being the “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 14:4) is for the purpose of “be[ing] the firstborn among many brothers” who will be “born of God” via the work of the firstborn as the judges of both the nations of this world during the thousand year reign and as the judges of angels in the lake of fire (Isa 33:14-15 and 1Co 6:2-3).

Getting back to the good news of our calling, Paul continues here in Romans 8:

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate [to “be the firstborn among many brothers”], them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Just what is the significance of all of that? This is how significant that is:

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?

It is hard for us to accept just how special we are to Christ. We are so special that we are told this about how much He identifies with us:

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Even these words are about those who being judged at this time:

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.

“In this world” refers to “the day of judgment” which is now on the house of God (1Pe 4:17). It is only “in the days of [our] flesh” that we are “as He is… in this world”, and that is the “day of judgment to which the words “in this world” refers.

The point being made is that these words have no application to those who are destined to be judged in the everlasting burnings of the lake of fire/second death. It is we who are given boldness in the day of judgment… in this world” for the express purpose of judging angels in the everlasting burnings and the devouring fires of the lake of fire:

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 [“in this world”, this age, “in the days of his flesh” - Heb 5:7]; 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;

It is we who “first trusted in Christ” who “walk righteously and speak uprightly… in the days of [our] flesh” who “are like Christ in this world” and who are given to “dwell with the devouring fire [and] everlasting burnings”.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

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.

Let’s return to the blessings of being Zion upon whom Saviors come.  Let’s continue to see just how special to Christ the Lord’s elect are who are given to be in “the blessed and holy first resurrection”:

Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Life… death… things present and things to come… are all ours [but they] shall [not] be able to separate us from the love of God” if we are His “in this present time” (verse 18).

We are the “Zion” who brings good tidings both to our “fellow servant[s] who keep the saying of the prophecies of this book”, and we are told to be bold in proclaiming our calling “to be to the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:12):

Isa 40:9  O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

This is just another way of telling us the same thing we are told to do in this verse:

Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

This and nothing else is what makes all those wonderful words of Isaiah 33, and Romans 8 so very certain:

Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

His work is before Him, and “we are His workmanship”:

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
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.

Next week we will see even more of just how special we are to “Him that has called us to glory and virtue”:

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.

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Here are some of the glorious things to which we are called as the Lord will show us in our next study:

Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Isa 40:12  Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Isa 40:13  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Isa 40:14  With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
Isa 40:15  Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Isa 40:16  And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isa 40:17  All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isa 40:18  To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Isa 40:19  The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Isa 40:20  He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Psa 112:1  Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
Psa 112:2  His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 
Psa 112:3  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Psa 112:4  Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 
Psa 112:5  A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. 

God is working with the ones that “feareth the LORD” (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17), and it is by grace through faith that we come to fear the Lord, resulting in our delighting “greatly in his commandments“. Our last Psalm was entitled “Great Are the Lord’s Works” (Psa 111:2-4), and this particular Psalm will be focused on what the fruits are of those works which God has appointed and is working through the body of Christ.

If God will grant us to be saved by grace through faith, being convinced in our hearts that our righteousness does not come “by the law”, then we will not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. This statement “for if righteousness come by the law” is made right after Galatians 2:20 and is another witness to this section of scripture in Galatians 3:17-24 which reminds us of our spiritual inheritance in the Lord is received through Christ and not by our own righteousness which frustrates the grace of God.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. [the son of the free woman]
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. [Gal 4:30]
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. [The law is used to show our unrighteousness that needs to be destroyed Rom 7:7, Rom 1:18, Joh 3:36]
Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace [Eph 2:8]; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Revelation 5:9-10 explains what it means to the elect to be a father of many nations )
Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope [Rom 8:24, Col 1:27, Rom 8:16], that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead [a moment in Abraham’s life which typifies this verse: Romans 6:11], when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: [as well as this section of scripture where Abraham is a type of our Father receiving Christ who is typified by Isaac Rom 6:11, Heb 11:19, Eph 2:6]
Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief (Joh 6:28-29); but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;  [A moment in Abraham’s life which typifies this verse in our life: Galatians 2:20. God loves us and gave himself for us, and sets his love on us (Rom 9:13) and calls us sons of God to witness to the world of that love (1Jn 3:1), and we witness our love for each other and for all of humanity by obediently laying down our lives for each other as Christ did for us, (Joh 13:35, Joh 3:16)].
Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. [Rom 8:38-39]
Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; [1Pe 1:1-13, Eph 2:6]
Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. [1Jn 2:1]

Gal 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
Gal 3:18  For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Gal 3:19  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made [Gal 3:16]; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Gal 3:20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Gal 3:21  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. [The law is the schoolmaster which shows us our sinful nature that we must overcome and will overcome through Christ so it is not “against the promises of God” but rather acts as our tutor or governor “until the time appointed of the father” Gal 4:1-6, Joh 8:35, Gal 4:30].
Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe [Eph 1:12].
Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Notice these words throughout these sections of Galatians and Romans (above) that describe the faith of Abraham that typifies what God is working in the lives of the elect:

against hope believed in hope
And being not weak in faith
He staggered not at the promise
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
And being fully persuaded

That inheritance is now ours in earnest, being the first who trusted in Christ. It is only when we experience the grace and faith of Christ in our lives that the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” will manifest “that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (Eph 1:14, 1Co 2:4-5).

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.

Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

It is only those who are being shown “the mystery of his will” through Christ (Col 1:27) who can enter into the strength and promise of the verses we are looking at tonight; promises that say “His seed shall be mighty upon earth” and “Wealth and riches shall be in his house” as well as “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness”.

Psa 112:1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

If we are fearing the LORD in this age, then we will not have to be fearing the LORD in the lake of fire at the end of the millennium. God has demonstrated in type and shadow through the nation of Israel the need for this process of judgment to unfold while in the wilderness (Num 14:28-38), and the revealing of faith or the lack of faith of Israel of old is a shadow that parallels Christ’s words in Matthew 5. Grace and faith are working in the lives of God’s people to the end that we will, and are learning to, “delighteth greatly in his commandments“.

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.

Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye [Your own perception, leaning unto your own understanding and disobeying God’s commands] offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee (Rom 2:4): for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body [The church: Col 1:24] should be cast into hell [Num 14:28-39].
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand [Your own works, God’s gold wrapped around the idol of your own heart causing you to disobey God’s commands] offend thee, cut it off (Rom 2:4), and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body [The church: Col 1:24] should be cast into hell [Num 14:28-39].

Mat 18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Mat 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

So these words of Christ in our first verse tonight should give us every reason to delight greatly in His commandments which we read last week in Psalm 111:7, commandments that are appointed for the elect to keep in this age. 

Psa 111:7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

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.

The eye and the hand of Matthew 5:29-30 represent the sin within the body of Christ which must be removed from within ourselves, the church, and when God talks about our wife spoken of in Matthew 5:32 being “put away…for the cause of fornication”, this is speaking primarily of spiritual fornication that we are commanded to remove from among ourselves such as the Corinthian fornicator was  in 1Corinthians 5:11-13. In this instance with the Corinthian fornicator, who calls himself a brother, we are to “put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1Co 5:13).

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Excerpt from http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/grounds-for-divorce/:

The truth is that Christ did not say you can never remarry unless your wife commits adultery or your husband commits adultery. He said except for ‘fornication.’ When you look into that word fornication, you are going to find out that it has more to do with spiritually forsaking your spouse, than it has to do with physically forsaking your spouse.

The word is fornication, not adultery. This is all in the paper on the law. The vast majority of the time that word is used, it is used in reference to Israel, as a nation, committing fornication against God, by doing the things they agreed not to do when they entered into the marriage relationship with him. Yet they stayed right in the land and they claimed that God was their husband.

The same language is used in Matthew 18:8-9 as in Matthew 5:29 regarding the cutting off the hand and foot or eye that are being found to not truly be the eyes, hands and feet of Christ (Mat 5:29-31, Mat 18:8-9). We are commanded to, and we must diligently, remove those beams (Luk 6:42) or hands and feet (“if thine eye offend thee”) from ourselves first if we are going to be able to remove it from others by following the process of Matthew 18:15-17.

We have grown and learned that we don’t ask for a consensus of the church when there are elders involved in the decision, but rather we tell the church what the consensus of the elders is which has been determined by God’s grace and faith working in our lives. We need elders for that reason, among many other reasons. If those elders who are in the minority of a reached decision refuse to hear it from the majority of the elders who represent the church, then they are by virtue of that rejection, the ones being spoken of in this verse of Matthew 5:32. We don’t want to put away our wife. We want our wife to obey the majority consensus as we are commanded we should do, but if, as we have experienced of late, they won’t obey the commandments of God (1Co 14:37-40), then they have created the conditions by which we must divorce, a divorce which God hates but has caused according to the council of his own will, to mature us in our understanding and to reveal to us who it is that is approved (1Co 11:19). There are times when the church as a whole must be part of the process of Matthew 18, and in such instances where “he neglect to hear the church” then that one person, “thy brother”, is to “be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican” (Mat 18:17).

1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Co 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
1Co 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

If God is judging us in this age, “Praise ye the LORD” because we are being forewarned and equipped through Christ  (“delight[ing] greatly in his commandments”) so that we can be fashioned in the Potter’s hand, becoming that gold of Ophir that is purified in these earthen vessels by our hope of glory within us (Col 1:27), who is working all the fiery trials and much tribulation in our life in this age to that end (Isa 13:12, 2Co 4:7, 1Pe 4:12, Rom 8:28).

Psa 112:2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

The new and living way to which the Lord has called us is described in Hebrews 10:19-29, and we are blessed to draw near to our high priest, Who is over the house of God, with true hearts in full assurance of faith, knowing we can have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water that typifies God’s word. That washing or sanctifying process (Joh 17:17) is why his “seed shall be mighty upon earth“, and it is “the generation of the upright” who “shall be blessed“.

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Notice that these words in Hebrews 10:19-29 below echo the words which describe the faithfulness of Abraham that we discussed above: Abraham typifies Christ, and Abraham prophesied not unto himself but unto us who are the one seed of Christ (1Pe 1:12, Gal 3:16).

full assurance
our bodies washed with pure water
faith without wavering
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus

against hope believed in hope
And being not weak in faith
He staggered not at the promise
but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
And being fully persuaded

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: [Mat 18:15-17]
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? [when we are sanctified by God’s word we are able to have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood (Joh 17:17) of Jesus (Heb 10:19)].

It is through this washing of the word (Eph 5:26-27) that we learn that “His seed shall be mighty upon earth” [The sanctification process is making us stronger and causing us to decrease and Christ to increase]. The mighty seed is the church (Gal 3:16), “the earth” where the word is manifest to us as our heavens are opened time and again (Jer 22:29) as God gives the increase (Eph 3:10-12, 2Co 2:14-17, Rev 19:11).

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. 

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church [the seed] the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Psa 112:3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

It is Christ’s righteousness which shall endure forever, and it is His wealth and His riches in His house that represent every good and perfect gift that comes from above (Jas 1:16-20).

Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures [begat from above].
Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

What we do with what God has given us has already been written from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3-10), and so the following verses in Matthew are an admonition unto the elect to be diligent and to labor for the meat that does not perish, knowing that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Heb 11:6). We are called to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness before everything else in this life; this is our wealth and riches (Php 3:14, Jer 29:13).

Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

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

Psa 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

As recipients of God’s love, ‘the good and perfect gift of his love that is shed abroad in our hearts’ (Jas 1:18, Rom 5:5), “there ariseth light in the darkness” “unto the upright“. Only with Christ’s spirit abiding within us (Rom 8:9), can we be “gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous“, all to the glory of God who will one day change our vile bodies that we are blessed to be overcoming, in this age, as we go from glory to glory through Christ (2Co 3:15-18).

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Psa 112:5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Psa 112:5 (CLV) It is good when a man is gracious and obliging; He shall sustain his affairs with right judgment.

Nothing we do will be seen by those who are our detractors as “maintain[ing our] affairs with discretion” or “sustain[ing our] affairs with right judgement”.  This is important to know so that we don’t grow weary in well doing as a result of the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10-11). Evil men who are going to wax worse and worse at the end of this age (2Ti 3:13) are causing the love of many to wax cold with their many false accusations (2Pe 2:1-22).

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death [Rev 2:10].

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Christ is our example of having to deal with the unbelief and hateful and hurtful spirit of His time in the flesh as these verses demonstrate in John 7:19-24, Matthew 11:18-19, and knowing that should give us great comfort because we have an high priest who understands what we are up against (Heb 4:15-16) and tells us to rejoice in that day when we are falsely accused and men speak all manner of evil against us for His name’s sake (Mat 5:11).

Being “gracious and obliging” with “right judgement” (the CLV translation of this verse) is what this whole study has been about. This excerpt from the introduction of our study tonight reinforces our need to see the “gracious and obliging” with “right judgment” mind of Christ that is only possible to receive by the “the power of God“.

It is only when we experience the grace and faith of Christ in our lives that the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” will manifest “that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”

It is Christ’s righteousness that shall endure forever, and it is His “right judgment” which has us learning wisdom from above that is “easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits”.

Deu 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
Deu 32:3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Jas 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the last five verses of our study which point to what the Lord is accomplishing in our lives as we are being worked with and grow in our understanding that “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Psa 112:6  Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 
Psa 112:7  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 
Psa 112:8  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 
Psa 112:9  He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 
Psa 112:10  The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.