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Matthew 6:1–15 The Lord’s Prayer

[Study Aired April 7, 2025]

Introduction

Our study today is centered on two areas – alms and prayer. In verse 1 of today’s study, the Lord warned us to take heed so that we do not carry out our righteousness before men. The issue of alms, prayer and fasting must all be carried out such that we do not manifest our righteousness before men. 

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. (ASV)

Carrying out our righteousness before men means coveting the praise of men more than our fellowship with the Lord, which must be done in secret. As a result, we shall not be rewarded by the Lord. Our review today will therefore touch on the subject of reward for the Lord’s elect. 

Giving to the Needy

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 
Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

In verse 1, most versions of the Bible talk about taking heed that we do not our righteousness before men. In the King James version of the Bible, however, instead of righteousness, alms was used, which seems to imply that verse 1 is talking about alms. Verse 1, however, is the general principle we must apply to our lives when it comes to alms, prayer and fasting. 

It is important to note that under the law of Moses, our righteous acts are all carnal. When we were in Babylon or the physical churches of this world, we were under the law and all our actions were geared towards pleasing men. In other words, we were hypocrites. It was when faith came that we came out of Babylonian captivity and entered the church of the firstborn. Here we are under the law of the spirit of life which sets us free from the law of sin and death, that is, the law of Moses. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 

The whole essence of our worship of the Lord is to please Him in everything, and not man. This guiding principle must permeate everything we do. Since we are physical beings, we naturally gravitate towards pleasing men. However, if our motive is to be seen of men for our giving to those in need, then we have failed woefully. The giving of alms is a righteous act towards man and must be done in secret so that we receive a reward. On the other hand, any act of righteousness before men to receive the praise of men is regarded as receiving our reward already. 

Spiritually, the giving of alms entails sharing the word of the Lord to those in need as shown in the following:

Pro 11:24  There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 
Pro 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 

Luk 6:38  give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

The liberal soul is the one who shares the word of the Lord, and he is the one who waters and is therefore watered. As we are aware, water represents the word of the Lord. Being watered therefore means being given a deeper insight into the word of the Lord. 

The reward we receive as a result of our righteousness is in two parts – the one we receive here on earth and the one the Lord has in store for us as His overcomers, which cannot decay. The Lord will meet our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus and at the first resurrection, we shall be given to rule the kingdoms of this world. Later, we shall become judges in the lake of fire age, to bring salvation to the whole of the human race. 

Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 

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

The Lord’s Prayer

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 

Prayer is a kind of righteousness. Submitting ourselves to prayer means that we acknowledge our own inadequacy, and therefore we depend on the Lord, who has all the resources to help us. As we are aware, by the things that are made, we are able to know more about God. 

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: 

Children who have strong ties with their parents have those ties basically through the bond of communication between them. Prayer is part of the communication channel that allows us to build a strong relationship with the Lord. Prayer on one part is we reaching out to the Lord and the other part is the Lord communicating with us through His words.  We should therefore see prayer as a lifestyle that encompasses our reaching out to the Lord and His speaking to us through His words. That is why Paul says that we should pray without ceasing. That is because prayer should be a lifestyle.

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18  In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

When our parents speak to us and we do not pay attention to them, our relationship with them gets disrupted. The same is with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our iniquities which have disrupted our relationship with Him such that He cannot hear our prayers. 

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.  

In verse 5, we are told some of the things we do that disrupt the channel of communication between us and the Lord. One of them is our desire to be seen by men as being pious. In this case, we have received our reward already. As indicated, receiving our reward already means that there is nothing to look forward to in this life or in an age to come in terms of the Lord rewarding us. An example of this in the Bible is Esau. This is what the word of the Lord says about him:

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; 
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 

In verse 6, the Lord is saying that we should enter into our closet and shut the door when we pray. In this way, our Father who sees in secret shall reward us openly. We need to know that the Lord’s words are spirit. The closet that we must enter into to pray is our hearts and minds. To shut the door means blocking out anything in our hearts and minds that will shift our focus from our interaction with the Lord. This means that we are not limited to a place when we are to pray. We may be right on a job or in a car driving, but in the spirit, we are touching base with the Lord. That is one way that prayer can become a lifestyle. 

We must understand that here the Lord is not speaking about answer to prayer but reward of prayer. We know that reward is based on works or what we have done. This implies that the reward of prayer is based on works, that is, what we have done.  That is why prayer is a lifestyle. Our prayers are supported by the way we live as we explained earlier. 

Answer to prayers is based on how our thoughts are aligned with that of the Lord and also His timing. Our lives are in the hands of the Lord and that includes our timing. Because our timings are in the Lord’s hands, we need to exercise patience, coupled with faith, in order to receive what we pray for. Again, that is why praying is a lifestyle.

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

In this age, the Lord’s elect are hidden in Christ. In other words, Christ must be unveiled to you before you can see who is the Lord’s elect. This implies that our works are all hidden in Christ, that is to say that everything pertaining to us – our works, etc. are secret, just as our Lord is also hidden in secret. 

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, 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.   

Isa 45:15  Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 

Most of us were guilty of vain repetitions when we prayed, believing that the Lord will hear us because of our much speaking and our supposed “tongue speaking” which is fraught with vain repetitions which are totally meaningless. I remember during my Babylonian days, I would go to a garden with some of my close friends, some of them are now Babylonian Pastors with thousands of people in their congregation, to pray and it’s all about speaking repetitively in tongues. The fact that the Lord knows what we need before we ask means that we do not have to say much when asking for a need. This is different from being persistent in our request whenever we pray as the example of the parable of the woman and the judge shows.

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 
Luk 18:2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 
Luk 18:3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 
Luk 18:4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 
Luk 18:5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 
Luk 18:6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 
Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?  

What we need to understand is that prayer must be measured by our heart’s desire and not by our much speaking. This implies that our hearts and minds must be right before the Lord. On the other hand, if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.

Psa 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 

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

Psa 112:7  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 
Psa 112:8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 

Getting rid of iniquity in our hearts and minds is the work of the Lord, and it involves the Lord coming with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to take residence in our hearts and minds as the old man or our flesh is gradually dethroned from our hearts and minds.

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: 

This is a process resulting in the desire of our soul being in tune with His name. That is when our prayers are heard and answered. The timing of our answer, however, is in the hands of the Lord. 

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 

Psa 21:2  Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. 
Psa 21:3  For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
Psa 21:4  He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. 

We must understand that the sum of the Lord’s words shows us that the Lord in His wisdom and mercy answers the prayers of even those who do not know Him, in accordance with His will and purpose.

Gen 4:13  And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Gen 4:14  Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 
Gen 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 

Gen 21:14  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 
Gen 21:15  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 
Gen 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 
Gen 21:17  And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 
Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 

As we are aware, the Bible was written for the Lord’s elect first, and therefore the Lord is showing us, His children, that there must be a communication channel between us and our Lord. As indicated earlier, iniquity in our hearts is what blocks the communication channel between us and our Lord. Our situation is different from those who do not know the Lord as He may choose to intervene in their circumstance as they cry to Him according to the counsel of His own will.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  

The Lord here is giving us guidance as to how we should pray and not what we should be using as our prayer as we see in the physical churches of this world. The Lord is telling us here in verse 9 that the first thing we should be aware of is that we should know our Father, whom we are communicating with. That is, our father here is different from our human fathers in the sense that He is our Father in heaven. He is our Father in our hearts and minds. Again, we should know that the Bible was written for the elect and therefore everything here is addressed to the elect, where the Father and His son, Jesus Christ have made a habitation within us. 

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 

Our human fathers do not know us and can be unforgiving and merciless, and are not endowed with all the resources to help us. However, our Father in Heaven is merciful, compassionate towards us and has all the resources to bring us to an expected end. In addition, He has gone through all that we are going through and therefore understands our circumstances and challenges better. We are therefore not to worry but to have confidence when we come before Him. 

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

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

As we are aware, in this age, the kingdom of God is within His people. In an age to come, this kingdom will be made manifest for all to see here on earth.

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

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

Thy kingdom come here in verse 10 is therefore referring to the Lord establishing His kingdom within His elect first. This is because the salvation of the whole of the human race is dependent on our Lord Jesus Christ and His elect. 

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 

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

Praying for the Lord’s kingdom to come is therefore asking the Lord to establish the kingdom within His elect. It is when Christ sits on His throne within our hearts and minds that the Lord’s will, will be done in our lives as earthen vessels (earth), as it is within us. In other words, Christ within will be manifested in our daily lives. 

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread. 

This verse means that for the kingdom of God to be established within us, His elect, we must be fed with the word of the Lord on a daily basis even as we physically eat everyday. Of course, this verse also includes the Lord’s physical provision for our needs as the kingdom is being established within us.  

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

An example of how we are to feed on the word of the Lord daily is shown in the story of the manna that the people of Israel ate in the wilderness. They were to collect it daily every morning. In other words, it is when Christ the sun rises within us (in the morning) that we are given to assimilate His words daily.  

Exo 16:15  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
Exo 16:16  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 
Exo 16:17  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 
Exo 16:18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 
Exo 16:19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 
Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 
Exo 16:21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. 

When the sun waxed hot, the manna melted. This is to show us that when we meet Christ (the sun) face to face in the resurrection, we shall know Him fully, (the manna has melted) and therefore, we shall not be fed with the word of the Lord daily again. 

1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

Spiritually, debt represents our sins as shown in the following parable by the Lord:

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. 

Forgive our debtors in verse 12 means that we must forgive those who sin against us. This is because the Lord is always forgiving us our sins. If we tend not to forgive, then we cannot be the Lord’s servants as He will not forgive our sins. 

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

We know from the word of the Lord that the Lord Himself does not tempt us and that we are tempted, when we are pulled away by our own lust. It is when lust is conceived within us that it brings forth sin. 

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 
Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

Here in verse 13, the Lord is showing us that because He is not the one who tempts us to sin but the devil, our prayers should be focused on the Lord delivering us from evil. It takes the grace of the Lord to be delivered from evil, and therefore we should be fervent in praying for the Lord to deliver us from evil. The story of Job depicts the fact that the Lord is not the tempter but it is the devil who is the agent of evil. This does not obviate the fact that everything that happens is according to the counsel of the Lord’s own will, but rather to show us that the executor of evil is the devil.

Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.  

The next sentence in verse 13 about the kingdom, the power and glory belonging to the Lord is to bring to our attention that the Lord is mighty and is in perfect control of everything that is happening in this world. As a result, we must have the confidence when we come before Him in prayer that what He has started in us, He is able to bring it to completion. 

1Ti 1:17  Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

We have already addressed these verses under verse 12 where the Lord is telling us that we should pray for Him to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In summary, we must forgive men their trespasses, so that our heavenly Father will also forgive our trespasses. When we refuse to forgive others, we fall from the grace of God and are prone to all kinds of sin – bitterness which defiles many, fornication, etc. In the final analysis, we find no place of repentance and as a result, we are disqualified to inherit the blessing.    

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; 
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 

May the Lord continue to uphold us in His mercy as we see the day approaching. Amen!!

]]> “The House of Prayer” – Part 4, Vessels of mercy https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-house-of-prayer-part-4-vessels-of-mercy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-house-of-prayer-part-4-vessels-of-mercy Sun, 01 Dec 2024 14:07:21 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=31471 “The House of Prayer” – Part 4,

Vessels of mercy

Posted September 28, 2014

In the previous three studies we have covered a range of considerations when learning how we are to pray, when we are to pray, and why we are to pray according to the new man in us.

In the first study we covered who the “house of prayer” is and the many things we are to do as being this house or temple of God.

In the second study, we covered the contrast of the “house of prayer” with those which are the “den of thieves”. Of course, we have all been the den of thieves any time we take the Word of God and turn it into the idols of our hearts.

In the third study, we covered the biblical admonitions of how not to be as the hypocrites are and how to pray in a closet to be rewarded openly of our Father. We also covered how to pray without ceasing and how this is a lifestyle change, being the new man in downpayment and how we are to live out our “life of prayer”.

In this final part of the series, we are going to see how we are not left comfortless and how we have a champion praying on our behalf. With the comforter on our side who can be against us and prevail?

“Can anyone be against us”

I am going to start off reading some familiar verses to all of us, but I am going to read it out of the CEV translation.

Rom 8:22  We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.
Rom 8:23  The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free.
Rom 8:24  And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping.
Rom 8:25  However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.
Rom 8:26  In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.
Rom 8:27  All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s people.
Rom 8:28  We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose,
Rom 8:29  and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children.
Rom 8:30  God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.
Rom 8:31  What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?
Rom 8:32  God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else?

We have the Spirit praying for us in ways we cannot understand. The conclusion of the matter we are talking about in these verses we read is that God is on our side, and no one can be against us.

It may seem obvious, but if someone is against us, isn’t it the Lord Himself who has placed them against us?

Wasn’t it Joseph’s brothers who were against Him? Wasn’t it Saul against David? Wasn’t it Haman against Mordecai?

Likewise, isn’t it the Lord who has placed in us the law of sin which so easily besets us? Hasn’t the Lord sent an adversary to reign in our mortal flesh to be used to tempt us all our days?

How, then, do we gain victory in such adverse conditions?

We pray! We pray believing we will receive ACCORDING to the Lord’s will. We pray that the Lord’s will is merciful upon us. Only, we are not ALONE in prayer!

We are a HOUSE of prayer. We are wood, hay and stubble. We are brick, mortar and stone. We are also a temple which cannot be made with hands.

We have been shaped in inquity and conceived in sin, but we have also been shapened into a vessel of honor meant to be USED in our Father’s house with all sins washed away. We are NOW vessels of mercy!

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

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Rom 9:25  As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
Rom 9:26  And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; THERE shall they be called the children of the living God.

Eze 16:9  Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

There was a time when the Lord looked upon our old man, which we were all created naturally to be, and told us that we are not His people, but NOW we are vessels of mercy.

I say to you, vessels of mercy, what is your calling in Life? What are your prayers now, and do you believe in their power? Do you believe?

Rom 9:29  (CEV) Isaiah also said, “If the Lord All-Powerful had not spared some of our descendants, we would have been destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Rom 9:30  What does all of this mean? It means that the Gentiles were not trying to be acceptable to God, but they found that he would accept them if they had faith.
Rom 9:31  It also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God. The people of Israel fell over the stone that makes people stumble,
Rom 9:32  (SEE 9:31)
Rom 9:33  just as God says in the Scriptures, “Look! I am placing in Zion a stone to make people stumble and fall. But those who have faith in that one will never be disappointed.”

I know I have read a lot of verses already today, but I am hoping they grip the strands of your minds and stir up in you a mindfulness of WHO YOU ARE in Christ Jesus.

We have been given a Spirit, a comforter, which prays on behalf of us. Knowing the Lord says He sends such a comforter to us, we should have confidence in our petitions to the Lord.

I hope you all understand that I am not saying we always get what we want when we pray. What we get is what is appointed for us to receive according to the Lord’s will.

The adversary we are facing tells us prayer doesn’t matter. The adversary that screams from the rooftops to us is the adversary who will show no mercy to you.

However, we are vessels of mercy and vessels of honor to the Lord. His honor is made manifest when we pray to Him in faith. We must believe we will be answered in order to be acceptable to our Lord.

When we pray without faith, are we heard by the Lord?

Pro 28:9  He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

It is easy to conclude that this is talking about the law in the letter or the law of Moses, but I am supposed to tell you that we are dealing with a different law in the spirit.

Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Gal 6:1  (CEV) My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don’t be tempted yourself.
Gal 6:2  You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand.
Gal 6:3  If you think you are better than others, when you really aren’t, you are wrong.

Now, we see there is a law of faith and a law of Christ (the anointed). What are we to do with this liberty found in Jesus Christ and the Faith of Jesus?

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Where this all fits into prayer is that we are commanded to be doers of the Word, and we are told to pray and how to pray. Important to remember though is that we have the Spirit praying for us, making intercession for us in ways we do not even know to pray for ourselves.

A simple way to understand the concept of having intercession made for us is to consider that when we pray for something, it may not be for our spiritual good to receive the things for which we prayed. However, we know the spirit will pray according to the will of God and pray on our behalf.

This should give us bold confidence that we are doing what we are commanded to do when we pray “thy will be done”.

We are to pray and worship in spirit and truth, and we know the Words spoken by the Lord are Spirit.

So then, it is important for us to understand that we can be heard by the Lord when we worship Him in prayer.

When we do this, we are directly countering and working against “another Jesus” in us all. Yes, we all have another Jesus which constantly wants to have us look away from the real Jesus who has come in the flesh…. NOT OF THE FLESH.

1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

How then, do we worship and have our prayers be heard? We must “hear the law” and do it.

Again, we must do the opposite of Proverbs 28:9.

Pro 28:9  He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Here is the word worshiping in Hebrew:

And here is worshiping in the Greek:

G4314 means to be toward or against (as in close to something, right against it) and G2965 translates to “dog”, as in 2 Peter 2:22.

2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dogG2965 is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Anyone having ever owned a dog or having seen a dog and its master can relate to just how much a dog loves its master.

It is unfeigned, it is unconditional, and it is unwavering. That love is ALWAYS there.

We are told in Hebrews to BOW, which would be the relation by which slaves and masters would understand one another.

We are told in Greek to be as a dog, which is ALREADY lower than the master while standing on all fours, and to lick and reference the HAND of our Master.

This is how we worship. We worship this way only in Spirit and Truth. When we worship in spirit and truth, we are doing so by reading and hearing the Word of God and mixing that with Faith.

We worship in spirit and truth as a dog who loves its master simply because He is our Master.

This is the importance of prayer in our lives and how it is we are to pray.

When we pray in this manner and keep our mind focused on the will of God, we will be vessels of mercy and honor to the Lord.

Who can be against us when we pray in such a way? We are the house of prayer which the Lord alone has setup.

]]> The House of Prayer – Part 3, You shall not be as the hypocrites https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-house-of-prayer-part-3-you-shall-not-be-as-the-hypocrites/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-house-of-prayer-part-3-you-shall-not-be-as-the-hypocrites Fri, 29 Nov 2024 19:16:14 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=31462 The House of Prayer – Part 3

You shall not be as the hypocrites

[Posted September 21, 2014]

In part 1 of this series we focused on who is the “house of  prayer” as found in Matthew 21:13.  In part 2 we focused on who it is that represents the “den of thieves”.

As we have come to learn with these previous studies, it is scripturally true that we all live being both of these “houses”. We are the den of thieves before we are blessed and caused to become the house of prayer.

In today’s study, we are going to dig into the Word and attempt to find out how it is the “house of prayer” prays for the world, and how we “pray without ceasing”.

“They have their reward”

In the previous study, I heavily concentrated on connecting fasting with prayer. However, before fasting is mentioned in Matthew, and even before we are told how to pray, we are told how NOT to pray.

This is an important aspect to prayer seeing as it came directly from Jesus while He walked this earth.

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Then, what is being a hypocrite if being a hypocrite equates to “loving to pray standing in the synagogues” and “in the corners of the streets so that they may be seen of men”?

How is that hypocritical?

G5273
hupokritēs
hoop-ok-ree-tace’
From G5271; an actor under an assumed character (stage player), that is, (figuratively) a dissembler (“hypocrite”): – hypocrite.

G5271
hupokrinomai
hoop-ok-rin’-om-ahee
Middle voice from G5259 and G2919; to decide (speak or act) under a false part, that is, (figuratively) dissemble (pretend): – feign.

The prefix ‘hypo’ means “under”, and a “critic” is a person who judges the merits of something especially in a professional way.

To be an “under” critic simply means to NOT have the ability to “sift or decide.” Here is one of the things Wikipedia says about hypocrisy:

Being a hypocrite is the practice of doing the same thing you are critical of others doing.

Why would the hypocrites Jesus is telling us NOT to be like be considered hypocrites in the first place? They were criticizing “praying to be seen of men”, and they themselves did not have the integrity and ability to decide they were doing the same themselves.

With all of this in mind, how do we apply this understanding to praying in a closet for the things the Father already knows we need?

How do we apply this understanding to praying on behalf of others in the body of Christ with whom we fellowship, those who “come to us”, and those who are of the world?

If we know the Father knows the things we need before we ask them of Him, why do we need to ASK FOR THEM?

We are instructed in the Word to do so.

Heb 13:18  Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.

Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Col 4:1  Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
Col 4:4  That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

1Ti 2:1  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

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

1Pe 4:6  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
1Pe 4:7  (KJV) But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

1Pe 4:7  (ISV)  Because everything will soon come to an end, be sensible and clear-headed, so you can pray.

1Pe 4:7  (WNT)  But the end of all things is now close at hand: therefore be sober-minded and temperate, so that you may give yourselves to prayer.

1Pe 4:7  (CEV)  Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray

Since we want to be sensible and clear-minded in prayer so we can ask for things, whatever those “things” may be, how then do we know how to ask properly?

After all, we want a reward which is NOT the same reward as that given to hypocrites.

Listen then to what James was inspired to preach. This is from the ISV translation.

Jas 4:1  Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they?
Jas 4:2  You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them!
Jas 4:3  You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
Jas 4:4  You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
Jas 4:5  Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?

Is God a jealous God? Does the Spirit lust against the flesh and carnal mind?

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

The comparison being made in Galatians is that of the flesh versus the Spirit. The works of the flesh are being compared AGAINST the fruit of the Spirit.

Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

“Pray without ceasing”

How do we ask properly, in the Spirit, for our prayers to be heard and answered by our Father Who is in heaven?

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

We must approach the Lord with a single mind on anything we pray for, and we are told to pray without ceasing.

1Th 5:14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
1Th 5:15  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16  Rejoice evermore.
1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Th 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20  Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you look at the context from which we are told to pray without ceasing, the context will reveal to us that we are to LIVE the things mentioned in the above verses.

We are to CONTINUALLY be in prayer all of our lives, but the way we read it in the King James appears to tell us to “pray without taking a break,” but that is NOT the meaning and is simply not what is being conveyed.

“Warn … comfort … support … be patient … don’t return evil for evil … follow that which is good … rejoice at all times …   be praying to the Lord for what we need simply because He places us in situations to need Him.

However, this doesn’t mean pray “around the clock” as is proven by all the things Jesus did that were NOT direct prayer as we understand prayer.

We don’t need to look any further than “how” the Lord taught His disciples to pray. Their request was to be taught to pray by the Lord, just as John had taught his disciples to pray.

Only, Jesus taught them a much different way to pray than what John the Baptist ever could. We have the Luke version of the “Lord’s prayer”, but right after that we see:

Luk 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

The key to understanding “pray without ceasing” is found in Jesus’ own words in Luke 11:2, Matthew 6:7 and Mark 11:24; “when you pray….”.

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Mar 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

When we pray, and this should be a continual LIFE of prayer, we are to pray a certain way.

We are to ask for the Spirit. We are to pray for things which glorify God. All that we do, we do to the glory of God.

So, when we pray for the body of Christ, when we pray for “all men” that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, we do so praying, “According to thy will…thy will be done.”

Since we should now be seeing that prayer is a way of Life, do we pray for the world?

Is “praying for the world” the same as “supplications, prayers and intercessions and giving of thanks for all men” as mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:1-4?

What does the sum of the Word say?

If we are “as He is so are we in this world,” how do we follow Jesus to the cross as it pertains to prayer?

What was Jesus’ prayer on the cross? It was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  “Them” would be all of humanity.

We must all “prove all things”, so notice this verse:

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

It should be self-evident that if Jesus had prayed for His flesh, He would have prayed to not be crucified. However, He prayed, “Thy will be done.” We have been given His Word to know how to do this.

He prays for “us” to be kept from “the evil”.

When we examine this all closely, we know there is something that is in all of the world, and it all leads to sin.

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

The love of the Father is to KEEP his commandments. The love of the world is to keep the law working in our members.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

When we pray to the Father for anything, He knows what we need before we ask. He wants us to continually and fervently speak to Him in prayer.

What He wants us to pray for is for His Spirit to cause us to do His will in all things.  Considering this, is it EVIL or WRONG to pray for physical healing, physical bread and water, or anything that benefits our flesh or the flesh of others as long as we have the proper mindset when asking?

The answer is NO.

How can that be?

All that is in the world is in us all, but when we pray, and we pray properly according to Godly prayer, we are NOT PRAYING for the lusts of the flesh to be pampered and nourished so that we can fulfill those lusts.

We are praying that our flesh be nourished and benefitted so that the KINGDOM of God can be represented, and that just like Jesus Christ, we can be used to PRESENT the Kingdom of God to the WORLD in others.

This is how that Jesus Himself taught us to pray.

“Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Look at those different aspects to how we are to pray when we pray. We are told to pray for “daily bread”. Of course this is both physical bread and spiritual bread at the same time.

The Father has caused all that is happening in our world to happen so that He can ultimately fulfill the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth. Jesus came in the likeness of man so that all men will be saved.

Yet, there is still the sum of the word to consider when wondering if we should only pray for those in the body, who we know, or should we also pray for those who are sent to us to pray for.

Let us see what the Word says.

Mat 8:2  And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Mat 8:3  And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Mat 9:18  While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

Mat 9:20  And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

Mat 9:27  And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
Mat 9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

Mat 9:32  As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.

Mat 9:36  But when HE SAW the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

There is an undeniable pattern that has been so beautifully laid out for us if we only take hold on it.

It is when “there came” those in front of Jesus, that those which were BROUGHT to Him were given the blessing of having been brought to Jesus for HEALING.

Now I know this is speaking of physical healing, and we know, even from the sum of this series, that spiritual “greater things than these” are where our focus should always be.

However, if someone has been sent to us who is in need of physical bread because they are STARVING to death, and we give them spiritual bread instead/only, how can we possibly consider that as loving our neighbor as ourselves?

Jas 2:14  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jas 2:15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Jas 2:16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

We must have works that go along with the Faith with which we have been gifted. Only, the works are the works of Him who has SENT US and not our own works.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Joh 20:23  Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Whenever someone is sent to us, to come before us in Spirit, we know that it is NOT a coincidence. All things are worked and caused by the Lord.

As such, we must recognize that when we “see the multitudes”, it is because we have been placed into the position to “see them”.

We cannot have the mindset to simply not pray for them because they are not “of us” when one who is not “of us” asks for prayer. We must be “as He is” and be moved with compassion in prayer.

Here is the reason we are given:

Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

We do not know which leper of the “ten lepers” placed in our path will come back to say, “Thank you for praying for me.” What we do know though, is that whatever we are presented with in our daily walks with Jesus is placed there so we can be laborers in His harvest.

We are not to be as the hypocrites are and simply appear to pray when what is truly needed is a life of Godly prayer. In this, the Lord will cause us to be used mightily for His kingdom.

In the next study, we are going to search the scriptures to see how the Holy Spirit we have been given helps us in prayer, and how the entire “house of prayer” interacts with “another Jesus”.

]]> The House of Prayer – Part 1: Introduction https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-house-of-prayer-part-1-introduction/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-house-of-prayer-part-1-introduction Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:07:40 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=31486 “The House of Prayer” – Part 1
August 31, 2014

Prayer is often times something very intimate to each of us as we relate to God the Father.

There are many religions around the world which pray as part of their traditions, but as being Christians, like Christ, we must strive to keep the commandments of the Lord and seek to serve the Lord in the ways He has ordained that we seek and serve Him.

Prayer is ultimately our way of connection and communicating with God. Through prayer, we keep our minds and hearts focused on the Lord and on His people.

We sacrifice time; time given to us by the very one to whom we pray, and by making such an important sacrifice, we draw closer to our creator.

Throughout this series, we are going to focus on the many facets of prayer, how it applies to our lives as Christians, why we pray, how we pray and ultimately to whom it is we pray.

“The Temple of God”

God’s people are His house, and His house is called a house of prayer.

Mat 21:12  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Mat 21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Mat 21:14  And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

Again, in Mark we see:

Mar 11:15  And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
Mar 11:16  And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
Mar 11:17  And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Mar 11:18  And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

The reference for God’s “house of prayer” is found in the book of Isaiah.

Isa 56:5  Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6  Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:7  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Given that we have all experienced different formalities on how to execute prayer, have seen many Christians in our past experiences do this or do that when praying, and have many varied examples of how we have prayed ourselves, let us now focus on what the New Testament examples are on prayer and how it is that “we are the house of prayer.”

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

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

We are the temple of God where God dwells.

As with all things in scripture there are negative and positive applications to scripture, natural and spiritual things to consider and the sum of the Word to weigh those things against.

For example, “our body” is the temple of God individually, but so, too, is the body of Christ (our bodies and His body) the temple of God.

This first part of the series is going to cover this aspect of the house of prayer.

Contrary to what most Christians have been taught or think on their own, God does NOT hear all prayers and petitions made to Him.

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Eze 8:18  Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Mic 3:4  Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Additionally, just because you may see the word “prayer” mentioned in English, it is not always apparent that ‘prayer’ is what is being talked about in any given verse.

So, it takes us being Bereans and digging into scripture to find what has been hidden there for us to be shown.  I hope you have your shovels ready :]

“Pray, Prayer, Praying, Prayed”

According to e-Sword, there are 306 verses in the Old and New Testaments that the English word “pray” is mentioned in scripture.

There are 107 verses for the word “prayer”, 20 verses for “praying” and 65 for “prayed”.

I think you’ll agree that is a lot of times that pray, prayer, praying and prayed are mentioned (498 times).

In contrast, the English word “heaven” is mentioned in 551 verses. As you can tell, “prayer” is a very important topic and subject which scripture addresses a lot.

As for addressing all of these scriptures on praying in this series, it simply is not going to be exhausted within this series. There are going to be many thoughts come about from whatever the Lord inspires us all to collectively “hear” and “see” regarding this topic.

For me, I will share with you all what I have been given to share on this topic.

On the surface of it, what then is “prayer”? Well, that is a multi-faceted answer which I hope we can address in this series, but I think there is a group of scriptures that bear out this multi-faceted answer as well as any others.

They are not all that can be said on this, of course, but it is as good a place to start as any.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Jas 5:12  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.G4336 Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them prayG4336 over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Jas 5:15  And the prayerG2171 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and prayG2172 one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayerG1172 of a righteous man availeth much.
Jas 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayedG4336, G4335 earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jas 5:18  And he prayedG4336 again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Starting with these verses, we are going to set the foundation for the rest of this series. We have a plethora of witnesses to other examples of what “prayer” means to us as Christians today.

We know that all of these English words have a foundation in Greek. However, we are going to only look at the Greek for as much as it is necessary to determine the Spirit behind what we just read, and we are going to try to keep it in context of “prayer” in the house of prayer.

We will start in these verses with the mention of the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord, and we are to take them as an example of suffering affliction and having patience.

When these prophets suffered, they spoke in the name of the Lord, and they spoke about things which must be fulfilled.

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

The next verse in James gives us an example and that is about Job. It references Job as “counting them happy which endure”. Job is happy because he has, “seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”

We know from scripture that the Lord works all things after the counsel of His own will, so when we see the end of the Lord, we see that He has willed that we see His pity and His tender mercy.

We need to couple that with a warning, a commandment, on how to view prayer which comes in the following verses in James, starting in verse 12.

Jas 5:12  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

In other words, the Lord is sovereign and in control so it is not our place to swear or give an oath, but in what context are these things being told to us?

“Use the example of suffering affliction and patience …. count them happy who endure …. and do not make an oath or swear anything.”

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. G4336 Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

The answer to being afflicted is to “pray”?

The Greek word used here in English as “pray” is “pros-yoo’-khom-ahee” and it has a root in G4314 and G2172.

A strengthened form of G4253:

So, one of the roots of “pros-yoo’-khom-ahee” is to be in front of, prior to, and before, but in front of, prior to, or before what?

We will answer that in a moment, but we’ll first look into the second root of G4336, “yoo’-khom-ahee”.

Here are the uses of this word in scripture in context.

A few examples of wish are:

Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

2Co 13:8  For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
2Co 13:9  For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

3Jn 1:1  The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
3Jn 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

The same word translated as “pray” is:

2Co 13:6  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
2Co 13:7  Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
2Co 13:8  For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

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

With the root of these words being established, we can see a clear scriptural example of what G4336 means.

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.G4336 Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

So, the answer to affliction is to pray/wish (they mean the same thing) PRIOR TO, BEFORE the will of the Lord is made manifest in a matter.

Examples of this would be affliction that is sent to us in the form of a trial such as financial problems, health issues, emotional or spiritual struggles, etc.

Before we know how these things will end up for us, we are to pray before the will of the Lord is made manifest for whatever the situation the Lord has us in.

Moving along as another example of this we see this in the next verse:

Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them prayG4336 over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

“Let them pray over him anointing him with OIL/SPIRIT in the name of the Lord.”

There are articles posted on Is, Was and Will Be that deal with oil and what it means, but oil relates to the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the power of God.

For a review of oil, please visit:

http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-wise-took-oil/

The same Greek word as mentioned here as “pray” is G4336. So, let’s move on to the next example.

Jas 5:15  And the prayerG2171 of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and prayG2172 one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayerG1162 of a righteous man availeth much.

The Greek word G2171 actually means “vow”.  The word used here in the Greek G2171 comes from G2172, meaning wish/pray, as we have already covered.

“A votive obligation” is the focus of verse James 5:15, but that bar is raised from a “vow” which shows an immature understanding of the sovereignty of God versus a mature understanding of the sovereignty of God.

G2171 is from G2172:

“Middle voice” means to act upon itself or for its own benefit. An example of this is “Steven bought himself a car”.

So, the implication of this thought or idea is that when we pray for another we are praying for OURSELVES. We are praying for our OWN BODY.

If I petition the Lord to heal me of my arm being broken or for my strep throat to be healed, I am praying for my OWN BODY to be healed.

Likewise, when I pray for “another to be healed” I am praying FOR MY OWN BODY to be HEALED!

Here are the two commandments of the Lord:

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

That isn’t the sum of what we are being told in this chapter.

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and prayG2172 one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayerG1162 of a righteous man availeth much.

“The effectual fervent (ENERGY) BEGGING of a righteous man availeth much.”

Why do I say begging instead of prayer? The Greek word used here is G1162 which has a root of G1189.

When we BEG for our own deliverance, we do so with a very intentional purpose. When we BEG for and petition the Lord on behalf of the body, we are fulfilling the commandment of the Lord to LOVE our neighbor as ourselves.

This can only be done with the maturity the Lord brings our way as we go from immature Christians asking for the basics to mature Christians asking for EVERYTHING knowing the Lord works it all.

James 5:15 and 5:16 show us a contrast in making a vow versus fervently begging the Lord, i.e. “I will make a vow of faith to you Lord if only you do x, y, and z” VERSUS “I BEG you Lord to listen to my petition (of which you have placed in my heart and mind to pray).”  If this is doubtful in your mind, the next verse re-emphasizes this point.

Jas 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayedG4336, G4335 earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jas 5:18  And he prayedG4336 again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Did you recognize the voice of the True Shepherd in those last two verses?

If one errs from the Truth and is CONVERTED from the ERROR of “HIS WAY”, he shall be SAVED FROM DEATH, and a multitude of SINS shall be HIDDEN.”

“Whatsoever is not of Faith is SIN…and the WAGES of Sin is DEATH”.

“Conclusion of Part 1 of ‘The House of Prayer’”

The conclusion of this study is the emphasis on converting our brother or sister through FERVENT/BEGGING prayer.

We can pray for the things that we need on a daily basis like Elias did for rain, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that according to scripture, but the prayer we are after is a prayer that brings ONLY Truth from the one praying.

In other words, we want Jesus Christ to be the only one that matters in all situations, and there are very particular instructions on how to know we are following this path of righteousness versus our own righteousness.

When we pray, we are to pray a certain way, and that will be the focus of our next study in this series.

Again, there are many, MANY facets to prayer and praying and we have only began to scratch the surface.

Next study, we will continue to “hear” and “see” the voice of the True Shepherd as it relates to us petitioning our heavenly Father in prayer, Lord willing.

[The next study in this series on prayer is here.]

]]> Rev 8:1-6 Part 2 – Seven Trumpets https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-81-6-part-2-seven-trumpets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-81-6-part-2-seven-trumpets Fri, 28 Jun 2024 15:33:22 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=30154 Audio Download

Rev 8:1-6 Part 2 – Seven Trumpets

[Study Aired June 28, 2024]

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Introduction

As always we want to remember that the things written in this prophecy are all “signified” things which we are admonished to “read… hear… and keep” (Rev 1:1-3). In our studies in Revelation 7 on the 144,000 and the great multitude which no man could number, we took note that the assurances of universal salvation found in that chapter are strategically placed between the dire warnings of the sixth seal, where the whole world cries out to the rocks and mountains to “fall on us and hide us from the face and the wrath of the Lamb” and the dire judgments of the seven trumpets which are being introduced to us here in this eighth chapter.

Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

God’s wrath is His judgments. That wrath and judgment “first begins at [and comes upon] the house of God” within first, and later, “[when] the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Rev 20:3), “and when the thousand years are expired” (Rev 20:7) then judgment, the “great white throne… judgment”, will come upon all the rest of mankind “at the end of days” (Dan 12:13) in the “great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death”:

Dan 12:13  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

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

What do God’s judgments produce? Does judgment produce eternal, everlasting torment in literal flames of literal fire? Is that really what God’s judgments produce? No, of course judgment produces no such monstrous condemnation. This is what God’s judgments, including His final ‘great white throne judgment’, always produce:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

God’s judgments are expressed through His wrath against our sins and our self-righteous iniquities:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

So the “great day of [God’s] wrath” against our transgressions and our iniquity is signified by these seven angels with seven trumpets. Before we get into the spiritual significance of these seven trumpet judgments, which reveal “the great day of His wrath” (Rev 6:17), and the destruction of the kingdom of our carnal-minded old man (Rev 11:15), the holy spirit has chosen this point to comfort and strengthen us with the assurance of universal salvation for all in Adam. That inevitable outcome for all mankind is signified by the two groups of Revelation 7. We found in chapter 7 that there is a very small number of all mankind who will be used by God to bring the “great multitude which no man could number” to Christ and His Father. That very small group is symbolized by the number 144,000; twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the other hand, the “great multitude which no man could number” is signified by “the dust of the earth.” That outward dispensational day of salvation for “all in Adam” (1Co 15:22) will not come until the sayings of the prophecy of this book have first been “read, heard and kept” within the hearts, minds and lives of God’s 144,000 witnesses, as we are told in the chapter dealing with His witnesses. The number ‘two’ simply signifies ‘witness’:

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

The seventh trump is the seven last plagues, so this proclamation that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” is actually the proclamation of the beginning of a process which will end in the stone hewn out of the mountain without hands becoming a mountain that will “fill the whole earth.”

Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

The process of the seventh trumpet will take all the time that is needed for the seven last plagues, of which this seventh trumpet consists, to be fulfilled within each of God’s elect. So, this statement that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” is God “speaking of those things which are not as though they were” (Rom 4:17) just as Christ said His disciples “had kept His Words” only moments before they all denied Him and “left Him” to His fate on the cross.

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

The disciples of Christ had not yet “kept His Words.” They weren’t even converted at this time, and immediately after Christ declares “they have kept thy word”, we are told this of the apostles of Christ:

Mar 14:50 And they all forsook him, and fled.

Then we have this concerning this seventh trumpet, in chapter 10:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

So these trumpets all represent a process that takes time in our lives, and before getting into the events in our lives, which are revealed to us in the sounding of these seven trumpets, the first question we need to ask and answer is…

What is the spiritual significance of blowing a trumpet?

Here is the very first mention of a trumpet in scripture. The sound of a trumpet announces the occasion of Israel preparing to meet their God at mount Sinai. That is the spiritual significance of the events at Sinai which are a type and shadow of the revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives. Notice that even here in Exodus ‘the sound of the trumpet’ is associated with “the third day”; the day of resurrection of our new man (Rom 6:4-5).

Exo 19:11  And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Exo 19:12  And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: [“the ministration of death” (2Co 3:7-8, Heb 12:20)]
Exo 19:13  There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exo 19:14  And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
Exo 19:15  And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
Exo 19:16  And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
Exo 19:17  And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
Exo 19:18  And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exo 19:19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

“God answered [Moses] by a voice.” Moses here typifies those with whom Christ is communicating, and “God answers by a voice” those who are given ears to hear. However, this is what happens to the great multitude which no man can number.

Exo 20:18  And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Because the people did not want to die, in the end 3000 of them did die on this the first Pentecost observed by Israel in Exodus 20.

Exo 32:28  And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

On the other hand, this is what happens when Christ in us is willing die to the things of our flesh and the things of this world. This is what happened on the first Pentecost at the founding of the New Testament church.

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:40  And with many other words did he [Peter] testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Act 2:41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

This account just proves the truth of these words of our Lord:

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

Three thousand souls lost their physical lives at the first Pentecost at Mount Sinai, and three thousand found their spiritual lives at the first New Testament Pentecost.

Here now is…

The purpose and function of trumpets in scripture

Num 10:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3  And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.
Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Num 10:7  But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.
Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I [am] the LORD your God.

The only time Israel journeyed was when the Cloud they followed would move. When the Cloud moved, they moved, and that was accomplished by “blowing an alarm for your journeys.”

Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

The call “to war in your land” was also by the alarm of the trumpets. “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.” That is what is taking place in the eighth chapter of Revelation. There is war in the land against the enemy that oppresses you.”

But…

Only “the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets.”

No one else but the priests, the sons of Aaron, is allowed to even touch these two silver trumpets. The fact there are “two trumpets” signifies the Lord’s witnesses are those He uses to call His people together and call them to war against their enemies. “You are His witnesses of these things:”

Isa 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isa 43:12  I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

Isa 44:8  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Act 10:41  Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Act 10:42  And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

According to the shadows and types of the Old Testament, trumpets were to be blown only by the “seven priests”, and the seven priests, like the seven angels with the seven trumpets, are a type and a shadow of God’s elect.

Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.

These seven angels are those “who stand before God.”

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

We saw that they “stand before God” because they are “in Christ’s right hand.”

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

These ‘seven angels’ are the same “seven angels” who are sent to the seven churches, and these seven angels are those to whom this entire prophecy is addressed.

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 2:8  And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

Rev 2:12  And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

Rev 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

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;

It is these same seven angels who tell us that they are our fellow servants and those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book. If we are God’s elect, we are these seven angels to the seven churches. It is these seven angels who are given the priesthood to “perform the service of God.” The promise of being kings and priests is not just to the leaders and elders  of the body of Christ. That promise is to the entire body of Christ:

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

We will stop here for today and finish part three of our study of these first six verses of Revelation 8 in our next study.

]]> The Book of Daniel – Dan 9:1-27 Seventy Years in the Desolations of Jerusalem https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-daniel-dan-91-27-seventy-years-in-the-desolations-of-jerusalem/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-daniel-dan-91-27-seventy-years-in-the-desolations-of-jerusalem Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:32:32 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=29834 Audio Download

Dan 9:1-27 Seventy Years in the Desolations of Jerusalem

[Study Aired April 25, 2024]

Dan 9:1  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
Dan 9:2  In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 
Dan 9:3  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 
Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 
Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 
Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 
Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 
Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 
Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 
Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 
Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 
Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 
Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 
Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 
Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 
Dan 9:20  And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
Dan 9:21  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 
Dan 9:22  And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
Dan 9:23  At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 
Dan 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 
Dan 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 
Dan 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 
Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 

There are only two main sections to this ninth chapter of Daniel and two main points being made that we need to consider. The first section, which is the bulk of the chapter, is found in Daniel 9:1-23 which reveals what the power of prayer (Dan 9:3) can accomplish in our lives (Dan 9:3, Jas 5:16, Luk 2:37, Php 1:19). When we draw close to God, we are reminded that He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, and “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Psa 46:1-2).

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

Luk 2:37  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day [Act 5:42].

Php 1:19  For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Daniel’s prayer came from a heartfelt, contrite, and broken spirit (Isa 66:2, Psa 51:17) and it was because of what he understood to be the condition of the nation that such a sighing and crying (Eze 9:4) to the Lord was made. It was “In the first year of his reign [King Darius] I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”  It is in the day of the Lord, typified by the “first year” in this sentence, we recognize that judgment is upon us, the chastening and scourging by which every son of God is received (Heb 12:6), and it is accomplished in seventy years, a number that is connected to the plagues that must be poured out upon us (7×10=70) if we are going to enter into the temple of God (Rev 15:8).

The understanding and the effect on Daniel regarding what he read typifies for God’s elect how His word will be received in our lives (Rev 1:3) at this time of the end, when judgment is upon us, as we see a dying world around us where evil men are waxing worse and worse, causing us to sigh and cry for the abominations of this world, being vexed in our spirit (2Ti 3:13, 2Pe 2:7). We’ve become convinced that there is none righteous only one (Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, Php 1:11, Gal 2:20-21), and that what we see happening in this world tells us what would become of all of us except for the grace of God and the faith of Christ that makes it possible for us to remain undefiled from this world, ‘keeping our garments’ (Rev 3:4, Rev 16:15).

Rev 3:4  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

The last section of Daniel chapter 9 has to do with how God is going to completely bring an end to our sins and make reconciliation for our iniquities, meaning us as the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) who are first judged in this life (1Pe 4:17). The confession of Daniel’s sins for himself and for the nation precede the judgment that is then revealed to him with prophetic words explaining how God plans to bring a complete and total end to sin in our lives, and in the lives of all mankind in time (2Sa 14:14). That is the principle point being made – the temple must be cleansed of the abomination that makes desolate, and that cleansing begins with the house of God: “that he would accomplish seventy years [complete and total] in the desolations of Jerusalem [Jerusalem typifying God’s people the Israel of God].”

Bringing an end to sin can only be accomplished by being buried into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3). Then through being raised in heavenly places (Joh 11:25-26, Eph 2:6), we can focus on our head, Jesus Christ (Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2) who is the way, the truth and the life to whom God has granted us to be dragged (Joh 6:44) in this age so we can be assured that we can overcome and endure to the end (Mat 10:22). 

Dan 9:1  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 
Dan 9:2  In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 
Dan 9:3  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 
Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

We must set our face toward the Lord God (I set my face unto the Lord God) and seek Him with all our heart, mind and strength. In doing so we are reassured that we will find Him who is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Jer 29:13, Heb 11:6, Mat 6:33).

Our identifying with the reality that we are being judged in this age is being typified by Daniel who is now reading books that Jeremiah the prophet was inspired to write, and it is in the first year of king Darius’ reign that this occurs as a type of the day of the Lord unfolding in Daniel’s life.

As a type of the elect, Daniel is motivated like Noah and is moving with fear setting his ‘face unto the Lord God’, seeking him “by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.”

If we abase ourselves, it will be by God’s power as typified by the two witnesses who also are in “sackcloth” (Rev 11:3) and presenting their whole lives to God as a living sacrifice, which is what an acceptable fast is to God (Isa 58:5-7). With those actions unfolding in our lives, our “prayer and supplications” will be coming from a place of sincerity and from a foundation of good works that are laid up against the time to come (1Ti 6:19) and bear witness to our souls that we are His children being sacrificed for this world (Rom 8:16).

That prayer included a confession (Rom 2:4) and acknowledgement of God being “great and dreadful” and able to keep “the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.” The keeping of the commandments is what the nation has not been doing. However, after God is done judging all nations, the “great and dreadful” God will accomplish what He has set out to do, and that is to save every soul through judgment (1Co 15:22, Isa 26:9).

Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 
Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

This section of scripture reminds us we serve a merciful God who forgives us for our sinful condition which commits iniquity and acts wickedly and departs “from thy precepts and from thy judgments.” This is our former conversation (Eph 2:3) that needs to be repented of and ruled over the rest of our lives through Christ. God is just showing us what is true for all who don’t have a new fleshly heart that has been written upon by our Lord (Eze 36:26). We will just naturally without the mind of Christ be those who have not “hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.”  Not listening to those whom God has given His word, like prophets of old or people in positions of authority, is expressed in these new covenant verses, and also typified for us in Moses’ life with Korah’s rebellion and all the congregation’s rebellion (2Pe 2:10-11, Num 16:3).

2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 
2Pe 2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption [unless God grants repentance (1Ti 1:13)].

Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 
Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

All of mankind is being indicted with this sentence, “to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee“, and it is only the righteousness of Christ that can wash away all our guilt and sinful condition setting us free from this state of “confusion of faces, as at this day.” No one is excluded from this state of mind described as “to us belongeth confusion of face“; not our kings, our princes or our fathers, “because we have sinned against thee” (Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23, Rom 5:12). The good news is “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him.“

Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 
Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 

Daniel’s prayer is a universal confession that applies to all of mankind’s marred condition that naturally does not obey the voice of the LORD our God, or walk in His laws, or listen to the servants, the prophets (Jer 18:4).

Moses is introduced at this point in Daniel’s prayer because all of Israel, who represents the world, have transgressed the law and not obeyed the voice of Moses whose law and voice are a type of Christ’s law (Gal 6:2). As a result, “the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.” The carnal “law of Moses” (Heb 7:16) makes evident to us that we are marred in the Potter’s hand and in need of a savior to give us the power we need to keep “the law of the spirit of life” (Rom 7:7, Rom 7:13, Rom 8:2-3).

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 

We are corrected for not being able to keep the law, “And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem“, which from a carnal perspective causes us to question God’s motives (Rom 9:19-20.

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? [yes we will until we don’t, little and by little]

Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 
Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

If we only confess our iniquities, God will forgive us (1Jn 1:9, Lev 26:40). However, as we’re reading here, we don’t naturally even see our own iniquity let alone confess our faults to the Lord. It takes Aaron in us who is a type of Christ to “lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel” (Lev 16:21). God brings evil upon us for not obeying His voice and then declares “for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth.“ God is not unaware of our sinful state in other words and causes our sins knowing that we will need deliverance from “Egypt with a mighty hand” (Lev 16:21). He is glorified by the victory He gives to us over sin, not the other way around. “And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.“

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lev 26:40  If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness [It is through our wilderness experience where we completely fall seven times (Pro 24:16) where God shows mercy to us so that we in turn will be able to extend that same mercy to the rest of the world (Rom 11:31, Rom 2:4)]: 

Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 
Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 

The same point is reiterated here that “we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies“. What we do is cry out to God (Dan 9:16-17) and are heard in that we fear him (Heb 5:7-8, 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; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

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.

Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 
Dan 9:20  And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; 
Dan 9:21  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 
Dan 9:22  And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
Dan 9:23  At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

This verse is confirmation that our fervent prayers will avail much, and have availed, and are availing even with groanings that can’t be uttered (Rom 8:26-27), and all of this because of the strength of the Lord within us which gives us the ability to cry out and persevere in prayer (Col 4:2-6). 

Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: 
Col 4:4  That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 
Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time [Mat 10:16]. 
Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

God’s elect are called “by thy name” and Daniel confessing his sins and the sins of his people is typical of our confessing our faults in this age and covering a multitude of sins by being concerned and desirous of judging ourselves and showing love toward one another that will cover a multitude of sins (Jas 5:20). That multitude of sins, in the long run, is not just the sins of the body of Christ, but in time is the sins of the innumerable multitude (Rev 7:9) which will be covered by means God has devised to accomplish this through Christ and His elect (1Pe 4:8, Jas 5:20, 2Sa 14:14, Lev 16:21).

Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

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

Dan 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 
Dan 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 
Dan 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Clearly the emphasis on this chapter of Daniel 9 is not on this last section but rather on our prayerful relationship with our Father in heaven and the need to confess our faults and remain in a spirit of humility (Mic 6:8) acknowledging His hand as the Sovereign force in every single detail of every life (Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28). If we are granted to have that relationship with our Father and Christ in this age (Joh 17:3), then what will transpire in us is typified by this statement, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy“, but we can’t have one without the other!

Jerusalem within us must be restored as the bride that is being made ready (Rev 19:7, Rev 21:2) coming down from God and the cleansing process for the bride of Christ is expressed with this verse, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.“

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

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

In order for that work to be accomplished within the elect there must be much tribulation (Act 14:22) which is expressed in the next verse, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem [typifying Christ our Lord and savior who will also build the house (Psa 127:1) being the head of the church, Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26)] unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times” (Dan 9:25). 

Regarding the numbers mentioned there are two principle points being made: one “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city” (Dan 9:24) a shadow of the complete [7×10=70] judgment that must come upon God’s elect in order to make the bride ready. 

The second part, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off” (Dan 9:26), explains how the bride will be made ready, through a process of judgment upon our flesh represented by the numbers threescore (3×20=60) that first comes upon Christ, and then adding the two weeks is a witness that it is Christ in us who is accomplishing this work of grace within the body of Christ today. It all adds up to [62 weeks] which is also a witness to that same point that God judges both the head Christ and his body (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17) while in these vessels of clay (the number of man (6) and the witness of God’s power (2) that accomplishes this work)

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. 

Christ is cut off in the middle of the week to remind us that there are still three and a half years of Christ’s ministry yet to be fulfilled in the lives of God’s elect who are witnesses of these things (Luk 24:48) expressed in these verses, thus completing His complete ministry of seven years, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: (Col 1:27) and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Mat 24:15)

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Our forerunner and head Jesus Christ is the first to put off His flesh and it is for our sakes He does this, “but not for himself (Col 1:27).” It is in the 62nd week to remind us that Christ Himself could not have done this work without the holy spirit working within him (6 is the flesh of Christ, and 2 is the witness that of His own self He can do nothing, just as we can’t, except we abide in the Vine [Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5]).

As He is so are we in this world, and just as there were great tribulations in Christ’s life, it will be that way for His body (1Pe 4:12, Act 14:22) and especially at the end of the age, “and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” The prince that came at the end of Christ’s life was Satan who is a destroyer [ApollyonG623 ] (Joh 10:10, Rev 9:11, Luk 22:53, Joh 14:30), contrasted with these verses 1Jn 1:5, Mat 5:14), and it will be Satan at the end of this age as well who will make war with the saints in a more pronounced way, but will not prevail, “and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Rev 12:12-17).  

Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 
Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 
Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 

This last verse is sobering to say the least, but in nothing should we be terrified (Php 1:28-29) but rather rejoice that God can tell us these things in advance knowing that He can and will deliver His children through all the tribulation of this life (Rom 5:10) and bring this manchild to term, as He did the head of the body Jesus Christ (Rev 12:5). 

The wickedness of man is only going to get worse, “and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Dan 9:18) is what God has determined will be poured out upon “the desolate” (Eze 12:19, 1Co 15:50, Rom 3:10) who represent Christ and God’s elect (Joh 15:18-21). These verses in Ezekiel (Eze 12:19-28) are an admonition to God’s people to not say our Lord delays His coming (Joh 4:35, Heb 10:37-38, Joh 10:28, Rev 3:11).

Eze 12:19  And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. 
Eze 12:20  And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 

Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me (Joh 20:21, Joh 3:16-17).

Confirming the covenant with many for one week is what Satan is given the power to do, and this covenant is not a holy covenant but rather a changing of times and rules that will be bent to the elect’s seeming disadvantage and possible imprisonment, and even martyrdom in some cases, nothing more than what any one one of us can bear, God has promised (1Co 10:13). 

In Christ’s life the confirmation of the covenant for one week resulted in Christ’s death, “he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” That worship of God is taken away and replaced by the abomination of desolation expressed this way, “and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate“.

Just prior to Christ warning His disciples of the impending trials they were going to face (Joh 15:18-21), He gave them this commandment, which is the way in which we are all going to overcome in this life (Joh 15:16-17). If we love one another, if we keep God’s commandments, He will take care of the rest of the details, and we don’t need to worry about a thing, not even what we will say in that hour (Mat 24:6,  Luk 21:18-19, Mar 13:11, Joh 10:28-30, Rom 8:35-39).

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit (Joh 20:21, Joh 3:16-17), and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Mar 13:11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost (Mat 5:37). 

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

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

]]> Exo 30:17-38  Instructions About the Bronze Basin, the Anointing Oil and Incense https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/exo-3017-38-instructions-about-the-bronze-basin-the-anointing-oil-and-incense/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=exo-3017-38-instructions-about-the-bronze-basin-the-anointing-oil-and-incense Mon, 26 Dec 2022 16:20:49 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=26840

Exo 30:17-38  Instructions About the Bronze Basin, the Anointing Oil and Incense

[Study Aired December 26, 2022]

Exo 30:17  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 30:18  Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 
Exo 30:19  For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 
Exo 30:20  When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 
Exo 30:21  So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations. 
Exo 30:22  Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 30:23  Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
Exo 30:24  And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 
Exo 30:25  And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 
Exo 30:26  And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 
Exo 30:27  And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 
Exo 30:28  And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 
Exo 30:29  And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 
Exo 30:30  And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 
Exo 30:31  And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 
Exo 30:32  Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 
Exo 30:33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 
Exo 30:34  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 
Exo 30:35  And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 
Exo 30:36  And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 
Exo 30:37  And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 
Exo 30:38  Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

Today’s study is based on the bronze basin which is filled with water for the ceremonial cleansing of priests. This session also focuses on the making of anointing oil and incense. The bronze basin or the laver is located in the courtyard of the tabernacle. It is placed between the altar and the tent of meeting. The laver of bronze was a wash basin used by priests in the tabernacle in the wilderness, as a place where they cleansed their hands and feet before they enter the Holy Place. 

The fact that the bronze basin was placed in the courtyard is significant. The courtyard depicts our lives in Babylon as Levites who do the service of the tabernacle. It is in Babylon that we begin our service to the Lord and if we are granted to become part of the royal priesthood, then we have to leave Babylon or the courtyard of the tabernacle to enter the Holy place of the Tabernacle. 

Num 3:5  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 3:6  Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 
Num 3:7  And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 
Num 3:8  And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 
Num 3:9  And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 

This bronze basin is the same as the six waterpots of stone at the wedding in Cana which were filled with water for the purifying of the Jews. 

Joh 2:6  And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

These six waterpots of stone represent our stony hearts and mind while we are in Babylon, and therefore the words of the Lord (the water from the waterpots for our purification) are of no effect in our lives in terms of righteousness. In a similar manner, the water from the bronze basin, which serves as our water baptism, has no effect in our lives as our stony hearts and minds are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom at our time in Babylon. The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Jews who believed in Him is to show us our state of spiritual poverty while in Babylon.

Eze 11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 

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 8:39  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.

It is only when we go through fiery trials as a result of the bread (the word of the Lord) we eat as priests in the Holy place that we learn righteousness. It is therefore in the Holy place that our stony hearts and minds are changed to hearts of flesh which makes it possible for us to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. 

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

In today’s study, we shall look at instructions about the building of the bronze basin and how they apply to our lives. We shall also look at how anointing oil and incense were made. As we are aware, the anointing oil stands for the Holy Spirit, and incense is the prayers of the Lord’s people. We shall therefore learn how, through the Holy Spirit, we are able to pray for the will of the Lord which is a sweet-smelling fragrance to the Lord.

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

Psa 141:2  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. 

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Exo 30:17  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 30:18  Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 
Exo 30:19  For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 
Exo 30:20  When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 
Exo 30:21  So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

What is significant is that the laver is to be made of brass. The Hebrew word for brass is copper, which is a base metal. We know from the scriptures that the key to understanding spiritual reality is through the things that are made. This is true of base metals which are taken from the earth and are refined through fire to remove all earthen matter. 

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:

The use of brass or copper for the basin is to remind us of our carnal state in Christ. We must therefore go through the furnace of our fiery trials before we learn righteousness. The fact that the bronze basin is located in the courtyard reminds us of our carnal state in Babylon where we cannot hear the words of the Lord.

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.

The water used for the washing of hands and feet of the priests symbolizes our water baptism in Babylon. Our hands represent our works, and our feet symbolize our walk before God. The water here is a symbol of the milk part of the word of God which we receive in Babylon which guides our works and our walk before the Lord. However, because of the great swelling words of man’s wisdom (false doctrines) we receive in Babylon, the milk of the word becomes polluted and therefore we become worse off.

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. 

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
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. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

Being driven by false doctrines, we are denied access to the altar in the Holy place where the priests (represented by Aaron and his sons) eat.

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

The word of the Lord we receive when we are granted access to leave Babylon and to enter the Holy place is accompanied by trials and tribulations which cause us to learn righteousness. 

Lev 6:14  And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.
Lev 6:15  And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD. 
Lev 6:16  And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. 

Lev 6:26  The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.

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

Exo 30:22  Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 30:23  Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
Exo 30:24  And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 
Exo 30:25  And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

These verses show us the ingredients that go into the making of anointing oil. These are myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia and olive oil. The fact that they are five items is to let us know that it is grace through faith that we become anointed by the Lord.

A close examination of the species used show us that they are basically used by women as part of their purification to attract their husbands as they emanate sweet odor. A typical example is the case of Esther when she went through a purification process for one year in order to come before king Ahasuerus.  As we are aware, women represent the church and the one year for the purification represents our being united with Christ (significance of the number one). This means that it is the church of the first born who are required to go through a period of purification to be united with Christ. This is affirmed in the Songs of Solomon when the bride goes to a mountain of myrrh until the day breaks. The day breaking is the rising of Christ within us or Christ being united with us.

Est 2:12  Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)

Son 4:6  Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Son 5:1  I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Son 5:5  I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Son 4:14  Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

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

The anointing oil is made through a process which speaks of our fiery trials and persecutions which causes us to bear a sweet odor of oil as we ready ourselves for our union with Christ. In other words, we become anointed of the Lord through a process which is alluded to in the following scriptures as beaten oil:

Exo 29:40  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

Num 28:5  And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil.

As stated in verse 25, this anointing oil is the work of a perfumer who is our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we are judged as the process to become anointed by the Lord.

Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Exo 30:26  And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 
Exo 30:27  And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 
Exo 30:28  And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 
Exo 30:29  And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 
Exo 30:30  And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 
Exo 30:31  And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

This precious anointing oil was used to anoint kings and priests, and to consecrate items in the tabernacle which were meant to be most holy. The items to be consecrated include the tabernacle of congregation, the ark of the testimony, tables and vessels, candlesticks, altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering. All these items have to do with our hearts and minds which must be anointed to become Holy to the Lord. As we are aware, the anointing oil represents the Holy Spirit which was promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to the disciples. In verse 29, we are given the function of the Holy Spirit, that is, to sanctify us to make us holy.  God’s purpose in our sanctification is to transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ.

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” instructs us that God sanctifies us by His Word. What this means is that the primary instrument of sanctification is the word of the Lord. It is the anointing oil which guides us to know the truth of the word of the Lord.

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

As we are given to know the truth about the word of the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the anointing oil, the word we have received causes us to go through fiery trials which gradually sanctify us as we learn righteousness. 

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

The Holy Spirit which comes to us is described as the anointing oil on Aaron’s head that flows down his beard through the skirts of his garments. As the Holy Spirit enters our lives, we are granted the grace to have the mind of Christ. That is what unites us all as one and causes the Lord to command His blessing into our lives.

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 
Psa 133:2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 
Psa 133:3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

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

Exo 30:32  Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 
Exo 30:33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 

When we are dominated by our flesh, the Holy Spirit cannot abide in us to lead us to the truth of Christ’s word. The Holy Spirit is given only to the royal priesthood. These verses warn us against preparing the anointing oil based on the formula given for any other use apart from tabernacle service – no putting the anointing oil on strangers. The fact that we are being warned means that there are already many people who are not part of the elect but are carrying themselves as if they have the anointing oil on their head. These are false apostles or prophets masquerading as ministers of the Gospel.  That is why we are required to test the spirit to see if they are of God. 

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 
1Jn 4:3  and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (ESV)

This is what Apostle Paul has to say of such false apostles and prophets.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Exo 30:34  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 
Exo 30:35  And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:

In the preparation of incense, four items are used – stacte, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense. Stacte is a kind of fragrant gum from the storax tree and is a form of very pure myrrh, which flows spontaneously from the tree once a stalk from the tree has been pierced, broken and crushed. Onycha is a sweet-smelling part of a shellfish (Purpura) that has a strong odor when burned. Galbanum is a disagreeable smelling spice that comes from the umbelliferous plant. When any part of the plant is broken, a cream-colored juice flows. Frankincense tree is bruised three times in order to cause all the resin to be released. The first and second bruising yield a lower quality resin. The third, however, yields a resin of very high quality. These four ingredients had to be mixed with salt to preserve them from corruption. 

We can see that all the items that are used for the incense must be crushed, broken or heated in the preparation of incense. We are these items that are used for the preparation of incense. As we have stated earlier, incense represents the prayer of the saints. This means that our prayer as a sweet aroma before the Lord is through the fiery trials we encounter in this life. 

Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness; 
Rom 5:4  and stedfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: 
Rom 5:5  and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.

Through our trials, as we learn righteousness we become steadfast and approved, which makes us and our prayers like a sweet odor of incense before the Lord.

2Co 2:14  But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place. 
2Co 2:15  For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; 
2Co 2:16  to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The fact that there are four ingredients means that the whole of the elect of every generation must go through the same fiery trials in order to become righteous which is a prerequisite for effective prayer or communication with the Lord.

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.

Exo 30:36  And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 
Exo 30:37  And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.
Exo 30:38  Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

If we are to become a sweet savor before the presence of the Lord, then the influence of the flesh has to be beaten out of our lives. In other words, we must go through trials and tribulations to refine us to make our prayers effective. The word of the Lord says that the prayer of a righteous man avails much. The righteous man here refers to the man who has gone through trials and tribulation to learn righteousness.

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Jas 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Jas 5:18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Again, we are warned that there may be counterfeits who come as the Lord’s anointed apostles and prophets. Their long prayers and signs and wonders that follow them may seem like a sweet savor incense before the Lord, but these are false apostles and prophets. We must always test the spirits to see if they are of the Lord. The fact that many come with signs and wonders must alert us to be wary since these signs and wonders are all rudimentary as our brother Paul warned us. In his letter to the Corinthians, he told them that it is only love (obedience to the Lord’s words) that will endure. In other words, a mature person is the one who obeys or trembles at the Lord’s words. Other gifts of the spirit such as word of knowledge, prophecies, signs and wonders, are all elementary and as we mature, they become less and less significant.

1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

May the Lord help us to continue to test the spirit as the day approaches!! Amen!!

]]> The Book of Hebrews – Heb 4:14-16 – “To Day if ye Will Hear His Voice, Harden not Your Hearts” – Part 6 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-hebrews-heb-414-16-to-day-if-ye-will-hear-his-voice-harden-not-your-hearts-part-6/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-hebrews-heb-414-16-to-day-if-ye-will-hear-his-voice-harden-not-your-hearts-part-6 Sat, 15 Aug 2020 18:40:38 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=21279 Heb 4:14-16 – “To Day if ye Will Hear His Voice, Harden not Your Hearts” – Part 6
[Study Aired August 13, 2020]

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

In this last section of chapter four we will look at what the scriptures conclude is the way we should all approach our Father through Christ (Eph 2:18-19, Rom 3:22-25) where we can “find grace to help in time of need” so that “To day if you hear his voice” you will through Christ “obtain mercy” given by our loving Abba Father who sheds His love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) so that we “harden not your hearts” in this age (Isa 66:2).

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,

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

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Through Christ we can “hold fast our profession” and not give the devil any advantage to come in and discourage us (Eph 4:27). We are called in this age for that very reason; to learn to fight a good fight of faith by submitting to God and resisting the devil, which is how we resist “unto blood, striving against sin” (Jas 4:7, Heb 12:4).

Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

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. [“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”]

We are not alone in this struggle against sin and the powers and principalities that Christ is far above (Eph 1:21). We cast all our cares upon Christ (1Pe 5:7) and His body to overcome those powers and principalities against which we wrestle, and this starts when we go boldly before “the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need“. This ongoing process of self-examination and confession of faults is one that each joint of Christ’s body is experiencing so that we can all benefit by the love that He supplies or sheds abroad in our hearts to help us overcome sin or fear within us which must be overcome in order to have love be made perfect within us (1Jn 4:18-19). God is the one who blesses us so we can continue to be a spiritually healthy branch that is being given increase so that we can bear the burden of others and help in that maturing process of fruit in their lives as a healthy branch should be doing on any fruit bearing tree (Jas 5:16, Jas 5:16, Gal 6:2).

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

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

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Everyone in the body of Christ is benefited by the overcomer, and so it is written “let us“: let us collectively move forward with the same mind of Christ seeking and looking for the same heavenly country that we have been called unto (Heb 11:14-16) as we move forward together like an army which is operating by the power of God and not by the wisdom of men (1Co 2:5, Jdg 7:2-7). Also let us do that in the measure of faith that God gives each of us (Rom 12:3).

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. [Gal 4:26-27, Jas 4:15, 2Co 6:17-18]

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not (1Co 2:5): for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [God is sovereign over all our actions the good and the evil (Eph 1:11)]
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings (Rom 11:18-21): all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

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

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
2Ti 2:5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many (1Co 2:5) for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
Jdg 7:4  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many (1Co 2:5); bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. [Jas 4:15]
Jdg 7:5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
Jdg 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you (1Co 2:5), and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

The “three hundred men” represent the elect who are going through a process of judgment (3x10x10) in this age which requires us to keep our eyes on Christ even while we acknowledge that we are still in vessels of clay that can’t inherit the kingdom of God. The other group lap also, but both their knees are to the ground with their face toward the earth typifying that they are not setting their minds on things above (Col 3:2), and although they may be drinking water that represents God’s word, it is not mixed with faith (1Jn 5:4, Heb 4:2) which comes from our looking to the author and finisher of our faith Jesus Christ to whom we are being dragged (Heb 12:2, Joh 6:44).

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

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

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (1Co 2:5).

“Let us” collectively move forward with that same mind of Christ as we look at these verses tonight, starting with:

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

What we are to “hold fast”G2902 to in “our profession”G3671 of fighting a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) is the “exceeding great and precious promises” (2Pe 1:3-4) which have been “given unto us” so that we can escape the “corruption that is in the world through lust”. Those promises we profess that are given to us in Christ are being held fast and remain in our heavens through coming “boldly unto the throne of grace” of verse 16 so we can overcome in this age.

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Here are just some of the promises God will bring into our remembrance so we can be armed with the mind of Christ (1Pe 4:1) and overcome in this life through Him who strengthens us (Php 4:13) and through the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our trials (2Co 1:3-5).

We are promised that we will have trials and much tribulation in order to enter into the kingdom (Act 14:22), and that can only be a confirming statement if we know that this much tribulation has been accompanied with the promise that God will make a way for us to escape that tribulation by bearing up under it through Christ (1Co 10:13).

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

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

Such tribulation may come in various forms as God has deemed necessary so we learn to trust in Him and not in our own flesh or the flesh of some other person (2Co 1:9). God is in the process of showing the world the resolve of the elect which is made perfect through Christ and how there is nothing that can separate us from His love, from His hand that holds us as we look to Him (Mat 16:18, Mat 10:19, Rom 8:35-39, Rom 12:1-2, Heb 12:1-2, Act 7:55-60).

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves [1Co 15:31], that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

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 [this “sentence of death” (Act 9:1, Rom 8:28)] shall not prevail against it. [2Co 4:8, Mat 26:38, 1Jn 4:17-18, Php 4:13]

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

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

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Mat 26:38  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

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.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

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

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

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

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmitiesG769; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

We cannot become a priest without someone guiding us into that role (Act 8:31-33), and what God is guiding us into is the destruction of our old man, as typified by the young child who guided Samson’s hands toward the pillars that would be used to bring about the destruction of many lives including Samson’s. We need to become more and more like that child spiritually so that we can receive God’s children and graft them into the body of Christ (Jdg 16:26-30, Mat 18:2-3).

Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Act 8:33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? [Mat 24:34, Php 3:3, Joh 5:30] for his life is taken from the earth.

Jdg 16:26  And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. [Pro 3:5-6]
Jdg 16:27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women [Luk 13:4], that beheld while Samson made sport.
Jdg 16:28  And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Jdg 16:29  And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might [1Ti 6:12]; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

[Those whom Samson slew during his life typify those few the Father drags to Christ in this age to be judged, and “the dead which he slew at his death were more” typifies our enduring until the end and saving those who will come up in the great white throne judgment (Gal 4:27, Mat 10:28].

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The same “infirmities”G769 which are in us were in Christ, being in weak carnal, sinful flesh that he never sinned in “yet without sin“. Christ is able to comfort us now being our high priest who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities”G769 and can set us free from all spiritual weakness through which He makes His strength perfect (2Co 12:9-10).

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

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

We all need God’s mercy every single second of our life as demonstrated with this comment Christ made to Peter in Luke 22:31, and we are instructed to “come boldly“G3954 meaning “free and fearless confidence” (according to Thayer) “unto the throne of grace” (Jas 1:6). If you lack faith and boldness, pray for that, and the Lord will give it (Mar 9:24, Eph 6:18-20, Jas 4:2).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

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

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

These verses (Heb 4:14-16) that we’ve gone over tonight have been written to comfort us in our “time of need“. Our time of need is right now, and Christ has prayed for us that our faith fail not “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luk 22:32).

It is those continual and fervent prayers of the saints which will avail much in this life as we petition God for each other and pray for each other as Christ did for Peter (1Jn 4:17). Those prayers avail much as they make it possible for us to “obtain mercy” and “find grace” find favour in our time of need (Jas 5:16, Pro 3:4).

The grace we find to help in our time of need is typified by the prophets of old who searched diligently to obtain that favour, and were our examples by suffering affliction and learning patience through it (1Pe 1:10, Jas 5:10). God’s favour as we know is his grace that chastens us so that we learn to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12-14).

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

]]> Studies in Psalms – Psa 142:1-7 “Thou art my Refuge and my Portion in the Land of the Living” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/studies-in-psalms-psa-1421-7-thou-art-my-refuge-and-my-portion-in-the-land-of-the-living/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=studies-in-psalms-psa-1421-7-thou-art-my-refuge-and-my-portion-in-the-land-of-the-living Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:25:07 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=20101 Psa 142:1-7 – “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living”
[Study Aired January 16, 2020]

Psa 142:1  Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. 
Psa 142:2  I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 
Psa 142:3  When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 
Psa 142:4  I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 
Psa 142:5  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. 
Psa 142:6  Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 
Psa 142:7  Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. 

The  “living” of the “land of the living” in verse 5, where we find our refuge in the Lord, are those who have God’s holy spirit within them, also likened to “living waters” by our Lord, waters that are given to very few in this life to water our lands that represent our souls and specifically our inward man who is renewed daily (2Co 4:16) and belongs to God (Rom 8:9, Joh 7:38, Mat 22:14, Eze 18:4). 

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 

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

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 [Joh 6:44], and drink. [each in his appointed time]
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Eze 18:4  Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 

The Lord has another fold, the rest of the world (Joh 10:16) whom He is directing to fulfill His overall purpose for humanity, but it is judgment now that blesses us to be called the land of the living as opposed to the dead who are burying the dead and are not at this time being buried into Christ’s death (Joh 10:16, Mat 8:22, Rom 6:4). We cannot die to self in the manner Christ described in Matthew 10:28 and become a new creation except through Christ (Joh 8:36, 1Co 15:22). This is what God has ordained from the foundation of the world to His glory that all men would be saved, but each man in his order (1Co 15:20) starting with His kind of first fruits, who are called the weak of the world through whom He makes his strength perfect first (Jas 1:18, 1Co 1:26, 2Co 12:9).

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

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

David’s experience was written for the sake of the elect (2Co 4:15, 1Pe 1:12) and this particular Psalm tonight shows us how God uses our isolation, among other divers trials and temptations (Jas 1:2-4), to bring us to learn that “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living”.

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

Psa 142:1  Maschil of David; A PrayerH8605 when he was in the cave. I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. 
Psa 142:2  I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 

The imagery in this Psalm shows us that David was being sore-pressed and brought to his wits’ end in this cave according to the counsel of our Lord (Eph 1:11) so he would cry “unto the LORD with my voice” and “with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication“.

This was “A PrayerH8605 “that David was making that is a type of the fervent and effectual prayers (Jas 5:16) that God’s elect offer up as His “David“H1732=beloved whose lives are likened unto a song or poem, “MaschilH4905“, that the world hears but cannot receive.

Eze 33:32  And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 

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 being represented in the life of David who identifies with our struggles in the flesh and cries out to God, as Christ does for us today as He works in us both to will and to do. This pouring out of our “complaint before him” who brings us to our wits’ end is so that we learn to show “before him my trouble” just as David did in this “cave“. 

There is a difference between making a “complaintH7879” before God, a crying out to him, versus “murmurings and disputings”, and the Lord has to prepare us through our trials so we overcome the spirit that caused much of the Israel of old to perish in the wilderness, being destroyed of the destroyer, always for our admonition. 

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

Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 

1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

If we are not brought to our wits’ end, we won’t cry out to God, but if God is working with us in this age, He will bring us to and through (1Co 10:13) these difficult places for our flesh (Joh 21:18) that will cause us to cry out because of the faith He grants us. This is the hunger and thirst we need in our time of need, just as Christ himself demonstrated in His own life, as we “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Jas 4:2-3, Luk 22:32, Heb 5:7, Heb 4:16). When God gets our flesh out of the way, our prayer takes on the mind of Christ that prevails and perseveres in prayer, which is a gift of God so “that thy faith fail not“.

Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 
Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

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

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

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

The word “prayer”H8605 is often used in the context of God’s elect or “remnant” in the old covenant, where we’re shown types and shadows of how God had always intended to build up the body of Christ, the spiritual temple that we are (1Co 3:16, Eph 2:21, 1Pe 2:5) through Christ who inspires us to offer up those fervent prayers to God in spirit and truth. These “prayers” that are typified in several verses in the old covenant witness to this truth of  (Joh 4:24). They are prayers that typify the acceptable prayers God gives his elect through Christ (Eph 1:6, Jas 4:3).

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

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

2Sa 7:27  For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayerH8605  unto thee. 

1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayerH8605 of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayethH8605 before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayerH8605 which thy servant shall make toward this place.

1Ki 8:38  What prayerH8605 and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: 

2Ki 19:4  It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayerH8605 for the remnant that are left. 

2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayerH8605, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 

2Ch 6:20  That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayerH8605 which thy servant prayeth toward this place. 

Psa 142:3  When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 

It takes our spirit being “overwhelmed within me” to bring us to cry out to God because of how “they privily laid a snare for me…in the way wherein I walked“. It is the Lord who directs our steps (Pro 16:9), “the way wherein I walked”, to bring us to the point where we cry out, and it is the Lord who allows our enemies to privily lay “a snare for me” (Amo 3:6). Our hope and belief is that God is in all the details, the light and the darkness He forms and works in each of our lives (Isa 45:7), so that we never lose sight of His sovereignty with every jot and tittle He is working in each of our lives “till all be fulfilled” (Mat 5:18, Mat 6:10).

Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. 

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

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

The “then thou knewest my path” part of this Psalm does not mean that God did not always know our path, but rather that when we are at our wits’ end, He remains sovereign and completely in control of our every step according to His purpose that brings us to our wits’ end so we learn to trust God (Eph 1:11, 2Co 1:9, 1Pe 4:1-2). Many translations add the word “then”, but it is not in the Hebrew. Also, the verb “knewest” is in the Qal tense (a caused action). The Good News Bible translation says this verse in this way:

Psa 142:3  When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. (GNB)

Psa 142:3  When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thouH859 knewestH3045 [H8804 = Qal] my pathH5410. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. (KJV)

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

These prayers that avail much are being made “in the land of the living” and most assuredly do avail much and fill us with hope by which we are saved (Rom 8:24, Php 1:19).

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 

Php 1:19  For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 

Psa 142:4  I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 
Psa 142:5  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. 

The power man looks to for deliverance is in the flesh that will always ultimately fail, and knowing Christ after the flesh is as great an example of “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me” because we don’t know Christ after the flesh in each other but rather in the spirit (2Co 5:16-18, Rom 8:16). That is where our “refuge” lies, and why we can with our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) cry out “in the land of the living“. The body of Christ provides that refuge through each joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16), a love that is being shown and will witness to all the world who it is God has determined from the foundation of the world to be those disciples who would show that love to one another; His love which is shed abroad in our hearts (Joh 13:35, Rom 5:5).

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

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

One day the very workmanship of God He formed to His glory to demonstrate how true discipleship can only be formed in the land of the living, will be revealed in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye.

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.

Isa 66:8  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Psa 142:6  Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 
Psa 142:7  Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

When we have been truly humbled under God’s mighty hand by His bringing us “very low” (1Pe 5:6),  then He delivers us “from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I“. Those persecutors are within and are overcome by Christ who is stronger than all the powers and principalities against which we are wrestling (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21). Those “persecutors” that are primarily within and are represented by the “strong man” in this verse in Luke 11:22, remind us of the heritage that the saints will receive as overcomers through Christ (Rev 21:7) spoken of as “his spoils“. 

Luk 11:22  But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

The “strong man armed” of the verse right before this in Luke 11:21 typifies Satan and his influence in our heavens, who offered Christ the world because it was his to offer (Mat 4:9), but when Christ overtakes that strong man within us, the man of perdition who is being destroyed by the brightness of His coming, He prepares us through to be the bride of Christ who will inherit eternal life (Rom 6:23). 

Luk 11:21  When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 

Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our whole life being given to God as a living sacrifice in the land of the living is also typified by the story of Abraham who meets the king Melchizedek who is a type of Christ that Abraham gives a “tithes of all” that represents all of our life, all of our heart, mind and strength that belong to him “his spoils” (Luk 11:22, Isa 53:12, Zec 14:1, Gen 14:18-20, Mat 22:37-39).

Isa 53:12  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 

[Christ is numbered with us the transgressors who are blessed to have this spoil of spiritual warfare given to us because His strength made us the weak of the world “the strong.“]

Zec 14:1  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Gen 14:18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 
Gen 14:19  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 
Gen 14:20  And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

If God delivers us from those spirits which hold us back from worshipping Him fervently and effectively in spirit and in truth, it will happen because the son of God has set us free (Joh 8:36) because he is able to “bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name“. He did just this with Joseph who was miraculously delivered by being given the ability to interpret the dreams brought to him that symbolize for God’s elect today our being able to rightly divide the word of God and understand that the dream is one. It is through rightly dividing the word of God that we will be made free from the bondage of sin as God’s word heals us from all doubt, fear and desolation which are so commonly associated with prisons, or in this Psalm we could say the confined space being talked about “was in the cave” (Gen 41:14, Gen 41:26).  The lean and the fat calves, the blighted and healthy wheat in this story of deliverance from famine reveal the process of light and darkness within us and how we should move with fear just as Noah did to the saving of our house while we live and move and have our being in Christ, not forgetting to lay up store for the days are evil (1Ti 6:19, Mat 6:19).

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

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

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 
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, there will your heart be also. 

The next question to answer is where exactly is this liberty taking place where we are being delivered from our “persecutors” and our souls that are being brought “out of prison“? The answer is in the land of the living where our refuge is and where “the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me“.

We are blessed to deal bountifully with each other as we bring the words of truth God gives us to bring healing to each other so that we can move forward in faith and overcome in this age (Psa 107:20-21, Joh 20:21, Eph 3:10, 1Co 14:26). It’s because of those words of eternal life (Joh 6:68) that we can say “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living”.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

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

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

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

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 

]]> Teach Us to Pray https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/teach-us-to-pray/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teach-us-to-pray Mon, 08 Apr 2019 23:36:37 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=18559 Teach Us To Pray

Luk 11:1  AND it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luk 11:3  Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; [G266: hamartia, sin] for we also forgive every one that is indebted [G3784: opheilo, opheileo, to owe] to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Luk 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

This is the so-called ‘Lord’s prayer’. It is more accurately ‘the Lord’s outline prayer’, because the Lord gives us these instructions in answer to the request to “teach us how to pray [by] one of His disciples”.

As we all know, the truth of any Biblical question or any subject is only to be found in “the sum of [the Lord’s words” (Psa 119:160). For that reason we will also look at Matthew’s version of this ‘outline prayer’:

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts [G3783: opheilema, something owed], as we forgive our debtors [G3781: opheiletes, a delinquent debtor].
Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses [G3900: paraptoma, error or transgression] your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses [G3900: paraptoma, error or transgression], neither will your Father forgive your trespasses [G3900: paraptoma, error or transgression].

In these two accounts of ‘the Lord’s prayer’ we have three different words used to speak of the same thing. Those three words are used interchangeably to speak of sin, and they are:

1) G266: hamartia, sin,
2) G3784: opheilo, opheileo, to owe, and
3) G3900: paraptoma, error or transgression.

These three words give us a much clearer understanding of how our sinful condition affects our relationship with our Creator. He has made us sinful and “marred” for the purpose of bringing us to see what we are and to be ashamed of how naked He has made us, and then, after He grants us repentance, He is covering our nakedness with a new man who will be conformed to the spiritual image of His Son Jesus Christ.

Luke’s version taken alone has led many to believe that if we nag the Lord enough, He will rise up and give us whatever we ask for “as many as [we] need”.

Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

I remember distinctly as a young man listening to and being intrigued by a sermon which was centered around this verse of scripture:

Isa 45:11  Thus saith the LORD , the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

The minister had actually put the words of Luke 11:8-10 together with this verse in Isaiah 45 and concluded that we have been given the power to command the Lord to do as we wish concerning the work of His hands.

A very casual perusal of this 45th chapter of Isaiah will reveal that verse 11 is a sarcastic question which is preceded by these words:

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD , and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD , and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:9  Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Isa 45:10  Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

Verse 11 simply continues this line of questioning:

Isa 45:11  Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.[???]

For the Lord’s own reasons He had the King James translators leave off the question mark in this verse, but the same humbling of mankind continues into verse 12, informing us who it is who gives any and all commandments:

Isa 45:12  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

Who then commands whom? Who is obedient to whom? This is how Christ answers those questions:

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Joh 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.

Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

It is we who “[have] Christ’s commandments, and keep them”.  “Command [we Him] concerning the works of [His] hands”? I think not!

All of which serves to inform us that the translators got the comma right in this verse:

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

If we actually think that we can sit in the temple of God and expect to ‘command Him’ according to what we want, and according to what we think, then we are indeed “the man of sin… standing in the holy place… showing [ourselves] that we [are] God”:

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day 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. [‘Commanding God concerning the work of His hands’]

Knowing we are the temple of God, His house, we can understand these verses as they are to be taken spiritually:

1Ki 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
1Ki 8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

2Ch 6:20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

2Ch 7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
2Ch 7:16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

We need not be aware of our own rebellion to be found ‘kicking against the pricks”. The apostle Paul thought He was doing the Lord a service by persecuting the Lord’s own body. We may appear to be physically blessed while teaching false doctrines, but it is still very “hard… to kick against the pricks”:

Act 9:1  AND Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Saul of Tarsus was predestined to become Paul the apostle, the most prolific writer of the New Testament, and the man through whom came an “abundance of revelations”:

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Obviously, there are times when the Lord lets us know that we are not to continue with our importuning of Him for relief from our trial:

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

The Lord has also given us instructions concerning other things for which we are commanded not to pray. The salvation of our old man is just such a thing:

Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Christ set us this same example of not praying for those with whom He is not working in this age:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

We are given the same instructions concerning apostate brothers in the house of our Lord in the New Testament. When a brother leaves the body of Christ, whether it is a matter of turning the Lord’s grace into lasciviousness or succumbing to heresy, we are not to pray for those who we “turn over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”

1Co 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:9  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
1Co 5:10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Doctrinal heresy is also specified as especially egregious to the Lord:

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2Jn 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Like Christ, we do not pray for those who are not being given to Christ “at this present time” (Rom 8:18).

Our prayer life is a reflection of our lives, whether we are doing what Christ tells us to do, whether we truly seek for the Lord’s will to be done ‘in earth as it is in heaven’. If we, like Christ, are seeking only to please our heavenly Father, then our lives will reflect that fact and our prayers will be Christ’s prayer, which is:

Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

That is “the mind of Christ”… “Not my will, but thine be done”! That is how we “seek… first the kingdom of God”. That is how we “do the things [Christ] tells [us] to do” and that is the only way we can “pray without ceasing”.

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

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

“In everything give thanks” means “everything” including the good and the evil which the Lord works in our lives, because it is He who is “working all things… everything… after the counsel of His own will… for [our] good”

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

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

For us to “pray without ceasing”, we must be seeking first the Lord’s will and not our own, seeking first the kingdom of God, and always doing the things Christ and His Words tell us to do.

Prayer is not just a time of spending a period of time speaking to the Lord. Rather, the sum of the Word of God reveals that prayer is a way of life. Prayer is seeking to please the Lord in everything we do.

1Co 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

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