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Study Aired June 24, 2012

Job 20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Job 20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
Job 20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
Job 20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Job 20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
Job 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
Job 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Job 20:9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
Job 20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
Job 20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
Job 20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
Job 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
Job 20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

Introduction

In our last study Job literally begged his friends for just a little compassion for what God had brought upon him:

Job 19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

Job was defending himself against Bildad’s false accusations, while questioning and condemning his Creator and maintaining his own righteousness. He concluded his defense with this warning to his accusers:

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

It seems incredible to Zophar that after he and his two friends have revealed to Job that he is a sinner above all men, that he would dare to insinuate that it is they who need to be “afraid of the sword”, and that it is they who need to understand that “there is a judgment”.
Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and even Job, know that God will destroy the wicked. To Job this is the basics at their most basic:

Job 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

What none of these men know is that God performs His work of judgment within his elect first, while simultaneously physically blessing those He uses to accomplish that judgment of and destruction of our wicked old man.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked [ Job, you and me] for the day of evil [ which includes having self- righteousness judged within us].

Job, as the type of God’s elect, is judged first with the fiery trials we read of in this book. Than as the Old Testament type of God’s elect, he is used as the channel through which his false accusers are saved, in type and in shadow.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
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.
Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

It is because God’s elect are the first to be judged that Job made this statement in His defense of Bildad’s assault upon him:

Job 12:4 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

It appears during the time of our fiery judgment as if God is actually on the side of our adversaries, and answers their prayers while laughing at us. In fact that is exactly what He is doing to our old sinful man.

Psa 37:13 The Lord shall laugh at him [ the old Job, our old man]: for he seeth that his day is coming.
Psa 59:8 But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

So Job, the type of God elect upon whom judgment must come first (1Pe 4:17), continues to endure the humiliation poured upon him from even his closest friends:

Job 20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Job 20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

A hasty answer is most often a mistake. Wise men are “slow to speak, [ and] slow to wrath”:

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Pro 14:29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Pro 29:20 Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

But Zophar is young and of a hasty spirit, and neither he nor either of his two friends are “of great understanding”.

Job 20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

Here is how this verse is translated in the ASV:

Job 20:3 I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame; And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.

“The spirit of [ Zophar’s] understanding” compels him to return to the same old “those on whom the tower of Siloam fell were sinners above all who were in Jerusalem”, self- righteous condemnation of other men who are being judged ahead of him.
The Hebrew word translated ‘spirit’ in this verse is ‘ruach’, the word which is so translated such throughout the Old Testament. So it is a certain spirit which is causing this response from immature and foolish Zophar. It is the ‘spirit’ and mindset which is natural to us all by birth.

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Job 20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

“Since man was placed upon the earth”, shows us that Zophar, his friends, and Job, all knew that man was “placed upon the earth” by his Creator.

Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Job and the men who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them were destroyed by God. Their “triumph… was short, [ their] joy [ was] but for a moment” and is now a thing of the past. For Zophar and our natural man, these things all speak for themselves. It is obvious that Job, the type of those who are being judged in this age, is “a sinner above all men”.

Job 20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
Job 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are the types of us while we are yet in Babylon. It was the King of Babylon to whom these words are addressed:

Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

It is a testament to the power of God to blind us by causing us to think we can see clearly. He accomplishes this by causing us to believe that “the wicked… and… the hypocrite” are not, and have never been within us.

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.

Just like Job, as long as we maintain that we and our “old man” are not, and have never been the object of God’s wrath, “our sin remains”.

That is the doctrine of Babylon which has spawned the false doctrine of the rapture in all of its variations. Whether it is the doctrine of a rapture out of and away from the wrath of God upon our old man, or the doctrine of a place of safety which shields us from God’s wrath upon our old man, or the twisting of 1Th 5:9, which is speaking of all who are “appointed to salvation” (1Co 15:22), all of these false doctrines deny these consistent truths of God’s word.

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.
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;
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

If we do not “keep the things written therein: for the time is at hand”, then we do not have the testimony of Jesus Christ, and will not have part in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”.

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God [ “keep the things written therein”], and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

When we say we have never been blind, we are blind, and when we say we have never been rebellious unbelievers, we continue to remain under the wrath of God.

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.

This is the very message of this entire book of Job, and yet is only natural to always place the wrath of God upon someone else while telling ourselves that we are “not like other men…” Consequently both Job and Zophar relegate these verses to the “old man” within “other men”.

Job 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Job 20:9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

But “the wicked” is every man who has ever lived. Even Job confesses to having been wicked.

Job 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

King David confesses to having been wicked:

Psa 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.

The prophet Jeremiah informs us that he too, ‘bore the reproach of his youth’.

Jer 31:19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

In spite of all these Biblical confessions, “the man of sin”, the “beast” within us all, simply cannot internalize these words. Instead he just naturally sees himself as “righteous, [ and] not as other men”.

Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
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.

We all just naturally think ourselves to be righteous, while “the wicked” are always “other men”. So it is our own self- righteousness which nullifies every admonition in scripture which informs us of the fate of that old self- righteous man within us all.
For example, not one orthodox Christian would ever read Pro 16:4 and say, ‘Yes, it is my own “wicked” old man who God made for my own day of evil” within my own life’:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

When we have the self- righteous spirit of Job and his friends, we apply nothing concerning evil to ourselves. The result is that we think we are well and do not need a physician.

Mat 9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
Mat 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Mat 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Until we see ourselves as wicked sinners, “of whom I am chief”, to quote the apostle Paul, none of the admonitions which are given us to prepare us to become overcomers who will be qualified as a “merciful… priest and king who can rule with Christ, will have any personal application.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
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.

It was the spirit of self- righteousness which typifies us as our Lord’s murderers. A self- righteous spirit is our worst enemy because it is not “open… sin”, and because a self- righteous spirit wants to destroy those who would expose it for the murderous spirit it is. It is this self- righteous spirit which is in both Job and his miserable comforters, who are the Old Testament types of us all. This includes those who are predestined, as Job typifies, to be purged and judged first as “the house of God” (1Pe 4:17).
Those who are predestined to overcome sin in their lives in this age, must be the first to be exposed as wicked sinners who are the first to be judged and who are being judged now in this age. If we are blessed to be the first to be openly judged, we will also be the first to repent and “bring forth fruits [ which] are fit for repentance”:

1Ti 5:24 Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Act 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Act 26:21 For these causes the Jews [ with the spirit of self- righteousness] caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

We think we live in enlightened times which would never permit the murder of God’s elect, but our ‘murder’ and our ‘crucifixion’ is not to be understood in a literal sense. We are to see ourselves as “a living sacrifice… crucified with Christ… yet [ living]” (Rom 12:1 and Gal 2:20).

Job 20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

“His place shall be no more”, and “his children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods” because of the rapacious sins of their wicked fathers:

Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ezekiel prophesied of the time when the sins of the Fathers would no longer afflict the children:

Eze 18:1 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
Eze 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Eze 18:3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die” is simply Old Testament confirmation that “the wages of sin is death… for that all have sinned”, and all will die before they can begin to be judged.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

It is our own old man whose place is no more, who suffers from the sins of his father the devil, and whose destruction and death is inevitable. It is our new man who, through channel of the death of our old man, is not visited by the sins of the fathers, whose “place” is not removed, and who will never die.

Psa 37:9 For evildoers [ within us] shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked [“old man” within each of us] no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
Pro 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

“The righteous shall never be removed…” So much for the false doctrine of a secret rapture which claims the righteous will be removed from this earth.

Job 20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
Job 20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
Job 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

The lies of Babylon are “sweet in our mouths… yet… it is the gall of asps within” us, when we are brought to stand before our Judge where we all confess that it is we who must live by every word and where we will confess that all things are ours, the world, life, death, things present and things to come, all are ours.
“Though he spare it” refers to the wicked doctrine “in his mouth” of the previous verse. The word ‘spare’ means to retain it, and cling to his false doctrines as long as he can in the same sense as it is used in this verse in:

1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

God had commanded King Saul to destroy everything and spare nothing of the Amalekites, but King Saul, like Job, his friends, and each of us, thought he knew better than God how to worship and serve Him.

Job 20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

It is nothing less than spiritual ‘chronic adolescence’ which God sends to blind us and which keeps us “full of the sin of [ our] youth”, under the power of the passions of our fleshly youth, and all the lies of Babylon which always have and always will appeal to those who are spiritually immature.

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

Next week we will hear Zophar’s last words to Job, as they are recorded here in this story of Job. These are the words which describe the future of our “old man… the first man Adam” so long as “the wrath of God abideth upon him”. As Zophar so well stated:

Job 20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
Job 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

We convince ourselves we have “ascended to heaven”, even as the wrath of God “abides on us”.

Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
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.

Here is God’s own description of what His wrath performs upon our proud, self- righteous, old, first man Adam:

Job 20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
Job 20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
Job 20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
Job 20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
Job 20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
Job 20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
Job 20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
Job 20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
Job 20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
Job 20:26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
Job 20:27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
Job 20:28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
Job 20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Dear Mike,
I had another question.

Are there examples in the Bible of people sinning continually, but receiving God’s forgiveness? Also, does quantity of sin “matter” to God? I know it is an offense, I’m asking whether or not it impedes His forgiveness after repenting.

Thank you, I____.

I____

Hi I_____,

Thank you for your question. I encourage everyone to download e-sword, but if you cannot find the answer, then by all means ask questions when you have the need.

You ask if there are examples of people sinning continually, but receiving God’s forgiveness? The answer to that question as you ask it, is absolutely not! The exact opposite is true.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This is like saying that we are perfected in the flesh and will never entertain an evil thought or ever make a mistake again. That day will not come until we relinquish these vessels of clay, which are called in scripture, ‘bodies of sinful flesh and blood’. Here is what Christ said of Himself:

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

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

“The third day” is symbolism for the resurrection. If our Lord is not perfected until the resurrection, then how can we possibly expect to be perfected apart from the resurrection of the dead into spiritual bodies.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

You also ask :

… does quantity of sin “matter” to God?

The answer to that question is again, “Absolutely not!” Paul considered himself to be ‘chief of sinners’, just as we all should see ourselves. He had persecuted the church mercilessly. Nevertheless, he was forgiven and used by God as one of His most fruitful apostles.

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

It was Paul who wrote both Romans 6 and Galatians 6, both quoted above.

“Newness of life” (Rom 6:4) is not “new” at all if, as you pose this question, we “continually sin”. No one who is truly “dead to sin” continues to ‘live’ in sin. The very thought of continuing in that sin makes anyone who has been crushed to death by the Word of God, “the Stone of Israel”, sick to his stomach. Those who have suffered in the flesh to the extent that it destroys that “old man… the first man Adam” within us all, experience a change of spirit, which ceases from yielding to that sin. It literally makes them nauseous.

Gen 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

“Carnal… babes in Christ” who have not been granted to accept the Biblical fact that we must all “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, [that] all things… things present and things to come… the things written therein… are ours”, will take Matthew 21:44 as an either/or proposition, instead of the progressive process which it is.

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

1Co 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

These newly-born Corinthian Christians were “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints”, and they “came behind in no gift”. However, what was their spiritual state, even with all these miraculous miracles in their lives? The answer is that big miraculous gifts, like all the plagues sent on one’s enemies, with the destruction of all the crops and cattle of Egypt, the death of the first born of Egypt, and the destruction of the Egyptian army at the parting of the Red Sea, do nothing to change the hearts of God’s people, and though they are coming out of Egypt and “come behind in no gift… [they] are yet carnal… babes in Christ”.

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

The journey of God’s elect includes living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Nothing that happened to Israel is excluded when Christ said “every word”.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

There are many such Corinthian “carnal… babes in Christ” who cannot see that, in spirit, “all things are ours” including “all these things [that] happened to them”.

The point I am making as it relates to your question is that all the judgments that came upon Israel, or anyone else in the Old Testament, are the same judgments which must come upon our “old man, [our] first man Adam”, who is predestined to be destroyed and replaced by our “new man… the last Adam”.

It is in that sense that “all things… things present and things to come, 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;

Yes, it does say “the world… is ours.” This world is full of sin, and we are to see ourselves as the “chief of sinners”, but that is not meant to be a title we continue to maintain. It is meant only to be understood as seeing that “all things”, including “the world”, are in our own sinful flesh:

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

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

It also says that death is ours, and that is how we are to see our old man and this body of sinful flesh. As we quoted above, we are to reckon ourselves as buried with Christ in death, for the purpose of being raised up in newness of life, not repeating the sins of our past.

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

That sixth chapter of Romans drives that point into the ground:

Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

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

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

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

This is a process which takes so much time that our Lord tells us this:

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

You will not, in this clay vessel called flesh, be above the sin you are in just by being in that flesh, but what you will discover is that you are “being made free from sin” and not be taken bondage by sin. It takes time for the man of sin to be destroyed by Christ at His coming, and when that man of sin is dethroned, then and only then, is Christ able to sit upon the throne of our heart, which is the temple of God.

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.
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:

I suggest that you begin to read the studies on the book of Revelation which begins here. Start at the very beginning to get the basis for how we are to approach this book. Read ‘Strong Delusion’ in the Essential Reading section in the upper left corner of the home page. Download e-sword or any other online bible-help site.

In closing I will say that the one thing which separates this web site from so many other Biblical websites is that while we do acknowledge that “as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive”, we also teach the Truth of the verses I quoted at the beginning of this email.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

All those sites and all those men who emphasize God’s sovereignty and acknowledge the fact that He will save all men while ignoring the bulk of God’s Word which deals with His judgment and destruction of our old man, “the first man Adam”, in an event called ‘the lake of fire’ and “the fiery trial which is to try you” (1Pe 4:12 and Rev 20:10-15), are doing a great disservice to all who are in their charge and in their sphere of influence. These are those of whom Jude warns us all:

Jdg 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

With so much at stake, why would we ever go back to all of that vomit which is our old man, our first man Adam?

We all “fall seven times”, meaning we will all come to see just how helpless we are of ourselves to overcome the beast within us.

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

We are all “the wicked” before we are granted to become “a just man”. We can do nothing without Christ, but with Christ we can do all things, including making war with the beast.

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

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

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

In closing I want to suggest that you read this article concerning the purpose and function of grace.

This writing will demonstrate Biblically that ‘grace’ is not just a dead noun used only as a name for God’s undeserved favor. You will come to see that ‘grace’ is also a super-active verb which “chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly lives in this present age” (Tit 2:11-12).

I hope this helps you to see that we do not continue to live a life which is dominated by sin even though we will continue to live in bodies of sinful flesh which will continue speeding in a 55 mph zone, etc. I hope you are granted to understand that there is no volume of sin or any depth of depravity of sin which is too great for God’s saving grace to overcome. I pray also that you can see that in your patience you possess your soul as you learn to let grace and patience have their perfect work in your life.

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

Your brother in “the patience and faith of the saints” (Rev 13:6-10, Rev 14:10-12).

Mike

Audio Links

Introduction

What did Christ mean when He told the Adversary that man was not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?

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.

What is the Word of God and how do we go about “keeping every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?” God Himself has established that the scriptures are called, in the scriptures, “the Word”.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture [ is] given by inspiration of God, and [ is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

One of those “profitable doctrines” of the Word of God is the doctrine which teaches that “all things are of God… He makes peace and creates evil.” He even “makes wicked men for the day of evil.” “Without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
That the “Word of God… made all things” is very clear. It was the Word that said “Let there be light”, and it was the Word that “called light out of darkness”. But what is so seldom recognized is that it was also the Word that made darkness and created evil and even made the wicked for the day of evil.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all [ things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Some have argued that the word for evil in that verse should really be translated ‘calamity’. But this argument doesn’t work because the word ‘evil’ in that verse is the same word that is translated “evil” where we are told in Gen 2 the Lord made the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to grow out of the ground. It is not called the tree of the knowledge of good and calamity.
So it should be clear that “the way, the Truth and the life” all come “out of the ground… out of darkness” by way of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Can we deny that “everything.. [ that God created] was very good” including the subtle serpent and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So “the word of God… the word of Truth” tells us that “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is a “very good… tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. If we  have come to accept the sovereignty of God as the Creator of all things, we will have no problem accepting these clear verses of scripture which proclaim that God makes wicked men for the day of evil or that it is He who creates evil. But what is hard for many of us to understand is how it is that the words like “create evil… even the wicked” are to be kept in our lives. It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate how that statement is to be understood and kept.

Our first question

Before we biblically demonstrate how “man… lives by every word of God”, we need to ask, “Is this a literal statement?” Is Christ teaching us something that is written in words which man’s wisdom teaches and which can be understood by the natural man? We know that this is never the case in scripture.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching [ was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [ even] the hidden [ wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [ it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Those words are just as true today as they ever were. If “the princes of this world knew… the wisdom of God” they would not reject His doctrine, and those who bring that doctrine, as they are doing.
How was Paul’s speech and preaching “in demonstration of the spirit and the power of God?” The answer is that Paul’s words and preaching were hidden within the scriptures at that time, just as they are to this very day. Anyone who “searched the scriptures daily to see whether this things are so”, who was given eyes to see, would know that Paul had demonstrated his gospel with the already written spiritual “word of God”. That is meant by ‘speaking… in demonstration of the spirit and power of God’. Here is how Christ Himself expresses what He means by the phrase “the power of God”:

Mat 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

If we are not familiar with the Word, then we cannot speak with “the power of God.” That is what we too, must do. We must demonstrate that every word we speak is spoken with the spirit and power of the word of God. We must never simply say ‘Well, I feel like this is what that means…” So we will demonstrate with the scriptures what our Lord meant by “Man must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  
When we finish doing so it will be obvious that this statement, like every word of our Lord, is not to be taken literally, but is to be understood as a spiritual statement which acknowledges that the words “darkness, evil, wicked, the first man Adam” and “of your father the devil” have all “proceeded out of the mouth of God” and must therefore somehow be lived by mankind. This is not turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, as we have been falsely accused of doing. It is rather an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God, and an acknowledgment that the revelation of Jesus Christ of necessity includes both the first man Adam and the last man Adam, and it includes all that is within both of those men. That is the very meaning of “keeping every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Not literally but spiritually

That this is not a literal statement is clear because Christ plainly tells us “the words I speak to you are spirit”. What that means is demonstrated in that same chapter of John by our Lord telling us that “we must eat His flesh and drink His blood”.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

We do not literally eat Christ’s flesh nor do we literally drink His blood. But we do both eat His flesh and drink His blood spiritually when we live by His every word, simply because He is that word, and that Word includes words like “There is none good but one, that is God.” These are words which we must live, because you and I and all flesh  are “not good” because we are “marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:4).

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [ there is] none good but one, [ that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

It is in that same spiritual manner we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Even such heinous crimes as idolatry, murder and adultery have proceeded out of the mouth of God, are written in His Word and will be lived by all men when they are understood in their spiritual sense as “words of spirit” which are all part of “the law of sin and death” which operates “by nature” within all flesh (Eph 2:3). That is the primary application of how we live by every word of God.

The progression of Christ’s temptation

Notice the progression of our Lord’s temptation.

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
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.

If Christ tells us that when we pray we are to ask our heavenly Father “lead us not into temptation”, then why is “the spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil?

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

Those who deny that we are to “live by every word of God” are at a loss to understand situations like this throughout the Word of God. This is part of the so- called “Lord’s prayer”, and it seems to them to be a contradiction within Christ’s own doctrine. They will tell you that if Christ tells us to pray “lead us not into temptation”, then He certainly is not going to lead us into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. But isn’t that exactly what God did to Abraham regarding the offering up of Isaac? Isn’t that exactly what God did to Israel when He led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness to be proved and tempted, and isn’t that exactly what the spirit did with Christ here in Mat 4:1?

Gen 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [ Hebrew – nasah, try] Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [ here] I [ am].
Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [ son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Deu 6:16  Ye shall not tempt [ nasah]  the LORD your God, as ye tempted [ nasah] him in Massah.
Deu 8:2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [ and] to prove [ Hebrew – nasah, tempt or try] thee, to know what [ was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [ word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Does God lead us into trials and tests? There is obviously only one answer, and that answer is the fourth verse of Mat 4 and the third verse of Deu 8, which we just read. Anything we are told not to do are “words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God,” and as such they are nothing less than “laws for the lawless” and a prophecy of what is within us.

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

On the other hand, anything we are instructed to request, like “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is simply an admission of what we are and what we will do. They are words which  have proceeded out of the mouth of God and are therefore simply an admission of our marred condition at the hand of the Potter Himself. You and I need to acknowledge that “there is none righteous, no not one”. If Christ tells us that He is not good, then how true is that of us?

Mat 19:17  And he [ Christ] said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

The Adversary had no idea what “live by every word” really meant so he takes Christ’s words literally and quotes scripture to Christ. He actually believes that he can somehow use Christ’s own words against Him.

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Christ had just told the Devil “man… shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” but neither the Devil nor any of His carnal children understand the principle of ” 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.

But Christ was well aware of that principle, because it was He who had established it. So He uses “the sum of His word” and responds to the Adversary.

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.[Deu 6:16]
Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Is there any man in all of Adam’s story, who has not fallen down and worshiped the Devil? The answer to that question is “no, not one” other than our Lord, who preexisted with His Father, emptied Himself of His divinity to be “made of a woman, made under the law, made sin”. Even we who are His body, have “fallen down and worshiped the Dragon” when we were all “the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2-3; Col 3:6-7; Rev 13:4). But while the temptation was so great that angels came and ministered to Him, it was nevertheless predestined that our Lord, as our head and as the head of His body, would never fall down and worship the Adversary.

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Thank God that these are also words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God, which we must live and keep.

A few examples of how we live by every word of God

1) We have all bowed down to other gods

Perhaps there are none of us who have bowed ourselves down before a literal idol, but it absolutely certain that we have all bowed down to the idols of hearts as they were received in our hearts through our associations with the great harlot that rides on all the kings of this earth. Here is what we have all done even as we claimed the name of our Lord and have come to His word for guidance.

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
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 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? [ even] because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

We have all bowed down to the idols and gods of our own making and of our own hearts. We have all lived by those words.

2) We have all taken the Lord’s name in vain.

What is our Lord’s name?

Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Joh 15:21  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

This is obviously not speaking of Christ’s literal name. It is speaking of how we have all taken God’s name in vain by ignoring his words and nullifying His doctrine while claiming His name.

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
1Ti 6:1  Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Rev 16 occurs prior to the revelation and judgment of the great harlot in Rev 17 and 18. That is a very significant fact because we all blaspheme the name of God as His plagues are poured out upon us, before we even know that we are in Babylon. So Rev 16 and the time of the the beginning of the pouring out of God’s seven plagues, is that time of our lives when we are still clinging to the doctrines of Babylon. This is the time that we “blaspheme the name of God among the heathen, and endure the suffering of these seven plagues, and we take our Lord’s name in vain. This is not speaking of screaming out expletives, because we are “being hardened for destruction.” This is speaking of blaspheming the name of God and His doctrine, while thinking we are doing God a service, as we “call Him Lord, Lord, and oppose His doctrine, His body, and deny that we are to “live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth.”

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

That is what we have all done, and that is how we have lived by those words.

3) We have all dishonored our parents

If we have bowed down to other gods and we have taken the Lord’s name in vain, then we have certainly dishonored our own spiritual parents.

4) We have all been complicit in the murder of our own brothers and our own Lord

Who afflicted Christ? Who persecuted our Lord? Who has hated “our Lord and His Christ?”

Zec 13:6  And [ one] shall say unto him, What [ are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [ Those] with which I was wounded [ in] the house of my friends.

Christ told Eve that her seed would bruise the head of the serpent’s seed, and the serpent’s seed would bruise the heel of the woman’s seed.

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [ art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

How were those words concerning enmity between the woman and her seed and the seed of the serpent lived out in scripture? They were lived out by the death of Abel at the hand of Cain, and by the death and persecution of all who are mistreated by those who claim to love Christ and His Father while they serve their father the devil. It was lived out when Judah mistreated and wanted to burn his daughter- in- law, Tamar. It was lived out by King Saul who attempted to slay David, and it was lived out when the Gentiles and all the people of Israel crucified our Lord.
What has any of those stories to do with you and me “living by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God?” It has everything in the world to do with us because all of these Biblical stories are words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God. Do we suppose that Cain was a murderer of his own brother, or do we suppose that it was hypocritical of Judah to want to burn the woman he himself had impregnated? Do we see how murderous King Saul acted toward David or how evil those men were who denied and slew their own Savior?  The Truth is that we have all read God’s word with that very frame of mind. It was nothing more than a history lesson to us. We have all asked ourselves “How could Cain kill his brother Abel? How could Judah so mistreat his daughter- in- law? How could King Saul have been so hateful to David? How could the people who had just been healed of leprosy, of being deaf, dumb, lame and blind, the very people who had eaten Christ’s supernaturally produced loaves and fishes want to kill him?” Now we must come to see and to acknowledge that all of these people are typical of each of us, and they are not “sinners above” us, and that “except we repent” of seeing these things only in others and not in ourselves “we shall all likewise perish.”
What we must come to see is that the statement, “Thou art the man” is true not solely in the story of King David, but that it is also true of each of us in every story in scripture. That is how King David lived by the words of Nathan’s parable, and that is how you and I will live by every word that “proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Christ made this point crystal clear with these words:

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Is the villain of any story in scripture a “sinner above all…? I tell you nay, but except (we all) repent (we) will all likewise perish,” because we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
As another example of this all inclusive, “one event to all men” (Ecc 9:2) principle, let us pose this question:

Who do the scriptures declare as the murderers of Christ?

Here is who we are told caused the death of our Lord.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

In scriptural terms there are only two groups of mankind on this whole earth: “the Gentiles, and the people of Israel.” Those two groups are inclusive of the whole world. It is every man who has ever lived. It is mankind who necessitated and precipitated the death of our Lord by God’s design. There is not one person who has ever lived who is not guilty of the blood of Christ. This is the very same mankind who “shall… live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. That is who killed Jesus Christ. Why have we all been guilty? Was it by our own choice? No, of course not. Here is why you and I and all of mankind have persecuted and killed our own Savior and lived by the words of Act 4:26-27.

Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

It is by God’s own hand and His own counsel that Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, all of mankind, have gathered us together to murder our own Savior by believing all the lies of Babylon, the mother of harlots, who has dominated and “sat upon” the scarlet colored beast within us for many long years.

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

There are many heinous crimes mentioned in scripture beginning with Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel. Cain was “of his father the devil” in type, and Abel was “the seed of the woman” in type. Now I do not know of a single one of us who has personally and literally murdered his own brother. But we are one and all that “scarlet colored beast”, and we are one and all murderers of our brothers.  Do we not therefore live by every word of that story of King David wanting to kill the man who was far less guilty than he himself was? The Biblical answer is that yes, we are all murderers, and here is why that is so.

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

That is how we are Cain and every other murderer in scripture. We have all hated our brothers, and we will all live by every one of those words which have proceeded out of God’s mouth. The devil is the father of us all at our own appointed time, and the natural man within us is quick to judge his brother as somehow less than himself and worthy of death.
Christ related this same story in these words.

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.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Those “two men” are what all the stories in all scripture are all about. These two men are both within us all, simply because we must all live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Those two men are nothing more or less than the first and the last Adam within us all. The first Adam within us is this Pharisee who does not believe that the words “extortioner, unjust, or adulterer or wrath of God” have any personal application to him. But those words actually have a personal application to us all, and we must all be that self- righteous Pharisee before we can become that repentant publican who recognizes and confesses that even this self- righteous Pharisee is within himself.

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.
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.
1Co 15:47  The first man [ is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [ is] the Lord from heaven.

Here are words by which we must live as that Pharisee who is nothing less than the first man Adam:

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Those are words which proceed straight out of the mouth of God, as do these words also:

Jer 25:12  And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, [ that] I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
Jer 25:13  And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, [ even] all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
Jer 25:14  For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
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 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18 [ To wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as [ it is] this day;
Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

Who is “that land?” Who sends that sword?  That sword which is sent to “that land” and to all nations is Christ Himself in the form of every one of these very words which are proceeding out of  His mouth and destroying “that land”, which is our old man?

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes [ shall be] they of his own household.
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.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Now notice what we are told about this sword. Remember, these are words which are proceeding out of the mouth of God.

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.
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread [ the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come [ even] to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them [ that are] wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

“All My words… all that is written in this book… all the nations… all his people.” Who does that exempt from the cup of God’s wrath? Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican is this same message of Jer 25 in the language of the New Testament. The events concerning the Galileans who were slain by Pilate and the people of Jerusalem upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, are all telling us that these men were not sinners above us, and that no man is a sinner above us, and we will likewise perish if we do not repent of what we are.

A few Biblical Examples of this self- righteous Pharisee who is within us

Joseph’s brothers considered themselves to be above the “sins of other men”. Despite the fact that they had sold their own brother for twenty pieces of silver, they were all in their own eyes, honorable men who would never steal the cup of the man who had sold them the grain.

Gen 44:4  [ And] when they were gone out of the city, [ and] not [ yet] far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5  [ Is] not this [ it] in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Gen 44:6  And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
Gen 44:7  And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
Gen 44:8  Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
Gen 44:9  With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.

King David considered Himself to be above the sin of a rich man stealing a lamb from a poor man. Notice how similar to Joseph’s brothers is King David’s reaction to Nathan’s parable about the rich man taking the poor man’s sheep to feed his guests.

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich [ man] had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor [ man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, [ As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this [ thing] shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou [ art] the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

Christ’s apostles all considered themselves to be incapable of denying their Lord.

Mat 26:31  Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Mat 26:32  But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
Mat 26:33  Peter answered and said unto him, Though all [ men] shall be offended because of thee, [ yet] will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

These three events typify the events of our own lives. These three events are all us. We have all sold our brother into slavery and felt righteous while doing so. We have all committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah. We have all denied our Lord and left Him to His own fate. Yet we think that “we are not as other men”. We actually think that we are above the need of being ‘forsaken of God for a small moment’ and of drinking from ‘the cup of the wrath of God’ as our Lord Himself experienced. Peter made that very clear to our Lord.

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

What Peter was telling Christ was that Mat 4:4, Rev 1:3 and Rev 22:7, “this shall not be unto thee”. But what did Christ tell Peter?

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. [ smooth things, deceits].
Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [ man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

We think that the promises to “keep us from the hour of temptation” are somehow different from being promised that not a hair on our head will perish while being told in the same breath that “some of us they shall put to death”.

Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and [ some] of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all [ men] for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

It is obvious to the man who is given eyes to see, that the hair that will not perish, the wrath to which we are not appointed and the life that will never die, are one and all a reference to our life being hid with God in Christ, here and now, as opposed to the salvation appointed to all men through the “everlasting flames” of the lake of fire. We might just as well start claiming that if we are alive and believe on Christ right now, then we will never physically die – note my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek, as of course we DO physically die.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

To take Rev 3:10 as a promise of not having to keep Rev 1: 3, “the things that are written in the words of this prophecy”, is to ignore the truth that the enduring of the wrath of God on our own unrighteousness and ungodliness is the very definition of “the word of my patience”:

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

It is good for us that we have been afflicted with the wrath of God, yet we all think that the phrase “we are not appointed to wrath” in 1Th 5:9 somehow nullifies Jer 25.

Psa 119:71  [ It is] good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

The ‘wrath’ of this verse is contrasted with salvation, which salvation is common to all who are in Adam (1Co 15:22). So the wrath of this verse is not speaking only of God’s elect, but of all who will one day “obtain salvation… whether we wake or sleep, whether we are children of the night or children of the day.” In other words, 1Th 5:9 does not mean that we do not live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. “The things written therein” (Rev 1:3) includes the seven last plagues of Rev 15-16. It has all proceeded out of the mouth of God, and it must therefore be lived by all of mankind. Here is what we will all do. Here is part of the “one event” that we will all endure as we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, [ because they misunderstood 1Th 5:9} then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

We are the temple of God if indeed God dwells in us. But we will not enter into that temple or into His rest until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been poured out in our life and we have keep these words which are written in this prophecy.

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.

Anyone who thinks that 1Th 5:9 or Rev 3:10 means that we do not keep “the patience of the saints”, will not be “able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels” are fulfilled in the lives of each and every one of us. Any and all people who deny that these words of Rev 15 – 16 have any personal application for us, “are a rebellious people who say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, Prophecy not unto us right things [ like “keep the things written therein,” Rev 1:3] speak unto us smooth things, prophecy deceits,” [ deceits like 1Th 5:9 means Rev 15 and 16 are not written therein for us to keep].

Isa 30:9  That this [ is] a rebellious people, lying children, children [ that] will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Every word is kept through Christ and through His Christ

In time all of mankind will live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and it is through Him and His body that these words are fulfilled. There is no other way to accomplish the fulfilling of every word for the simple reason that Christ is “the first and the last”.
Here is one section of scripture which tells us how we, through Christ, live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for [ Greek – dia, through] our offences, and was raised again for [ Greek – dia, through] our justification.

How is it possible that Christ “was raised again through our justification”? Christ alone can explain that, and this is His explanation of how that is possible.

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [ it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [ it] unto me.

Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Mat 18:5  And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
Joh 13:20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

So if I come to you and tell you that ‘if you are in Christ, then you are Jesus of Nazareth, through whose justification Christ was raised again’ am I a liar? Who was it who made that statement? Was it not Christ Himself? But that is the last Adam, the ending Adam. How is it that Christ is also the first Adam, the beginning Adam, as we read in that book which reveals Him?

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [ it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [ Greek, tupos, type] of him that was to come.

Conclusion

There it is; Adam is a type of Christ. What does it all mean for us? How is it that we “shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?” We live every story in the Bible in the very same way in which Adam is a type of Christ. We live every word of God by acknowledging that we have done far worse than stealing a silver cup as in the accusation of Joseph’s brothers. We have done far worse than stealing our neighbor’s lamb as in the case of King David, and we have done far more than merely deny our Lord, as was the case with the disciples of Christ. We live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, by realizing that it was through our offenses and not the offenses of the Jews and Romans, that Christ was offered up.
We live by every word of God when we neither add to nor take away our part out of any of the sayings of God’s Word, and we acknowledge that we have defiled the temple of God and we have been blind, and we have crucified our Lord, and we are fools for His sake, and “all things, things present and things to come,” without exception, are ours.

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.
1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ [ is] God’s.

We live by every word when we acknowledge that there is but one event to the righteous and to the wicked, and we are raptured out of nothing, and the “way of escape” is not to take away any part of the sayings of the prophecy of this book, but to go through the flood, through the prisons of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the lion’s den, through the fiery furnace, through the seven plagues of the seven angels and even through the cross. We do all of that by keeping the things written therein… keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

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

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed [ is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

If we think that any chapter of God’s Word is not personally applicable, including Rev 16, then we are faced with this solemn warning:

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [ from] the things which are written in this book.

We live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God when we see ourselves, and not others, as “chief of sinners.”

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Hi Mike,

While reading “What is the fire in the lake of fire”, something caught my eye.

Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

I was wondering if “and to whom men have given much” means that what the people in babylon give to their babylonian church leaders – ministers, elders, etc, – that because they get all that, from them shall be asked more. I can imagine that the people in babylon, not knowing about God’s total sovereignty when cast into the lake of fire, will turn on their ministers first, asking them why they told them all those lies for so long. When they come to the knowledge of Truth, that will pass, but that is a process.
I also read that “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” it does not say “to whom men have committed much”. Therefore I think it is two different groups. We are given much; not from men, but from God it is given. The other says it is committed by men.
I don’t know if I’m on the right track here.

Your brother in Christ,
R____

Good morning R____,
You ask about Christ’s words in Luke.

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

I feel like I probably need to repeat Mat 4:4 in every letter I write.

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.

If we ever forget that verse, we will succumb to the irresistible pull of our flesh to say we are not the Pharisee looking down on the Publican, we are not the tares, we are not the Jews who dragged the woman to Christ to be stoned and we are certainly not those who knew their Lord’s will and prepared not themselves and are worthy of many stripes.
There are not two groups, one “to whom much is given” versus one “to whom men have committed much.” Christ is simply using “the things that are made” to explain “the invisible things of God.” The only thing under consideration is whether we know our Lord”s will and what we do with the knowledge we are given. Do we know our Lord’s will and prepare ourselves, or have we known our Lord’s will and failed to prepare ourselves? As always it sounds like one must be in one group or the other, and there is no way possible to have been in both groups. But that is never really the case. We are all first in the first Adam, and all that is in him, and then we are in the last Adam and all that is in Him:

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as [ is] the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

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.

We are always at some time in both groups. “We shall also bear the image of the heavenly…”
We all want to think of ourselves as Job thought of himself, because we are all Job. Read Job 29 and you will understand your own self much better. Those words are the words which are first in the hearts of all of God’s elect at their own appointed time.

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)
1Co 10:11 Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained. (CLV)

The Greek word ‘types’ in verse 6, and ‘typically’ in verse 11 is the exact same Greek word ‘tupos’. All that happened to Israel “happened to them and was written” to typify us. That means our carcasses must fall in the wilderness before we can become Caleb and Joshua and enter into the land to begin warring against the giants in the land. We do not live by just the positive, smooth things in scripture; we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” and it is of us that the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zecharias is required, simply because it is in my own flesh and your own flesh that the chief of sinners resides.

1Ti 1:15  This [ is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Those few who are counted worthy of that blessed and holy first resurrection are those to whom it is given to “read and hear” and “read and understand” that it is they who must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God; it is they who must read, hear and keep the things written therein, and it is they who have committed the abomination of desolation, and who have stood in the holy place proclaiming themselves to be God.

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

Many have read those words, but few have understood that it is all of mankind who must live by every word and keep all the thing written therein.

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.

It simply is not given to many at this time to understand how God’s elect can keep both the first and the second resurrections. It amounts to saying such apparently contradictory things as ‘judge yourself, and you will not be judged’; confess that you have lived many years in unbelief abiding in God’s wrath, then you are not appointed to wrath; lose your life, and you will find it… admit you are blind and then you will see;’ etc. etc. etc.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
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.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And [ some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

The point is that we are all that self- righteous Pharisee before we come to see ourselves as the repentant publican; we are the Jews demanding the stoning of the adulteress woman before we come to see ourselves as the adulterous woman; We all believe the lies represented by the tares before we become the good seed, and we are all guilty of knowing our Lord’s will and doing things worthy of many stripes before we become servants who did not know their Lord’s will and do things worthy of few stripes.

That is the very meaning of saying, ‘I count not myself to have apprehended… I count not myself to be perfect… I am the chief of sinners.”

1Ti 1:15  This [ is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [ Not knowing what we have not yet apprehended, and receiving fewer stripes, as we acknowledged that we have, in times past, needed and received many]
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We all read these verses just before 1Ti 1:15…:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

… and we all say right along with the self- righteous Pharisee “Lord, I thank you that I am not as other men…” But every word of these two verses is inspired by and has proceeded out of the mouth of God. As such I must acknowledge that they are one and all within the parameters of “the law of sin and death” which is working in my flesh and blood through “the law of sin in my members.”

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

If there is “no good thing in my flesh”, then the evil things of 1Ti 1:9-10 must be in my flesh. So I, with Paul, can say “It is not I that do it but sin that dwells in me.” Then I can also say with Paul, that I  will not be judged because I have judged myself and can now confess that I have been given much knowledge of what my Lord wanted and did not do His will and have received many stripes “in time past.”
This has nothing to do with how many dollars the ministers of Babylon have received from God. It has everything to do with knowing that no true man of God ever preaches the gospel for the money. He preaches the gospel of necessity. He preaches it because he sees that he was once guilty of being given many of the truths of God, but he did not do his Lord’s will, and he has spent many years with “many stripes” because of “the wrath of God abiding on him.”

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.

We all live first the life of “the first man Adam” with all that is in that man. Afterward we experience the decrease of that first man as “the last man Adam” increases within us. That is how we “must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” That is how Paul could truthfully call himself “the chief of sinners” and also truthfully say these things.

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as [ is] the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

“As the earthy” Adam we are chief of sinners, least of the apostles, appointed to wrath and worthy of many stripes. As the second man we have “the Lord from heaven” within us and we can honestly say with Christ that we have “lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.”
I hope this is of some help in understanding that we must live by “every word” in these two verses.

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

God can ask more of those in whom Christ is increasing because we can do all things through Him.

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

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi Mike,
This caught my eye:

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
Psa 132:15 I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.
Psa 132:16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

Is Zion typical for mankind; chosen Zion and called Zion?
Your brother in Christ,
R____

Hi R____,

Thank you for your question.
You have taken note that God dwells in Zion, and then you note that the sinners and hypocrites in Zion are afraid. Then you ask if Zion is all mankind?
The answer is that in the long run all mankind will indeed be in Christ and in His Father. But there is more to answering your question than simply accepting the final outcome of Christ’s sacrifice. The admonition is that the sinners and hypocrites in Zion are afraid and fearful. Why is that? Why are we told of this fearfulness among the sinners and hypocrites in Zion? The answer is that we are all still struggling with fearfulness and hypocrisy within us and that must be cast out of us even as we are “in Zion.” It is not others, but us, who “must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Those words proceeding out of God’s mouth include these words right out of the mouth of Christ.

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and [ my] fatlings [ are] killed, and all things [ are] ready: come unto the marriage.
Mat 22:5  But they made light of [ it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [ them] spitefully, and slew [ them].
Mat 22:7  But when the king heard [ thereof], he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Mat 22:9  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

What is the subject of this parable? Is it the same subject as all Christ’s parables. It is “the kingdom of God (Mat 13 10-12). Where is that kingdom? It is “within you” (Luk 17:20-21).
The kingdom of God is not just a parable likened to a king, It is a parable like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come…” etc. etc… the entire parable is the kingdom of God within you and me.
So this parable, just like Isa 33:14-15, is addressed to you and me. It has nothing at all to say to those who cannot see or hear the things written therein.
Judas did not forsake Christ when most of His disciples forsook Him. Christ’s disciples forsook Him when He told them that they had to eat his flesh and drink His blood. This is Bible speak for “living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… the words I speak unto you.” Christ explains that right here in John six.

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [ his] flesh to eat?
Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Joh 6:59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that [ time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Eat Christ’s flesh and you will have life… “the words that I speak… they are life… from that time many went back and walked no more with Him. But look who was still with Him, still in the wedding supper without a wedding garment:

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Judas was both called and chosen, but He was not faithful to the end. None of us are faithful to the end. We are all “chief of sinners.” We all deny Christ, just as all the apostles did. We all go out and weep bitterly, and confess to betraying innocent blood. It is only by God’s sovereign work in us that we repent and are restored to a relationship with our Savior and His Father.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

This is “an hard saying; who can hear it?” This is “the words that I speak unto you.”
I hope this helps you to see that even though Judas was chosen along with the twelve, the message in all of this is that we are to be sober, vigilant, and faithful to the very end, realizing that we too are sinners in Zion who do not have a wedding garment, at our appointed time, and like Peter who saw himself as guilty as Judas, and Paul who saw himself as “chief of sinners” we too must acknowledge that it is God, and God alone who brings us through all of our trials and grants us to repent of what He has made us, and accept what is is making us, simply because,

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

I forget what verse it is, but doesn’t Christ say man shall give an account of every idle word? What does this mean? is it literal? I know we give an account every day.

J____

Hi J____,
You ask what is meant by ‘giving an account of every idle word?’

The important thing to notice here is that the scriptures never once say that we are accountable for our words or our actions. The Truth is that we are not accountable or responsible for anything simply because “it isn’t I that do it”

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Paul knew this was true because of so many Old Testament stories which come right out and tell us that the Lord sends evil spirits to cause men to sin and rebel against Him and His laws. This spirit is called “the law of sin and death.” Here is how that spirit worked in Joseph’s brothers.

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

How did God have Joseph’s brothers to sell him into Egypt? We don’t need to guess.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

So we too, like Joseph’s brothers, will be required and will give an accounting of what God has done in these vessels of clay, also known as “bodies of sinful flesh and blood.”
Note what the Lord says to the unjust steward:

Luk 16:2  And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

All the Lord really expected of His steward was an admission of his guilt, and He expected His servant to repent of his sins.
That is exactly what we are told about another of the Lord’s servants, right after telling us that we should forgive our brother daily seventy times seven, if he asks us to do so.

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

All God wants us for us to acknowledge that He has given us an evil experience to humble us. That is all. All He expects is for us to acknowledge that “all that is in the world,” including the things that incur His wrath, are in us, and we are each “chief of sinners.”

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

When we do as some of our beloved brothers in Christ do, and we say “The apostle Paul was the chief of sinners,” we are denying that we are to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” We are denying that “all that is in the world” is in us. We are also denying that “all things… things present and things to come” are ours.

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

Those are all inclusive words. Deny them at your own risk. They confirm this statement of God’s fiery words:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that [ they go] to the dead.

I hope this helps you to see that we will indeed all give an accounting of every idle word that proceeds out of our mouths.

Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

In doing so we will acknowledge that each of us should consider ourselves to be “chief of sinners,” and that “it was not I but sin that dwells in my members.” It is all accomplished by Him “who is working all things after the counsel of His own will.”
If “our words” maintain that we are not lost sheep, then in the lake of fire we will have to come to see that we are lost sheep. If we say we have never forsaken our Father and we hate those who acknowledge that they have done so, then in the lake of fire we will have to come to acknowledge that we have forsaken our Father. If we say we have never committed adultery and want to stone those who have, then in the lake of fire we will have to acknowledge that we have committed spiritual adultery. If we say we were never blind and were never sick and in need of a physician, then we will have to acknowledge and give an accounting of our blindness and sickness and need for a physician, in the lake of fire. If we say we have never blasphemed God and we will never know His wrath of our ungodliness and our unrighteousness, then in the lake of fire we will have to acknowledge that we have known God’s wrath on our ungodliness and unrighteousness.
On the other hand, if we acknowledge that “we all… are children of wrath, even as others,” then we have “judged ourselves, and we will not be judged.”
Like everything else in scripture, like virtually every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, “if we judge ourselves [ now], we will not be judged [ later]:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

It is the same for God’s wrath on our “idle words.”  If we acknowledge and give and accounting that we are the children of God’s wrath [ now] then we are not appointed to wrath [ later].”

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

The very worst of “our words’ which will later condemn us, are our own “idle words.” Denying that we each individually are chief of sinners, deserving of God’s wrath on our ungodliness and unrighteousnesses, are our own false doctrines which contradict “the sum of God’s Words” (Psa 119:160). “By thy [ own] words thou shalt be justified, and by thy [ own] words thou shalt be condemned.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

I read and listened to the recordings you suggested. I see that a person falls short when he sees the vials, plagues, etc. are not for him.  It seems to me that there are those who believe that because they fail to see their guilt in the sins of Babylon, therefore they do not have to experience the plagues. I do tend to believe concerning wrath versus fiery trials and tribulations, that wrath seems to be more severe in both administration and veracity reserved for those who fail to repent until the second death.  Thank you for your time and quick response, and please let me know if I am missing something concerning wrath versus fiery trials and tribulations.

Your Brother, S____

Hi S____,

God is love, and all He does is out of love. He is not in the business of hardening hearts simply for the sake of displaying His wrath on someone. It is just not given to some now to accept and stick with Biblical principles like these:

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

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

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Every word?… Keep those things which are written therein? Yes, every word and all of the things written therein. I believe those words.

Rev 22:18  For I testify to every one that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add to these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book.
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from these things that are written in this book.

Does Matthew 4:4 or Revelation 1:3 exclude part of Psalm 38:1? Do they exclude Revelation 15-16? No, the truth is ” No man can enter the temple of God till the seven angels have poured out the seven plagues.”

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.

Is that ‘temple’ someone else? Out of your own mouth you will be judged.

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

The rule that governs all judgment, both now and in the lake of fire, is not some unscriptural theory of God’s wrath being reserved for someone else’s unrighteousness and ungodliness, but that part of His word is not for you and me. No, it is all for us all:

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;

Here is the principle which governs God’s judgments whether at the first or the second resurrection:

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not [himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes].
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

There are those who believe that “wrath” and “chastening” are decidedly NOT in the same family. Ecclesiastes 9 says otherwise as does Hebrews 12:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Paul said he was “chief of sinners.”

1Ti 1:15  This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

So does Paul consider himself to be chief of sinners, but consider others to be the object of God’s wrath???

Are those words not for you and me? They are for me, and I hope you think that they are for you.

There are those who teach that Paul never did experience God’s wrath for the things he did. Here is what Christ said of us all, and it is “the same” for all men in their own times (Ecc 9:2-3).

Mat 23:34  Therefore behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify: and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.

Are any of these words for someone else besides you and me? Does “upon you” mean someone else much more deserving of God’s wrath than you?  Did you and I slay and betray Christ? Be careful how you answer. “Out of your own mouth I will judge you… and mankind will live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

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

God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He tells us this right after telling us that every son will experience His scourging:

Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Do you see a difference between scourging and wrath? If you do and if you think certain words of God’s word have no personal application, then you are saying that there is a part of the sayings of this book which are not for you, and as a brother once told me, “If I do not see my own name on every page of God’s Word, then I am taking out that part, and I will have to live that part in the lake of fire.” That is not a scripture, but it is a true statement which is based on Matthew 4:4, Revelation 1:3, 22:7, 22:18-21.

God doesn’t change, but He does operate on principles, and He does have a plan that requires that a few be called to bring in the rest. He will deal with both groups with the same loving principles, and Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 and Hebrews 12:6 “will not pass away” just to accommodate an unscriptural theory which calls for special wrath to be poured out on Joseph’s symbolic brothers, whose hearts God Himself hardened.

I wrote a letter on this subject earlier. Here is the link to that letter for your consideration: The Difference Between Orge And Thumos

I cannot and do not want to convince anyone of anything that is not made clear to that person by God’s spirit, so try the spirits and see if they are of God.

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

I think that when you do that you will see that “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked.” It is simply a matter of God’s own purpose being worked out in His own time.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi Mike,
I’m sorry to bother you with so many questions this month, I was hoping you could clarify the question that I asked at the last bible study! I’m not even sure what the comment was, but you mentioned something in regard to this comment brought to your attention by one of the brethren centered around the verse where Paul says he was the chief of sinners!
At present my understanding is that we have the potential to do the worst sins but only because of Christ staying the hand of Satan and by our being strengthened by Christ do we not follow through! We are able therefore to be sifted like wheat except that Christ is in our person! Conversely we are being crushed by Christ now so we can be in the first resurrection if that is God’s intention!
We can therefore say we are guilty by association with the flesh of Adam of the death of Christ, which would be the greatest of sins, and paradoxically the only action which could forgive all other sins!
If this was what you were saying, I apologize for not picking up on that with our last exchange, rather I know you believe this because of previous things you have spoken on, and my real question is just what that gentleman meant by the comment that you explained! It didn’t seem right to me somehow, but I can’t even tell you what that somehow is at this point!
I’m still very underemployed, but I can tell you that I really believe God is working all this out, and the prayers of the brethren have helped immensely! The fact that I’m enduring through this trial of my faith is evidence of that in itself, and I should say that when you see your own prayers being answered it really encourages you to double up your efforts for the needs of others, so God knows exactly what He’s doing in all of this as always!
And if you could pass on my thanks to whoever posted the Revelation series on audio, this is a great help for those who have Ipods and the like so we can walk and listen and be mobile with the studies! We’re pretty spoiled in this day and age, I can’t imagine what the brethren in Paul’s day would think if they saw all the incredible technology we have!
Your brother in the person of Christ!
T____

Hi T____,

Thanks for your question. You are exactly right. It is our association with Adam and the simple acknowledgment that “in Adam” we are “required the blood of all the righteous prophets from Abel to Zecharias,” which makes us “chief of sinners.” We did not personally commit the murder of Abel or the murders of the millions of Jews, Russians and Chinese who were slain by Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, but “in Adam” we have partaken in “all things” both past present and future:

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and [ some] of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

That is the “two- edged” nature of God’s Word. If we are purified of our sins in Christ, we are also “guilty of all” in Adam.

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

That why Paul cried out:

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

But Paul also rejoices in the answer to his own question:

Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

I hope this helps to clarify what I meant by saying that ‘we are manifestly not the worst person who has ever lived.’ While God may have hedged the worst things of the flesh, out of our lives, that do not mean that it is not in our flesh, just waiting for the right circumstances and conditions to bring it out of us. If Christ is not in us, then the first Adam is.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Could someone help me out with this question? 

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults to one another…

Does this infer that our sins are held unless we confess to one another (that is, similiar to the Roman Catholic confession before a priest)?

Thanks for your help.
C____

Hi again C____,
Your question which was:

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults to one another… Does this infer that our sins are held  unless we confess to one another (that is, similiar to the R. Catholic confession before a priest)? 

No, it does not say, ‘that your sins may be forgiven.’ Here is what it does say:

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

Christ came to save sinners, and He did just that. His sacrifice is sufficient for the sins of the whole world, and not just for believers:

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.

… and lest we miss the point, John puts it this way:

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

This verse in not an encouragement for God’s people to go into great detail displaying their sins before each other or the world. Here is what David reveals about his sins:

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

This is not to say that we are not expected to apologize to those we sin against, but it does tell us that those sins are between us and those we offend and God. They are not the business of concern of those who are not involved. Christ wants us all to realize that “in Adam” we each are the “chief of sinners” and as such are guilty of “the blood of all the prophets from Abel to today:”

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and [ some] of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

“This generation” is the generation reading these words, all who, with the apostle can confess:

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Our healing is not complete until we come to see what we all are in Adam. Only then can we see just how much is involved in our healing.
“That you may be healed” in no way means ‘or you will not be healed.’ We will all be healed of the disease of death, but it will be through death and through confessing that we are “chief of sinners, guilty, through our Adamic flesh, of the blood of all the prophets.
I hope this gives you a better perspective on Jas 5:16, and I hope you can now see that it has nothing at all in common with the Catholic tradition of confessing to a priest. “Confess you faults one to another,” not in minute detail and not to a priest, but to the one against whom you have sinned.

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi Mike, Sorry for the late return.  It has been somewhat hectic here.  Thank you so much for sending me these scriptures.  I love all the scriptures, but I must say, at this particular time, these bring much comfort.  I have read them all many times, but I have been studying the Old Testament of late and haven’t read them for a while.  I have always found parts of the ‘Old’ difficult to get through because of all the killing and slaughtering, but there is much to be gleaned from those pages.  They truly are for our admonition. Very recently, actually in between our last emails, I had cause to go to my employer’s offices (I generally work from my house).  I ran into a co- worker there who is going through some very difficult times of his own.  I felt doubly bad for him, because I can certainly understand what he is going through, however, from his words, I could see that he saw no purpose in his suffering – only the suffering, only bitterness.  I had a thought similar to something you said in this letter.  What a gift!  How fortunate I am.  I have been graced with the ability to see purpose in my suffering.  I know why I must suffer.  I know the Lord will give us the strength to endure our trials and I have come to believe that this is how He gives us strength to endure.  A word here, a thought there, maybe something visual, all pointing toward a purpose.  Little things through the course of a day reminding me that through the trials, through the sufferings, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is the glory that Paul speaks of in Rom 8:18.   ‘Chief of sinners’?  Yes, I see myself in that way.  I had a conversation with a friend a while back, around the time of the release of the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”.  My friend took the view that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ.  I shook my head and he was surprised and asked me if I thought it was the Romans.  I asked him if he knew what the death of Christ accomplished.  What was its purpose?  I asked him, do you know why Christ is the lamb of God?  He finally said Christ died on the cross to forgive sins.  I asked him, whose sins.  And he got it – everyone’s.  So I told him he just answered his own question.  If Christ died on the cross to forgive the sins of the world through all generations, then everyone who has ever sinned through all generations is the reason for His death.  He died to save us.  His was the valuable blood spilled in sacrifice.  It was not only the Jews or the Romans or even Judas Iscariot who killed Christ… it was all of us.  And this Mike is why I see myself as chief of sinners.  Christ died, in part, because of me, to save me.   I know when Paul coined that phrase he was thinking of the followers of Christ that he executed, but to me, the true reason he was chief of sinners is that Christ died, in part, for Paul and this knowledge and understanding converted Saul.  And Paul says as much:         Gal 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.      And so,  if ‘chief of sinners’ for my part in Christ’s death, then also for the death of the prophets by extension, for what did they foretell, but the coming of the Messiah.  We killed the prophets as surely as as we killed the Christ.  Pontius Pilate washed his hands, but we choose to admit our guilt and be chastised as sons and not remain in denial as bondservants.  For this, we shall see the glory of Christ revealed in us, if we endure to the end.  So I continue on in my trials and I raise my head and ask for forgiveness for not always finding joy in my tribulations.  But I tell you Mike, I get a sense of great anticipation thinking about how the Lord will carry me through.  I think my wife thinks I’m a little crazy, because I often seem excited to see what is next.  I find my faith is strongest when darkness seems to be all around me.  And my prayer is to never fall to the darkness, but to always walk in the light.  I am driven by the hope offered by the words of Paul, who is one ‘chief of sinners’ among billions.  1 Co 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?       1 Co 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!        1 Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.       1 Co 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.  Your Brother in Christ, J____

What a wonderful witness! God has given to you the gift of being able to rejoice in your trials and to be thankful to be counted worthy to suffer with Christ.

I especially appreciated the phrase you used, “Paul, who is one ‘chief of sinners’ among billions.” According to Christ, if we see ourselves as “chief of sinners” we will love God more, and that is exactly the humble attitude we must all develop if we are given the grace to realize that all men must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Yes,  it really is exciting just to witness how God delivers us out of our trials. He never fails, and it actually seems impossible at times.

We truly are blessed of all men to know God and Jesus Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike