Rev 16:17-21  The 7^th Vial, Part 3

[Study Aired April 6, 2025]

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Those few who have not been “conformed to this world, and have been transformed in their minds by proving what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God”, will “not bring judgment upon themselves by that which they have proven.” Those who are weak in the faith will “be conformed to this world” and will not take the time to prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God, and will continue to be offended by the sum of God’s Word, and will abuse Roman 14:5-6 and verse 22 as an excuse to not even consider our Lord’s example of how we are to live our lives concerning the observing of day, months, times and years.

Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Rom 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

Rom 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Rom 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.

When these verses are perverted into a doctrine which teaches that those who eat strong meat should give up that strong meat, and give up following the example Christ has given us concerning this very subject, that is a double mind which will inevitably cause a brother to be “made weak… to stumble and be offended… because of the Word.” This perversion of these verses of Romans 14 will cause us all to give up that fiery way of life, which brings upon us the hatred of all men, and we will exchange their strong meat for the herbs of the weaker infirm brother who esteems one day above another and cannot eat all things because he does not want to offend a weaker brother.

Should we offend a weaker brother by expecting him to eat strong meat? Absolutely not! But should we take Romans 14 and use it to contradict and nullify Galatians 4?

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child [is “weak in the faith”], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

“Carnal… babes in Christ” cannot eat the meat of the word, and we are commanded to “receive them but not to allow them to dispute our strong meat.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Who are these brothers who are “weak in the faith”? Here is who they are. They are not really deep into the Word of God or the things of the spirit. They do not have and will not take the time to “study to show themselves approved unto God.” They are ‘too busy’ to have time to fellowship, and they care about the events of their daily lives (the pride of life) more than they do about the body of Christ. They would much rather identify themselves with certain men whose teachings are more to their liking. Here are the “weak in the faith”.

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

Those who are given to “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”, will find it very instructive that the word “child”, “the heir, as long as he is a child“, in Galatians 4:1, and the word “babe”, “I could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ”, is the same Greek word, ‘nepios’. It is babes in Christ who are weak and infirm in the faith, and whose weakness we are commanded to “bear with”.

Rom 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2 Let every one of us please [his] neighbour for [his] good to edification.
Rom 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Paul did not break his epistles up into chapters. The weak of this first verse of this 15th chapter is “He that is weak in the faith” in the first verse of chapter 14. It is Paul to declares this brother in Christ to be “weak and infirm” and in need of our patient forbearance and Christ-like example, not our apostasy, or our enabling of his weakness and his sickness, and his spiritually damning, immature diet of milk and herbs. It is “he that is weak in the faith” who simply cannot as yet “eat all things.” This is especially true of following the example of Christ who “esteemed every day alike”. It is the perversion of the message of Romans 14 which Galatians 4 burns out of us if we are given to follow in Christ’s footsteps:

Joh 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

This does not say ‘They supposed He had broken the sabbath’, it says “He not only had broken the sabbath, but said God was His Father.” Both were true, and both are written for our admonition that we “should follow His [foot]steps.”

1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Anyone who uses part of God’s Word to exclude and nullify other parts of the Word,  will also very likely continue to ignore the example Christ has given us to “follow [in His] steps.” Truth is not found in any one chapter of God’s Word. It is found in its sum, and the sum of God’s word tells us that Christ and His apostles were foresaken of and hated of all men because, among other things, they “esteemed every day alike.” Following Christ’s example will bring upon us what it brought upon Christ. Christ put what He saw His Father doing above what He saw men doing. If we honor Christ in this same way, we will be honoring God above men, as we are instructed.

Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Here is the example the Father set for Christ to follow concerning the subject of esteeming of one day above another:

Joh 5:17 But Jesus replied, “My Father never stops working, so why should I?” (NLT)

It is the traditions of men which are the last strings keeping us tethered to Babylon. The law of Moses and the law which the Gentiles are unto themselves, are both laws for the lawless and not for a righteous man.

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

It is “the lawless and disobedient” who esteem one day above another, and who judge those who do not esteem one day above another. The strong in the faith are to bear with the weak until they are no longer carnal babes in Christ. Those to whom it is given to “follow Christ’s steps” will honor Christ by doing what He did, just as He did what He saw His Father doing. Those who are strong in the faith do not enable the weak and infirm to remain weak and sick, and they most assuredly do not give up spiritual strength and health to become weak and sickly.

Rom 14:1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but do not argue with them about their personal opinions. (GNB)

Rom 14:1 As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. (RSV)

Our discussions must revolve around the word of God, and our conclusions must be based on that alone, or we will not long  “be of one mind”, which is what we are repeatedly commanded to be, beginning right here in the book of Romans.

Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind [and] one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” is intended to help us deal with “carnal… babes in Christ” by being pitiful and courteous to them. It is meant as an admonition to avoid disputing with babes about their own personal opinions concerning any topic with which they are not yet informed. The tradition of eating only herbs, and the tradition of esteeming one day above another, are but two examples of things we are told we are not to argue about. These verses were never intended to keep us from “being of one mind”, being likeminded, and speaking the same thing with one mouth in one spirit.”

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

Romans 14 certainly is not designed to take away mature spiritual “strong meat” from those who are given to receive “the things of the spirit… things hard to be uttered.”

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The weak brothers who “for the time” ought to be beyond the milk of God’s Word will never get past that immature stage as long as Romans 14 is used as a means of contradicting and nullifying all five of the New Testament verses which admonish us all to “be of one mind.” The masses of the churches raised up by the apostles themselves rejected the strong meat which belongs to them that are of full age, “All they in Asia” forsook the apostle Paul and the Galatians apparently considered him to be their enemy.

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Gal 4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all.
Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
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.
Gal 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Those who “forsook’ the apostle Paul were no doubt “famous in the congregation [and were] men of renown”, but they never came to know the seven plagues of the seven angels, and will not enter into the temple of God until they have fulfilled those seven plagues.

Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

There can be no doubt that both the apostles Paul and John honored Christ, just as Christ honored His Father by refusing the traditions of men who esteemed one day above another. The masses of the churches which were raised up by the apostles were clearly “observing days, months, times, and years”, and had clearly lost their first love for the apostle of the Lord. The story of King David’s son Amnon is the story of us “leaving our first love.

2Sa 13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her [ was] greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone. 

Amnon signifies  us when we leave our first love and become lukewarm. Our Lord asks of us “Where is the blessedness you spake of” at the beginning? Has Christ and His example become our enemy? What became of all the churches Paul had raised up in Asia? Did they forsake the apostle?

2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 4:9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

“The Lord stood with me” because the Lord is His word. When we follow Christ and His Word, the Lord stands with us also. What did Jesus do? What example has He left for us concerning this subject which caused the Galatians to consider Paul their enemy?

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

That is “our example that we should follow in His steps”, and remain “of one mind and one spirit.” Until that is done within us, this seventh vial is yet to begin to be fulfilled and “the great city… Great Babylon” still has its tentacles in our heavens and in our earth.

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

There are many “islands and mountains” to be vanquished from within us all, before all of the influences of that great city are burned out of us. Mountains are kings, which kings will beg for the mountains to fall when this, the great day of God’s wrath is come. As is the nature of our flesh, we will blaspheme God because of the plague of this hail, because it is an “exceeding great plague of hail”, and what does spiritual ‘hail’ do?

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

That is why after the pouring out of the seventh vial, we are told:

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

“It is done” is both the death throes of our man of sin, and the victory shout of our new man within. It is all accomplished “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound.”

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

Christ, His doctrines, His example, and His Words, are the hail, the water, and the purifying fire with which He will try us, cleanse us, and sweep away all “the refuge of lies” of the great harlot, Babylon. We can now begin to enter into the temple in heaven, which is now being cleansed of all the pollutions of that great city, which we can now look back behind us and witness her judgment. The Seventh Trumpet has begun to sound, and the seventh vial has brought each of us to our wits’ end, and we have all experienced a great earthquake. Babylon the great is now being judged within each of the Lord’s elect who are now being judged in this present time:

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?

The judgment of Babylon the Great within each of us is the subject of the next two chapters of this, ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’ which we are to ”read, hear, and keep.” Revelation 17 and 18 are nothing more or less than a summary of the judgments of these seven plagues of the seven angels upon “mystery Babylon the Great” within us. “It is done… it is come to pass”, and that is why we are shown these things by “one of the angels which had the seven plagues”.

In our next study, Lord willing, we will begin to cover the judgment of the influence of this great whore over our lives in these verses of chapter 17:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-romans-part-32-do-not-cause-others-to-stumble/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-romans-part-32-do-not-cause-others-to-stumble Tue, 11 Jun 2024 06:13:40 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=30123 The Book of Romans, Part 32 – Do Not Cause Others to Stumble

[Study Aired June 11, 2024]

Rom 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
Rom 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 
Rom 14:15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. 
Rom 14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of: 
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
Rom 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 
Rom 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 
Rom 14:20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. 
Rom 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. 
Rom 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 
Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. 

In Romans 14:13-23, Paul continues his discussion on how believers should relate to each other amid differing personal convictions, using dietary practices as an example. This passage fits into the larger context of Romans, where Paul lays out the foundations of Christian faith, including themes of sin, salvation, grace, and righteous living.

In Romans chapters 1-11, Paul presents the universal need for salvation, the role of faith, and the assurance of God’s love. In chapters 12-14, he transitions to practical instructions for living out this faith as the body of Christ. By Romans 14, he focuses on handling differences in outward matters.

Paul admonishes believers to stop judging each other over disputable matters and instead ensure they do not cause others to stumble (Romans 14:13). He asserts that while no food is inherently unclean, if someone believes it is, then for them, it is unclean (Rom 14:14). This aligns with his earlier teachings on the observance of days (Rom 14:5).

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

Paul emphasizes that if eating certain foods causes a fellow believer distress, one is not acting in love. The spiritual well-being of others should take precedence over personal liberty (Romans 14:15, 20). The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, not about external rituals like eating and drinking (Romans 14:17).

Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Believers are encouraged to pursue actions that promote peace and mutual edification, ensuring their behaviors do not harm others’ faith (Romans 14:19). Paul advises that it is better to abstain from certain practices if they cause others to stumble, reinforcing the principle of love over liberty (Romans 14:21).

Rom 14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Paul underscores that actions must be rooted in faith: “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). This means any action taken with doubt or against one’s conscience is sinful, as it is not done in faith. This principle aligns with Paul’s broader message in Romans that true righteousness comes from faith.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

In Mark 7:18-19 Jesus teaches that external things do not defile a person. 

Mar 7:18-19 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

In Acts 10:13-15 Peter’s vision emphasizes that God has made all foods clean. 

Act 10:13-15 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 

This vision signifies a shift from Jewish laws to a new understanding of purity in Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 8:8-9 Paul discusses food offered to idols and the importance of not causing others to stumble.

1Co 8:8-9 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

This passage highlights the principle that food itself is neutral, but the impact on others’ consciences matters.

In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul warns against being judged based on dietary laws and days, stating these are shadows of the spirit. 

Col 2:16-17 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Here, dietary practices and days are described as part of the old covenant, now fulfilled in Christ.

These verses collectively demonstrate that, in the New Testament, dietary practices and days are redefined through the lens of faith in Christ. They emphasize that food itself does not determine one’s spiritual standing, but that the principles of love, respect for others’ consciences, and gratitude are paramount.

Paul is addressing both those who are strong in faith and those who are weak in faith, but his primary focus is on instructing the strong in faith on how to interact with and accommodate those who are weak in faith. The strong in faith are called to use their discernment responsibly and to act in love, avoiding causing others to stumble.

Paul acknowledges the existence of different levels of faith within the body of Christ. Those who are strong in faith understand that nothing is unclean in itself and have freedom to eat anything, while those who are weak in faith might consider certain foods unclean due to their conscience or background.

“Doubtful disputations” in Romans 14:1 refers to disagreements or debates concerning matters of personal conviction. These disputes often revolve around issues such as secular practices or the observance of specific days, which can vary among believers due to their diverse backgrounds and levels of faith.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

In Romans 14:13-23, Paul addresses how we should handle these “doubtful disputations” in a way that promotes unity within the body of Christ. This fits with my previous conclusion that Paul’s primary focus is on instructing the strong in faith to act considerately towards those who are weak in faith. Here’s how the concept of “doubtful disputations” interacts with that conclusion:

Avoiding Judgment on Disputable Matters: Paul encourages us to welcome those who are weak in faith with the qualifier of “but not to doubtful disputations” (Rom 14:1). This means accepting one another at each other’s level of faith. In the context of Romans 14:13-23, this reinforces the call to judge others based on their current level of faith.

Promoting Peace and Mutual Edification: Paul’s urging to pursue what makes for peace and mutual edification (Romans 14:19) directly counters the divisiveness that “doubtful disputations” can cause. By focusing on building one another up rather than debating disputable matters, we can foster a more unified fellowship.

Acting in Love and Avoiding Stumbling Blocks: The strong in faith are called to act in love and not to use their liberty in a way that causes others to stumble (Romans 14:15, 20). Engaging in “doubtful disputations” from those that are weak in faith can become a stumbling block. Paul’s guidance helps the strong in faith to prioritize the spiritual well-being of others over winning arguments or asserting their freedom. An example of this would be those that are weak in faith may still be participating in holiday celebrations. Those strong in faith are not to have dominion over their faith but are helpers of joy. As the weak mature in Christ the faith of the strong are transferred to the weak.

2Co 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Faith and Personal Conviction: Paul’s principle that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23) emphasizes the importance of acting according to one’s own faith and convictions. Disputations over doubtful matters can lead individuals to act contrary to their beliefs, which Paul identifies as sinful. Thus, avoiding such disputes helps believers maintain a clear conscience before God.

In summary, “doubtful disputations” are discouraged because they can lead to judgment, distress, and division within the body. Paul’s instructions in Romans 14:13-23, which are aimed particularly at the strong in faith, emphasize the importance of acting in love and prioritizing peace and mutual edification. This approach helps prevent the negative impacts of engaging in disputes.

1 Corinthians 2:15 states, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” 

This verse suggests that a spiritually mature person, guided by the Holy Spirit, has the discernment to evaluate all things rightly and is not subject to judgment by those who lack spiritual understanding.

To understand how this verse interacts with the discussion of “doubtful disputations” in Romans 14, we need to consider the context and the nature of the judgments being referred to in both passages.

Spiritual Discernment vs. Judging Others: In 1 Corinthians 2:15, Paul speaks of the spiritual person’s ability to discern and understand deeper spiritual truths because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This discernment is different from the judgment or criticism Paul warns against in Romans 14. In Romans, the emphasis is to not pass judgment on others due to their level of faith. The spiritual judgment in 1 Corinthians 2:15 is about discerning truth and living in alignment with God’s will, rather than critiquing fellow believers.

Those who are spiritually mature (“he that is spiritual”) are expected to exercise their discernment responsibly. In the context of Romans 14, this means the strong in faith should use their spiritual maturity to foster peace to avoid causing others to stumble. The spiritually mature should understand that their freedom in Christ comes with the responsibility to act in love and consideration for the weaker believers.

The second part of 1 Corinthians 2:15, “yet he himself is judged of no man,” emphasizes that the spiritual person is not subject to the judgments of those that are weak in the faith because their understanding has matured. This complements Romans 14, where the strong in faith are encouraged to refrain from judging those that are lacking faith because of immaturity. They are to recognize that ultimate judgment belongs to God and is based on the heart and faith, not on external practices.

In conclusion, 1 Corinthians 2:15 supports the idea that spiritually mature believers should use their discernment to promote unity and avoid causing division. This spiritual judgment should guide them to act towards others, in line with Paul’s teachings in Romans 14:13-23. The verse underscores the principle that true spiritual discernment leads to actions that build up the body rather than engaging in “doubtful disputations” with those that are weak which can harm the weak believers’ faith.

Rom 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 

Numbers 11:1-35  The Quails from the Lord in Response to Israel’s Quest for Flesh

[Study Aired July 10, 2023]

Num 11:1  And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. 
Num 11:2  And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. 
Num 11:3  And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them. 
Num 11:4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 
Num 11:5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 
Num 11:6  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. 
Num 11:7  And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. 
Num 11:8  And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. 
Num 11:9  And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. 
Num 11:10  Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
Num 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
Num 11:12  Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? 
Num 11:13  Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. 
Num 11:14  I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 
Num 11:15  And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. 
Num 11:16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 
Num 11:17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. 
Num 11:18  And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 
Num 11:19  Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
Num 11:20  But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
Num 11:21  And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
Num 11:22  Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? 
Num 11:23  And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. 
Num 11:24  And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. 
Num 11:25  And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. 
Num 11:26  But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. 
Num 11:27  And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 
Num 11:28  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 
Num 11:29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
Num 11:30  And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 
Num 11:31  And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. 
Num 11:32  And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
Num 11:33  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. 
Num 11:34  And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. 
Num 11:35  And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth. 

Introduction

As we journey through the Book of Numbers, we come to realize that the Book is about the building of the Lord’s army. Apart from not getting entangled in the affairs of this world, as the Lord’s army, we must be prepared to live under harsh circumstances during this time of war which we are raging with the flesh or the beast within us.

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

The need to endure hardship calls for discipline on our part. Any sign of insubordination on the part of a soldier must be swiftly dealt with to forestall indiscipline within the army ranks. Chapter 11 deals with indiscipline on the part of the people of Israel, as they were not content with the Lord’s provision in the wilderness. These acts of indiscipline on the part of the Israelites were swiftly dealt with by the Lord. The chapter also focuses on the burden on Moses of leading the people of Israel in the wilderness and the commissioning of the seventy elders of the people of Israel to assist him with his work.

Num 11:1  And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. 
Num 11:2  And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched. 
Num 11:3  And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them. 

As we can see from these verses, the Lord did not show mercy to those who complained. As His elect, we have also complained several times as we walk with Him, yet we are not consumed. The reason for this is because of our election. That is to say that the Lord wants to show His mercy to the whole world through us, His elect. We are therefore the Lord’s gift of mercy to the whole world. For example, David, a symbol of the elect, committed more grievous offenses against the Lord than these complainants, but the Lord spared him. However, this was not the case with Saul when he spared king Agag and the fattened animals, which he used as sacrifice to the Lord when the Lord specifically told him not to let anything that breathed live.

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

1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee (Saul) on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 
1Sa 15:19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 
1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 
1Sa 15:24  And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 
1Sa 15:25  Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

This is not to say that because we are spared by the Lord, we can do as we please. Here is the Lord’s warning to us:

Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Verses 1-3 also show us how the world will be ruled with a rod of iron during the thousand-year reign by Christ and His elect. 

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

Verse 2 says that the people cried unto Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched. This is another way of saying that through the mercy of the elect, represented here by Moses, the Lord will show mercy to the whole of humanity symbolized by the people of Israel.

Num 11:4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 
Num 11:5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 
Num 11:6  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. 

The mixed multitude signifies Babylon, of which we were part when we started our journey with Christ. As the verses here depict, our lives were characterized by our cravings for things of the flesh, since we were walking in the flesh at that time. The fish, cucumber, melons, leeks, onions and garlic in verse 5 refer to man’s wisdom, tradition and commandments, making the word of God of no effect in our lives. The effect of clinging to man’s tradition is the drying away of our souls as shown in verse 6. We were not ready for the heavenly manna even though it is right there before our eyes, as the Israelites indicated in verse 6.

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 
Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

During our time in Babylon, we were vulnerable as we clung to those who could give us flesh to eat. The current church system of this world is in the same state. In other words, many are looking for something tangible that identifies with the flesh, such as prosperity, no suffering, enjoyment, etc. No wonder we heaped upon ourselves men of God which are of the flesh to tell us what we want to hear.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 
2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 

The time mentioned here by Paul has long been with us as we see the effects of desiring the flesh instead of the heavenly manna, which is the truth of the word of the Lord.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 
2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
2Ti 3:8  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 
2Ti 3:9  But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 

Num 11:7  And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. 
Num 11:8  And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. 
Num 11:9  And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. 

These verses show us the positive aspect of the manna the Lord gave with which the people of Israel were fed up. The manna in these verses signifies the truth of the word of the Lord. The manna appeared as a coriander seed. Since a seed germinates, it has life. Thus, appearing as coriander seed means the word of the Lord is living and active.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (ESV)

The manna has the color of bdellium. According to Strong, bdellium has a color between yellow and orange (amber) with yellow being the base color. Yellow or gold is the truth of the word of the Lord. Bdellium probably comes from the root word “badal (H914)” which means to divide or separate. In order to appreciate the truth of the word of the Lord, it must be rightly divided.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In verse 8, the manna had to be gathered, ground and baked. This means that in order to understand the word of truth, it must be broken down, and that means comparing scripture with scripture. Through the process of our fiery trials, because of the fire of the word of the Lord (being baked), we come to enjoy the eating of the heavenly manna.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Oil signifies the spirit. This means that the taste of manna being like the taste of fresh oil in verse 8 means that it is the spiritual interpretation of the word of the Lord that gives life.

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.

The dew falling upon the camp in the night, resulting in the falling of manna, means that as the Lord’s elect, we are required to take in or gather as much of this heavenly manna as needed when the morning breaks, which means Christ rising within us. We are not to leave it for the next day means that we are to understand the full counsel of the Lord during our stay here on earth. We are not to leave it for the next age.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 
Exo 16:20  But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

We can see that we have to go through a lot in order to enjoy the heavenly manna. Being of the flesh, or carnal, the Israelites, or our brothers and sisters in Babylon, do not appreciate spiritual things or this heavenly manna. It takes too much to understand the truth of the word of the Lord. What we wanted when we were in Babylon was flesh, just like the Israelites.

Num 11:10  Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. 
Num 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? 
Num 11:12  Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? 
Num 11:13  Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. 

Moses also represents Christ. These verses are therefore to help us appreciate what the Lord went through as He carried the sins of the whole world. Unlike Moses, the Lord did not open His mouth or complain. 

Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 
Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 
Isa 53:8  By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 

As we can see in verse 12, Moses was complaining bitterly, and we can see that He was not given eyes to see and ears to hear that the Lord Jesus is the mother who gave birth to all humanity, and therefore He is the one carrying us in His bosom, as a father bearing the sucking child with the motive of bringing all humanity to possess the land, that is, salvation for all humanity.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

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:

Num 11:14  I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
Num 11:15  And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. 
Num 11:16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 
Num 11:17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

As He is, so are we. As Christ bore this burden of bringing all humanity into salvation, we His elect must also bear this burden. We are the seventy elders of the people of Israel whom the Lord has chosen to share in the work of bringing all humanity into the promised land to possess the land. In verse 17, God Himself has come down to talk to Jesus and affirmed to us that Jesus is Lord!! He has also taken the spirit which is on Jesus and put it on us, His elect, so we can share in the burden of our Lord Jesus Christ!! The seventy (70=7×10) elders signify the complete number of the elect of every generation. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the beginning of the Lord putting His spirit on the elect of every generation (seventy elders).

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 

Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

In verse 15, Moses said that if he had found favor in the sight of the Lord, then he should not see wretchedness. It is another way of saying that the holy one (Jesus) will not see corruption as he has found favor with God. The voice from heaven affirmed that Jesus has found favor with God and therefore did not see corruption when he died. He was raised from the dead!! In a similar pattern, as we find favor with the Lord, we shall be raised to glory like Christ.

Psa 16:10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 
Psa 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Num 11:18  And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 
Num 11:19  Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; 
Num 11:20  But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

As we indicated, the people of Israel represented the mixed multitude which is Babylon. To our brothers and sisters in Babylon, the Lord has given flesh for a whole month because they have despised manna and craved flesh. Giving them flesh means the Lord has replaced the truth of the word of the Lord with man’s wisdom, tradition and commandments. Since the manna on a positive note represents the truth of the word of the Lord, what the Israelites or Babylon have done is that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word of the Lord, has been despised in the churches of this world and have instead accepted another Jesus. In view of this, the flesh the Lord is giving them is causing them to die spiritually (verse 20). These verses are therefore another way of saying that if we do not accept the truth of the word of the Lord (manna), He will cause us to be strongly deluded.

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Num 11:21  And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. 
Num 11:22  Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? 
Num 11:23  And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. 

In spite of the miracles the Lord had wrought before Moses and the people of Israel, Moses doubted the possibility of the people of Israel eating meat in the wilderness. We have all doubted whether the Lord will indeed miraculously come to our aid concerning the challenges we face. However, the Lord has been merciful to us.  Our walk is by faith and not by sight. Through faith many men and women of old have had the Lord miraculously intervene on their behalf. 

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

Let us go back to the basics of learning to walk by faith and not by sight. We grow our faith by hearing the word of the Lord. 

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Num 11:24  And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. 
Num 11:25  And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. 
Num 11:26  But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. 
Num 11:27  And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 
Num 11:28  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 
Num 11:29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

These verses are a foretaste of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. 

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 
Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

As shown in verse 25, when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we prophesy. That means we speak to each other to edify, exhort and comfort. That is what happens when we gather daily to know more about the mind of Christ. 

1Co 14:3  But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

It is instructive to note that the seventy people were gathered round the tabernacle when the Holy Spirit came on them. This means they had left the camp, which is Babylon. However, there were two others (Eldad and Medad) who were part of the seventy who did not come to the tabernacle but remained in the camp but also received the Holy Spirit. What this means is that there are others still in Babylon (the camp) who will leave and become witnesses of Christ (the significance of the number two) and therefore receive the Holy Spirit. Their names confirm the fact that they are part of the elect. Eldad means God has loved, and Medad means love. It is the Lord’s elect who are the object of His love in this dispensation. 

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 

What Moses told Joshua, who was concerned about the two men (Eldad and Medad) prophesying in the camp, is another way of saying what the Lord told the disciples when they stopped someone casting out devils in Jesus’ name.  

Mar 9:38  And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 
Mar 9:39  But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 
Mar 9:40  For he that is not against us is on our part.

Num 11:30  And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 
Num 11:31  And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. 
Num 11:32  And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
Num 11:33  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. 
Num 11:34  And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. 
Num 11:35  And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth. 

What is significant about the quails was the fact that they came from the sea. As we know, the sea represents the flesh of mankind. What happened to the Israelites with the coming of quails is what is prophesied in the Book of Revelation about the release of the four angels bound in the great river Euphrates. 

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 
Rev 9:18  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 
Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

The release of the quails and that of the four angels all has the same effect – it kills those to whom they are sent. That was what happened to us in Babylon and is happening to every generation in Babylon. We became spiritually dead when we imbibed the meat of the quails, or the 200 million false doctrines propagated by the whole Babylonian messengers (the four bound angels). This experience of evil is also described by Peter as follows:

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity (quails or 200 million false doctrines), they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

We can see that we have come a long way to experience the freedom we have in Christ. Let us not throw away what we have received or belittle our gathering, which is where every joint supplies what we need. Let’s continue to press on to the mark of His higher calling as we continue to meet daily. This, we will do as the Lord enables us!! May His name be praised!!

Jer 16:1-12 [Our] Carcases Shall Be Meat for the Fowls of Heaven

[Study Aired August 21, 2021]

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Jer 16:12  And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

In this chapter, Jeremiah is told not to take a wife “in this place” because any wife married [or] children born in this place… this land… “shall die of grievous deaths… [and] they shall be as dung upon the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.”

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jeremiah was commanded to refrain from getting married “for our admonition”. Everything that happened to him was for the purpose of teaching us how we are to have the mind of God:

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

If we are being admonished by Jeremiah not to marry, what does that tell us? Before we answer this question, we must notice that there is a qualification to this commandment. That qualification is “in this place… in this land”. “This place [and] this land” means that while we are apostate Israel and Judah ‘You shall not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.’ These words of Jeremiah are just the less mature Old Testament way of saying ‘come out of her my people…’:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Let’s always remember that every word of God is Christ-centered. Of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things:

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Christ is the ‘new man’ in the Lord’s elect. However, if we are to understand the meaning of this command to refrain from marrying and having children in ‘this place’ we must acknowledge that before Christ can be in the new man, there must first be an old man who is seduced and is joined to a harlot:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Every single religious human being is an “inhabitant of the earth” (Jer 22:29).

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

However, it is given to very few to “hear the word of the Lord” in “this present time”:

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

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

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

The ‘call’ has gone out to all men, and billions have responded to that ‘call’. However, very few are chosen to endure to the end being divided from family and friends and being hated of all men.

Israel’s and Judah’s hearts and minds, as types of our hearts and minds, were in Babylon long before they were carried away to that land. Babylon, symbolizing the religions of this world, is the ‘place’ in which we are commanded not to marry and have children. Any children conceived in “this place” will “die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.”

The ‘sword’ which will consume them is these very Words of God coming out of Jeremiah’s mouth and through his pen. The famine that will consume them is their rejection of the Words of the Lord.

Just as the death and destruction of the giants in our land are nourishment for our new man, so our apostate old man is becoming the “dung upon the earth and… meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.” In this scenario “the fouls of heaven, and beasts of the earth” are the positive application of these words, and they represent our new man who is nourished and strengthened by the utter death and destruction of the kingdom of our old man.

The fowls of the air are also nourished and strengthened by the decomposition and dissolution of all the false doctrines we believed while we were so prominent and established in all the lies of our Babylonian harlot wife, the wife we have while we are in “this place”. In this prophecy those lies and false doctrines are typified by ‘dung’, which must decompose to become nourishment for our new man.

This is Paul’s estimation and the value he placed upon all the qualifications he had achieved while striving to excel in keeping the law of Moses and being prominent in the church of his day:

Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

This is what the spirit calls the church which “glories in the flesh” and strive to please “the people” (1Sa 15:15-21), and follows the dictates of this world rather than the dictates of “the Creator” as did King Saul:

1Sa 15:15  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16  Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

When we take lightly the words of the Lord, because we fear “the people”, our families and our friends, the Lord considers that “rebellion… and stubbornness [which are to Him the equivalent of] “witchcraft… iniquity, and idolatry”.

It all amounts to spiritual adultery against Christ, whom we say is our husband.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

In Revelation 17 the “gold and precious stones and pearls” are all the scriptures which we have twisted and “wrested” to cover our own idols of our hearts (Eze 14:1-9) in our attempts to please men. We simply cannot “please men” and remain faithful to our spiritual ‘husband’, Christ:

Gal 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness .
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Peter considered Paul’s epistle’s as much ‘scripture’ as any of “the other scriptures” and he, through the holy spirit, condemned those who treated them lightly as King Saul did, and He condemned those who “wrested” Paul’s epistles to make them fit around the idols of their heart.

This is what we are when we ignore the Lord’s commandments, or “wrest” them in our attempt to please both God and men:

1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

When we are “joined to an harlot” our ‘father’ and our ‘husband’ is the great red dragon who empowers the beast which we are by nature:

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.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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?

When we are coming out of Babylon, we are becoming espoused to Christ as a chaste virgin, and He is also becoming our spiritual ‘Father’:

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.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Our next verse speaks of the Lord rejecting “this people”:

Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

“This people… this place” and “this land” are one and the same as our next verses demonstrate:

Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

The Lord has “taken away [His] peace from this [rebellious, apostate, self-righteous] people”. “This people” means the kingdom of our old man. He has no pity and will not mourn the destruction of that kingdom. Rather, He tells us to:

Rev 18:20  Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

Notice how closely our next verse parallels the description of the great whore of Revelation 18:

Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

Here is this same message in:

Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Clearly “this place” of Jeremiah 16 is the self-righteous whore of Revelation 18, to whom we are all joined, each in our own order.

Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

It is clear that at one time we really were completely unaware of just how far from our True Husband we have become. This is what we truly think of our adulterous ways at this time of our lives:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

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

This is exactly what the church of Laodicea thought:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Clearly the “great whore” of Revelation 17 and 18 is “the seven churches of Asia” who have “that woman Jezebel, the seat [Greek: ‘thronos’, throne] of Satan, [and] the Nicolaitans” among them.

The seven churches of Asia may be totally unaware they are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”, but ignorance is no defense when we have been given the Lord’s commandments in such plain words. King Saul attempted that defense while disobeying the Lord’s commandment, and the Lord was having none of it:

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

King Saul, a perfect type of our self-righteous old man, is in effect telling the Lord, “Look Lord, I did everything you told me to do except for the strong meat part. I may have been weak in the faith, but you should bear with me. That strong meat isn’t really that important.”

It is not a good strategy to attempt to play mind games with God and refuse to “go on unto perfection” clinging only to those six milk doctrines which appeal even to those who cannot accept the strong meat of the Word of God:

Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers , ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Paul, using the words “…when for the time ye ought to be teachers” clearly demonstrates that when we “bear with the weak” we do so with the goal in mind of “with one mouth and with one mind glorifying God”:

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye [“Ye that are strong”, Rom 15:1], but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou [who are weak (vs 2-3)] that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he [that eats all things] shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

No one with the mind of Christ will force “strong meat” down the spiritual throat of a babe in Christ who eats only spiritual herbs and drinks only spiritual milk.

Rom 14:5  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Rom 14:6  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Rom 14:7  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Rom 14:10  But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Rom 14:13  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
Rom 14:14  I [Paul who is not “weak in the faith, esteemed every day alike, and was spiritually strong in the faith] know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Rom 14:15  But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
Rom 14:16  Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 14:18  For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Rom 14:19  Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Rom 14:20  For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
Rom 14:21  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Rom 14:22  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Let us be very careful that we do not cause a weak brother to be “damned if he eats” our strong meat. For him it would be a sin to eat our strong meat, and it would make the weak brother to die.

Num 4:15  And when Aaron and his sons [“We that are strong (Rom 15:1)] have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

So, what exactly constitutes spiritual ‘herbs’ and spiritual ‘milk’ of the Word? As it turns out, we all at first confuse the milk of the Word with strong meat of the Word. When and if we are confused in this way it is because God Himself has already written it in our books to attempt to convince Him that we have been fully obedient when, in reality, we have not been fully obedient. We have kept only the things that are popular to keep.

the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. Here are the milk doctrines which we just naturally think of at first as being strong meat:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection [spiritual maturity]; not laying again the foundation of 1) repentance from dead works, and of 2) faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of 3) the doctrine of baptisms, and of 4) laying on of hands, and of 5) resurrection of the dead, and of 6) eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

King Saul, as a type of each of us, was willing, and even desiring, to go out and fight against an enemy who everyone recognized as an enemy. He was willing, and even desirous, of fighting against outward enemies, but He was not willing to stand up to enemies within his own people, and he chose instead to please them, typifying the enemies within the body of Christ, rather than fear God and keep His commandments to the full regardless of what his family and friends thought of him.

Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Jer 16:12  And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

Walking after the imagination of [our] evil heart” is self-righteously serving the Lord as we see fit. Keeping days, months, times, and years, and ignoring Galatians 1:10 and Colossians 2:8, is the equivalent of bringing back King Agag and the best of the cattle. To us it is no big thing, and Christ and His Christ are simply going overboard and becoming Pharisaical when they make such a big deal over these words:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

What does the holy spirit consider to be the bondage of King Saul and of us as King Saul, who wanted to please his people more than his God. This is what Paul in Romans 14 calls “weak in the faith”:

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

That is the “beggarly elements” and the “bondage” to which the holy spirit refers in Galatian 4:9. How does our desire to please our families and friends to fit in with the world set with the Lord?

These are His inspired words:

Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

That is the fate of us all of us when “for the time [we] ought to be teachers” and we are not yet given to “go on unto perfection”, and we are still given to choose to remain on the ‘milk’ and ‘herbs’ of the Word.

What is the fruit of being given this timid spirit? As we saw in the case of King Saul:

1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou [One who is willing to make a big deal out of the words “touch not mine anointed” (1Sa 24:6 and 1Sa 26:9)].

Our spineless old man “cannot inherit the kingdom of God [because] he is more fearful of his fellow man than he is of his God.

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

Here is the fruit of spiritual weakness “when for the time we ought to be teachers” (Heb 5:12), instead of fearing family and friends more than we fear God. This is the fruit that refusing the strong meat of the gospel produces. This is the fruit which is produced by us after the spiritually strong have borne our spiritual weakness for so long and we are yet given to eat only herbs and esteem one day above another. We will repeat the last three verses of Hebrew 5 and the first few verses of Hebrews 6 to get the contrast:

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

By using the words “for the time you ought to be teachers” and Peter’s admonition to “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” we are being admonished against becoming stagnant in our spiritual growth by remaining on spiritual ‘milk’ and spiritual ‘herbs’.

Then we are instructed by the holy spirit that, for those who do “shall fall away” after having been “once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come… it is impossible… If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance.”

This is what the apostle John called “a sin unto death” of which he admonishes us:

1Jn 5:16  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

The woman caught in the act of adultery and the Corinthian fornicator both sinned a sin that was not unto death. Stubbornly “putting away… faith and a good conscience”, like Hymaenaeus and Alexander, is “a sin unto death”.

1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20  Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Stubbornly teaching the false doctrine that everything is spiritual and inward and that therefore “the resurrection is past already… is a sin unto death”:

2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

We will all ‘marry in this place’ and have spiritual wives and children ‘in this land… each in his own order’. Nevertheless, when we see that it is all a work of the Lord in our lives, to be repented of, then the Lord will destroy our old kingdom and establish His new man and His kingdom within us (Luk 17:20-21). Those who are given to stubbornly cling to the false doctrines of those who marry in “this place” and are not given “place for repentance”, will die grievous deaths in “this land”, because they are given to sin a “sin unto death”:

1Jn 5:16  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

That is our study for today, and I pray you were edified and encouraged by these words.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 16:13  Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
Jer 16:14  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
Jer 16:15  But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
Jer 16:16  Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
Jer 16:17  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
Jer 16:18  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
Jer 16:19  O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
Jer 16:20  Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
Jer 16:21  Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

[Study Aired January 24, 2021]

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jer 3:16  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
Jer 3:17  At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

We often read:

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Because no one of note on the world stage even knows we exist, we think that “the foolish… the weak… the base and the despised are all the result of our calling. Such is not the case, even though it is true that the world considers us to be all those things.

What we are told is that when Christ chose us, He found us in that state. That is His estimation of us, not just this world, but Him also. The Greek reads simply, “He has chosen the foolish of the world.” The English translation “foolish things” is taken from the single Greek word ‘moros’, which is the Greek root of our English word ‘moron’, simply meaning a fool. It is no compliment to be called a moron! Nevertheless, that is who God has chosen to confound the wise of this world. The fact that He can take a moron, and accomplish His plan and purpose through that moron, has the effect of humbling us as well as the wise of this world. Here is Strong’s definition of this Greek word ‘moros’:

G3474
μωρός
mōros
mo-ros’
Probably form the base of G3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up), that is, heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd: – fool (-ish, X -ishness).

Here is how is translated in the King James Version of the scriptures:

G3474
μωρός
mōros
Total KJV Occurrences: 13
foolish, 7
Mat 7:26, Mat 25:2-3 (2), Mat 25:8, 1Co 1:27, 2Ti 2:23, Tit 3:9
fools, 3
Mat_23:17, Mat_23:19, 1Co_4:10
fool, 2
Mat_5:22, 1Co_3:18
foolishness, 1
1Co_1:25

We are all spiritual and physical fools, or we would not qualify to be chosen of the Lord. The world certainly considers us to be the very definition of being a ‘fool’ when they hear words like “Love your enemies… resist not evil… turn to him the other cheek also…“ etc.

To the world it is blasphemy to declare that we are the anointed, the Christ of Christ, even though it is Christ’s Himself who tells us:

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

We all differ in the details of our “experience of evil” which the Lord has “written in [our] books” before we were born.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

The scriptures reveal that there is one thing we all have in common, and that is the most insidious of all sins. It is the sin of self-righteous pride. The tendency the Lord has placed within all flesh to exalt ourselves, protect our pride, and give ourselves all the credit for what the Lord gives us to do is as natural as breathing.

Yet, if we are granted to believe what the Lord tells us, then we must all admit that the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias should be required of each of us simply because the Lord brings each of His elect to see and acknowledge our own iniquity and realize that the sins we are actually guilty of committing bear witness to the fact that all other sins mankind has ever committed are within our (my) flesh.

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.

I have never literally committed murder, yet the scriptures reveal that from the Lord’s perspective I am a murderer, because I am guilty of hating my fellow man at various times:

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

You and I are just naturally much too self-righteous to see ourselves as murderers. So what, if we have hated someone. “Even if we hate our perceived enemy at this very moment, what’s the big deal?” we self-righteously ask. After all, it is just natural to hate your enemies, and Moses actually told us to hate our enemies:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

The fact that Christian ministers think nothing of urging those in their charge to go to war and “fight for God, family and country” demonstrates how lightly they think of the doctrines of Christ and how lightly they think of their spiritual adultery. The fact that a so-called ‘great man of God’ can say “If you try to burn the American flag next to me, I will whip you if I can” and get a standing ovation for such blasphemous words, shows just how self-righteous we are as we ignore and literally despise Christ admonition to us…“resist not evil”. It is for this reason that the Lord declares:

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

“Stones and stocks” are idols of our hearts” (Eze 14:1-9). “Stones and stocks” are all our false doctrines which we make light of as they nullify the doctrines of Christ, and yet we still claim Him as our husband. We are at this time in our experience ‘Christians’ in name only, insisting on eating our own spiritual food and wearing our own spiritual raiment, but calling ourselves ‘Christian’, just as Isaiah predicted of us:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

‘Meat’ symbolizes spiritual food, and ‘apparel’ signifies “the righteousness of saints”. “Eat[ing] our own bread and wear[ing] our own apparel” here in Isaiah is the same as “committing adultery with stones and stocks:

Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The fact that it is “seven women” who are saying this is the same as saying:

Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

“Seven women” symbolize the complete church, the whole of Israel, “Backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah”, which have both apostatized from their own spiritual Husband.

When the Lord tells us “The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah” what He is telling us is that we will have that same experience, of feeling and being forsaken both within and outwardly. It is all a work of the Lord for our good. Being those few who are being judged in this age does not exempt us from experiencing being forsaken of the Lord Himself “for a small moment”. The fact is that our being judged in this age necessitates this feeling of being forsaken of all men and by God Himself “because as [Christ] is so are we in this world.

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.

Our judgment is taking place at this very moment, and our heavenly Father is turning His back on our flesh as we are learning to die with Christ to our old man. “As He is so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17). If it happened to Christ as He died, so it will also happen to us as we die with Him:

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

1 Peter 4:17 tells us when we “begin” our “day of judgment” spoken of in 1 John 4:17:

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?

Do we believe that:

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.

Does being “crucified with Christ” exclude the most painful part of that crucifixion? Does our crucifixion exclude Isaiah 54:7-8? Are those words applicable to Christ alone? I think not! We to must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and feel rejected of God “for a little moment”.

We have all experienced and are experiencing the rejection of the entire world, both secular and religious. At some point while he was in prison at Rome, Paul’s own prophecy of Acts 20 came upon him.

Here is what Paul prophesied to us and to the elders of Ephesus, a city in the Roman province of Asia:

Act 20:17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Act 20:18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Act 20:19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Act 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Act 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 20:22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Act 20:23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Act 20:25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
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.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Saul of Tarsus was zealous for the traditions of the fathers to the extent that he persecuted and wasted the lives of many who had come to know Christ.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it:
Gal 1:14  and I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

In that position, Paul was Aholah, the Lord’s wife who first forsook Him and committed adultery with the nations of this world. We all at some time ignore this commandment:

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life [politics, military service]; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

No soldier can be loyal to his country and the country of His enemy at the same time, and this world is the enemy of our Lord. These words were inspired of our Lord in admonition to you and to me:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, [Aholah and Aholibah] know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

The rejection of Christ by the Jewish church of His day is typified by the older sister, Aholah. Paul’s rejection by “all they which are in Asia”, and the rejection of the apostle John by Diotrephes and “the seven churches of Asia” is all typified by Aholibah, the younger of the two sisters of Ezekiel 23:

Eze 23:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother [“the church in the wilderness” (Aholah) and “grievous wolves among you” (Aholibah)]:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, [“Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, Gal 4:25] the Jewish Christian church… and Jerusalem [Aholibah… the Gentile Christian church which also committed adultery against Christ].
Eze 23:5  And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Eze 23:6  Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
Eze 23:7  Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
Eze 23:8  Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her [We bring the world with us as we come to know Christ].
Eze 23:9  Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
Eze 23:10  These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her [We willingly give up scripture for lies, and we willingly send our sons and daughters off to physical war].
Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
Eze 23:12  She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
Eze 23:13  Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
Eze 23:14  And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
Eze 23:15  Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
Eze 23:16  And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
Eze 23:17  And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
Eze 23:18  So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.

Paul tells us that “all they in Asia be turned away from me”:

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

It so happens that “all they which are in Asia” would certainly include “the seven churches which are in Asia” to whom John addresses the entire book of Revelation:

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;

While we have no scripture telling us specifically that Paul preached in Laodicea, we do have this:

Col 2:1  For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

Col 4:13  For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.

Col 4:15  Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
Col 4:16  And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

“The epistle from Laodicea” has not been preserved for us to read, but these verses demonstrate that Paul ministered to churches which “[had] not seen [his] face in the flesh”.

When he tells us “all they which be in Asia be turned away from me” that certainly would include the seven churches to whom John addresses the book of Revelation.

John Himself strongly hints at having this very same experience when he tells us of the power exerted over the church by an apostate named Diotrephes:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

Just how advanced was the apostasy of the New Testament church, typified by a ‘harlot’ in Isaiah 1:21, Jeremiah 3:8-11 and Ezekiel 23? The answer is that it was complete in “seven women… the seven churches”:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Seven signifies completion, and the apostasy of the New Testament Church was so complete before the death of the apostles Paul and John that this is what happened to those who even attempted to remain faithful to the apostles of Jesus Christ:

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

Three thousand were added to the church on the day of Pentecost:

Act 2:41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. [Three thousand men began dying to their old man on the birth of the New Testament church, while three thousand men physically died on the birth of the “church in the wilderness” (Exo 32:28)].

As a side note, three thousand men lost their physical lives under the law of Moses on the first physical Pentecost in the wilderness:

Exo 32:19  And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the [golden] calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

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

Shortly after the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost another five thousand were added in one day:

Act 4:4  Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

Within just a couple of decades we read these words concerning the number of converts to the gospel who were still under the law of Moses [Aholah] in Jerusalem:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

Those “many thousands” of Jewish believers, typified in Ezekiel 23 by ‘Aholah’, fell away from the very Lord who bought them with His own blood, and even the Gentile converts in Asia (typified by ‘Aholibah’), forsook His apostle Paul and cast those sent to them by the apostle John out of the church. That is why the book of Revelation is addressed to “the seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:4).

The Jewish church of Christ’s day is called by the apostle Peter “the church in the wilderness”:

Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Inasmuch as Judaism preceded the New Testament church, Judaism, which was still in the New Testament church and law keeping, which until this day still in the New Testament church, is the older sister ‘Aholah’, meaning:

H170
אהלהּ    אהלה
‘ohŏlâh  ‘ohŏlâhh
o-hol-aw’, o-hol-aw’
The first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form; from H168; her tent (that is, idolatrous sanctuary); Oholah, a symbolic name for Samaria: – Aholah.

Many in the apostate New Testament churches think that Judaism and law-keeping is spiritual adultery, and they teach against even reading the Old Testament. They may not realize it as such, but these Christians look down on those who are still under the law as sinners, and exalt themselves above Aholah, the symbol of “the church in the wilderness”. Little do they realize that the Lord Himself tells us that the apostate New Testament church is nothing less than Aholibah, of whom the Lord says:

Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Ezekiel tells us that backsliding Israel (Samaria) is symbolized by a whore named Aholah, and Judah (Jerusalem) is symbolized by Aholah’s younger sister, Aholibah, who we are told has committed adultery against her husband more than her older sister Aholah.

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Moreover, this is what Christ revealed to the apostle Paul concerning these two sisters for our admonition:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye [Gentile Christians] being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands [by ‘Aholah’];
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God [have become ‘Aholibah’, who will soon forsake Paul and Christ].

While it defiles the land to return to an adulterous wife, the Lord has provided a means to put us to death and raise us up as a new man who can return to our husband and not defile the land, the place of His abode, the place of His dwelling:

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 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
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 7:5  For when we were in the flesh [alive “to the law”], the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in [the physically impossible] newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

If we are “dead to the law through the body of Christ”, how can we possibly fall away from such a wonderful and blessed position to become Aholibah, the younger sister whose whoredoms exceed that of her older sister? We do so through the self-righteous apostasy which leads us to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness:

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

This is where we will stop for today. Next week we will see that “ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness are typified by ‘Aholibah’, within us, and as such do not see themselves as “lascivious”.

[Study Aired September 10, 2020]

Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

These last verses of Hebrews five challenge us to know if we are in the faith (2Co 13:5-6, Heb 6:9) and if we truly understand what it means to rightly divide the word of God. That rightly dividing of the word of God is only possible through Christ who can strengthen us to endure through the fiery trials that purify the faith we’re given in this life in order that we may “be as his master” (1Jn 4:17, Luk 6:40, Php 2:7-8), Christ, “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 5:6-7).

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 13:6  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [How we “shall be as his master” and saved from death (Gal 2:20).]

We are saved from spiritual death in the same manner Christ was, by rightly dividing and hearing and obeying God’s words of life (Act 5:32).

God’s elect hear the voice of the true shepherd and are being led by the spirit of God (Joh 10:27-28, Rom 8:14-16) and are keeping the sayings of this prophecy that can quicken (Joh 6:63) and strengthen us to be blessed to endure until the end (Rev 1:3, Mat 24:13).

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice [1Jn 4:6], and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life [Joh 6:68]; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Heb 5:6-7, 1Jn 4:17-18).
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

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

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

God is giving those who are called, chosen and faithful to the end in this life the power to overcome in this age (Rev 21:7). In light of what we must do in order to inherit eternal life, Jesus tells us to read, hear and keep the prophesies, the commandments within those prophesies, in this way (read 2Ti 2:15, hear Mar 12:29, keep Mat 19:17).

Read: 2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Hear: Mar 12:29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

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

The great command to hear is for the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) who are called to grow in grace and in knowledge as we die daily and go from death to life through a process of judgement that will take a lifetime of overcoming this earth, this flesh that must be brought into subjection in order for us to hear His voice (Jer 22:29).

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

It is the trials, the storms God brings our way (Psa 107:25-29), which bring us to cry out to God so that our faith which comes from hearing the word (Rom 10:17, Joh 8:31) can be sharpened (1Pe 1:7), taking away the dullness of our minds (Heb 5:11) so we can rightly divide the word of truth. The sword must not depart from our house, otherwise there will be nothing by which we can be sharpened. The sword, in this instance, which does not depart from the house of king David represents the trials and tribulations that confirm that we are sons God is maturing in this age (Act 14:22, Eze 21:11-13, 2Sa 12:10).

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Eze 21:11  And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
Eze 21:12  Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
Eze 21:13  Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

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

We can endure this process until the end through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13), and it is completely necessary for us to suffer (2Ti 2:12) if we are going to be part of the priesthood “after the order of Melchisedec” under our Lord who is the “Lord of lords, and King of kings” (Rev 17:14). He tells us we can drink the cup (Mat 20:23) and that He will help us bear the cross He gives us in this life in order to bring us unto perfection on the third day (Eph 4:13, Luk 13:32).

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

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.

This article that Mike Vinson wrote about 20 years ago is part of the essential reading section that demonstrates who it is and how it is that we can become mature “kings and priests” (Rev 1:6) “who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

Rightly Dividing the Word

Discernment is something we have to grow into, and we all start off being “dull of hearing“. So, our calling in the Lord should compel us to go unto maturity on the third day and that path to life is defined for us by such scriptures as these: (2Pe 3:16-18, 1Ti 6:11-15, Joh 6:27, 1Co 9:27, Php 3:14-15).

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction [“dull of hearing“].
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

1Ti 6:11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things [1Ti 6:1-10]; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness [Be doers of the word!].
1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1Ti 6:13  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
1Ti 6:14  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [Heb 11:6].

1Co 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
1Co 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: [“I don’t shadow box with the shadows of the old covenant but see them as pointing to the reality Jesus Christ with whom I’m engaged.”]
1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

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.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Every day we are dying daily (1Co 15:31), a seed, one seed (Gal 3:16), the body of Christ that must die to self in order to bring forth much fruit (“morifying the deeds of the flesh is how the corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies” – Rom 8:13-15, Joh 12:24). That fruit is the righteousness of Christ we are told to put on in Romans 13:14) that says “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ“. We must encourage each other to believe all things, and endure all things, and hope all things (1Co 13:7-10). We are being used as one of many joints in God’s service (Eph 4:16) that will, through the much tribulation of this life (Act 14:22), learn of His great faithfulness and love. We are promised that He will never leave or forsake us (Heb 13:5-6) in this spiritual endeavour that we are engaged (2Co 11:2, Rev 19:7) in, which is called “the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14).

Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness [1Ti 6:1-10]; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 

We know Christ was “called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec”, and in earlier studies we saw the relationship with Abraham and Melchisedec that typifies our relationship with Christ. That story of Abraham bringing the tithe offering from war defines for us our fiery walk in the Lord today, that has us wrestling or warring not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities in high places (Eph 6:12). We know the battle is won by Christ in us, our hope of glory (Col 1:27), and we must acknowledge His working in us both to will and do of our Father’s good pleasure (Luk 12:32, Joh 15:5, Php 2:12-13), typified by Abraham who had to go to war, and give “a tenth of the spoils” to Melchisedec signifying what we will do if we are Christ’s predestined remnant (Heb 7:4, Rom 11:5).

We are told Saul of Tarsus was in a battle against Christ (Act 9:5), and in this story he was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”. Interestingly he went to “the high priest” with these demands, “and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem“. Unknowingly Saul was doing the work of God, typifying what was very shortly going to happen to himself, as the true High Priest was about to humble him and bring him into a relationship which would have him spiritually residing in Jerusalem above and being bound to the altar (Act 9:3-6, Eph 2:6, Gal 4:26, Psa 118:27).

Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 

There were many things Paul wanted to utter, but he met people, as we should, where they are spiritually, “that I might gain them that are under the law” if that is God’s will for that person (1Co 9:20-22). In this context of Hebrews 5:11, Paul is talking to Christians, and he is going to use some language in the following verses that are, God willing, going to provoke these babes in Christ unto love and good works (Heb 10:24). It is therefore an admonition for all of us to not revert back to just receiving things that are easily digested, but rather to labour for the meat that does not perish (Joh 6:27).

1Co 9:20  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21  To them that are without law, as without law (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Study to show yourself approved (2Ti 2:15) and if you lack wisdom ask God to give it to you and He will abundantly supply (Jas 1:5). In other words, we need to be stretched and to have our heavens opened. God brings trials upon us for that very reason so that we do cry out in our time of need so that we can receive his Word that brings healing (Psa 107:20).

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Notice these two passages of scripture that explain this principle of how God uses trials to mature us to open our heavens so we can receive the strong meat (Rev 4:1, Rev 11:19)

Rev 4:1  After this [i.e. after the first 3 chapters that explain in Revelation 1:9-10: I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos,  for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet] I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. [“Both now in our lives in this earnest relationship (Col 1:27) and one day in the fullness of that relationship in the first resurrection.”]
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

In chapter six of Hebrews Paul is going to say what those “first principles of the oracles of God” mean, but the point we need to see in this fifth chapter is that these Hebrew Christians had “become such as have need of milk“. They should after all this time be able to receive meat, but what is being made manifest in them is the desire to go back under the schoolmaster, the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9, Gal 4:2), where they would not need to know how to discern good from evil which is what Paul was trying to bring them to understand they needed to do (Heb 5:14).

Heb 5:12  By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food.
Heb 5:13  People who live on milk are like babies who don’t really know what is right.
Heb 5:14  Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong. [CEV]

Having need of milk again was demonstrative of the lack of spiritual appetite that those who were trying to be perfected in the flesh had at this time (Heb 5:12). In Galatia there were doubtful disputations coming forth from this group spoken of in (Gal 3:2-11) that Paul was addressing by asking “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” or “Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain”. This immature spirit was reminiscent of the one found in this verse we’re looking at (Heb 5:12) and one that had to be dealt with in love as Paul provoked them to love and good works by reminding them what was being revealed by their lack of discernment and inability to rightly divide the word which was preventing them from going onto maturity  (Rom 14:1-3).

Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
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 [Rom 2:28-29, Gal 6:16].

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

If you have need of milk again “and not of strong meat” the good news is that “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work”  and that is exactly how every son that He is receiving or working with as His workmanship (Heb 12:6, Eph 2:10) in this age is brought unto maturity through grace “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (2Co 9:8, Tit 2:12).

2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works [Eph 2:10].

God’s elect are called to go unto maturity through a process of being judged (1Pe 4:17) so that we can have our senses exercised to discern good and evil, which is what it is going to take for us to become teachers who will be able to judge the nations and angels because we have been matured by the strong meat that God brought us to a point of being able to digest (1Co 6:2-3).

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

Heb 5:14 Now solid nourishment is for the mature, who, because of habit, have faculties exercised for discriminating between the ideal and the evil.” [CLV]

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 

God has used my weak flesh to humble me and make his strength perfect through it. He brings us through necessary experiences and then into remembrance of how easily anyone of us can defile this temple, but He also reminds God’s elect how He will be faithful to destroy my old man your old man, whenever that does happen (1Co 3:17). This destruction is what needs to happen in our lives  so that we will no longer be “unskilful in the word of righteousness” and Christ promises us that it is going to get done (Mat 24:2).

Heb 5:13  All those who live on milk lack the experience to talk about what is right. They are still babies. [GW]

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.

Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple (1Co 3:17), and in three days I will raise it up.

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

God willing, we will “desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1Pe 2:2), and will be given to hunger and thirst for the “strong meat” that God willing in time we will be able to go onto “if God permit” (Mat 5:6  Joh 8:31, 2Ti 3:14, Heb 6:3).

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

2Ti 3:14  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Let’s consider that “strong meat” can only come about by the death of the animal that provides that meat (Joh 12:24). God willing we will present our lives a living sacrifice at the altar (Rom 12:1) which is the cross, so that we can nourish others and be nourished by the life of Christ that strengthens us, just as the bullock offering that He represents, which can only be found by being led of the spirit (Rom 8:14) without the camp where we lay down our lives for each other following Christ’s perfect example as we are baptized into his death (Heb 13:13, Rom 6:3).

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.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Unless we are dragged to Christ who is represented by the tree of life (Joh 6:44), we are not being judged (1Pe 4:17), but if we are judged in this age it will be by a sword that is sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12) represented by Christ who guards the way of the tree of life (Gen 3:24, Rev 19:15) and who will bring us to the point where we can discern good and evil.

The best two-edged sword of humanity cannot bring about good from evil, but God can, and so will the bride of Christ be able to, with Christ as our head. Those cherubim who have the “flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life”, represent God’s elect who are blessed to read, hear and keep those things written within God’s word, for the time is at hand (Rev 1:3).

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and were cursed by it just as all the world is without Christ within them who gives us the ability to discern good and evil so that we can live our lives to the glory of God (1Co 10:31).

It is a great blessing and miracle to go on to maturity in this age (Mat 22:14, 1Co 1:27), and only God can give that increase as we will be looking at next week Lord willing (1Co 3:6). Christ is revealing a hope within us (Col 1:27) through the increase that God gives us so that we can continue to partake of strong meat and grow in our discernment of how to rightly divide the word (2Ti 2:15).

We come together often so the Lord can mature this little flock that is being prepared to be saviours who will come up on mount Zion, in that day, in the first resurrection, ready to discern the good and evil in this world, within all the nations because we will have already been granted to do that within ourselves in this age (Heb 10:25, Oba 1:21, Luk 12:32).

Those who are saved in this age first, by grace and faith (Eph 2:8), are that kind of peculiar first fruits (1Pe 2:9, Jas 1:18) who God will bring unto perfection and who will have been blessed to “put you on the Lord Jesus Christ“.

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

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth [1Jn 3:1], that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

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Isa 59:8-14 The Way of Peace They Know Not

[Study Aired May 10, 2020]

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isa 59:9  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
Isa 59:11  We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Isa 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

As this very prophecy has informed us, the scriptures are not even intended to be understood by the masses of Christianity, much less the uncalled world. The scriptures are deliberately written ‘line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, that they may go and fall backward and be snared and be taken.’

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

The scriptures themselves tell us they are not intended to be understood by babes in Christ. They are written in a way that keeps their wisdom hidden from all but “them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts”. That was exactly what Christ said in answer to the question from His disciples who wanted to know why He spoke only in parables to the multitudes who came to Him.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away  even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

One way that goal is accomplished is with the use of the plural third person. Using the plural third person causes all self-righteous, carnal babes in Christ to place the admonitions of scripture outside of themselves. “That they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” is always applied to “That evil sinner somewhere over there, or some hedonistic heathen. It never applies to me while I am a carnal babe in Christ.”

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

But they “that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts” can look behind themselves and see that they themselves are the “carnal… babes in Christ”, and that every admonition of scripture is  being given to them personally and their own old man, encouraging them (us) to “grow up into [our head], Christ”:

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

It is of utmost importance that we all know we are not to become complacent with knowing the milk doctrines, including the milk doctrine of the salvation of all. There are those who believe that the doctrine of the salvation of all is strong meat. That was what I thought for several years. When I first learned the Greek word aion is defined as ‘an age’, and that aion, or its adjective aionios, is the Greek word from which the English words forever, forever and ever, eternal, eternity, everlasting, and world are all translated, it seemed at that time, back in the early 1970’s, as a very large, spiritual, 16 ounce, T-bone steak. It was nothing more than the Truth of the milk doctrine of “eternal judgment”, the last of the six milk doctrines of Hebrews six:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

The Christ we thought we knew was a Christ who would think nothing of tormenting most of mankind in flames of literal fire for all eternity. That ‘Jesus’ was what Paul referred to as “another Jesus”.

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

We have all been in our own pre-ordained time “carnal… babes in Christ”. At that time in our walk we believed in “another Jesus”. We must all want to get past being a spiritual babe in Christ if we want to get past ‘falling backward, being broken snared, and taken’:

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

The only way to get past being satisfied with the milk of the Lord’s Word is to “grow up into Christ” and acknowledge that all of His words speak to each of us  in our own time, including these words of our study today:

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isa 59:9  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

The knowledge of the milk doctrine of universal salvation, absent the doctrine of the chastening grace of the judgments of God, will keep us from going beyond the first principles of the oracles of God, and we will remain spiritual “carnal… babes in Christ… such as have need of milk and not of strong meat”, and we will continue thinking that the doctrine of universal salvation is that big 16 ounce T-bone steak, when it is really nothing more than the milk of the Word.

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Notice how here in Isaiah 59:8-9 the holy spirit goes from the third person – “There is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths” – to the first person. “Therefore, judgment is far from us, neither does justice overtake us: we wait for light but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.” The third person, ‘they’, the first person, the ‘us’ and the ‘we’, are all one and the same. All the Lord’s admonitions are speaking only to those who “are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts”. They are addressed only to those to whom the Lord, through fiery trials in this age, has given ‘eyes that can see and ears that can hear… the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’ (Mat 13:9-15). While it is true the Lord uses Satan as “the god of this world” to blind the eyes of the world from His plan and purpose… from understanding ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’, He clearly tells us that it is He who has blinded their eyes, and that it is all being done “after the counsel of His own will”.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

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

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:

Continuing the Lord’s admonition to us:

Isa 59:10  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
Isa 59:11  We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

Only those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear can see and hear these words of admonition from the Lord addressed to ”us [who have all] groped for the wall like the blind… as if we had no eyes”. Only the Lord’s servants realize just how blind they are without the mind of Christ, and the scriptures make that very clear:

Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?

These verses are not encouragement to stay blind and deaf, and they are not saying we are to remain in that state. They are telling us that all these admonitions have a personal application to each of the Lord’s messengers He is in the process of purifying and perfecting.

Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Isa 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

Every one of the Lord’s servants and every one of His messengers know in a very personal way the total darkness that is the blindness the Lord places upon each of us, even as we thought we had already seen the light of the Truth. Coming out of Egypt appears, at the time, to be our very salvation, and it is indeed a joyous thing to discover that we will neither be tormented for all eternity nor will we be annihilated. It is very comforting to discover that are we baptized into the death of Christ and raised with Him in newness of life.

However, these are milk doctrines which are like honey in our mouths.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

We are then told these “milk” doctrines also called “the first principles of the oracles of God”. These milk doctrines are listed for us in the first two verses of the very next chapter:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

These “first principles of the oracles of God”, these “milk” doctrines, are specifically designed to nourish spiritual “carnal… babes in Christ”:

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

Babes very often are totally unaware of their limitations. I tell the story of my 3-year old son watching my brother and I drive steel fence posts into the ground with a 16-pound sledge hammer. After watching us for a few minutes, he asked if I would let him use the hammer, and just for our amusement I consented. My brother and I got a good chuckle when my three-year old struggled just to get that 16-pound hammer off the ground. That story is very instructive of us as the story of James and John requesting to be seated at Christ’s right and left hand in His kingdom demonstrates for us.

Let’s look briefly at that account and at what happened shortly thereafter:

Mar 10:35  And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
Mar 10:36  And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
Mar 10:37  They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.
Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:
Mar 10:40  But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

No, we of ourselves cannot drink of the cup that [Christ] drank, neither can we of ourselves be baptized with His baptism. James and John were not yet even converted. The very fact they fled from Him, at the time of His apprehension by the Jewish mob, demonstrated just how unprepared they were to drink of His cup or be baptized with His baptism:

Mat 26:47  And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
Mat 26:48  Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
Mat 26:49  And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
Mat 26:50  And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
Mat 26:51  And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.
Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Mat 26:53  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54  But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Mat 26:55  In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
Mat 26:56  But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

Peter is like all of us. Not one of us of ourselves can resist the urge to preserve our soulish life. But we are also James and John who think they are capable of drinking of Christ’s cup and partaking of His baptism. This is a time of great trial, and we will fall seven times before we learn that of ourselves we can do nothing without being in Christ and Christ being in us. Christ was nothing of Himself, and we are nothing without Him:

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

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.

The fear of disobeying the Lord is born of a deep realization of the Lord’s omnipotence and the fact that He really is working and performing in us what He has appointed for us and is working all things after the counsel of His own will:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Eph 2:8  For by [“chastening”] grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
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.

Accepting and believing these truths is strong meat which we as babes simply cannot receive. This is what Christ said to His own disciples after spending 3½ years with them:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Like Christ’s apostles, we are first spiritual “carnal… babes in Christ, and as such we are yet to learn that “the grace of God… chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly lives in this present age”.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us [Greek: paideuo, chastening us] that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [Greek: aion, age];

The physical and spiritually immoral darkness, the absolutely insane judgments of our secular leaders, and the hypocrisy of the outward world is merely a reflection of the spiritual hypocrisy within the Lord’s servants while we are “yet carnal”, blind and deaf and without judgment.

Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;

Like a family without a spiritual home surrounded with the spiritual walls of the New Jerusalem, we were open to being invaded and occupied by “every wind of doctrine” and every false doctrine of the adversary. That is exactly what happened to every one of us. We come to Christ seeking forgiveness for our sins, but the Lord gave us over to spiritual Pharisees who immediately turned us into twofold more the children of Gehenna than themselves. Then we become the self-righteous Pharisee who seeks the souls of others to make them as self-righteous as we are:

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

This insanity of being so rebellious and at the same time self-righteous is expressed in these spiritual words:

Eze 38:4  And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

Amos uses the same language to describe how the Lord makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear (Isa 63:17).

Amo 4:1  Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan [David said the “bulls of Bashan have beset me” – Psa 22:12] that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

[Psa 22:12  Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Psa 22:13  They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

Psa 35:16  With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.]

Amo 4:2  The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
Amo 4:3  And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:4  Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
Amo 4:5  And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

We are brought to conviction of our blatant sins, and then like Job and his “miserable comforters” we succumb to the even more insidious sin of self-righteousness. When we become so ‘righteous’ that we literally contend with, reprove and condemn God, our judgment is inevitable and certain.

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

But we simply must be brought to see that these words are addressed to us:

Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

If we have ever believed and taught anyone that God would either torment or annihilate His creatures, we have ‘lied against the Lord’ (vs 13). If we have ever believed He was a three-headed, God we have lied against Him, and we have departed from Him. There is neither time nor space to list all the egregious false doctrines and words of falsehood to which we have all subscribed and uttered from the heart.

Isa 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

How can “equity… enter” while we believe such monstrous doctrines as eternal torment, annihilation, and substitutionary atonement which gives us all a get-out-of-jail-free card. There is no justice in either eternal torment or annihilation, and there is no justice in the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, which by-passes the doctrine of being judged according to our works.

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Does that sound like the doctrine of substitutionary atonement?

Truly, while in bondage to the doctrines of Babylon, “judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands far off because Truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter our hearts and minds with such unjust false doctrines occupying the Lord’s temple.

With so many lies and false doctrines dominating our hearts and minds, every one of them contradicting the doctrine of Christ, which teaches us to love our neighbor and our enemies, it is easy to understand why this last verse of our study today corresponds with the first verse of our study today which tells us that of ourselves “the way of peace they know not”:

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

It is becoming clearer every day that the scriptures, like the cloud at the Red Sea, are designed to keep this world in the darkness it is already in, while simultaneously shining like the sun in its full strength upon the Truths of the Lord’s words for those whom He is dragging to Himself in this age.

I just listened to a video entitled “Who Is the Beast of Revelation 13?” I was intrigued because this minister began by quoting this verse in his opening prayer:

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

He closed his opening prayer asking the Lord to ‘help us all to read, hear and keep the things written in this book’, so he had me hooked until it soon became abundantly clear that this minister believed that the beast of Revelation 13 will be ‘a very handsome… charismatic… son of Satan who will bring peace to the middle east and to the world just before Christ returns to crush the kingdom of this end time beast’.

As with all Babylonian ministers, the words “for the time is at hand” simply are not there in Revelation 1:3. This minister read that verse but did not see or hear those words. To that minister the entire prophecy of the book of Revelation is only for the generation which happens to be alive at the time just prior to the first resurrection and the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ. He spoke often of the anti-Christ, and again made him out to be only an end time personality who is the same as the end time beast of Revelation 13.

Truly, our last two verses apply to each of us when we were where this minister and all of His kind are:

Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Isa 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

That is our study for today. Here are our verses for our next study, and as we will see, the Lord continues to assure us that if we are His elect, He will never leave us.

Isa 59:15  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Isa 59:17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
Isa 59:19  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Isa 59:20  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:21  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/teachers-choice-conclusion-of-study-in-matthew-24-this-generation-shall-not-pass-till-all-these-things-be-fulfilled/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teachers-choice-conclusion-of-study-in-matthew-24-this-generation-shall-not-pass-till-all-these-things-be-fulfilled Tue, 17 Mar 2020 20:07:20 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=20438 Conclusion to our Multi-part Study with Matthew 24: “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”

[Study Aired March 16, 2020]

What must be fulfilled in the generation that God is judging is described within the verses of Matthew 24, written for the sake of God’s elect who are the generation that Christ is referring to (Mat 24:34)

Like all scripture it “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. What must be “fulfilled” in this generation is described for us in (Col 1:24) and accomplished by our hope of glory within who can give us the ability to drink the cup of his suffering (Col 1:27). Matthew chapter 24 just expands for us what that affliction is and tells us what we can expect to see unfold in the lives of those who God is working with both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13).

A tree is known by its fruit (Luk 6:43-45) and if we are connected to the vine (Joh 15:5-7) and blessed to continue in His word to become disciples indeed who bring forth much fruit (Joh 8:31, Mar 4:20) then we must be “This generation [that] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”.

“This generation” is speaking of those who are predestined to be judged first in this life (1Pe 4:17, Eph 1:12, Joh 15:16, Rom 8:28-30), and that judgment is expressed through parables which hide God’s purpose and meaning from those who are not meant to understand these things which are hidden from the world at this time by God’s design (Mat 13:10-11).

The chapter culminates in pointing to the readiness required of God’s servants, the sacrifice of our life and time required in order to be that blessed servant who is providing spiritual meat in due season when our Lord returns (Mat 24:45-47).

With that in mind, I want to end with an FAQ Mike wrote at least 10 years ago, answering a former Jehovah’s Witness who was grappling with Truth of which we have been discussing on various Monday studies since May 2019.

“Conclusion to our Matthew 24 series: an FAQ from Mike.
When Will Matthew 24 Be Fulfilled?

[Excerpt from the question section]

…I also am struggling with letting go of some of the dispensationalism teachings of the JWs. Surely Matthew 24 describes some future event (I thought). But some of your explanations make a lot of sense to me, but yet confuse this carnal, milk-minded brain of mine. Maybe you can answer: when will the resurrection (first and second) occur? Is the resurrection a unique experience to each person (shortly after death)? Or is it a one-time, all-encompassing event that resurrects all of the elect (in the first resurrection) and then the rest of the dead at the second resurrection? And if it is a one-time event, what about all of those still living (on earth) at the time of “the end” just before the first resurrection? I think my dispensationally-trained mind is having a hard time with these sequence of events.

My carnal mind almost gets angry that Jesus (in Matthew 24) would almost seem to be mocking people by saying, “Oh yeah, there will be wars, earthquakes, famines, diseases… and then the end will come”. If your understanding of these words is true, isn’t Jesus just telling people, “You are going to live in a corrupt, imperfect, and violent world; then you will die, and then I will come?” If so, why all of the details? Aren’t the details important to identify the “last days”?

As I have read much of your material on the IWWB site, I have observed your quotation of Ecc 9:2-3 several times. Do these verses not refer to this “one event” or “same event” to both the righteous and the wicked alike… do these scriptures not simply refer to death? Of course, I can see that Heb 9:27 adds to the “sum of the words”…. hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question… When will Matthew 24 be fulfilled?

Hi T____,

Thanks for sharing with me your story.

It is only natural, and it happens to also be spiritually healthy, to share with others what has been our journey in coming to know Him who is the Truth. This is done at all of our Bible conferences, and having heard the stories of many from all around the world over the years, it has become clear that while the details may vary, the essential elements of all of our stories are exactly the same.

In your latest e-mail, you ask:

As I have read much of your material on the IWWB site, I have observed your quotation of Ecc 9:2-3 several times.  Do these verses not refer to this “one event” or “same event” to both the righteous and the wicked alike… do these scriptures not simply refer to death?  Of course, I can see that Heb 9:27 adds to the “sum of the words”…. hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question.

If Ecc 9:2-3 refers only to death, then Christ was lying when He said this:

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.

… and this:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

If Ecc 9:2 refers only to physical death then Christ was also lying when he said this:

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

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

All who are in Christ and are truly our fellowservants, “Keep the sayings of this book, and the things written therein.” In the end “all things come alike to all.”

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

It makes good sense to say that the “one event” includes a life of “all things… written therein.” However, it makes no sense at all to say that the one event of death, includes “all things… written therein” which all men are commanded to “keep.”

“Keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book” is “one event” which will, in the end, be common to all men, but there is no logical way to describe death as “all things… common to all men.”

Not one person yet has ever been brought to hunger for a deeper knowledge of our Lord, and a closer relationship with Him, without first passing through the “furnace of iron” that is our fiery experience in Egypt and in Babylon.

1Ki 8:51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt,  from the midst of the furnace of iron:

“The furnace of iron” and “the valley of the shadow of death” are both part of the “all things… one event” which we all must endure, if we are ever to “know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings.”

Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

If you see “dying with Christ” as a daily process, then yes, that “one event” is death, but only in this Biblical sense:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
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.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is the “one event” in which “all things come alike to all”. All men will, in their own appointed time, “reckon themselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive unto God.” To think of this “one event to all” simply as physical death is to completely miss out on the summation of the “many things I have yet to tell you ” of Matthew 24, which “many things” are later given us in the revelation of Jesus Christ, which we are all plainly told to “read, hear and keep.”

No one in whom the spirit of Christ dwells wants to either add to or take away from his part from the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly [into the life of every man of every generation who “reads, hears and keeps the things written therein”] . Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Every word of God’s Word confirms that this, too, your story as a Jehovah’s Witness convert, is “common to all men,” whether a Jehovah’s witness or a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal or Catholic. We all are brought to see our need for a Savior while still serving our the Egyptian taskmasters, which are the lusts of our flesh.

Exo 1:13  And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
Exo 1:14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Exo 2:23  And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exo 2:24  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exo 2:25  And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

When did He do this? Here is when He comes to us:

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

So we all cry out to God to deliver us from our own flesh, and we come with an innocent heart, seeking to know God and His peace. Here is how this stage of our walk is described in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which revelation we are to “read, hear and keep.”

Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

We all come to God as babes in Christ, desiring to serve Him but with no “root in ourselves” as yet, and we come to Him while we are yet in the churches of Babylon, looking to those we love and respect to guide us in our new walk. Here is how Christ describes this part of our walk which is common to all men.

Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

When all of this is taking place we are no more aware that we are in the grip and influence of the great whore than a child is aware that he cannot yet eat strong meat. Anyone who has reared children knows that all children think they are qualified to do the things they see their parents doing long before they really are able to do so. This is as true in spirit as it is in this temporal life. We are living our lives at this time, with all the false doctrines with which we have been reared from our youth still firmly implanted in our minds, and in that part of our walk God answers our prayers “according to the idols of our hearts.”

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

When I was in the Pentecostal church, God answered my prayers according to my Pentecostal idols of the heart. Later, as a World Wide Church of God member, my prayers were answered according to those doctrinal idols.

When I lived several years of my life believing the doctrines of the Concordant Publishing Concern, my prayers were answered according to those doctrinal idols. You were raised up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and God answered you according to those heart’s idols, for several years. If now you have lain aside all doctrinal and denominational biases, and have come to His word with a heart that wants only to inquire of the Word of God, then God will answer you accordingly.

It is good that you realize that you have indeed been being sustained by “the milk of the word.” While there is ‘milk’ in the churches of Babylon, it is all poisoned milk and will never lead you to know the true God of scripture. The orthodox churches all would have us believe that our heavenly Father will burn all sinners in eternal hell fire, if they do not repent and serve Christ now in this life. Many of the supposed cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh Day Adventists, and at one time, the Worldwide Church of God, all believed in a heavenly Father who would merely annihilate all sinners. None of this is in accord with the scriptures which teach that is it is through figurative fire that all in Adam will be saved in Christ.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

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

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

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

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

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

What I pray you will come to see is that universal salvation may seem like the strong meat of God’s Word, but it is really nothing more than milk. This is made clear when we consider that even though the apostles never once taught either eternal hell fire or eternal annihilation, they did teach the doctrine of “eternal judgment,” and that doctrine of “eternal judgment,” is the teaching that  it is through judgment that aionios (eonian) judgment leads to life for all men. This is but a milk doctrine, and so it is listed.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

(Skipping down to the next section on the resurrection…)

You are right in saying all of the elect [are] (in the first resurrection) and then the rest of the dead at the second resurrection. The time-line is laid out in Revelation 20, and all the rest of scripture verifies that time-line.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; andthey lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Look at verse 9.

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Verse 8 makes clear that all nations are deceived, and all nations are destroyed by the “fire from heaven.” I wondered for virtually all my life, how death could possibly be destroyed to comply with this verse of scripture.

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

As long as human babies are being born in vessels of clay, also known as flesh, death will continue. Revelation 20:7-10 reveals that after the period of rule by God’s elect, God will bring the human race in flesh to an end.

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

While it is true that “fire from heaven” is symbolic of the means used to destroy death, the destruction of all flesh is essential to that goal, because death will never be destroyed as long as human babies continue to be born in bodies of sinful, corruptible flesh and blood.

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

What do we see in the very next verse? We see the second resurrection at the great white throne judgment, which is the lake of fire which will purify all men. That fire is the Word of God, and the ‘lake’ is those in whom that Word resides.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

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?

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

These promises are only for those who understand that Christ’s Words never pass away, are lived in the lives of his elect in every generation since Christ, and are “the things written therein… the saying of the prophecy of this book” of the revelation of Jesus Christ within us.

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Time and again, Jesus tells us that we are Him and that how this world treats us is how it treats Him.

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
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.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

This is the truth of the gospel for all who are in Christ:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Be sure to read the study What Is “The Christ”?

My carnal mind almost gets angry that Jesus (in Matthew 24) would almost seem to be mocking people by saying, “Oh yeah, there will be wars, earthquakes, famines, diseases… and then the end will come”. If your understanding of these words are true, isn’t Jesus just telling people, “you are going to live in a corrupt, imperfect, and violent world; then you will die, and then I will come? If so, why all of the details? Aren’t the details important to identify the “last days”?

Absolutely! The details are important to identify the last days. That is Christ’s whole point! That is what this verse is all about:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

As long as we refuse to believe that “this generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled,” then our understanding of what is ‘the last days’ is not in line with what is called ‘the end’ in scripture. These events found in Matthew 24 are the same imminent events found throughout the book of Revelation. Look at how the revelation of Jesus Christ is both introduced and how it concludes:

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

Does “for the time is at hand” sound like this is prophecy is not to be fulfilled for another 2,000 years? Does “for the time is at hand” mean this book is only for the last generation before Christ’s return? That is what it means if you are a dispensationalist and you view all the sayings of this prophecy from that angle. However, in doing so you are denying that Christ’s words never pass away, and in doing so you are denying that Christ and His words are the first and the last and the is, was and will be He claims to be on twelve different occasions in this book alone. In doing so you are saying that the prophecy of this book has no personal application for any of God’s elect of any past generation and that these words are applicable only for those who happen to be standing on this earth at the time of Christ’s return. Nothing could be further from the Truth. It is He who tells us “I am the Truth” who concludes this prophecy with the same admonition with which He begins it.

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

This prophecy begins and ends with the warning to all who read it that they are to “keep the things written therein,” and they are to “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Both warnings say “the time is at hand… behold I come quickly.”

Like Christ in the 24th chapter of Matthew, these words are addressed to “whosoever reads” and not just to the last generation at the end of this age.

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

“The holy place” is the inner chamber of the temple of God, and the New Testament is abundantly clear that “ye are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you.”

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

The abomination of desolation is not at the end of this age for those who are given eyes to see that “the end” spoken of by Christ here in Matthew 24 is the end of the age that comes upon every generation of God’s elect.

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

So don’t be upset with Jesus Christ. He was abundantly clear that His words would never pass away and that they would be fulfilled “in this generation.” Who we all ought to reject are our Babylonian teachers who have blinded our eyes to all these obvious truths which are consistent with words which are, were and will be true in every generation.

I have no problem with the length of your letter when the heart is sincere in searching for the Truth and is not filled with “idols of the heart.”

God bless your sincere search to know the mind of God and Jesus, whom He has sent to us to reveal to us the Father.

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].

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/studies-in-psalms-psa-1241-3-if-god-be-for-us-who-can-be-against-us-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=studies-in-psalms-psa-1241-3-if-god-be-for-us-who-can-be-against-us-part-1 Fri, 19 Jul 2019 02:49:16 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=19079 Psa 123:1-3 “If God be for us, who can be against us?” – Part 1

Psa 124:1  A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 
Psa 124:2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 
Psa 124:3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

This “Song of degrees of David” reminds us of our vulnerability in the flesh that is a shadow of our vulnerability in the spirit (Rom 1:20) where “men [rise] rose up against us”. There is no doubt we would be destroyed spiritually if the Lord did not protect us, and that is the great lesson in this Psalm. He is our stronghold (Psa 61:3, Pro 18:10-11) and the one who is preventing us from being “swallowed up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us” (Luk 22:31-32). “Our help is in the name of the LORD [His voice, His words], who made heaven and earth” (Jer 51:15-18).

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Psa 61:3  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Pro 18:10  The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Pro 18:11  The rich man’s wealth is his strong city (Rev 3:17), and as an high wall in his own conceit.

[The conceited and arrogant heart within man is “the enemy” of the cross within us (Rom 11:18-21) highminded,^G5309] that is not able to say “Our help is in the name of the LORD [his voice, his words], who made heaven and earth”. The yet carnal heart of the religious man in me wants His name and to be able to eat my own bread and wear my own clothing (Isa 4:1, Php 3:9)]. The solution to this problem is in these verses – Joh 6:44, Joh 21:18).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Jer 51:15  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding [thinking within].
Jer 51:16  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures [Job 38:22, Isa 28:17].

Job 38:22  Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jer 51:17  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. (Gen 2:7, Rom 8:9)

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

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

Jer 51:18  They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish [Our time of visitation is our time of judgment which wipes away the refuge of lies and sees the old man perish (1Pe 4:17)].

The verses preceding our title “If God be for us, who can be against us?” tell us the degree to which God has gone for all the world to see all men will be saved (Rom 8:31-33), with the emphasis on “God’s elect” who are the first to trust God as the first fruits who are first saved and the first to have this arrogance or high-mindedness burned out of us (Joh 3:16, Eph 1:12, Jas 1:18-19, Mat 23:12, Luk 14:10).

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.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Luk 14:10  But when thou art bidden [Rev 19:9], go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

The word “maybe” is not used in this Psalm, where it says, “Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul”, all to remind us that it is only because of our Lord whom we bless “who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth”, and is the reason “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped”. He is “our help” (Rom 8:31), and “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” who created the light and darkness and the heaven and the earth and uses all things to bring about the new creation that He is forming within us through Christ (Eph 6:12, Isa 45:7, Rom 8:28).

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.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness (Eph 6:12): I make peace, and create evil (Eph 6:12): I the LORD do all these things.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good (Eph 6:12) to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God’s elect are likened to “two candlesticks” in Revelation 11:4 as well as “two olive trees”, which simply remind us that it is by the power of God’s holy spirit (Col 1:27) we can be those two witnesses or “two candlesticks” that “shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2Pe 1:19).

We recently lit a candle and put it on our balcony. I noticed how vulnerable this little flame was to the wind around us, so I made a little aluminum shield around it to protect it from the wind. It worked for awhile, but because I had wrapped it too close to the candle there was not enough oxygen to keep the flame burning even though it was protected from the wind. It also overheated and the candle burned too quickly and with a lot of smoke. The analogy seems very amazing to me that I worked to protect that flame, and I was actually working against myself. Gale took the foil and made a half shield protecting it against the wind and giving it proper oxygen and the ability to shine back at us more brightly. The Lord showed me in this simple example of how we are to know we can’t understand our errors, and that it takes the Lord to cleanse us from our secret sins (Psa 19:12-14). So, we rejoice because “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations” how to create the proper form and function in our lives so we can glorify our Father in heaven (1Co 10:31). It is the church who is Christ’s body (Gale in my type and shadow story) which is given the manifest knowledge that shapes our experience in Christ [form] and allows us to be a light to the world [function] (Eph 3:10, Mat 5:14).

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

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,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

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

The time is come for us to trim our lamps (Mat 25:3-10, Rom 13:12-14), and to know that judgment is upon the house of God (1Pe 4:17). We must be found with His righteousness and abide in the doctrines of Christ and acknowledge the commandments of the Lord (Joh 8:32, 1Co 14:37) who we come to know after we are shown the error of our ways (Rom 2:4). If we trim our lamps, as I tried to do with this little candle on our balcony, and leave it like that, our righteousness will not exceed that of the Pharisees (Mat 25:7). However, if we are granted the humility to be that entreatable child who is being fashioned “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”, then we will be that city set on a hill, regardless of how much comes up against that candle, which is also analogous of the house being spoken of in these verses below:

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Like that little candle and like Noah’s ark, they were both kept upright by the grace and faith of God. I tried to shape the tin foil at first to protect the candle, representing my own works, and it burned very dirty and created a lot of wax. Our many wonderful works are like that, where we fashion those works according to the idol of our own hearts; and then through the church where God provides the manifest knowledge of Christ, we learn of the better form and temple of the Lord, which we are.

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

The candle is still a candle, still vulnerable and easily blown out (Luk 22:31-32), however, by the faith Christ provides, having done all, we stand (Eph 6:13). The shape that protected the wick and created just the right amount of oxygen and protection (it is the shape of a hand) was the design God gave us through the church, the little flock whose pleasure it is for God to give the kingdom (Luk 12:32); but we did not figure that out by ourselves. Rather the Lord guided us, and through repentance and holding fast to those things that we proved, we begin to see the Lord is truly sovereign over all things and was preparing a way through the body of Christ to demonstrate His mercy and love to all mankind (1Co 15:22-24).

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

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

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

Like the candle in this analogy which was poorly trimmed, and like the house build first on sand and then on a rock, and like all of God’s elect who are the weak of the world through whom God makes His strength perfect (2Co 12:8-10), we must come to see ourselves as the chief of sinners and extremely vulnerable. At the same time we must know in our hearts that “If God be for us, who can be against us” as He founds us upon the Rock of our salvation (Mat 16:18-19) who allows the hedge to come down in the life of His children so that we cry out and are delivered (Psa 107:19) from “men who rose up against us”, and “their wrath [that] was kindled against us” and the false doctrines that are likened unto “the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul” but “Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth” delivering us through the trial and taking us “out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped” (1Co 10:13).

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

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

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

Psa 124:1  A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 

Just because Christ, or the LORD, is “on our side” (Rom 8:31) does not mean that we won’t feel vulnerable throughout this life. We are continually in need of crying out to our LORD and praying for His mercy which will deliver us today in our time of need because flesh is vulnerable and likened unto weak wheat that can be sifted (Heb 4:16, Heb 5:7).

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

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

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 [spiritual death (Mat 20:23)], and was heard in that he feared;

This is after all another “song of degrees” telling us that there is a step-by-step and little and by little process through which we go that is given to the entire body of Christ to keep us humble in His service (Deu 7:22).

Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

With these things in mind, “now may Israel say”, the Israel of God, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side“, we would be swallowed up quickly.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Psa 124:2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Psa 124:3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

If God is “on our side” or if God “is our helper”, we will learn that nothing can separate us from His love “when men rose up against us“, and He will allow “the kings of the earth” to rise up against us to demonstrate his power within us that is able to give us what we need to overcome and drink the cup indeed (Act 4:27-30, 1Jn 4:17, Rev 12:10-12).

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
Act 4:30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal [Psa 16:8, Joh 1:1]; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

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.

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 (2Th 2:4), 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 (Luk 22:32); and they loved not their lives unto the death. [The undefiled blood of the lamb is the word of our testimony with which we are being sanctified in this age (1Pe 1:17-19>, Joh 6:55, Joh 17:17)]
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Our prayer is that God would “grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.” We are that manchild whom God grants to send forth His word to heal (Psa 107:20, Joh 20:21) and do greater works than Christ did (Joh 14:12). Those works of Christ typify the overcomer in this age whose deadly wound was healed, and now through a lifetime of signs and wonders of which Christ spoke to John the baptist (Luk 7:22), we come to understand how the eighth is of the seven, the new man is being born out of the old man, light is coming out of darkness, the old man is decreasing through judgment, and the new man is being formed through Jesus Christ (Rev 17:11, 2Th 2:3-10).

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

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

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Luk 7:22  Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

These verses we just read in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 explain how it is not possible for anything to separate us from the love of God [because of judgment], and that although it is true that Satan continues to try to sift us like wheat and even deceive the very elect if it were possible (Mat 24:24), we are reminded  with this verse that “Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us” is not possible if it has been written in our books in this age to be overcomers through Christ.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at our second part to this Psalm entitled “If God be for us, who can be against us?” as we look at these confirming verses that once again point to our Father who loves us and commands us to commit our ways unto him as unto a faithful Creator so we can be strengthened settled and established in the Lord “after that ye have suffered a while”.

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Here are those verses for next week’s study:

Psa 124:4  Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Psa 124:5  Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 
Psa 124:6  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 
Psa 124:7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/teachers-choice-except-the-lord-build-the-house-part-3-underpinning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teachers-choice-except-the-lord-build-the-house-part-3-underpinning Mon, 15 Apr 2019 18:37:19 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=18615 “Except the LORD Build the House” – Part 3 (Underpinning)

In the last two studies we discussed what makes a good foundation and some of the spiritual lessons the Lord has given us in God’s word which reveal these lessons. We looked at spiritual lessons that we can derive from the actual process of breaking ground, and to some degree the different types of foundations and how they are formed and what we can learn from that process. The main lesson to learn from foundations is that it is the Lord who is breaking the ground in our own spiritual heavens and laying the foundations that are going to be so deep and solid and perfectly set together that we will be able to say of this foundational government of which we are becoming that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa 9:7).

The first thing to notice is that the foundational government which God is going to build will have these spiritual qualities mentioned in Isaiah 9:7 as their unmovable underpinning.

There is a whole science which has been developed around how to do this underpinning under different terrains and surfaces, but for the purpose of our study, I just want to make the point that the underpinning is brought down in many instances to the solid foundation which is accessed by the deep digging God requires of us as we labor for the meat that does not perish.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

1Th 1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
1Th 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
1Th 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
1Th 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Spiritual underpinning: four points from Isaiah 9:7:

1. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.

There will be order “to order it” and that order will come from God through Christ and continue down through the body of Christ to the rest of mankind.

This holy ground that God is going to create will be established with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

Finally, and the most central point to notice, “the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

What do these points mean for Christ’s body, and how are they practically to be understood for God’s elect who know that these words were written for their sakes (2Co 4:15, Rom 15:4).

1. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.

God has declared the end from the beginning regarding what He is going to do, and He already knows who it is that will be used to be the spiritual underpinning for His government. The “hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth”.

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:

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:

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Without that right spiritual relationship based on worshiping God “in spirit and in truth”, the weary laborers are just labouring in vain.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon.Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teachingfor doctrines the commandments of men.

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. [1st resurrection]
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 [2nd resurrection].

God has called us to remember we have a heritage which will be brought about because of the labor He is working in our lives, both to will and to do of His good pleasure, which starts with Him giving us that kingdom today in the earnest down payment form that we have (Psa 127:3, Php 2:13, Luk 12:32, Eph 1:14).

Our heritage is then explained in Psalm 127:3 as “the fruit of the womb is his reward”, and this “fruit of the womb” is speaking of the other lump (Rom 11:16), the other fold (Joh 10:16) who “as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes” (Rom 11:28) and will come up in the latter harvest (Jas 5:7) to be ripened on the Vine, Jesus Christ, of whom we are a part today, and witnessing to that through the fruit of our lives, the increase which He alone can give (Luk 6:44, 1Co 3:6, Joh 13:35, Joh 14:15). This increase that comes from God alone is made manifest through the church, Christ’s body (Col 1:24) and is explained by these prophetic words, “the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.”

2. There will be order “to order it” and that order will come from God through Christ and continue down through the body of Christ to the rest of mankind.

There will always be order in God’s kingdom, and we are learning as God’s first fruits that this order can never come about except the Lord tears down the old order within us and brings in the new spiritual order by the power of God’s holy spirit.

Mar 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

There is so much imagery in God’s word that speaks to this order, whether we look at the precious oil”that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments” typifying “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” and how that unity can only come about as a result of God’s holy spirit, or we can see the same imagery explained in the book of Zechariah, especially in chapter four. Again, this imagery reminds us of the order and the need for God’s holy spirit to ultimately create that order as we are led by it together and partake of that liberty that comes from knowing God and Jesus Christ in each other.

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

Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

3. This holy ground God is going to create will be established with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

Judgment and justice are paramount to establishing a government of everlasting peace. Notice it is established, and someone has to be doing the establishing, and that starts with the judgment that is upon the house of God today.

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?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

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

The whole bible is just about two men and how the God of the universe sees light and darkness as the same because both of them are doing exactly what has been written in their books to do according to the counsel of His will.

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

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:

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

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

4. Finally, and the most central point to notice, “the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

The last point we will look at in regard to Isaiah 9:7 and how God is going to establish His government upon the earth is the simple truth that “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this”.

That zeal is to be primarily understood by God’s elect as the means by which Christ is currently cleansing us as His kind of first fruits as He drives the beasts out of our temple and cleanses our hearts and minds so we can worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is what should be our 24/7 goal as God helps us to continue to examine ourselves to be sure that we are not reprobate in our faith. We must continue to pray for one another that God “would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” This is the underpinning we need and can only obtain through Jesus Christ and each joint which supplies that nourishment through His body, the church.

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

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

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

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

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Luk 12:42  And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Luk 12:43  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Luk 12:44  Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
Luk 12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

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:

Our brother Larry reminded us after Mike’s last study of the blessing it is to get through this judgment in this present life. which is a vapor, being given to ask God to judge us now, examine us now, and not allow us to put off until tomorrow what can be done today through Christ, as we are made ready to be His bride (Psa 139:23 and then Psa 51:1-5, Pro 3:11, Rev 19:7).

This attitude of self-examination and repentance is a gift from God (Rom 2:4) and truly is the principle underpinning of the body of Christ which must fall seven complete symbolic times to go onto perfection on the third day (Pro 24:16, Luk 13:32).

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