The Book of Hosea – Part 8, Hos 8:1-14

[Study Aired June 1, 2024]

The Bible is a highly detailed book chronicling fleshy man, the epitome of God’s creation and His spiritual recreation. God, the Father, the “I Am”, is the paragon of purity in everything. His plan is to replicate Himself. In doing so, the order of headship and His sovereignty are designed to be repeatedly challenged by mankind in wave after wave of crushing humiliation for him to come to the point of utter submission to Christ, his head, and the Father’s crowning supremacy over all.

Integral with the chronology of mankind is the identity of two men, beginning with the carnal Adam and the evolving new creation of the spiritual Adam termed the “new man.” That ‘new Adam’ is the recreated consummate image of God. 

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness [meaning flesh likeness lacking the vital spiritual]: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man [“the sum of His word” – is creating man] in his own image, in the image of God created [is creating as an ongoing process for one of the two resurrections] he him; male and female created he them.

Mankind’s passage to becoming God and his individualised experience of a mighty spiritual “earthquake” in his time and order of conversion is subsequently experienced in a cascade of tumultuous fiery trials. Yet, just like the large ‘stumbling block’ rock, Christ is in the middle of the stream of mankind, that initial ‘rock’s’ wave is massive and rebounds in decreasing amplitude as the water continues downstream. Such is the pictorial of mankind’s turbulent course to becoming peacefully one with God.

Following is a very broad scriptural summary of this introduction.

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

Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

Isa 43:11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 

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

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Intrinsic with two men representing mankind are two women representing two sequentially espoused covenants. A woman represents a church or a number of churches. A church is where the inception of the holy spirit begins and develops in the laity. Entirely in keeping with the plan of God in creating Himself with mankind, the first corruptible fleshy pattern is designed to decay and dustily blow away and is represented by the first espoused woman, Israel, to Elohim, meaning Christ of the Old Covenant. The new wife of Christ has nothing spiritually to do with the first woman, only with her historical residual indecency slowly ‘cascading’ out of her in the increasingly peaceful waters of the Lord’s spirit.

However, in the meantime, that ‘new woman’ is known as Christ’s Bride. As is the natural proclivity of those with eyes to see, a beautiful couple in courtship and marriage has all eyes on the Bride, who, most imminently, has her similarly single-eyed focus on her Husband.

Jer 31:20  Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. 
Jer 31:21  Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 
Jer 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath [is creating] created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Jer 31:23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.

Since a woman represents a church espoused to her Lord, her inherent inability to submit to her espousal agreement, the Old Covenant, lies in lockstep with the Covenant’s designed “fault” of her not having the holy spirit that would have empowered her submission. She is in vowed espousal Covenant agreement, and thus Israel encompasses Christ, the “man”, to his glory. Since the Temple in Jerusalem is central geographically to all Israel, she encompasses her Lord and King, and he covers her in order of headship under Christ.

1Co 11:7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
1Co 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 
1Co 11:10  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

Her inbuilt fleshy ‘fault’ in not having the holy spirit and wavering submission to her Husband results in her reaping a whirlwind, a seemingly endless tempest of trials. The Bride she is to become in the ‘second woman’ historically knows from where she has come and, with the holy spirit, is able, by her Lord’s strength and faith, is symbolically carried aloft in an Ezekiel-like fiery chariot, impervious to its heat and terrible smoke of her former burning.

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 
Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

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

Gen 50:19  And Joseph [speaking to his fearful brothers, the embryonic Israel] said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? [Nonetheless, Joseph profoundly represents God to eventually save all of mankind] 
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Since the cross, the second woman, the Bride of Christ, has been comforted by her Lord’s spirit, which she now hears and sees for an increasingly easier passage through the stormy and fiery trials. In the meantime, Israel, except somewhat paradoxically for much later Job, laboriously suffers fiery trials that are frustratingly impossible for the flesh to avoid. Hosea 8:1-14 continues with her “cascade” of trials that we seemingly endlessly mirror spiritually.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

Hos 8:1  Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

I have a great passion for raptors of any kind. Any ‘hawker’ or ‘falconer’ knows that he can train, not without risk, his particular raptor to attack prey he’s not accustomed to taking in the wild. It is common in Eurasian countries to train Stepp and Golden Eagles to hunt wolves and larger deer than usual. Even in Australia, our Wedge-tailed Eagle can take down kangaroos by cunningly, with two birds, administering successive blows to the ‘roo’s’ head, rendering it bloody and senseless. Such is Satan ‘trained’ by God specifically as a murderer from the beginning by God to be “an eagle, an “unclean fowl”, against the house of the Lord”.

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 
Job 26:14  Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? 

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away [like an eagle] that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

An eagle doesn’t take a ‘dicky-bird’ like pecking at spiritually sown seed; he bodily steals away the entire animal! So it was with Israel, whom the Lord subsequently took captive, and later, Judah, the entire Beast. If we, too, don’t hear the Lord’s trumpet, even a murmuration (massive wheeling flock) of invasive starling-like evil spirits voraciously descend to eat every exposed spiritual seed by a figurative ‘death by a million “terrible and dreadful” cuts.’

Hab 1:6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 
Hab 1:7  They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity [self-elevation] shall proceed of themselves.
Hab 1:8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

For the past two-thousand years, the joints of Christ’s scattered Bride have been similarly taken away bodily by an eagle to be protected from succumbing to the multiple evil fowl attacks and endure, with growing joy, her chastisements.

Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Just as the Great Whore is made unwittingly “bald” by her haughty disdain for her Lord’s headship, Israel metaphorically, physically, and decreasingly we spiritually, can be plucked bald of Christ’s covering before he picks the flesh from our bones as we cry uselessly to God.

Mic 1:16  Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Hos 8:2  Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Hos 8:3  Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. 

As Israel typifies, when our barns are bulging and life is rich and well-fed, we easily forget our past with the subconsciousness that Christ is pleased with our lives. We blithely dance off to dissipate our lives in wine, women, and song, only to prodigally return with cap in hand to our incredibly patient and gracious Father (Luk 15:11-32).

Hos 8:4  They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

Of course, the most outstanding “king” is the Beast within, sitting on God’s throne, having stolen the Lord’s gold and silver and claimed the holy wealth of his word as his own spiritual righteousness.

Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isa 60:17  For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 
2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
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?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way [Hosea 8:4 “… that they may be cut off”].
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed [you and me “in his time”], whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Hos 8:5  Thy calf [H5695/H5696], O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?

Calf H5695/H5696 – 1. Round and reminiscent previously, we saw in Jer 31:21: Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.

Jer 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath [is creating] created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

Similarly, the woman encompassing another Jesus is us when we surround the golden calf of our idols.

Another signification is the future woman who now is encompassing mankind and enigmatically “black” to understanding, is the Shulamite, the Bride of Christ. She is the antiphrasis of a harlot in the following verses, even as an eagle in the air to positively pluck bald the “adulterous woman” her Babylonian brothers and sisters feigned innocence prior to and in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Pro 30:19  The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 
Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Hos 8:6  For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria [Israel in the north] shall be broken in pieces. 
Hos 8:7  For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

If anyone has experienced a powerful thermal urbanely called a “dust devil” or whirlwind while on foot, he would have marvelled at its buffeting strength. We can well imagine trying to sow seed as the ancients did by hand and how the seed would be violently carried aloft and scattered uselessly far and wide. Such are we when we speak great swelling words of carnal intelligence devoid of spiritual understanding carried away to land on stranger’s ears equally dull of hearing. 

Hos 8:8  Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. 

The contrasting vessel the Gentiles will most fearfully come to know is Christ’s Wife in whom He finds immense pleasure. She was in her flesh the weaker vessel who is given to grow into a stunningly beautiful woman of equal righteousness as her Husband. She is the chosen heavenly vessel administering to the Tabernacle.

1Pe 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Heb 9:21  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 

Hos 8:9  For they [Israel] are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

A wild Ass is a Donkey not as powerful as a Mule, which is a male Donkey crossed with a female horse. So, Israel is depicted as many scattered and untamed Donkeys bucking and contending with his capture and forcibly made to carry the burdens of his former “lovers”, the Assyrians. 

Hos 8:10  Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. 

Outwardly today, our Babylonian brothers and sisters, having built a tower of intellectual and religious wisdom, are fattened for the coming slaughter of the Beast turning against the Great Whore. Her coming tribulations and woes are soon coming without the peace of wisdom and understanding of God’s word, and she will find the hour a most harrowing experience. Our individualised chastisements are thankfully understood, and even though grievous for a while, we find joy in their conclusion, knowing that they bring forth Christ’s gold.

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
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.

Hos 8:11  Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Hos 8:12  I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
Hos 8:13  They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 

Jer 16:13  Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour. 

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 

Hos 8:14  For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

Multiple ‘fenced cities’ are our fading obstinate belief in our own righteousness. Heedlessly for the world destined to be ruled with the rod of iron, and upon Satan’s release from prison, fire will likewise descend upon Gog’s and Magog’s cities and her palaces utterly devoured upon them, contesting the camp of the Saints of God.

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. 

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls. 

However, in the meantime, perilous times are increasing day by day. We, the “weaker vessel” (1Pe 3:7) to our Husband, will not permit suffering beyond our endurance as He continues to strengthen our single-eyed focus on Him. Though we could physically decease, not one hair of His covering of the glory He is giving us will perish if we continue to the end in the paradoxical joyful endurance of chastisement (Heb 12:7, Jas 5:11, Mat 24:13).

Even though some in the world could be shocked literally to death at Christ’s outward coming, and notably maybe those who tasted but scorned the heavenly gift, His spiritual  “brightness” will be minimal since that time is reserved for the Lake of Fire that burns with a fierce brightness. The Father is hastening that day to the point that Christ’s outward coming will surprise even His Bride.

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:

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 

In the meantime, Christ’s Christs wait patiently for that glorious hour.

Audio Links

Cain and Abel

April 20th 2015

by Steven Crook

We know that Adam was created by the Lord and then placed in the garden of Eden to tend it. Adam was also given the job of naming all of the animals.

As Adam was naming the animals, he noticed they each had a partner. Adam desired a partner, so the Lord created Eve out of Adam’s flesh and bone to become Adam’s wife.

I am going to cover Adam and Eve’s first two sons, Cain and Abel.

We are going to read about these two sons and then talk about why someone so old, who is dead and gone, is so important to us today.

“Two Sons”

The story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4.  I am going to be reading from the contemporary English verison.

Gen 4:1  Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I’ll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the LORD.”
Gen 4:2  Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land.
Gen 4:3  One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the LORD,
Gen 4:4  and Abel also gave an offering to the LORD. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the LORD the best parts of it. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering,
Gen 4:5  but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.
Gen 4:6  The LORD said to Cain: What’s wrong with you? Why do you have such an angry look on your face?
Gen 4:7  If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don’t let it!
Gen 4:8  Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go for a walk.” And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him.
Gen 4:9  Afterwards the LORD asked Cain, “Where is Abel?” “How should I know?” he answered. “Am I supposed to look after my brother?”
Gen 4:10  Then the LORD said: Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you.
Gen 4:11  And so, I’ll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again.
Gen 4:12  If you try to farm the land, it won’t produce anything for you. From now on, you’ll be without a home, and you’ll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.
Gen 4:13  “This punishment is too hard!” Cain said.
Gen 4:14  “You’re making me leave my home and live far from you. I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me.”
Gen 4:15  “No!” the LORD answered. “Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you.” So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him.
Gen 4:16  But Cain had to go far from the LORD and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden.

There are a lot of things I have said in this story, so I am going to break them down into small parts and point a few things out, then after pointing a few things out, we will talk about them.

When Adam and Eve were kicked out for eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam was told that he would have to sweat to produce food from the ground for him to eat.

Gen 3:17  The LORD said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree. And so, the ground will be under a curse because of what you did. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food.
Gen 3:18  Your food will be plants, but the ground will produce thorns and thistles.
Gen 3:19  You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil.”
Gen 3:20  The man Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all who live.

Did you notice that Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd? It may not seem like a big deal, but God gave different jobs to the two sons coming from Adam and Eve. The first son, Cain, would do what his father Adam did, but the second son, Abel, would be given a completely different job.

What was Cain’s job? He was a farmer. What was Abel’s job? He took care of the animals.

Do you think it is important to God when He gives us jobs to do, that we do those jobs as God wants us to do them? Yes!

With Cain and Abel, the Lord gave them instructions to make a sacrifice to Him. With Cain’s sacrifice God was not pleased, but with Abel’s sacrifice God was pleased.

Because the Lord was not pleased with Cain’s offering, Cain became very angry and eventually became so angry he killed his own brother.

Here is a big lesson to take away from the study today, and it is that in all of the bible, in all of the stories, even if you don’t know how this can be true in every story, there are always TWO men being talked about.

Does anyone know who the two men might be?

The two men always talked about are just like Cain and Abel, except they are discussed with different names. Those names are the “first man Adam” and the “second man Adam.”

Those might seem like really strange names, but let’s look at some of the other parts of the bible to see if we can understand this better.

1Co 15:44  As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.
1Co 15:45  The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.
1Co 15:46  We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body.
1Co 15:47  The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven.
1Co 15:48  Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.
1Co 15:49  Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.

In the entire bible, we have things which are called types and shadows. These types are things which are like one another.

What is a shadow like?

A shadow is similar to what makes the shadow, but isn’t the thing itself. For example, if I am standing with the sun above me, then a shadow of me is made on the ground. The shadow looks like my shape, but isn’t me.

So, when we talk about types and shadows, we are talking about items which are like the main thing we are talking about. A shadow is like me but isn’t me.

When we talk about the old man Adam and the new man Adam, and also talk about Cain and Abel, we can see that the old man Adam is like Cain, and the new man Adam is like Abel.

How are they alike?

Cain was the first son born to Adam and Eve. Cain was also someone that worked with the ground. Cain worked with the earth. Cain thought he could make something with his own hands and his own works and please God with it, but that did not please God.

This is how Cain is like the old man Adam.

Abel is the second born to Adam and Eve. Abel worked as a shepherd and not as a farmer, so he worked with beasts. He protected them and provided for them. When Abel needed to make an offering for the Lord, he gave the best offering he had, and it pleased God.

Abel was not able to work with his hands to produce this for God but was completely relying on God to make the beasts under his care grow big and strong.

Cain is like the first man Adam, and Abel is like the second man Adam.

What did Cain do to Abel?

The old man Adam has being killing the new man Adam since the very first brothers.

In fact, does anyone know what Abel means in Hebrew?

Abel means “breath.” Where does your breath come from?

Now, I am going to ask a question that isn’t meant to make anyone feel badly, but I want to ask you why Jesus died?

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world!

1Jn 2:1  My children, I am writing this so that you won’t sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.
1Jn 2:2  Christ is the sacrifice (ATONEMENT) that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people.

What happened to Abel? He was killed by Cain, so just like Cain, who is a type of the old man, we, too, kill Jesus because we sin. However, God loves us so much that He made Jesus an atonement. He made Jesus a sacrifice, so we can be brought back to being able to be in the family with God.

When Abel was killed by Cain, Cain was marked and told He had to also wander around to live place to place. When Abel died, Adam and Eve were given a NEW SON to be in the place of Abel.

That son’s name was Seth.

Gen 4:25  Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, “God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain.”
Gen 4:26  Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the LORD.

What the story of Cain and Abel teaches us is that even though we can do something horrible like murder, God is going to redeem us. The Lord has made a way for all of humanity to be brought back to being family with Him.

Does anyone know who Noah’s family came from? Did Noah’s family come from Cain’s family or from Seth’s family?

They came from Seth’s family. The only people to survive the great flood all came from Seth’s family.

So the Lord has a big plan that will make sure that all of mankind will be brought back to God’s family, in a new body and as the new man Adam.

Greetings,

Thank you so much, and I really enjoyed your writings…… and you are truly gifted!

The thought of all people being saved, the Jews and the Gentiles, thrilled my heart! My only question is regarding those that are mentioned as the seed of Satan. And, Jesus said that Judas (the betrayer) was a devil. How did Satan get seed?

I know you are busy, swamped, and any comment would be great! If not, I understand!

I pray for a hedge of protection over you and your family! May God bless you indeed!

In Christ’s mighty Name, I pray, Amen!

Thank you,

C____

Hi again C____,

The “seed of the serpent” and “of your father the devil” are spiritual statements which have nothing to do with spirits having sex with women. All men are “in Adam.”

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

Eve is the mother of “all living.”

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Being the “seed of the serpent” has to do with “who you yield yourselves to obey.” Christ admits that the Jews of His day were “Abraham’s seed,” yet in the same breath, He tells them that “Ye are of your father the Devil.”

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

There is a world of difference between “believing on Christ” and “continuing in His Word.” As it is to this day, it is “those… which believe on Christ” who still seek to kill God’s elect. As you become aware of God’s Truth, as you stand for God’s Truth, you will find that you, too, will be persecuted for doing good:

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Now let’s continue on with what Christ said of “those Jews which believed on Him:“

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [ even] God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye can not hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What makes one a son of the devil has nothing to do with physical begetting or physical birth. It was “Abraham’s seed” who Christ says are “of their father the devil.” What made them “of their father the devil? “Ye do the deeds of your father.” And again: “the lusts of your father ye will do.” That is what constitutes the “seed of the serpent” and makes one “of your father the devil.” Being “the seed of the woman” or “of Abraham” likewise has to do with “doing the works of Abraham.” It is all spiritual. It has nothing to do with physical descent. All are of Adam, and Eve is the mother of all living.

Be sure to read the letter already posted entitled Fallen Angels, Spirits In Prison, and The Woman And Manchild of Rev 12.

And another letter on this subject is entitled Why Cain’s Offering Was Not Accepted.

I hope this answers your question.

Mike

Mike,
Please clarify the seeming contradiction:

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

Thanks,
J____

Hi J____,

Thank you for your question concerning what may appear to be a contradiction in the word.
You compare these two verses of scripture which appear to be contrary to each other:

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

I understand how we all struggle to understand what appears to us sometimes to be contradictions within the word of God.
In this case Rom 12:3 speaks to “every man that is among you”. “You” refers to those in the church of Rome to whom this epistle is addressed.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man [“among you” Roman Christians] the measure of faith.

Now let’s notice with whom that verse in 2 Thessalonians is concerned:

2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

So there it is. No, all men do not have faith. Rom 12:3 is addressed to the saints in the church of Rome who have all been granted a “measure of faith”, and 2Th 3:2 is speaking of an entirely different group of “unreasonable and wicked men” who “have not faith”.
I hope this helps to clear this up for you.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Mike,

Can you please explain 2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

Thank You!

J____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask about the meaning of:

2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

What is being said is that our “old… natural man” sees and understands the dying process as something to avoid at all cost. Christ’s words “He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it” to our “old… natural man” stink to high heaven, whereas those in whom the spirit of Christ dwells receive His words as “a sweet savor of Christ”.
To understand this verse it really helps to read the next verse:

2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

“To the one we are the savour of death unto death” is speaking of our ‘old man… the first man Adam’.

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.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Our ‘old man’ does not want to die. Dying to our ‘old man’ is his destruction, and he abhors his own destruction.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Most churches, to this very day, teach that we are resurrected in bodily flesh and blood, which they will tell you is also eternal spirit. That is a lie which contradicts everything Christ and the apostles taught:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The reason God’s Words are so little understood is that “the things of the spirit” are counter- intuitive to our natural man. After all, who wants to die? Yet Christ tells us all in very plain language that we must die in order to enter into life:

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

Those words to any natural person are simply contradictory, and anyone who believes the words of our Lord will, by the natural man, be accused of believing in contradictions. It has always been so, and as long as there is flesh upon this earth, it will continue to be so. “The natural man receives not the things of the spirit…”

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

“He cannot know the things of the spirit because they are spiritually discerned”. Now if we are granted to believe and understand those words we should now be able to understand and believe the words of 2Co 2 of which you inquire. Let’s read it with the next verse:

2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The person who considers you and I to be the smell of death will avoid us and our doctrine, and will cast us out of their synagogues. On the other hand if we are the smell of life, we will be received, and our words will be received. Here is how the one unto whom “we are the savor of death unto death” will treat us:

Mat 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

So the answer to your question is that when anyone “listens diligently to the voice of the Lord” (Exo 15:26), and stands on the words of Christ, and walks where Christ walked, that person will be “hated of all men” and their names shall be “cast out as evil”.

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Notice that Christ did not say they would bring you before their ‘juries’ or any kind of secular court. The word ‘councils’ is the Hebrew word, ‘Sanhedrin’ meaning religious courts. In other words, the people who will be our persecutors will be the religious leaders of every generation, just as it was with Christ.

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.

I hope all these verses help you to see that the answer to your question is that we are the savor of death to the religious establishment in every generation, and we are the savor of life to those who are given to receive the words of Christ in every generation.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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

I came across your website in pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ. I understand that your organization believes a radical view of salvation different from the traditional teachings of Christianity.
Please clarify for me. The unrepentant sinner and those who have asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior (Sinner’s Prayer) will share the same mercy and grace throughout eternity? There is no hell? No lake of fire and torment? We will live blissfully beside Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and all who do not accept Christ’s salvation?

Regards,
J_____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask:

The unrepentant sinner and those who have asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior (Sinner’s Prayer) will share the same mercy and grace throughout eternity? There is no hell? No lake of fire and torment? We will live blissfully beside Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and all who do not accept Christ’s salvation?

Your question echoes the fact that you have read very little of our website. The scriptures teach that there will be no “Muslims, Buddhists, or Atheists” in the kingdom of God, and what is written on iswasandwillbe. com makes that Biblical doctrine very clear. Sin is common to all mankind, whether Muslim, Buddhist, or Atheists, and yet we are clearly told:

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

But 1Co 6:9 is not “the sum of God’s Word concerning the fate of “mankind”, and Truth on any subject is found only in “the sum of thy Word”.

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

It is my prayer that “the sum of God’s Word” is granted to be of more value to you than the sum of those who dismiss God’s Word, simply because so few supposed ‘great men of God’ accept “the sum” of God’s Word.
Since it is manifestly made clear that “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind… shall inherit the kingdom of God”, and since it is equally clear that we “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, it should be amply clear that God has provided a way to change all those sinful characteristics and provide “a propitiation for our sins, but not for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world”. And that is what the scriptures actually teach from Genesis to Revelation.

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [ sin].

This is the simple truth of the entire Bible:

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

The first “all” is ” as“, or ‘in the same manner as’ the second “all”. “For as in Adam… even so in Christ…” That is what Christ, and all of His apostles taught. That is indeed “gospel”, or ‘good news’, for all mankind!
So let’s ask the simple question, “How did we all come to be ‘in Adam’?” How that was accomplished is the manner in which we will all came to be “in Christ”. ” Even so in Christ will all be made alive”.
We certainly were not given the option of being “in Adam”, and neither are we given the option of accepting Christ. The Bible is very clear on this question. God is working all things after the counsel of His own will. Not just the good and righteous things, but “all things”, and He is doing so in a way that will “through your mercy” give mercy to all who are “in unbelief”.

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

God either “shows mercy” or “He hardens”.

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Why would God “harden” anyone? We have just been informed that “it is not of him that willeth… but of God” who either shows mercy or hardens our hearts. The answer is that God, according to His Word, is in the process of making all mankind in His image and after His likeness, and He is doing so incrementally in a three step process, “every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those that are Christ’s at His coming, and then comes [ the harvest of all the rest of mankind at] the end [ when] death [ itself] will be destroyed and God will be All in all” (1Co 15:22-28).
So all those “Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and all who do not accept Christ’s salvation” “will suffer [ the] loss” of being “Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and rejecting Christ’s salvation” “but he himself shall be saved… by fire“. That is what the scriptures teach concerning the fate of all mankind. The fire of God’s Word will destroy our old man, ‘yet we ourselves will be saved… by that very same fire’. So the prophecy we were given in Gen 4 is confirmed in the New Testament.

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [ sin].

This web site teaches that there is a “lake of fire”, but it is noted that this is a ‘lake’. It is not the ‘sea’ which is the symbol for the masses who are to be purified in this ‘lake’.

Mat 22:14 For many [ the sea of mankind at this time] are called, but few [ the little lake of fire] are chosen.

It is also noted that this “lake of fire appears on the scene at the same time as something called “a great white throne”. It is not a ‘black throne’, it is a “white throne”, because it is “as by fire… [ that] all mankind… shall be saved”.
Here is the scripture that tells this Truth to all who have been granted “eyes that see and ears that hear… the things of the spirit”:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work [ Every Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist and all who reject Christ] 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 [ Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist and all who reject Christ] , he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

I simply read those words to a lady at one time, and her response was “That’s your opinion!” That is not simply my opinion, that is the Truth of the Word of God, as are all these next verses of scripture:

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

This is not some wistful desire on God’s part. What God wants God gets:

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

So if God “will have all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the Truth” then He “will do all [ His] pleasure”, and all the doctrines of men to the contrary will not stop Him.
When all these Christ- rejecting groups you mentioned, “come unto the knowledge of the Truth”, they will no longer be Muslims, Buddhists or Atheists, and they will no longer reject Christ. God can and God will “have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth”, through the sufferings of the Christ within them all “each in his own order”. That is the function of “the lake of fire”. The lake of fire destroys death and the grave.

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

I quoted 1Co 15:22 above. Now let’s read that verse again and notice the very next verse of 1Co 15:

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 first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming [“a kind of firstfruits”, Jas 1:18] .
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end [ the later harvest of the fruit, “at the end of the year” seven weeks after the feast of the “firstfruits of [ the] wheat harvest”], 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.
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.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

We are not begotten of our own will, but “of His own will begat He us”.
Any farmer knows that there are, “in… order”, three harvests in every year. There is a spring, a summer and a fall harvest. The fall harvest was the harvest at “the end of the year”. That is what the apostle Paul means when he tells us:

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

How are ‘all… in Adam’ going to 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.

That covers the first two ‘firstfruit’ harvests. Christ is the harvest of firstfruits of the barley, but the firstfruits of the wheat must also be harvested 50 days later. That is why the New Testament church had to be founded on ‘Pentecost’, which is Greek for ‘count fifty’ or seven weeks and one day. “Christ, the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” takes care of the first two harvests. But the huge harvest of “all in Adam” comes “in his own order… at the end of the year”.

Exo 34:18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep [ Christ, the first of the firstfruits]. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Exo 34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

So there they are “each in his own order”. There are three harvests, two which are referred to as “a kind of firstfruits” and one “at the end of the year”.

1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end [ the later harvest of the fruit, “at the end of the year”] 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.

James does not say ‘We of our own free will chose Christ’, rather he tells us the same thing Christ told His disciples:

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [ Greek – ‘drag’, like Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

So there is no Biblical doctrine of ‘free will’, even a so- called ‘free will offering’ is, according to “the sum of God’s Word” (Psa 119:160) explained as being “from the Lord”.

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man [ man’s will], and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

So God “prepares our heart” to “both will… and do… His good pleasure”. Sure, we all must “Work out [ our] own salvation”, but why do we do so? Do we do so because we “freely choose” to do so? What is Christ’s doctrine on the subject of mankind’s will? Here it is for all who are given eyes to see and ears to hear… the mysteries of the kingdom of God” (Mat 13:10-16)

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

There it is in very clear words. God works in us “both to will and to do… His good pleasure”, God either “shows mercy” to those who He is saving at this time, or he hardens them at this time. That is how He “works in us… to will…” But those who are not at this time being saved will later, at another harvest “at the end of the year”, after being “tried by fire” and having “the preparations of their heart” prepared to repent of their Muslim, Buddhist, Atheistic and Christ- rejecting” ways, “they also may receive mercy… through your mercy”.

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.

The church of Christ’s time is the type and shadow of the apostate harlot church of all time. It was and it is “those Jews that believed on [ Christ]” who wanted to kill Him”. It is the same to this very day. If Christ were here teaching His Mat 5-7 gospel today, and He is doing just that in those who are being persecuted for saying what He said, He would again be crucified by “those [ Christians] who believe on Him”.

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

As at that time, multitudes today believe on Christ and are His disciples, but very few are His “disciples indeed” who “continue in His Word”.

Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye [ Jews that believe on me] seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

“You cannot hear my word”. Hearing Christ and coming to His Father has nothing to do with any man’s will. It has only to do with those who God gives ‘eyes that see and ears that hear’. Here are Christ’s own words, concerning who was and who was not given eyes to see and ears to hear. Contrary to all orthodox teaching, here is why Christ spoke in parables:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given [ to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven].
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

No one can understand, see or hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, unless God drags them to Himself totally independent of their own will.

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

So the doctrine of Christ is that you and I are clay in His hands (Jer 18:4), and He is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” [Eph 1:11], and He is ‘working in us both to will and to do… His good pleasure” (Php 2:13), and He is doing ‘all His pleasure’ [Isa 46:10], and it is God Himself who has given us “an experience of evil” and has “made us to err” and has made “even the wicked for the day of evil” within each of us. So all the sins of all mankind of all time simply demonstrate that flesh was designed by God to be sinful and to be destroyed and replaced by “a spiritual body” for all who are “in Adam”.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens:it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
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.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [ not exclusively] of those that believe.

Like any loving father, our heavenly Father simply wants us to learn to be humble and to repent of the evil that He “made us to” do, That is the purpose for ‘giving us an experience of evil’. He did not put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the very middle of the Garden of Eden hoping against hope that man would not eat of it. He knew man would eat of it because “the vessel of clay that he made was marred in [ His] hand”, and was simply incapable of avoiding sinful temptations. That is why He put it there. That is why we are told that our calling was given us “in Christ, before the world began”.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Christ simply doesn’t intend for the masses of those who come to him to hear his parables and His words of life to understand those words at this time. That is why Christ spoke in parables. He did NOT speak in parables to ‘make his meaning clearer’, rather He did so “because… it is not given to [ the “multitudes” of Christians] to understand the mysteries of the kingdom” at this time. At this time “Many are called but few are chosen”.
Out of all the tens of thousands of “those Jews which believed on Him”, there were only 120 on the day of Pentecost who were ‘chosen’ to receive His spirit, and His mind. The church was given a time of great physical miracles which, following the resurrection of Lazarus, Christ Himself and “many saints after His resurrection”, served to establish the legitimacy of Christ’s church. But as it always has done, it soon fell victim to false prophets and apostasy.

2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Even some of Paul most trusted “fellow laborers” had forsaken him.

2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
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.

This apostasy was not just noted by Paul. John knew well what Paul was experiencing. The book of Revelation is addressed in symbolism to “the seven churches of Asia”, the very churches which had “all forsaken” the apostle Paul.

3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

“Diotrephes… casts them out of the church”. That is just how complete was the apostasy of the church before the apostles were all dead, and in the same epistle which chronicles the apostasy of “all they which are in Asia, we are told that this would continue:

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

So the Protestant Reformation notwithstanding, the deception has only gotten worse, as Martin Luther warred with and killed Catholics who were killing Protestants, and Calvin murdered Michael Servetus, burning him alive at the stake. And these men are to this very day counted as ‘great men of God’, even as they demonstrated that Christ’s words “had no place in them”.
Nevertheless, Christ is the propitiation for all men, and through the fire of the lake of fire, the most depraved men will one day be caused to confess Christ, repent of rejecting Him and His words, and will be brought by God to repent of being ” Muslims, Buddhists, and Atheists.
I hope all these plain statements from the Word of God help you to see what is in God’s Word concerning the true prayer of all sinners, and the predestined salvation of “all who are in Adam”.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
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.

Your brother who suffers reproach because I “trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men…”

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Mike

Wendover, England
September 4th, 2011
Study Topic: How We Can Live by Every Word of God by Mike Vinson

Video | Audio

Bible Study Notes

After fasting for forty days the adversary tempted Christ to turn stones into bread. Christ responded by telling us all:

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.

Considering the well-known fact that much of the words which proceed out of the mouth of God throughout the scriptures concern the curses for disobedience and the fury of God’s wrath upon all of the unrighteousness and ungodliness of mankind, we need to know how it is possible for us to keep all of those very negative words and still be able to claim the blessings which are promised to all who are granted to be a part of the body of Christ in this age.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

How is it remotely possible to distinguish between the curses which are promised to the wicked versus the blessings which are promised to the righteous and still maintain that “all things are ours”?

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

We will today demonstrate with the scriptures how this is accomplished in the life of God’s elect, here and now, and how, in God’s own time, this will be accomplished in the life of every man of all time. First let us ask a few more questions about certain scriptures which seem to be completely contradictory.

Just how is it possible, for example, to ‘believe on Christ and never die’ and still be able to say “I am crucified with Christ”. How is that accomplished?

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

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.

Christ told the Pharisees:

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.

Yet he told his disciples this:

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

How do we live a life which confesses that we are blind and also claim to have eyes which have been blessed to see?

Finally, how is it possible to both ‘lose your life’ and thereby ‘find it’???

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

This is no great mystery at all for those who have indeed been given eyes to see and ears to hear. Nevertheless, most Christians who claim to have those ‘eyes that see and ears that hear’ cannot understand how we can read and claim that “we are not appointed unto wrath”, and at the same time say that we are the temple of God, and we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and must keep the things which are written in the book of Revelation.

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.

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

“Jesus… delivered us from the wrath to come”, and “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”. Yet we are told this also:

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

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

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

We want to “enter into the temple”, and we are told: “Jesus… delivered us from the wrath to come”, and “God has not appointed us to wrath”. Yet we are also told “No man is able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels… full of the wrath of God… were fulfilled.”

These are total contradictions to our natural man. “They are foolishness to him” (1Co 2:14). These apparent contradictions have caused many, who perceive themselves as having spiritual eyes and ears and who think of themselves as able to see and understand spiritual matters, to nevertheless deny that the words ‘man… shall… live… by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ actually mean what they say. These Christians who seem to understand so much, simply are not yet granted to understand how it is possible to read 1Thessalonians 1:10 and 1Thessalonians 5:9 and still confess that they must live by every word of God, including the words referring to His wrath, and confess that they cannot enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels has been fulfilled and kept in their lives. They cannot agree with the apostle that “things present and things to come are ours”. At this point they begin to twist God’s word to say ‘We deserve the wrath of God’, and ‘We deserve to be children of wrath’, inferring that though we ‘deserve it’, it will never ever come anywhere near God’s elect.

In the end they prove themselves to be “unlearned and unstable”, and they find themselves adding words to the word of God, and “wresting” the words of the apostles, “as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction”.

2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

So while the ‘mind of the spirit’ is given to understand “the things of the spirit”, those “things of the spirit” are nothing less than foolishness and contradictions to the “unlearned and unstable”, who simply don’t like what the scriptures reveal to be the truth.

“Two men… the first man Adam… the last Adam”

There is a principle of “two men” – the first man Adam” and “the last Adam” – which we find throughout scripture. It is this principle which clarifies every single verse which seems to contradict any other verse of scripture. So what the scriptures teach literally, from Genesis to Revelation, and what we are saying, is that our “first Adam”, our “old man”, has indeed repeatedly been tempted beyond what he could resist. What the scriptures teach and what we are saying is that God’s faithfulness is not promised to save our old man. Our old man is indeed doomed. That is what he is promised. He is not told that God will deliver him from the wrath to come. He is nowhere told that he cannot escape the wages of sin, he has utterly failed, and he will be utterly destroyed by the fire of our Lord’s wrath which will come upon all the unrighteous and ungodly works of our old man.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Do we really think that our “old man”, our “first man Adam”, with all of His unrighteousness and ungodliness, will escape “the wine cup of the wrath of God”? We will come back to these verses, but let’s look at them here. Here is what God has to say to all who cannot understand this “two men” principle as it is applied to all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, including your old man and my old man.

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

What the scriptures are teaching us is that it is through that failure and destruction and death of our old man, that our new man is born.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his [old man, first Adam] life shall lose it: and he that loseth his [old man, first Adam] life for my sake shall find it.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, [and through “the seven plagues of the seven angels” (Rev 15:8)] 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;
Heb 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So it is through the death and destruction of our old man that our new man will ‘endure to the end’ and ‘will not be tempted above what he can bear’ and is not appointed to wrath’. It is through God’s wrath upon “all the unrighteousness and ungodliness” of our old man, and through his destruction, that our new man is not be appointed to wrath and will be given salvation.

It is the old man, our old man, who most assuredly will not endure to the end because he is but sinful flesh and blood which was never designed to endure to the end, and it is that carnal, old man who “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. That is who is destroyed in the fire of the wrath of God.

Eze 21:31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

The scriptures teach that it is through the destruction of our old man that our new man is created. That is what “He that loses his life will find it” means. It is only our new man who is not appointed to the wrath of God which has been poured out upon all of the unrighteousness and ungodliness of our old man who is appointed to this destruction. Here are “the things which are written” on this subject:

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

Is this verse not speaking of you and of me? Is it someone else who is “made to be destroyed”? Or is this not speaking of our own old “brute beast”? Our own “first man Adam”?

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

This “two men” principle is one of those “things of the spirit” which are ‘foolishness to our ‘natural man’, our “old man”, our “first man Adam”.

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” What is it that is “freely given to us of God”? Do we even want what is “freely given to us of God”? Do we really? We need to be careful what we ask for, and we need to “count the cost” before we “take up our cross”.

Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

The cost of being Christ’s disciple simply does not compute in the mind of the natural man, our “first man Adam”. For example, here is what we are “freely given… of God”:

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

Let’s go back now to Luke 14 and look at what it means to ‘bear our cross and follow after Christ’.

Luk 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

There it is! That is “the cost”. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” In other words, God demands wholehearted service to Himself or we are not worthy to be His disciples.

Matthew’s account of this statement demonstrates that “hate not his father and mother” means ‘love them less than Me’. Here is that verse:

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

So, what else is “freely given us of God”? Luke 14 doesn’t really sound like we have been delivered from the wrath to come at all. That sounds more like a guarantee of much more ‘wrath to come’.

When are those “seven plagues of the seven angels” to be fulfilled, so we can “enter into the temple”? Is that also “freely given to us of God”? Are Revelation 15 and 16, which speak of filling up the wrath of God, part of “the things which are written therein” which we are enjoined to “read… hear and keep”? You “try the spirits”, and you decide.

We mentioned these verses earlier, but here they are again because these verses show us a little more of what is “freely given to us of God”. As it turns out, there is nothing which is not freely given to us of God:

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;

“The world… death… things present, or things to come: all things are yours”. So what happened to “you are not of the world”?

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.

“All things… to come are ours”? What about that promise that we have been “delivered from the wrath to come”?

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

“Death… is ours”? Did not Christ promise to Martha, “Whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die”?

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The spirit of Christ sees no contradictions here at all, and those who have “the spirit of Christ” have no problem with anything being said in any of these verses. The reason for that is that the spirit and mind of Christ knows instinctively when that spirit is referring to our old man, “the first man Adam”, and when that spirit is referring to our new man, “the last Adam”.

It is based upon this ‘two Adam’ principle that another principle operates when we are reading the Word of God. That other principle is “the sum of thy Word is Truth”.

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

It does not read ‘Some, s-o-m-e, of thy word is truth’. It says “the sum, s-u-m, of thy Word is Truth”. So there is never any need to twist or attempt to wrest God’s word to say such an unscriptural thing like ‘Even our “old man… the first man Adam” is “not appointed to wrath”. Why would we do that when the scriptures make it so clear that we all “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?’

When we see the incredible number of verses, including the bulk of the book of Revelation, which declare that God’s wrath is poured out on “all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men”; When we see that we must live by every word of God, keep all the things written therein, drink the wine of the cup of the wrath of God, and fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels which fill up the wrath of God before we can even enter into the temple of God, then we know that 1Thessalonians 5:9 refers to our “new man”, the “last Adam”, and all those other verses speaking of drinking of the cup of the wine of His wrath, refer to our “old man”, our “first man Adam” who “will certainly drink”.

We quoted these verses earlier, but here again is what our Lord has to say to those who are not given to understand and to apply this ‘two Adam’, “two men” principle, and who continue to insist that God’s wrath never has, and never will, “abide” upon them:

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Is this all just referring to a particular number of evil people, or is not this the end of “all flesh”? What do the scriptures teach us?

Jeremiah is very clear that “the wine cup of this fury at [God’s] hand” is not sent to only certain wicked men. We have already read the verse which declare that “there are none that are righteous” and that all men are wicked. Here God makes Himself crystal clear about those who will receive of His wrath upon their unrighteousness and ungodliness:

Jer 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations [our old man, “the first man Adam”], he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked [our old man] to the sword, saith the LORD.

Before Jeremiah, Isaiah had made this very same crystal clear, explicit prophecy:

Isa 66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isa 66:14 And when ye see this [ this “two men” principle], your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants [our new man only, “the last Adam”], and his indignation toward his enemies [our old man].
Isa 66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

So much for those who think their old man will never know the wrath of God upon their unrighteousness and ungodliness. No one who has never been a child of God’s wrath needs to be comforted. What is the one thing we do know about that wrath?

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

“All ungodliness” is found in “all flesh”, and that is where God will “render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire”.

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

It is in and through these “two men” with us all, that we can truly “live by every word… keep the things which are written therein… confess that all things are ours, and that “all things come alike to all”, and not just death coming alike to all. ‘Death’ and ‘the world’ are indeed ours, but so also “all things are ours” because we are all our old, unrighteous, ungodly, “first man Adam” upon whom all the curses and the wrath of God are poured out, before we can even enter into and become the temple of God, and come out from under all that wrath of God.

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;

These ‘two men’ are the subject of one of our Lord’s parables. Notice how these “two men” parallel the two spirits with which we are dealing.

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

“Two men went up into [ our] temple…”. These are the same ‘two men’ found throughout the scriptures. The ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘seed of the serpent’ in Genesis 4 are both within every man in every age. That is the doctrine of our Lord, which is also the doctrine of the apostles. It is the doctrine we will find throughout His Word, and that is the doctrine of His Body and the doctrine of His elect.

“If they refuse to take the cup… say unto them… Ye shall certainly drink.” That is what I am saying to you and to me, and to all who will hear or who will ever read these words, “You [and I] shall not be unpunished.” God “will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth… we shall certainly drink“, and our old man will be slain by that ‘sword’ of God which is “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”.

It is our “new man” who will, in the end, “be alive in Christ”.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam [“the first man Adam] all die, even so in Christ [“the last Adam”] 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.

“In Christ, at His coming” can be ours at this very moment in down payment form:

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

I will close this study with some of the things which are written therein which our “new man”, our “last Adam”, must “keep” at this time within, and which he will also keep outwardly at the time of “the redemption of the purchased possession”, that blessed and holy first resurrection:

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

After fasting for forty days the adversary tempted Christ to turn stones into bread. Christ responded by telling us all:

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.

Considering the well known fact that much of the words which proceed out of the mouth of God, throughout the scriptures, concern the curses for disobedience and the fury of God’s wrath upon all of the unrighteousness and ungodliness of mankind, we need to know how it is possible for us to keep all of those very negative words, and still be able to claim the blessings which are promised to all who are granted to be a part of the body of Christ in this age.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

How is it remotely possible to distinguish between the curses which are promised to the wicked versus the blessings which are promised to the righteous and still maintain that “all things are ours”?

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

We will demonstrate with the scriptures how this is accomplished in the lives of God’s elect, here and now and how, in God’s own time, this will be accomplished in the life of every man of all time. But first let us ask a few more questions about certain scriptures which seem to be completely contradictory.
Just how is it possible, for example, to ‘believe on Christ and never die’ and still be able to say “I am crucified with Christ”. How is that accomplished?

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
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.

Christ told the Pharisees:

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.

Yet he told his disciples this:

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

How do we live a life which confesses that we are blind, and also claim to have eyes which have been blessed to see?
Finally, how is it possible to both ‘lose your life’ and thereby ‘find it’???

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

This is no great mystery at all for those who have indeed been given eyes to see and ears to hear. Nevertheless most Christians who claim to have those ‘eyes that see and ears that hear’ cannot understand how we can read and claim that “we are not appointed unto wrath”, and at the same time say that we are the temple of God, and we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and must keep the things which are written in the book of Revelation.

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.
1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

“Jesus… delivered us from the wrath to come”, and “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”. And yet we are told this also”

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

We want to “enter into the temple”, and we are told: “Jesus… delivered us from the wrath to come”, and “God has not appointed us to wrath”. Yet we are also told “No man is able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels… full of the wrath of God… were fulfilled.”
These are total contradictions to our natural man. “They are foolishness to him” (1Co 2:14). These apparent contradictions have caused many, who perceive themselves as having spiritual eyes and ears and who think of themselves as able to see and understand spiritual matters, to nevertheless deny that the words ‘man… shall… live… by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ actually mean what they say. These Christians who seem to understand so much, simply are not yet granted to understand how it is possible to read 1Th 1:10 and 1Th 5:9 and still confess that they must live by every word of God, including the words referring to His wrath, and confess that they cannot enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled and kept in their lives. They cannot agree with the apostle that “things present and things to come are ours”. At this point they begin to twist God’s word to say ‘We deserve the wrath of God’, and ‘We deserve to be children of wrath’, inferring that though we ‘deserve it’, it will never ever come anywhere near God’s elect.
In the end they prove themselves to be “unlearned and unstable” and they find themselves adding words to the words of God, and “wresting” the words of the apostles, “as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction”.

2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

So while the ‘mind of the spirit’ is given to understand “the things of the spirit”, those “things of the spirit” are nothing less than foolishness and contradictions to the “unlearned and unstable”, who simply don’t like what the scriptures reveal to be the truth.

“Two men… the first man Adam… the last Adam”

There is a principle of “two men”: the first man Adam” and “the last Adam”, which we find throughout scripture. It is this principle which clarifies every single verse which seems to contradict any other verse of scripture. So what the scriptures teach, literally from Genesis to Revelation, and what we are saying, is that our “first Adam”, our “old man”, has indeed repeatedly been tempted beyond what he could resist. What the scriptures teach and what we are saying is that God’s faithfulness is not promised to save our old man. Our old man is indeed doomed. That is what he is promised. He is not told that God will deliver him from the wrath to come. He is nowhere told that he cannot escape the wages of sin, he has utterly failed, and he will be utterly destroyed by the fire of our Lord’s wrath which will come upon all the unrighteous and ungodly works of our old man.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Do we really think that our “old man”, our “first man Adam”, with all of His unrighteousness and ungodliness, will escape “the wine cup of the wrath of God”? We will come back to these verses, but let’s look at them right here. Here is what God has to say to all who cannot understand this “two men” principle as it is applied to all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, including your old man and my old man.

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

What the scriptures are teaching us is that it is through that failure and destruction and death of our old man that our new man is born.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his [ old man, first Adam] life shall lose it: and he that loseth his [ old man, first Adam] life for my sake shall find it.
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, [ and through “the seven plagues of the seven angels”, Rev 15:8] 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;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So it is through the death and destruction of our old man that our new man will ‘endure to the end’ and ‘will not be tempted above what he can bear’, and is not ‘appointed to wrath’. It is through God’s wrath upon “all the unrighteousness and ungodliness” of our old man, and through his destruction, that our new man is not to be appointed to wrath and will be given salvation.
It is the old man, our old man, who most assuredly will not endure to the end because he is but sinful flesh and blood which was never designed to endure to the end, and it is that carnal, old man who “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. That is who is destroyed in the fire of the wrath of God.

Eze 21:31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

The scriptures teach that it is through the destruction of our old man that our new man is created. That is what “He that loses his life will find it” means. It is only our new man who is not appointed to the wrath of God which has been poured out upon all of the unrighteousness and ungodliness of our old man who is appointed to this destruction. Here are “the things which are written” on this subject:

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

Is this verse not speaking of you and of me? Is it someone else who is “made to be destroyed”? Or is this not speaking of our own old “brute beast”? Our own “first man Adam”?

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

This “two men” principle is one of those “things of the spirit” which are foolishness to our ‘natural man’, our “old man”, our “first man Adam”.

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” What is it that is “freely given to us of God”? Do we even want what is “freely given to us of God”? Do we really? We need to be careful what we ask for, and we need to “count the cost” before we “take up our cross”.

Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

The cost of being Christ’s disciple simply does not compute in the mind of the natural man, our “first man Adam”. For example, here is what we are “freely given… of God”:

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

Let’s go back now to Luk 14, and look at what it means to ‘bear our cross and follow after Christ’.

Luk 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

There it is. That is “the cost”. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” In other words, God demands wholehearted service to Himself or we are not worthy to be His disciples.
Matthew’s account of this statement demonstrates that “Hate not his father and mother” means ‘love them less than Me’. Here is that verse:

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

So, what else is “freely given us of God”? Luk 14 doesn’t really sound like we have been delivered from the wrath to come at all. That sounds more like a guarantee of much more ‘wrath to come’.
When are those “seven plagues of the seven angels” to be fulfilled, so we can “enter into the temple”? Is that also “freely given to us of God”? Are Rev 15 and 16 which speak of filling up the wrath of God; Are they part of “the things which are written therein” which we are enjoined to “read… hear and keep”? You “try the spirits”, and you decide.
We mentioned these verses earlier, but here they are again because these verses show us a little more of what is “freely given to us of God”. As it turns out, there is nothing which is not freely given to us by God:

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;

“The world… death… things present, or things to come: all things are yours”. So what happened to ‘you are not of the world’?

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.

“All things… to come are ours”? What about that promise that we have been “delivered from the wrath to come“?

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

“Death… is ours”? But did not Christ promise to Martha that “Whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die”?

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The spirit of Christ sees no contradictions here at all, and those who have “the spirit of Christ” have no problem with anything being said in any of these verses. The reason for that is that the spirit and mind of Christ knows instinctively when that spirit is referring to our old man, “the first man Adam”, and when that spirit is referring to our new man, “the last Adam”.
It is based upon this ‘two Adam’ principle that another principle operates when we are reading the Word of God. That other principle is “the sum of thy Word is Truth”.

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

It does not read ‘Some, s- o- m- e, of thy word is truth’. It says “the sum, s- u- m, of thy Word is Truth”. So there is never any need to twist or attempt to wrest God’s word to say such unscriptural thing like ‘Even our “old man… the first man Adam” is “not appointed to wrath”. Why would we do that when the scriptures make it so clear that we all “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?
When we see the incredible number of verses, including the bulk of the book of Revelation, which declare that God’s wrath is poured out on “all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men”; When we see that we must live by every word of God, keep all the things written therein, drink the wine of the cup of the wrath of God, and fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels which fill up the wrath of God before we can even enter into the temple of God, then we know that 1Th 5:9 refers to our “new man”, the “last Adam”, and all those other verses speaking of drinking of the cup of the wine of His wrath, refer to our “old man”, our “first man Adam” who “will certainly drink”.
We quoted these verses earlier, but here again is what our Lord has to say to those who are not given to understand and to apply this ‘two Adam’, “two men” principle, and who continue to insist that God’s wrath never has, and never will “abide” upon them:

Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Is this all just referring to a particular number of evil people, or is not this the end of “all flesh”? What do the scriptures teach us?
Jeremiah is very clear that “the wine cup of this fury at [ God’s] hand is not sent to only certain wicked men. We have already read the verse which declare that “there are none that are righteous”, and that all men are wicked. Here God makes Himself crystal clear about those who will receive of His wrath upon their unrighteousness and ungodliness:

Jer 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations [ our old man, “the first man Adam”], he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked [ our old man] to the sword, saith the LORD.

Isaiah before Jeremiah had made this very same crystal clear, explicit prophecy:

Isa 66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem
Isa 66:14 And when ye see this [ this “two men” principle], your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants [ our new man only, “the last Adam”], and his indignation toward his enemies [ our old man].
Isa 66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

So much for those who think their old man will never know the wrath of God upon their unrighteousness and ungodliness. No one who has never been a child of God’s wrath, needs to be comforted. But what is the one thing we do know about that wrath?

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

“All ungodliness” is found in “all flesh”, and that is where God will “render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire”.

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

It is in and through these “two men” with us all, that we can truly “live by every word… keep the things which are written therein… confess that all things are ours, and that “all things come alike to all”, and not just death coming alike to all. ‘Death’ and ‘the world’ are indeed ours, but so also “all things are ours”, because we are all our old, unrighteous, ungodly, “first man Adam” upon whom all the curses and the wrath of God are poured out, before we can even enter into and become the temple of God, and come out from under all that wrath of God.

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;

These ‘two men’ are the subject of one of our Lord’s parables. Notice how these “two men” parallel the two spirits with which we are dealing.

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

“Two men went up into [ our] temple…”. These are the same ‘two men’ found throughout the scriptures. The ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘seed of the serpent’ in Genesis four are both within every man in every age. That is the doctrine of our Lord, which is also the doctrine of the apostles. It is the doctrine we will find throughout His Word, and that is the doctrine of His Body and the doctrine of His elect.
“If they refuse to take the cup… say unto them… Ye shall certainly drink”. That is what I am saying to you, and to me, and to all who will hear or who will ever read these words, “You [ and I] shall not be unpunished”. God “will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth… we shall certainly drink“, and our old man will be slain by that ‘sword’ of God which is “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”.
It is our “new man” who will, in the end “be alive in Christ”.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam [“the first man Adam] all die, even so in Christ [“the last Adam”] 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.

“In Christ, at His coming” can be ours at this very moment in down payment form:

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

I will close this study with some of the things which are written therein which our “new man”, our “last Adam”, must “keep” at this time within, and which he will also keep outwardly at the time of “the redemption of the purchased possession”, that blessed and holy first resurrection:

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