Gospels In Harmony

Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:31, 38-42

The Burial of Jesus All Hope is Lost

[Review Study Aired March 14, 2023]

Mark 15:42a And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
John 19:31b (for that sabbath day was an high day,)
Luke 23:50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:
Matthew 27:57b who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:
John 19:38b but secretly for fear of the Jews,
Luke 23:51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
Mark 15:42b which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mark 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mark 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Mark 15:46a And he bought fine linen, and took him down,
John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
John 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
John 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
John 19:42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Mark 15:46c and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
Mark 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Luke 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

In our last study the Jews were concerned that the bodies of those who were crucified would remain on the cross on the Sabbath, which was a high day, so they asked Pilate to have their legs broken and their bodies taken away. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other who were crucified with Jesus. However, when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead and did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. The one who saw this bore witness to it, and his testimony is true so that others may believe. These things were done so that the scripture would be fulfilled, which says that not a bone of Jesus shall be broken and that they would look on him whom they pierced. (John 19:31-37)

Christ has now fulfilled the prophecies of his death

Isaiah 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Psalm 22: 14-16 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Christ now fulfills the prophecy of his burial.

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

Joseph makes a request for Christ’s body so he can bury him before the sabbath begins.

Mark 15:42a And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
John 19:31b (for that sabbath day was an high day,)
Luke 23:50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:
Matthew 27:57b who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:
John 19:38b but secretly for fear of the Jews,
Luke 23:51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
Mark 15:42b which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mark 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mark 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

Joseph being granted by Pilate he retrieved Christ’s body from the cross and prepared him for burial along with Nicodemus.

Mark 15:46a And he bought fine linen, and took him down,
John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
John 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

They wrapped him in “fine linen”. This is a symbol of Christ overcoming the sin of the world.

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

Zec 3:3-5 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

They laid him in a new tomb.

John 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
John 19:42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Mark 15:46c and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

Isaiah 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

The women join them.

Mark 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Luke 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Can you imagine the grieving of all the disciples and followers of Christ? At this point they surely have lost all the hope they received from Christ.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

In their minds everything is lost. Their savior is dead and all things continue as though he never existed. The Jews begin the practices of their traditions and are celebrating the death of Christ. He spoke of his Father and they believed the lies of Satan and sought to kill him and succeeded.

John 8:38-47 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 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. 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. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. 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. Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. 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. And because I tell [you] the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear [them] not, because ye are not of God.

The followers of Christ are being crushed to powder which is what must happen. The stone that covered the grave serves a purpose of grinding them to powder.

Exodus 32:20-21 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt [it] in the fire, and ground [it] to powder, and strawed [it] upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink [of it]. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

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

Jdg 9:41-57 But There was a Strong Tower Within the City

[Study Aired May 24, 2021]

Jdg 9:41  And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 
Jdg 9:42  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 
Jdg 9:43  And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them. 
Jdg 9:44  And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. 
Jdg 9:45  And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. 
Jdg 9:46  And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. 
Jdg 9:47  And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 
Jdg 9:48  And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. 
Jdg 9:49  And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 
Jdg 9:50  Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. 
Jdg 9:51  But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. 
Jdg 9:52  And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 
Jdg 9:53  And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull. 
Jdg 9:54  Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. 
Jdg 9:55  And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. 
Jdg 9:56  Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: 
Jdg 9:57  And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. 

At the end of the previous review, there was fighting between Abimelech and the men of Shechem who were led by Gaal. Abimelech overpowered the men of Shechem, and as they fled, many were wounded before they reached the gates of the city as predicted by Jotham, the son of Gideon. This situation came about as a result of God sending an evil spirit which caused an enmity between the men of Shechem and Abimelech, and it is one of the ways God uses to bring about His judgments. In this case, it is the use of a sword where every man’s sword is against his brother or neighbor. The sword here includes wars, bitter words, false doctrines, evil deeds against people by wicked men such as Abimelech, etc.

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

1Sa 14:20  And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Zec 8:10  For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

Today’s review focuses on how Abimelech was finally put to death. As we stated in the last two previous reviews, Abimelech represents our old man, and so what we are going to learn is about how our old man is put to death.

Jdg 9:41  And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 

According to Strong, Arumah means height and Shechem stands for ridge. A ridge is a mountain range. In our previous review, we established the fact that a mountain signifies a place of worship. Therefore Shechem represents a place of worship, but in this case, they were worshiping another Jesus. That is Babylon. So verse 41 here is suggesting that during our time in Babylon, our old man (Abimelech) was puffed up with pride because of our good works. However, as the scriptures say, pride always comes before a fall (judgment). We were all like Gaal who was thrust out of his high grounds (pride) in Shechem when our Lord came to us with judgment.

Jer 49:16  Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

Pro 11:2  When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Jdg 9:42  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. 

Our old man (Abimelech) can only hear people in the field.  As our Lord Jesus said in the parable of the weeds, the field is the world. So what this verse is saying is that even at the time that Christ came to us (the morrow) to take us out of Babylon (Shechem), we were still carnal and could only hear what is of the world (those in the field). It takes time for us to hear what the spirit is saying!!

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Jdg 9:43  And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
Jdg 9:44  And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew them. 

The fact that Abimelech divided his people into three companies to engage the people coming out of the city is to let us know that our fiery trials are meted out to us by the Lord in stages. In other words, our judgment is a gradual process, and it is not done all at once lest we faint.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Rev 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Rev 8:9  And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

This verse also states that Abimelech and his people laid in wait in the field. That is to let us know that our old man (Abimelech) is a man of the field just like Esau who was also described as a man of the field. What this means is that our old man is carnal or worldly, and therefore we can only progress in our spiritual walk if our old man dies. The death of the old man is the birth of the new man after the image of Christ.

Gen 25:27  When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.

A positive application of the city of Shechem is that it served as a protection for those who dwelt in it.  To leave the city to go into the field is to become vulnerable to the dictates of the world which strengthens our old man to overcome us, causing us to become spiritually dead as we see that Abimelech smote all that came out of the city. In our case, the city where we dwell is the New Jerusalem. To leave the fellowship of the brethren as a result of pressures of putting food on the table for our family, disagreements, a rebuke from leadership or by a member, etc. is to leave the confines of the New Jerusalem to go to the field of the world, which makes us vulnerable to being overcome by the flesh.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Jdg 9:45  And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. 

In order to explain this verse, we need to understand what fighting the city all that day and sowing the city with salt mean. Spiritually, a day can mean a thousand years, as Peter taught us in the scriptures as follows:

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

In other words, a day spiritually is the period of our lives where we are dominated by the flesh (1000 years). Since we represent the city, Abimelech fighting against the city all that day signifies that this fight against our old man (Abimelech) is for a long period of time in our lives. However, if we are destined to overcome, the old man will surely be crucified. On the other hand, if we are not predestined to overcome, the old man will overcome us and sow our bodies with salt. That is what happens to those who remain in Babylon.

Sowing a city with salt was a ritual of spreading salt on conquered cities to symbolize a curse on anyone who dared to rebuild it. It was a widespread practice in the ancient times near the East. This means that for those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, the old man will overcome them, and there will not be opportunity here on earth for the new man to rebuild the city of God in their lives.

Jdg 9:46  And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. 
Jdg 9:47  And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.

What the men of Shechem heard was what happened in the previous verse where Abimelech defeated the people in the city and sowed the city with salt. This is similar to saying that who is like the beast? Who can wage war with the beast?

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The men of Shechem went to the citadel of their god Berith for protection. Berith means covenant. When we are talking about covenant, then we are dealing with the law of sin and death. So what is being said here is that in Babylon, we come under the law of sin and death just like the Israelites. We think we are worshiping our Lord Jesus, but actually we are worshiping another Jesus by observing the law or the letter which kills. We therefore put so much confidence in the law which then becomes our fortress. However, Jude said that the very thing we think we know, or that we naturally have confidence in, which is the law, we end up corrupting ourselves by or putting ourselves under severe bondage to the old man!!

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

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

Jdg 9:48  And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done. 
Jdg 9:49  And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

What happened to the men of Shechem in the tower is happening to us now through God’s judgment.  Every branch within us that is not bearing fruit is being cut down through the use of a sword (axe). Here Abimelech represents wicked men being used by God as a sword or axe to cut the branch or wood, hay or stubble within us and then using them as fuel to burn all our false doctrines which have become our stronghold or tower of refuge. In other words, our own wickedness are being used to correct us.

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

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

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

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

As stated in 1 Corinthians 1:13, every man’s work will be revealed and burned with the fire of the word of God. This is happening to us now but will surely be carried out for every human being that ever lived or will live, but each in his own order.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

Here in this story, we can see that Abimelech is raging like a bull and lifted up, thinking he is invincible and can do anything he wants. That is what happens to our old man. There were times we were swayed uncontrollably by our old man, and we wondered whether we could ever live a righteous life that pleases God.  It was as if our old man had become stronger, and we were at his mercy. However, when we see this beast raging within, we should know that its death is near as this story will unfold later. What Abimelech did to the men of Shechem was the end game for his own death.

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

The fact that a thousand men and women died as a result of the fire set by Abimelech to burn everybody in the tower is significant. The number 1,000 is equal to 10x10x10. Ten means the fullness of the flesh. So here we are being told that the purpose of our judgment is the death of our flesh or our old man. As our old man is dying, our new man after the image of Christ is being born, and it is through this new man that we become righteous.

Another point we must note here is that this judgment also applies externally. Verses 48 and 49 speak of the judgment of Babylon (all religions) as depicted by the death of the men and women of Shechem by the fire set by Abimelech. As we indicated in the previous review, we mentioned that the men of Shechem represents Babylon the great. Another confirmation of this is in the 49^th verse which indicates that both men and women numbering one thousand died in the tower burnt by Abimelech. As you are aware, the scriptures use the word “men” to refer to all individuals, and so everybody will be tried of his or her works as shown in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. The use of the word “women” refers to the churches or Babylon. This means that both individuals and Babylon will be judged. As stated in the previous review, the judgment of this great whore is gradually getting within sight.

Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Jdg 9:50  Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.

According to Strong, the name Thebez means whiteness. On a positive note, the color white signifies the elect who are being purified to become white. So the city Thebez in this context represents the New Jerusalem or heavenly Jerusalem which is the general assembly and the church of the first born.

Dan 12:8  And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Dan 12:9  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Dan 12:10  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

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 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

The fact that Abimelech encamped against Thebez and took it means that as elect we shall fall, but God has assured us that when we fall seven times, we shall rise!! We need to fall so that we can be purged through judgment to become white.

Dan 11:34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
Dan 11:35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Jdg 9:51  But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.

As we said, the city here is the New Jerusalem, and within this city is a strong tower which is Christ.

Pro 18:10  The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

So we run into this strong tower, which is Christ, and we are safe. Verse 51 says that the men and women went up to the very top of the tower. As we are being given the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, we are gradually going up the steps to the very top of this tower in Christ which symbolizes the heavenly places as spoken of by the word of God as follows:

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

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

What we are saying here of being raised up and sitting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus is the same as the dream Jacob had when he was in Bethel in which he saw a ladder reaching the heavens with angels ascending and descending. The angels are the elect who are here on earth but are also sitting in the heavenly places with Christ. Jesus Christ is this ladder, or in this context, the strong tower which connects the earth to the heavens, and so it is through Jesus that we are able to get to the heavenly places.

Gen 28:10  And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11  And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13  And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Gen 28:14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 28:15  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Gen 28:16  And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Gen 28:18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Jdg 9:52  And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 

The fact that we are in Christ or in this strong tower does not mean that the battle against the old man or the flesh is over. We are cautioned by the Lord through Peter that our adversary is still relentless in his pursuit of us to put us to death spiritually.

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

Here in this verse, the enemy (Abimelech) is trying hard to burn down the door of our tower with fire. As we have said, the tower is Christ, and Christ is the word. So the gate of this tower is the entrance to the word of God. This is what the word of God says about the entrance to the word of God:

Psa 119:130  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

So the gate to this tower, which is the word of God, is the light or understanding God gives us as we come to the word. So verse 52 here is telling us about one of the key strategies of the enemy. He comes to destroy this light or understanding with his fire.  We must understand that there is fire in the scriptures, which is the word of God that destroys all that offends in the kingdom of God as shown by this statement from the scriptures:

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

There is also fire which comes from our idol worship (now idols of the heart) which burns our sons and daughters. This fire sends us into outer darkness making it difficult for the glorious light of the gospel to penetrate our minds and hearts. This fire by Abimelech to destroy the door to this strong tower is therefore the false doctrines and the idols of the heart which dim or block the light of the glorious gospel which is the entrance to the understanding of the word of God.

Jer 19:5  They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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

Jdg 9:53  And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
Jdg 9:54  Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
Jdg 9:55  And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.

As we just discussed, through Christ who is the strong tower, we are able to climb to the very top of the tower which is being in heavenly places. From the heavenly places’ perspective, we are able to see the enemy (Abimelech) clearly and his antics. Through a woman, that is the church, we are able to put to death Abimelech. It is important to note that Abimelech or our old man died as a result of the millstone thrown by the woman and the sword. A millstone is a circular stone used for grinding grain. We, the elect are the millstone which is being shaped to become circular by the Lord through judgment to be used to break down the word of God (grain) for our consumption or growth. That is what destroys our old man.

The fact that Abimelech did not want to die at the hand of a woman is to let us know that anybody who is dominated by the old man does not consider us as the church of the first born or the New Jerusalem. To the world and Babylon, we are weak and cannot even kill a fly (which is the truth). How much more to put to death our old man whom the whole world including Babylonians consider as fighting a losing battle!!

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

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

Jdg 9:56  Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: 
Jdg 9:57  And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. 

What we can learn from verses 56 and 57 is that whatever we sow, we shall reap. We must realize that we always reap more than we sow.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Verses 56 and 57 are also to assure us of the fulfillment of the word of God both inwardly and outwardly. In other words, He who had begun a good work in our lives will surely see to its completion. This assurance is what our Lord told Zerubbabel. We should not despise what we are now or our small beginning.  We are the Lord’s work in progress, and it is not by our own strength or power but by His spirit. Whatever is like a mountain now in our lives shall be made a plain later, and so let’s not give up as a result of the challenges we are facing now, be it sickness, financial distress, besetting sins, depression, not being loved, etc. The word of God says that the challenges we are facing are not unique to us alone but are common to many believers all over the world. We are all not perfect now just like Zerubbabel but by His chastening grace, we shall all say one day like Zerubbabel, “grace, grace unto it”.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Zec 4:8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Zec 4:9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

[Author may be contacted at abarnes (at) semfinancial.com]

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 8 Discussion

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Isa 1:27-31 Zion Shall Be Redeemed With Judgment

Isa 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 1:28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
Isa 1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
Isa 1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
Isa 1:31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

Introduction

When we read the scriptures regarding the Lord's judgments we just naturally tend to think in terms of the wicked people, the goats being placed on the Lord's left hand, versus the righteous people, the sheep, being placed on the Lord's right hand. After all, here it is saying just that:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

We just naturally think of this event taking place and we place ourselves on one side of the other, depending on whether we consider ourselves to be serving God or not. However, in time we must come to understand the meaning and the truth of these two verses of scripture:

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

The word 'man' is translated from the Greek word 'anthropos' and it means 'mankind'. It means all mankind, just as it means all mankind in this verse of scripture:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

That 'a' I have emboldened and underlined is not in the Greek texts. Here is a much more accurate translation of this verse:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six. (CVL)

Which means that the Truth of God's Word is:

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.

This is telling us that Christ's 'Zion' is redeemed through the judgment of her hypocrites. This principle is revealed elsewhere in the words of this same prophet:

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

There is not a person among us who has not first served his flesh before being humbled and then being crushed to powder by the Lord Himself through His fiery judgments. So these verses we are examining today are not speaking to someone else. Rather they are addressed first and foremost to you and me as these verses demonstrate:

Psa 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

Psa 69:19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

Psa 73:22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

That is why the apostle Peter tells us:

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

Exactly what is this thing we call 'judgment'? What does 'judgment' do? What does 'judgment' accomplish? This is what the scriptures teach is judgment:

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

What a simple, straight forward statement of Truth, which is affirmed by many other verses of scripture. God's judgments are "chasten[ing] of the Lord", with a very good purpose in view. What a wonderful and loving concept. And also what a revolutionary concept in the light of the false doctrine of eternal torment for many who will one day face their own judgment day, either in this age or "when the thousand years are expired".

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. [the eons of the eons]
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.

"When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord", but what, then, is the purpose and function of God's chastening judgments? If "judgment... first begin[s] at us" what will that 'judgment' produce 'first' within us? Here is what God's judgments, first or last, will always produce. This is what His judgments produce, whether it "begins [now upon] the house of God" or if it is at the "great white throne... judgement", which follows the "little season" of rebellion which will come over this earth "when the thousand years are expired"; this is what God's judgments produce. This revelation of what is the product of all of God's judgments is, once again, to be found right here in this prophecy of Isaiah:

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.

And that is what the first verse of our study today tells us:

Isa 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

It is only through God's fiery judgments that any of us live righteous lives to any degree. "When your judgments are in the earth [including our present lives in these earthen vessels with our rebellious carnal minds] the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness". Paul tells us the very same things put in another way:

1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day [of judgment] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

And again in these words:

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [Greek: paideuo, chastening, as in "when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord", 1Co 11:32] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

So what Paul is telling Titus is that God's grace is what judges us. 'Judging us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world'.

The fact is that Peter tells us the same thing just five verses before telling us "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God":

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

When we apply the principle of 'Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Mat 4:4) we come to realize that "every man... suffer[s the] loss of all things" for Christ's sake, "each in his own order".

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

There it is - "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall [the same] all be made alive". But it is done only through judgment. It is done only through suffering loss, "yet so as by fire", the "fiery trials" which are the "judgment [which] must... begin at the house of God". Again it is not just someone else who is judged. It is "every" man who "suffer[s] loss". It is not someone else whose "wood, hay, and stubble" are all burned up, rather it is through judgment that the 'wood, hay, and stubble of "every man" is burned up (1Co 3:13-15).

God's judgment is ultimately the death of the flesh of our "old man". Contrary to what many teach, the death of our old man is a given:

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

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The life of "the new man" within all of us comes to us only "through death", through the death of our "old man".

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The unlearned will argue those verses refer only to Christ, and I must agree, they refer only to Christ, but I will agree with that statement only when we know who is "Jesus of Nazareth", and who Christ is as revealed in this verse, among many others:

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

Just as Christ's life came "through death" so too will all who are given eonian life. So we are told:

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

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

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

For those who in our midst have been teaching that flesh, in and of itself, is not sin and corruption read 1Co 15:50 again really slowly, and let it sink in: "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption" and consider this truth:

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Understanding that life comes only through death is basic to the very sayings and the doctrine of our Lord:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

That is the meaning of our next verse:

Isa 1:28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

"Transgressors... sinners... and they that forsake the Lord" are all "the body of sin" into which we are all 'shapen and conceived' of by the great Potter Himself:

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

Who shaped us in iniquity and who conceived us all "in sin"? Here He is:

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

So much for those who are still insisting that there in no such thing as a "body of sin", which is these "marred... vessels of clay [as they come from] the Potter's hand".

So we are plainly told that the life of our "new man" comes only through the death of "the body of sin" which is our physical, "natural... old man":

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Why is our old man crucified with Christ? It is "that the body of sin might be destroyed". It is not just the carnal mind; it is also flesh and blood which cannot inherit the kingdom of God because corruption, "the body of sin", cannot inherit incorruption.

Which is just another way of repeating the words of Christ:

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

Just as we do not naturally give up these 'bodies of sin', neither do we just naturally come out of Babylon with all of her traditions and celebrations of so many "days, months, times and years" (Gal 4:10), which is what Isaiah means by these words:

Isa 1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

Israel was warned against this very thing:

Deu 16:21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Deu 16:22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

These "groves" are mentioned throughout the Old Testament as one of the greatest snares to Israel, which always longed to 'be like the nations around them'. The groves were temples of the pagan worship of the earth, the creature, the beast, which we all just naturally tend to want to place ahead of the Creator:

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

It is natural for men to worship themselves, "the creature", and God's creation, this earth with all its vicious beasts, more than they worship God. That is what we all just naturally do, simply because it is the most commonly accepted thing to do among the nations, the people who are all around us, and that is exactly what Israel did from the moment they were brought out of Egypt:

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Within 50 days of leaving Egypt, where they had learned to worship idols, Israel had returned to doing so:

Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Hundreds of years later, Israel is still serving the idols of Egypt:

Eze 20:7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Physical idols, like that golden calf, typify false doctrine, which Ezekiel calls "idols of the heart".

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

This is what we are told of the 'idols' of the Old Testament:

Hab 2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

Our 'idols' that separate us from our Lord today are all the false doctrines in which we believe. We are "estranged from [Christ] through [our] idols".

The Egyptians, and all the pagans, celebrated the winter and the spring solstices, and most who claim to be Christians are doing the very same thing to this day, calling the observation of the winter solstice, Christmas, and retaining the pagan name of Easter for the spring solstice, even as they claim this pagan holiday is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. In any case, the churches of the apostate wife of Christ claim to be worshiping God while observing these pagan practices.

How does God feel about us adapting pagan practices and saying we are keeping those practices in worship of Him? This is what He has to say about doing such an insulting thing:

Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
Deu 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

While it is true that Christ Himself gave the carnal nation of ancient Israel three seasons with seven festivals, foreshadowing His plan for mankind, Christ Himself has come and has in Himself fulfilled the 1) the passover, 2) the days of unleavened bread, 3) the day of Pentecost, 4) the feast of trumpets, 5), the day of atonement, 6) the feast of tabernacles and 7) the last great day. While these three seasons and their seven festivals are now fulfilled in Christ, they still to this day serve as types and shadows of all that Christ has done and is doing:

Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

"The very image" is, of course Christ, and those who accept Him no longer observe any "days, months, times or years", and are thereby hated of all men.

Col 1:15 Who [Christ] is the [very] image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

But everyone kept the pagan festivals, and Israel wanted to fit in with the nations around them, and their greatest stumbling block was their desire to return to the groves which were such an integral part of the nature worship of the nations around them. So Isaiah tells us this about ourselves, which is who ancient Israel typifies:

Isa 1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
Isa 1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

We of the nations who claim to know Christ have been sticking our figurative fingers in the eye of our Creator for thousands of years now. Nevertheless there is coming a day when "the kingdoms of this world [will] become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ (Rev 11:15), and He and His Christ will have no part of such rebellious and insulting actions, and they will no longer be tolerated. Christmas and Easter will not be observed during the millennium, and for those who are given to be part of the kingdom of God "within you " in this age, this is what is even now being done both within and without in our lives:

Isa 1:31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

Here is the LIV version of this verse:

Isa 1:31 The strongest among you will disappear like burning straw; your evil deeds are the spark that sets the straw on fire, and no one will be able to put it out. (LIV)

Remember this phrase, 'the strong shall be as burning straw which is ignited by your evil deeds' is all said in the context of being given over to "the oaks... and... gardens you have chosen". Those 'oaks and gardens' are the houses of pagan idols, and 'idols' in scripture are types and shadows of false, heretical doctrines, the number of which is symbolized as 200 million.

Rev 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
Rev 9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

The power of these "locusts... like unto horses... is in their mouth[s]... out of their mouth issued fire... and in their tails; for their tails were like unto serpents..." What does the "power... in their mouth[s] and in their tails... tails like serpents" mean? We need not guess. The prophet Isaiah tells us what all of this mean:

Isa 9:14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

"The prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail [and] the leaders of this people cause them to err.." and for that reason:

Hos 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Joh 8:44 Ye ["prophets that teach lies"] 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 Satan and his messengers whose mouths also issue the 'fire' of his lies. This entire study today is applicable to the very lies we have been dealing with.

Isa 1:29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
Isa 1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
Isa 1:31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

We have all been deliberately and blatantly lied to, and we have all fallen for those lies at our own appointed time. We are all commanded to "know them which labor among you", and those of you who do know those who labor among you, know that your elders and leaders are men of honesty and integrity who, with the Lord's strength within us, never ever lie to you. That simply cannot be said of our detractors who will say one thing and then do the exact opposite. As your leaders we seek only to "look well to [ourselves] and to the flock over which the Lord has made [us] overseers. Our refuge is in the Lord, and in His words and in the love and nourishment of His body, as was also true of the much maligned apostle Paul, who tells us the same thing was going on in his day:

2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

You and I are living in outwardly perilous times, but all the battles taking place in this outward world are just a shadow of what is taking place in the realm of the heavens, where a life and death battle is being fought at this very moment.

But we have been given the outcome of that battle, and we pray to be granted to be on the winning side because we are assured:

Psa 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psa 68:3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

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

Hi there,

I would like to thank you for your very informative site. May God continue to bless you abundantly and may many more people come to the truth.
I have one scripture that’s puzzling me – Mat 7:13.
What is the “destruction” that is referred to in this verse?
God bless

S____

Hi S____,
Thank you for your encouraging comments.
You ask about the meaning of the word destruction in this verse:

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

The truth is that we will all enter the broad gate and be destroyed before we will enter the narrow gate into life. This admonition by our Lord will be experienced by but few while we are still in these vessels of clay. But we will all in the end be saved through the destruction of our old man. Christ Himself taught this, and so did all of his apostles:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned [ destroyed], he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

It seems counter- intuitive to the natural man, but life comes only through death:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

We find life only by losing it:

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

Sight comes only through blindness:

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

Light comes out of darkness:

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And our salvation comes only through the destruction of our old man of sin:

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:

“That Wicked” is our old Adam who sets himself up as God in God’s temple of our body.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The only thing that keeps us from seeing that we are God’s temple is our worship of our own will over God’s will. That is the old Adam, who must be destroyed if we are to know life.

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.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [“Ye are the temple of God”]
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he [ the mah of sin] might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [ same Greek word translated ‘withholdeth’ in verse 6] will let, until he be taken out of the way.

I hope this helps you to see that the broad way that leads to destruction is the destruction of our old Adam. I hope that you can now see that God’s word really is “a sharp two edged sword, and that we will all indeed “Live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4). Destruction is common to all men. It is simply a matter of who will be first and who will be the last to experience the destruction of the first Adam.

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

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Often times since being given the faith of Christ that I have now been given, I am asked a question that tends to boggle folks’ minds when answered with the Word of God. “So, what happens when we die?”

Oh, the dreaded “D” word! Not damn or dang, but death. Dying, the inevitable truth that we all will face, is what drives all fear. Many a man has met this stone cold truth, but one Son of man and of God stood in death’s grip and was laughingly yanked away.

In fact, we all are dying from the womb and indeed die daily, physically. The difference between dying now physically to the world or spiritually to the new man, is what sets a part those who NOW are the Sons of God versus those who are coming along at their appointed time later.

During this study, we will all delve deeper into the dwelling place of the Lord in a way that, Lord willing, awakens a little more of Christ in us all as He increases and we decrease.

Ecc 9:5 – For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecc 12:7 – Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecc 12:8 – Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Ecc 12:9 – And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 – The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

Taken by Surprise

When something as profound as the Light and Truth step into what you thought was “your life”, you are granted to see that you indeed have been awakened to this Truth that was already so. Simply stated, you now understand and know that to be the case. You were awakened, born again, given Life, shown the way, breathed into with the Spirit of God because BEFORE this time, you were DEAD already.

His Word awakens that which was dead, lives, yet is dying.

How does this all happen and what am I talking about? The first Adam is the beginning so it’s good to start there.

Of course, we have Adam who is known as coming from the dust of the ground, mixed with a little breath, who became a living soul, but let’s take our adventure to a time earlier than that… say, the foundation of the world?

Gen 2:7 – And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Rev 13:8 – And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Mat 13:34 – All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Mat 13:35 – That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

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

Joh 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 – The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 – All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So what “things” are we talking about here? The dead know nothing or ‘no thing’. The KJV says the dead know not anything. Yet, we know that Christ says Himself that all things are ours.

How does this all come together with the answer I give to people who ask me what happens after we die? Well, our body dies, and the Spirit given to us from God goes back to Him.

The complete answer though is much more hopeful! After death, we are awakened! Some of us, those that are blessed of God Himself, are told to inherit the kingdom of God NOW as we are breathed into with the Spirit of God while others waken unto judgment in the second death. Double whammy!

Confused? Things being uttered hard to understand? Let the Lord guide us all!

Hear Him Roar

In this study, we are going to be covering a lot of Ecclesiastes, and along the reading, we will begin to see a pattern form.

Here we have a “son of David”, and we know who Christ typifies – David. Keeping this in mind, let us see what the Lord has in store for us.

Ecc 1:1 – The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecc 1:2 – Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ecc 1:3 – What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun (Christ)?
Ecc 1:4 – One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
Ecc 1:5 – The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
Ecc 1:6 – The wind (Spirit) goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
Ecc 1:7 – All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
Ecc 1:8 – All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecc 1:9 – The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Ecc 1:10 – Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
Ecc 1:11 – There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

We have just read a comparison of basically, “what goes around comes around”. In this comparison though, we can see a pattern if we are given eyes to see and ears to hear it.

Out of the sum of what mankind is able to accomplish under the sun, it all equals vanity. That is very interesting. The next verse starts to reveal to us how this information was gathered by the author.

Ecc 1:12 – I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Up until this point we have read a few verses alluding to the truth that all of mankind’s thoughts and actions are vanity. Now, we have a preacher who has identified himself as a preacher and king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I, the preacher, was king of Israel in Jerusalem. Aren’t we going to be kings and priests? Israel is God’s people but who is the true Jew? In relation to the “king being on the throne”, do we see a head and body scenario forming yet? Finally, where is Jerusalem? Where is the Jerusalem that our walk has us looking for?

All of these questions start to paint a scriptural picture for us. The one qualified to talk about this topic has the credentials as given to him of God. These credentials are nothing less than:

Heb 12:11 – Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Heb 5:14 – But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

How does that discernment fit into this question of death?

Ecc 1:13 – And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Ecc 1:14 – I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Ecc 1:15 – That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. (who can attest to the truth of this concerning our flesh)
Ecc 1:16 – I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Ecc 1:17 – And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
Ecc 1:18 – For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Tying this all together, we have now read a template that we are going to focus on in regards to death, dying and what this whole subject is all about.

We all know we are going to die, but what happens afterward is a great mystery. This mystery is one I hope is opened up to us today a little bit more.

All Things versus No Thing

Ecc 9:5 – For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

All those living know one thing – we will die. What is the reward of the living? We know that the dead know not anything but what does that mean? On the surface, it seems pretty common, but let’s wipe away a little surface mud and see what’s beneath.

Job 30:23 – For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Dan 4:17 – This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Death is the house of the living? How true this is if you can see it. Those who are living in this “present and evil age” for“this present and evil age” will continue to do so until they go to the dust that they were formed from.

However, there is a huge difference happening in those who realize they are walking among the “living dead”.

Rom 7:24 – O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Col 1:22 – In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

I am asked what happens after we die? Immediately, my mind asks which death the questioner is referring to? I know instinctively that the questioner is asking about physical death, but what was Christ’s point in resurrecting and continuing on to the rest of His ministry if DEATH were the focal point of life?

Death is the enemy. Death is a tool. Death will be done away with and is already fading until its ultimate destruction. Death will be swallowed up in victory, but is that out there somewhere waiting for its time to happen? No! It is NOW!

As a child of God, I should be endeavoring to learn more than the schoolmaster alone can teach me, and who is the schoolmaster?

Gal 3:24 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 – But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26 – For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

The schoolmaster, the law, is no longer the dominator because a greater thing has entered the race – Faith! The schoolmaster is simply there to bring us to Christ, because the schoolmaster is only a form of that which will destroy the flesh – Faith. The schoolmaster is the law which keeps our lawless and disobedient flesh in check.

1Ti 1:9 – Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Colossians is used to bring this point home:

Col 1:20 – And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Remember, the focus we are looking at right now is what are all things versus no thing which is what the dead know. Do you see how the Holy Spirit inspired this link to be made? All things in earth (carnal mind/ flesh/ physical) versus things in heaven (mind of Christ/ new man/ spiritual) are all reconciled to Christ. Christ did it all in ONE body! Son of man and Son of God….

Col 1:21 – And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 – In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 – If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24 – Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 – Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 – Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 – To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 – Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

This hope of glory is why I sit here today sharing with you all what it is the Lord has given me to share. When asked what happens when we die. The answer that can be accurately given is – life happens.

Life through Death

Joh 12:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 – He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26 – If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

And just where is Christ? If we are going to minister to Christ, then where are we going when we follow Him because we obviously must be WITH Christ to serve Him, no? Well, how can we follow Christ to where He is? The answer lies in the cup.

Mat 26:39 – And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Mat 26:40 – And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mat 26:41 – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I’ve always thought it spiritually interesting that Christ’s disciples are dead… er, ‘sleeping’ when Christ comes to them. In type and shadow, Peter is sleeping (or dead), and Christ SPEAKS! Here is another example that gives a little more detail:

Mat 26:37 – And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (Zebadee means “my gift” and he was a fisherman), and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Mat 26:38 – Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
Mat 26:39 – And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Mat 26:40 – And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mat 26:41 – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mat 26:42 – He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Mat 26:43 – And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. (they cannot see)
Mat 26:44 – And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Mat 26:45 – Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the HOUR IS AT HAND, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Mat 26:46 – Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

Truly, Christ was only accompanied by the Father during the time of “the cup”. Do you believe our experience while drinking this cup will be any different?

Luk 22:17 – And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18 – For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19 – And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20 – Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Now, we have seen that if a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die, then it brings forth fruit – life. We have also just read that as Christ was going through this extreme suffering, His disciples were sleeping.

It isn’t until Christ comes a third time that He then tells His disciples to “sleep on” or continue sleeping. The first two times Christ came to His disciples, He reprimanded them for sleeping on the watch. Why is it that this happened the first two times but the third time is different?

As we have all come to understand, anytime something is told to us two or three times in scripture, then there is a point being brought home.

A large point being made here is the disciples were sleeping because:

Mat 26:43 – And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

I am starting to see a connection here, “their eyes were heavy.” Christ goes away and does the same thing and comes back and then says, “Sleep on now, and take your rest, the hour is at hand.” Whoa! Where have we seen this?

This phrase sounds a lot like, “the time is at hand”. Does anyone recognize this anywhere else?

Rom 13:11 – And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12 – The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

1Jn 2:18 – Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Rev 14:15 – And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

2Ti 4:6 – For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2Ti 4:7 – I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Keeping the Faith (start of part 2)

Up to this point, we have read a lot of things pertaining to death and dying but the title of this study is, “The Dead Know Not Anything” “so when are we going to touch upon that subject, Steven?”

Well, we have been the whole time, and in part two of this study I hope that this will be brought out a little bit more as the Lord wills.

Earlier, we read that Paul kept the faith, and earlier than that we read that the schoolmaster is no longer needed when faith comes. So, how does faith have anything to do with death, and what does any of this have to do with the “dead not knowing anything?”

Rom 4:1 – What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Rom 4:2 – For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 – For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 – Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 – But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 4:13 – For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Col 2:11 – In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Col 2:12 – Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

1Pe 1:20 – Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 – Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

It is at the start of our “buried with Him, rising with Him through faith” that we start our walk. Let the dead bury the dead. See, we are already dead in trespasses when we come to the cross, when we come to this point.

Eph 2:1 – And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 – Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Col 2:13 – And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

When we come to this point, we are already spiritually dead. However, when we are buried in His baptism, we are given life in Him via resurrected life.

What do we do with this life? Well, we die daily to our flesh with this new life and mind.

1Co 15:25 – For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 – The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 – For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 – And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
1Co 15:29 – Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
1Co 15:30 – And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
1Co 15:31 – I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Wait a second! Christ is going to destroy death, and I die daily, so when will Christ destroy death? It is when death has worked its purpose. For you and I and any other saint in Christ, this time is NOW.

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

What does His resurrection mean? It means we are as He is in this world, now. We die daily, THUS we are REBORN daily in His resurrection. His name. His image…but how do we get from A to Z?

We are dead, are dying and will die.

What I am saying is that we are in a place now where the Lord starts His process in us so that we now are awakened to it; thus, we will be told to die again.

We are said we are DEAD in our transgressions. Christ comes to us and drags us to the Father after he comes to us while we are asleep and says…RISE. We are born into life by dying, and being dead we are free from the law. But, we are then told to DIE DAILY now, while the hour is at hand. Whew!

Can you see how the flesh rebels? How does this all happen?

“I thought we were talking about what happens after we die, Steven?”

I am talking about what happens after you die because some of us brothers and sisters are living it NOW! Some of us, Lord willing, have been called out of her…some of us are being called out of her and are being chosen to be Faithful until the end to overcome.

Some of us have the Word of God LIVING and BREATHING eternal LIFE into us. We know the Word of God for what the Lord has given us and what has been given to us is that we are to JUDGE OURSEVLES NOW.

Did I say judge OTHERS now? Nope. However, when judgment happens and the Spirit within the temple of God stirs from the north to the south again, then you will have that beam removed so that the spec that you see in your brother’s eye can easily be removed with LOVE.

Mar 12:29 – And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel(who is a Jew?); The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 – And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 – And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Joh 15:12 – This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Gal 5:14 – For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

1Jn 3:11 – For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jn 3:12 – Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
1Jn 3:13 – Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1Jn 3:14 – We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn 3:15 – Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1Jn 3:16 – Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.(we abide in death by dying daily and live by example)

1Jn 5:1 – Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
1Jn 5:2 – By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 – For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4 – For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (it is Christ’s faith because He alone has overcome the WORLD…He LIVES in US though, amen)
1Jn 5:5 – Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1Jn 5:6 – This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Christ is here to destroy His flesh. Christ is here to destroy His body to bring life to it through purging it, burning it up with the fire of the Word of God. The Word of God says love God ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE. Love here is a verb. It’s an action. We KEEP it. We LIVE it!

2Jn 1:6 – And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
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, (what we have been talking about all along) 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.

I am not sure how it can be any clearer than that.

“Wait a minute, Steven. What about someone wanting to rape your wife and kill you and your family? What about someone wanting to rob and beat you?”

What about…. what Christ said about LOVING your ENEMIES?

I am not saying this will be easily understood, but loving my enemies is two-fold. There are those that would kill me for being Christian if I didn’t renounce it, but there are also those who are my enemies simply because, “how can two walk together unless they agree”. The person is not my enemy, but the Spirit within them is!

The world within them is the same world within me that Christ has overcome. So, if Christ is in me and not them at this present TIME, then I must let them know that the doctrine they bring is NOT WELCOME in my HOUSE.

“Steven, you are so cold…so mean, so cold-hearted!”

At that, I will tell you – eat, drink and be merry.

Eat, Drink and be Merry

I recently read an article on a website that states that the book of Ecclesiastes doesn’t belong in the bible because the author of it is too morbid, too depressed and too uninformed, because surely we are not equal to the beasts of the field which all go to the same place, the grave.

Interestingly, the very thing that this author was complaining about is EXACTLY what the writer was inspired to convey when penning this:

Ecc 8:15 – Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

Luk 12:19 – And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20 – But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 – So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

It is also mentioned in Ecclesiastes that all that is given to man under the sun is a GIFT. Amazingly, we are brought back to where we find the title of this study. For the purpose of context and to hear the surrounding verses, I will read/offer Ecc 9 so that we can get a feel of the importance of the dead knowing nothing.

Ecc 9:1 – For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
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.
Ecc 9:3 – This is an evil among all things that are one under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Ecc 9:4 – For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecc 9:5 – For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 – Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ecc 9:7 – Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Ecc 9:8 – Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Ecc 9:9 – Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
Ecc 9:10 – Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Ecc 9:11 – I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecc 9:12 – For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
Ecc 9:13 – This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Ecc 9:14 – There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
Ecc 9:15 – Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ecc 9:16 – Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Ecc 9:17 – The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Ecc 9:18 – Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

The natural man says “right on, I should be able to live my life the way I want”, but the spiritual new man vomits such things out of his mouth.

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

Where is the line in the sand for any of us if we are dead? What is the doctrine that is so ingrained in your beliefs that you cannot go BACK to the Word of God and re-examine what the Word of God, Christ in YOU, has to say about the matter? The time is at hand, but a Pharisee or a Sadducee can’t recognize the time they’re in.

They’re stiff-necked in their mind. The Sadducee in us says there is no resurrection, admitting that Christ has not come in the flesh. We just went over that, yet we are given over to delusion from the Lord, and not one will be able to conquer that great divide.

When you are dead, YOU KNOW NOTHING! This applies both physically and SPIRITUALLY. When you are spiritually dead, you are deceived and don’t know it.

What happens when we die? I have an atheist friend who said to me that when you die that’s it; you’re just dead and well, he was partly right.

The dead know not anything. However, there is a resurrection of the just and the unjust and Christ is the resurrection. I die daily, yet Christ lives in me.

On the flip side, most Christians I know think we go to heaven or hell right away when we die, but how can that be?

What happens when we die physically?

Ecc 12:7 – Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Luk 23:46 – And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Joh 19:30 – When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Heb 9:27 – And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Wait, I die daily? Daily judgment? I thought it was only once? I am to judge my DAYS and everything therein? What kind of Faith is that? It is the Faith of Christ.

Rom 14:5 – One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

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?

If I die daily, how is it I care about the things that are in the world? The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life? If I am daily dead, what do I care about? I know nothing.

Alas, it is only given to a few to understand that the things that we are hated for, or rather Christ is hated for within us, are the same things that we have FREELY BEEN GIVEN TO UNDERSTAND.

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

The old Adam in me hates the quickening Spirit there also. The old man Adam in others hates that same Christ within me. Christ is the Word of God. We bare His name on our foreheads and others hate the coat of many colors we wear along with it.

When we are given these things to understand then we are told we are going to be purged with the Word of God.

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:
Eze 11:20 – That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 36:25 – Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Eze 36:26 – A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Dying Daily to Live

When this happens, when we are given to see and hear the truth regarding this, thus starts the life-long process of being purged and dying daily. Just like a newborn, we start on milk and continue through to food, but we can’t learn everything all at once nor can we be cleansed all at once. It would kill us.

As this happens more and more in our lives, we will start to see fruit produced in us because if what you have is of Christ, then so then will the works of God be there. The works of God, His righteousness will be seen by everything within and without.

2Co 4:10 – Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 – For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12 – So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
2Co 4:13 – We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
2Co 4:14 – Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2Co 4:15 – For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 – For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

What part of the perishing of the outward man must we keep back for ourselves once the works of God are being manifest in our lives?

Luk 18:18 – And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19 – And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Luk 18:20 – Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Luk 18:21 – And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
Luk 18:22 – Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Luk 18:23 – And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
Luk 18:24 – And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

How hardly shall we, who start in our youth, coming behind in no gift, called to be Saints, enter into the kingdom of God if we treasure such riches!

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.

Luk 12:33 – Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luk 12:34 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What do you have to sell? Judge now or be judged later. If you hold anything back, there will be no difference in the resurrection. It will be counted as loss.

Act 5:1 – But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act 5:2 – And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Act 5:3 – But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 – Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act 5:5 – And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
Act 5:6 – And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
Act 5:7 – And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
Act 5:8 – And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
Act 5:9 – Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Act 5:10 – Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

Conclusion

Things of Old

Ecc 12:1 – Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Ecc 12:2 – While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
Ecc 12:3 – In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
Ecc 12:4 – And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Ecc 12:5 – Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Ecc 12:6 – Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Ecc 12:7 – Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Things New

Ecc 12:8 – Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Ecc 12:9 – And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
Ecc 12:10 – The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Ecc 12:11 – The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
Ecc 12:12 – And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecc 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 – For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Hi Mike,

I have been a little disoriented lately with confusion regarding the Scriptures. I agree with your comment that Truth does not change. But when I came across Deu 22:20-21 or any other instance of encouraging death by stoning, I have found it hard to stomach that that could be Truth (not to mention unchanging Truth).
I apologize up front if I misunderstood or have been unable to understand what you meant by “Truth does not change.”
Thank you for any insight,

N____

Hi N____,

Thank you for your question regarding death by stoning in Deuteronomy.

Deu 22:20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
Deu 22:21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

This is the carnal law God gave Moses to govern carnal life in the nation of ancient Israel.

Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

If a woman was proven to have had sex outside of marriage, she was to be stoned to death. The verses which follow instructed that ancient nation do the same if a man was caught having sex with another man’s wife.

Deu 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

Now let’s contrast these words concerning the judgment meted out for adultery and fornication under Moses, to the new “law of Christ”.

Joh 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
Joh 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
Joh 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Joh 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

These “scribes and Pharisees” are the very same people who today have nothing better to do than to take the time to find fault with their own brothers and sisters in Christ, who have done nothing but feed them spiritual “loaves and fishes”, and heal them of their spiritual diseases. If those who are of this spirit had any true interest in what was actually in the scriptures, they would have gone to those scriptures, and they would have trembled before those words, instead of quoting only what was convenient for them to attempt to accuse the Christ of God.

Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

What is the difference between the law of Christ and that of Moses? Christ did not condemn her for her sin, which was nothing more that the fruit of the law of sin which Christ himself had placed within that woman at creation. But neither did he condone her actions. This woman, just like each of us, was shown mercy. Now would that mercy have ended if she did commit adultery again?

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever [ Hebrew, olawm].

Isn’t it interesting that the people who want the Hebrew word ‘olawm’ to mean ‘eternity’ when it comes to the subject of hell, don’t believe it means that in this verse? Now since the law of Moses did not provide for mercy, it was not Truth, but it was a temporary carnal commandment for a carnal nation “till the seed should come to whom the promise was made”. Notice how scripture contrasts the law of Moses to the law of Christ.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

So the only people who claim that the law of Moses was Truth are those who do not believe Joh 1:17.
Just as manna seemed to be the true “bread from heaven”, and Christ Himself labeled it as such when giving it to Israel in the wilderness, it was nevertheless just a shadow and a type of the true “bread from heaven”.

Exo 16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Joh 6:31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

Was manna really “bread from heaven”? Only in type and shadow. It was, in reality merely a shadow of the true bread from heaven which gives us true and lasting nourishment.

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

So that is the truth of the entire economy of ancient Israel. “They were not ministering to themselves but to us”. These things all happened to them, and they were all written down for us as types and shadows of us.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [ Greek, typos, type, shadow]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

So everything that happened under that law was “unto us” and “not unto themselves”. You will find no Jews who would agree with that statement, and the same is true for the Christian world. Nevertheless there it is. The entire Mosaic system is just a shadow of how we are to show no mercy to the adulterous false doctrines within us which stem from the doctrines of that great harlot, Babylon.
If indeed God were not intent upon saving all men, and the world denies this, then He would indeed be a monster. But he is in the process of saving all, and He will do so through you and me if we are granted to be in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”.
So I hope that these verses of God’s Word will help you to see that God is saving all “through death” and that the end of a thing really is better than its beginning, no matter what that end is. It is through the relinquishing of this body that our new body is given, and it is the same event for all; even the women and the men who were and are stoned for adultery.

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
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.

I pray these verses help you to see that God is, was and always will be an unchanging, loving heavenly Father, who will, through the different dispensations and through even death, bring us all to Himself in His own appointed time.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi Mike,
Joh 3:15 Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eonian life.
What does ‘should not perish’ mean? Isa 57:1 tells us even the righteous perish!
J____

Hi J____,
You ask:

Joh 3:15 Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eonian life.
What does “should not perish” mean? Isa 57:1 tells us even the righteous perish!”

This is typical of how the scriptures seem to contradict themselves in the eyes of the natural man. Unless and until we learn to always apply that principle of “the sum of thy word,” then God’s Words will always appear to be contradictory. They are designed to be so, to cause most people to be snared and to fall backward.

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.
Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

What “should not perish” really means is to die with no hope of resurrection. Christ Himself perished momentarily:

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeeme r.
Isa 54:9  For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for [ as] I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

God had not really forsaken Christ, but He had really done so momentarily. It is mankind as a whole who is “not appointed to wrath” in the end, yet we will all “live by every word… of God… momentarily.”
As is always the case God will no more “be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee,” only after He has done so and we have lived by every word that proceeds out of His mouth, and we have ‘kept the things written therein… things present or things to come they are all ours’.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Rev 1:3  Blessed [ is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those  things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. [” all things” 1Co 3:21-22]

There is not one scriptural example of God rapturing his elect out of a trial until after they have already endured that trial. Not Enoch, not Elijah, no one will avoid living by every word that proceeds out of God.” God saves us through the trials which He brings upon us. We really do “live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth.” He even saves us “through death,” meaning ‘through’ perishing.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

I hope this helps you to see how we are to approach these is, was and will be words of God which will never pass away and will be kept by all of mankind.

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

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Thank you for these questions. I hope to be able to clear this up for you, Lord willing.

You say:

“No substitutionary death – that is a great surprise. Now please, Mike, I am not arguing that you are wrong, but this is the first time I have heard this… and I want to make sure that I get it right…”

This is not as hard to understand as orthodoxy has made it with all of its contradictions. The Bible tells us that life comes through death just as light comes out of darkness:

2Co 4:6… For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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

In like manner life comes only “through death.”

Col 1:22… In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14… Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Christ died. He was dead because he was “made sin” by being “made of a woman made under the law.” Christ’s flesh could not inherit the kingdom any more than Adam’s flesh. That is because Christ’s flesh was “in Adam:”

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

Rom 5:14… Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who [Adam] is the figure of him that was to come.

Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers because the first Adam “is the figure of Him that was to come.” So Christ came “In likeness of sinful flesh,” for the purpose of being “made sin:”

(Darby)  “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him.”

(GNB)  “Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.”

Yet Christ never sinned. Here is what the scriptures teach:

Heb 2:9… But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

It is that word ‘for’ which has caused all the confusion over what Christ has accomplished. The Greek word is ‘huper.’ It appears 41 times in the New Testament and the most common translation for this word ‘huper is the English word ‘above.’

Here is how it is used in another verse:

Luk 6:40… The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

We are not ‘above’ Christ. We “will be as our Master.” Christ plainly tells us that we will “fill up what is behind of His sufferings:”

Joh 15:17… These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Joh 15:18… If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you.
Joh 15:19… If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

So Christ came and experienced all that we experience “yet without sin.” He had to do so in order to be able to say that He knows what we go through; not for His benefit, but for ours. Christ has now arranged things so that none of us will ever be able to say that He does not know what it is like to be flesh. Christ came in “sinful flesh.” That is why He had to die.

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

Flesh = corruption and corruption = flesh

When Christ entered Mary’s womb, He was at that very moment entering the death realm. He had emptied Himself of His divinity, and He was at that moment putting on “sinful flesh.” Yet because He was “born of the Holy Spirit” and because He had been given God’s Spirit “without measure,” He never sinned while living in a “corruptible” body of “sinful flesh.”

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:

‘Likeness’ means what it says. Christ was “like” us. He had the exact same flesh “like” us. Unlike us, He never sinned.

We quoted Hebrews 2:9 above:

Heb 2:9… But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Here now are the next two verses:

Heb 2:10… For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11… For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

So it is this Greek word ‘huper‘ which has caused so much confusion and led to the unscriptural doctrine of Christ’s “substitutionary death.”  Here is how this word is used in a few other verses:

2Co 1:8… For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above [huper] strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
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:
2Co 1:10… Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

“Does deliver… will yet deliver…” demonstrates that this is a life long process which is going on as we “die daily” to all of the pulls of the flesh. If we are wronged we must fight the desire for revenge. When we are tired we also must fight the desire to give up. Christ went through all of this. But He didn’t do so as a substitute for us. He did so so that He can now do this “in us.”

2Co 1:5… For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

Where in any verse of God’s Word do we see even a hint of a substitutionary death? It is not to be found. Exemplary? Yes. Christ died for (huper) our sins. His life’s worth is far above (huper) the value of every life of all men who ever have or ever will live on this planet. He has paid for our sins. We are bought with a price. We are His to do with as He sees fit, and here is what He has decided we are to do:

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

Rom 8:17… And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Of course, Christ died on the cross as you say, “in the past.”  For Him “it is finished.” The doctrine of “substitutionary death” is a lie.

I hadn’t put that together yet… nor do I really understand it.  Substitutionary death is that… Christ died in place of us.  Our sins were all laid on Him and they were forgiven because He died in place of us… taking our sins with Him. That is what the Christian world church teaches.

I am sorry… I just don’t understand.  I must be very dumb.

I know what you say is true… but… if our sins were not forgiven when Christ died on the cross… then… that must be why we now ‘die daily’… to our sins (the fleshly self… the sinful nature). Is this right?

No substitutionary death… that is a great surprise.  Now please Mike… I am not arguing that you are wrong… but this is the first time I have heard this… and I want to make sure that I get it right… like as Paul said… to put the things learned in the past behind, and get on with the new.  (Not exactly his wording, but maybe what he meant.

Rom 6:3 – Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 – Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

What exactly do these verses mean?

Christ did not die so we would not have to die. Christ died for us so that He could now die in us:

Sorry… I do not understand this either.

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

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

I guess this means… dying daily to the flesh.

What is this “dying daily?” It is “filling up what is behind of the sufferings of Christ in our bodies, in our flesh for the churches sake which is His body.”

Yipes… you have lost me again.

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

Maybe I am not ready for the truth… I can’t even understand what these verses mean.

So yes, it is finished for Christ, but Christ must now be afflicted in us:

Oh… I am completely lost.

Rom 8:17… And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

If we suffer with Him there must be something about His afflictions which is not yet “filled up”. We must come to identify with Christ and not put His sufferings in the past only. Christ certainly identifies with us:

2Ti 2:12… If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
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.

“As He is so are we,” so we, too, must “fill up what is behind of His afflictions,” and the day of judgment is not a future event:

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?

I hope this helps,

No… I am sorry… but I understand nothing of what you have said here.

I almost think I am in the wrong place.  For the past four or five years we have been unable to find a church to attend… one that satisfied our need to be closer to Jesus Christ.  Then we found your website.  We were very excited about the new teaching, which we were, and still are, very excited about.

But now, I almost think that something has gone wrong.  I am not grasping anything.  I am totally blank. 

A few months ago, everything was clicking, and it was great… but now I can’t put anything together.

I have no idea what is going on… but this is worrisome.  We know we can’t, nor want to go back to Babylon, because it is wrong… but where do we go from here?  We must learn the proper meaning of Scripture… but my mind has gone blank.  We have read almost everything, and are still reading the commentaries on your website… and it is great… but I can remember nothing.

We have just had a session of emails with [a man]… where he called me a heretic and that God’s word offends me… and accuses me of trying to teach him heresy.   We have exchanged several emails, and I can’t get thru to him that we are just babes in Christ searching for the truth.  But he continues to tell me that if I have a problem with God’s word, that I should take that up with God.  I, last night, wrote and told him that I didn’t want to hear from him again.

I think it is just me… I can’t get the hang of what is going on.  As I said… maybe [we] do not belong in this league.

There is a reason why we are here searching, but we seem to be being rebuked and admonished for asking questions… by you… a few months ago… and now by [others]. I just don’t understand it.  Possibly it is the way I ask that gives people the wrong impression… I just don’t know.

J____

Ps… I know you are busy… and I know this is far too long for you to answer… but, don’t worry about answering.  What will be, will be.  God knows our plight… and maybe He will tell us what the problem is…. and to whom we should turn to for help.

Take heart. You are actually in the very best spiritual spot you have ever before been in. Just look at these verses:

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

So, it is the same here as with life. If you want life, you must die. Life comes only through death. If you want to see, we all, just like the apostle Paul, must come to see just how blind we really are. Sight comes only through being made blind. If we never acknowledge our blindness, then “your sin remaineth.”

You have confessed that you are “in trouble.” Those who see their blindness are given sight, but those who never see themselves as ‘in trouble’ are those who are even now being “made blind.”

I am praying that you both are being given eyes to see that Christ did not die to sin so we can live in it. He rather died to sin so that we, in Him, can also die to sin.

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

Mike

Hello Mike… Thank you so much… this is encouraging.  We indeed hope that this is the case… and that the Lord will give us the eyes to see… again, but this time clearly, with the confusion gone… that we can walk with Him with more confidence… until we see Him face to face.

J____

When Christ told Martha:

Joh 11:24  Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

I’m sure that you, with Martha, would say “Yes, Lord, I believe.” But what is it one believes if one says:

 “ALL Adam don’t get to be made alive in Christ, just all the Church…?”

Do you believe that Christ was telling Martha ‘I am the first but not the second resurrection?’

I think we all know better than that. It is not worded ‘As in Adam all die even so all who are in Christ shall be made alive.’ Here is what we are told is the power behind all resurrected bodies of all time:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all  [same all who are in Adam. We are all, at one time ‘in Adam] be made alive.

The ‘all in Adam” is the same “all” who will be in Christ. If this is not so, then there would be no need for the next few verses:

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The destruction of death necessitates the salvation of all men of all time. But Christ is both resurrections: “As in Adam… SO in Christ… I am the resurrection”

There is a “first fruit” which is regenerated now and there is “the lump” which will come in with Sodom and Samaria through the purifying lake of fire. When all is said and done God “will have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Truth.”

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. ***** Christ and His Church (“I am the vine and you are the branches”)…

The “evil reward” for not doing the Lord’s will” is the second judgment, the white (not black) throne judgment which will chasten  and judge those who refused to “judge themselves” now while still in this “vessel of clay.”

Here are but a very few of the hundreds of verses of God’s word which tell us plainly what God is doing with mankind:

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ***** this is the little all or the Church only…

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all ***** this is ALL ADAM …   men, specially [ not exclusively] of those that believe ***** He is special to the Church here in time but ALL ADAM will be changed in the last resurrection…

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ***** Again the Church

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  ***** Yes, this covers both resurrections…

And we also have this assurance from the book of Romans:

Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world [Even Sodom and Samaria], what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

***** I pray almost daily “Bring them Home Lord bring them Home !!!

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

All of the admonitions to avoid hell and the lake of fire are very urgent admonitions. However they have nothing whatsoever to do with avoiding eternal death or eternal punishment. what they are concerned with is “loss” of reward.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by [ the lake of] fire.

Some wonder if 1 Thess. 5:9 is the elect. Read Rom 9 and then read 1 Thess. chapters 4 and five together and you will see that mankind as a whole is not cast away and consigned to God’s wrath. Who is consigned to God’s wrath, be they elect or not are those who “know to do good and do it not:

I am at a loss to understand why some would have ‘all’ to mean anything less than all of God’s creatures who are in Adam. The advantage of being first is explained in Revelation and all the rest of the New Testament. The firstfruit overcomers are given rulership in the kingdom. All others are ruled over in the kingdom. But in the end God is all in all and not one soul is left out of Christ.

There are those who point to Joh 17 as if I would find there that

“ALL Adam don’t get to be made alive in Christ, just, all the Church…?”

Do you think that the fact that we enjoy eonian life necessitates that all others will not receive life? Do you believe that there is no life other than eonian life? Do you think that because “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eonian life” that therefore those who receive eonian life can avoid death? This is not what Rom 6:23 is saying. Rom 6:23 says:

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This verse in Romans does not contradict these verses in Hebrews:

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Judgment cannot be administered until after death: “… After this the judgment.”

Now since judgment is NOW on the house of God:

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?

… and yet we are told that it is appointed unto man once to die and after this [ death] the judgment,’ it is therefore needful that all who are being judged now have died or are dying daily to this flesh. Life comes only “through death:”

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

So we see that the fact that the gift of God is eonian life, in no way excludes anyone from having to die first in order to obtain that life. We enjoy the kingdom now only in “earnest of the spirit” and not in “the fulness of the inheritance.” Is this joy we have now the kingdom? It certainly is. But is it the “redemption of the purchased possession?” Absolutely not! The best is yet to come.

2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2Co 5:5  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us

Here is how The Good News Bible words this:

(GNB)  “who has placed his mark of ownership upon us, and who has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.”

And here is how the International Standard Version puts this:

(ISV)  “who has placed his seal on us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.”

These verses are in sharp contrast to these verses:

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

This is indeed a glorious promise for all who partake of that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Being in that blessed and holy first resurrection is not an end in itself. The very purpose for being “priests of God and of Christ and reigning with Him” is to show mercy to all mankind who are not in the first resurrection. But that mercy is not shown to mankind during the thousand years. It is rather shown to mankind in the lake of fire after the second resurrection. It is then that we “shall judge angels” because the lake of fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. At that time there will be nothing but spirits to be judged:

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

The dominance of an outward Jew during the millennium is not in the scriptures. It is those who are in that “blessed and holy first resurrection who will dominate at that time. It will be” He is a Jew who is one inwardly. He is NOT a Jew which is one outwardly.” All who have slain Christ and have not yet repented of doing so will be spirits in this lake of fire. They will be judged by those who are that fire:

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

It is here that Satan himself will be judged and purged of his own carnal, rebellious mind. It is here that God will use his elect to judge angels:

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

Without the “sum of God’s word” one would conclude that the sheep and the goats are all there standing before God and Christ to be judged at the same time. It is with what is later revealed in Paul’s and John’s writings in 1Co.15 and Rev 20 that we see that these are two separate judgments; one occurring now while we are in this flesh, the other occurring “after the thousand years are finished.”

It is then that the elect will be used by God to bring to God all who are yet in unbelief:

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

So those saints in that blessed and holy first resurrection will rule the world for 1000 years and then they “shall judge angels:” This is the reason for having a “blessed and holy first resurrection.” Here is how Paul summarizes this function of God’s elect:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

It is through those who are in the first resurrection that God will bring in all the rest of mankind – “through your mercy.”

This same message is repeated by Paul in Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians.

So Paul concludes this incredibly revealing revelation with these words:

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

While the word ‘all’ is not always intended to mean virtually every human in Judea coming out to be baptized of John or coming to hear Christ preach, when it comes to salvation, it is all inclusive.

I hope that you see who is in view when Paul uses the words ‘in Adam, and in Christ’ and I hope you see that we are only in God’s kingdom now ” in earnest… until the redemption of the purchased possession.”

When God has accomplished what he has chosen his firstfruits to accomplish, He will then be all in all. That is the goal of the universe. And God’s channel to achieve that goal is those who are in that blessed and holy first resurrection.

Mike,

I noticed on your article Law of moses vs. the law of the spirit that you have a major error. On the summary section there is a quote from Heb 5:6. I think you’re referring to Heb 5:7. You quote it as saying “save him through (NOT FROM) death….” However, every translation I have looked at has it as saying “from” or “save him OUT OF death.” What translation are you using? I’d really like to know, and be sure to get back to me. Thanks, A____.

Hi A____,

Thank you for your question.

I appreciate you pointing out that typo. It is verse 7.

I point out that ‘from death’ is a terrible translation inasmuch as Christ and everyone since Christ has died excepting those alive now. The weight of scripture makes it clear that life comes only through death, or as you say ‘out of death.’ Christ certainly did not come and die for our sins so that we would never have to experience death. Nothing could be further from the truth. My point was that the death of the “vessel of clay that was marred in the Potters hand” (Jer 18:4) was purposely marred for the purpose of destroying that vessel and “making it a new vessel as seemed good to the Potter.” That “new vessel” will only appear “out of death.” It will never appear until the vessel of clay is dead. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, [ because] neither doth corruption [ flesh and blood] inherit incorruption” (1Co 15:50).

Here are a few scriptures which bear out this Truth:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Christ did not come and die to the flesh so that we could live in it. He came and died to the flesh while He was yet in the flesh so that we too, could “fill up in our bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” That is so that we too, could die to the flesh while we too, are still in the flesh.

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

Since it is now “Christ living in me,” though I am still in a body of sin, “sin no longer has dominion over me.” In Christ I am “free from sin.” It is not a claim of being above ever sinning or being what all flesh is, that is corruptible sin. This is a simple acknowledgment of the fact that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.”

Here is a simple question that deserves an answer:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

And here is the answer to that question:

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Knowing Christ changes one’s life. He is not the same old sinner. He is still sinful flesh, but that flesh is now subdued to the spirit of Christ within. That flesh is “dying daily” as the “new man” is growing daily. And what has become of sin in the life of God’s elect?

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [“crucified with Christ”], we shall be also [ living] in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

If Christ is in us we “no longer serve sin.” Why should we not serve sin?

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for [ Greek – because] ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Read about the ‘verb’ part of grace in that law article. According to the entirety of the New Testament, “grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness…” (Tit 2:11-12).

Now that verse about “where sin abound grace does much more abound” makes a lot more sense. In other words, ‘when we continue to sin, God’s chastening grace will “much more abound.” God being God, He will always win that battle. We will never out sin God’s fiery, chastening grace. As I say in that paper, ‘The lake of fire is the greatest single act of grace in the history of the world. “By grace are ye [ all men of all ages] saved…”

Paul drives this point home in this sixth chapter of Romans. For the third and fourth times in this one chapter he reiterates that sin no longer dominates the life of a believer:

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

And again:

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.

How few people believe these scriptures. Most ministers deny their veracity. Nevertheless…

Rom 3:4 Let God be true, but every man a liar…

Again, thanks for pointing out that typo. I hope this helps you to see the function of grace in the lives of God’s elect.

Life really does come only ‘out of ‘ and “through death.”

Mike