Psa 115:1  Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

This Psalm 115 expresses the process and the struggle that all flesh must endure to come to the point where we can understand in our hearts that “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty”.

1Ch 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

All glory in heaven and earth is given unto God and “not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but rather “unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth‘s sake.”

Psa 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth‘s sake.

This phrase “not unto us” is uttered twice in the opening verse of our Psalm 115 to remind us that whatever glory does occur within us, as we go from glory to glory in this life is being accomplished by God through Christ who is showing mercy unto His people, unto his “name” or “for thy truth’s sake”.

2Co 3:18  But we all [the body of Christ], with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The only one who can lay up treasure in  heaven (that is to glorify God), our heavens being represented by our hearts and minds,where the kingdom of God resides, is Christ, who gives us the power to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal“.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

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.

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.

Christ is the reason “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” representing our fleshly carnal minds that must be changed in order to no longer glory in that which God does through us, as though we had something to do with it. Taking this glory unto ourselves is another way of saying our treasure or talent will rust in the earth and be corrupted by our own deceitful and desperately wicked hearts that are likened to the very temporary and flighty existence of a moth that eats the fabric of Christ’s righteousness which is likened to linen (Rev 19:8), thereby taking that glory unto ourselves. The rust as well eats away at the ruddy man, Adam, whose glory is fading and is temporary like the grass, or like rust that destroys the base metal of iron which flesh represents.

1Co 4:7  For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Psa 103:15  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Dan 2:43  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 

Unless we are caused to give glory to God for all that He accomplishes through us, showing “thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all” (1Ch 29:11), our treasure will remain buried in the earth. We are initially the thieves as well in Matthew 6:19 who want to break through or receive our reward in this earth and steal the glory from God by not acknowledging that everything we do, the good and the evil, the light and the darkness, are all accomplished to His glory and to the end that men may learn that they are beasts. Everything we learn from God starts off in our naturally carnal minds, and if we are being sanctified in this age by God’s holy spirit, the end result will be that the seed of Adam will die and the light of Christ will break forth in our heavens.

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [in God’s elect as well as Christ]
Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

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

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

It is only with the mind of Christ that our changed hearts will “unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth‘s sake”. If His words are important to us, His commandments, if that is “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” and then we will be witnessing that “the kingdom of God is within you”.

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The increase which is manifest to the glory of our LORD through the church bears witness that we are God’s predestined workmanship from the foundation of the world and that Christ is the one giving us the strength and the power to go from glory to glory so we can accomplish these works which have been predetermined.

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

2Co 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, [Luk_12:32]
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Christ and His Christ are the one true light and witness who has come into the earth to reveal our Father. Our Father’s life and Christ’s life was revealed and is revealed on this earth today through the life of Christ in us causing Christ’s body to be the light of the world.

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Joh 5:31  If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

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

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

That virgin work which Christ is doing within the body of Christ is accomplished by the new blood of Christ revealed in the type and shadow event of the true virgin wife, who has not been defiled as shown in these verses (Deu 22:13-21). Once a woman is impregnated it normally takes the complete nine months of gestation within the womb for the child to be born. Mary, who is a type of the church, sees the Son of God born through a typical nine-month period of gestation or judgment (9 months) on the house of God which brings about Christ just as the manchild can only be brought to term (the manchild – Rev 12:5) in our lives through those symbolic nine months of judgment upon the church that will lead to the first resurrection.

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth [Rom 8:14-16]. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

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.

Mat 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Mat 11:26  Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Mat 11:27  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Isa 66:9  Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. [“therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” is what we are being told in this verse of Isaiah Rom 8:1]

Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

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

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

We cry out to God in our spiritual birth pangs “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” knowing that if we start in the spirit and finish in the flesh, not giving all glory to God for this life-long process of judgment that brings us unto perfection on the symbolic third day, we will in essence have labored (pun intended) in vain.

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.

Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Gal 3:5  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Gal 3:6  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham [Heb 10:38-39].

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. 

This Psalm 115 is an admonition against not acknowledging God as Sovereign over the whole process of our growth, in the light and the darkness which He has created and is using to bring about His new creation. God’s elect are likened unto pillars because those pillars represent the strength God has given us through Christ to be able to bring the rest of the world (4 pillars in the temple which represent all of humanity who shall be saved) into a right relationship with our Father and Christ through grace and faith (5 first pillars of the temple). Together those pillars add up to 9, which we know represents judgment, a judgment which begins at the house of God (1Pe 4:17) and concludes in the lake of fire for the rest of humanity.

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

God has purposed these ordinal events of his workmanship in the earth in the parable of the vineyard (Mat 20:1-16) to His glory and each man in his appointed time (1Co 15:23) will be saved and all mankind will eventually witness and understand, “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty.”

Psa 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

I mentioned the verses in Hebrews 10:38-39 earlier, and I want to encourage us to remember that “we are not of them who draw back unto perdition”. Our goal in this life is very singular; the dream is one, and there is a simplicity or singleness in Christ where there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1) which we have been blessed to understand together in Him as we strive for the mark of the prize of the high calling in our Lord together.

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. 

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Everything we do as we press toward that mark and even fall seven symbolic times (Pro 24:16) is something which God has ordained so we can learn of His righteousness. Unlike the men of old who typified that overcoming process in the Lord, like king David and others, we are also left with examples of those who have fallen short of the mark of the prize, and this falling short will also be to the glory of God in our hearts and minds, if we can be among those who acknowledge today that it is God who is working all of these events according to the counsel of His will, the light and the darkness, the good and the evil (Ecc 1:11, Isa 45:7).

A strong man, a great man in the earth, will tell us that it was by his principled life that he was able to overcome, and that he had no plan B. This is true, at least in the realm of the physical, but it is very few who understand that it is God alone who is working all things according to the counsel of His own will and that it is He who does not have a plan B for any part of His creation; not for the overcomer in this age, and not for those who were not granted to overcome in this age.

We see our calling simply because God has opened our eyes, and it is our battle cry as the body of Christ to say, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

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

We will fall seven times, but the righteous will get up, and God will finish what He has started in us through Jesus Christ, and these words are true “but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” as we see clearly stated in these verses below.

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all [“but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy“].

We can learn many things from the mighty men and woman of old, and our modern King David types, and those lessons will serve us greatly if we are granted to remember that our ability to overcome and endure until the end is a complete gift from God as He has proclaimed the end from the beginning and has told us that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom, even knowing that we are predestined to fall seven times and get back up and continue to forget what is behind us as we press ahead through Christ.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

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

Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

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.

How glorious it is that God can call the weak of the world and demonstrate His strength and longsuffering spirit in us as we persevere and overcome in this age, witnessing that only Christ can be Christ. To truly overcome in the spirit is to put off the mind of Adam which is enmity against Christ as we overcome the beast and the number of his name, through Jesus Christ alone.

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

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 
Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 

Rev 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? 

Next week, Lord willing, we will look more closely at some other verses in Psalm 115 as we learn how God blinds the world and keeps us from seeing the beast that we are, spoken of in Revelation 13:1 and :15.  It is through the destruction of our old man, typified by both of those beasts which are the same beast at different stages, that we will learn “Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all”. The true riches, as always, are found in coming to know that God is working with you, destroying that man of sin and creating a new vessel of honour by his “power and might”!

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

1Ch 29:12  Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
1Ch 29:13  Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. [Heb 13:15]
1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
1Ch 29:15  For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
1Ch 29:16  O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

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:

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

Hello,

Could you please give me a reply in regard to a question about your faith\teachings. I would like to know what you state\believe the devil is.

I would also like to know if you believe God motivates people to do evil? Such as the following verse would\could seem to suggest.

2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

As to is, was, will be – do you mean that you always were or that you can and will “become” one with who always was and always is (that which is born of God does not sin).

I, too, read and have been given an understanding of the scriptures according to the Spirit that “gives” life.

If you find my questions odd or bothersome please forgive me. I just would like to know these things first. There is much to read on the web site, and much of it is meant to show that there is another understanding than the literal, but it does not really speak out to what is exactly what. I am sure it does some where in your messages but searching them all for just these questions to be clearly answered is very time consuming. I read some things on the web page but they do not really address my questions. At least the one’s I read did not reveal to me the answers to these questions.

Thank you very much,

K____

Hi K____,

Thank you for your questions. They were three:

1) “Could you please give me a reply in regard to a question about your faith\teachings. I would like to know what you state\believe the devil is.

2) I would also like to know if you believe God motivates people to do evil? Such as the verse below would\could seem to suggest.

2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

3) As to is, was will be, do you mean that you always were or that you can and will “become” one with who always was and always is (that which is born of God does not sin).

Your first question is:

I would like to know what you state\believe the devil is.

You say at the end of your questions:

If you find my questions odd or bothersome please forgive me.

I never consider any honest truth-seeking question to be either odd or bothersome. God sent you to us, and I want only to minister to your questions and to help you to better see the mind of Christ on any issue of which you are led to sincerely inquire. Having said that, I must add that what “[I] believe/state”, is of no more value than what anyone else believes or states. What is of great value is “That which is written”:

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think[…] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

So”that which is written” concerning the devil is that God created him to be the, devil, the tempter, the adversary and the destroyer as these verses demonstrate:

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

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.

1Ti 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

Here in Isaiah 54:16 we are told that the “waster [was] created… to destroy”. He was not created perfected to ‘fall’ and become a “waster”. He was “created [as] the waster to destroy”.

We see Satan doing what he is sent by God to do in 1Sa 16:14, and in Job 1 and 2:

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD [and did exactly what he was sent by the Lord to do. Nothing more and nothing less].

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

A most revealing event takes place in the New Testament where Satan enters into Judas only “after the sop”:

Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

This verse demonstrates the fallacy of the doctrine which teaches that Satan is nothing more than our flesh. The teaching of scripture is the exact opposite:

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

It was God’s own hand which “formed the crooked serpent:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

So God created the waster to destroy, as he destroyed all Job possessed, and did not touch Job himself until he was sent by God to touch Job’s body and afflict Job with boils.

Your second question is:

I would also like to know if you believe God motivates people to do evil? Such as…2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

The answer to this question is easily demonstrated throughout scriptures every time we read of how the Lord sent an evil spirit to do His bidding such as:

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

This verse demonstrates that no evil spirits are free from the will of God, but that God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”, even when we seem to be making decisions which are our own and which are contrary to His commandments.

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

The story of Joseph and his brothers is a very good example of how God is working all things after the counsel of His own will, while at the same time leading us to believe we have free will. Notice how Joseph twice acknowledges that his brothers chose to sell him into Egypt, but in the very same breath he tells them this:

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.

So, did Joseph’s brothers have a will? Absolutely, they did have a will and they exercised their will, and Joseph twice acknowledges that they did so:

Gen 45: 4 (b) …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:

Those words “you sold me hither (here)” certainly make it sound as if Joseph’s brothers chose of their own free will to sell him into Egypt. They certainly felt they had made that choice of their own free will, and that is the way we all feel as we go about our lives making what appear to be thousands of decisions every day based upon what appears to the natural man to be his own free will. But what do the scriptures reveal to be the truth of our every decision? Here are but a few of the scriptural answers to that question, beginning with what Joseph reveals to us about what appeared to be the free will decision of his brothers selling him into Egypt:

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.

That is but one of many Biblical verses which tell us that our sins, which appear to be of our own choosing, are not really our own sins at all. Rather the scriptures teach that our every sin “is not [we] that do it but sin which dwells in our members”, and therefore even our sins are all a work of God, via a law that is always working in the flesh of every man and via spirits which the Lord has given to rule over us by means of this law which God Himself gave us and which He Himself sustains within us.

Here is that Biblical doctrine for all to read and believe if God has given them eyes that see and ears that hear:

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,.

There is something called “the law of sin” which works “in our members”. Who gave and sustains “the law of sin”? Here is the Biblical answer to that question:

Isa 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

These verses explain why we are told that God “makes all things for Himself, Yes even the wicked” man with each of us “for the day of evil” within each of us as per Romans seven:

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

Your question is, “Does God motivate people to do evil”. The scriptural answer is that He does not do so Himself.

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God is without temptation of evils, and he himself tempts no man.

God Himself tempts no man, but He sends evil spirits to do so as He did with Joseph’s brothers (Gen 45:4-8), with King Saul (1Sa 16:14-15), and with Job in Job 1 and 2.

Here is the direct scriptural answer to your question:

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Your third question was:

3) As to is, was, will be, do you mean that you always were or that you can and will “become” one with who always was and always is (that which is born of God does not sin).

The phrase “is, was, and is to come” is found 12 times in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it refers to Christ Himself, as “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev 3:14). All things were created by Him, and for Him, and in Him all things consist simply because “it pleased the Father” for it to be so:

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Christ is, was and will be:

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

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 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

In John 1:1 we read:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That being True, Christ’s Words are, were and will be, and He told us:

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

That is what ‘is, was, and will be”, means. Christ and His Word are, were, and will be.

If you are asking if I believe in the false doctrine of circularity or if I believe that I or anyone other than Christ and His Father preexisted, the answer is an emphatic, no, I do not!!!

That is the very purpose for Christ asking Job:

Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

If “the sons of God” of verse 7 referred to mankind, then Job could well have said, ‘I was right there shouting for joy’, instead Job said “I am vile… I will place my hand on my mouth”, as well he should.

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The fact that Satan came to Adam and Eve in the form of the serpent proves the spirit world was “the sons of God”, for God is said to be “the father of spirits”, good and evil, and it was they who were there, for the fowls of the air, which Christ tells us typify the evil one, were created on the fifth day, the day before God created mankind along with all the other beasts of the earth:

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

“The wicked one… the fowls” were created on the fifth day to fly in the heavens of the earth, and we are the “earth” with its heavens:

Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Jer 22:1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

These words are addressed to God’s own people. Now notice what we are called in verse 29:

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

So ‘is, was, and will be’ refers to Christ and His Words by which all mankind will live in their own order (Mat 4:4 and 1Co 15:23)

I hope these verses serve to answer your questions.

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Mike

What Is Christ?

The scriptures instruct us:

Rom 10:6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 
Rom 10:7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 
Rom 10:8  But what saith it? The word [Christ] is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

The apostle Paul had no doubt that what he was preaching was “Christ… the word of faith, which we preach”. These verses, reveal, for those who have the eyes to see it, that Jesus Christ is the fire that comes out of the mouth of His witnesses. “Christ… The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth…”

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 

Christ is the fiery words in the mouth of His witnesses, and while it is very little understood or appreciated, God Himself has empowered those in whom He dwells to devour their enemies with His fiery words which proceed out of His mouth. He has even empowered them to shut off the waters of heaven from their enemies, and to “smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will”.

Christ’s witnesses are a power for their enemies to contend with, simply because they know Him, and they have His words in their mouths. Christ Himself made this same statement earlier in Mat 18:

Mat 18:18  Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.

The things which have been bound and loosed on the earth, and the things which have been bound and loosed in the heavens are all the Words of Christ, which are always true.

If we are not even aware that we have these powers, it is because we do not have them. Paul knew his own powers in the spiritual word of God, and he did not waver in that power.

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. 

I have emboldened the words “my speech and preaching was… in the power of God”, because it was what Paul said and preached that demonstrated the spirit and power of God. If I say anything of my own, it is nothing but “enticing words of man’s wisdom”. But when I demonstrate what the scriptures actually teach I am “demonstrat[ing] the spirit and power” of God.

When we live in and by His word that is what Christ meant by “abid[ing] in my word”. (Joh 8:30-31)

1Co 7:40  But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

“I have the spirit of God… we have the mind of Christ… The word of faith [is what] we preach, [and we] know the Truth”.

Joh 8:31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Joh 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (ASV)

“If you abide in My Word” means that you and I must know Christ before we can abide in Him. If Christ is in any man, that man knows Christ is there, and he also knows Christ when He hears Christ’s voice in another man:

Joh 10:4  When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

“Know not the voice of strangers” actually means the exact opposite of what it appears to say. What that means is that anyone who “know[s Christ’s] voice, recognizes when they are not hearing Christ’s voice. “They know not the voice of strangers” means they do not identify with a stranger’s voice, and the word voice means the “speech and… preaching” is recognized as the “enticing words of man’s wisdom” instead of “the demonstration of the spirit and of power” which “spirit” is the Word of God:

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.

So that is ‘what’ Christ is. He is His Word, and His Word is Him:

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 [the Word]; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Who Is Christ?

As Saul of Tarsus, Paul wanted to know who had struck him down on the road to Damascus, and the Lord answered him in no uncertain terms:

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

We, too, want to know who Christ really is, because Christ warned us that there would be many people who would come in His name and claiming to be Him who would not really even know Him at all:

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Exactly when is this going to happen? Here is the answer to that question which the apostles asked our Lord:

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

Christ has been in those who know His voice in every generation since He was raised from among the dead. Here is who He tells us long before He told Saul of Tarsus who He is:

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
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.

“The least of these my brothers” is not just those in whom Christ dwells. “The least of these my brothers” includes the man who was robbed and beaten on the way down to Jericho. It includes anyone the Lord brings before us at any time. We must treat everyone as though “the least of these my brothers” is Christ Himself, nevertheless Christ and His body should come first as we deciding who Christ is and when we are pouring out our own alabaster box of precious ointment:

Mat 26:6  Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Mat 26:7  There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
Mat 26:8  But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
Mat 26:9  For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
Mat 26:10  When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
Mat 26:11  For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:12  For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Mat 26:13  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

The holy spirit repeats the message contained for us in this story in these verses:

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. 

‘Do good to all men’, but we are all commended for pouring out of our own precious ointment “on my body… especially unto them who are of the household of faith”.

That is who Christ is. He is “especially [His own] household of faith, [His] disciples”.

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

Where is Christ?

Earlier we read in Revelation 11:

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

“Them that worship therein” are those who know that Christ is His Word. They “know His voice when they hear it, and they worship in His temple.

Where is that temple?

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.

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That is where Christ is. He is in His temple. But we are also told that His temple is in the heavens:

Rev 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

The meaning of “in heaven” becomes much clearer when we understand the demonstration of the spirit and power of God in these words:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [you and I if Christ is within us] with better sacrifices than these.

When we come into that house of God we are commanded to watch our steps:

Ecc 5:1  Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Ecc 5:2  Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

It is best to simply quote Christ’s words which are spirit and life, rather than to say anything. It is best to let Him do all the talking because that is where Christ is; He is in His temple, and He is in His “temple which is in heaven”. “[We] are the temple of God [if] the spirit of God dwells in [us]”. It follows that “the heavenly things themselves” are also those in whom Christ dwells because it is we who are “purified with… better sacrifices than… the blood of calves and goats”. (Heb 9:19) Christ has always been in His people, and that is what He Himself has promised us:

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

This is what, who and where Christ is, and where He has always been since His resurrection. He is His Word, He is those who are persecuted for His sake, and he is within His temple which is within the heavens.

This is what, who and where you and I are, if we are abiding in His Word. We are not just a group of men who are playing church for filthy lucre’s sake. We are filling up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church. We know the voice of the True Shepherd, and we flee from the voice of a stranger, because we “know the Truth” and we will both symbolically and literally die to be with Christ and His Christ in that blessed and holy first resurrection.

As overseers of the Lord’s flock we are first to “look well to [ourselves]”:

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

But we are also commanded to “take heed… to the flock over the which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God”. A godly overseer is a godly shepherd whose whole life in invested in the sheep under His care, and He is not just a hireling:

Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 
Joh 10:12  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 
Joh 10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Christ’s sheep know who it is who “gives his life for the sheep”. The Christ of Christ is known of His sheep. The true shepherd, lays down his life for the sheep, and does not allow wolves to catch and scatter the sheep.

The true shepherd is still in a vessel of clay and is not yet perfected. Yet he lives for the sheep laboring in the word and in doctrine. Here is how we are told to treat the good shepherds among us, who “give [their] lives for the sheep”.

1Ti 5:17  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Tit 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

A true shepherd of Christ must be blameless because He really is a steward of God, and this is how we are to act when we are counseled of our elders who preside well over, and have proven themselves to be good stewards of, the Lord’s flock:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.”

Conclusion

God’s true shepherds are not hirelings. They are proven leaders who have given their lives for the Lord’s flock, and we are told to count them worthy of double honor, and we are told to “be persuaded of your leader and be deferring to them for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls.”

Nowhere is it ever said that a good shepherd has been perfected, but we are told that they have proven that they will lay down their lives for the Lord’s flock.

“That Old Serpent”

Part 7

April 30, 2014

As we concluded the last part of this series I made a statement saying, “Lightning is representative of God’s instant power and revealing …”

After reading a few verses, I also made this statement, “Satan falling as lightning from heaven reveals to us just how SWIFT the work of the Lord is in bringing down the idols of our hearts, in the day of the Lord.”

In this study, we are going to start with the premise of this statement and examine Ezekiel 28 with this in mind.

“Pride”

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.

Most often, and due to a lack of spiritual understanding, most Christian clergy associate Ezekiel 28 with satan and not with mankind. Only vaguely do they associate Ezekiel 28 with the prince and king of Tyre but certainly more with satan. Let us examine scripture, and then examine ourselves, to see if this is so with us.

Tyre is the focus in several different places in scripture and is in particular a place where pride and self glory were abundant. Tyre is geographically in a place which allowed it to be in wonderful trade routes with those around it, therefore creating a great wealth for the city.

As we examine Tyre, we should be seeing ourselves being referenced because the city of Tyre is in us all, at one point or another.

Here are a few references to the city of Tyre which give us a good bit of context to what we are about to read in Ezekiel 28 about ourselves and the city of Tyre within us spiritually speaking.

Isaiah 23 1-18:

Isa 23:1  The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
Isa 23:2  Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Isa 23:3  And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

Isa 23:15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa 23:16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa 23:17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Isa 23:18  And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Jeremiah 25:22 and 27:1-11:

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 25:22  And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

Jer 27:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 27:2  Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
Jer 27:3  And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
Jer 27:4  And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
Jer 27:5  I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

Ezekiel 26, 28:

Eze 26:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 26:2  Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
Eze 26:3  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

Eze 28:19  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Joel 3:4-8:

Joe 3:4  Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
Joe 3:5  Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
Joe 3:6  The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

Amos 1:9-10:

Amo 1:9  Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
Amo 1:10  But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

I listed all of these verses and read from them for us to get a scriptural feel for just who it is the Lord is addressing when He speaks about the prince or the king of Tyrus in Ezekiel 28.

Why you might ask?

1Co 10:5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

(YLT)  and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire.

It may seem like a bit of overkill to have just used so much time to read what we did, but the Lord has witnessed to us in many books of the bible just who it is He is dealing with in Ezekiel.

See, we are all “in Adam” thus we all die. Likewise, we are all “in Christ” and are given to be made alive at the appointed time of the Father.

So, what does this have to do with the orthodox Christian doctrines concerning Ezekiel 28, the old serpent and the body of Christ?

As I mentioned in the previous study, Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28 are used as a basis to show satan as a fallen arch-angel who was put in his place by God, but what we really are reading about is how the old man in us all will be done away with and put away from the midst of God.

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
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:
Eze 28:3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
Eze 28:4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Eze 28:5  By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
Eze 28:6  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

Ezekiel 28:2 clearly says the Lord is addressing a man. The man/prince that is being addressed is a type of us all. We read what the Lord is telling us in verse 2 as being addressed to a “prince” but then we are also being addressed as a king a few verses later.

“The Witness”

Eze 28:8  They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
Eze 28:9  Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
Eze 28:10  Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 28:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 28:12  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

A king is simply a progression of being a prince. What we are being told here clearly tells us that man is being addressed and not some arch-angel.

What confuses the masses is that what we are about to read speaks about being in the garden of Eden and there were only three in the garden with the Lord, satan, Adam and Eve.

What we are being told, what we are being witnesses to, with two being the number of witness, is that this prince and king resides in us all and that is how “thou were in the Garden of Eden, the Garden of God”.

We have been shown in the natural what a witness consists of. It may seem like a strange comparison, but the Lord gave Eve to Adam as a helper but they also witnessed His work together and later go off to start physical humanity as a set of two brought together as one flesh.

Physically speaking we are given two eyes to see from, two ears to hear from, two nostrils and olfactory bulbs to project to the cerebral hemispheres, two sides of one brain, two legs to stand on, two arms to balance ourselves and to use to live with.

We have two feet, two hands and two sets of fingers and toes so we MUST be given some insight into the Lord’s mind by how He created us.

In our creation, the Lord created us with balance to show us His great balancing act because in all things we MUST BE balanced or WE FALL or FELL at what we are doing.

We are marvellously created beings, yet there is much more to the children of the Lord than what appears on the surface, just as there is much more to Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14.

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Eze 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Eze 28:18  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
Eze 28:19  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

How then can the prince and king of Tyre be told “thou hast been in Eden”?

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

And just what are the stones being spoken about? Mike Vinson has a great study on these stones and the surrounding verses, so please read up on it at: http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/up-and-down-among-the-stones-of-fire/

The stones are our works.

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

What is also confused in most of the churches of Babylon is that verse 28:14 mentions Cherub (H3742), other places called cherubims, and this they connect to the idea of satan being this arch-angel that has fallen from grace. That is the furthest thing from the Truth.

cherubims, 63 , (H3742)

Gen_3:24, Exo_25:18-20 (4), Exo_25:22, Exo_26:1, Exo_26:31, Exo_36:8, Exo_36:35, Exo_37:7-9 (4), Num_7:89, 1Sa_4:4, 2Sa_6:2, 1Ki_6:23, 1Ki_6:25, 1Ki_6:27-29 (4), 1Ki_6:32 (2), 1Ki_6:35, 1Ki_7:29, 1Ki_7:36, 1Ki_8:6-7 (3), 2Ki_19:15, 1Ch_13:6, 1Ch_28:18, 2Ch_3:7, 2Ch_3:10-11 (2), 2Ch_3:13-14 (2), 2Ch_5:7-8 (3), Psa_99:1 (2), Isa_37:16, Eze_10:1-3 (3), Eze_10:6-9 (5), Eze_10:15-16 (3), Eze_10:18-20 (3), Eze_11:22, Eze_41:18, Eze_41:20, Eze_41:25

I mentioned two’s specifically earlier to bring out this very point because two always represent a witness to something. Just as the prince of Tyre progresses in type to a king, so too do the “cherub” throughout scripture.

The cherub start off in Eden “guarding the way of the tree of life.” They simply represent beasts which are around the throne of God, and they end up having three sets of two wings, six wings.

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

We see them earlier in Ezekiel with only four wings:

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6  And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

When we first start off with our walk in Christ, we have been found of our first love, but then we leave our first love because our deadly wound is healed.

As the Lord works with us, we progress and press on to maturity and that is witnessed to us in the growth of addition wings as we make our ways further into the heavens.

The old serpent simply writhes around on his belly eating dust, and we all are that dust. He is singular in his mind to be a waster to destroy, a liar and murderer, because that it what he was created to be and do.

However, we are being created in the image of God and we have dual roles that we fulfill. First, we start off “in Adam,” the first man. Then, we progress slowly toward the new man. As the new man arises in our hearts and minds, the mind of Christ once again makes of TWAIN, ONE.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

We were NEVER created perfect in our ways. The Hebrew word for perfect here is “whole” and gives the true meaning of what we are being told. We were created “whole”, we were made as we were supposed to be made, and at the end of each cycle of “making all of creation,” the Lord said it is “good”, not “perfect”.

We have, from the beginning, an uncircumcised heart, even when we think we serve the Lord. However, we DO NOT initially serve him in Spirit and Truth so we will “die the death of the uncircumcised” first man Adam in us all.

Eze 28:10  Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord 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?

The revealing of the son of perdition who sits in the temple of God is a wonderful thing for the new man coming into the hearts and minds of His body.

Eze 28:17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

First though, we must live out being thrown out of “Eden”. We must recognize why it is we are guilty just as Adam our father in the flesh was. Eve came from Adam and we come from the union of them both.

The job of the old serpent is to traduce the Truth with lies and cause us to doubt and fall into unbelief of the promise that Christ Jesus will finish in us what He has started.

Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 have nothing to do with this supposed arch-angel going bad, and everything to do with the adversary being cast from the heavens of our minds just as quick as God’s judgment is on the old man in us all. That is the true meaning of “satan being cast as lightning from heaven.”

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Luk 10:21  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Luk 10:22  All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
Luk 10:23  And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

I hope this study has been used to shed “Light” on this false doctrine and has been used to open up the heavens of your minds to who it is that is, was and will be cast from it.

Jas 4:5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

We are to submit ourselves to God and draw nigh to Him. When we do this then we are able to resist the traducer, his false doctrines and his power of death over us because the one in US now is STRONGER than the one who is in the world.

“That Old Serpent”

Part 5

April 9, 2014

Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

“Outside the Gate”

As we conclude this mini-series on “That Old Serpent,” I hope we can all come away with a little clearer vision into the mind of Christ as it is laid out in scripture. Of course, that is all up to the Lord, but we believe He will give His mind liberally to those that diligently seek to know it.

I started this study off by reading Hebrews 13 and Hebrews has been a strong point of reference  for this series. There are two men being spoken about in all of scripture, and with those two men life and death are the wages of their warfare.

It is when we are isolated in our hearts and minds that the foothold of DEATH is able to take its hold on our minds because our Faith will be tried during this time.

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

The same word used as TRY in 1 Peter 4:12 is TEMPT in many other scripture.

G3986

πειρασμός

peirasmos

Total KJV Occurrences: 21

temptation, 15

Mat_6:13, Mat_26:41, Mar_14:38, Luk_8:13 (2), Luk_11:4, Luk_22:40, Luk_22:46, 1Co_10:13 (2), Gal_4:14, 1Ti_6:9, Heb_3:8, Jam_1:12, Rev_3:10

temptations, 5

Luk_22:28, Act_20:19, Jam_1:2, 1Pe_1:6, 2Pe_2:9

try, 1

1Pe_4:12

The fiery TRIALS we all experience are the TEMPATIONS to DRAW BACK into perdition, to pull away from the Truth, but we have HOPE to WAGE AGAINST THIS!

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

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Luk 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.

Gal 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

We do have a way out, but all of our FLESH is weak. We all sin because of it, but we have been given instruction and weapons to battle this mindset.

I point this out again to bring another point to the forefront of this study.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and WAS HEARD in that he feared;
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Jesus Christ is still living out His Father’s work in His “flesh, bone and body”. We are His flesh, bone and body and Jesus is causing us to learn obedience by suffering.

It is true that Christ went through physical suffering, and at times these are physical trials we will go through which God uses to have us cry out to Him. However, the BATTLE and the growth is all in how we REACT and THINK about what it is we are being TRIED and TEMPTED with.

Fiery trials are fiery temptations and WHAT do those temptations consist of if it is none other than to produce DEATH in us, and we know who has the power of death!

Jesus was tempted in this exact same way because that old serpent attempted to cause the WAGES of SIN to war in Jesus’ flesh and it is the EXACT same today!

What Jesus was TEMPTED with were both physical, and more importantly, SPIRITUAL temptations to JUST GIVE IN. “Draw back” and “be carried about” was the call the traducer made to Jesus!

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

Why is it that the book of Hebrews is wrapped up with a blessing of grace given the contents and focus of Hebrews?

Heb 13:25  Grace be with you all. Amen.

Anything we can come up with in our hearts and minds are all simply concluded as being “doctrines of men”. All of it. Then, we go on to share those diverse and strange doctrines with other men and with mankind.

So what does grace do in our lives to combat this?

Job 5:17  Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Grace teaches us, grace CHASTENS us to:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching (G3811) us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

I am here to speak these Truths to you. I am here to exhort you to good works, and I am here to rebuke those works which bear no fruit to the Spirit.

2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing (G3811) those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

“Be of One Mind”

All of this is so important to understand when dealing with the topic of the adversary. We see it mentioned all throughout scripture that we are to be of the same mind, to be one mind.

We are told by many in the world that this is impossible, and in reality, there actually is Truth to that statement.

However, for that to be a true statement as concerning the mind of Christ and what we are told about where Jesus the Christ’s mind comes from, we must also state that it is ONLY the mind of Christ that matters.

If I, Steven Crook, tell you to have MY MIND of which I INTERPRET to be the mind of Christ, then I speak falsely to you and we are both deceived.

However, if we don’t “speak above that which has been written” and understand that the mind of Christ is contained within the WORKS of the scripture throughout the entire bible, then we will know that the mind we profess to have is indeed the MIND that is CONTAINED within scripture.

As an example of this, I want to read from a [former] brother’s article written three years ago and goes with this study very well.

We must not forget our ambassadorial mission to the inhabitants of the earth is also to recover them from this great snare and trap of bondage by the devil, whilst not receiving any into any doubtful arguments, strife and disputes.

2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
2Ti 2:24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; [e.g. those who claim they are being crucified with Christ and dying with him but opposing and contradicting themselves by keeping birthdays of themselves and ‘birthday’ of the creator of the Universe!] and if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. [still under the Law of Sin and Death, under the devil who has been given the power of death.]

We must keep in mind those still under the Law serving the first earthly tabernacle may not be able to eat the doctrine of this altar, seeing they are still minding the things of the flesh.

Heb 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the [first earthly] tabernacle.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; [serving the first tabernacle] but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. [serving the perfect tabernacle]

We also, nevertheless must go onto perfection from being the heathens that has the Lord’s name as Christians, to becoming perfect in Christ Jesus in our due time.

Before I started this series or even this last part of the series, I had not read that.

It is easy to conclude that this is just antidotal to what I am trying to say, but what you all will, have and do discover constantly is that the mind and Spirit of God works through HIS BODY all the time!

When you speak to someone you will always hear one of two minds speaking. You will either hear the mind of Jesus Christ speaking or you will hear the mind of the traducer.

It is when you hear someone SPEAK that you hear what has already been placed in their HEART and MIND.

So again having the same mind is promised to us, is necessary for us and is NOT our individual minds claiming, “this or that,” is the mind of Christ.

Let us be reminded:

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Verse 9 starts off with talking about doctrines then goes into speaking about physical meats, but if you are being given eyes to see and ears to hear, you’ll notice that there is actually a very important contrast being made.

Things that are of the SPIRIT versus things that are of the WORLD. Doctrines of men are doctrine of the world, a world of which has a father called the devil and satan.

The fiery trials which are to tempt us are there to chasten us to be obedient, but doesn’t that sound very harsh? For the old man it is harsh to be told what to do. The old man in us all absolutely REFUSES to listen to such “none sense”.

However, we are ALL under the same set of biblical rules whether we acknowledge it or not.

How can I make such a bold statement? It is because WE ALL SUFFER in this life.

We all have SIN WAGING in our members. The difference is that those God is working with now are starting to be CHASTENED, to be taught to be obedient to this:

Heb 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

In this age, in your generation, you will be persecuted with words, with deeds and with works of the adversary working in those the Lord sends satan into to WORK the Lord’s patience IN YOU through THEM.

Couple that with the Truth that we ALL HAVE SIN in us, we are all MADE SIN, then it can seem like a dire situation and most of us struggle with that in various degrees.

Listen to the wise Words of Life given to Jude.

Jud 1:7  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Continuing:

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

The dominion ANYONE has is DOMINION given to them by the Father. To say one has dominion over sin is the very focus of this study and I want to end this study by helping you understand the POWER that YOU have been given.

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

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Rom 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, WE BELIEVE that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Here is the teaching we are under, the doctrine we hold fast to, and the doctrine which you will be tempted by the devil with OVER and OVER as you live.

Jesus Christ LEARNED obedience through the things He suffered and He suffered outside the camp of the doctrines of men.

Jesus Christ suffered because He was caused to endure the SINS others were committing against Him, of which they themselves were caused to do because of the Lord.

The Lord tells us we have been FREED from the law and have been put under grace.

The Truth that the old serpent will be used to tempt in you, through various fiery darts he has at his disposal, is that his power is NO LONGER DOMINANT. Jesus Christ has OVERCOME him!

We, as Christ’s body, will learn obedience by suffering the sin that is in us all. Whether trespasses are committing against us, or we ourselves commit trespasses, we all must LEARN to endure it with PATIENT obedience.

That obedience is to GIVE THANKS for all of it! That obedience is to OBEY what God says to do because the other option leads to DEATH and has an END already.

We must be willing to FORGIVE others their trespasses as well as forgiving OURSELVES of the trespasses the Lord causes us to commit against others. Truly, all sin and trespass is AGAINST THE LORD, and He has forgiven us all.

As a parent, we prepare our children and say “don’t do this” or “don’t do that”. Quickly, we learn as parents that the best teacher for our children is EXPERIENCE.

We are still to teach our children not to touch a hot stove, for example, but the best teacher of all is a hot stove touched.

In like manner, the Father in heaven knows that when He instructs us on what to do and not to do it is in our nature to do what He says not to do. He knows us. We are His children, and He knows how to teach us.

So, think it not STRANGE when you are TEMPTED with fiery trials because that is the AMMO in the quiver of THE ENEMY, that old serpent called the devil and satan.

The thing that happens though is we learn to REMEMBER what we have been taught when it is time for us to UNDERSTAND why it is things happen to us the way they do, and DESIRE to follow the narrow Way to Life.

This will be the end of this series and I hope you were blessed by it. I felt compelled to stop with the Awesome Hands series just as the Israelites were called out of Egypt to go into the wilderness, and the next session will be picking up from that point.

I hope this series will help us all read with a little more understanding what it is we all can learn from the experiences all of us live through via the Word of God. We must by live every word that proceeds forth from His mouth and we do that collectively through each other.

I will end this study with a section of Isaiah that brings me, and I hope you, great comfort.

Isa 26:12  LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for THOU also hast wrought ALL OUR WORKS IN US.
Isa 26:13  O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
Isa 26:14  They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
Isa 26:15  Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

The Lord has separated us to Himself.

Isa 26:16  LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Isa 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isa 26:20  Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Isa 26:21  For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Greetings Mike,

If the law of circularity is false, then what does the parable of the prodigal son signify?
Secondly, what happens when a person receives Christ considering that man was created in iniquity?

Regards, M____

Hi M____,

Thank you for your questions:
The significance of the story of the prodigal son is that the firstfruits are hated by those who are not firstfruits. In other words, the elder son signifies those who are still in Babylon.
“The first will be last” is the lesson of the the story of the prodigal son. It certainly is not ‘the first shall be first’ as the so called ‘law of circularity’ teaches.
Here is the parable of the prodigal son:

Luk 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
Luk 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
Luk 15:3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
Luk 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Luk 15:5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luk 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luk 15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
Luk 15:9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
Luk 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luk 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Luk 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
Luk 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Luk 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Luk 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
Luk 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luk 15:25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
Luk 15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
Luk 15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
Luk 15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
Luk 15:29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
Luk 15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
Luk 15:31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
Luk 15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

“You are ever with me” in no way tells us ‘You have always been with me”. That doctrine of circularity, according to these verses, is a lie:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
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.

According to the so- called “law of circularity”, Paul is lying to us when he tells us that the first man is of the earth. But Paul is not lying, and the spirit of that doctrine of circularity is the lying spirit in the mouths of all who subscribe to that doctrine.
I hope all these verses of scripture give you Biblical eyes to see the Truth of this matter.
If you still have a question, then please feel free to get back to me.
Your second question was:

“Secondly, what happens when a person receives Christ considering that man was created in iniquity?”

The answer to this question is found in 1Pe 4 where we are told that we begin to have fiery trials which begin the judgment and destruction of the first man Adam within us all. From that point on the old Adam in you and me begins to decrease while the new man begins to increase:

Joh 3:30 He [ Christ] must increase, but I must decrease.
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
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?

Our “fiery trials” are our “judgment” which “begins at us. That “judgment is the keeping of 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.

That judgment is the dying daily, being crucified with Christ, daily, filling up in our flesh what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ, in our bodies for His bodies sake which is the church:

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

All is this is the burning of the first judgment which is lived by all who are blessed to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The first man Adam in all of us has “defiled the temple of God” and will be destroyed by the fire that is the Word of God:

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

We have got to understand that “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” means that we are all the wood first before we become those who have the fire of God in their mouth:

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

It means that we are all those who “hurt” God’s witnesses before we become those who have that fire coming from their mouths destroying the old man within us all.
So once again, the Truth is that “All things come alike to all” and there is “one event” to all. That “one event” is this “judgment [ which] begins at the house of God” and tries the works of those who are are destined to be in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

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.

Just realize that this “one event” judgment is a daily dying and a daily presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice to be crucified with Christ and to fill up what is behind of His afflictions in my flesh for His bodies sake which is the church (Col 1:24) until the day we, along with our Lord, draw our last breath in these vessels of clay.
I hope this has answered your question and that you have a much better understanding of what Christ meant when He old Nicodemus “You must be born again”.

Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

We all “bear the image of the earth” first before we “bear the image of the heavenly”. But we will all do both “each in his own order”.

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

All of this is “what happens when a person receives Christ considering that man was created in iniquity.”
Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Dallas, TX. Conference Video – February 5-6, 2007

Study Topic: The Revelation Of Jesus Christ As The Christ by Mike Vinson

Mike,

I’m listening to the peace offering study, and I’m trying to understand why Christ is called ‘the mighty God’ and ‘everlasting Father’.
Can you help me please? Thanks!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

M____

Hi M____,

Christ is “the olawm [ same as the Greek word ‘aion’; also translated ‘everlasting’] Father” because He created the olawms, the aions.

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [ Greek – aions];
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds [ Greek – aions] were framed by the word of God [ Christ], so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Christ is both “the mighty God” and “the almighty”, but this is understood as being so only under His Father.

You asked:

… why Christ is called ‘the mighty God’ and ‘everlasting Father’.

He is “called ‘the mighty God and everlasting Father’ for one reason only; because “it pleased the Father…”

Col 1:15 Who [ Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
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.

There is nothing here which conflicts with Christ ruling over His Father’s kingdom and being “equal with God” in every way but “in the throne”.

Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

The scriptures do proclaim Christ to be God, just as “ye are gods”. It is in that sense that Christ is God and is worthy of our worship. When we worship Christ, we are worshiping His Father, just as we worship the dragon when we worship the beast.

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.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
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?

None of these scriptural statements conflict with the fact that in the final analysis, even though Christ is (To use your own very scriptural words) “called God”, there is nothing in all of this which conflicts with the verse which says “to us there is but one God, the Father…”

Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
1Co 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

How are Christ and His Father “one”? What does Christ mean when He says He and His Father “are one”? He means they “are one” in the very same sense that you and I are one and in the same sense that we are all one in Christ:

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

There is nothing here which would conflict with the fact that Christ is still, in the end, “subject… unto Him who did put all things under Him”. It is the Father Himself who “called” Christ a god, so who are we to do otherwise?

1Co 15:27 For he [ the Father] hath put all things under his [ Christ’s] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him [ Christ], it is manifest that he [ the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him [ Christ].
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

I hope these verses clear this up for you. If not let me know.
Mike

Hi Mike,

I have been reading from your site off and on for a while now, and really enjoy your views and understandings of the Word. The institutional “church” in my opinion seems to be lacking in understanding of what “Christianity” is. If the whole world lies in deceit, it would behoove each of us then to implore the Spirit to show us where we are deceived. It is troubling, in a sense, not to believe the things that most of “Christendom” believes and to believe things which makes me, in their words, a “non Christian”. ‘If you don’t believe this and that way brother, you are not His.’ Well, I don’t think so.
It seems that the apostle Paul, the only apostle taught by the resurrected Christ, didn’t have an understanding of the Blessed Holy Trinity, as virtually all of his greetings in his epistles and letters refer only to “God” and to the Lord Jesus. Also, if the Holy Spirit as a separate individual descended onto Mary, wouldn’t the child then be the Son of The Third Person of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity instead of God? There is only One God and His Son, The Lord.
For the last couple of years I’ve been doing study and research on what “In Christ” means. I have a thought that I would like your opinion on. Act 17:28 tells us “In Him we live and move and have our being.” In Revelation we find that Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. In the book of Genesis we find that in the Beginning “God” created the heaven and earth. In Ephesians we find that we were placed in Christ before the foundation of the world. My thought is: The Beginning is not only a reference to time, but also a place, i. e. Christ in which everything was created! The Alpha then is Christ, and everything then indeed exists in Him, and He is the Beginning of the creation of “God”. Everything is about Christ. Christ is all and in all! Amazing, wonderful Christ! Awaiting your thoughts.

Thanks, Mike,
E____

Hi E____,

Thank you for your question, and I am pleased to know you enjoy reading iswasandwillbe. com.
You certainly are right about the “institutional church”. The fact is that just as the church of Christ’s day delivered him up to the secular powers for treason, saying “We have no king but Caesar”, so too, today it would be the orthodox Christian church who would lead the mob to deliver “our Lord and His Christ” up to be crucified for simply speaking and following the words of our Lord.
You are very observant to note that no New Testament writer ever speaks of the holy spirit as a person, but rather as “the holy spirit of God… the Father, of whom are all things”.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Your last question concerns the doctrine of “the Christ”, which is who we are in Christ.
It is nothing less than the holy spirit which has caused you to note that God created the heavens and the earth “in the beginning”. This word here in Gen 1:1 happens to be the same word which is translated ‘firstfruits’ in all these verses:

Lev_2:12, Lev_23:10, Num_18:12, Deu_26:10, 2Ch_31:5, Neh_10:37, Neh_12:44, Pro_3:9, Jer_2:3, Eze_20:40, Eze_48:14

Since if Christ is “the firstfruits”, then it follows that it was in Him that God did all of His creating, and lo and behold, that is exactly what we are told:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

There are many writings on iswasandwillbe. com on this doctrine. Here are but a couple. Please read these and then if you still have a question, feel free to get back to me.
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ Lacking_ of_ His_ Afflictions. php
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ Just_ How_ Christ_ Centric_ Is_ Scripture. php
Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Greeting you Mike in Love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

You have really opened my eyes on some of the key difficulties with regard to the scripture, especially on the aspect of tithes, speaking/ praying with tongues and other doctrinal topics in the Bible. Now I am anchoring my understanding of tithes so that I’m really sure about this topic. My further learning about this topic (tithes) is now stimulated by some pastors on the popular Christian TV and Radios, suggesting that we should pay tithes because Abraham paid tithes to the priest of the Most high God. But I am not sure whether it is right to use this incidence as justification to pay tithes!! I have done my research now to gain some understanding as who was Melchizedek of Gen 14 and whether or not he was the priest of the Most High God that Abraham acknowledged and worshiped. I also used your materials to improve my understanding of this incidence (i. e. Abram paying the spoil of tithes to Melchizedek). After reading a lot of historical materials, I came to the conclusion that it is unlikely that this priest was appointed by God (Yahweh). You will notice that during the time of Abram, there were kings who choose to appoint themselves as priests. Apart from that, I also discovered that Melchizedek appointed the king of Sodom as his ambassador (I mean the person who was in charge of the most immoral city of the time), something which God would not have allowed to happen, given the fact that Abraham was on his way to become the Priest! Do you agree with my conclusion about this character of Mechidezek. I also learned that tithes payment did not begin here. It was the custom that used to be practiced in terms of the Arab Traditional Law! They use this to pay sacrifices to the gods, idols or baal. Which is why the expression of God in Gen 14 18-22 seems to differ with the expression from Abraham (please refer to the Hebrew concordance expression).
In addition , Now I quote (Russell Earl Kelly, 2007): it is extremely important for a correct understanding of Gen 14 to realize that “Most High God,” or “God the Most High,” (Hebrew: “El Elyon”) was a common Canaanite designation for Baal, and even his father, El. Again, neither sentence- structure nor context require this identification to point exclusively to Jehovah, as most commentators conclude. It is unfortunate that “El Elyon” has been “translated,” rather than merely being “transliterated,” and left as “El Elyon.” This error easily confuses the reader and encourages the reader towards a conclusion which is not apparent in the phrase itself. While a casual Canaanite reader would quickly identify the phrase with “El” or “Baal,” a casual contemporary westerner would conclude that the term identifies Jehovah, or Yahweh. A comparative problem has been eliminated by Bible translators who have wisely chosen to retain the name “Baal,” instead of translating it as “Lord.” Fausset’s Bible Dictionary comments on the name “El Elyon” by saying, “The Phoenicians so named their chief god according to Sanchoniathon in Enseb. Praep. Event., doubtless from primitive revelation.”

This is just a short version of what I am learning about Melchizedek. Please clarify this for me! Tell me if it is in agreement with your understanding of this event.

May God’s Love be upon you!
Your brother in Christ,
V____

Hi V____,

You ask me if Melchizedek was really a priest of the most high God?

Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

I appreciate the study you are doing, but we should never, ever place the writings of commentators about the sum of God’s Word. I have never heard of “Russel Earl Kelly”, but if his words do not agree with the sum of God’s Word, I would reject his teaching outright.

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

We must never attempt to establish doctrine with just one verse of scripture because no verse of scripture is its own interpretation. God’s Word is designed to be understood only in the light of its sum.

2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture at all is becoming its own explanation.
2Pe 1:21 For not by the will of man was prophecy carried on at any time, but, being carried on by holy spirit, holy men of God speak. (CLV)

Now let’s see what the holy spirit has inspired in the sum of His word. Here is how King David spoke of Melchizedek:

Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Would the holy spirit inspire those words if Melchizedek had no relationship with the Almighty God? I think not.
This verse in Psa 110:4 is referenced six times more in the book of Hebrews. Here is but one of those references:

Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. ‘

Would the holy spirit tell us that Christ’s priesthood is “after the order” of a completely pagan priest who did not know God? Of course not.
Here are the other verses in Hebrews where Psa 110:4 is referenced:

Heb 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Heb 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

Yes, it is true that the title ‘el’ simply means ‘god’. It can be used in reference to either true or false gods. I do not know whether ‘El Elyon’ was used commonly by Canaanites in reference to Baal or not. You quote Russell Earl Kelly, from 2007:

“God the Most High,” (Hebrew: “El Elyon”) was a common Canaanite designation for Baal, and even his father, El.

That may or may not be true. But whether it is or is not true is totally irrelevant to the sum of God’s Word, which demonstrates that “Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God” and Christ’s priesthood is “after the order of Melchizedek”.

Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

I hope all these verses from the Word of God serve to give the direction you need in this study. Above all I pray you are granted by our Lord to let Him and His Word always be true and to let every man who withstands His Word to be a liar.

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

Please take the time to read this URL and if you still have questions then please let me know:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ Who_ is_ Melchisedec. php
Your brother in Christ,
Mike