Fruits – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:59:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-headerlogo-32x32.png Fruits – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com 32 32 The Two Works of Scripture, Part 1: Dead Works of the Old Man https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-two-works-of-scripture-part-1-dead-works-of-the-old-man/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-two-works-of-scripture-part-1-dead-works-of-the-old-man Tue, 28 Apr 2026 22:46:50 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=36014 Audio Download

The Two Works of Scripture, Part 1: Dead Works of the Old Man

[Study Aired April 28, 2026]

Introduction: The Apostolic Pattern and Its Witnesses

The doctrine of works stands at the center of Scripture’s testimony concerning God’s purpose — the redemption of the naturally captive creature, not from a lost perfection, but from the designed bondage of the natural order (Rom 8:20) — into the liberty of the life of the Spirit through the ransom of Christ. Few subjects have been more bitterly contested, more frequently distorted, or more desperately misunderstood. At first glance the sacred page appears to speak out of both sides of its mouth—commanding works while condemning them, judging by works while saving apart from them, declaring faith without works dead while declaring works of the law incapable of justifying. These apparent tensions are not contradictions to be resolved by choosing sides. They are differentiations to be discerned by the governing principle that orders all of God’s purpose: Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual (1 Co 15:46).

This article, the first of three parts, establishes the foundation of the doctrine by examining the nature of works under the old man—what Scripture terms “dead works.” Part 2 will treat the work of God (believing) and the spiritual reality of works wrought in God through the indwelling Spirit. Part 3 will address the judgment of works and the final vindication of the natural-first, spiritual-second pattern.

Before turning to the text, a word about the pattern itself. What follows is not a suggestive inference drawn from isolated verses — it is an apostolic doctrine, confirmed in the mouth of multiple witnesses across the New Testament. Paul contrasts works of the flesh with fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:19-23). The writer to the Hebrews contrasts dead works with serving the living God (Heb 9:14). Paul contrasts works of the law with the righteousness of faith (Rom 3:28; 4:4-5; Gal 2:16). Christ contrasts the multitude’s striving to work the works of God with the single work of believing (John 6:28-29). Paul contrasts man’s labor to establish righteousness with God’s own working within the believer (Phil 2:12-13). Where two or three witnesses establish a word (2Co 13:1), five apostolic witnesses establish a doctrine.

The pattern itself is one of apostolic contrast — the natural against the spiritual, the first against the second, the earthy against the heavenly. Paul does not merely demonstrate this contrast; he states it as the governing principle of all God’s purpose: Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual (1Co 15:46). The first man Adam was made a living soul; the Last Adam was made a quickening spirit (vs 45). The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven (vs 47). Every doctrine of works in Scripture moves on this line. The works of the first Adam and his posterity are the works of the natural — carnal and dead. The works wrought by the Last Adam in His people are the works of the spiritual — heavenly and living.

With this apostolic pattern in view, we turn to the Hebrew testimony of Scripture, where the terminology of works was first laid down.

The Hebrew Foundation: Ma’aseh, Pa’al, and ‘Avodah

The Old Testament employs three primary terms for what later Scripture will develop into the doctrine of works. Each contributes to the picture of the natural order, and each anticipates the resolution that belongs to the spiritual.

The most frequent is ma’aseh (Strong’s H4639), occurring over two hundred times. The word denotes a made thing, a deed, a work, an action. It is first used of God’s own works: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made (Gen 2:2). It describes the heavens as the work of thy fingers (Psa 8:3). The same word is applied to man’s works — Cain’s offering, Noah’s ark, Bezaleel’s labor on the tabernacle. Critically, ma’aseh is the word used for idolatry: the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell (Deut 4:28). Man’s works take the form of man’s gods, and man’s gods are as lifeless as man’s works. The lifelessness of the idol testifies to the lifelessness of the labor that produced it.

The second term is pa’al (Strong’s H6467, with verb H6466), “to do, to work, to make.” It carries a more personal, agential weight than ma’aseh. David prays, Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; give them after the work of their hands (Psa 28:4). It describes the wicked who work iniquity (Psa 6:8; Psa 14:4), and the righteous whose work God remembers (Ruth 2:12). Isaiah indicts Israel for disregarding the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands (Isa 5:12). The human pa’al is the subject of God’s evaluation throughout the prophets; God’s own pa’al is the subject of human neglect.

The third term is ‘avodah (Strong’s H5656), “service, labor, bondage.” It carries the connotation of servile toil. It is first used of Israel’s hard bondage in Egypt: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour (Exo 1:14). The same word is later applied to the service of the tabernacle (Exo 35:24; 38:21) — cleansed and consecrated labor, yet still belonging to the natural order. God’s appropriation of ‘avodah from Egyptian bondage to tabernacle service is itself instructive: labor is redirected but not yet transformed; the servant serves a new Master but still serves in the flesh. The tabernacle ‘avodah was external worship by external men — a natural anticipation of the spiritual reality, pointing forward to that indwelling temple the believer has become (1Co 6:19).

The bondage that ‘avodah describes is also the bondage from which God redeems. The primary Hebrew terms for redemption — ga’al (H1350) and padah (H6299) — do not describe the recovery of a prior perfection. Ga’al is the right and obligation of the kinsman to buy back what poverty or captivity has forfeited, moving the redeemed not backward but forward into new standing (Ruth 4:4-10; Isa 43:14). Padah is ransom-release — the payment of a price that frees the captive from the condition holding them (Deut 7:8; Exo 13:13-15). Neither term presupposes a fall. Both presuppose designed captivity awaiting a Deliverer. The ‘avodah of Egypt was not an accident to be corrected; it was the natural order crying out for the ga’al of God — a cry answered first in Moses and finally and fully in Christ, who gave His life a ransom for many (Matt 20:28).

Two Old Testament passages deserve special notice as foreshadowings of the spiritual reality to come. Isaiah 26:12 prays, LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Here the prophet sees what Paul will later expound in Philippians 2:13 — that the acceptable works of God’s people are works God Himself has wrought in them. Psalm 90:17 confirms the same anticipation: And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. The man of God does not boast that his hands have established a work; he pleads that God will establish it. Even in the Old Testament the confession is already forming: Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it (Psa 127:1). The Hebrew foundation announces the problem; the Greek New Testament declares the resolution.

Dead Works: What Scripture Means by the Term

When the writer to the Hebrews coins the phrase “dead works” he is not speaking exclusively of acts of sin. He is naming a whole category of human activity—the full body of labor performed by the old man, whether openly wicked or outwardly pious. The phrase appears twice, each time identifying the believer’s deliverance from such works as foundational to the gospel: 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 (Heb 6:1). And more pointedly: 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 9:14).

The Greek term rendered “dead” is nekros (Strong’s G3498)—the same word used for physical corpses, for the spiritually unregenerate, and for faith without works. This term does not refer merely to the cessation of life; it signifies lifelessness as pervasive character, a quality belonging to the thing itself. A dead body is not a living body that has stopped working; it is a different kind of thing, belonging to a different category. So with dead works. They are not merely ineffective works that need greater effort; they are a different kind of works, produced by a different source, belonging to a different order of being.

The same nekros terminology converges across three New Testament books to confirm this reality. Paul declares to the Ephesians that they were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), describing the old man’s condition before the Spirit’s quickening. James declares that faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone (James 2:17), and again, faith without works is dead (James 2:26). The Hebrews passages already seen apply the same adjective to works themselves. Dead man, dead faith, dead works — all three share one source: the Adamic nature in which the quickening spirit has not yet come. The natural order cannot produce what belongs to the spiritual, for the Last Adam has not yet wrought His work within. The convergence across Hebrews, James, and Ephesians establishes the category with the full weight of apostolic testimony.

It is crucial to see that dead works include far more than moral evil. They include religious works performed without the indwelling Spirit. Our Lord Himself warned: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matt 7:22-23). Prophesying in Christ’s name, casting out devils in Christ’s name, performing wonderful works in Christ’s name—religious works of the most impressive kind, invoking the name of the Son of God—and yet classified as iniquity, the work of those whom Christ never knew. The name on the label does not change the substance within. Works wrought by the old man in the flesh remain dead works, even when performed under Christian vocabulary. Sincerity of invocation does not sanctify the source; only the indwelling Worker does. We will return to this passage in Part 3; here it suffices to establish that the category “dead works” is larger than sinful works too narrowly understood.

Works of the Flesh

Paul’s catalog in Galatians 5 names the works of the flesh with unmistakable specificity: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like (Gal 5:19-21). The catalog is deliberately mixed. It includes gross immorality (adultery, drunkenness, murder), occult religion (idolatry, witchcraft), and the internal works of pride and division (emulations, variance, heresies). The scope is the flesh as a whole — the natural Adamic nature in all its expressions, whether externally vile or internally respectable.

Observe how Paul concludes the catalog: they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:21). The works of the flesh do not merely fail to earn the kingdom; they bar it. But notice the contrast that follows: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Gal 5:22-23). The works of the flesh stand over against the fruit of the Spirit — and Paul does not say “works of the flesh / works of the Spirit.” He changes the word, and the change is deliberate.

The Greek word behind “works” is erga (G2041) — deeds, actions, labor produced by an agent through his own exertion. The Greek word behind “fruit” is karpos (G2590) — produce that grows organically from a living source. These are not synonyms. Erga describes what a man does; karpos describes what a living thing bears because of what it is. Paul’s choice to use karpos rather than a second erga is itself the apostolic testimony to the natural/spiritual distinction. What the old man produces belongs to one category; what the Spirit bears through the yielded believer belongs to another entirely. Old-man activity is mechanical production — the output of a laboring agent. New-man activity is organic bearing — the increase of an indwelling life. The Lord stated the principle directly: As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me (John 15:4). The branch does not labor to bear fruit; it bears fruit because it is alive in the vine. So with the fruit of the Spirit — it is not produced by effort but borne by union. The vocabulary shift from erga to karpos is not incidental. It is Paul’s own word for the difference between the natural and the spiritual.

Works of the Law

Of all the categories of works belonging to the natural order, the most deceptive is that which Paul names “the works of the law.” These are not evil works. They are commanded works — ordinances given by God through Moses, constituting the external shadow of what Christ would fulfill. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16). Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (Gal 3:2).

The Greek phrase Paul uses throughout these passages is erga nomou (G2041 + G3551) — works of the law. The noun nomos (G3551) in Paul’s letters describes a binding legal system that makes external demands and pronounces legal verdicts. Erga (G2041) is the same word for labor and deed already established as the natural man’s mode of production. The compound therefore describes precisely what the natural order does: it labors externally to satisfy the demands of an external code. The law is outside the man; his works are produced outside the man; and the verdict the law returns is that no such external labor can reach what the law actually requires — a righteousness that must come from within. This is not a flaw in the law. It is the law’s design — to demonstrate by its own inexorable demands that the old man cannot satisfy them — and that what the law requires, only God Himself can supply.

Some interpreters have argued that Paul’s “works of the law” refers narrowly to the ceremonial boundary markers that distinguished Jew from Gentile — circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbaths and feast days — rather than law-keeping in general. There is a measure of truth to this observation: the conflict in Galatia revolved precisely around Judaizers who imposed circumcision and feast observance on Gentile believers, and the controversies of Paul’s ministry often turned on these ceremonial markers. The narrow reading cannot contain the whole force of Paul’s argument. Galatians 3:10 quotes Deuteronomy 27:26: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. The scope is the whole law, not merely its ceremonial portion. Romans 2:21-23 rebukes Jews for violating not ceremonial statutes but the plain moral commandments — stealing, adultery, sacrilege. Romans 3:19-20 concludes that by the law is the knowledge of sin — a principle that applies to the law’s moral function no less than its ceremonial function.

The erga nomou that cannot justify therefore include the law’s moral, ceremonial, and civil demands alike, precisely because the old man cannot produce the righteousness the law requires in any of its dimensions. The narrower reading captures the point of controversy; the broader reading captures the principle at stake. Both together give the full picture: the Judaizers pressed the ceremonial markers because they were the visible line dividing Jew from Gentile, but the principle Paul articulates applies universally to every work performed by the old man under any dimension of law.

The works of the law are the works of the natural order in their purest form. They are ordained of God, commanded by God, imposed upon the covenant people by God Himself, and yet they cannot accomplish the thing they point toward. This is because they were never designed to. They were designed as shadow, to testify that the substance must come. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God (Heb 7:19). For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect (Heb 10:1). The very inadequacy of the law’s works was the testimony; the ceaseless repetition of the sacrifices was the confession that a greater Worker must come.

Romans 7: The Old Man’s Crisis Laid Bare

No passage in all of Scripture so intimately depicts the futility of the old man’s attempt to produce righteousness as Romans 7. The apostle writes as one embodying the experience: For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I (Rom 7:14-15). And more pointedly: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not (Rom 7:18).

This is the Adamic condition placed under a microscope. The law commands; the man consents; the flesh cannot perform. The will is present; the power is absent. I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Rom 7:23). The cry that breaks forth from the crisis is not “Let me try harder” but O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:24). The answer, when it comes, does not deliver by improved effort but by the replacement of the laboring agent: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:25), and in the next breath, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3).

Romans 7 is therefore the hinge between the natural and the spiritual in personal experience. It is where the old man reaches the end of his striving and confesses that a different kind of Worker must come. The chapter is the personal testimony to what the apostolic epistles declare as doctrine. Paul’s confession strips away every illusion about what the natural man can produce — not because the flesh has failed, but because the flesh was never the appointed vessel for this work. The old man’s crisis reaches its conclusion here; the next chapter opens with no condemnation and proceeds to the full unfolding of life in the Spirit.

Much debate has centered on whether Paul speaks here as regenerate or unregenerate — but the witness of Scripture itself dissolves that question. The crisis of Romans 7 is not a narrative of fall and recovery; it is the disclosure of what the first Adam always was. Created a living soul, subject to vanity by God’s own purpose, never yet a quickening spirit — the old man’s incapacity is the very testimony that a Last Adam must come. The natural order was designed to fail as the basis of standing precisely in order that the spiritual might be received as a gift. Creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope (Rom 8:20). The hope was the spiritual all along.

Dead Works and the Living Worker to Come

In this first part we have laid the foundation. The Hebrew testimony shows that works are as ancient as creation and as varied as humankind, but that even the saints of old knew their works required God’s establishment. The New Testament declares that works performed by the natural man belong to a category Scripture names “dead works” — a category that includes moral evil, religious activity, and even ordinances commanded by God when performed by the old man in his own strength. The dead-works terminology converges across Hebrews, James, and Ephesians to confirm the doctrine with the full weight of apostolic testimony. The works of the flesh bar the kingdom; the works of the law cannot justify; and the crisis of Romans 7 discloses that the old man cannot perform the good he wills.

The apparent contradictions with which we began — Scripture commanding works while condemning them, judging by works while saving apart from them — are not contradictions at all. They are the two orders speaking in their own voices. The natural order produces what the natural order produces, and Scripture names it plainly: dead works. The spiritual order produces what only the indwelling Spirit can bear, and Scripture names that plainly too: fruit. The interpretive key is not a choice between the passages that command and the passages that condemn — it is the recognition that they are addressed to two different men.

The very inadequacy of the natural order testifies that the spiritual must come. The dead works of the old man cry out for a living Worker. In Part 2 we turn to that Worker — to the question Christ answered in John 6, to the Abrahamic pattern of faith accounted for righteousness, to the rest of Hebrews 4 where the believer ceases from his own works as God did from His, and to the works that are wrought in God through the indwelling Spirit.

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual (1 Cor 15:46).

]]> Rev 20:11-15 The Great White Throne, Part 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-2011-15-the-great-white-throne-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-2011-15-the-great-white-throne-part-1 Fri, 04 Jul 2025 16:13:43 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33590 Audio Download

Rev 20:11-15 The Great White Throne, Part 1

[Study Aired July 4, 2025]

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

In this study we will concentrate on who and what “the Israel of God” is. It totally relates to who will be and who will not be in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 7 and Revlation 14 tell us that “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” consist of “12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel:

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 7:5  Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. [etc.]

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 verses have led many to believe that God’s elect are indeed physical Jews. After all chapter 7 mentions twelve tribes, each contributing 12,000 “servants of our God” (Rev 7:3).

It is that very phrase in Revelation 7:3 which will help us to understand who these 12 tribes truly represent. They signify “the servants of our God”, and that manifestly excludes the physical nation of Israel which has rejected their own Savior.

Then who is “the Israel of God?” If we can demonstrate that being an ‘Israelite’, from the Lord’s perspective, has nothing at all to do with being physically descended from Abraham, and instead it has everything to do with being one of the “servants of our God”, and that being a servant of God is now a spiritual matter only, then we will know who the Israel of God is.

The first New Testament revelation that being an Israelite is not necessarily connected to being a physical descendant of Abraham comes to us from John the Baptist when he says this to the Israelites of his day:

Luk 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

If indeed ‘stones’ can be used by the Lord to become “children unto Abraham”, then it would be no problem at all for the Lord to “raise up children unto Abraham” out of “those who are called uncircumcision by those who are called the circumcision”, which is exactly what the apostle Paul tells us He is doing, as we will soon see (Eph 2:11-22).

Before we look at who the holy spirit reveals to be the true “commonwealth of Isreal”, let’s first look at who the Lord Himself reveals to be His true ‘servants’ (Rev 7:3) and who He considers to be a true ‘spiritual’ Jew and a true ‘spiritual’ Israelite. This is what Christ Himself told a Gentile, Samaritan woman about who He was seeking to be His true servants:

Joh 4:5  Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Joh 4:6  Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8  (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Samaritans were apostates who had intermarried with Gentiles brought from Babylon. Samaritans were therefore considered to be worse than Gentiles. Therefore it was Christ who first took the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter was the first of the twelve to preach the gospel to the Gentiles when he was made to speak to the Gentiles in the home of Cornelius the Roman centurion. Shortly thereafter Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus. Christ had preached the gospel to the entire Samaritan city of Sychar many years before either Peter or Paul.

It is here in John 4 that the gospel was first preached to the Gentiles:

Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Joh 4:15  The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Joh 4:16  Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Joh 4:17  The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18  For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. [“The Jews” of Romans 2:28-29 as the next verse makes clear]
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers [true Jews, Rom 2:28-29] shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit [God is not descended from Abraham]: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Joh 4:27  And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

It would be years later before these very apostles would be given the strength and spiritual maturity to follow Christ’s example and “call no man common or unclean”.

Act 10:25  And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Act 10:26  But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Act 10:27  And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Joh 4:28  The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Joh 4:29  Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Joh 4:30  Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
Joh 4:31  In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
Joh 4:32  But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye [with your carnal mind] know not of.
Joh 4:33  Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
Joh 4:34  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me [to save the world, (Joh 3:17)], and to finish his work.
Joh 4:35  Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
Joh 4:36  And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
Joh 4:37  And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
Joh 4:38  I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
Joh 4:39  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
Joh 4:40  So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
Joh 4:41  And many more believed because of his own word;
Joh 4:42  And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

What both John the Baptist and Christ are telling us is that the day is coming, and is now here, where physical pedigree is no longer a factor in determining who is and who is not the seed of Abraham. As we said, John the Baptist told the Israelites of his day:

Luk 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Christ told the Samaritan woman:

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
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.

Now we will add one more to our list of New Testament “replacement theologians.” Those who have no fear of the word of God refers to those who tremble at His Words and who believe these words:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Being a ‘Jew’ is now no longer a matter of physical pedigree, rather in Christ being a ‘Jew’ is now “of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter” and “he is not a Jew which is one outwardly”!

Do the scriptures teach the same principle concerning who is now counted as “part of the commonwealth of Israel”? Yes, as a matter of fact that is exactly what the scriptures teach, and it matters not how many Rabbis and ministers are upset with these words concerning who is an ‘Israelite’:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.

“This principle” is the principle which states that being an Israelite “doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a “new creation.” This is such an important principle to the doctrine of Christ that He repeats it in:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
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;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
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;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Someone will surely ask, “If all this is true, then why go to the trouble of naming all the twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation 7?” The answer to that question is that Israel was composed of twelve tribes for the purpose of becoming the foundation of the Lord’s physical kingdom on this earth. Read the study on The Number Twelve – The Number of Foundations.

The Lord wants us to know that the spiritual foundation of His kingdom which will rule over “the kingdoms of this world… for a thousand years” is not connected to anything in this physical realm. Nevertheless, that kingdom is founded on the twelve spiritual tribes who are “the Israel of God… walking according to this rule [that] neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” avails as now becoming the twelve spiritual tribes of “the Israel of God”:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

This next point was made by the Lord Himself at the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding the colt of an ass. Remember as we read of these events that the Lord calls Israel “My fig tree” in the Old Testament:

Hos 9:10  I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

As Christ was making His entry into Jerusalem the people “spread their garments in the way… and cut down branches of the trees and strawed them in the way”:

Mar 11:9  And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
Mar 11:10  Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
Mar 11:11  And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

The next day as Christ was returning to Jerusalem from Bethany, even though it was not yet time for a fig tree to have figs, Christ approached a fig tree and cursed it:

Mar 11:12  And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
Mar 11:13  And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
Mar 11:14  And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Immediately after cursing the fig tree Christ enters into the temple and cleanses it of the “den of thieves” it had become.

Mar 11:15  And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
Mar 11:16  And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
Mar 11:17  And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye [“My fig tree”, (Joel 1:7)] have made it a den of thieves.
Mar 11:18  And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
Mar 11:19  And when even was come, he went out of the city.
Mar 11:20  And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Mar 11:21  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mar 11:23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

This fig tree was completely withered. The branches, the leaves, “the fig tree dried up from the roots.” Christ is both “the branch” and “the root.” He is “the root” of His fig tree, signifying “[His] fig tree” (Joel 1:7). This tree, signifying physical Israel, had no root of Christ in it.

Isa 11:10  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Rom 15:12  And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

Notice that Isaiah does not say “to it shall Israel seek”, nor “In Him shall Israel trust.” To the contrary this is what He says will happen to “Israel… according to the flesh”:

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Paul tells us that it is through the mercy of Gentile converts that Israel will receive mercy:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their [Israel’s] unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy [Gentile Romans, (Rom 1:13)] they also may obtain mercy.

Rom 1:13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

Lest anyone miss this fact that physical Israel is no longer the sole object of the Lord’s affections Paul and Barnabas told the Jews of Pisidian Antioch:

Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

It was not just the Sadducees who hated Christ and wanted Him dead, as some ministers and rabbis are teaching. This false doctrine teaches that the Sadducees were nothing more than an arm of the Romans and that it was the Romans who wanted to kill Christ while Jews for the most part loved Christ. However, that is not what the New Testament teaches. John 8 tells us that it was “those Jews which believed on Him… wanted to kill [Him]:

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

Speaking to these same “Jews that believed on Him” Christ answers:

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.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

There is no mention of the Sadducees in John 8. Both John and Peter makes it clear that “Pilate would have let Him go.”

Joh 19:12  And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews [no mention of Sadducees] cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

Act 3:13  The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

Placing the death of Christ upon any particular group alone is to miss the whole point of Christ’s death. The doctrine of both the Old and New Testaments is that He came to bear the sins of all men, and it is the sins of all men which put Christ to death. Natural, physical Israel served as the instrument to reject their own Savior. Their rejection signifies what all but a remnant of Christianity has done and is doing to Christ and His doctrine until this very day. Being that physical nation the Lord has chosen to signify what we have all done, it is expedient that natural Israel be rejected by God and that the gospel must go to the Gentile Christians who have also rejected Christ and His doctrines, except for a very small remnant:

Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

So the twelve thousand from each tribe simply signify “the foundation of the apostles and prophets of the New Testament times.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye [Gentile Christians] 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;

In our next study we will see how critical to the Lord’s goal of the destruction of death this great white throne is.

]]> The Book of Micah – Part 5, Micah 5:1-15 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-micah-part-5-micah-51-15/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-micah-part-5-micah-51-15 Sat, 23 Mar 2024 05:54:50 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=29644 Audio Download

The Book of Micah – Part 5, Micah 5:1-15

[Study Aired March 23, 2024]

When we reflect upon what the prophets of old are inspired to write, they all have the profound underlying theme of our God powerfully establishing His physical righteousness first in the nation of Israel. From her torrid experiences, the prophets have a hazy yet profound understanding that the world will be saved by some other source than Israel and their own works. However, like Solomon, they see dimly that a spiritual reality must emerge since keeping the Commandments by one’s own strength has proven endlessly by Israel to be utterly useless. Micah is dedicated faithfully to the same understanding that some element which the holy spirit keeps hidden is “black” to their discernment and is yet to be revealed. In the meantime, Micah and the entire Old Testament of continuing dead works, herald the coming of the holy spirit that will bring all understanding to truth.

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:30  This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:31  And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptising with water.
Joh 1:32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Joh 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 
Joh 1:34  And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 

Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, the holy spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them [First with his Bride who is the only woman since Adam and this age who does love Him] that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us [His Bride] by his spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 
1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. 

1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow [that is to follow Micah and all the prophets of old].
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels [Christ’s Elect] desire to look into.

The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem

Mic 5:1  Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
Mic 5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah [ef-rawth], though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

The daughter of troops symbolises the many harlot churches of Babylon that relentlessly lay siege against Christ’s commandments. Indeed, they did smite Christ, the judge of Israel, upon sending him to the cross.

Joh 18:22  And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? 
Joh 18:23  Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?

Bethlehem and Ephrathah (ef-rawth) are one and the same, as are Leah and Rachel, Jacob’s wives. Leah bore the many troops of Israel with her ten sons, while Rachel figuratively birthed Bethlehem, which represents Christ. Bethlehem, Christ’s ‘little flock’, is diminutive, scattered and mostly unknown to each other among the thousands of “troops” of Israel exiled into Babylon.

Ephratah’s (ef-rawth) Definition: Ephrath or Ephratah = ash-heap: place of fruitfulness n pr loc 1. a place near Bethel where Rachel died and was buried. 2. another name for Bethlehem.

Even though Ephrath is to be an enduring ‘ash heap’ ground to powder, Agar of Mt Sinai is incredibly materially fruitful, particularly in her distortions of Christ’s word and subsequent worship of ‘another Jesus’ (2Co 11:4). Yet, out of her travail, first comes Christ, the ruler, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” and, close on His bruised heels, His Bride and co-ruler, represented as Rachel being spiritually fruitful!

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. [Babylonian Christianity, the “moon”, remains in bondage in Babylon, oblivious to being in subjection under the feet of her younger sister – Rev 12:1]
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 [symbolised as Rachel]  that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate [Rachel] hath many more children than she [The Great Whore] which hath an husband [… another Jesus. 2Co 11:4, Rev 18:7].

Following Israel being ‘given up’ for hundreds, even two thousand years in her coming exile into Babylon, a prophesied ‘remnant’ (“everlasting” Micah 5:2) will return in Zerubbabel’s name to rebuild the broken city of Jerusalem which parallels spiritually Christ’s building of His new Heavenly Jerusalem above.

Mic 4:2  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

However, in the meantime, Micah goes on to say:

Mic 5:3  Therefore will he give them up, until the time [appointed] that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Mic 5:4  And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Zerubbabel represents Christ who comes to build His new heavenly Jerusalem, to feed His remnant little flock in training as His Bride who will come first in the One-Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron to prove to her ‘children’ yet again, as old Israel endlessly proved impossible to keep Christ’s commands without the holy spirit. Her children, risen in the Resurrection to Judgment and numbered as the sand of the sea, will be chastised and fed God’s word on the Eighth Day, the Lake of Fire.

Lev 23:23  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month [eighth day], shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD [Lev 9:1-24].

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast [the Eighth Day, the Lake of Fire], Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Mic 5:5  And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

Micah and all the so-called ‘minor prophets’ are not ministering to themselves, but to us today since the cross to the Bride Christ, forewarning her of her inward destruction spiritually yet with an astonishing glorious ending first for her and following the rest of the world )1Pe 1:10-12).

The ‘man of peace’ is easily seen as the coming of Christ to rout the Assyrian out of the lying wealth of our own doings and raise seven angels to first rule our heavens. The word of God is hidden in the dichotic meaning of peace when, in fact, there is coming war, yet the Elect of God are well-versed in the reality of the joy that trials (Jas 1:1-18) bring since they make their spiritual character strong.

Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 
Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 

Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

The seven trumpets are the Elect of God in training, first blowing a warning of the seven plagues of the same seven vials within themselves and then collectively in the seven churches that are one Church, the Lord’s Bride in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Rev 16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev 16:2  And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

In the next verse (Mic 5:6) the land of Assyria and Nimrod are figuratively the same as Babylon, that ‘the man of peace’ (Micah 5:5), Christ from Bethlehem, will first destroy us in the winepress of His wrath upon our inward borders before bringing us into His glory.

Mic 5:6  And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod [rebellion] in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

As we know, Assyria, Egypt, Sodom and old Jerusalem all represent Babylon.

Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Jer 23:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood [bitterness], and make them drink the water of gall [venom, bitter, poisonous]: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

The Lord in scripture is consistent in bringing His beloved chastisement before glory. Christ, the one seed, spiritually conceives in His little remnant-Bride the beginnings of a mighty harvest. One seed of wheat with today’s genetic breeding brings forth a highly varied number of kernels. In my day as a wheat farmer, depending on the soil moisture and soil fertility, one head of wheat would produce a nominal average of thirty-three seeds (Today’s genetics raises that figure to 50).

A Remnant Shall Be Delivered

The remaining verses of Micah 5:7-15 are, in part, a repeat of the exact theme for the salvation of man consistently shown throughout the entire Bible. Man is shown his sin to be acknowledged, and since he is designed to rebel, seven thousand years of chastisement ensues for his torturous learning to obey Christ’s commands. However, there is always a thread of people with God-given righteousness hand-chosen by Christ to present His coming. Since the cross, that ‘remnant’ continues hidden as a materially and academically dishevelled little flock who is given a double portion of His spirit to be unified in Him to bring forth the many children as the sand of the sea in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

The Bride of Christ is well-versed in knowing that the ‘remnant’ is her represented as “dew”, diminutive like the manna  which looked like hoar-frost fed to the Israelites. The dew of Christ’s word upon one kernel of wheat grows into a flood and mighty harvest of souls for everyone who is made to tarry on the Lord for one of the two resurrections. Just as consistently does Christ’s Bride know that it is she who is first to be beaten and ground to powder like a double portion of chastisement to be made worthy to be glorified in Christ. She is the “remnant” that shows her brothers and sisters the pattern of the heavenly they must endure in the Lake of Fire, the Resurrection to Judgment.

Gen 27:26  And his [Jacob’s] father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.
Gen 27:27  And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment [treachery, deceit], and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: 
Gen 27:28  Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn [wheat] and wine:
Gen 27:29  Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

Mic 5:8  And the remnant of Jacob [Joseph and Benjamin as one] shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 

Judah, the priestly nation and today, is the reality of the Bride of Christ, likened to a male lion who has the authority to be intently watched and respected as it strolls through the midst of the beasts of the field, and woe upon any he fixes his gaze.

Gen 49:8  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. 
Gen 49:9  Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 
Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Christ] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Num 23:24  Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. 

Rev 5:4  And I [John] wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Christ alone has the right to open ‘the book’, and as He is, so she, his Wife, also has that right, being utterly one in unity of spirit. 

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. 

Mic 5:9  Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. 

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews [Christ’s Elect], and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Mic 5:10  And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots [mode of delivering 200,000,000 smothering (covering) lies Rev 9; particularly verse 16]: 
Mic 5:11  And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds [all spiritually within]: 
Mic 5:12  And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 
Mic 5:13  Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 
Mic 5:14  And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 
Mic 5:15  And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. 

Micah 5:7-14 is a mighty orchestral frenzy of chastising instrumentation reaching a crescendo in verse 15, a trumpet-like blast and deathly silence for inward trembling reflection as the Lion of Judah royally strolls among us, His gaze fixed on each of us, and we, initially utterly unable to hold a single-eyed returned ravishing (Son 4:9).

Rev 4:8  And the four beasts [around the throne of God] had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9  And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 
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.

However, before the First Resurrection, the Lord’s Bride has a God-designed devastating beauty matching Christ’s glory when he, in Solomon’s words, says,

Son 4:9  Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 

]]> Book of Jeremiah – Jer 32:23-44 They Shall be My People and I Will be Their God https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/book-of-jeremiah-jer-3223-44-they-shall-be-my-people-and-i-will-be-their-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=book-of-jeremiah-jer-3223-44-they-shall-be-my-people-and-i-will-be-their-god Sat, 05 Mar 2022 01:42:57 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=25366 Jer 32:23-44 They Shall be My People and I Will be Their God
[Study Aired March 6, 2022]

Jer 32:23  And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
Jer 32:24  Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
Jer 32:25  And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans
Jer 32:26  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 32:27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Jer 32:28  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
Jer 32:29  And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Jer 32:30  For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
Jer 32:31  For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Jer 32:32  Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer 32:33  And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
Jer 32:34  But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Jer 32:35  And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jer 32:36  And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
Jer 32:37  Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Jer 32:38  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
Jer 32:39  And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jer 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Jer 32:41  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42  For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
Jer 32:43  And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 32:44  Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

Our last study ended with Jeremiah buying his cousin’s field which was in the hands of the Babylonian army. The sale was legally witnessed and sealed as a type of how the Lord has promised to give His elect the preeminent position in His kingdom as “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

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.

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.

‘Firstfruits’ are just that. They are not the only fruits. They are merely the first of many. They are the pillars at the door of the Lord’s temple through which all in Adam will eventually be brought back to their God:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only [not just the firstfruits], but also for the sins of the whole world.

1Ki 7:21  And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Jeremiah’s purchase of his cousin’s field while in prison, typifies how the Lord is aware of our election even while we are in the chains of the sins of a Babylonian harlot who has never lived up to her marriage covenant:

Jer 32:23  And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:

“They have done nothing of all that you commanded them” brings these words of Isaiah to mind:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

The seven women of the next chapter of Isaiah are ‘seven’ in number because they typify the complete apostasy of this harlot, Jerusalem, and the complete nation of Israel:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
Isa 1:26  And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

Right there is the formula for the work the Lord is working in His people. He has ordained that the vessel He made of clay first be marred in His hand, and then His hand will make it anew as He sees fit to make it by turning His hand upon us and purely purging away our dross and taking away all our corruptible tin. He will then restore our judges and counselors and only after He has done all of this, He will call us “the city of righteousness, the faithful city.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he [the Lord] wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

So much for the damnable false doctrine of God giving mankind a will that is free of “His own 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:

Heb 2:4  God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.

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.

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

It is the Lord, not us, who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, not ours, and according to His good pleasure, not ours. That “good pleasure includes being first made a marred vessel… made to be taken and destroyed:

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Unless otherwise qualified with a phrase such as “the rest of the dead” or “when the thousand years are expired”, the plural pronouns ‘these, they, them and those’ always include you and me. Keep that in mind as we continue to see how the Lord is purging us of our dross in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

Jer 32:24  Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.

The Hebrew word for ‘mounts’ is:

Jer 32:25  And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

During the middle of the siege the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy his cousin’s field, to demonstrate his faith that the Lord will bring Israel back out of Babylon. It all happened to them, and it is written to show us how we are to keep the faith amid our severest trials and when the darkness seems so impenetrable. As is usual with how God works, He requires a witness to how His temple is built:

1Ki 7:15  For he cast two pillars [2Ch 3:17] of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about. 

These two pillars are the same as the two olive trees mentioned in Revelation 11.

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.

Jer 32:26  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 32:27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Jer 32:28  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
Jer 32:29  And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Jer 32:30  For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
Jer 32:31  For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
Jer 32:32  Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer 32:33  And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
Jer 32:34  But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Jer 32:35  And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Someone once asked me, “If God is working all things (Eph 1:11) and if He ‘makes us to err’ (Isa 63:17), how then can He say, “It never came into my mind that they should do this abomination.” The answer is that the Lord is not denying He sent an evil spirit to put it in the mind of His people to commit this abomination:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

When the Lord says, “Neither came it into My mind that they should do this abomination [burn their children alive]” He is contrasting what is in His heart with what is in the heart of the flesh of our self-righteous, rebellious old man who condemns his fellow man to eternal hell fire.

Jer 32:36  And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;

Notice how the Lord had just said…

Jer 32:28  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

…and then put those same words in Jeremiah’s mouth and said, ‘whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence’. This is a demonstration of the Truth of what the Lord had earlier told Jeremiah:

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

That is how the Lord speaks through all who are faithful to the words of the Lord. The Lord’s true prophets, like the Lord Himself, never say anything of themselves. The Lord’s true prophets speak only “that which has been written” and already spoken by the Lord “in the heavens”:

Mat 18:18  Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens. (YLT)

Joh 8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

‘Lifting up the Son of Man’ refers to His crucifixion on the cross. It is only after we confess to being guilty of His death that we will know who Christ is:

Joh 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Joh 12:33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Realizing this fact will help us understand the message of Jeremiah to his people and the message of Paul to his people when he made this statement:

1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
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.

It is ours to acknowledge that we have ‘lifted up’ the Son of Man, and we have placed Him on the cross for our sins and that we must live out our part in “the world” which must endure His wrath upon the kingdom of our rebellious, unfaithful and self-righteous old man. These are the “things having been bound and loosed in the heavens” and written down for our admonition:

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I did transfer to myself and to Apollos because of you, that in us ye may learn not to think above that which hath been written, that ye may not be puffed up one for one against the other, (YLT)

All of mankind, in and of themselves, are guilty before God, requiring His chastening. When His “chastening and scourging” had done their purifying work then:

Jer 32:37  Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Jer 32:38  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

Just as the promised land typifies dwelling in peace with and being of one mind with the Lord, so “all countries whither I have driven them in Mine anger” typifies in contrast all the false doctrines which separate us from the mind of the Lord. ‘Gathering us’ to Himself means He is making us of one mind with Himself by destroying and burning up all those false doctrines with His Truth as this next verse makes clear:

Jer 32:39  And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

“One heart and one way” is the exact opposite of “all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger.” There are a few who are given this “one heart, and one way, that… fear me… [and are] the first to trust in Christ”:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

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.

“I will give them one heart… that they may fear me… for the good of them” is just another way of saying, “being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” While we do not know whether we have been given that ‘heart’, if the Lord has given us a heart to “fear [Him] forever” then there is no chance that we will do otherwise simply because He is the One who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and our fate in not in our own hands. It is He who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will.”

Jer 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

This is not a promise that we will never act self-righteously nor ever again transgress against our Lord and His ways. Rather, here is the meaning of this promise:

Psa 89:27  Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28  My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
Psa 89:29  His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
Psa 89:30  If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
Psa 89:31  If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
Psa 89:32  Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Psa 89:33  Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
Psa 89:34  My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

These words are repeated by King Solomon:

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

These same words are repeated in:

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

Jer 32:41  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42  For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

“I will… do them good… I will bring upon them all the good that I have promised them” come to us only through “chastening… scourging [and being brought] to [our] wits’ end”.

This is how the Lord displays His goodness in this age:

Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

It is you and I who first “abhor all manner of meat” and want only the ‘milk and honey’ of the promised land. It is we who after time in the Lord’s service “do business in great waters” and come to see that our storms of this life were all a work of the Lord to drag us to Himself. Only “then” do we appreciate all those devastating trials that had brought us to our wits’ end. If we do not see the order in which the Lord operates, then we can and we will miss the spiritual message the Lord is imparting to us.

These verses in Psalms 107 clarify the meaning of the phrase “His goodness” in:

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?.

Another New Testament doctrine which teaches us that the Lord’s ‘goodness’ is expressed through His chastening hand is:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

That Greek word, ‘paideuo’ (G3811) is the exact same word translated as ‘chasten’ in Hebrews 12:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: verb, paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening [G3809: noun, paideia], God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth [paideuo, G33811] not?

Does grace “teach” us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts? Of course, it does, but the fact is that ‘teaching’ comes through a spiritual spanking and scourging which is completely hidden when you translate ‘paideuo’ with the English word ‘teach’ here in Titus:

Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastens] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

What a huge difference it would make if the translators had consistently used the English word ‘chastening’ instead of ‘teaching’. A consistent translation using the word ‘chastening’ would go a long way toward giving this next verse an entirely different connotation than the ‘greasy grace’ inflection it has been given by many who believe in the damnable doctrine of ‘substitutionary atonement’. Read this verse now with the knowledge that ‘the grace of God chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts…’:

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

With this new understanding of the function of the grace of God in our lives Romans 5:20 now accords with the message of “Whom the Lord loveth He chastens [paideuo], and scourgeth every son He receiveth”, instead of the “let us sin that grace may abound” message that was already circulating even as early as the epistles of the apostle Paul who poses that very question:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Paul asks this question in anticipation of what he was already hearing as the naturally permissive response to his doctrine of “the free… gift by grace… is of many offences unto justification” and “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

Rom 5:15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom 5:16  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

“The free gift… of many offences unto justification” is not the freedom to sin without severe consequences. Rather, ‘the free gift’ is the gift of God’s chastening, scourging grace:

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

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

We have all lived many years of our lives as spiritual ‘bastards’ while thinking we were sons. We all self-righteously tithed and kept days, months, times and years, with no earth-shaking chastening taking place in our lives.

Even at that time the Lord already knew all those who were and who were not His elect. He already knew who He “first loved” and who would later be the beneficiaries of His chastening grace:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein 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:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved);
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
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:

Fields and lands, cities and mountains and valleys one and all typify the powers and principalities of the kingdom of our old man, all of which are destroyed and then replaced by the doctrinal Truths of the kingdom of our New Man, Christ, and His kingdom within us:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The Lord has “returned [our] captivity” here and now in “earnest” and in the down payment of His spirit within us. As “sons of God” we are at this very moment ‘kings and priests’ but awaiting “the manifestation of the sons of God”:

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

If Christ is within us, then we are “heirs with Him”:

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba [G5 is the equivalent of H2: ‘Father], Father [G3962: ‘Pater’, Father].
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

That is the encouraging hope with which this chapter closes:

Jer 32:43  And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 32:44  Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

Knowing that He was about to die, our Lord told Pilate:

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The two times the word ‘world’ appears in this verse are both G2889, the Greek word ‘kosmos’. Christ tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

“But now is my kingdom not from hence” will not always be the case because we are assured:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world [G2889] are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

If we are granted, through the Lord’s chastening grace, to “cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring [them] into captivity… to the obedience of Christ” in “this present time”, then we will be given power over the nations of “this world”, this ‘kosmos’. Then we will fight for our Lord, and we will rule the nations of this world with a rod of iron for a thousand years just prior to the great white throne judgment through which is the chastening grace by which we will bring all men of all time to our Lord and to His Father:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.

That “Morning Star” is Christ, and He is “the Day Star” of:

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:

It is through the brightness of this ‘Day Star’ that His servants are now fighting the good fight of faith within and burning out all that offends in His kingdom within us.

Look at the Greek word translated as ‘Day star’:

‘Phosphorus’ burns very hot, and it is with this ‘fire’ “in [our] hearts” that we will also then fight against and be given dominion over the kingdoms of this kosmos.

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Remember how Christ appeared at His transfiguration in the mount:

Mat 17:2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

It is with the light of “the Sun of Righteousness” that we will be given the dominion over the kingdoms of this world, both within first and then outwardly in this ‘kosmos’.

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

That concludes this study, and here are our verses for next week’s study:

Jer 33:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jer 33:4  For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
Jer 33:5  They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
Jer 33:6  Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jer 33:7  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Jer 33:8  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Jer 33:9  And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Jer 33:10  Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
Jer 33:11  The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
Jer 33:12  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
Jer 33:13  In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

]]> The Book of Kings – 1Ki 1:19-27 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-kings-1ki-119-27-he-is-despised-and-rejected-of-men-a-man-of-sorrows-and-acquainted-with-grief/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-kings-1ki-119-27-he-is-despised-and-rejected-of-men-a-man-of-sorrows-and-acquainted-with-grief Thu, 10 Jun 2021 23:13:33 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23700

1Ki 1:19-27 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa 53:3)

[Study Aired June 10, 2021]

1Ki 1:19  And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.
1Ki 1:20  And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
1Ki 1:21  Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
1Ki 1:22  And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
1Ki 1:23  And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
1Ki 1:24  And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?
1Ki 1:25  For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.
1Ki 1:26  But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.
1Ki 1:27  Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

The last part of that verse in Isaiah 53:3 from which our title for tonight’s study is taken says, “and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” It was by hiding our face from the truth in our former conversation because of our blindness (Eph 2:1-3, 2Co 4:4), that we demonstrated we despised and rejected Christ, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Isa 53:3  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.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein 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:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

In this section of 1Kings 1 we will learn through the example of Adonijah how, by our self-righteous religious actions, we were all guilty of rejecting Christ by holding fast to His name but not His doctrine (Isa 4:1), and conversely how, when we were given to know the truth, we then began to be rejected and hated by all men for His name’s sake becoming as He is in this world, “rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”. It is by living by the faith of Christ that we can go through the crushing and dying daily experiences  (Gal 2:20) of this life which are precious in the sight of God (1Pe 1:7) who is preparing the bride through those trials to become saviors (Mar 13:13, 1Jn 4:17, 1Pe 2:6-9, Psa 116:15, Col 1:24).

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more  precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Mar 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

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.

1Pe 2:6  Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient:  whereunto also they were appointed.
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:

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

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:

Before Solomon, a type of the elect in this instance, can be appointed king by King David, who represents Christ, we need to see the extent of our own pride and self-righteousness that wants to do good and offer sacrifices as Adonijah did, and how we naturally forget these words: “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1Sa 15:22-23). That obedience is something we learn through the things we suffer as we go from glory to glory (2Co 3:18) beholding the glory of Christ our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) who gives us the power to be able to be obedient, until ultimately we will no longer “hid[e] as it were our faces from him” but rather see him face to face (1Co 13:12, Joh 17:3-4).

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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:

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do (Rom 4:17, Eph 2:10).

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.

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.

1Ki 1:19  And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 

As we just read in 1Samuel 15:22-23, these sacrifices of “oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance” which were slain demonstrate the stubbornness in Adonijah’s heart and the extent that he and all flesh will go to in order to get its own way that seems right (Pro 14:12). We do many wonderful ‘religious’ works (Mat 7:22-23) without truly knowing that Christ is the one who is working in us both to will and to do all those works (Php 2:12-13).

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [our own righteousness of (Php 3:9)].

Eze 18:26  When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

The righteousness being spoken of in Ezekiel from which we turn away is typical of the righteousness of Christ who is our righteousness (1Co 1:30), and when God causes us to err by hardening our hearts (Isa 63:17), we die in our own works that Christ likened to the dead burying the dead (Luk 9:60). God is in the process of burning all this self-righteousness out of Christ’s bride as we’re led to repentance (Rom 2:4). God is working with the elect in this age to bring about mature sons who will glorify Him as vessels that have been made unto honour, through a sanctification process, that makes us meet for the master’s use, being prepared unto every good work (2Ti 2:21, Rev 19:7, Eph 2:10, Mat 3:8)

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

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

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.

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 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

This is the blindness that is caused and is typified by Jacob who for seven years served the tender eyedH7390 firstborn Leah who represents our completely blind flesh that cannot see (seven years) until we are given Rachel who represents the gift of God’s grace given to us through faith (Gen 29:17-20, Eph2:8).

Gen 29:16  And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Gen 29:17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
Gen 29:18  And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Gen 29:19  And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.
Gen 29:20  And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

Adonijah was in no way following the principle that Christ tells us in Luke 14:12-15 and had chosen rather to invite those people who would best advance his goal of securing his position as king via “Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host“. In Adonijah’s mind, these were the most likely people who would “bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee”, which was his way of seeking political advantage.

Luk 14:12  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
Luk 14:13  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
Luk 14:14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just [Rev 20:6].
Luk 14:15  And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

The banquet that God’s elect are called to is the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9) and so we only need to look at Christ’s example here to know who it is that has been determined to be called from the foundation of the world: “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind” — those who have been brought to see that they are unworthy (Luk 15:19, Luk 17:10) and see the hope in these trustworthy statements (1Ti 1:15-16, 1Co 1:26-29) that are worthy of all acceptation.

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

“The king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host” represent the mighty and the noble of this world who will, in God’s time, see the order of His plan that was determined to be that way so that “no flesh should glory in his presence”.

“But Solomon thy servant hath he not called” reminds us that Adonijah was not given to receive the wisdom that was needed in order to become the true king of Israel as it was too high for him (Pro 24:7). Adonijah typifies our flesh trying to find some other way into the kingdom of God (Joh 10:1); that some other way being our own works, our own righteousness (Php 3:9).

Pro 24:7  Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

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

1Ki 1:20  And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 
1Ki 1:21  Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
1Ki 1:22  And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.

This verse, “And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him“, has its fulfillment for God’s elect in Malachi 3:18, which is when the eyes of “all Israel” who represents the world (Rev 5:10, 1Co 6:3), will look to mount Zion which represents the elect who will judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21). We are all offenders. But for the grace of God our offences as a kind of first fruits are given an accounting in this life, which is represented by the actions of Bathsheba and Nathan who are disclosing the facts about Adonijah whose life represents our former conversation (Eph 2:1-3). That is the reason we ought to come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain grace in “time of need” (Heb 4:16, 1Pe 4:17) along with this attitude of humbling ourselves before the king (1Ki 1:16, 1Ki 1:23) who represents Christ Who already knows we are the man of 2Samuel 12:7 and that we have all forsaken Christ in our time (Mat 26:22, Mar 14:50). In other words, if Christ does not set us free from sin (Joh 8:36), “I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders“.

Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

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

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.

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

Verse 21 is accompanied by an admonition for us right after verse 20 stating “Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders“, telling us also that unless our witness does not truthfully go forth through Christ, who is our hope of glory represented by King David, that their blood will be upon our head and we “shall be counted offenders” (Eze 3:18-19, 1Ti 4:15-16). The solution to being able to heed this admonition of being a faithful witness is given to us in the form of a parable represented by Nathan who in verse 22 appears on the scene, stated this way: “while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in“.

Our hope is not in this life alone because we know Christ is raised, and although it is true “my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers“, our hope is that Christ our king is raised now and we are raised with him in earnest making it possible for us to be true witnesses who are not experiencing any condemnation in Christ (Rom 8:1). If God so allows, then we are being blessed to demonstrate our discipleship through obedience to God’s commands as we experience His love being shed abroad in our hearts for that very reason of giving us the power to be obedient and faithful witnesses (Rev 11:3) to the end of this life (1Co 15:14, Eph 2:6, Rom 5:5).

Eze 3:18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 3:19  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

1Ti 4:15  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

1Co 15:14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

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

Bathsheba is a type of the church whose witness to the king is going to be confirmed by the prophet Nathan. We are dragged to the king (Joh 6:44) to make these requests and are accepted in the beloved through God’s holy spirit (Eph 1:6). Nathan is the second person to confirm (witness) what was being brought to the king, and Nathan is a type of the spirit of God which will bear witness that we are His sons in this age who have been given the power to testify, while others deny Christ who won’t deny Himself, if He is abiding in us and saving us by grace through faith (Mat 10:19, Rom 8:14-16, the spirit of God is not bound 2Ti 2:10-13, Joh 6:63, 2Co 3:17, Rom 8:9, Eph 2:8).

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

1Ki 1:23  And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

Unlike David, Christ knows what is going on all the time and everywhere in the earth (2Ch 16:9, Jer 1:12), and this statement “and they told the king” is typical of the statement found in the book of Job where Christ asks this question that would generate an answer: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”(Job 1:7). That question was not for His benefit but for ours to remind us that we are constantly dealing with a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and yet he will not prevail or catch God’s elect off guard if we are granted to resist him stedfastly in the faith (1Pe 5:8-9, Mat 16:18, Luk 22:31).

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

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.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: [1Jn 5:4] and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

What we hope to see in all our dealings with Christ in each other is this spirit of humility that Nathan brought forth: “and when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground” (Php 2:3). Having our “face to the ground” is a symbolic gesture that reminds us who we are to be in the presence of our King.

1Ki 1:23  And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himselfH7812 before the king with his faceH639 to the ground.

Zep 2:3  Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S angerH639.

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

1Ki 1:24  And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 
1Ki 1:25  For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

The discerning mind of Christ, represented by King David, is going to make a declaration very shortly after all the facts are stated by Bathsheba and Nathan (1Co 2:15-16).

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Bathsheba and Nathan have gone about to establish this witness with humility in their approach stating only the facts of the matter on which the king will base his arbitration (Pro 18:13). Nathan begins by asking king David if these are his words “Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne” to immediately establish that Adonijah’s actions were self-willed, boastful (Pro 25:14), and not ordained by the king, which Nathan and Bathsheba wanted to be sure was the case (1Jn 4:1).

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

If this is the case that David has approved Adonijah to be king, then surely David would have been the one putting all of these things together (Luk 15:27) that Adonijah took upon himself to do, “for he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.” These were all normal proceedings for someone who has been ordained to be a king, but in Adonijah’s case it was all a demonstration of the flesh wanting to be acknowledged and given approval for his own personal gain (Mat 6:2).

Luk 15:27  And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

These were the matters that Bathsheba and Nathan were searching out in order to preserve the true lineage of the king, and it demonstrates a typical lesson that we are called to learn by looking well unto ourselves and the church (1Pe 1:12, Act 20:28) so that by the grace of God no man will take our crown (Pro 25:2, Jer 17:10, Rev 2:2, Rev 3:11).

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

1Ki 1:26  But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called.
1Ki 1:27  Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

Nathan’s statement had the veiled understanding that Adonijah was conveniently calling who he wanted in order to get approval for his actions, even as he steered away from calling on Nathan “thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called“.

Calling ZadokH6659 would have brought condemnation to Adonijah, just as would calling NathanH5416 along with BenaiahH1141 son of JehoiadaH3077 and SolomonH8010.

Twice now Nathan is used to bring this question to the king, once through his counsel given to Bathsheba, and then from his own mouth (1Ki 1:13, 1Ki 1:27): “Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?“.  Nathan respectfully puts this question before the king because none of this appears right in the heart and minds of him and Bathsheba, and the Lord is showing us that a witness will always be established against our old man, typified here by Adonijah: “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”.

We will all feel the rejection that will cause us to groan in our spirits as we long with all the saints for his vindication on our lives that have become like Christ “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Rev 6:10, Isa 53:3).

Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice [Heb 5:7], saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Isa 53:3  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.

Next week, Lord willing, we will see the type and shadow answer to this question “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” as we look at the response King David gives that brings us into remembrance of these verses.

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

]]> The Book of Hebrews – Heb 13:6-10 …Be Content with Such Things as Ye Have https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-hebrews-heb-136-10-be-content-with-such-things-as-ye-have/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-hebrews-heb-136-10-be-content-with-such-things-as-ye-have Thu, 06 May 2021 22:47:17 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23507 Heb 13:6-10 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have”
[Study Aired May 6, 2021]
Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 
Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. 
Heb 13:7  Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 
Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 
 
The last verse we looked at last week was “Let your conversation [“your way of life“] be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”(Heb 13:5). These next few verses we will look at tonight lay out how it is that we can overcome a covetous spirit through Christ as we grow in our appreciation of knowing He will “never leave you, nor forsake you“.
 
Our interpretation of never being left and never being forsaken is based on things we don’t see, if we are thinking maturely (Joh 20:29), and not on what our flesh necessarily needs and wants. We wrestle against the powers and principalities we are called to overcome as we die daily, putting “off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (1Jn 2:16), being thankful for how God provides for us in whatever measure, and understanding that this measure is something He calls us to learn to be content with as we grow in confidence in what God can and will always supply (Php 4:12, Php 3:3, Php 4:19). That former way of thinking is what we die daily to, and it is ever present at the gates of our hearts. It is Christ who has told us he will “never leave you, nor forsake you” in order to overcome those powers and principalities of which He is far higher (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21, Gen 4:7).
 
Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
 
Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 
 
Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 
 
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.
 
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 
 
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. 
That covetous spirit is manifest in us when we don’t yet realize that “marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (verse 4). We must be judged therefore, to keep our relationship with Christ as one that is undefiled. So we’re told that it is through much tribulation we enter into the kingdom of God, and that judgment which is upon the house of God produces the spiritual fidelity God is going to cause in the  life of the bride of Christ who is being made ready: “thou shalt rule over him” (Act 14:22, 1Pe 4:17, Rev 19:7-8). 
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. 
If we’re not being received of God where the bed is kept undefiled, it will manifest in our not bringing forth fruit meet unto repentance (Mat 3:8). If on the other hand we are overcoming through Christ a spiritually adulterous spirit and age in which we are living (Mat 16:4), it will be a work of God that will be accompanied with chastening and scourging, leading to our relationship going on to perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32, Mat 11:5). We are being accepted of God through Christ as we enter into the kingdom of God in earnest today, which is in fact God’s good pleasure to have happen (Luk 12:32) unto those first fruits that He is producing, fruit that has been ordained from the foundation of the world (Rev 3:18-19, Eph 1:4-9, Heb 4:3).  
Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. [1Co 14:3]
 
Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
 
Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 
 
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 
 
[Buy of me gold, white raiment and anoint your eyes as opposed to doing what is written in Isaiah 4:1 that speaks of our former conversation.]
 
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent [Heb 12:6]
 
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, 
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace
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:
 
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it [Rev 3:18, 1Pe 1:7].
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
A tree is known therefore by its own fruit (Luk 6:44), and the fruit that is being born in the body of Christ is made possible by our being separated from the world (2Co 6:17), hidden in Christ (Col 3:3) and worked with through a planting and watering process (1Co 3:6) along with a pruning process, or purging [“to cleanse“] process (Joh 15:2).
Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 
 
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,
 
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
 
[A seed that dies and is baptized into His death hidden in the earth, the church, the body of Christ (Rom 6:3 , Joh 12:24).]
 
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. 
So what has all that we’ve talked about up to now have to do with our title found in Hebrews 13:5 which says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”? 
 
It truly has everything to do with it because if we are called to be part of this process of putting off our flesh and being cleansed (1Co 6:11), it will result in our walking as ambassadors for Christ (2Co 5:20, Eph 6:20) who have had that privilege and honour of having Christ build the spiritual house which we are today in him. A house of prayer, a house of contentment that is “careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” letting our requests be made known unto God. That active “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” will, in turn, truly bring about the contentment, or “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, [that] shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Psa 127:1, Joh 10:1-2, 1Co 3:16, Mat 21:13, Pro 16:3, 2Co 10:5, 1Pe 4:19 , Php 4:6-7, Joh 4:23). 
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.
 
Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 
This house that the LORD is building will have a peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:7), not concerned about the wars and rumour of wars that are abounding in this world within and outside ourselves (Mat 24:6). We will have godliness with contentment that is great gain (1Ti 6:6), which is not based on our former conversation (way of life), but rather based on a contentment of knowing that what God has started in us, He will finish (Php 1:6-7). His grace is sufficient in our lives as His power rests upon the body of Christ (2Co 12:9 – “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” [1Co 1:26-31]). 
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain [Luk 12:15-21].
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: [Mat 6:32-33] for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 
Luk 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 
Luk 12:17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 
Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 
Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 
Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee [1Ti 6:7]: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
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 1:7  Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
 
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 
The power of God described in 2Timothy 1:7 is working with us and leading us into all truth and helping us continue in the truth (Joh 16:13, Joh 8:31-32), in order to bring about that spirit of contentment which, in the negative sense, is described in Babylon as “let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die” as opposed to dying daily today (Heb 13:10, 1Co 15:31-32). The table, or altar, that we serve is the cross (Gal 2:20), and it is through the cross we carry that we are brought to a place of conviction and understanding of His power, love and soundness of mind in Christ, which convicts us that there is nothing that can separate us from His love (Rom 8:38-39). This is what true godly contentment is, and the Lord knows how to convict us and bring us to the point where we are not holding onto this flesh, wanting only to be with our Lord, by keeping under ourselves through this life (2Ti 4:6-7, Php 1:23, 1Co 9:27).
2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 
2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 
 
Php 1:23  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 
 
1Co 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 
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. 
Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. 

When God gives us the ability to bear all things, and believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things (1Co 13:7) by shedding His love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5), we are being given the power through His holy spirit, our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), so “that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me,“
All our lives we are subject to the bondage that the fear of death has on us. It is only through Christ that we can be delivered from such bondage (Heb 2:15).
 
Heb 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
 
When the scripture says bondage of the fear of death, it is not talking exclusively about a one-time event when we physically take our last breath. God does tell us that moment is better than the day of our birth (Ecc 7:1), but more importantly scripture is speaking of the wretchedness of our flesh that cannot naturally be obedient to God (Rom 7:24-25) and needs to be delivered through “The Lord is my helper” so that we die daily. It is because of the help God gives us that we can go on to do what Peter could not do at first. Regardless of how well-intentioned he was in his deceitful and desperately wicked heart, which is our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts, he and we would continue to only want to establish our own righteousness if it were not for the grace-through-faith process by which we are being saved (Mar 14:30, Mat 26:34-35, Jer 17:9, Jer 2:19, Mat 26:75, Php 3:9, Eph 2:8).
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. 
 
Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 
 
Mar 14:30  And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. 
Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 
Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. 
 
Mat 26:75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. 
 
Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled. 
 
Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 
 
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 
It takes the grace and faith of Christ to accomplish what Peter could not accomplish in his flesh, and whenever God grants us that precious grace and faith, we will “not fear what man shall do unto me.” The twice witness of a cock crowing and the thrice process of our denying Christ remind us that it is Christ who is working all the details in each of our lives; the grace (twice plus thrice=(5)=grace) through faith (Eph 2:8) that only Christ who can save us gives, seeing He will never deny himself within those whom the Father has given to Christ to keep (2Ti 2:13, Joh 18:9).
2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 

Joh 18:9  That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.
So again, we can ask, “What does this story of Peter’s denial of Christ have to do with letting our “conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5)? 
 
Again, it has everything to do with it as we learn that we are Peter who must go through that process of thinking we have something to offer Christ in our flesh only later to find out just how hypocritical our flesh is without Christ working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). 
 
Peter wanted some glory in overcoming the enemies that were coming after Christ and so does our flesh until we are humbled to our core and realize that only Christ can be Christ in us (Rom 8:9).  There is no room for us to glory in our own flesh or in that which God does through us (1Co 4:7). When we are blessed to come to that conclusion over and over, we can say our “conversation [is] without covetousness” and we are “content with such things as ye have” because we believe these words that “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” through this process.
Heb 13:7  Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. 

God calls His elect remnant to a life of being content with such things as we have, and to consider those who have already gone before us, “considering the end of their conversation“. More specifically, “remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God“.  That faith of Christ was manifested in the apostles’ lives and those who had positions of leadership throughout the ages in the church, and the benefit and blessing this has brought is what we consider when we consider “whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation“. It is looking at their way of life, their walk in the Lord, the new creation, which is the fruit we see and the faith we desire (Luk 6:44, Mar 11:24).
 
Remember, Paul here is speaking of that “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) we read about in Chapter 11 (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel and the prophets) :  
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 
Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 
All these type and shadow events typify the faith of Christ that is given to God’s elect today so we can believe God “who quickeneth the dead (Rom 6:11). We can look at the prophesied joy which has been set before us and that can also be a way to consider “the end of their  conversation” since God speaks of things that are not as though they were, unto us today (Rom 4:16-25).  
Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; 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. 
Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be [Gal 3:16].
Rom 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 
Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 
Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 
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; 
Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
What we want to look at when we look back or look at the present example of Christ in others is just that:  Christ and nothing but Christ, and not the flesh (2Co 5:16). We want to look through that lens of seeing Christ in all things and understand that all things are for our sakes (2Co 4:15). We can, with that mindset, look at both the old wine that can preserve us and make us wise unto salvation (2Ti 3:15),  and we can look at the new wine within the body of Christ and that can also preserve us (Mat 9:17, Heb 9:23, 1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17). 
Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Everywhere we look we can see that God does not change in regard to His righteousness, if we have been given to fear our Father and think upon His name (Mal 3:6, Mal 3:16). Everywhere we look we can now learn that when His judgments are in the earth we can learn of His righteousness because of God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:9). The typical statement made in Isaiah 26:9 represents the reality of the new creation that God’s people are becoming because of our desire to know Christ in the night, which is a desire that is blessed because it is the first fruits who are the first to seek Him early and to be judged prior to the rest of His creation so that we might be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection (1Pe 4:17, Rev 20:6). 
Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
 
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. 
 
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
 
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. 
Christ is saving us through a process of judgment as we are dragged to Him and made into a new creation (2Co 5:17) by God’s holy spirit that gives us the power to no longer be conformed to this world but “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rev 22:13, Joh 6:44, Rom 12:2, Zec 4:6). That is what our High Priest is doing today as He makes intercession on our behalf so we can be more than conquerors through Him (Heb 7:24-25, Rom 8:26, Heb 4:14-16).
Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession [Rev 3:11].
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  
Christ won’t change. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  He comes to reveal God’s unchanging character (Joh 10:30, Mal 3:6, Heb 7:24-25, 1Jn 4:17) within us, so that we can then be used to help the rest of His creation, the other fold who have been reserved unto the great white throne, lake of fire judgment (2Pe 2:9, Rev 20:15, Eze 14:9).
 
Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
 
Heb 7:24  But this man, [Jesus – see verse 22] because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood [“Let us hold fast our profession“ (Rev 19:16)].
Heb 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
 
2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, [1Co 10:13] and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 
Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 
To not be “carried about with divers and strange doctrines” is-was-and-will-be the goal toward which the body of Christ is striving, and God has given us “some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, [“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines“] by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Pro 24:21-22).
Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: 
Pro 24:22  For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
God has called us to learn that “it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace“, and this is being accomplished as God manifests that knowledge in the church where our hearts can “be established with grace“(Eph 3:10-12). 
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 [Php 3:3].
The church is the altar God has given us. It is “an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle“, where our former conversation (our old ways of life) were occupied, “which have not profited them (and us in our time Eph2:1-5) that have been occupied therein“. If we are blessed to understand that we are a living sacrifice which we present to God (Rom 12:1-2), and that the altar is the cross and that our communion is the meat that profits us (1Co 10:16), then we will be among those “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” (Eph 4:16).
Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein 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: 
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 
 
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: [don’t be “carried about with divers and strange doctrines“], 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. 
The stedfast faith and love that God gives us as He receives us in this life through His grace (Heb 12:6) that is sufficient for us (2Co 12:9) is a testimony of His hand working in the lives of those first fruits who can “now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Col 1:24) with lives that are being “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”, which causes us to be “without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee“.
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
 
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
 
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: 
]]> The Book of Hebrews – Heb 13:1-5 “Let brotherly love continue” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-hebrews-heb-131-5-let-brotherly-love-continue/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-hebrews-heb-131-5-let-brotherly-love-continue Thu, 29 Apr 2021 23:25:07 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23561 https://www.dropbox.com/s/i7uc4be0w6httum/Tony-Heb-13_1-5.mp3?raw=1

Heb 13:1-5 “Let brotherly love continue”

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

[Study Aired April 29, 2021]

Heb 13:1  Let brotherly love continue. 
Heb 13:2  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 
Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 
Heb 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 
Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

In order to “Let brotherly love continue” in the body of Christ, we must be actively about our Father’s business as Christ was (Luk 2:49). That is something we are assured will happen if we are His workmanship (Eph 2:10), being transformed by God (Rom 12:2) as Christ works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure within us (Php 2:12-13).

The book of Hebrews is all about that workmanship of God that is being accomplished through Christ, our high priest who is preparing the bride of Christ (Rev 19:7) to be kings and priests who will rule under him (Rev 20:6). That kingdom to come is given to God’s elect in earnest now (Eph 1:14)  as it is within us (Luk 12:32, Luk 17:21) where the author and finisher, “the chief corner” of our faith (Heb 12:2, Eph 2:20), is creating a fitly framed temple to the glory of God that will be used to save the rest of humanity (1Co 3:16, Oba 1:21).

Christ’s words in Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven”, remind us that God’s will requires God’s love to be shed abroad in our hearts today (Rom 5:5) as sons of God (1Jn 3:1, 1Jn 4:13, Rom 8:16) who are blessed to die daily and carry our cross as we are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44). We are being given the power to submit to the will of God, through the strength God gives us through Christ and His body. The first fruits of God “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” first, simply by virtue of the fact that God has purposed the order of salvation to unfold in this manner (Rom 8:9, 1Co 1:26, Heb 7:25, Rom 5:10).

We are collectively praying today “that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man (Col 1:27, Heb 2:3); that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Gal 2:20); to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend (Php 3:12) with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:16-19).

We have not because we “ask not” (Jas 4:2-3) so let’s come boldly unto “the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16) as Christ did for Peter (Luk 22:32, 1Jn 4:17), praying for our faith to never fail as we set out to do our Father’s will on earth as it is in done in heaven (Mat 6:10). Then we are assured, with God’s word, that if such a faith-filled prayer is granted, we can then know that “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen”  (Eph 3:20-21) is what we can anticipate will happen.

When we seek those things which are above, we are letting brotherly love continue, and as these following verses show us, our obedience to God’s commandments will make manifest in our lives the brotherly love that we want to continue in each other throughout our sojourn on this earth with lives that are hidden in Christ, longing to see this corruptible flesh put on incorruption (Col 3:1-17, 1Co 15:52-58).

I’ve underlined some of the key ways in which God is admonishing the bride of Christ to “let brotherly love continue” through His word!

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek [Mat 6:33] those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

(To be hid in Christ is to be dead to sin or lying dead in the street  so we can be alive through Christ [Rev 1:17, Rev 11:9, Rom 6:11, Rev 21:6])

Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

(We go from glory to glory when the Lord appears, which is the only way brotherly love can continue in the spirit of liberty God provides through Christ and His Christ [2Co 3:17-18, 1Jn 3:14]).

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

[Letting brotherly love continue, described in the verses we read, is how we become part of the “all, and in all” which will one day all be subdued under Christ who will put “all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1Co 15:28)]

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful [Psa 107:31-32, Heb 13:15-16].

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [Rev 1:17, Rev 11:9, Rom 6:11, Rev 21:6], and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

(We are putting on words of eternal life now when we let brotherly love continue to the end that we can be found not having our righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith [Joh 6:68, Php 3:9])

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible (Isa 1:4, Isa 4:1) shall have put on incorruption (Joh 6:68), and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 7:19-20, Rom 7:24-25)
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. “Let brotherly love continue

Heb 13:1  Let brotherly love continue.

Here we are in the last verses of the book of Hebrews, and the main focus of this section of scripture is admonishing us how we ought walk in this world and conduct ourselves “in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15).

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Timothy reminds us that love tarries long (1Co 13:7, Heb 10:25, Mal 3:16) and that it takes time for us to be perfect, stablished, strengthened and settled through Christ (1Pe 5:10) so we can be a healthy contributing branch or pillar in the body of Christ. That is what our goal is for ourselves and each other as we run together as one body to win (1Co 9:24) this great prize of eternal life (Php 3:12-14). It is when we are converted that our entire life can be the most effective living sacrifice the Master will use (2Ti 2:20-21) for the strengthening of the sheep and lambs in this race (brethren Luk 22:32, lambs Joh 21:15, sheep Joh 21:16,  sheep Joh 21:17).

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 
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. (1Co 3:12-13, 1Pe 4:12, Heb 12:6)

Heb 13:2  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 

All flesh is strange to God, meaning it is gentile and cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). We don’t want to know each other any longer after the flesh, which to God is all gentile or ‘strange’ (2Co 5:16), and yet this verse is reminding us how we are to interact among each other and all mankind, as brotherly love continues with our neighbour (Mar 12:30-31), as we do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Mat 7:12). That doing unto others as we would have them do unto us is how we can and should “be not forgetful to entertain strangers.

There is a parable being given to us regarding Christ’s relationship with John at the end of John’s life, and Jesus was not with John physically to give him comfort but was ministering to him in the spirit with the words of life that he gave to the two disciples of John that he sent to Christ. So in this instance Christ was showing us that he did not need to know John after the flesh, and most importantly He did not neglect to help John by sending those two disciples, who are a type of the witness of God’s holy spirit, the word of encouragement that he desperately needed at this time of great trial in his life (Mat 11:1-6, Mat 10:19-20). We are like Christ (1Jn 4:17) in that regard as we are sent as he was to reveal His life to each other, not forgetting “to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Mat 11:1  And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Mat 11:2  Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
Mat 11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Mat 11:4  Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
Mat 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Mat 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

God’s elect are commanded to do good unto all men, but especially to the household of faith (Gal 6:10) and many have shown us great kindnesses throughout our lives, for which we are grateful. So, “for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” also has its application to those whom God has used in this life for our sakes for whom are all things (2Co 4:15). The “angels unaware” can be both literal angels or messengers of God which we all are in God’s service.  We all have therefore at various times and in different ways “entertained angels unawares” and been ministered to by those angels who strengthen us (Luk 22:43). We are to do good to all men as we have opportunity knowing that God expects us to lavish the spikenard that represents God’s holy spirit upon the body of Christ, as we are that household of faith dying daily and in need of each other’s love and support in order to endure through this life (Mat 25:40, Joh 12:3).

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Joh 12:3  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, (Joh 13:9-10) and wiped his feet with her hair: (1Co 11:7-8, 1Co 11:15) and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Joh 13:9  Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Joh 13:10  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

1Co 11:7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman [the church] is the glory of the man.
1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.

1Co 11:15  But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 

Going back to Christ’s example with John the baptist, we see how our Lord remembered the bonds of John. This typifies for us how we are to be sent to each other and are to remember the tremendous importance of that communion which builds up the body in love (Heb 13:16, Eph 4:16-32).

Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: (“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers“) for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

These verses in Ephesians help us define how we are to remember those who are in spiritual bonds suffering adversity and how we can, through Christ, be changed into a people who are empathetic toward all suffering “as being yourselves also in the body” of that person who is suffering (Eze 9:4).

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 (Eze 9:4, 1Th 5:12), maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 
Eph 4:17  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 
Eph 4:18  Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 
Eph 4:19  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 
Eph 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ; 
Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 
Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 
Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (Psa 51:1-4, 1Jn 1:6-7)
Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 
Eph 4:25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

[Eph 4:25 Includes not lying to yourself but rather confessing your sins when God causes you to err (Isa 66:17) and asking for His power and strength to endure that chastening which we all must endure in order to be sons of God (Heb 12:6-7 , Pro 20:30)] 

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? 

Pro 20:30  The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. 

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: (Joh 5:14) let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 
Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil. 
Eph 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 
Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 
Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 
Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 
Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. “let brotherly kindness continue“.

Heb 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 
Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

We’ll end our study off this week with these last two verses that truly explain the fruit that will manifest in the lives of those who are blessed to “let brotherly kindness continue.

God’s elect “have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle”, which we will be looking at in greater detail in the coming weeks, Lord willing (Heb 13:10). For now, let’s consider how we can provoke one another to love and good works in an undefiled manner, as our marriage to Christ is “honourable in all”, a “bed undefiled”. Just as the altar must remain undefiled and free from “whoremongers and adulterers” who “God will judge” (1Co 3:17). Just like the Corinthian fornicator whose actions of sleeping with his father’s wife symbolize for us this defilement of a bed and what we do when our way of life is covetous, not being content with the little or lot of faith which God gives us (Php 4:12-13).

Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Whatever God gives us, it is given freely to be given to others. Our lives belong to him. “We are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:8, Rom 11:36, Mat 10:8). Otherwise we will find ourselves glorying in that which God is doing through us (1Co 4:7) as if we are doing it ourselves independent of Him (Php 2:12-13), even coveting a measure of faith that God never intended as He knows how a little faith can get the job done, or a lot of faith depending on what He has purposed in our lives (Php 4:12). Therefore we ought to be “content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee“, and yes, this has both a physical and spiritual application. The good news is that God will not leave us throughout this process of growing “in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, and understands how to turn us into a fitly framed temple to His glory and honour (1Co 3:16, Eph 2:21-22, Rev 19:7).

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 

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

Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 

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.

What exceedingly great and precious promises have been given to us to think upon (2Pe 1:4) so that we can be encouraged to “let brotherly love continue” by escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust that God has promised His grace will teach us to forsake (Tit 2:12).

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

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. 

I want to end our study like we started it by reminding us to make this prayer often for one another which is found in (Eph 3:17-19).

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. 
Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 

Let us keep “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” and “let brotherly love continue.

]]> The Book of Hebrews – Heb 5:7-9 “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” – Part 3 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-hebrews-heb-57-9-put-ye-on-the-lord-jesus-christ-part-3/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-hebrews-heb-57-9-put-ye-on-the-lord-jesus-christ-part-3 Thu, 03 Sep 2020 17:31:41 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=21435 Heb 5:7-9 “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” – Part 3
[Study Aired September 3, 2020]

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

If ever there was a section of scripture that admonished us to “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” explaining how that process is accomplished in a very condensed way, this is that section (Heb 5:7-14) at which we will examine verses seven to nine.

What Christ experienced in His life has a spiritual application to our own lives (1Jn 4:17) and is part of the confirming knowledge that God’s elect have been called unto in this age so that we can be conformed to his image as we die daily to self by living by the faith of the Son of God (Act 14:22, Rom 12:2-3,  Gal 2:20).

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.

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.

If we are as Christ is in this world, then we will be going through a maturing process as He did that will cause us to grow in wisdom and in spiritual stature, which is what it takes to “think soberly” (2Pe 3:18, 1Co 3:6).

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

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

Partaking of the strong meat of the bullock offering, found in Leviticus 4:21 and Hebrews 13:13, represents our receiving of Christ’s strength through whom we can endure all things (Php 4:13) as we are matured through fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) which strengthen our new man so we can in turn bear each other’s burdens as a result of the comfort we will receive through our trials that will be used for others (2Co 1:4, Col 1:24).

Lev 4:21  And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

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

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

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:

Whatever suffering God has deemed necessary for us in this life will be accompanied with the measure of faith we will need to operate (1Co 10:13, Rom 12:3) as we go outside the camp and continue stedfastly in God’s service (2Pe 3:17) waiting patiently for His return (Tit 2:13, Heb 10:36).

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.

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.

2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

As God’s elect we are called to separate ourselves from the world by being partakers of the communion of Christ’s suffering (1Co 10:16), the food and drink offering that are found at the altar which is the cross where we partake of God’s fiery words (Heb 13:10, Isa 3:1, Isa 4:1) that sanctify us (Joh 17:17, Rev 15:8) so that our old man, our carnal nature, can be destroyed (2Co 6:17, Isa 33:14).

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?

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

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

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

2Co 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,

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?

Being able to receive the strong meat spoken of in Hebrews 5:14 is putting on Christ, and when we were young spiritually our senses had not yet been exercised to discern good and evil still being under the delusion that we had free moral agency as we dressed ourselves with the words of God according to the idol of our own hearts.

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

Those times of being deceived were our former conversation of times past (Eph 2:2) and represent the way we thought we were dressing ourselves spiritually that God allowed for contrast so that when the blessed day came that Christ referred to as “At that day” in John 14:20 we began to see His sovereignty in all things – in light and in darkness, in good and in evil – and how God was working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11, Act 17:28). In particular we began to see this in the lives of God’s elect and how “all things work together for good to them that love God [Joh 14:15], to them who are the called according to his purpose [Rom 11:5]” (Rom 8:28), who were blessed to be girded by “another shall gird thee”, that ‘another’ being Jesus Christ and His body who, through the trials of this life, mature into a kind of first fruits who are now clothed with the righteousness of Christ (Rev 19:8) being the first to trust in God unto salvation (Col 1:24, Eph 1:12).

Eph 2:2  Wherein 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:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

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

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

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.

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;

It is in “the days of his flesh” that we learned of the meekness of our Lord as a lamb of God who was brought to the slaughter “and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa 53:7) for our sakes to take away the sins of the world within us (Joh 1:29, 1Jn 2:16).

Isa 53:7  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.

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Christ’s experience of being tempted in all diverse manner yet without sin was necessary for us to have a high priest who could be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Heb 4:14-15, 1Jn 4:17), and it was when Christ was in His flesh that “he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” as He came “boldly unto the throne of grace, that [He] we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). Our Lord had to endure such tremendous physical and spiritual battles for our sakes, and we are told to “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” for that very reason; to remind us that if Christ could endure all of that, then the same can be said of His body, the church who fills up what is behind of His afflictions and can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

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:

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (1Pe 4:1). We ought to not think it strange, in other words, concerning the fiery trials we must endure, knowing that it is through those trials we can be made ready to rule under Christ (1Pe 4:12, Php 1:29). “Let us therefore fear” as Christ did “lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb 4:1), and let us understand that to deny we can endure all things through Christ (Php 4:13) is simply a matter of not being given the faith to say otherwise, and so we see two spirits, one being the spirit of anti-Christ that denies what God can do through us (1Jn 4:3-4, Col 1:27), and another spirit of faith which God gives to His elect to witness of His faithfulness that will finish what He has started within us. Boasting is excluded therefore by that law of faith, and boasting is just another way of saying we are being highminded in our thinking, believing that we are standing by our own power.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

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

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:

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

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith [1Jn 5:4]. Be not highminded, but fear:

Our hope of obedience lies in believing (Joh 6:28) that we have this hope of glory within us (1Co 3:16, Col 1:27, 1Jn 3:2-3), and in knowing that we have a great high priest who can save us to the uttermost. Christ is this treasure in earthen vessels right now (2Co 4:7, Eph 2:6) who has “passed into the heavens” (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21) meaning into our hearts and minds so we can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us, and it will be through our “prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” just as it was with Christ that God will save us “from death” (Rom 8:36-37, Rom 5:10). Christ was not spared from physical death, and so the “from death” that Christ was spared from along with the body of Christ was/is the wages of sin that lead to spiritual death (Luk 22:42, Rom 6:23, Joh 8:36). Thanks be to God, Christ can and will preserve His body through judgment (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17), a judgment that was predestinated from the foundation of the world for God’s elect.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

1Th 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
1Th 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

God has commanded “light to shine out of darkness” within the body of Christ, and that light will break forth as we go from glory to glory (2Co 3:18) experiencing the power He gives His two witnesses of Revelation 11:3 who represent the church, the body of Christ, who identify with these verses in Corinthians (2Co 4:8-10) as we are “delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” That life of Christ within us causes us to fear and tremble at the commandments of God, as we realize we are dead to sin and alive in Christ so that we can be “heard in that he feared“. Fearing God, therefore, and keeping his commandments is the conclusion of the matter, and that obedience to the keeping of God’s commandments is something we learn through the things that we suffer in this life (Ecc 12:13, Heb 5:8).

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 

Christ was never tried beyond the measure He could endure (1Co 10:13), and could say along with the rest of his body that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed” (Rom 8:18). God’s precious Son “the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” Son (Joh 1:14), and every son of God who is being shown this manner of love to be called a son in this age (1Jn 3:1) are being saved by grace through faith in this dispensation of grace in advance of the rest of the world as we are received through the chastening and scourging that every son must experience (Eph 2:8-9, Eph 3:2, Heb 12:6).

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

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 3:2  If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth [1Jn 3:1] he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Christ is the one who is doing the saving through the body of Christ and “Though he were a Son” he was not exempt from having to learn obedience “by the things which he suffered“. It was through a lifetime of much tribulation (Act 14:22) that He and we are “being made perfect” so we in turn can be those saviours that will come up on mount Zion who will in like manner be caused by God to be instrumental, with Christ as our head, in helping in this authorship of  “eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (1Ti 4:16, 2Ti 2:12, Oba 1:21).

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

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.

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.

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.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at these last few verses in chapter five that are an admonition for us to continue to labor for the meat which does not perish, with which God will reward us (Joh 6:27, Heb 11:6) and to not forsake the assembling of ourselves where iron can sharpen iron (Pro 27:17) and as such we can be helpers of each other’s joy and work toward not being “dull of hearing“.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

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.

Pro 27:17  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

]]> Studies in Psalms – Psa 141:4-10 “O GOD the Lord: in Thee is my Trust; Leave not my Soul Destitute” – Part 2 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/studies-in-psalms-psa-1414-10-o-god-the-lord-in-thee-is-my-trust-leave-not-my-soul-destitute-part-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=studies-in-psalms-psa-1414-10-o-god-the-lord-in-thee-is-my-trust-leave-not-my-soul-destitute-part-2 Sat, 11 Jan 2020 00:41:15 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=20068 Psalm 141:4-10  “O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute” – Part 2
[Study Aired January 9, 2020]

Psa 141:4  Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Psa 141:5  Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. 
Psa 141:6  When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. 
Psa 141:7  Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. 
Psa 141:8  But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. 
Psa 141:9  Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. 
Psa 141:10  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

Last week we discussed how this particular Psalm 141 explains how it is through our crying out to God that we will be kept “from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity“, which represent the deceitful and desperately wicked heart within and without that can easily be defiled or deceived (Jer 17:9). It is through that crying out, or strong tears mentioned in Hebrews 5:7 that God is working in the lives of His children who are called and chosen to go through this day of visitation or judgment (Psa 8:4, Luk 19:44) which will bless us to no longer go through this life with a presumptuous spirit that leans unto our own understanding (Pro 3:5). We will learn obedience through the things we suffer, the conclusion of the matter being that we will “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Heb 5:8, 1Pe 4:12, Ecc 12:13).

Christ learned and we also learn “in the days of [our] his flesh [Col 1:24], when he [we – 1Jn 4:17] had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save [us – Eph 1:12] him from death, and was [were – 2Ti 2:22] heard in that [we – Heb 5:7] he feared” (1Pe 4:1-2).

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; [Ecc 12:13]

When we don’t identify with Christ’s words in Mark 10:18 or with Paul, who saw himself as the chief of sinners who did not consider himself to have apprehended (1Ti 1:15, Php 3:11-13), then that is one of the wicked ways God can cause our hearts to incline and will burn out of us in this age (1Co 5:5) or He will reserve us unto judgment in the lake of fire (2Pe 2:9). If God is mindful of us in this age (Psa 8:4), He will destroy that sin of presumptuousness by overcoming those giants in our land little by little so they can be the bread for us (Num 14:9) which will strengthen our hearts and give us the ability to overcome in this life and go and sin no more (Joh 8:11). That is the battle cry we are hearing in this opening verse of our study: “Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.“

The joyous conclusion of the matter for God’s elect is what God has started in us as a work of faith is His predestined and promised workmanship that will reveal His might and power within us. That power can give us the ability to overcome the wicked one in this age as we drink the cup the Lord has given us for that express purpose (Mar 10:39, 1Jn 3:8, 1Jn 2:16, Col 1:27). Keeping us from the great sin of presumptuous is keeping us from thinking we have contributed in any way to our current standing in Christ, and so we are given these most assuring and sobering admonitions in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 and Romans 11:18-20 and 25 to encourage us to not boast in our flesh which cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

God’s elect must cry out as His elect bride with such a tenacious, diligent and contrite and broken heart that says such things as these expressions of truth found in Psalm 141:

  • give ear unto my voice
  • Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense
  • Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips
  • Incline not my heart to any evil thing
  • Let the righteous smite me

It should be apparent to God’s children why this pleading is used throughout this Psalm and the word of God that reveals how we must wrestle through this life, not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities that are ever at the door of our heart (Gen 4:7) and will be overcome through Christ who alone can make us more than conquerors through him (Joh 8:37).

The elect are blessed to encourage each other in this day of the Lord as we confidently look to Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith (2Co 4:18, Php 1:6). We can be helpers of each other’s joy, gaining that confidence and stedfast spirit that we must have in order to not lean unto our own understanding so that we are no longer found with our own righteousness but with the righteousness of Christ within us (Php 3:9).

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

Our focus on this week’s second part of our study with Psalm 141 is on how God’s elect are blessed to keep our eyes on Christ as a result of the trials we go through, or the grace that is sufficient for us in this life (2Co 12:9).

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Psa 141:4  Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

The point that needs to be made here is that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows that if not for the patience and faith of the saints that is given to those who are His workmanship in this life (Eph 2:10), we would just naturally “practise wicked works with men that work iniquity” and “eat of their dainties“.

We naturally lean unto our own understanding and must be brought to cry out to God: “Incline not my heart to any evil thing“, and God has made us this way so we will cry out in the “day of evil” that He has made for each of us in our appointed time (Isa 63:17, Pro 16:4, Amo 3:6).

When we no longer savour the things of this world, “their dainties” or delicacies or pleasures of sin for a season (Heb 11:25-26), we will be learning how it is through Christ who is the Vine that we cannot do anything, including sinning or being found with His righteousness, which is a gift from God. It is through Christ we will cease from sinning as we overcome our hearts which can easily condemn us (1Jn 3:20). We will overcome because He is greater than our hearts, and therefore we are told to do this so we can be assured through this lifetime of overcoming that we are more than conquerors through Christ who tells us we should not cast away our confidence which has great recompense of reward (1Jn 3:18-21, Php 1:6, Tit 3:8, Heb 10:35).

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
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 10:35]

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

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:

Tit 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

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

Outwardly it’s true as well that we must not “Incline not my [our] heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties” (Luk 12:45-46), which is speaking of separating ourselves from those who are committing spiritual fornication like the example with the Corinthian fornicator (1Co 5:1-5, 2Co 6:14-17).

Luk 12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; [leaning unto our own understanding (Pro 3:5-6)]
Luk 12:46  The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

What we are not to do is become self-righteous and salute only our own (Mat 5:47) and not eat with “publicans and sinners”, separating ourselves for wrong reasons. This right balance is summarized in these verses:

Mar 2:16  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
Mar 2:17  When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. [Psa 141:4]

Psa 141:5  Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. 

This verse helps us contemplate the privilege that we have to be judged of God through the church in this age, so that we can learn of His righteousness today (Isa 26:9, Jer 22:29, Joh 17:17).

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.

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

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

It is God whom David wanted to dole out his correction and the not “the hand of man” as was expressed in these verses below that essentially are saying the same thing as verse 5 in our study.

1Ch 21:13  And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of manH120.

2Sa 24:14  And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of manH120.

Let ‘Christ in you’ come to me when I’m wrong (Mat 18:5, Mat 18:15-17) that will be “a kindness” if Christ will “reprove me” through the body of Christ, it will be “an excellent oil” when I heed the admonition to buy gold tried in the fire and ointment and salve for my head and it “shall not break my head” (or “let not my head refuse it” as the LITV translates it) because God’s mercy will rule through the judgment and make a way for me to bear that correction.

(Rev 3:18, Jas 2:13, 1Co 10:13 when we are comfortable in the fire, we can buy gold God will purify within the church that will give us spiritual vision as we follow Christ in each other: “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off” Isa 33:13-17, Heb 11:10).

Isa 33:13  Hear [Jer 22:29], ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
Isa 33:16  He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks [Mat 16:18, 1Pe 2:5]: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. [Joh 21:17]
Isa 33:17  Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

When God has corrected me through the means He has ordained, it will bring forth good fruit and a respondent heart of mercy which says “for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities“. Everything we suffer and endure as we mature in the correction of which every son whom He is receiving partakes (Heb 12:6) is so we can mature and go on to have that joy and blessing of bringing healing to the rest of the world in time, being sent with His word that has already worked its purpose in our own lives of sanctifying us and preparing our hearts to be servants of the Lord who will wipe away all the tears of humanity (Joh 20:21, Psa 107:20, Rev 21:4).

Psa 141:6  When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. 
Psa 141:7  Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. 

These next two verses are still referring back to “the righteous” who “smite me” of verse 5,  and the expression “When their judges are overthrown in stony places” is talking about when we no longer lean to our own understanding, the stony places being a symbol of where our initial leaning to our own understanding that seems right to us ends (Pro 14:12, Mat 13:5). Once we receive God’s word, it is sweet in our mouth but bitter in our belly (Eze 3:3, Rev 10:9), and it is that blueness of the wound that heals our hearts and minds (Pro 20:30) so His words that are now within us can be used to heal others: “they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.“

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.

Eph 5:1  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

When their judges are overthrown within us, “Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth” as our old man dies because of God’s word that “cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth“, so our life is no longer found within us but the life of Christ (Mat 10:39, Col 1:27) is found by being buried with him in baptism (Rom 6:4), where there is no longer any dead men’s bones in that tomb but rather a resurrected Christ within us who can now walk over all those old bones “scattered at the grave’s mouth” (Mal 4:3).

Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psa 141:8  But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute. 

When God mercifully judges us in this age, we can see and know right now that this verse in Job 19:25 applies to us today in earnest, and one day we will see Him face to face (1Co 13:12-13).

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

The rest of the verses in this section of Job go on to describe what happens to those whose “eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord” and how the resulting “trust” will be formed as a result of obedience to God’s commandments and fear of “the sword” that is the word of God being spoken of in below.

Job 19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

It is with that intreatable spirit (Jas 3:17-18, Gal 5:22-23), that fear “of the sword”, that God will “leave not my soul destitute” as a result of not letting that sword depart from our house (Col 1:24, 2Sa 12:10).

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.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

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:

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

Psa 141:9  Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. 
Psa 141:10  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

These last two verses describe for us how the Lord will “leave not my [our] soul destitute“. The soul of His elect is brought to not be left desolate by being given to see that these verses are speaking of our old man within us who needs to be judged (1Pe 4:17, Psa 141:9-10).

“The workers of iniquity“, the “wicked [who] fall into their own nets” in this day of evil, is something that God has created for me to judge me (Isa 63:17, Pro 16:4) as my own iniquities chasten me (Jer 2:19), and I am set free through that judgment the son of God brings into my heavens “whilst that I withal escape” (Joh 8:36).

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

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

God’s elect are blessed to cry out today “Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity“, and those snares and gins represent the deceitfulness of sin which will harden our hearts unless the Lord gives us a diligent spirit that brings us to cry out throughout this life, “O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.“

So, we cry out, “Lord let me not despise your correction or forget its good purpose for which it was intended as you soften our hearts through that correction and help us exhort one another daily (Heb 3:13) to come together more and more (Heb 10:25) as we see the day approaching (Heb 12:5-6).”

Heb 3:13. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

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 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

]]> Studies in Psalms – Psa 111:1-2 “Great Are the Lord’s Works” – Part 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/studies-in-psalms-psa-1111-2-great-are-the-lords-works-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=studies-in-psalms-psa-1111-2-great-are-the-lords-works-part-1 Fri, 09 Nov 2018 23:03:04 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=17469 Psa 111:1-2 “Great Are the Lord’s Works” – Part 1

Psa 111:1  Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. 
Psa 111:2  The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 

God’s works will deeply confirm in the heart of His people that He is great, as these works are accomplished in a way that is not like our ways, but rather much higher than our ways. We can learn of those higher ways of the Lord, but that can only happen by God giving us the power to forsake our own wicked ways first, and that is an ongoing process being accomplished by grace through faith (Eph 2:8).

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

In this study we will look at how “Great Are the Lord’s Works” that God gives us to better understand how we are to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ”. We can have greater peace and understanding of how His mercy and righteousness which we are promised will endure forever, as we give all diligence to make our calling and election sure.

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Psa 111:3  His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe 1:6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins (Pro 29:18, Psa 119:105, Rev 3:17-19, Heb 12:6-8, Mat 25:1-13).
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe 1:11  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Psa 119:105  NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked [Mar 2:17]:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [Luk 11:35 – we can be blinded by the light of our spiritual riches, no longer seeing the natural state of our minds that is “blind, and naked” – Joh 9:41, Luk 17:10]
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

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

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

Mat 25:1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins [symbol of the carnal mind that is against the spirit, and can only be conquered through Christ who gives us the ability to trim our lamps and narrowly escape 1Pe 4:18], which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

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. [God is redeeming us from ourselves and He alone can give us the power to endure unto the end (Rom 7:24, Rev 13:4)].

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. [These were redeemed from among men, is primarily to be understood within, where we are being redeemed of our Lord, we are being saved from our own wretchedness and deceitfully and wicked hearts]
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. [That oil is produced through the diligence described in 2Pe 1:5-10 which we just read. Again we learn of His ways which are higher than our ways by loving “the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Isa 55:7-9, Luk 10:27, Mat 22:39)]
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. [Rev 3:18]
Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. [Mat 7:21]
Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

A very important point which continues to be made throughout this particular Psalm is that it is He who is doing all these works among His people who are a blessed and holy nation, identified as the workmanship of his hands in our age. Israel of old is in fact a shadow of the Israel of God where God “shewed his people the power of his works” (Psa 111:6).

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

Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

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:

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.

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

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.

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

Here are some of the words mentioned in this particular Psalm which remind us that we are the workmanship of God’s hands, and we are benefactors of these blessings because we are being received of Him through judgment in this age (Heb 12:6, 1Jn 3:1).

His work is honourable and glorious
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered
He hath given meat unto them that fear him
He hath shewed his people the power of his works
The works of his hands are verity and judgment
He sent redemption unto his people
he hath commanded his covenant for ever

Seeing that we know “neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh“, we are commanded to “Watch therefore“, and what we are seeing as we watch and pray is the Lord doing a great work of maturing the bride and making her ready (Rev 19:7) and that gives us reason to “be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him“.

God has been steadily giving us increase in our knowledge and understanding of Him and his Son because this is eternal life, and that knowledge is being given to you who 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” being sent as Christ was sent to do the work He has given us, and that is how we can glorify God on this earth as we go from glory to glory by His power which has been given unto us for that reason.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you [Php 1:6 he will finish the work within the body of Christ].

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In Mike’s study on last Sunday (Nov 4, 2018) we were reminded, among many things, of the progressive nature which God revealed through the church of how we continue “growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior” as we go from glory to glory and come out from being under the law. It is only in “the fullness of the time was come” that “God sent forth his Son” made of a woman [the church that grows in grace and in knowledge] made under the law (Gal 4:4).

The last part of Paul’s life, when his prison epistles were being written, is a parable which represents to us a time when the last vestiges of the law which is a curse were being burned out of Paul and must be burned out of us. That was Paul’s symbolic and real time of being in prison for ‘ten days’ as it says in Revelation, of being faithful unto death through Christ who alone can make us able “ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life”.

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.

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14  That the blessing of Abraham [“an inheritance” explained – Gen 22:17, Rev 21:7] might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

To quote Mike in a recent email:

These are VERY, VERY, VERY exciting times in which we are living as God humbles us under His mighty hand and encourages us through His word, through His promises, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. ”

The verses we will look at in this Psalm will serve to remind us how “Great Are the Lord’s Works” which He is working in His little flock on whom He has his eyes, and to whom it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luk 12:33  Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. [Mat 19:21-24]

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [Rev 3:17 – in other words holding fast to our ways which are not God’s ways Isa 55:7, Luk 12:21]
Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Psa 111:1  Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. 

Our “sacrifice of praise to God continually” with a whole heart is the fruit on the lips of those who are seeking the Lord with all their hearts.

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

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

We love him because He first loved us and fills us with praise and thanks which helps us understand His grandeur and wonderful works which He is accomplishing through Christ “in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation” [Eph 3:10].

1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.
1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

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

Psa 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

We are called to seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness and to know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. It is in that laboring for the meat which does not perish that we learn that “The works of the LORD are great“.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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. [Eph 2:8].

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. [“have pleasure therein“]

Deu 28:47  Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; [“have pleasure therein“]
Deu 28:48  Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

Psa 37:3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  [“have pleasure therein“]
Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psa 37:6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Psa 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Psa 37:9  For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Psa 37:10  For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
Psa 37:11  But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace [“have pleasure therein“].

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at other ways in which the word of God describes the wonderful works He is doing unto the children of men who are His workmanship in our age, being of that generation which shall not pass. All those things that must be fulfilled in the generation in whom Christ is working is speaking of those who God is going to give the power, through Christ, to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ in this age.

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.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Next week’s verses:

Psa 111:3  His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Psa 111:4  He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
Psa 111:5  He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
Psa 111:6  He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.
Psa 111:7  The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
Psa 111:8  They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

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