Unto You Is Born A Savior
Audio Links
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Video Links
Unto You Is Born A Savior
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
As this topic came to fruition, I find myself amazed at how the Lord has worked all things after the counsel of His own will to bring it about. The timing was impeccable because the Lord has been building His own understanding, knowledge and spiritual wisdom up in my mind, giving me His mind on this topic, and experience is the best teacher we have to learn by. Indeed it is used to cause us to be obedient to Him. A lot of this study will indeed be review, but I hope it comes together a little more clearly just how it is we can be in the world, but not of the world. How can we reconcile everything we do, think, feel and live throughout each day of our lives in the world with how God would have us live and walk in the spirit?
Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
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.
With that thought in mind, let’s start this week’s study.
The Time Appointed
Gal 4:1 Now I say, [ That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint- heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
In the last few weeks, I listened to an audio on the Internet from a local minister who was tackling the topic of bridging the gap between earthly matters and spiritual; between being in the world and living for God. As this minister explained his understanding on how to achieve this, I noticed there was a lack of scriptural support, but there was a large amount of smooth words or smooth things.
Admittedly, if I were not able to “try the spirits” with the mind of Christ, I would just as easily fall prey to the thousands of doctrines that deceive the whole world.
(KJV) Isa 30:9 That this [ is] a rebellious people, lying children, children [ that] will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
To clarify, I think the bible in basic English says it more clearly.
(BBE) Isa 30:9 For they are an uncontrolled people, false- hearted, who will not give ear to the teaching of the Lord:
Isa 30:10 Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure:
Isa 30:11 Get out of the good way, turning from the right road; do not keep the Holy One of Israel before our minds.
Isa 30:12 For this cause the Holy One of Israel says, Because you will not give ear to this word, and are looking for help in ways of deceit and evil, and are putting your hope in them:
Isa 30:13 This sin will be to you like a crack in a high wall, causing its fall suddenly and in a minute.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
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.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
What this minister was trying to say was achievable during his sermon is in fact unachievable because the gulf cannot be crossed. The point he was trying to make is that while we are in this flesh and have worldly concerns, we can somehow please God spiritually by living those things out. One example he used was, “We don’t live to play basketball, we play basketball to live”. His point and what he literally said is that by doing the everyday things in our lives we glorify God, because God has placed those things in our lives to enjoy. Is that truth? Let’s see what the scriptures say on this matter.
While everything has its time and season, those things which we experience during our lives should all be glorifying God if Christ is working in us to be obedient. God does give us things to enjoy, but we should be doing all we do, we should be thinking all we think, in such a way that it glorifies God.
1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
We’ll cover just what glory is a little later.
Bridging the Gulf
As was alluded to before, bridging the gulf cannot be done, and I say this because in many, many places throughout the scripture we see this spiritual truth played out. However, we are still in this world so there are guidelines on living a spiritually minded life while in this tabernacle of flesh, but we will get to that later. In Luke we have the story of Lazarus and the rich man, and this is where we will start our focused study on crossing the gulf.
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [ would come] from thence.
Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
I want to make a couple of quick points here before we get too deeply into this parable. In verse 16:23 we see that the rich man “in hell lifted his eyes up being in torments”. If we study the word hell, we will learn that the Greek word here is “hades”, which simply means grave. We can compare the rest of the scripture to find this to be true, but the verses right in this parable speak about Moses and the prophets from which there was NEVER a placed called hell spoken about in the entirety of the old testament. If Christ came to save people from hell, then everyone in the old testament had no chance to escape because they were never warned once by anyone in the old testament including the Lord. Besides that, we see in Rev 20:14 that death and hell were cast into the lake of fire which is the second death, and if the lake of fire in Revelation is hell, how can hell be cast into itself? Two examples of that are Act 2:31 and 1Co 15:55.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Was Christ ever in hell? No, but He was in a grave, a tomb. So this word here should be translated as the grave and not hell. Finally, we see:
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The word translated here as grave is the same word translated hell only ten other times in the new testament. Why did the translators choose to translate it ‘grave’ here instead of ‘hell’? Could it be because this verse would say, “O Hell where is thy victory?” They didn’t want to say that because it wouldn’t have been consistent with their false doctrine.
Moving on, we can see clearly if we have eyes to see and ears to hear just what this flame that the rich man is being tormented in is. We’ll cover that briefly and then move on.
Deu 4:24 For the LORD thy God [ is] a consuming fire, [ even] a jealous God.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God [ is] a consuming fire.
Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
(BBE) Jer 5:14 For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, has said: Because you have said this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and they will be burned up by it.
We see in the next verse, Luk 16:25, that Lazuras had evil things during his life, but the rich man had good things during his. It is indeed the “good things” that torment us, and the “evil things” that comfort us. How in the world can that be? Well, that is exactly what this study is about, and I pray the Lord uses the rest of this study to bear out this truth. The gulf cannot be bridged because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is our carnal minds which are enmity to God, so contrary to the teachings of the minister I mentioned earlier, all that we do MUST be to glorify God, or it is simply having our own glory.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
(DARBY) Rom 8:7 Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God. For it is not subject to the law of God: neither can it be.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
In The World, Not Of The World
So, how then are we to live in this flesh while still living for God? How do we remain faithful to God while dealing with the things in the world we live in? The answer is, “unto you a saviour is born”. It is Christ, and more specifically “the Christ”.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [ between us];
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [ even] the law of commandments [ contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [ so] making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
It is Christ and his Christ which NOW, in this world, experience NOW the judgment that is NOW on the house of God. We have studied many times that we are the temple of God where His spirit dwells, so it is NOW that we are to deal with the judgments that God the Father places in our lives that we may be made obedient. With God, there is no in- between, but only the purging fire which will burn all wood, hay and stubble out of our lives.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [ that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Pe 4:17 For the time [ is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [ it] first [ begin] at us, what shall the end [ be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
It was Christ himself who prayed for His elect a very special prayer. That prayer is in Joh 17.
(KJV) Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [ them], and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
I think the BBE translation really captures what Christ was saying:
Joh 17:6 I have given knowledge of your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world: yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your words.
Joh 17:7 Now it is clear to them that whatever you have given to me comes from you:
Joh 17:8 Because I have given them the words which you gave to me; and they have taken them to heart, and have certain knowledge that I came from you, and they have faith that you sent me.
Joh 17:9 My prayer is for them: my prayer is not for the world, but for those whom you have given to me, because they are yours
Joh 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine and I have glory in them.
What is the result of this truth?
Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [ it hated] you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
What is our purpose while being IN this world but not OF this world?
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Separation – Goats and Sheep
There is a separation that happens which is clearly seen by the world if indeed the Lord is working this all in you. One of the hardest things that we deal with is the fact that just as Paul was Saul and persecuted the church and was initially feared because of his life without Christ, so too we will be seen as the “same ol’ person” though we have been crushed to powder and made a new creature.
Act 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Act 8:2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
What now is working in us is exactly what Christ stated to be working in us earlier: His glory to the Father. It is Christ is us because everyone but Christ falls short. Christ is the only one who is obedient.
Joh 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine and I have glory in them.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Scripturally speaking we all should be aware that glory is obedience. Christ glorifies His Father by being obedient. In times past, without Christ in us, we were children of disobedience, but now we are made obedient through trials and tribulations, through knowing that God is working all things for good, and accepting whatever judgment it is that we have coming.
1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
We cannot be children of obedience without Christ, and that comes through sufferings called fiery trials. When Christ is living His obedience to God out in us, then the entire world will notice, and they will persecute us.
Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Why does the world persecute the elect of the Lord? We all know it is all the Lord causing all things to happen, and we have all in times past been partakers of the same mindset. That mindset is:
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
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.
Conclusion – Saviors Shall Arise
How are we in the world, but not of the world? How do we live in and deal with the world all around us? It can be VERY trying most the time. The fiery trials can get so heavy that we will feel like we cannot continue, and indeed we cannot in and of ourselves, but we are called to suffer so that we can say we know what it is to have gone through it. We will be able to show mercy to others because we know what it is to go through these things and will be able to be saviors to them. Our judgment will be just because it will be the same judgment that we were judged with.
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.
Neh 9:27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
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.
It is because of the world that we live in, the world whose unbelief is used of God to show us mercy, that we will be able to do it all. We walk, in this world, according to the spirit and not according to the flesh.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Indeed there is no compromise because the gulf cannot be crossed. As we have seen tonight the world, its carnal mind and its friendship, which we have all in times past walked after, is the enemy of God. We must be obedient in order to glorify God.
1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Other related posts
- You Shall Be Hated Of All Men Part 1 (January 11, 2009)
- Will This Age Ever End? (June 11, 2007)
- What Happens To A Person That Is Born Again? (October 5, 2005)
- What Became Of His Physical Body? (September 30, 2008)
- Unto You Is Born A Savior (December 17, 2008)
- Tired of What God is Putting Me Through (January 27, 2012)
- Thief On The Cross And The First Resurrection (October 30, 2008)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 7:18-34 Truth is Perished (April 24, 2021)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 5:14-31 I Will Make My Words in Your Mouth Fire (March 20, 2021)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 4:10-20 Your Way and Your Doings Have Procured These Things Unto Thee (February 27, 2021)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 4:1-9 Break up Your Fallow Ground, and Sow Not Among Thorns (February 20, 2021)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 30:13-24 Thy Sorrow is Incurable for the Multitude of Thine Iniquity (February 4, 2022)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 14:1-12 I Will Consume Them by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence (July 24, 2021)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 6:1-6 "Where There is no Vision, the People Perish: but he that Keepeth the Law, Happy is He" Part 1 (September 17, 2020)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 3:7-19 "Today if You Will Hear His Voice, Harden not Your Hearts" - Part 2 (July 2, 2020)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 11:17-21 "Through Faith we Understand that the Worlds were Framed by the Word of God" - Part 5 (March 11, 2021)
- Study of the Book of Kings - 2Ki 19:1-18 Save us out of his hand that all may know that you are God alone (March 2, 2023)
- Studies in Psalms - Psa 81:1-7 "Proved At The Waters of Meribah" - Part 1 (February 24, 2017)
- Studies in Psalms - Psa 147:7-11, Part 1 ("Great is Thy Faithfulness" - Lam 3:23) (March 19, 2020)
- Studies in Psalms - Psa 141:1-3 "O GOD the Lord: in Thee is my Trust; Leave not my Soul Destitute: - Part 1 (January 4, 2020)
- Studies In Psalms - Isa 96:5-13 "Show Forth His Salvation From Day To Day" Part 2 (November 9, 2017)
- Revelation 7:1-3 – Part 5, What Hurts the Earth, Sea, and Trees? (June 1, 2024)
- Revelation 1:10 - Part 1 (August 15, 2008)
- Purpose of This Lake of Fire of the Elect? (September 25, 2013)
- Psalms 78:39-54 "For He Established A Testimony In Jacob" (October 20, 2016)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 7, Isa 1:21-26 (July 16, 2016)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 9:1-4 They That Dwell in The Land of The Shadow of Death... (April 1, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 8:11-15 He Shall Be For A Rock of Offense... (March 18, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 6:4-7 What is The Function of These Seraphims? (December 10, 2016)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 54:9-17 Every Tongue That Shall Rise Against Thee in Judgment Thou Shalt Condemn (February 22, 2020)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 30:26-33 - The Lord's Voice is Heard With The Flame of a Devouring Fire (October 20, 2018)
- Job 21:1-17- "God Distributes Sorrow In His Anger" (July 16, 2012)
- Job 16:12-22 - "He... Doth Not Spare" (May 20, 2012)
- Job 13:15-28 "Make Me to Know My Transgression and My Sin" (April 8, 2012)
- Gratitude For Our Fiery Trials (April 8, 2012)
- Gospels in Harmony - Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time (February 2, 2021)
- Ezekiel 30:1–26 A Lament For Egypt (September 2, 2024)
- Do People Have to Die Twice? (September 26, 2022)
- Do All Go Through the Lake of Fire? (November 18, 2018)
- Daniel - Dan 3:1-30 They Serve not thy Gods nor Worship the Golden Image (November 22, 2021)
- Dan 12:1-13 O Daniel, shut up the words... (June 13, 2024)
- Concerning Thumos Versus Orge Wrath - Are We Children of Wrath? (August 30, 2016)
- Awesome Hands - part 08: "Thou hast magnified Thy mercy" (June 30, 2012)
- Awesome Hands - Part 139: "The Iron Furnace" (August 12, 2018)
- Awesome Hands - Part 131: "Fiery Serpent" (March 30, 2018)