“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”

Part 1 (Pro 25:1-4)

[Study Aired January 22, 2026]

Pro 25:1  These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.
Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Pro 25:3  The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Pro 25:4  Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

Verse two of this section of proverbs is very thought-provoking as it reminds us that all glory and honour is our God’s, even the glory that we initially take unto ourselves when we are yet carnal Christians, as explained in (1Co 4:7).

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

Mankind has been shapen in iniquity (Jer 18:4, Psa 51:5), and that iniquity which is self-righteousness (Eze 33:13) has a form of glory or light, likened unto the moon that represents the law of Moses (2Co 3:9-14, 1Ti 1:9, Exo 34:29-35), which follows us right into our relationship with our Father and Christ, who is intent on destroying that self-exalting man of perdition, within the elect, first (2Th 2:3-7).

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

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:

2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

If we continue in the truth, the truth will crush that iniquity within us, or rip that veil of self righteousness to the glory of God, and the life of Christ that is concealed, will be revealed by the man of perdition being “taken out of the way” (Joh 8:32, Mat 21:44).

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

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

The honour for God’s people is in knowing that it is Christ doing the work, and that we are His workmanship (Luk 17:10), who are the first to trust in God in this life, to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:11-12). That trust is developed through much tribulation (Act 14:22), that comes with this blessed honour of knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ (Mat 13:16, Rev 20:6, Rom 8:18).

Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Our great King is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), resulting in our understanding the relationship that we have with them both, “At that day “ (Joh 14:20, Joh 17:3).

The things that God has concealed must be laboured for mightily in order to unearth them, and have them refined, by the fiery trials of this life (1Ti 6:12,  Joh 6:27, 1Pe 4:12).

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.

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.

This gift of God of being judged in this age (1Pe 4:17) is an ongoing process that is expressed in this proverb, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”. Christ is leading the way within the body of Christ as our head in seeking the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:31-34). We are laboring together to unearth those things which He has concealed, and God is rewarding the body of Christ for this ongoing workmanship that we are, in the Creator’s hands (Heb 11:6, Php 2:12-13, Eph 2:10). It takes the whole body of Christ for this endeavor to be fulfilled, and this is the great cloud of witness that the world is going to one day understand that God is forming now, and was forming, and will be forming until our last breath (Eph 4:16, Eph 3:20-21).

Here are ‘the matters’ that matter, that God has hidden from the world (Eph 2:8-19), and that we are blessed to be given a hunger and thirst for (Mat 5:6) as we search out, through the life of Christ, “the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”, resulting in the manifold wisdom of God being “known by the church the manifold wisdom of God”(Eph 3:10).

Eph 2:8  For by 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.

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

Pro 25:1  These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

God has used the prophets and kings of this earth (Luk 10:24, 2Pe 1:21), and moved them to write words to be unearthed for their deeper spiritual meaning, when the holy spirit would be given to the body of Christ (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11).

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

2Pe 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

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

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.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
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.
1Co 10:14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry [flee from the idol of our heart that thinks we can stand without Christ and His body].

Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

As we just read, God has concealed the truth from all who cannot see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears (Mat 13:16). They are sacrificed in their unbelief for God’s elect, so that He can show mercy to all, in time (Rom 11:32). The honour given in this age is for the body of Christ, the kings of our Lord, to “search out a matter” today, and that ‘matter’ is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16).

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Pro 25:3  The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Pro 25:3 Who can fully understand the thoughts of a ruler? They reach beyond the sky and go deep in the earth. (CEV)

Jesus declared, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Mat 28:18), “The heaven for height, and the earth for depth”, which represents our minds in the Lord that are sealed with the holy spirit, and being worked with in this life (Eph 1:13).

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

God is working within the kings and priests He is preparing to rule and reign under Christ (Rom 11:33-36), and now we have the mind of Christ that makes it possible for us to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and saviour (1Co 2:14-16, 2Pe 3:17-18), a mind that is declared to be “unsearchable”, “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

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

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

Pro 25:4  Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

Pro 25:4  Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel. (NIV)

Dross is the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal; and consists of the impurities that only rise to the surface as a result of great heat (1Pe 4:12).

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

One of many spiritual lesson in this physical process for God’s elect to observe, is to not despise that fiery process but rather rejoice that God is dealing with us as with sons who are being received through that very hot scourging and chastening process (1Pe 4:17, Rom 2:4, Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:13).

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings;(Rom 8:18) that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy

Every sacrifice shall be salted with the salt of (Mar 9:49), and it is all for the purpose of turning us into vessels that are “meet for the master’s use [through our Father who is the Spiritual Silversmith, and a Consuming Fire Heb 12:29], and prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21, Rev 19:7).

It’s instructive to note that in the physical realm sodium hydroxide, which has the element of salt in it, is used to accelerate that process of extracting the dross during the refining process. That salt, symbolizing the holy spirit, is the key component in the lives of God’s children that makes it possible for us to endure, and bear all things, and hope all things, and go through this refining process until the end (1Co 10:13, Rom 8:9, Php 4:13, 1Co 13:7).

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.

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.

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

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Smelting and a refiner’s fire are related but not the same; smelting is the process of extracting metal from its ore by heating, while a refiner’s fire specifically refers to the purification of metals by removing impurities through intense heat. Both processes involve high temperatures, but smelting focuses on extraction, whereas refining emphasizes purification.

This refining process is analogous of the spiritual process God’s elect have been called unto (Rom 8:30-33).

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

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

These two processes [smelting and the refiner’s fire] help us understand how we can see judgement unfolding in the world, but it is only the necessary first stage of what will lead to the refiner’s fire that purifies the metal in question (Mat 21:44). God permitting that is us in this age (Heb 6:1-3). Clearly, we go unto perfection by a process of judgement that takes our entire life if we are God’s first fruits in this life (Luk 13:32).

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;(Luk 13:32) 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.

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.

God is humbling His children in this age through the relationship that we have with the Pearl of great price, Jesus Christ (Mat 13:45-46). It is to God’s glory that we are hidden in Christ, and baptized into his death (Col 3:3-4, Rom 6:3-4), concealed from the world, and it is our honour to seek out this matter of the life of Christ within us, our hope of glory, who is revealed through the refining process of filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake (Col 1:26-27, Col 1:22-24).

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

In this first part of chapter 25 the main point I want to emphasize is that “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”.

Only Christ can open up the seals in the book of revelation within us (Rev 5:4-5), where the knowledge of the Kingdom of God has been concealed and hidden from the world. It is also to God’s glory that Satan can be used to blind all the nations (2Co 4:4), and at an appointed time for every man, Christ can enter into our life via the holy spirit so that “the honour of kings is [can be] to search out a matter” (Php 2:12-13).

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Part III: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob” (Isa 41:14)

[Study Aired December 5, 2019

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 
Psa 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 
Psa 139:17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 
Psa 139:18  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 

There are four distinct parts to this Psalm 139, the first describing God’s omnipotence, the second section giving us insight as to how God sees all of His creation, the third section more specifically how he sees the church, the body of Christ, the workmanship of His hands, and the fourth describing how God brings light out of darkness through the judgment which is upon the church. That judgment brings us to loathe sin and have a strong desire to overcome all wickedness in this age through Christ so we can be blessed and holy to have our part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6).

The subtitle of this study is “Fear not, thou worm Jacob“, and that worm perfectly describes how God sees us in this weak earthen vessel that is being fashioned and formed by our loving Father into a beautiful butterfly that is going through this metamorphosis, or process of maturation, prophesied in the words “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (Jer 22:29). That three times hearing of the word “earth” is a symbol of the process of spiritual completion through the judgment God’s elect are experiencing first (1Pe 4:17) as we “grow in grace, and in the knowledge” of Christ while others are blinded and not able to hear for now (2Pe 3:18, 1Jn 5:14-15, 1Jn 4:6).

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Heb 11:6  and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

God tells us that all our days are numbered and written in his book (Psa 139:16), and this writing is His workmanship unfolding to His glory to demonstrate that He will do what He wants with all of His creation in the order that He has predetermined from the foundation of the world (Eph 2:10, Rom 9:20-21, Mat 20:15).

Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my embryo, And my days, all of them were written upon Your scroll; The days were formed When there was not one of them.” (CLV)

Rom 9:20 O man! who are you, to be sure, who are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the molder, “Why do you make me thus?
Rom 9:21 Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for dishonor?

Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?

Jeremiah typifies (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11) how God predetermined His purpose for each and every life ever conceived in saying, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.” His life is also a type and shadow of the church that Christ sanctified first (Joh 17:17) to the glory of our Father “before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations” (Eph 2:10).

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.

Notice again it is “before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations”; telling us in type and shadow that the body of Christ has been appointed from the foundation of the world to be brought together like a child in a mother’s womb (the church) and sustained by the breath of life, which God provides through His spirit, making it possible for these words to be accomplished in the body of Christ: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”]

Gal 4:26  But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.

Eph 4:16  from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together [Psa 139:15] through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. [Joh 17:3]

2Co 12:9  And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

The strong delusion therefore that is withholding and keeping that strength of Christ from being perfected in the rest of the world is that which “withholdeth”^G2722 of 2 Thessalonians 2:6. That is the spiritual hedge God has orchestrated through Satan to keep the world believing they are the masters of their own destinies, which is what keeps the beast on the throne of our hearts, as opposed to worshipping God in spirit and in truth “about the throne” (Joh 4:24, Rev 7:11).

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

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

Rev 7:11  And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

God’s elect are shown that He is making His strength perfect through us first (2Co 12:9), being blessed, protected (Luk 12:32), and sanctified first, through a life of  being crushed or ground to powder under the stone (Christ) (Mat 21:44), who matures us so we can “in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (Mat 21:44, 2Th 2:6-7, Psa 107:31, 2Ti 2:25-26).

Being able to ‘save yourself and those who hear you’ (1Ti 4:16) is reason to say “I praise [H8686 = Qal tense] thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” This is something God has predestined the elect will do for all of His creation (Oba 1:21).

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

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdethG2722 that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now lettethG2722 will let, until he be taken out of the way.

G2722  kat-ekh’-o  From G2596 and G2192; to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively): – have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

By contrast, we cry out “my soul knoweth right well” but that is not uttered until we are brought to our wits’ end (Psa 107:27-28) through the crushing experiences our Lord gives to us.

We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” through those fiery trials that our flesh is told NOT to think it strange (1Pe 4:12), and as we mature and accept His grace that is sufficient for us because God has mercifully brought us to that conclusion by bringing us to our safe haven, Jesus Christ (2Co 12:9, Psa 107:30).

Coming to that conclusion does not happen immediately as Babylon supposes it does with a ten-second sinner’s prayer, but rather through the “I besought the Lord thrice” process of spiritual completion through judgment which Paul utters in the verse prior to 2 Corinthians 12:9.

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.

Psa 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

The point being made for God’s elect for whom these words have been written is that “My substance was not hid from thee“; not that our substance was not hidden from the world as is declared in (Col 3:3), but rather that God is showing His power through us as He accomplishes this glorious work of witnessing right in front of all the whole world who have been blinded by the god of this world and lie in wickedness as we all are in our appointed time (2Co 4:4, 1Jn 5:19, Eph 2:2 [old walk], Joh 9:25). All these truths have been hidden from them just as they were hidden from the masses when Christ walked the earth and was not recognized as being the son of God (Act 26:26, 1Jn 2:23, Joh 1:10-12, Luk 10:16, 1Jn 4:17). So God’s workmanship is not physically hidden but is very much alive and actively witnessing at all times so that in the day of visitation for others our prayer is that God will be glorified by what He has accomplished through us in this age (1Pe 2:12-15).

1Pe 2:12  Having your [new walk] conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers [Mat 10:22], they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
1Pe 2:13  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14  Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: [Stephen the first martyr “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” by laying down his life and forgiving his accusers (Act 7:60)]

Our “soul knoweth right well” that these things are true in God’s word (Joh 6:68) because His spirit bears witness (Joh 6:63) that we are His sons (Rom 8:16) who are having these works “curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth” that represents the church, the body of Christ (Jer 22:29, Col 1:24).

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal 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 earth, earth, earth of Jeremiah 22:19 reminds us of the process our heavens are going through as the “vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made” is “curiously wrought” [embroidered] by our great God on the veil which is ripped for all of His creation (Mat 27:51-53, 2Ch 3:14, Exo 26:31, Col 1:24).

“Curiously wrought” H7551 raw-kam’  A primitive root; to variegate color, that is, embroider; by implication to fabricate: – embroiderer, needlework, curiously work.

Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. [Think of these verses inwardly.]

2Ch 3:14  And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

Exo 26:31  And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:

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:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

This statement of above declares we had a beginning “when as yet there was none of them” and as He is so are we “the firstborn of every creature” as these scriptures below demonstrate.

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

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

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.

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.

The “in continuance^H3117 were fashioned” part of this verse reminds us of the ‘is, was and will be’ nature of God’s mind that is continually pouring forth knowledge from sunrise to sunset, the period that typifies when His workmanship in our heavens is being accomplished “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race” across our heavens (Psa 19:1-7) to accomplish “in continuance^H3117 were fashioned” the perfecting of the saints or making ready the bride of Christ (Php 1:6, Rev 19:7).

H3117 “in continuance” 
yôm yome
From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverbially): – age, + always, + chronicles, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever (-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (. . . live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year (-ly), + younger.

Psa 19:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psa 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. [“in continuance^H3117 were fashioned”.]
Psa 19:3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Psa 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Psa 139:17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

It was through the church, through the many joints which supply (Eph 4:16), that we all can come to say “how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them“, as opposed to the very disjointed contradictory word that was first presented to us in Babylon and left us asking “What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death”.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

When I first read that above verse in Romans with a Babylonian mindset, I thought only of the very carnal way I acted out in the world as being the fruit the scriptures were discussing, and not the carnal way I was interpreting the word of God when I was in “the” church, which I thought I was in at that time. Both are true, but in my ignorance I was not ashamed to think above what was written (1Co 4:6) and needed to be miraculously brought to see how insidious that little bit of leaven really is in the eyes of God (Gal 5:9). That little leaven is to ‘agree on the essentials and tolerate the non-essentials’ which puts to death the verse “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

By the grace of God, we come to see the deeper spiritual lesson being taught us and telling us we have to go through a process where we are twice plucked up before we can bear good fruit (Jud 1:12). That can only be accomplished by Christ alone who is the vine, and the author and finisher of our faith who knows how to drag us out of Babylon so we can bring forth much fruit (Joh 15:5). When we suppose we are righteous by keeping the law, that delusion prevents us from going on to a perfection that can only occur by selling all we have and following Christ, which God’s elect are given the power to do through Christ (Mat 19:21, Luk 13:32, Mat 16:25, Php 4:13, Php 3:9).

We were all “a law unto ourselves” or “under the law for the lawless” (Rom 2:14, 1Ti 1:9), which could at best keep us as law abiding Christians in the flesh, but not able to live to the glory of God through the faith of Christ (Rom 1:17, Php 3:9). This contrast which God created was according to the counsel of God’s will (Eph 1:11) to make bright for us in our heavens the beauty of holiness that comes about when we are truly being granted to be given eyes that see, which happens as a result of being sanctified by His word in which we believe (Joh 17:17, Php 1:29). We go from faith to faith, or glory to glory (2Co 3:18) as we are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) so we can be saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8).

The word of God becomes so precious unto us: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” when we are granted to compare spirit with spirit (1Co 2:13) and see how the sum of that word declares a singleness or dream that is one (2Co 11:3, Gen 41:32) for the sakes (2Co 4:15) in this age of those who have been given those eyes to rightly divide the truth (Mat 13:16).

Psa 139:18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

This last verse of our study brings to mind Romans 11:32-33, which tells us “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” This statement is in the context of “that he might have mercy upon all” (Rom 11:32) that the sum of God’s word is being discussed that are “more in number than the sand“.

What connects all of these thoughts is the second resurrection where we will see “when I awake, I am still with thee“. We know that doctrine or the words of God can be likened unto children, children who are the inheritance of the elect as these following verses bring out. The “more in number than the sand” is the inheritance and blessing God’s children are being given, and is typified with Abraham who is told, “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore”.

Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Gen 26:4  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Isa 54:1  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

These last verses we will read in 1 Peter 5:1-11 testify of “the true grace of God wherein ye stand” by God’s word that instructs us as to how we can all be “examples unto the flock” who will receive this “heritage” of God if we are granted to heed all these admonitions and “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

1Pe 5:1  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
1Pe 5:2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
1Pe 5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-4311-19-for-your-sake-i-have-sent-to-babylon-and-have-brought-down-all-their-nobles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-4311-19-for-your-sake-i-have-sent-to-babylon-and-have-brought-down-all-their-nobles Sun, 16 Jun 2019 01:40:39 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=18982

Isa 43:11-19 For Your Sake I Have Sent to Babylon, and Have Brought Down All Their Nobles

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Isa 43:11-19 For Your Sake I Have Sent to Babylon, and Have Brought Down All Their Nobles - Discussion

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Isa 43:11-19 For Your Sake I Have Sent To Babylon, and Have Brought Down All Their Nobles

Isa 43:11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 
Isa 43:12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 
Isa 43:13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? 
Isa 43:14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. 
Isa 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 
Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 
Isa 43:17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 
Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

In our last study, the Lord reminded us that we are the blind who are given sight, and we are the deaf who are given to hear. It is as such that we are “His elect [who] are precious in His sight”:

Isa 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Isa 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. 
Isa 43:8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

This is the last verse of our last study where the Lord calls us His “witnesses”:

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

Why are we His witnesses? What is it to which we are to bear witness? Here it is. It is the same every time: “…That ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”

Is that not exactly what the Lord Himself did?

Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

The answer to Pilate’s question of whether Christ was a king provoked this famous question from Pilate:

Joh 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

Christ had already clearly answered that question:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Christ is not saying, ‘I know the truth’. He is telling us He IS the Truth, and that is the reason He constantly reminds us of His sovereignty over all things. Our Lord and His Father are not like petty humans who crave the worship of their peers. They have no ‘peers’ as they are “above every name that is named”. Because the Lord loves us, He wants us to know “The Truth” and not believe any lies. So, this week’s verses continue with that theme:

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

When Christ tells us “[We] are His witnesses” He means we witness of Him who is “The Truth”. We bear witness to His doctrine, which is who He is. To bear witness to anything we must first have seen that thing to which we are to bear witness. So, we must know Christ and His Father if we are to be His witnesses, and that is why He tells us He gives us eyes to see and ears to hear:

Joh 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 
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?

What a revelation! Christ tells us that if we have seen Him, then we have seen the Father! That is revolutionary statement!

He goes on to tell Thomas and Phillip that even though they have been with Him in a physical sense “so long time” yet they do no know Him and have not yet seen either Him or His Father in any spiritual sense. We are now told how we do come to know Christ and His Father and how we can ‘see’ both:

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

There is the “revelation” of how we can see both Christ and His Father even though we never have physically seen either of them. The fact is, they are both, by nature, invisible to the physical eyes of our flesh:

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: 

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

1Ti 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

That is how we see the invisible God:

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

That is how we “see the Father”. We ‘see’ the invisible Christ and His invisible Father only through “the eyes of [our] understanding”, and knowing them through their words and doctrines.

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

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

No one knows the Lord but those whom He has saved from their own sins. We do not seek Him first. It is He who is working in us both to will and to do of the things which lead us to repentance. Not one soul has ever voluntarily come to the Lord without first being dragged to Him by the trials of life, which He works for that very purpose:

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

Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

When we put these verses together, we learn that even being dragged to Christ is “given unto” us by our loving heavenly Father who chose us to know that “…Beside me there is no Savior”.

Isa 43:12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 

It might be deduced by some that this verse is saying we must rid ourselves of our idols before God will deal with us. That is not what “when there was no strange god among you” is saying as the next verse tells us:

Isa 43:13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? 

“I will work, and who will [restrain] it?” Restrain what? What exactly is the Lord “working” that He poses this question? The simple answer is:

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

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:

There is nothing which is not being done by the Lord, including all the evil in all cities:

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

“Before the day was I am He; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand”, and the Truth is that we were all in the Lord’s hand “before the world began… [while we] were [yet] dead in [our] trespasses and sins”:

Eph 2:1 Even you, who were dead in trespasses and sins 
Eph 2:2 in which ye once walked according to the era of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. 
Eph 2:3 Among whom we also all once behaved in the lusts of our flesh, doing the intentions of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath as also the others. 
Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, through his great love that he loved us, 
Eph 2:5 even us being dead in the transgressions, he made alive together with the Christ (ye are saved by grace), 
Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenly things in Christ Jesus. 
Eph 2:7 So that in the coming ages he might show the transcending wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (ACV)

Who will restrain the work the Lord is working within us? Here is the answer to that question:

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 

No matter how all-encompassing the work is, the Lord does not struggle when doing His work. When He speaks, big things happen “suddenly”:

Isa 48:3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

The creation of the heavens and the earth was done ‘suddenly’:

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The destruction of all life on the dry land of the earth was very ‘sudden’:

Gen 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

“Babylon” is the Biblical symbol for all the religions of this world which are all in rebellion against the Lord and His Christ. When the Lord decides Babylon has served His purpose, He will “suddenly” destroy “that great city” and turn the rulership of this entire globe over to His elect:

Isa 43:14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. 
Isa 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 

Oh yes! We must be the first to experience the fall of Babylon within us, but the day is coming when this will also be accomplished dispensationally and outwardly:

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 
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 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

When the Lord commands us to “Come out of her My people”, He provides a way for us to do so:

Isa 43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 

The Lord performed ten great miracles before He made Pharaoh to send Israel out of Egypt. Then He made a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters of the Red Sea. It was all done for our admonition:

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.

No matter how impossible the situation seems, nothing is impossible with the Lord, and He never fails to deliver us. The Lord wants us to know that He “leads us into temptation[s]” and trials”, and then He delivers us from those same trials. It was the Lord who sent Israel into Egypt in the first place:

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

If it were God who sent Joseph into Egypt, then it was God who also forced his brothers and his Father and all their families to go into Egypt. If all of that is so, then it was also God who made Joseph’s brothers decide to sell him as a slave into Egypt.

It was the Lord who sent Satan to take away all of Job’s physical possessions, as well as all ten of his children, and then afflict him with boils for head to toe (Job 1 and 2).

It was the Lord who sent “an evil spirit from the Lord” to trouble King Saul:

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

It was the Lord who sent a lying spirit into all of Ahab’s prophets, just as He does to all the prophets of Babylon till this day:

1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Wicked men do not make themselves wicked. The Lord makes them wicked for the day of evil:

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

It is the Lord who has “mingled a perverse spirit in Egypt and caused Egypt to err in every work:

Isa 19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

None of these are outward statements. They all apply to each of us inwardly because we are plainly told that the Lord makes us all to err from His ways, and He hardens all of our hearts:

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

There is a lot of evil in every city on earth. Who do the scriptures say is working all that evil? The answer is couched in a question, but it is consistent with everything else the scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation:

Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

There are many more verses of scripture which declare the Lord’s sovereignty over all things, both good and evil, but we will wrap this point up by giving the Father the credit He is due for the whole of the plan of salvation for all men. Giving our heavenly Father the glory He is due includes extending His sovereignty over the single most evil deed ever performed on earth, which is the unjust murder of His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins of all men of all time. Whose hand and whose counsel determined this greatest of all evils?

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.

The holy spirit anticipated we would all conclude that if the Lord is sovereign over all evil and makes the wicked for the day of evil, therefore the Lord Himself must be evil and answers that argument in this way:

Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

The Lord does not deny He creates evil. He proclaims it to be so:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

If the Lord created evil just for the sake of being evil, then He would indeed be a monster not worthy of worship and admiration. Notice why we are told the Lord “creates evil”:

Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

God creates evil to make His power known and “make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He has afore prepared unto glory… even us…” 

“Us” being a “vessel of mercy” has a double meaning and a double application in the scriptures. On the one hand “we”, the Lord’s elect, are the recipients of His mercy and all the glory which comes with being the first to trust in Christ:

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in [the] Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 
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: 
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

On the other hand, “we… the vessels of mercy”, are the dispensers of the Lord’s mercies:

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.

Knowing that we are the dispensers of the same mercy we have been shown, at the expense of those who once had a physical relationship with Christ, makes Paul’s statement concerning the “vessels of mercy” in Romans 9 take on a much deeper meaning:

Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Our salvation is entirely in the hands of the Lord, and in Truth all men of all time are actually doing “what [the Lord’s] hand and [His] counsel determined before to be done… before the world began”:

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.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

This all-encompassing sovereignty of God is again affirmed in the seventh chapter of this same book of Romans. Paul declares under the inspiration of the holy spirit, that his sins are not really his sins at all. Twice Paul declares “it is not [us who sin] … but [it is] sin which is in [our] members” which makes all men to sin:

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

The holy spirit informs us our sins operate within us through “the law of sin which is in [our] members”. To whom do we credit the sustaining of “the law of sin which is in our members”? Let’s not guess about such an important question. This is to whom we credit with giving and sustaining the law of sin which just naturally dominates all men:

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

All sin operates through “the law of sin which is in [our] members.” Mankind, as was Adam, was “marred in The Potter’s hand” (Jer 18:4) when the Potter deliberately and with aforethought made mankind with this “law of sin and death” as an integral part of his dying flesh:

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

Look closely at the words ‘I the Lord… make peace and create evil’ in:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

This is the Lord Himself speaking to us. Yet it was a major news story recently that the Pope has decided to rewrite the so-called ‘Lord’s prayer’, or what the Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans all call ‘the our Father’. 

Here is how the verse the Pope wants to rewrite presently reads in the King James and in Italian and in Spanish:

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

“Lead us not into temptation” is repeated in:

Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Here is how the Pope thinks those verses should read:

"[T]he first Sunday of Advent," the church wrote, "a new translation of the Our Father will come into force in all forms of liturgy. The Catholic faithful will no longer say: 'Do not submit to temptation' but 'Do not let us enter into temptation.'"

The Pope went on to state “God does not create evil”, and he said, “No father would tempt his own child.” 

If the Pope insists on rewriting Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4, he will be forced to also rewrite all the verses I have listed in this study which state plainly:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

The Lord Himself tells us He creates evil (Isa 45:7), He makes the wicked for the day of evil (Pro 16:4), He sends evil spirits to trouble us (1Sa 16:14), lying spirits to make us believe their lies (1Kg 22:23), and He “makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear” (Isa 63:17). The Pope and most ministers in all of Christendom tell us that none of those things are true.

Who will we believe - men or God? Here is what we are instructed to do:

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

Our study today concludes with the very same message from our Lord. Just as we are told the Lord raised up Pharaoh to be destroyed (Rom 9:16-18) and that the crucifixion and death of Christ was “what Thy hand and Thy foreknowledge determined afore to be done”, we are also told this about all those who withstand the words of Christ within us:

Isa 43:17 Which [the Lord, verse 16] bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power [of the adversary]; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 
Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

We will indeed “Know it… [when the Lord] makes a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert”. Those words are primarily speaking of how the Lord drags us to Himself despite all the works of “spiritual Sodom and Egypt” within and without, and in spite of all the lies and idols of our hearts in the churches of Babylon.

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

But the Lord performs a “new thing” within us and drags us out of Babylon despite all the odds set against us:

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

When we “come out of [Babylon] it is because the Lord drags us out:

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.

The Lord does not want us to think or act as if we cannot fall away. The exact opposite is true, and we are to think and act as if it were a distinct possibility that we could “be a castaway”:

1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 
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: 
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.

At the same time, the Lord wants us to realize that if indeed He has written our names in His book of life in this present time (Rom 8:18), then nothing in heaven or earth can separate us from the love He has for us:

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. 
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will learn that our salvation is guaranteed despite anything we do and is accomplished in us by the Lord Himself “for His own sake”:

Isa 43:20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 
Isa 43:21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. 
Isa 43:22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. 
Isa 43:23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. 
Isa 43:24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. 
Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 
Isa 43:26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 
Isa 43:27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. 
Isa 43:28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/psalms-75-the-horns-of-the-righteous-shall-be-exalted/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=psalms-75-the-horns-of-the-righteous-shall-be-exalted Sat, 27 Aug 2016 02:21:39 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=12331 “The horns of the righteous shall be exalted”

Psa 75:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psa 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
Psa 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
Psa 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psa 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
Psa 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
Psa 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psa 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Right out the gate of this Psalm we are told what we are going to be reading and how God is going to accomplish this good work of having “the horns of the righteous” exalted. The word ‘Altaschith‘ and the word ‘Asaph‘ give us God’s very specific purpose for all flesh of all time:

Altaschith^H516

– Original: אu¹⁵⁰⁰ תu¹⁴⁶⁸ שu¹⁴⁷³ חu¹⁵¹⁴
– Transliteration: ‘Al tashcheth (Aramaic)
– Phonetic: al tash-kayth’

– Definition: Al-taschith = do not destroy

Asaph ^H623
– Original: אu1505 ףpar
– Transliteration: ‘Acaph
– Phonetic: aw-sawf’
– Definition: Asaph = gatherer
– Strong’s: From H622; collector;

Asaph the name of three Israelites and of the family of the first: – Asaph.

Altaschith means ‘do not destroy’, which is what God has promised of all of His spiritual creation, that it will not be destroyed.

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

Joh 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

What will be destroyed is ‘the old man’ or ‘soulishness of man’, symbolized by what this word Asaph conjures up. As a ‘gatherer’, it speaks of the end times or harvest, and as Asaph is also the name of three Israelites, “three” is symbolizing the process of that harvest or judgment.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

So with these concepts in mind we are reminded that God has a controversy with the nations of the world who He is going to gather unto judgment both within and without.

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

Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

All the world will be judged, each man in his order, (judgment is connected to patient continuance, as we possess our souls in patience), and that judgment which begins at the house of God (1Pe 4:17) will one day go out to all of the world, all of Israel who represents the world who will be judged by the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). This judgment comes about in succession (i.e. process or order) and means the destruction of the flesh, and is symbolized by the three holy days that Israel was commanded to come up and keep year by year.

Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

God anoints the elect in this age to see and understand that we are a part of this process of judgment which is what is needful for us to be enabled to become “pillars” who can judge the congregation uprightly. These are the wonderful works that God is performing in Christ’s body for the sake of the rest of the world, who will be healed by our stripes.

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

Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

We pray that God will grant us the forbearance, the faith, and deep love we need in order to continue to persevere and possess our souls in patience today. This particular Psalm really points to the solution of how God is going to create this resolve in the body of Christ.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

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

Christ is destroying our flesh or soulishness, as our lives our narrowed into judgment which comes forth from the north (judgment leads to spiritual increase). All our journeys in life are leading up to this day of judgment, which we are blessed to be a part of and to learn about in His word.

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

Jer 1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 6:22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

Psa 75:1 To the chief Musician, AltaschithH516, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near [kin] thy wondrous works declare.

As the body of Christ matures, we give greater and greater thanks (mentioned twice = witness) for being a part of this process of wonderful works that we know are needful and necessary to going onto perfection on the third day as a new creation (Luk 13:32, 2Co 5:17).

The nearness of (near [kin]) or relationship we have with our Kinsman redeemer is expressed in these verses below:

“Thy name is near thy wondrous works declare” reminds us that not only are we his workmanship (Eph 2:10) and that we are called and chosen (Mat 22:14) to do a work greater than these (Joh 14:12), but also that as His body, we too, have been given a new name to see and hear and understand (Rev 2:17) and declare His wondrous works to all the children of men (Psa 107), as the next two verses confirm:

Psa 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

If we go through this process of judgment in this age, and if we are received as sons and daughters through chastening and scourging, a big of part of that process will be connected to our turning our other cheek from those who oppose us in this life. When we are granted to turn the other cheek, we are judging a situation rightly and being prepared by our Father to be judges (Mat 5:39).

Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

1Pe 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Psa 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

Again, if we are judged in this age we are going to see the faulty foundation we once were on, and it will be clearer and clearer how this world is upon that foundation that must crash down and be destroyed in one symbolic hour. We bear up the pillars of Christ in each other and know that this world will reject that strength which is ours today. The end result will be that this world will crash down upon us and be the sword that God uses to perfect Christ’s righteousness within His body. Sampson typifies all of this in this part of scripture.

Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Jdg 16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Jdg 16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Jdg 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

Psa 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psa 75:5 Lift not up your horn^H7161 on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

In this particular verse the holy spirit inspires the words every^G3956 man,^G444 three times to remind us again that there is process to this destruction of the flesh that thinks it has power unto itself with no connection to God. It is the pride of life [don’t lift up your horn] of the first man adam that we are warned against (1Jn 2:16-17)

How we warn every man through preaching, or teaching in all wisdom will differ for every situation and every man, but the end goal will always be the same “that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”

1Co 9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
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.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
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.

“Lift not up the horn” is mentioned twice in this psalm to witness to us that we need to ask God to destroy that part of us that wants to give our opinion, and express our wisdom and power rather than the power of God which comes from above. We do a lot of shadow boxing in the court (beateth the air) with the law where there is uncertainty and days and months and times and years that we wrestle with but it is when we truly begin to be judged of God by being dragged out of Babylon that will find ourselves keeping under our body and not exalting our own horn of righteousness, but rather praying that we should never be a castaway and able to glorify God with a contrite and broken heart that can only come from Him alone.

1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
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.

Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

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

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

Promotion^H7311 [same Strong’s number used for the english word “lift up” in the previous verses] comes as a result of God narrowing our life in service to Him and His body (Joh 21:15).

All our life we go east and west and south in our steps and these three directions are always being judged by God’s sovereign hand from the north which has always guided all our steps (Ecc 11:9, Act 17:28) as he prepares our hearts to be comfortable in the north where judgment comes. God’s desire is to have all people abide in the proper judgment and in harmony with Him who abides symbolically in the north where judgment comes from.

Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

In order to get to this place of peace and entering into the joy of the Lord (Mat 25:21) we need to know who is in charge and how it is that by his merciful hand there is a continual decency and order (1Co 14:40) in His creation which will bring all men one day to praise our Great God and to bow every knee before him (1Co 15:28, Rom 14:11). And in the end it is Christ who is set up^H7311 (exalted) and Adam who is put down^H8213, (humbled, abased) within and without (Php 2:1-10).

Psa 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

A cup of judgment in God’s hand that is “full of mixture” that is to say has been prepared by God and made to be drunk by all men, “all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”

When the world is being sanctified by the word of God (Joh 17:17) or wine during the millennium it will be faith given to the nations but not tried faith. It takes more than just hearing the word of God, we must be doers as well, and not just doers for the sake of doing, because that would be equivalent to many good works (Mat 7:22) which is what will happen during the millennium (Jer 6:14, Eze 13:10). It is all to teach us the most enduring and profound lesson that only Christ can be Christ working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Rom 8:9, Php 2:13).

Like the blessed emails this week about gardening and weeds, we will plant the word of God in the hearts of men and water that field, which is the world (Mat 13:38). However the condition of the earth and its ability to receive and be nourished by the word is a matter of timing (Mar 4:2-8). We must live by every word of God, and so every amount of growth, or lack of growth, has a profound lesson to teach us as we see the Master of the vineyard harden and soften hearts throughout the ages all to the glory and honour of our Father.

The wine is red, Adamic^(H120), as we are told that we will indeed drink it (Mat 20:22-23), until “it is finished” (Joh 19:30) and judgment is complete (Isa 51:22-23, Isa 52:1-2).

Psa 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

What a glorious desire and blessed place to rest for ever and ever. We are heading toward something far greater than we can receive in our earnest state of flesh, but we do have a few verses that give us an inkling of how glorious it will be:

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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.

Psa 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

We know that we are the beast that sits on the throne of God showing ourselves out to be God. This is the beast whose horns must be cut off, in order for the horns of the righteousness of Christ within us to be exalted.

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.

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

The new horn of the righteous is the new creation that does show themselves to be the body of Christ and who think it not robbery to be equal with God, in the sense that all things are ours now, and we have become part of something because the old horns have been shaved off, and the Lord, the Master Potter, has made something new that lives and glorifies God with every ounce of its being.

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (represented by those ten horns Rom 8:2)
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

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