Pro 10:15-32 “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city”

[Study Aired February 13, 2025]

This section of proverbs talks a lot about the mouth and the lips, so I thought it would be instructive to start off with these two contrasting verses, (Mal 2:7, Mat 15:8), that show us the negative and positive application of these words.

Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Little and by little the lips of the elect are being purified (Exo 23:30, Isa 6:7), so that we can lay up treasure in heaven in a “strong city” (Eph 4:26, Heb 11:10) that represents Christ and His christ, where “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Mat 6:19-20, Rev 21:23-27). This is the foundation of good works that we talked about last week that God’s elect are blessed to lay up, as we present our whole lives as living sacrifices unto God (Mal 3:10, Mat 6:33).

Christ is our strong city who enriches our lives with the tree of life, or the book of life, within us. Here are some verses, (Gen 3:24, Pro 3:18, Pro 11:30, Pro 13:12 , Pro 15:4), that demonstrate how we can become spiritually wealthy in the Lord who is “a tree of life”; and the rest of these proverbs in chapter ten reveal the blessing of being God’s elect, with the life of Christ within them now, and what powerful promises and hope we have as a result of God’s mercy being shown to us in this age (Rom 11:31-32) via the relationship that we have with our Father and Christ, “At that day” (Joh 14:20, Joh 17:3).

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

As long as we are in these earthen vessels, these proverbs will serve to show us the light and dark side of the pillar within us, admonishing us and keeping us spiritually alive and quickened (Joh 6:63) as we are given to rightly divide the message that will “give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Pro 1:4).

Pro 10:15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

A “city” in God’s word represents ‘a church’, and the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:23) is where “the rich man’s wealth” is found, the rich man being Christ who is the head of the church that is “his strong city”. We are of course talking about spiritual riches that come in the form of the words of eternal life that Christ gives freely to those who thirst for them (Joh 6:68, Joh 7:37-38).

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.[Mat 5:6]

One day all the world will hunger and thirst for righteousness, and will be brought to acknowledge their own blindness and spiritual poverty that currently has the churches of this world thinking they are rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing (Rev 3:17-18).

Pro 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

Our labour in this life must tend to the life of Christ within each of us (Col 1:27), and if Christ is in us, our love and concern for one another will grow and be reflected in the communion and discipleship we’ve been called to continue in through this life (1Co 10:16-17, Joh 13:35, Joh 8:31-32).

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

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.

The “fruit of the wicked” needs to be rooted and burnt out of us. The self-centered man in me does not come to serve his body, but looks only to my needs and not the needs of others (Php 2:3-8). That is “the fruit of the wicked to sin”, which is rich toward itself and not sacrificial toward others (Luk 21:1-4, Luk 12:16-21, Mat 25:40, Mat 25:45).

Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Luk 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Luk 21:2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

It is the witness of “two mites” that are put into the treasury (in Luk 21:2 above) that represent the life of Christ within us who is the only one who can give us the power (Php 2:12-13, Rev 11:3) to be presented as living sacrifices [witnesses] who lay down our lives for one and other (Rom 12:1-2, Heb 12:1-2) . The poor widow’s gift is symbolically being laid up in heaven (Mat 6:20-21), whereas the self-righteous many wonderful works that we do in the earth without acknowledging the hand of God in all, is the treasure that is in fact buried in the treasuries of the earth to bear witness against us, where we receive our reward of men in this age (Mat 7:22, Mat 25:25, Mat 25:18, Mat 25:24-30, Mat 6:2).

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is (2Co 4:7), there will your heart [Eze 36:26] be also.

Mat 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

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? [“Strong delusion”] and in thy name done many wonderful works? [“hid thy talent in the earth”]

Pro 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Last week we talked about the importance of laying up store, and this proverb is another admonition for us to not grow weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not. Our labours in the Lord are not in vain and the way of life is to keep instruction, and we find our safety in the body of Christ through the counsel that God provides as spiritual meat in due season through the church (Eph 3:10) [“He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction”].

God willing, He will give us that hunger and thirst for righteousness that can come from him alone (Mat 5:6), so that we remain intreatable like a humble child (Jas 3:17, Mat 18:3) not refusing the reproof that God gives every son whom He loves and receives in this life (Pro 10:17). These verses below show the result of being one who receives reproof, or one who becomes hardened through not receiving God’s reproof.

positive reactions to reproof:

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Pro 15:31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

negative reactions to reproof:

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Pro 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

both negative and positive reactions to reproof:

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Pro 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Pro 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Pro 17:10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

This last verse regarding ‘reproof’ reminds us that “all the promises of God in him are yea” (2Co 1:20), and are all profitable unto the one that God is working with in this age:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Pro 10:18 He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

God sees our hearts, and we are deluding ourselves if we think otherwise [like Adam and Eve trying to hide from God in the garden of Eden]. Hiding hatred is akin to having a root of bitterness that goes unexamined. God must grant us to be introspective and examine ourselves that no root of bitterness, toward God or man exists in our heavens (Eph 4:31, Heb 12:15)

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We lie to ourselves when we don’t see the need to go to our brother ‘between you and him alone’, or if we refuse to confess our faults when we’ve done wrong to someone. Lying lips have to be purged by God in this life if we are going to be profitable servants who don’t slander. ‘Slander’ is the exact opposite of covering each other’s sins, and such foolish behavior is destructive and hated of our Father (Pro 6:16, Pro 6:19)

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Pro 10:19  When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. (NET)

Another couple of verses that correlate with this proverb are these: (Ecc 5:2, 1Co 14:19, Mat 23:12).

Ecc 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God (When words abound, transgression is inevitable): for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

1Co 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased (When words abound, transgression is inevitable); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

Pro 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

A repentant heart, a contrite and broken heart (Isa 66:2), is someone who has a tongue of “choice silver” because of the fiery process of repentance that they have endured making it possible for living waters to spring forth from their bellies, symbolized by the “five words” spoken with the understanding mind of Christ (1Co 14:19). God is producing rivers of living waters through each joint that supplies, as He works in our lives and destroys the heart of the wicked that is of “little worth” within us (1Co 3:17) as it defiles the temple of God.

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Pro 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Many are called, but few are chosen to have our initially defiled lips purified in this age so that in time the purified bride of Christ will “feed many”. In order for this to happen, the fool within me who thinks he can obtain the kingdom by my own might and power, by my own wisdom, must be destroyed daily so that the living waters can spring forth via the power of God (1Co 2:3-6).

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

The spiritual blessing of the Lord enriches our life and leads to a liberty that cannot be produced in Babylon where we are promised liberty but it is never found because of our inability at that time to be led of the spirit of God, where there will be true liberty (2Pe 2:19-20, Rom 8:14-15, 2Co 3:17).

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it”, because He has promised that He will meet our every need (Rom 5:10) via the riches that God supplies through Christ (Php 4:19).

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.

Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Pro 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

The wisdom of Christ within the body of Christ keeps us from the mischievous spirits of this world where we once ran to the same excess (Eph 2:1-5) following the pulls of our foolish flesh which we must still continue to keep under all our days in order to be a man of understanding who has wisdom and knows how to make war against the powers and principalities we wrestle against by God’s power within us (Eph 6:12, Zec 4:6).

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 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.

Pro 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

Perfect love casts out fear (Rom 5:1-4, 1Jn 4:18), and it is a curse to have debilitating fear in this life. Scripture shows us that victory over fear is a gift from God who sheds his love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5-6).

He does not always take away the circumstances that may cause us to start to fear, but when we pray and come boldly before the throne of God, “the desire of the righteous shall be granted”. That desire to overcome fear is something God will grant His children and freely give to us, as we boldly face our fears and conquer them through Christ (Rom 8:28, Rom 8:32). That carnal Adamic fear is replaced with a Godly fear of our Creator, and with such a spirit within us, we are as Christ was (1Jn 4:17) and we are heard of God (Heb 5:7).

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;

Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

It takes the Lord raising the storm in our life (Psa 107:24-25, Eph 2:10), “the whirlwind^H5492 that does pass”, to create the foundation of Christ in our hearts and minds, “but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Mat 16:18).

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.

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 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.

Whirlwind H5492 sûphâh soo-faw’
From H5486; a hurricane: – Red Sea, storm, tempest, whirlwind, Red sea.
Total KJV occurrences: 16

Pro 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

Both experiences of vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes are indicators of what the sluggard produces spiritually. Both ingredients are irritants, one to the teeth and the other to the eyes. Vinegar  symbolizes the word of God that has been improperly stored, not preserved correctly by the slothful man in me who forgets God’s words of reproof and cannot produce spiritual meat in due season (wine gone bad). Smoke is produced more abundantly when a fire is not kindled properly, which produces an unclean environment, just like a wick that has not been trimmed (Mat 25:7). Christ sends our first man Adam into the wilderness and this is all we can produce at first, vinegar and smoke, until the Lord gives us power to do otherwise.

Here’s an interesting translation from the [CAB] version: Pro 10:26 As a sour grape is hurtful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so iniquity hurts those that practice it.

It is the iniquity in our lives which is self-righteousness that causes us to produce these types of fruit, vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, that reveal that it is our works being manifested and not the power of God that preserves us (Php 3:9, 1Co 2:5).

Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

God is going to preserve His saints by doing a quick work in the body of Christ. The quick work is the destruction of our old man in this life, “the years of the wicked shall be shortened”. The result of this adamic destruction in this age is that our days will be prolonged because of our fear of God working in our lives so that we can be heard of our Father, we can be judged in this age, we can be dragged to Christ, and we can inherit the Kingdom and be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17).

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

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

Our hope of glory is in Christ (Col 1:27), and we understand that our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) shall perish and not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). This is “The hope of the righteous” that makes us ‘glad’.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Pro 10:29 The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

If we truly believe that Christ is our righteousness, our strength, our wealth, then the workers of iniquity, which is self-righteousness will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming into our lives (2Th 2:8). God must grant us that we decrease and that our Lord increase, and if He is building that spiritual house within us in this age, that is what is going to happen (Joh 3:30, Psa 127:1).

Pro 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

This proverb confirms that there is no rapture, as we’re reminded the “righteous shall never be removed” however the wicked shall not inherit the earth. Inwardly this is the main point for God’s elect today, as we are called to notice the foundation of Christ’s life being formed within the body of Christ that shall never be removed (Mat 16:18, Mat 24:40-42).

Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Pro 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

Christ has to cut out the froward tongue in our lives if we are going to become just stewards of His word who bring forth wisdom. It’s not just our tongue that must be cut out (Mat 5:29-30), but anything that is going to hinder our reaching the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Php 3:14) that awaits those who have respect unto the recompense of the reward and demonstrate that respect by holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Heb 10:23).

Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised:)

Pro 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

We are naturally froward unless God is humbling us by the life of Christ within us who makes it possible for us to be accepted of our Father (Eph 1:6), through the judgement and trials that humble us. Christ is the one who delivers us daily from our otherwise froward spirit, humbling our hearts through affliction, persecution, tribulation and suffering so that His power can rest upon us and we can be found with His righteousness in our lives and not our own (Php 3:9). That is the narrow way God’s elect have been called unto that is found through a lifetime of judgement (1Pe 4:16-19) which will produce great spiritual riches within the body of Christ, [“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Psa 19:13-14)].

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

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:

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Amen!

Rev 11:5-6, Part 1 – The Power Of The Two Witnesses

[Study Aired Oct 20, 2024]

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Introduction

In our last study we learned that the two olive trees signify the same thing signified by the “four beasts”, the “four cherubims”, and the two candlesticks. They, one and all, signify Christ within His elect who are destined to be kings and priests who will rule with Him over the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years followed by the judging of all men of all time at the great white throne judgment.

If we were to take these verses at face value as the natural man does, then they would be telling us that if any man attempts to hurt God’s elect, “fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies, and must be killed in this manner”, and furthermore God’s elect also have the power to “shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will.”

The producers of the movie ‘Left Behind’ presented all of this as literal, physical events with literal fire coming out of the mouths of the two witnesses, killing those who would do them harm. It is the mantra of most seminaries that if any prophecy can be taken in a literal sense, then that is the way to take it. That is the doctrine which produced the film entitled ‘Left Behind’ in which the two witnesses literally breathed fire upon their enemies and killed them, literally!

But wait a minute. How can God’s elect do any of these things as His witnesses with the testimony of Jesus Christ, considering the very doctrines of Christ teach the very opposite of what we have just read?

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;

Remember how disgusted Christ was with James and John when they wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village which had refused to accommodate them for one night:

Luk 9:51  And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
Luk 9:52  And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
Luk 9:53  And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
Luk 9:54  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
Luk 9:55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of [The spirit of the law of Moses].
Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Didn’t His apostles teach the very same doctrine of loving our enemies? Here is what Paul taught.

Rom 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Here are John’s own words in His first epistle:

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.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

The Truth is that no one in whom Christ has taken up His abode would ever think of “killing his enemies with [literal] fire”. Nor would he ever even think of literally “smiting his [neighbor or his enemies] with all plagues” or literally “turning his [neighbor’s] water into blood”.

It is obvious, considering the sum of God’s Word (Psa 119:160), that those who have been given eyes that see, and ears that hear the hidden wisdom of God, will understand that these two verses are not to be understood as outward literal statements. This is a book which has been signified, with signs and symbols of things which are intended to be ‘kept’, and inwardly “kept” by those who are given to “read, and to hear, and to keep the things which are written and signified in this book”:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Only those who are sincerely asking, “How do I personally “live by every word” (Mat 4:4), and how do I personally “keep the things written therein” (Rev 1:3)”, will have any hope of understanding how God’s two witnesses can burn up their enemies within, with the armies of the nations within, with fire from their mouths. Only the few chosen will be granted to understand how the Lord’s witnesses can “smite the sinful earth within, with all plagues, and turn the waters within, into blood, and still love their enemies and do good to those who persecute them”.

What then is the meaning of…

The symbols of these two verses?

The symbols of verse 5 are: 1) if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of the mouths of God’s two witnesses, and 2) and they kill those who would hurt them with the fire from their mouths.

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

The symbols of verse six are: 3) the two witnesses have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, 4) to turn waters to blood, and 5) to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

So let’s begin by asking, What is the spiritual meaning of…

1) If any man will hurt them fire proceeds out of their mouth?

Here is the Biblical definition of what is being discussed when scripture speaks of fire in one’s mouth.

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

This is the exact same wording we find in:

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

That is the ‘manner’ in which their enemies are “killed”. They are killed with the words of God, in the mouths of those who are faithful to those words. “In this manner…”  is not at first an outward statement for any man. Remember this admonition at the very beginning of this prophecy:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

True servants of the Lord are never violent nor vengeful:

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

If we are to “keep those things which are written therein” then it is we who first “oppose ourselves”, and who place ourselves in opposition to the words of Christ. If we see ourselves only as ‘the two witnesses’ with the fire of the Lord’s words in our mouths and do not take these words as an admonition against our own self-righteous and rebellious ‘first man Adam’, then we are no better than the self-righteous Pharisees who asked Christ if He considered them to be spiritually blind:

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

The message for all of us in John 9, is that we are all born spiritually blind by default:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

If we are granted to see ourselves first as the wood, hay, and stubble fuel for the fire of the Lord’s words, then we can confess that we really are born spiritually blind, and are by nature fuel for the fire of the Lord’s words which burn up our wood, hay, and stubble, and will kill our rebellious, self-righteous, old man, then in time through that dying process we will be born again as Christ’s fire-breathing two witnesses having “kept [all] the things written therein” (Rev 1:3).

No “servant of the Lord”, no “disciple indeed” would ever literally kill anyone with literal fire coming from their mouths. Only the most spiritually blind would fail to remember that this prophecy is a “signified” prophecy, designed to be kept a secret from the multitudes who come to Christ (Mat 13:10-15). Far from literally killing anyone, this is the doctrine of Christ and His apostles:

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

So when you hear a “great man of God” say “The first thing I’m going to do at the resurrection is walk up to Adam and punch him in the face”, you should be able to discern that this is not “the gentle, meek… servant of the Lord” that Paul is speaking of here. Yet that is a word for word quote from the mouth of a big name minister with a mega church in Houston, Texas, here is the United States.

“The gentle… meek servant of the Lord” remembers that it is not someone else who was first taken by the snare of the devil. “That man” (2Sa 12:1-10) was you and me. It is we who first withstand the words of Christ, then it is you and I who later, after we repent, we become those who “instruct those who oppose themselves” to the words of Christ and are taken in “the snare of the devil.” As a repentant sinner we have no interest in being anything but “gentle unto all men… that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil”.

If we allow ourselves to forget for one moment the fact that God’s kingdom comes first within and that we “live by every word” (Mat 4:4), and that we are commanded to “keep the things written” in this prophecy (Rev 1:3), then we will automatically do what the natural man always does, and think of ourselves only as the two witnesses, and we will see ourselves only as those with the fire in our mouths devouring our enemies. But the truth, which is the sum of God’s word, is that “all these things must come to pass in this generation”, and that they are “all ours”.

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

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.

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;

Like the spiritually blind Pharisees, until we are given to see that we are all first spiritually blind, then we will remain as spiritually blind as those who want to harm the Lord’s elect. If ever we are granted to see our own culpability, only then are we granted the privilege of becoming the Lord’s elect who are being hurt by the men of this world. So it is with all the symbols of verse 6 of this 11th chapter of Revelation, and with the rest of the symbols of all scripture.

The only way to know how any of the eight different symbols of these two verses are to be understood is to remember how we are instructed to view this prophecy at the very beginning of this book. As we have so often said, the first three verses of chapter one are the key to understanding this entire prophecy. Here are those verses:

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

If we fail to apply those verses to our understanding of the words of our study today, we will be forced to ignore and to violate the doctrine of Jesus Christ who told us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us.

Luk 6:27  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Seeking to harm God’s two witnesses is something we all, as natural men, do and keep within our own selves when we reject and withstand the words of God’s witnesses. We do and keep these words, by rejecting those who first bring to us this witness of God’s fiery, spiritual, purifying words.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

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

So it is we who first persecute and “hurt” God’s elect, because we are all “first natural” before we, by God’s grace, become those same elect witnesses who are on the receiving end of this “hurtful… daily dying” experience which is “written therein”. This is all us because “all things, things present and things to come, are all are ours”:

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;

Those two verses of 1Co 3 never made sense to me when I believed that there was a physical “place of safety” for God’s elect where the things written in this prophecy could be avoided. Those two verses cannot make sense to anyone who believes in any form of exemption from the things which are written in this prophecy because “things present and things to come” would certainly include these “things which must shortly come to pass”, of which we were told in the first chapter of “the book of prophecy”, “All [these] things… are ours… to read, hear, and keep”.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

None of us are born believing on Christ, so we really are “shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin” with “the wrath of God abiding on us”, as we “hurt” God’s two witnesses.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

2) The two witnesses kill those who would hurt them with the fire from their mouths

So here we are as the first man, as the natural man. It is these words which pronounce us as dead and kill us. The apostle Paul agrees with the apostle John.

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

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 [Greek, aion, age] of this world [Greek, kosmos, 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 [Greek, way of life] 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 3:5  Mortify [“kill”, Rev 11:5] 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.

“Afterward that which is spiritual”:

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, [We have been killed by the fire in the mouths of the two witnesses] and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Those verses overlap, but we are first to see ourselves as “children of wrath, even as others… having walked… as children of disobedience” before coming to be “dead and buried with Christ… killed” by the fire that proceeds out of the mouths of the two witnesses.

To those in Babylon, we are said to be “the smell of death” and not even worthy of being buried.

2Co 2:16  To the one [the many called of Babylon] we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? [“but Christ { who} lives in me”]

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers [of the two witnesses].

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

“Three days and an half” and three and one half years or “a thousand two hundred and threescore days”, here in this same chapter, “are one” just as the cows and the corn in Pharaoh’s dream “are one”.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, [three and one half years] clothed in sackcloth.

Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

We will pause our study at this point and continue with the significance of these two verses in our next study.

Audio Links

Awesome Hands - part 150 Discussion

1 file(s) 5.43 MB

Download

Awesome Hands – part 150

“The mouth of two”

March 2, 2019

Our study for this evening finds us reviewing a few concepts which I am sure all of us have or will encounter in our Christian walks. At first glance, these topics may not seem applicable in the 21^st century, but the spiritual concepts behind them are applicable in any age.

The first set of verses are found in Deuteronomy 17.

Deu 17:1  Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Deu 17:2  If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
Deu 17:3  And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deu 17:4  And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
Deu 17:5  Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Deu 17:7  The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

It should be apparent that worshiping or serving other gods is a bad thing with the Lord. In fact, the person found doing so was to be put to death.

However, the focus of this set of verses is on the witnesses that finds or hears of a fellow Israelite doing this.

It was very important that someone found to be worshiping other gods within the gates of Israel, who was transgressing the covenant with the Lord, be found out and dealt with. Equally as important was that this issue had to be diligently pursued because the death penalty was involved.

When a person was found to be partaking in such activity, a second or third witness had to know of this in order for it to be brought to the judges. Bringing a false accusation out of the mouth of only one person was never enough. There must be a second witness minimally.

Afterward, the witness must be the first person to put their hands on this person to bring them to justice, and then everyone else could participate. Stoning was the way death was to be carried out.

All of these steps were necessary to deal with abomination that required the death penalty.

Then what is the first lesson which must be applied in order to follow these same steps in the new testament?

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Everything that the Lord is doing must be established by two or three witnesses because that is the way the Lord has set up creation.

God the Father could have easily just created everything, but He created Jesus Christ first.

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

By creating Jesus, God has a witness to what is happening. If this is how the creator decided to do things from the very foundation of everything, then it must be important that we get this concept right.

Stoning was the method used to kill those who brought the abomination of worshipping other gods into Israel. Stones are very significant when you connect the idea behind “out of the mouth of two or three witnesses EVERY WORD may be established.”

Jacob used stones to make various altars to the Lord. The ten commandments were written on tables of stone. Goliath was taken down with a stone. Stones were used to cut off the river Jordan for the crossing of the Israelites. Stones were used as boundary markers for land, for writing the names of the tribes of Israelites upon, to be part of the high priest’s garments, etc.

Stones are important markers to the Lord. This is because the Lord Himself is THAT STONE which we reference.

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Stoning someone to death should not be taken lightly. We don’t generally see people being stoned to death today, but it does happen in the news from time to time in cultures which still hold onto this form of the death penalty.

What we do see much more is stoning to death in the spirit. All this means is that the Word of God is the stone which is cast at those who are being cut off from His people, but this process is not to be taken lightly or looked upon casually.

The Lord requires us to be diligent because this topic is one which we must be certain how to handle. In our lives today, we are not going to be simply seeing who is worshiping the sun, moon and stars within our midst.

What we will see are various forms of god worship being taught as if it is worshiping the Lord. This is what we must be diligent to guard against. We will continue to look at this as we progress through the rest of this study.

It may come as a shock to some, but we are all human. We all make mistakes in actions and mistakes in our judgments. When these things happen, we must have fail-safes in place which allow us to recover peaceably in these cases.

An example of this thought process can be found in our next set of verses.

Deu 19:1  When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
Deu 19:2  Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
Deu 19:3  Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
Deu 19:4  And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;
Deu 19:5  As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
Deu 19:6  Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
Deu 19:7  Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

This example of the slayer is a perfect example of a situation that requires diligent judgment concerning a matter that could be looked upon the wrong way, especially when all of the details are not known.

The situation is that one person is dead, but it was an accident. However, the person who may not be able to see it this way, because “their blood is hot”, will not be willing to wait upon proper judgment because they have already judged the matter.

So, the Lord has created cities of refuge to which the slayer of the dead can run for safety until the matter is judged.

If, as a people, we adhere to these proper ways of understanding and judgment, and walk in the ways of the Lord, He promises to continue to bless us to be able to do more of the same.

Deu 19:8  And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;
Deu 19:9  If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:
Deu 19:10  That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
Deu 19:11  But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:
Deu 19:12  Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
Deu 19:13  Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

The Lord gives us plenty of examples of how to judge matters properly, and the judgment comes from using the Word of God properly.

The very act of looking upon the Word of God for guidance requires that the judges of these things must themselves be looking into the Word of God for two or three witnesses in all matters.

Establishing doctrine based on one verse alone will never work because this is contrary to how the Lord has set up all of creation.

Therefore, when we are judging matters within ourselves, within others or within the body as a whole, we must rely on the Word of God properly divided to help us judge matters for what they are.

When comparing the ways things were done in the old testament versus how we are to handle them today, the example is there for us to apply if we are conscious to what to do.

For example, let’s look at these verses again and see if we can glean anything significant from them:

Deu 17:2  If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
Deu 17:3  And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

There are certain situations that may be hard to judge due to a lack of details.

For example, when someone comes to us for advice, they probably will hold back the most embarrassing details of a situation because they are embarrassed. They may hold back details because they are trying to judge things on their own, but don’t want to give all of the details for various reasons.

In contrast to that, maybe we hear of someone in the fellowship who is partaking in things we believe are not becoming of a Christian in some way. What should we do in that situation?

Did you notice that God specifically mentions “transgressing His covenant” in the verse above? There are specific situations that REQUIRE specific actions, but those sorts of things are always easy to spot. Otherwise, we may not have specific guidance on what we are to do.

Another example can be found in some familiar verses to us:

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

“If your brother shall trespass AGAINST THEE …..” is a specific situation. Your brother has trespasses against you and you KNOW the details. In this situation you are given directions on how to solve this issue. You go to your brother ALONE.

This is equivalent to diligently searching a matter out and being certain on the topic at hand. Maybe a brother didn’t know how they trespassed against you or that they even did. Maybe they did know they did this action and that it was a sin against you.

Going to them alone will reveal these details. When the details are known, then the situation can be talked about and a conclusion made. If the conclusion results in needing more judgment to take place, then you go and take another one or two with you.

There is safety in doing these things properly and not offending the Word of God or offending with Word of God.

If I merely hear rumors and think I have the whole story on a situation, which has nothing to do with me, then I am inviting a world of pain into my spiritual household if I take actions on something that has nothing to do with me personally.

Overseers of the flock certainly have a somewhat different role in various matters because matters are usually brought forth to be judged. In these cases, judgment can be made without personal involvement because that is the point of having arbitrators to help in various situations.

The focus of this study is to continue to help us all think clearly on when to act and not act in various situations in which we may find ourselves.

Praying to the Lord to help guide us on how to make decisions is always a great place to start. When we need to move toward taking additional steps, the Lord does give us various guidances throughout the Word of God.

When we are unsure what the Word of God might contain on a various topic, the Lord has providers helpers so help us go in the “Way” in which we should go.

I will finish with a few Psalms which help me personally follow a set of steps which the Lord inspired king David to pen. These “steps” as I call them are very good at helping guide me in the way I should go.

Psa 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Psa 32:6  For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
Psa 32:7  Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psa 32:8  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psa 32:9  Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Psa 32:10  Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

1. Confess and acknowledge who you are and what you have done. The Lord will know the sincerity of your acknowledgement.
2. Pray.
3. Hide in the Lord, rest in the refuge of being still and knowing that you know Him. Believe in your deliverance.
4. Believe you are in the path and on the way which you must go because the Lord is guiding you.
5. Know that the Lord has given you understanding in Him, and do not listen to that old serpent which will try to strip away your confidence in simple belief that you are the Lord’s. Trust in the Lord always.

Video Links

Job 27:11-23 This Is The Portion of A Wicked Man With God

Job 27:11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
Job 27:12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
Job 27:13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
Job 27:14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
Job 27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
Job 27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
Job 27:17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
Job 27:18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
Job 27:19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
Job 27:22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
Job 27:23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Introduction

If we have learned anything in these studies in this book of Job, it should be that you and I are all first “a wicked man with God” before our old man, as Job was, is judged by our Creator, “and that man of sin, the son of perdition” is destroyed within each of us by the brightness of the Lord’s coming to become a “new man” within us.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“the day of Christ”, verse 2] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Our battle is not where Job or you or I at first think it is. We are not struggling against flesh and blood. Rather, we are struggling against powers and principalities within the heavens of our own hearts and minds. Our ‘heavens’ are the spiritual realm within us which causes us to make all the physical decisions we make.

What Job will show us of ourselves today is that it is by God’s design that we are all at first completely unaware of what the scriptures call “a deadly wound” [which is] dealt to the beast within us and is then miraculously “healed”. According to the scriptures, all men receive this “deadly wound” at their own appointed time, and at our own appointed time we are all healed of that deadly wound. Yet the scriptures reveal that we are totally unaware of what has taken place.

Here is part of what Job, the type of us, cannot yet see. This takes place within us all, even though when it first occurs we do not have a clue it is taking place. We see this only as we “look behind [us]” to see the revelation of the voice of the true shepherd who reveals all of this to us (Rev 1:10-13).

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

This beast does not see himself as a beast coming up out of the sea. This beast sees himself as Job sees himself and as Christ’s carnal apostles saw themselves and as you and I see ourselves while we think we are serving God. In reality we are reproving, contending with and condemning God. Job has made it clear that he doesn’t consider Himself to be a wild beast. Job typifies us all as the self-righteous Pharisee we all first are before we become the repentant publican. Job typifies who we are as Christ’s carnal disciples tell Him that He need not die to overcome His enemies. Here is this beast empowered by the dragon:

Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Calling Job and Christ’s carnal apostles wild beasts may seem as uncalled for as Christ calling Peter ‘Satan’. “Sure Peter was wrong, but he meant good. Doesn’t that count for something?” The answer is, “No, meaning good counts for nothing with God.” It is nothing less than a tool of the Devil Himself, and Christ discerns that spirit immediately. That is who we all are while we are in Babylon. We are at that time “of our father the devil” just as “those Jews which believed on [Christ, even as they wanted to] kill [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?
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.

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

We do not think of ourselves as being the seed of the serpent or blasphemers of God, even as we condemn our own Maker. All that dwell upon the earth worship this inward beast, and living out this whole event is “the patience and faith of the saints”. Those who deny that seeing themselves as this beast is an essential part of “the patience and faith of the saints” do not know what is needed to develop that patience or that faith, and yet we all still, as Job did, “contend with… reprove [ and] condemn” our own Creator.

Christ’s own apostles are a perfect example of the total blindness to this part of the “one event” which is common to all men. The experience of the apostles is as much a type of us as is Job. Like Job, the apostles had served God for years. They all thought that surely, after being in Christ’s company for 3 1/2 years, they were now converted and were ready to die with Christ. Here is what they all said:

Mar 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
Mar 14:28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
Mar 14:29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
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.
Mar 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

Peter and “they all” are types of us. Peter actually thought, as we all do, that there had to be a way to just skip over the seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet and still get into the temple of God. We may wish we could read these words and somehow choose to never deny our Lord, but that is not what is written in God’s book for any man. As hard as it is to believe or understand, this is the Truth:

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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

That one event is this Truth:

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

So the details are different in every life and in every generation, but the “one event” is the same. It is the same judgment and the same destruction of our old man. It is the same “day of the Lord”, the same seven seals, seven trumpets and seven vials which make up “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus” (Rev 13:10 and 14:12). We cannot leave out or skip over the seven seals, because the seventh seal is the seven trumpets, and the seals and the trumpets are both “the things which are written therein, which we are told we must “read… hear… and keep”.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass [must be “kept” vs 3]; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“Which God gave to Him…” We cannot deny this whole book “proceeds out of the mouth of God”. If we confess that we are to “keep the things… written” in the seven seals, but we contend that we can skip over or somehow avoid ‘keeping’ the seven trumpets, then we are not “reading… hearing… or keeping the things which are written therein” at all. There is no way we can say that the seven trumpets are things we must keep, but the seven vials of God’s wrath have no personal application. If we do, we are forgetting that the seventh trumpet is the seven vials. So every seal, trumpet or vial is a vital and essential part of “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… [and an essential part of] the patience of the saints… and the faith of Jesus”. They are all three essential parts of “every word” which describes the destruction of our corruptible old man, whose destruction within us is required of every man who would enter into the temple of God.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast within us all], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man [Rev 13:8] worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

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

These words are all “written therein”. This is all essential to the “one event” which is the judgment and destruction of the beast, the first “old man”, which is common to all men. Living these words is an essential part of “the patience and the faith of the saints” of verse 10.

Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Job is just like Peter. He thinks that he knows better than Christ, who is and who is not Satan’s seed and what must happen to “the wicked man”, who is anyone other than himself.

So here we are as self-righteous Job, and as self-righteous Peter, who just naturally considers himself to be much better informed than Christ. This is us, and these are the words “out of our own mouth [which will] judge [us]”:

Job 27:11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
Job 27:12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
Job 27:13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they [we, our own “old man”] shall receive of the Almighty.

“I will teach you by the hand of God”. That was what Peter thought he was doing when he declared to Christ that He would never be delivered up to be crucified. Like Peter, Job has no idea that he is describing the fate of his own old man, Adam. Job thinks these words apply to anyone but himself. In the same way, when Christ told Peter that he and all of His disciples would deny Him before that night was over, Peter and “they all… [vehemently]” denied they would ever do such a cowardly thing.

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.
Mar 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

When we deny that we are that weak, and when we deny that we are that beast who has blasphemed God, we are contending with our Lord, who just happens to know that we can of our selves “do nothing”.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Our Lord knows we are all beasts who must come to see ourselves as such. “Without me you can do nothing” is not speaking just about obeying our Lord. It is also speaking of being that beast that comes up out of the sea and blasphemes our God and endures all those things which we are told are the essential ingredients for developing “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus”. Our contending otherwise with our Lord, telling Him that none of that is necessary, is the voice of a beast whose deadly wound is healed. Peter and Job are us as we reprove, contend with and condemn our own Savior. We say we love and obey Christ, but when push comes to shove, we pull out our sword and disobey our Lord.

What characterizes us at this point is that we, like Job, do not even see or know that there is such a thing as a ‘carnal Christian’ or a beast who has received a deadly wound which is healed. We do not know that we are blasphemers by nature. We are blaspheming our Lord by virtue of the fact that we reprove Him and contend with our own Creator. While doing so, as Job demonstrates, we actually think we are speaking Christ’s words of Truth for Him.

Job has accused God of taking away his judgment and complains because God actually blesses those He has sent to try and prove Job while vexing Job.

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Speaking in God’s stead, Elihu tells Job:

Job 33:8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Job 33:10 Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy,
Job 33:11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.
Job 33:12 Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
Job 33:13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

We will all say these things against God, but like Job, when we are shown that we “are not just” in doing so, it is time to put our hand to our mouth, confess that we are vile and say no more:

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Is Job innocent? Is he “clean without transgression”? Do any of us have any righteousness of ourselves? Absolutely not!

Is God seeking occasion against our old man? Yes, He is. Does God count our old man as His enemy? Is the carnal mind enmity against God? The answer in every case is yes, God is seeking an occasion against our flesh? Yes, He does count our old corruptible man to be His enemy, and yes, the carnal mind is enmity against God because it “cannot hear His Words”.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Job did not choose with his fabled free will to be ignorant of what God is doing in his life. At this time, as the type of us, he is simply “keeping the things which are written therein”, and it has nothing to do with Job, as the type of us, just freely choosing to reprove, contend with and condemn His Creator. Job “cannot hear [God’s] Words”. When God is seeking an occasion against our flesh, He uses Job’s false accusers to harden him in his self-righteousness. He uses Philistine women to seduce Samson, and is justified in doing so as He will with all His creatures to demonstrate the unworthiness of all flesh and His own sovereignty over all things, because in the end He will judge and make right all things.

Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

Paul applies this truth to us:

Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Later in this same book, Paul demonstrates that God does not answer to us for any of His works:

Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Here again is the New Testament account of the story of Job. As Job and as Pharaoh, we were “for this same purpose… raised… up, that [God] might shew [His] power in [our old man…] that [God’s] name might be declared throughout all the earth”. Here is how God has “caused us to err”. This is what “is not of him that wills but of God that shews mercy” means.

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

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.

So yes, the scriptures do not blame any of us for what we do (Rom 7:17-23). It is all a work of God (Eph 1:11). Nevertheless, here is a New Testament example of us as Job, the Old Testament type of the beast within us, whose deadly wound was healed. We quote scripture to Christ. We throw His own words in His face, but like Job, we don’t have even an inkling of the spiritual understanding of a word we are saying. These words are coming from the very people who had just witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000:

Joh 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did [feeding the 5,000], said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Joh 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what [physical work] dost thou work?
Joh 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Joh 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

This story demonstrates the fact that physical miracles do not necessarily change the hearts of men. Who among us has not “seen Christ” and yet have not believed Him? Our thoughts and our actions demonstrate that we are trying to slay our own Lord within our own lives.

Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

“No man can come to me, except it were given Him of My Father” dethrones the beast within. That statement denies the false doctrine of choosing Christ through our ‘free will’, and being that inconsequential to our own fate is not to be tolerated by a beast whose deadly wound is healed. It is much easier to tell ourselves we are God’s mouthpiece even as we deny these His words. So we speak of “the portion of the wicked” fully convinced that the “wicked man” is anyone but ourselves.

Job 27:14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

This verse is the answer to Job’s earlier question asking why God blesses the wicked while vexing the righteous:

Job 21:7 Wherefore [Why] do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Job 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Job, the type of our self-righteous old man, is aware that there will be a day of judgment in which the wicked will be judged. He simply cannot understand why He is being vexed considering how righteous he considers himself to be.

Job 27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
Job 27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
Job 27:17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

These are our own words out of our own mouths. These words are from our hearts, and they are the very reason why “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God”, of which (house of God) within us Job is the type and shadow.

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

We first apply these words primarily to anyone who thinks that we are anything less than innocent and righteous, and who denies that we are the captain of our own fate. They are spoken of anyone but our own self-righteous self. We do not want to hear that we are any less righteous than we see ourselves. We have done many wonderful works in Christ’s name, and no one will take that away from us. We have heaped up silver as the dust, so God has to forgive us because of all of our good works. We see those very works as our own raiment, which we have also prepared as abundantly as clay. Of course our silver and our clothes will be given to the new man who knows that his wealth is in Christ and his raiment is His works in their lives, and they of themselves bring nothing to God’s table. But these words come from our own mouths, and it will be our own words which will judge us:

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

If we understood and believed this, we would put our hand to our mouth, but at this time we just cannot see that, and we certainly do not think anyone can find any real fault with us. So we continue to describe the fate of our own self-righteous “old man”.

Job 27:18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
Job 27:19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

Job here is agreeing with what his accusers have been saying about the portion of the wicked. Bildad has said the same thing using a spider’s web to make this same point. That point is that the wicked will not endure, and are destined to be destroyed. Based on the truth of Christ’s revelation that we are all judged out of our own mouth, it is these very words which ‘must begin at our own house’ if indeed we are the “predestinated… house of God”. Bildah had used the example of a spider’s web to make this same point.

Job 8:14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.
Job 8:15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

Isaiah uses the same symbol of the moth to make the same point Job and Bildad have made. That point is that the judgment of our corruptible “first man Adam” has been predetermined:

Isa 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

As Job demonstrates, we are all guilty of reproaching our own God. We ourselves are “the reproach of men” first. That is why Job is the first in type to “lose his life for Christ’s sake”, and he is the first, in type to ‘find his life’ and be in the position to pray for God to accept his friends.

Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

But these are the words which we pronounce upon our own old man:

Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Job and Bildad agree on the fate of the wicked, though as the type of our blinded self-righteous selves, we have no idea we are ‘judging ourselves out of our own mouths’.

Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
Job 18:12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
Job 18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death [our old man, judged out of his own mouth] shall devour his strength.
Job 18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

2Co 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

There are many scriptures which we want to believe are promising us that our old first man Adam can avoid being destroyed, but what they are all really promising us is that we will be ‘dealt with after our folly’, and we will reap what we sow, and through that destruction of our old man our new man will be brought forth as a glorious “new man”.

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

Nowhere does God ever promise to preserve our old first man Adam. Everywhere He is very straightforward in telling us that He is intent on making our old man His mark to destroy Him and through that destruction bring forth the heavenly new man. Here it is coming out of our own mouth:

Job 27:22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
Job 27:23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Such is the portion of our wicked old man, who is God’s rejected ‘seed of Abraham’ who are “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” within us.

Lam 2:15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Rev 18:20 Rejoice over her [“Babylon the great”, the rejected “seed of Abraham”], thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

We are predestined to wear this “body of death” before we will be granted to wear the new spiritual ‘heavenly… body’. But there is not, nor ever has been, a righteous “first man Adam”. Our Savior never sinned, but by His own mouth even His flesh and blood could not be perfected, and even His flesh and blood, which came “of a woman” (Gal 4:4), was unfit to inherit the kingdom of God:

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

Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Christ’s flesh would have rotted into the ground like all before Him, had He not been raised from the dead and “perfected [on] the third day”.

Act 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Or as it is rendered in the CEV:

Act 2:27 The Lord won’t leave me in the grave. I am his holy one, and he won’t let my body decay. (CEV)

Paul tells us what a body of flesh is.

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.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Christ is not ashamed of His achievement. He knew when He created “the first man Adam” exactly what Adam and his seed would do. So He is not ashamed to be connected to the work He is doing. So much so that He makes this statement:

Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

He even makes this amazing statement:

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

…and Paul informs us of this incredible Truth:

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Next week we will learn more of the fate of the carnal old man we all first must be, as Job continues declaring God’s sovereignty. He declares God’s sovereignty, and in the same breath, he complains of what that sovereign God is doing in Job’s life.

Job 28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
Job 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
Job 28:3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
Job 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
Job 28:6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
Job 28:7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:
Job 28:8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
Job 28:9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
Job 28:10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
Job 28:11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

Hi Mike,

Again it happens to me that you answered someone else’s question, and I also get answer to a question I have.
A couple I know lost their baby in the womb about nine weeks ago. I do not know them well, but I felt very sorry for their loss. This week they talked about the loss of their son, and I listened. There also was another person standing there, and he said…”and then there are some people who say “That was the will of God”” in a very negative kind of way. The guy who lost his son said that he did believe there was a God, but now he did not believe anything anymore.
I had so much to say to these two guys, but I didn’t even know where to start at that point. I said nothing, and somehow it bothered me inside; kept me thinking “did I deny my Lord”?
I was reading the letter and the answer in let him remain ignorant.

1Co 14:37  If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Co 14:38  But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

They did not ask me anything, they already had their mind made up. Mike, Isa 1Co 14:38 a principle which can be used always? When people have their minds made up, is it better to say nothing even if it is insulting to our Lord? I know, and you undoubtetly know, what comes of discussions with our brothers and sisters who are not likeminded – if in the earth or in the sea – strife. If they don’t ask, they are not interested, and that tells us God is not dragging them at this point. People who are dragged are feeling lost and are having many questions and are looking for answers and have been given a love for the Truth. That’s what comes first in that dragging process, right?
These little things also teach me patience; that now is not the time to speak in many cases; that Mat 27:14 And he answered him to never a word…. even if they don’t marvel about it, but are just plain ignorant. They will not understand a word you say, because they are not asking. And because they are not asking, you know they are not looking.
I had a phone call yesterday from that friend with whom I had had a long conversation. We talked some, and he told me he has been reading the website, and that he hardly could stop reading. I recognize myself in that I also could not stop reading. He would like me to go on a fishing trip with him and talk with me. I’m going, and I hope he will be in an asking mood, not in a telling one.
Do you also remember I told you about one of my former best friends who is elder in the church I used to go to. They went to a sermon not so long ago, and the minister said in that sermon that Judas was predestinated to betray our Lord. They realized that that is also what I have been telling them, and they have been searching and want to talk with me.
I don’t know what will happen; if the Lord will give me words to speak, or maybe answer them never a word. That is all depending on the dragging of the Father.

Your brother in Christ
R____

Hi R____,
This is very instructive because it demonstrates when we should not speak.
But you ask me:

Mike, Isa 1Co 14:38 a principle which can be used always? When people have their minds made up, is it better to say nothing even if it is insulting to our Lord?

The answer to that question is that it is a principle which can always be applied when you are speaking in a group such as you describe, where the people do not know you, who may never see you again, and are not particularly interested in getting to know you. But where it does not apply is when you are in a group of friends with whom you plan to spend time, and who think they know you and who have known you for an extended period of time, and yet they are not even aware that you believe in God or Christ. In that case you have denied Christ, because you have a person thinking he knows you, and you are “Jesus Christ whom he is persecuting” and he isn’t even aware of it because you haven’t even bothered to say “yes, I am a king”, while you were being beaten and scourged by either that person or that group of people.
We are specifically told that we are not to cast our pearls before swine, ‘lest they turn and rend you’.

Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

You say:

A couple I know lost their baby in the womb about nine weeks ago. I do not know them well, but I felt very sorry for their loss.

That certainly does not sound like you have a close personal relationship with this couple, and I too, would commiserate with even a total stranger if they were to share such an experience with me. But I would not attempt to share my pearls with that person, especially if they told me that they did not even believe in God. If, in the course of time I came to know that man and woman better, if Christ is in me, that is who they are going to get to know. I am sure you feel the same way.
What this all demonstrates is that Christ was telling us the truth when He said that the holy spirit would do our premeditating for us, and would give us the words to speak in that hour. In other words, if Christ is in us, He will be thinking of His Father’s words long before He is delivered up to be persecuted.

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.

Christ also said “let the [ spiritually] dead bury their dead.” Now if we also are told “the dead know not anything”, why would we even attempt to deny their total ignorance. “He that is ignorant let him remain ignorant.”
I hope that answers your question asking if this is a principle that can always be applied. The holy spirit, which really is God’s Word (Joh 6:63), Christ within us, will give us the words to speak “in that same hour.”
But that is “when they deliver you up” and they are pounding on you for answers which they have no interest in hearing. Christ never once in His recorded career went by night to seek out a Pharisee or Sadducee to try to convert that man. Nicodemus came to Christ by night to inquire of the Truth, and other Pharisees came to tempt Him, but He never once tried to deal with them unless they came tempting him. In every case, Christ never denied His Father, and He shut their mouths with the wisdom of His Words. He is still doing the same thing in us. He will give us the words and the wisdom we need at the hour we need it.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Audio Download

Rev 3:14-18 What The Spirit Says to The Church of Laodicea – Part 1

Updated December 8, 2023

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Introduction

Laodicea is the seventh of the seven churches within those who have been “given ears to hear.” It is the capstone of our spiritual condition as we look behind ourselves to see the voice speaking to us and giving us this revelation of Jesus Christ. What we see in “what the spirit says to the church” of Laodicea within us is a “lukewarm” spirit which is totally unaware of its lackadaisical attitude and is completely self-satisfied. Until we face this angel of the church of Laodicea within us and give an accounting of the fact that its self-satisfied attitude is in us, we will never be given the “open heavens” of chapters 4 and 5 and all the revelations that follow. When we do “look behind us to see the voice that speaks with us”, we begin to be given the sum of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. [That would include Antipas who was martyred “where Satan dwells” in the church at Pergamos (Rev 2:13)],

Rev 2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Here now is what the spirit has to say to “he that hath an ear to hear” what the spirit says to the angel of the church of Laodicea within us all.

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

Here Christ calls Himself three things. He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness and the beginning of the creation of God. As the ‘Amen’ we know Christ as the Truth. The Greek word is pronounced about the same as is the English ‘amen’ except that the ‘e’ is pronounced as a long ‘a’ and is defined by Dr. Strong as “Properly firm, figuratively trustworthy.” It is by far most often translated in the King James as ‘verily,’ meaning ‘truly,’ and is often seen repeated as “Verily, verily,” especially in the gospel of John. For example:

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

G281
αμην
ame n
am- ane’
Of Hebrew origin [ H543]; properly firm, that is, (figuratively) trustworthy; adverbially surely (often as interjection so be it): – amen, verily.

So Christ and His Words are definitely firm, true and trustworthy. But he also wants to be known as “the faithful and true witness,” and it is always instructive to note that the Greek word for ‘witness’ is ‘martus,’ from which we derive our English word martyr. While it is generally used simply in the sense of being a faithful witness, the example of Antipas, along with Christ’s own example, demonstrates that the willingness to remain a faithful witness until death is the deepest application of this Greek word:

Rev 2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan’s seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr [same Greek word, ‘martus’], who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

We find it hard to understand how the Lord can tell us that we have not denied His name nor His faith and yet find us guilty of the blood of Antipas among us where Satan dwells. Yet that is exactly what Isaiah said would happen in this prophecy:

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.

Christ is God’s ultimate “faithful martyr” at our hands, and so He introduces Himself to us as being martyred by the angel of the church in Laodicea. Christ’s final revelation of Himself to the angel of the church of Laodicea within us is as “the beginning of the creation of God.” There is really nothing new in Christ’s claim to being “the beginning.” We have already covered this in chapter 1 where we were told Christ is “the beginning and the end.”

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

The Greek word translated ‘beginning’ here and in Revelation 3:14 is ‘arche,’ and it literally means “a commencement.” Here is Strong’s definition:

G746
αρχη
arche
ar- khay’
From G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank): – beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.

So it is also properly translated as ‘chief,’ and ‘principalities.’

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

Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

In telling us that He is the beginning of the creation of God, Christ is telling us that He is the head of all principality and power. The God head is understood by the things that are made, and just as the man is the head of the woman, and the woman came out of the man, so also, the Father is the head of Christ, and Christ came out of the Father:

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

As “the head of all principality and power” there is nothing the Adversary can do that he is not commissioned by Christ to accomplish. In other words, there is no uncertain struggle going on between Christ and Satan. The outcome of the “war in heaven” includes a necessary struggle, which struggle and its outcome were “predestined… and written in his book… before the world began.” (Eph 1:11, Psa 139:16, 2Ti 1:9)

Christ being “the head of all principality and power” means that Christ is Satan’s overseer and his boss, and Satan cannot as much as raise his little finger without being told to do so. However, the most controversial part of this verse is the fact that Christ tells us He is “the beginning of the creation of God.” So whether you apply this Greek word ‘arche‘ in either “an abstract sense as a commencement or concretely as chief in order, time, place or rank,” this verse of God’s Word, these words of the revelation of Jesus Christ from His own mouth, have the Father as Christ’s predecessor and as His Superior, and that is exactly as Christ would have us to understand it:

Joh 14:28  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

The trinitarian answer to that verse is that this was only true of Christ as long as He was in the flesh, but here in Revelation 3:14, Christ tells us He is “the beginning of the creation of God.” This true doctrine of Christ fits perfectly with all the rest of scripture which declares to those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear:

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

Col 1:15  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

It was long after Christ had died and was risen from the dead and was no longer ‘in the flesh’ that Paul made that statement in:

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

It is clear that He of whom are all things is much greater than He by whom are all things. For more on this subject see our paper entitled Is God a Trinity? on iswasandwillbe.com.

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

This is an incredible statement. Christ prefers that we be completely cold over being lukewarm. Why would that be? The answer to that question is very clear. A person who is “lukewarm” is a fence sitter who is “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” because he is not really excited or hot about his relationship with the Man who is supposed to be his Head. He is not dedicated, and lack of dedication within any of us leads to infidelity. We are not just unreliable, but we can actually be relied on to bring a reproach upon the name of God. God demands “whole-hearted” service or we will not be His servants:

Psa 119:2  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

It will always be easier to just go along to get along with all the faults within ‘the seven churches of Asia’ than it is to remain faithful to our Lord and master who is supposed to be our head. For example, how do verses like these affect a person who is “neither hot nor cold.”

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

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.

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;

Here is how such a person is affected by these verses:

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

The truths of God sovereignty, His love for all men and His definition of love, and equating that love with obedience to His commandments, has “offended” us all at some time in our lives. Then being “neither hot nor cold… being lukewarm” is very closely akin to “receiving the seed into stony places, having no root in himself, but during for a while and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, becoming offended,” and denying our Lord and His Word.

It is at this point that Christ spews us out of His mouth, because Christ’s mouth is a clean mouth which speaks nothing but the words of His Father:

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

That is a white-hot desire to please the Father, and that is what Christ must see in us. It is not in the flesh to be that dedicated, and so it is first spewed out of God’s mouth and made to experience the bitterness of repentance before we are brought to being “on fire” in Christ’s service. The story of the apostle Peter demonstrates the spirit of the angel of the church in Laodicea within us all at its appointed time. Peter, just like this “angel of the church in Laodicea,” thought that he was in very good spiritual condition, when in reality he was neither hot nor cold but was lukewarm. Just like Peter we, too, must come to see this in ourselves. Here is how Peter conceived himself:

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

“All the disciples” means you and me, and “because you are neither hot nor cold” also means you and me. We simply must “keep the things which are written therein.” We cannot do as Peter and try to side-step the admonitions of Christ and think we can somehow avoid denying our Lord. Yet that is exactly what we do when we think we can somehow avoid all the admonitions of our Lord to all the churches except Smyrna and Philadelphia. It simply cannot be avoided. “All the disciples” is each of us, and we all are lukewarm to the extent that we all deny Him at our appointed time.

When any of us think that there is any part of “the things written therein” which have no personal application, we will soon enough find ourselves looking our Lord in the eye and being reminded that we must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Anything less is to deny our Lord and His words, where we find ourselves with Peter and “all the disciples, … weeping bitterly ” as we realize that we do indeed “keep [all] the things written therein.”

Mat 26:69  Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
Mat 26:70  But he denied before [them] all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
Mat 26:71  And when he was gone out into the porch, another [maid] saw him, and said unto them that were there, This [fellow] was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
Mat 26:72  And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
Mat 26:73  And after a while came unto [him] they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art [one] of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Mat 26:74  Then began he to curse and to swear, [saying], I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Luk 22:61  And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62  And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

The self-confidence of Peter and “all of His disciples”, who had said they would never forsake their Lord is really nothing more than being lukewarm, and it reflects an attitude that places the strength of the flesh above the power of God’s Word and His spirit. Here is the result of this spiritually “lukewarm”  attitude of a Laodicean spirit within us:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

This is exactly how Peter and all the disciples felt just before they all forsook and denied Him. All of Christ’s disciples felt that they were prepared to “drink the cup” that Jesus drank and be baptized with His baptism, but the Truth was that nothing could have been further from the Truth. The fact that they forsook Him at His time of trial demonstrated that all His disciples thought that they “were rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” when in reality they were “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” One of the disciples was literally naked, which is just a type of the spiritual condition of us all at that time in our own walk.

Mar 14:50  And they all [the disciples] forsook him, and fled.
Mar 14:51  And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
Mar 14:52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

Another scriptural example of this phase of our walk with our Lord, is the example given us in the church at Corinth. Notice what the apostle reveals to us of this church and of its spiritual standing at the time of the writing of this epistle:

1Co 1:1  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
1Co 1:2  Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

This congregation was well aware that they were being called, and they realized that they were being sanctified in Christ Jesus. Verses 6 and 7 reveal that “the testimony of Christ was confirmed in these Corinthian disciples, and they were even blessed with every gift of the spirit:

1Co 1:6  Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Now comes a revelation that few have ever even heard and which even fewer are given to receive. It is a revelation of what happens to you and to me when we say “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” and we don’t even know that we are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked: Here is our true spiritual standing while we are yet in the Babylonian phase of our walk.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Whoever heard of a “carnal babe in Christ?” How does such a verse of scripture fit into the false doctrine of a ten-second sinner’s prayer? These Corinthians are just like “the Jews that believed on Christ” and were also “of their father the devil in John 8:

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.

Now look at how these same believing Jews, who are “Abraham’s children,” are also “of their father the devil” and want Christ killed.

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.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 

The angel of the church in Laodicea, cannot receive the Truth, because at this point we are “Yet carnal,” even thought we are “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, [and] come behind in no gift.” These are the very words of scripture, and yet they are completely foreign to the angel of the church in Laodicea.

Conclusion

This is the first part of what the spirit has to say to the angel of the church in Laodicea. We have come to see that these seven angels are actually one spirit within one church.

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

In our study today we have seen that Christ identifies Himself to the angel of the church in Laodecia as the firm and trustworthy Word of God. We also saw that He considers Himself to be the actual beginning of, and the commencement of, God’s creation. It was through Christ that God then went on to create all the rest of His creation.

Col 1:15  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

We have seen Christ’s disdain for all halfheartedness and being “lukewarm” in His service. Christ wants us all to be either hot or cold, either on fire in His service, or not in His service. Christ would actually prefer us to be cold rather than “lukewarm.”

We also saw that we will not be found “in His mouth,” meaning we will not be His mouth piece, speaking His words, if we are just lukewarm. We saw that being lukewarm was akin to receiving the word in stony places and that the apostles all forsaking Christ demonstrated that they were nowhere near as “on fire” for Him as they thought they were. Of course “all the disciples” means what it says and includes all of us who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and keep the things written therein.”

We have seen that keeping every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God includes all the qualifying words which tell us that we are not hurt of the second death because we are the first to trust in Christ and are the first to be baptized into His death.

We have seen that God’s Word, His “gold,” is not really a part of us until it is “tried in the fire” with the many trials which we all fail for many years before we are granted the strength to endure and rejoice in the fiery trials that mature us and grant us that gold bought of God, gold tried in the fire of His words. The very words of which we are told we “must live by every word…”

Finally, we also saw that when the all the disciples forsook Christ, they demonstrated how they thought of themselves as “rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing”, when in reality, nothing could have been further from the truth. Peter ends up denying Christ three times that very night, and doing so with an oath and while swearing, that he did not know Christ.

We also saw this same phenomenon demonstrated by “the Jews that believed on Christ,” but wanted to kill Him in John 8, and in 1 Corinthians 1 and 3, by the church at Corinth, which was called, sanctified, and came behind in no gift, and were yet “carnal babes in Christ.”

So these are all types of us, as the angel of the church in Laodicea.

Next week, Lord willing, we will see more of what the spirit says to the angel of the church in Laodicea.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.