Divine Sugar Sticks for November 2000

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Wednesday, November 30, 2000

Lovers of Pleasure More Than Lovers of God!

2 Tim 3:4, “Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” Sounds like the 6 o’clock news.

1. Capacity to love God is based on knowledge of the Word of God.
   
2. Therefore, knowledge of the Word of God keeps down calluses from forming on the soul and edifies and builds maturity.
   
3. However, when the believer is negative to the Word of God, he has no capacity to love. Good principle when it comes to marriage! Persistent negative volition to the Word of God results in a seared conscience.
   
4. Therefore, he has a frantic search for happiness. Ecclesiastes.
   
5. In the pursuit of happiness, more calluses are formed on the soul. Therefore, more frustration and more unhappiness.
   Best illustration: Solomon’s pursuit for happiness apart from the Lord.
   ”Vanity, vanity all is vanity, and vexation of spirit” and you end up with 1,000 concubines and an ecumenical movement in your own castle. No domestic tranquility.
   
6. Therefore, the believer becomes a slave to the details of life and is “a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God.”
   
   ”Love” here is the word “PHILEO,” a rapport love for pleasure more than a rapport love for God. Not AGAPE – mental only but total sold out.
   

   

Categories of Love

AGAPE love is a mental attitude love. PHILEO is a rapport-type of love.

When the believer is filled with the Spirit, the love produced is Divine love. When the believer is not filled with the Spirit, the love produced is human love.

Categories of Divine love: AGAPE and PHILEO

Love of God the Father for the Son – AGAPE and PHILEO

Love of God for the human race – AGAPE – John 3:16

Love of God for the believer – AGAPE – 1 John 4:19. And it can be PHILEO if the believer has Bible Doctrine.

Love of believer for God – positional love – AGAPE – Rom 8:28

Love of the believer filled with the Spirit and Doctrine in the human spirit exhaled toward another believer is PHILEO.

Mental attitude love, AGAPE, produced by the believer filled with the Spirit is minus mental attitude sins – hatred, envy, jealousy, implacability, unappeasing anger, bitterness, and sour grapes.

Divine love is from the source of God. The first thing that AGAPE love does is to go back to God, because the believer is a responder. There it is given a stability and power. Then when it goes back to the human race, it has an impact.

Reason: This love is from God. You take the attitude of God toward the other believer, which is “beloved.” God loves all believers.

When you are filled with the Spirit plus Doctrine, thus producing AGAPE love, you have impact for Christ.

“We love because He first loved us.”

Unbelievers love darkness – AGAPE love. Not Divine, but mental.

Meditation

“Meditate in the Word of God, neither turning to the right or to the left,” Joshua chapter one.

Meditation is the main method of the intake of the Word of God. This enables you to carry the Word with you, your mind being saturated with the Word of God. Not only is the whole counsel of God a life-time work, but the fruit of this method is to be thought on constantly.

Isa 26:3, “I will keep him in peace peace whose mind is stayed on Me because he trusteth in Me.”

Much time is lost by not thinking the Divine Viewpoint of the Bible. Constantly saturate your mind with chapter title and content, categories, or Scriptural passages. Instead of only memorizing, think through the Word in different ways. Study, study, study, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Get to the point of having residual Doctrine so that the Word of God is at your finger tips.

Do you ever have to review 1 John 1:9 or Eph 2:8-9? Probably not. Well, get the entire content of the Word that well in hand. The Word of God is living and powerful, Heb 4:12

The answer to an effective outreach is inner stability. It is not programs, activities, human hustle, or parties. It is sowing the Word of God around the area of maximum penetration and positive volition.

Accessibility in Session

1. There was no human in Heaven before the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:13
   
2. The issue:
   Would the humanity of Jesus Christ be acceptable to God the Father? Well, it was. Heb 1:13, 12:1-2. Also Heb 1:3.
   Heb 1:3, “Who,” the Lord Jesus Christ, “being the brightness,” the shining forth of His glory, essence, and the express, exact, image of His Person. “And upholding all things by the Word of His power when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand,” place of honor, “of the majesty,” God the Father, “on high.”
   
3. His acceptability indicated:
   A. Completion of Christ’s work of salvation, Heb 10:11-12, “But this man” –reference to Jesus Christ in humanity.
   B. That the Person of God the Son satisfied the righteousness of God the Father, Rom 3:23. Perfect righteousness demanded perfect righteousness.
   C. That the work of God the Son satisfied the justice of the Father. Justice demands a penalty for sin. Rom 6:23.
   
4. The acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as a man meant the acceptance of His sacrifice.
   The acceptance of His sacrifice meant the acceptance of all those who seek entrance to the presence of the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
   

Christ in Session – Part Two

1. Through His redemptive work, His ascension, and session, He accomplished bringing many sons into glory. Heb 2:9-10
   
2. Because the God-man is accepted, every believer also is accepted by the Father. Eph 1:6, “Accepted in the Beloved.”
   
3. Because the God-man is seated, every believer is seated positionally at the right hand of the Father. Eph 2:6, “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
   
4. The humanity of Jesus Christ is glorified above all angels. Heb 1:13
   
5. Every believer positionally is higher than the angels, so each believer has a guardian angel. Heb 1:14
   
6. Because of this position, believers will judge angels by bumping the operative angels, fallen, at the Second Advent, which is a one-on-one principle in the angelic conflict.
   

What Will You Do With the Person of Jesus Christ?

Isa 42:3, “A bruised Reed” – a reed being crushed. Reference to Jesus Christ bearing our sins.

”Shall He not break” – reference to His resurrection, and He did not break under this tremendous pressure.

”The smoking flax” – literally, faintly burning wick in the Hebrew.

”Shall He not quench” – while He bore our sins, He was a faintly burning wick. He died spiritually, but He did not die physically then.

”Bringing forth judgment” – He shall cause judgment to be presented.

”Unto Truth” – standard of Truth. This is making the issue clear. Your sins do not stand between you and God. They were judged on the Cross.

Issue: What will do you with the Person of Christ? He is the issue – not sin.

How God Prepared for You to Have a Merry Christmas!!

God’s great plan of redemption was set into operation when Adam sinned. Throughout the Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the coming of a Saviour, as revealed through the sacrifices, feasts, and holy days.

Extensive preparation was made so that there would be no doubt as to Who it was.

The first promise of salvation with emphasis on the virgin birth is given in Gen 3:15.

1. God prepared a nation, Israel. Gen 12:1-3
   
2. God prepared a kingdom. The new nation became very large. God choose a king for the nation, David. 2 Sam 7:16. He told David his kingdom would last forever and that his Son would reign forever.
   
3. God prepared a city. David was born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 tells us where the Saviour would be born.
   
4. God prepares a mother.  Isa 7:14 with Luke 1:35. Mary was the mother of the humanity of Christ. Not the mother of God.
   
5. God prepared a body. Heb 10:5
   A. Mary is told – Luke 1:35
   B. Mary is reminded – Luke 1:37
   C. Mary’s response – Luke 1:38
   
6. God also provided a man to take care of His Son while He was growing up,  Joseph. Matt 1:18-25
   
7. God prepared a name, Immanuel. Isa 7:14, literally, God with us. The God-man.
   
8. God provided a birthplace. Mary lived in Nazareth and they journeyed to Bethlehem. Luke 2
   
9. God prepared a stable for the Lamb. Rev 13:8, Luke 2:7

So .. Merry Christmas!

”When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, made  under the law,” Gal 4:4.

Christ Magnified His Word Above His Name!

Psa 138:2, “I will worship toward Thy holy temple and praise Thy Name, for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy Truth, for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name.”

This magnifying of His Word is due to the following:
On the Cross – God the Father forsook the Son while He was bearing our sins. Psa 22:1, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” God the Father. God the Holy Spirit could not sustain Him at that time. Psa 22:1 “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” God the Holy Spirit.

Consequently the Word of God had to sustain Him.
This magnifies the Word of God because it sustained Him for three hours.

The believer today has the sustaining ministry of God the Holy Spirit, and the indwelling of Jesus Christ and the Word also with the Father backing up the plan.

Utilize your Divine operating assets found in the Word of God.

Impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Deity of Jesus Christ was always impeccable – sinless. The humanity of Jesus Christ is also impeccable, 1 John 3:5, 2 Cor 5:21.

As humanity:
He walked as a man.
He was sustained by God the Holy Spirit.
He was perfect righteousness in His humanity.
He fulfilled the Mosaic Law.
He revealed the essence of God to the human race.

Humanity revealed Deity – John 1:14

Romans 1:3 – “Made According to the Flesh”

Means made according to the norm and standard of the flesh. “According to” is the Greek preposition KATA, which means norm or standard.

Christ was bona fide humanity. He was born trichotomous, which is body, soul, and spirit. The human race, all of it, is born spiritually dead. This includes Mary and the Pope, etc. They are born dicotomous because they have no human spirit, only body and soul. Eph 2:1, 5. They have no ability to have fellowship with God.

Since God is a Spirit, and we must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, it was necessary for Jesus Christ to have a human spirit to understand what the will of God is in His humanity. ”The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit.”

Christ did not have a human father, so He did not have an old sin nature.

The virgin birth fulfills the Davidic covenant, 2 Sam 7, Psalm 89, 2 Chr 21. Mary is in the line of David. God promises unconditionally to David that he will have a Son who will reign forever – an anticipation of the fulfillment at the Second Advent.

There are two genealogies of the humanity of Jesus Christ:
The legal line through Joseph.
The birth line through Mary – Royal line. Both came from David.

Without the virgin birth there is no salvation.

Christ’s Virgin Birth From the Standpoint of Humanity and From the Standpoint of Deity

The virgin birth was planned in eternity past – Psa 2:7
The virgin birth was prophesied – Isa 7:14

God made preparation for the virgin birth.

Attacks were made on the humanity of Jesus Christ by Satan.

Heb 10:1-22 is Christ’s birth, humanity, from the standpoint of Deity. ”When He cometh into the world, He saith,” Heb 10:5.

Luke 1 is Christ’s birth from the standpoint of humanity. “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and you shall conceive and bear a Child and call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Jesus Christ’s humanity came from God, the virgin birth, and went back to God in resurrection and ascension.

How God the Father Sustained His Son on the Cross

The first three hours on the Cross:

Jesus Christ was sustained by God the Holy Spirit, John 3:34, “For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.”

Jesus Christ was sustained by God the Father. Isa 50:7, “For the Lord God will help Me.”

The last three hours on the Cross:

By the Word of God. Isa 42:3, Psa 138:2, Isa 50:4-8

Verse 5, God the Son in His humanity learned the Word from God the Father.
Verse 6, Jesus Christ’s positive volition was tested before the Cross.
Verse 7, “Lord God, God the Father. He will help Me.”

God the Father helped Jesus Christ to stay alive during the first three hours, so He was able to bear up under the maximum pressure without giving away.

We are the sons of God and the same promise is true for us.

”The Lord God, He will help me.”

A Unique Look at Christmas – 2000 A.D.

The uniqueness of Christmas is set forth for us in Isa 9:6.

”Child is born” – humanity
”Son is given” – Deity

He is two natures inseparably united, yet no mixture, no loss of the separate identities. Unique.

Divine Nature

Undiminished Deity, perfect in every way, and eternal God. He retained all the characteristics of God when He became humanity. Rom 1:14, “declared” there means to be marked out.

Human Nature

True humanity. Genuine. Real. Yet He was without sin, no imputed, inherent, or personal sin.

Both God and man in one Person forever.

No less God because of His humanity.
No less man because of His Deity.

Different from God in that He is man.
Different from man that He is God.

The uniqueness of the Person of Christ leads to the uniqueness of the work of Christ.

His crucifixion was unique among crucifixions, because the purpose was bearing the sins of the world, not just physical death.

His physical death was unique. He died voluntarily. Luke 23:46

His resurrection was unique. He was the first Person to come back with a body of  incorruption. 1 Cor 15:23, “First fruits.”

Resurrection – Never dies again.
Resuscitation – Dies again, like Lazarus.

Jesus Christ, the unique Person can cleanse. God the Father forgave, but did not cleanse.  God the Holy Spirit can promise Divine Good in the believer, but He cannot cleanse.

Merry Christmas y’all!

Tuesday, November 29, 2000

The Trinity Involved in the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ

A. God the Son came to minister.
    1. Took the form of a Servant – Phil 2:7
    2. Came to serve – Luke 22:27
    3. Came to minister – Matt 20:28
    4. Summary of Christ’s work – John 21:25

B. God the Holy Spirit sustained the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:34

C. God the Father approved of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    1. At His baptism – Matt 3:17
    2. By miracles and wonders and signs – Acts 2:22
    3. At His ascension  – Heb 1:13, “Sit down, Son.”

Jesus Christ Had Been Appointed, Set Apart, to do Six Things – Luke 4

1. To preach the Gospel to the poor – to those who need salvation.
   

2. To heal the broken hearted – the Gospels are full of the wonderful miracles of healing which our Lord performed, but greater still is the peace and comfort which the Lord gives to believers in times of suffering (“broken hearted”) minds, not bones.
   Psa 34:18, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”
   

3. To preach deliverance to the captives, prisoners. He ministered on Earth so that we might be set free from the powers of darkness – Satan and the fallen angels. Col 1:13
   

4. “Recovering sight for the blind” – spiritually blinded. He healed the physically blind, but He came to heal the spiritually blinded, John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
   

5. “To set at liberty them that are bruised.” How? Isa 53:5, “He was bruised (spiritual death) for our iniquities,” so that we might go free and without blame. He paid the penalty. Col 2:14
   

6. “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” – the year of the acceptance of the Lord, saying “I am the long-promised Redeemer.”
   

Miracles After the Death of Christ! You Won’t See These on TV

1. The first miracle.
   Matt 27:51, “Behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”
   A. The veil in the temple was between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
   B. The renting of the veil indicates the removal of the barrier between man and God, when the death, both spiritually and physically, of the Lord took place.
   C. God Himself split the veil, which represented the body, humanity, of Jesus Christ, Heb 10:19-20, which was bruised for us to provide access to God.
   
2. Second miracle – Matt 27:51, “And the Earth (Palestine) did shake, and the rocks rent.”
   This was so great an earthquake that the rocks were literally split in two.
   
3. The third miracle – Matt 27:52-54
   ”And the graves were opened and many (not all) bodies of the saints which slept (Christian death) arose and came out of the graves after (associated with) His resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many.”
   
   They are being resuscitated for several reasons – The tremendous power of God exercised in the resurrection brought them out of the lower part of the Earth. Believers. This bringing back someone from the dead was a crash program for witnessing. This was necessary because all the disciples with the exception of John were in hiding.

Results of these miracles.

Salvation: Example – the salvation of the centurion and those with him.

Matt 27:54 – Miracles are designed to focus attention on the Word of God.

Why God the Son Had to Take on Flesh to Die For Our Sins!!

It was necessary for one member of the Godhead to become humanity. The Father as God didn’t take on flesh. The Holy Spirit as God didn’t take on flesh. But God the Son took on flesh. Why??

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to become man to be qualified to be our Saviour. Only a human being who lives a perfect life would be qualified to pay the penalty for sin, which is spiritual death.

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to become humanity in order to die physically so that He could have a resurrection body, so that believers could have a resurrection body.

It was necessary for God to become man in order to act as a Mediator between God and man. A Mediator must be equal with both parties. 1 Tim 2:5

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to become man in order to be our High Priest. Hebrews chapters seven through nine.

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to become man in order to fulfill the Davidic Covenant, which says that David will have a Son who will reign forever. 2 Sam 7, Psalm 89, 2 Chr 21.

”Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Child, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel” – God with us ...

There Were Two Reasons Why They Were Startled at Christ – Luke 4:20

He had been reading from Isaiah 61:1-2. And he quit right in the middle of verse 2, because the rest of the passage does not speak of His earthly ministry, but of His Second Advent.

He sat down. Whoever heard of anyone sitting down while ministering the Word of God? Even the high priests who went into the Holy of Holies must stand in the presence of God. Heb 10:11. Christ dared to sit. And nothing happened to Him.

Their amazement soon changed to anger, for as the Lord told them how few would believe, they chased Him out of the city and attempted to throw Him over the edge and kill Him.

How We Came Into This World and How Christ Came Into This World

The human race comes into the world under:

1. Imputed sin – Spiritual death
2. Inherent sin – The old sin nature
3. Personal sins – In the slave market of sin.

Jesus Christ comes into the world under:

1. No imputed sin – 2 Cor 5:21
2. No inherent sin – 2 Cor 5:21
3. No personal sin. All personal sin comes from the old sin nature.

Jesus Christ is qualified because through the virgin birth He came into the world as a free man.

1. The sin of Adam was not imputed to Him.
2. He did not inherit an old sin nature.
3. He had not committed any personal sin.

He was qualified to and did:

1. Die with reference to the old sin nature condemning it.
2. Bare the sins of the old sin nature.
3. Rejected human good from the old sin nature.

He died spiritually that we might have spiritual life, 1 John 5:11-12
He died physically so that we might have a resurrection body. Rom 4:25 – the word “for” means “because of.”

This cannot be said of Buddha or any other so-called religious leader.

Tuesday, November 28, 2000

The Advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the believer’s Defense Attorney at all times. He defends the believer against Satan’s attacks, whether or not the believer has confessed his sins. The basis for this is unlimited atonement. He bore the sins, pre- and post-salvation, sins of the whole world. 1 Pet 2:24, 2 Cor 5:21, Rev 1:5, Col 2:14

The Father judged all the sins when Christ was bearing them. Psa 22:1-6, 1 Pet 3:18. Since a person’s sins were judged once at the Cross, they cannot be judged again. Rom 6:10 – the law of double jeopardy. Therefore, since you can only be judged once for a sin, Satan’s accusations are thrown out of court. Jesus Christ was judged in your place for your sins.

Jesus Christ is our Defense Attorney, seated at the right hand of the Father, and He defends us. 1 John 2:1. The believer’s sin then becomes a family matter. The Father spanks. If the believer does not confess his sin, he is subject to the Father’s chastisement. Heb 12:6

The basis of his defense is 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Christ keeps on cleansing from all sin.”

Jesus Christ is representing us in Heaven. We are representing Him here on Earth. Jesus Christ has never lost a case and He never will. His defense is always the same – the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.

The Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Friends and His Enemies

The burial of the Lord Jesus Christ indicates that it was the humanity of Christ which bore our sins, which was the reason He had to become true humanity.

 His Tomb – Isa 53:9

”He made His grave with the wicked.” He died with gangsters on each side of Him. ”And with the rich in His deaths.”

The penalty for anyone indicted for blasphemy which Jesus Christ unjustly was – crucifixion (Roman style capital punishment, stoning was Jewish style capital punishment) and an obscure tomb.

Even though He was brought to the Cross under the indictment of blasphemy, His tomb had to be in a prominent place, because if His resurrection was going to be properly documented and verified, the tomb must be well known.

His Friends

Joseph of Aramethaea buried Christ’s body in His own tomb. Matt 27:57-61
Nicodemus helped Joseph. John 19:39-41
Believers grieved, Mark 16:10, and didn’t seem to remember that He had told them that He must die and be buried and rise again. Matt 17:22-23.
Peter didn’t even remember when he argued with Christ about this event. Matt 16:21-22

His Enemies

His enemies had taunted Him. Matt 12:38
He had shown them many signs, but they did not believe.
He knew that they would not believe, omniscience. But He gave them one more sign. Matt 12:39-40
His enemies worried, Matt 29:62-66, lest the tomb not be sealed securely and that the disciples would steal away His body so they set a seal and a watch upon it.

The Maturing of the Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ came into this world as an infant. Luke 2:12, Matt 1:25

Jesus Christ grew up as a normal child. Isa 53:2 –
”He” – the Lord Jesus Christ
”Shall grow up” – as a child, normal humanity
”As a tender plant” – a tender plant needs protection. He needed protection so that He could go to the Cross
”And as a root” – Jesus Christ
”Out of dry ground” – Israel under the fourth cycle of discipline
”Root out of dry ground” – is a technical term for Jesus Christ as the Founder of the Jewish race
”He hath no form” – didn’t come as a glamorous king
”Nor comeliness” – He didn’t fulfill their imagination as a king
”When we shall see Him” – First Advent
”There is no beauty” – no glamour
”That we should desire Him” – they had the wrong concept so they didn’t desire Him. He didn’t fit the kingly image they had.

Jesus Christ was hungry – Matt 4:2, 21:18
Jesus Christ was thirsty – John 4:7, 19:28
Jesus Christ got tired – John 4:6
Jesus Christ slept – Matt 8:24, Mark 4:38

When Jesus Christ spoke, He spoke from one of three sources:
Deity – “A body hast Thou prepared Me,” Heb 10:5
Humanity – “I thirst,” John 19:28
Hypostatic union – “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” John 14:6

As a youth, about 12 years old, He went to the temple. Luke 2:42-52
He began His public ministry about the age of 30. Luke 3:23
As a child, He grew in Grace and in wisdom with God and man.

There are not many celebrities compared with the population of the Earth. There are some famous and infamous athletes, super stars, and entertainers that are always in the limelight that most people would like to be or at least imitate. But, the average person in this world will never gain to the world’s estimate of what is a super star or what is famous or important in our society.

But, because of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ died for every member of the human race. He made it possible for any and every member of the human race to be able to be beheld with the highest esteem.

Think ... When any person, no matter how young or old, or any other position or station in life, gives the Gospel personally to another individual, that person has reached the epitome of stature.

When you present the Gospel to anyone, and even if they do not receive Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, for one moment you have brought them face-to-face with the Greatest Relationship and Person in the whole universe.

When they do accept Him, you have been able to not only to be a celebrity yourself in God’s plan, but also identify them with the Celebrity of all celebrities, the only  V.I.P.,  the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do the work of an evangelist.

Monday, November 27, 2000

Is There Not Something Unique, Divine, in the Order in Which the Books of the Bible Occur?

At least we can see the order of experience in the spiritual life in the sequence of the occurrences.

First there is the Genesis of the new birth.
The Holy Spirit moving upon the chaos and darkness of our death and sin and implanting the life of His own nature and causing light to come and fruitfulness to be manifest.

Then there is the Exodus or redemption.
The protection of the atoning blood from the deserved judgment, the deliverance from the god of this world, and separation from the world’s doom and doings. And the Red Sea of Christ’s death, overcoming our enemies and cutting us off from the association of the evil of the Egypt of worldliness.

Then there is the Leviticus worship on the ground of atonement.
The blood of Christ’s atonement is the ground of our blessing and the God-given right of our fellowship with the Lord. He can speak to us from the blood-sprinkled mercy seat because of the voice of Christ’s completed work on the Cross.

Then there is the Numbers of the pilgrim life.
The cloud of His presence and the fire of the Lord’s holiness are the shadow of His protecting love and the separating Grace of His holy power. Armed by His armory and shod by His Grace, we walk amid the world of hostile influences unscathed and content.

Then there is the Deuteronomy of His instruction.
Being dull of hearing and slow in learning, the Lord has to call us into the school of His Grace that we may sit at His feet and hear His words. Uncircumcised ears have to be circumcised and dull senses have to be sharpened that we may learn to be wise and walk in His ways.

Part Two: The Divine Arrangement of the Books of the Bible

Then there is the Joshua of the fullness of the blessing of the promised land of abundance.
Which proclaims the fact that God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then there is the Judges of conflict and also the equipment of the Spirit of the Lord.
Who overcomes the enemies and who opposes and gives us the victory based on His power.

Then here is the Ruth of Boaz’s rest and redemption.
Which is found in the Kinsman Redeemer to our soul’s ease and enjoyment.

Then there are the Kings of Christly rule.
And we find ourselves in the place of blessing and prowess by fellowship with David’s Greater Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Wonder if Any One Has Ever Discovered the Uniqueness of the Book of Leviticus?? Leviticus – Where is That?

“Speaking Silence”

The offerings are mainly dealt with and the laws which regulate them in the Book of Leviticus. One magnificent omission impresses one, and that is, there is no mention of God the Holy Spirit in the whole of the Book.

We can quite understand “this speaking silence.” It is the business of the Holy Spirit to speak of Christ and to glorify Him. And as He does this, He hides Himself. “When the Holy Spirit is come, He will not speak of Himself.”

We should not only imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, but also God the Holy Spirit in this principle. ”I decrease, He must increase.”

 Another Unique Feature of the Book of Leviticus

Is to note the “Forerunner,” “the Afterrunner” and “the pivot point.”

The Forerunner is the Passover of God’s delivering Grace in the Book of Exodus.
Christ our Passover delivering us from the condemnation and control of sin, must be known before we can appreciate the many sidedness of Christ’s death in the offerings.

Then there is the Aftercomer of the offerings in the ordinance of the red heifer in the Book of Numbers chapter 19.
We ever need the cleansing of the blood of Christ as we are traversing this wilderness journey. For we are unconsciously contacting defilement, even as we walk in the light and have fellowship with the Father and the Son. We need the cleansing of the blood to keep us fit for that Holy Place of fellowship. 1 John 1:7

Then there is the pivot point of the work of the great Day of Atonement.
On that Day of Atonement, it was not only made for Aaron and his house and Israel, but also for the Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the Altar – Lev 16:15-18 – Indicating to us in its typical application that Christ’s atonement avails for the house of the Church, the nation of Israel, the Holy Place of the Heavens, the tabernacle of the old Earth, and also the altar of heavenly worship and service.

The turning point which will cause all things to harmonize and act in perfect harmony is the atonement of Christ.

”YOM CHIPPOUR” – YOM KIPPUR

The Uniqueness in the Order of the Offerings

First the burnt offering.
Then the meat offering.
Then the peace offering.
Then the sin offering.
Then the trespass offering.
Then the drink offering.

The burnt offering – Of Christ’s work to God in Him glorifying Him comes first because He first must be glorified.
Then the meat offering – Of Christ’s spotless humanity.
Then the peace offering – Of Christ’s reconciling ransom upon the ground of which He keeps us in the place of fellowship with God.
Then the sin offering – Of His being judged for our sins in His death on the Cross.
Then the trespass offering – Of His bearing our sins in His own body on the tree.
Then the drink offering – Of the wine of God’s own joy in all that Christ did and in all that it brings to us.

There are seven things in connection with each of these six offerings in Leviticus and Numbers. Namely,

The Lord and the offering.
The offering, the offerer.
The priest and the offering.
The reason for the offering.
The blessing of the offering.
The practical teaching of the offering.

And Christ is seen in each point.

God’s thought about Christ and His directions come first.
Then Christ is the Offering and the Offerer.
Then Christ’s official office is seen in relation to the offering.
Then the reason for the offering is to make an atonement.
The blessings of the offering are various.
And the practical outcome is what Christ can be in us in the practicality of His love and Grace.

Who is interested today in an in-depth study of the monotonous Book of Leviticus.

What is Spirituality??

Lawlessness means to be outside of the law of the Spirit of life. Rom 8:2-4 – The law of spirituality.

Verse 2, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” – the law of spirituality.
Verse 3, “The law” – Mosaic Law
Verse 3, “Flesh” – the old sin nature
Verse 3, “For sin” – for a sin offering
Verse 3, “Condemned sin” – old sin nature
Verse 4, “Righteousness of the law” – of the Mosaic Law
Verse 4, “Might be fulfilled ... Spirit” – through the filling of the Holy Spirit

1. The believer out of fellowship removes himself from the law of spirituality.
   
2. 1 John 3:4 is dealing with the law of spirituality, not the Mosaic Law.
   
3. Sin is not defined here as the transgression of the Mosaic Law, 1 John 3:4, because sin was in the world before the Mosaic Law. Romans 5:13-14
   
4. The carnal believer is operating outside of the law of spirituality, therefore, the carnal believer is described as lawless.
   
5. The believer under the control of the old sin nature does lawlessness, which is the same as walking in darkness. 1 John 1:6, 2:11
   
6. Therefore, the carnal believer walking in darkness can only imitate the unbeliever. 1 Cor 3:3. At this time it is impossible to imitate God as it is commanded in Eph 5:1. You are either imitating the unbeliever or Christ.
   
7. The believer who sins after salvation gets out of fellowship through his own volition, which sin put him outside of the Divine plan.
   
8. The believer who denies the operation of the old sin nature, or his personal sin after salvation, or denies 1 John 1:9, is braced for his ignorance. 1 John 1:8. Darkness: emphasizes ignorance – being minus the Light of the Word.
   
9. Spirituality, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and carnality are mutually exclusive just as darkness and light.
   
10. Any sin in the Christian life results in lawlessness and excludes the Holy Spirit, who is being grieved or quenched.
    

Four Laws Operating in the Christian Life

There is a tremendous realm of activities in life that cannot be classified as good or bad, according to the Word.

Corinth was a good-time city. There were many heathen temples with bars and a bank, a prostitution center, and also the best cafe in town. However, meat served in the cafe and market had been offered to idols in the heathen temple.

The four laws for discernment of doubtful things.

1. The law of liberty toward self, 1 Cor 8:1-6
   The liberty to walk in the Spirit, free from the bondage of sin. Also, the liberty to curtail your liberty or to enjoy it.
   In Corinth the debate centered around the meat offered to idols. The Corinthian believers had liberty to eat this meat, for they knew that the idol was nothing.
   
2. The law of love toward believers, 1 Cor 8:7-13
   Because of my love for my Saviour and fellow believers, there are certain things that I will refrain from doing.
   We are to be aware that our liberty does not become a stumbling block to a weaker believer. The weaker believer often saw the other believer in the cafe where the meat was served.
   Through the use of the law of liberty, the weak believer may get out of temporal fellowship. Actually, you sin against Christ when you cause a fellow believer to get out of fellowship.

The law of love is a higher law than the law of liberty.

The Law of Expediency Toward the Unbeliever – 1 Cor 10:23-33

Because of my witness for Jesus Christ to the unbeliever, there are some things I do not do in order to have a testimony with certain unbelievers.

If a Corinthian believer was invited to an unbeliever’s home, he was not to make an issue out of meat, but to make Jesus Christ the issue. If the unbeliever made an issue out of the meat, he was to refuse it. The law of supreme sacrifice, 1 Cor 9:1-18.

There are times when certain believers should refrain from doing some very normal and very legitimate things for the maximum effectiveness in the Lord’s service.

P.S. Santa is a “works man,” He says you have to be good to get anything.

Christ says you are no good and you get everything. Don’t you just love Grace?

Works Systems in Regard to Spirituality – the Christian Way of Life

Tarry and fast and wait upon the Lord.
Crucify self, but self never cancels out self.
Agonize in prayer, praying through.
Tabooism and asceticism.
Extra-Biblical revelations.
Ecstatic experiences are correlated with spirituality and it is based on how you feel. How you feel has nothing to do with spirituality.

You can be suffering from cancer and be in pain and still be filled with the Spirit. Spirituality is based on the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Eph 5:18, “Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” The fruit of the Spirit is found in Gal 5:22-23 – “love, joy, peace, etc., against such there is no law.”

“Not of works” is the message in both salvation and spirituality. For by Grace you are saved and by Grace you grow.

You can’t get anything from Santa unless you are good. But you get everything from Jesus Christ when you are not good.

If you notice Santa’s bag this Christmas, it has “works” stamped on it.

The Importance of What the Bible Says, Especially Today About Legislation!

Dan 6:10-13, “And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed (legislation).” “Hast thou signed a decree (law)? Daniel regarded not thee, O King, nor the decree.”

1. All legislation of a nation under Divine Institution number four nationalism is pertinent to the protection of the people of that nation.
   Laws are designed to protect, not to enslave people.
   
   Legislation that proceeds out of the government actually protects the other three Divine Institutions – free will, marriage, and family.
   All socialism and socialistic legislation is an attack against freedom.
   
2. Legislation cannot make people equal. People are not born equal ever.
       A. Legislation cannot remove poverty.
       B. Legislation cannot stop wars.
       C. Legislation cannot bring world peace.
       D. Legislation has never solved the evils of the world.
       E. Legislation is not a substitute for the Gospel or the Christian way of life.
       F. Legislation is designated to protect people in a nation.

We have been so bitten by the mad dog of socialism so that legislation today is trying to make all people equal, or give them equal opportunity. You can’t legislate equal opportunity for either minority or majority races.

Salvation and the Christian way of life are the only equalizers and those equalizers are bona fide.

Legislation is designated by God to protect the rights, the privacy, the property, and the free will of individuals within a national entity. Legislation should be designated to allow freedom of choice in matters of religion, social or business activity.

The federal government does not have the right to tell me I cannot believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, nor does it have the right to keep me from worshipping in the Church of my choice. The government does not have the right to penalize me if I am an atheist.

The government does not have the right to dictate to me who I hire or fire in my business. The federal government does not have the right to pick my friends and associations.

These are matters of personal choice and personal freedom.

Legalism in Salvation

Legalism is any merit system that operates by works, by which man tries to please God. It is the antithesis of Grace. It is the attempt of man to assist God. An attempt to glorify God apart from Divine power.

Different systems of legalism – which say believe plus something.

Believe and repent to be saved.
Believe and confess to be saved.
Believe and fully surrender to be saved.
Believe and walk an aisle to be saved.
Believe and shed great tears of repentance to be saved, at the altar.
Believe and give up your bad habits to be saved.
Believe and be circumcised to be saved.
Believe and join our church to be saved.
Believe and keep the Mosaic Law to be saved.
Believe and be sincere to be saved.
Believe and be baptized to be saved.

No, it is only believe!

”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

Santa is for works. He says you have to be good to get anything. Christ says there is none good and yet you get everything.

Legislation – The Law of the Medes-Persians Forbids Daniel to Pray

Dan 6:7. Are we there now?

But God’s law commands Daniel to pray. 1 Kings 8. Therefore, Daniel did the right and patriotic thing by praying.

Daniel is actually operating under a higher law, and actually is doing more for the Persian Empire by praying.

It is God who sustains the Persian Empire. Isa 45.  Thus by violating this ludicrous  legislation, Daniel is faithful to the heritage of the regeneration.

Born again believers in fellowship are the salt of the Earth.

Sunday, November 26, 2000

Sunday School Class!

There are seven great facts about the acts of God relative to Christ’s death in each of which we find mentioned in the book of Romans.

1. The first that God hath set Jesus Christ forth to be the propitiation for our sins, Rom 3:25
   
2. God’s love is commended to us because Christ has died for us, Rom 5:8
   
3. God sent His Son in likeness of sinful flesh, Rom 8:3
   
4. God condemns sin in the Person of the Son on the Cross, Rom 8:3
   
5. God did not spare His Son when dealing with sin, Rom 8:32
   
6. God delivered Christ up for us when He gave Him over to death, Rom 8:32
   
7. The death and resurrection of Christ is God’s answer to every charge that might be brought against us, Rom 8:32, 34

Therefore, at the Cross God is seen at His best in giving His Son for the worst. And in all that Christ did, God was acting. Therefore, in that death, there is all the value of what He is in Himself.

God cannot die, but He who died for us is God.

In Case You Missed Sunday School or Church Service

Christ’s goal was His death. His star of destiny was His death on the Cross.

His death was no accident. On many occasions Christ in His teaching referred to His death on the Cross. If you read the Gospel of John with this thought in mind, it will be found that Christ directly and indirectly was indicating the nature and necessity of His death.

There loomed before Him the momentous hour when He would pass through the awfulness of suffering for human guilt, till the hour had come He could not die. But when it arrived, He gave Himself up to answer for sin, John 17:1

There is one special occasion when Christ indicated the nature of His death. In the tenth chapter of John, five times over we find He stated that the Good Shepherd would lay down, or give, His life for the sheep. John 10:11, John 10:15, John 10:17, John 10:18 (twice)

And it is in the Gospel of John that we read of Christ’s triumphant cry when He, in His sixth utterance on the cross, exclaimed, “It is finished.” But it is only one word in the Greek: Accomplished. Once and for all accomplished. TETELESTAI!

A New Look on an Old Word – Salvation!

The three-fold cord of salvation finds its fiber in the Cross. We are saved from condemnation by faith in Him who gave Himself for us. Hence, we are said to be saved from wrath through Christ. Rom 5:9

Believers are being saved from the control of sin as the vitality of the risen life of Christ pulsating within them and overcomes the law of sin and death. Therefore we read, “Much more being reconciled to God by the death of His Son, we shall be saved in His life,” Rom 5:10

And believers will be saved from the body of sin and death when Christ comes back again. Therefore we read, “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain the salvation by the means of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, that whether we which watch or sleep, we shall live together with Him,” 1 Thes 5:9-10

Rom 8:1, “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

Saturday, November 25, 2000

The Biblical Law of Typology!

When we say a certain thing is a type we should be perfectly clear of our ground. For a type is something which is used as a symbol by the Lord to foreshadow the thing or person stated.

What is a type?  It is essential to a type in the Scripture adaptation of that term that there should be correspondence between it and the antitype. Types may be divided under several divisions: persons, institutions, events, things, offices, places, actions.

Persons

 ”In Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive.”

Historical Events Which Depict Biblical Types

The flood of coming judgment – Matt 24:37-39
Creation’s light and the Gospel – 2 Cor 4:6
The Passover of Christ’s death – 1 Cor 5:7
The lifted serpent and Christ – Num 21:8, John 3:14
The manna and the bread of life – Ex 16:16, John 6:32
The supply of water from the rock and Christ – Ex 17:6, 1 Cor 10:4
The priest and the great day of atonement – Lev 16, Heb 2:17

Historical Events Which Depict Biblical Types

The flood of coming judgment – Matt 24:37-39, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Creation’s light and the Gospel – 2 Cor 4:6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The Passover of Christ’s death – 1 Cor 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:”

The lifted serpent and Christ – Num 21:8, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”

The manna and the bread of life – Ex 16:16, “This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.”
John 6:32, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven; but my Father giveth you the True Bread from Heaven.”

The supply of water from the rock and Christ – Ex 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
1 Cor 10:4, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

The priest and the great day of atonement – Lev 16, Heb 2:17, “Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

Things Which Represent Biblical Types

The anointing oil and the Spirit – Lev 7:35, “This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest's office;”
1 John 2:27, “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.”

The mercy seat and Christ – Ex 25:17-22, “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”
Rom 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

Jacob’s ladder and Christ – Gen 28:12, “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the Earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”
John 1:51, “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Laver of brass and God’s Word – Ex 30:18-20, “Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:”
Eph 5:26, “That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,”

Firstfruits and resurrection – Ex 22:29, “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me.”
1 Cor 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

Ark and salvation – Gen 7:16, “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.”
1 Pet 3:20-21, “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”

Golden candlestick and Christ – Ex 25:31, “And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Actions and Biblical Types

Killing of an animal and Christ’s death for sin – Lev 4:15, “And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.”
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;”

Living bird and blood of slain one on it – Lev 14:47, “And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes.”
Rom 4:25, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

Sprinkling of blood and cleansing – Lev 14:7, “And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.”
Heb 9:15, “And for this cause He is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

Laying hands on the sacrifice and identification – Lev 16:21, “And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:”
1 Tim 4:14, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”

Banishment of scapegoat and Christ taking away the sins – Lev 16:22, “And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”
Isa 53:6, 12, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” “Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Placing blood on members of the body and sanctification – Ex 29:20, “Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.”
1 Cor 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Placing blood on doorposts and faith – Ex 12:7, “And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.”
Heb 11:28, “Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.”

The animal lovers must have been in an uproar when lambs were sacrificed to be used as evangelism.

Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Language of Accommodation

Many terms in the Bible we find language of accommodation. In order to make the relationship of the Godhead understandable to the human race, God, ELOHIM, decided to be called God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The First Member of the Godhead is called “the Father,” because He makes the plan. Psa 102:25

He is called “Father” by the Lord Jesus Christ because God the Father is the Planner, and Jesus Christ the Son obeyed the plan of the Father in order to provide salvation.

He is called the Father because He provided for the Lord Jesus Christ in His ministry.

He is called Father by believers because the Father is their Planner and Provider – for salvation and for time, His Divine operating assets.

The Second Member of the Godhead is called “the Son,” because He, in the hypostatic union, became obedient unto death, and executed Stage One in the Plan of God, Phil 2:8, salvation.

Because He is an heir of God the Father, Heb 1:2

The Third Person of the Godhead is called God “the Holy Spirit,” because, while He is not visible to humanity, He reveals God to humanity.

To the unbeliever: conviction of unbelief.
To the believer: teaching and guidance.

Because He produces the unseen power, “holy,” set apart under the plan of God for a specialized operation in Stage Two of His plan, which is the Christian way of life.

Friday, November 24, 2000

God’s Justice – God is Fair!

Example: Judas

God is always fair and just.

The Justice of God. God is Fair!

In His justice, God gives everyone an opportunity to be saved. Even though in His foreknowledge He knew they would not accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

He didn’t use His foreknowledge to be unfair.

Example: Pharaoh!

”Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also,” Exodus 8:32. Pharaoh went negative towards the Gospel.

”And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel,” Ex 14:8, which means that God took the stops off of his negative volition.

God kept putting more and more information in the form of plagues and miracles in front of Pharaoh, and he kept going on negative signals.

The Holy Spirit has a restraining influence, ministry, insofar as negative volition is concerned in the world. 2 Thess 2:7 The reason the Tribulation is so horrible is that the Holy Spirit is removed with the believers prior to the Rapture.

Plagues were evangelism to Pharaoh, and others, i.e., Rahab. The “mixed multitude” that left Egypt included believers of other nationalities than Jewish, who were saved because of this evangelism, miracles.

Miracles are designed by the Lord to get attention focused on the Word of salvation.

Justice – God is fair.

The Fairness of God’s Justice

God is perfect in justice. 
Isa 45:21, “Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.”
Psa 89:14, “Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face.”

God is absolutely fair and impartial. 
2 Chr 19:7, “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”
Rom 3:26, “To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Rev 15:3, “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.”

God has the absolute right and authority over His creatures by virtue of creation. God has the perfect right to dispose of His works as it may please Him. Sovereignty.
Psa 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.”
Psa 135:6, “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in Heaven, and in Earth, in the seas, and all deep places.”

God gave good and righteous laws to man.
Gen 2:17 ... “Thou shalt not eat …”
John 14:6, “I am the way.”
Rom 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

The demands of God. God is a Judge. 
Psa 50:6b, “For God is judge Himself. Selah.”

As a Judge, He places a penalty on sin. Justice demands a penalty.
Rom 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” Spiritual death.

God demands that disobedience against His laws be punished.
Deut 18:18-19, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My Words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My Words which he shall speak in My Name, I will require it of him.”

The Work of Christ in Imputation!

Definition: The charging to the account of one something which properly belonged to another.

The Lord Jesus Christ shares His absolute righteousness with the believer.

Man’s minus righteousness meets God’s absolute righteousness at the Cross and God imputes man with His absolute righteousness. 
Rom 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”
2 Cor 5:21, “For He,” God the Father, “hath made Him,” God the Son, “to be sin for us who,” Jesus Christ, “knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” In Christ.

Because God’s absolute righteousness is imputed, God calls us justified. Romans chapter one through chapter eleven.

Imputation of absolute righteousness on the basis of faith is justification.

Justification and Imputation!

Barrier between man and God – The character of man.

God’s viewpoint of man, Rom 3:10-12 – None righteous.

God’s viewpoint of man’s viewpoint, Isa 64:6 – Righteousness as filthy rags.

Our iniquities have separated us from our God.
Isa 59:1-2, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”

The Work of Christ in Justification!

Definition: Remission of sins and absolutely free from guilt and punishment, an act of Grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous on account of the atonement of Christ.

Because God the Father is satisfied, propitiated, we are freely justified. Rom 3:24, “Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace, reconciliation, with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Post-salvation justification. This is the book of James. Your outer production as a believer vindicates, justifies, you and your stand for Christ, in the eyes of the unbeliever.

The book of James is the view of the believer as seen from they eyes of the unbeliever.

What the Law Can Do!

The Law teaches that we are sinners. Rom 3:20, Gal 3:24, 1 Tim 1:9-10

The Law puts us in jail. Gal 3:23, Rom 3:19

The Law teaches us the Divine perfection of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 7:12. It reflects His perfection in some measure. He kept the Law perfectly, therefore it qualified Him to be our Saviour, Mediator, High Priest, and King.

What the Law Cannot Do!

It cannot save us or give us eternal life. Rom 3:28, Gal 2:16, Rom 8:3-4

It cannot produce spirituality. Gal 5:23, Rom 8:4, 5:20

The Galatian believers wanted to be under the Mosaic Law. But they did not understand the Mosiac Law. Gal 4:23. The particular phase of legalism involved here is a desire to use the Law as a merit system in order to get the approbation of God, which is wrong.

”I do not frustrate the Grace of God, for is righteousness cometh by the law then Christ died in vain.”

Thursday, November 23, 2000

What Christ Thanked God For …

Matt 11:25, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.”

Luke 10:21, “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit, and said, I thank Thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.”

I wonder how many people will thank God for revealing His Word to us babes.

“The lot is cast into the lap and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

“The Jews desired a king like all the other nations, and the Lord gave them the desire of their heart and sent leanness to their soul.”

Does it sound familiar??

We will count and count and recount. Until we get a king who is “no count.”

Four Generation Curse – Proverbs 30:11-17

First generation: rejects authority – Prov 30:11
The mental attitude toward parents determines your mental attitude towards everything. Like drugs are illegal, but who cares? Speed limits are to be kept, but who cares? A  national mental attitude like this destroys a nation.

Second generation: Self-righteousness, a law unto themselves – Prov 30:12
They have dung in the face similar to the priests in Malachi 2:3. I don’t want God, I don’t want the Bible. I can live my own life. I can spend my life the way in which I want to. Rebellion.

Third generation: a mature self-righteousness, pride – Prov 30:13
Self-sufficiency in the flesh. All of the above, but more defiant. Rebellious, mocking, sordid.

Fourth generation: Violence
Mental attitude of robbery, pillage, rape, eliminate the economy. It describes a bunch of traitors, and parasites. No initiative.

And they are never satisfied: violent death – Prov 30:15, 16
Mockers of their father and mother, deride them and make fun of them. Do not respect. Treat the mother with contempt. Ravens, buzzards of the valley shall pluck it out. This is an idiom for violent death.

If a teenager does not have a proper mental attitude towards his parents, he will not have the proper mental attitude about any other form of authority. Thus in lawlessness, a young person can die violently.

How can they die violently? World War III, civil war, revolution.

We are on the way …

Fourth generation curse.

Exposition of Prov 29:1

“He” – means any individual. However, Proverbs was written to the youth of that day. Compare Prov 30:11, 17, Matt 15:4, Eph 6:1-3

”Being often reproved” – being often warned, 2 Tim 3:16, and not heeding the warning. A believer puts himself under chastisement. He is bucking in his volition and goes negative.

”Hardeneth his neck” – term for past feeling of the soul. He tells authority to go jump in the lake, and he keeps on doing this thing. This is also applicable to the unbeliever who dies in his sins because of his rebellion against authority.

”Shall suddenly be destroyed” – Literally, to burst in pieces, an idiom for death or possibly becoming a human vegetable because of an accident.

For the believer, this is removal through the sin unto death. 1 John 5:16.
For the unbeliever, this is dying in his sins. Acts 7:51.

”And that without remedy”– literally “cure.”

2 Chr 36:16, “But they mocked the messengers of the Lord and despised His Words and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people till there was no remedy.”

Prov 6:15, “Therefore, shall his calamity come suddenly, suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.”

”Remedy” means “no cure, no solution.” It is a picture of a believer checking out under discipline or an unbeliever checking out in his sins.

How to Develop Faith!!

All faith begins at the moment of salvation and at that point we have just a little more faith than is found in a grain of mustard seed. As faith develops, it broadens into ever widening circles until we move into the place of maturity and production in the Christian way of life.

There are seven of these circles:

The second step is the development of faith which is found in Rom 10:17, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
The habitual daily study of the Word of God is the basis and primary prerequisite for the development of faith.

The third step in the enlargement of faith is the exercise of faith or the ability to apply what you have learned. Heb 4:1-3

The fourth circle is the Spirit-controlled life, which is the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23

The fifth circle is the area of testing or suffering.
”That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried by fire, might be found unto honour and praise and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,” 1 Pet 1:7

The sixth circle is occupation with Christ, Heb 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.”

Finally, we move into the place of true maturity and production. When there is a day-by-day absorption of God’s Word and the application of it to experience, when a Spirit-controlled life produces faith, when any problem or adversity, sorrow or trial in life can be faced with stability and perfect peace, when there is occupation with the Person of Jesus Christ.

The Biblical Perspective of the Importance of the Born Again Believer Daily Taking in the Word of God

1. The Word of God is the only way you can know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 2:16, Phil 3:10
   
2. With the Word of God in your mind, it leads to occupation with Christ. Heb 12:2, 3
   
3. The Word of God is perceived under the principle of Grace and produces confidence in the Christian way of life. Job 5:24-27, 2 Cor 5:6-8
   
4. The Word of God in the mind is the source of Divine Viewpoint. Isa 55:7-9, 2 Cor 10:5
   
5. The Word of God is the basis for orientation to God’s plan in time. Isa 26:3-4, 28:29, Rom 8:28
   
6. The Word of God produces both sanity and stability of mind. James 1:8
   
7. The Word of God is the basis for Divine guidance as well as orientation to Grace. Rom 12:2-3
   
8. Without the Word of God, Satan corrupts the mind souls of the believers. 2 Cor 11:3
   

Wednesday, November 22, 2000

Personal Fitness

“Take heed to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers,” Acts 20:28
”There are differences of administration, but the same Lord,” 1 Cor 12:5
”I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,” 2 Cor 11:2
”Ye which are spiritual restore such as one,” Gal 6:1
”Yea, and if ye be offered upon the sacrifice of your faith,” Phil 2:17
”That we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus,” Col 1:28
”We were gentle among you even as nursing mother cherisheth her children,” 1 Thes 2:7
”If any man obey not our word, have no company with him,” 2 Thes 3:14
”O man of God, flee these things,” 1 Tim 6:11

These sentences embody the thought of the personal fitness for the Lord’s service. A fulfillment of a sacred trust of responsibility, and a service to others in seeing that others are right. And if not, then a ministry which ends in their restoration to the Lord.

Christ is Seen in Scripture in Seven Relationships to the Father

1. The willing Son – Mark 14:36. Luke 22:42, John 12:27-28
   
2. The confident Suppliant – Matt 11:25
   
3. The satisfied Intercessor – John 11:41
   
4. The earnest Worker – John 17:1
   
5. The holy Priest – John 17:5, 21, 24
   
6. The pleading Substitute – Luke 23:34
   
7. The surrendered Spirit – Luke 23:46
   

Thankful for Our Father’s Provision

There are three New Testament Scriptures beginning with the sentence:
”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Cor 1:3, Eph 1:3, 1 Pet 1:3, which accentuate the largeness of the Father’s provision.

1. All comfort in all tribulation is found in the first.
   So, every circumstance in the outer life is met.
   
2. All blessing for all need is assured in the second.
   So, every requirement of the inner life is bestowed.
   
3. And all the future for all time and eternity is provided for us in the third.
   So, the life infused is the earnest of the life to come, in all its incorruptibility and purity.

That would make a nice Thanksgiving message.

Two Butterflies

Two butterflies on the edge of a flower were discussing a subject and one of them said, “We cannot know if there is any honey in that flower. No butterfly ever found it there, and no butterfly ever will.”

The other said, “Well, nevertheless I think there must be some.” While they debated it, gnostic and agnostic, a humming bird flew in and ran its long bill into the flower and sipped the sweet and was gone.

To debate whether there is beauty or Truth in the Word, whether there is beauty or Truth in the Christ that came from God, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” That is Christianity.

Remember the butterfly was once a moth.

The Uniqueness of the Expression “Your Father”

These words embody with them the thought of responsibility. 11 times the couplet occurs in the book of Matthew. Eleven “our Fathers.”

1. Shining to glorify – Matt 5:16
   
2. Proving the relationship by kindness to persecutors – Matt 5:45, 48
   
3. Helping the needy – Matt 6:1
   
4. Praying to purpose – Matt 6:8
   
5. Forgiving to be forgiven – Matt 6:14-15
   
6. Trusting to be fed – Matt 6:26, 32
   
7. Praying and receiving – Matt 7:11
   
8. Allowing the Spirit to speak – Matt 10:20
   
9. Trustful because cared for – Matt 10:29
   
10. Looking after the little ones – Matt 18:14
    
11. The one to be recognized – Matt 23:9

Eleven “our Fathers.”

The “He Shalls” – Psalm 91

This Psalm speaks of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. And of those who make the Lord their Refuge and Fortress.

The “He shalls” of His promise and protection apply.
    ”He shall deliver thee.”
    ”He shall cover thee.”
    ”There shall no evil befall thee.”
    ”He shall give his angels charge over thee.”

This is the verse that Satan misapplied to the Lord.

In Leviticus, He says, “And every vessel which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. But, if the vessel is covered, it was not defiled.” ”He shall cover thee.”

JEHOVAH ROHI!

JEHOVAH-ROHI means the Lord is my Shepherd, Psa 23:1.

The many sidedness of His Shepherd Office is illustrated in the use of the word rendered “Shepherd.”

It is translated “Feeder,” Gen 4:2
It is translated “Keeper” in our text.
It is translated “Companion,” Prov 28:7
It is translated “Herdsman,” in Gen 13:7

As our Shepherd is the Feeder to provide, the Keeper to protect, the Companion for fellowship, the friend for help, the pastor for comfort, the Herdsman to gather and the Shepherd to lead.

The Lord is my ROHI.

Tuesday, November 21, 2000

Crowns — STEPHANOS”

1. Crown of righteousness. 2 Tim 4:7-8
   The production of Divine Good given for time logged in fellowship.
   

2. Crown of joy. Phil 4:1, 1 Thess 2:19
   Helping other believers and winning souls.
   

3. Crown of glory. 1 Pet 5:2-4
   Given to pastors/ministers who minister in fellowship and develop the gift of pastor- teacher or evangelist.
   

4. Crown of life. Rev 2:10
   Occupation with Christ, enduring testing, the Word of God in your life being your life and everything else is a detail. Mastery over the details of life.

Other mentions of crowns in Scripture:
Incorruption – 1 Cor 9:25
Many crowns – Rev 19:12
Thorns – Matt 27:29

As spiritual gifts are to the Church Age, crowns and rewards are to eternity.

The Church is Called the Bride of Christ in Heaven and Undergoes Preparation During the Seven Years of Tribulation on Earth

Emphasis in Heaven is upon preparation and display

This preparation is three-fold.

1. Resurrection body.
   1 Cor 15:51-57, 1 John 3:1-2, Phil 3:21, 1 Thes 4:13-18
   
2. No old sin nature.
   Phil 3:21, “Body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Lord Jesus Christ did not have an old sin nature – virgin birth. 2 Cor 5:21 – “Knew no sin.”
   
3.  All human good is removed from the bride.
   1 Cor 3:12, 15, believer is cleansed from, literally, liberated from human good so he won’t be embarrassed.
   
4. Unbelievers are bound up with human good and cast into the Lake of Fire. Reward is given for Divine Good.
   
   We will not have an old sin nature. Never again will we perform human good or sin. We come back to reign. It will probably take seven years to burn away the human good.

 God deals with individuals. Not with the masses.

Couple this with the fact that He bore individual sins on the Cross and the conclusion: He deals with individuals when it comes to rewards.

The Biblical Doctrine of Leaven

1. The leaven of Herod – Expedience – Exploitation of others for one’s own benefit. 
   Luke 8:15, Rom 12:2
   
2. The leaven of the Sadducees – Human viewpoint, rationalism.
   Luke 12:3, Mark 16:6
   
3. The leaven of the Pharisees. The sins of religion and ritualism.
   Mark 8:15, Luke 12:1, Matt 16:6, 23
   
4. The leaven of the Corinthians – Sin of licentiousness.
   1 Cor 5:6-7

Leaven is always in reference to evil, sin.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Thanksgiving and the Real You!

1. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things. Col 1:16-17, John 1:3, Heb 1:10
   Jesus Christ is the Creator of man. Gen 2:7, ELOHIM.
   
2. There are two ways in which mankind came into the world.
   A. Created: Adam from the dust, chemicals of the ground.
   B. Physical birth: The principle of the perpetuation of the human race.
   
3. Jesus Christ not only created man, but He created the principle whereby man perpetuates himself – copulation between husband and wife.
   
4. The body of man is a factory, the house in which you live.
   
5. The body is the instrument of the real you, the soul.
   
6. Physical life is the soul being in the body. And the body functioning the life of the man is in the soul. Not blood. The life of the animal is in its blood because it does not have a soul.
   
7. Physical death is the soul leaving the body – the body dying and ceasing to function.
   
8. Adam’s body came first, Gen 2:7. Then God put inside the body of Adam the breath of lives and he became a living soul.
   A. Physical life is for the body.
   B. Spiritual life had fellowship with God. Adam had a human spirit.
   C. Soulish life. Later he had no fellowship with God.
   
9. The human race is born spiritually dead, Eph 2:1, 5 – No fellowship, no relationship with God.
   
10. Therefore, man, unbeliever, is dichotomous – soul and body.
    
11. Regenerate man is trichotomous – body, soul, spirit. 1 Thes 5:23
    
12. At physical death the soul continues to live.
    A. Believer – the soul and the spirit go to be with the Lord. 2 Cor 5:8
    B. Unbeliever – the soul goes to Hades to await the Great White Throne Judgment.
    

Living in the Word!

There is much emphasis on “all the counsel of God” in the Word of God. Psa 119:11, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.”

The “Word” here refers to whole panorama of God’s Word the whole counsel of it. It suggests appreciating the Word of God in a systematic survey method. Many believers know a Truth here and a Truth there, but there is no concept of the entire structure of the Word of God from cover to cover.

Acts 20:27 also furthers the thought, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”

There are probably hundreds of ways to survey “all the counsel of God.” The following are suggestions, but remember this is the fruit of verse by verse study in the original languages.

Attach a catchy title to the entire chapter, capturing the drift of the content therein. For example:

1. Slavery in Egypt.
2. The birth of Moses.
3. The burning bush.
4. The objections of Moses.
5. Increased slavery.
6. Affirmation of the Abrahamic covenant.
7-12. The ten plagues.
13. Guidance by the pillar of cloud and fire.
14. Crossing of the Red Sea.
15. Bitter waters made sweet. Wrong kind of water.
16. Provision of manna.
17. No water situation. Rephidim.
18. Organization man, Jethro.
19. Arriving at Mt. Sinai.
20-31. Giving of the Mosaic Law.
32. The golden calf and tablets broken.
33. On to Canaan. Moses sees the back parts of the Lord Jesus Christ.
34. Second tablets of stone.
35-39. The tabernacle is built.
40. The tabernacle is set up.

Another survey method giving a rich background for effective teaching evangelism is tracing the term “promise” as developed in the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New covenants.

“God is Not Willing That Any Should Perish”

As illustrated by the Grace of God given to Judas Iscariot!

Opportunities for Judas to become a believer:

1. Tribe of Judah – John 6:7
2. Called – Luke 6:16
3. One of the 12 – Matt 10:4
4. Treasurer – John 12:6
5. At the Last Supper – John 13:26

The sewing of Judas:

1. Covetous – John 12:4-6
2. Thief – John 12:6
3. Satan possessed – John 13:27, Luke 22:3
4. Bargain – Mark 14:10
5. Bribed to be a traitor – Matt 26:14-16

The reaping of Judas:

1. METAMELOMAI – Translated “repent” but it is “regret” or “sorrow.”
2. Restitution – Matt 27:4
3. Death – Matt 27:5, Acts 1:18
4. Replacement – 1 Cor 15:7-10

A heathen is not a person who has not heard the Word, but a person who has heard the Word and rejected it.

Seven Major Judgments in History

1. Major judgment in history – 32 A.D. Jesus Christ was judged for our sins on the Cross – 2 Cor 5:21, 2 Pet 2:24, 3:18
   
2. Self judgment of the believer – 1 John 1:9, 1 Cor 11:31, Psa 32:5, 51:1-5
   
3. Judgment of the believer’s work – evaluation of production.
   A. Judgment seat of Christ – the Church Age believers. 1 Cor 3:11-16
   B. Rest of the believers. Rev 11:18b
       The prophets – Old Testament saints
       To the saints – Tribulational saints
       Them that fear Thy Name – Millennial saints
   
4. Judgment of the living Jews at the Second Advent – baptism of fire.
   A. Ten virgins, Matt 15:1-13
   B. Parable of the 5, 2, 1 talents, Matt 25:14-30
   C. Ezekiel 20:22-38
   D. Unbelievers cast off the Earth. Believers continue into the Millennium
   E. Matt 13:24-30 – wheat and tares
   
5. Judgment of the living Gentiles at the Second Advent – baptism of fire
   A. Matt 25:31-46, goats = unbelievers
   B. Matt 24:37-41, analogy to the days of Noah
   
6. Judgment of Satan and the fallen angels.
   A. Matt 25:41, cast into the Lake of Fire forever
   B. At the end of the Millennium, Rev 20:8-10
   
7. Judgment of unbelievers, Rev 20:11-15

All unbelievers are resurrected and judged according to their works and cast into the Lake of Fire because of their rejection of Christ.

Monday, November 20, 2000

Imputation

Imputation is the act of God whereby He credits perfect righteousness to the believer in Christ. 2 Cor chapters 3 and 4, show that every believer is a minister or has responsibility of witnessing for the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Cor 5:21 is a summary of salvation. God the Father made God the Son to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

On the cross Jesus Christ died spiritually for us, before He died physically. In salvation our sins are blotted out, we have eternal life, and credited to our account is perfect righteousness.

Gen 15:6, “Abraham believed in God and it accounted unto him for righteousness.”

Seven Points on the Evil of Internationalism

Scripture: Gen 11:1-4

1. Idealistic rebellion vs. God.
   God told them to spread out after the flood, but they built up because they did not believe in the Lord’s admonition. Gen 9:1
   
2. Volitional rebellion vs. God. Man in mass.
   He was to scatter, but a decadent nation tends to mass in cities, which is one of the characteristics of the fourth cycle of discipline. Lev 26:25
   
3. Governmental rebellion vs. God. Built up a city.
   They should have continued with an agricultural economy which afforded the privacy needed to raise a family.
   
4. Physical revolt vs. God.
   Their reaction to the flood of the past history was to build a tower above the high water mark of the flood. Man also thought that the arm of the flesh is strong enough to save.
   
5. Spiritual revolt vs. God.
   This tower was to reach Heaven. They felt that an international brotherhood was the answer and that man’s work would get him to Heaven.
   
6. Personal revolt – Egotism.
   Man by man’s ability can solve man’s problems.
   
7. Structural revolt. 
   This philosophy that materialism is the God of man and can solve the problems of man.

Internationalism actually abolishes national government, private property, marriage, and family life. It makes the state responsible for education and needs.

Also, inheritance is abolished as is Bible Christianity and patriotism.

We, as a nation, are at this time internationalists.

Imitators!

Saturday, November 18, 2000

The Specific Trespass Offering Was Like the 10 Commandments

In that it was a trespass in two directions … Trespass towards God in holy things, and trespass against others in personal things. This is like the first five commandments are in relation to God and the last five in relation to one another.

Trespass Offering in Relation to Others

It is given in specific detail and there are five illustrations given to us in Lev. 6:2, 3

1. Unfaithfulness in a trust.
   As when one entrusts something to the keeping of another and the entrusted one unlawfully uses for himself the deposit committed to him, as the word says, Deal falsely with his neighbour in a matter of deposit,” Ex 20:16
   
2. The second case is that of two persons in a business transaction.
   The text says in “fellowship,” literally, “a bargain.”
   In every true business transaction there should be fellowship, but when one takes advantage of another’s ignorance and sells an article beyond its worth, or represents it to be what it is not, then he deals falsely.
   Too many are like the man in Prov 20:14 and not like Abraham who would give Ephron the price of the land. Gen 23.
   
3. The third instance is called “robbery.”
   A case in point would be when one under the plea of legal form takes from another more than is due to him, as did Ahab with Naboth’s vineyard. 1 Kings 21:1-16.
   
4. The fourth instance is when a man “oppressed his neighbour.”
   An employer exacting more than his due from his employee illustrates it, or taking from a neighbour more than the law allowed, when in personal need. Duet 23:24, 25. Or, as Zaccheus did when, like the tax gatherers, he unlawfully took taxes from them. Luke 19:2-8.
   
5. The last example is when one finds something which belongs to another and then declares that he has not found it.
   In each of these cases, the important thing to notice is that there was not only a trespass against the neighbour, but a trespass against the Lord.

There were three things which were required before forgiveness could be obtained: Lev 5:15-16, Lev 6:4-6 were required in order that the priest might “make an atonement” for the offence committed. Christ’s atoning work is the only thing which can adjust things before God, whether wrong be done to another or offence against himself.

Three times the sentence occurs ”Make an atonement,” in referring to any form of trespass. For it was only by the offering of the “trespass offering” that the offence could be forgiven and that too after restitution had been made. Lev 5:16, 18.

Forgive — What a Wonderful Word!

The New Testament is unmistakable in its teaching on the forgiveness of sin.

The word “APHIEMAI,” rendered “forgiveness” in Matt 9:2, signifies “to let go.” It is used to describe the disciples who “left” their nets, Matt 4:20 and “sent away” in speaking of Christ sending away the multitudes, Matt 13:36. And Lazarus being “let go” from the bonds which held him, John 11:44. And of Christ when He “yieldeth up” His  Spirit into the hands of His Father, Matt 27:50.

1. The Gospel is the proclaimer of forgiveness, Luke 24:47, Acts 13:38
   
2. God is the Author of forgiveness, Acts 5:31, Mark 2:7
   
3. Man is the receiver of forgiveness, Matt 9:2
   
4. The blood of Christ is the ground of forgiveness, Col 1:14, Eph 1:7
   
5. Faith in Christ is the instrument to obtain forgiveness, Acts 10:43, Acts 26:18
   
6. The word is the assurance of forgiveness, 1 John 2:12, James 5:15, Luke 7:47
   
7. Liberty is the meaning of forgiveness, Luke 1:77, 3:3, 4:18

The words “remission,” “deliverance,” and “liberty” in Luke are the same as is rendered “forgiveness” in Eph 1:7. The condition of forgiveness is a forgiving spirit, Matt 6:12-15, Eph 4:32.

“Fools Make a Mockery of Sin”

Literally, the trespass offering, the word “sin” is the same as “trespass offering.”

”But among the righteous there is favour,” Prov 14:9. The Truth of Christ as their trespass offering, for they feel the need of His Grace and atonement.

But the fools, like Ishmael, mocking Isaac, mock at the vicarious work of Christ.

What a lot of fools there are in the Church and out of it!

What Makes Christ Happy?

“For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the Cross.”

The joy that was set before Him was you!!

We have the joy of our salvation, which in reality, is our Saviour and our Saviour rejoices also in our so great salvation – the mutual sharing of salvation by Saviour and saint.

Is not something of this suggested in the salutation of Christ to the women on the morning of resurrection when He said to them, “All hail,” Matt 28:9, but the word is “CHAIRO,” which means joy, rejoice, and it is so given in Matt 5:12. He had passed through the throes of death and would now enshrine them with the joy of His triumph.

For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the Cross.

The Joy of the Lord — A Seven-Fold Joy of the Lord

1. The joy of anticipation
   For His delights were with the sons of men in the past eternity, Prov 8:31.
   
2. The joy of the incarnation
   For the angelic song at His birth was “behold I bring you tidings of great joy,” Luke 2:10.
   
3. The joy of fellowship
   Which Christ had with His Father, Luke 10:21.
   
4. The joy of confidence
   For He could say even in the pains of death ”My heart doth rejoice” for He knew His Father would raise Him up from among the dead, Acts 2:24, 26, 28.
   
5. The joy of victory
   For His Word to John on the isle of Patmos was ”I am He that liveth and was dead. And behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death,” Rev 1:18.
   
6. The joy of salvation
   Which He proclaims which is the joy of the three Persons, Luke 15:6, 9, 24.
   
7. The joy of satisfaction
   For He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied, Isa 53:11.
   

Friday, November 17, 2000

John 17 is the Lord’s Prayer

If you read it and listen to it, you are listening to the Lord Jesus Christ praying to God the Gather. And that is holy ground.

Christ prays to God the Father and we hear people praying to the Holy Ghost, and “O Mary,” and “O Jesus.” All prayer should be directed towards God our Father – that is if He is your Father.

Notice the unique touches in Christ’s address to God the Father.

1. When it is Himself and the Father, He says, “Father” or “O Father.”
2. When He prays for His own it is, “Holy Father.”
3. When He refers to the Word, He says, “O righteous Father,” showing that the world is minus the righteousness of God.

”He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

How Can Anyone Possibly Believe That they Can Lose Their Salvation?

John 17:9, “I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou gavest Me, for they are Thine.”

John 17:10, “And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”

Christ not only speaks of His own as “Mine,” but of the Father, as “Thine.” We belong to the Father and the Son.

John 10:28, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”

John 10L29, “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hands.”

”Pluck them out of My hand.” “Pluck them out of My Father’s hands.”

Double security. You are in good hands.

John 17:20, “Neither pray I for them alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their Word.”

In the Lord’s prayer, Christ prayed for you. Notice the personal pronouns. The personal pronouns are pointers.
”I”of Christ’s loving intercession prayer.
”Them” for whom He prays – all believers down through the ages.
”Their” of employed instruments, for it is by means of the believer’s testimony that others are blessed.
”Me” of the end in view – the others who will believe in Christ.

What a wonderful linking up and taking in we have in this outlook of the Lord’s prayer.

John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”

Christianity is a personal relationship with God the Father through God the Son.

No less than five times do the words “in” and “one” occur, giving us the sublime of inness of oneness. And the result of this wonderful identification will be the world believing in Christ.

When the end is reached, the result will follow. Can anything be more concise?

Christ praying for His own.

“Trespass Offering”

The trespass offering was in two directions:

Trespass against God is a solemn subject. The following are cases in point.

The adoption of one’s own methods in God’s service.

As in the case of Moses, who struck the rock when God told him to speak to the rock. Therefore, the Lord said to him, ”Because you trespass against Me, you shall not go into the land,” Deut 32:51.

Taking to one’s own self that which has been devoted to the Lord as exemplified in the case of Achan taking the devoted thing of Jericho, for he is said to have committed a trespass in the devoted thing. Joshua 7:1, 22:20.

Compromising with God’s specific directions as is sadly illustrated in King Saul and Amalek, for in not obeying the Lord, he committed a trespass against Him. 1 Chr 10:13.

Failure to enquire of the Lord in prayer, as seen in Saul when he enquired of a familiar spirit instead of the Lord. For in so doing, he committed a trespass against Him. 1 Chr 10:13.

Relying on one’s own strength instead of resting on God’s Word as in the case of Israel under Rehoboam who trespassed against the Lord. 2 Chr 12:2.

Distinct disobedience to the commands of the Lord as when the people of Israel under Ezra married strange women of the nations, which action is designated as this trespass.  Ezra 9:2, 10:2, 10.

In each of these above Scriptures, the word “trespass” occurs and is the same as found in Lev 5:15.

Next follows trespass against others.

John Chapter 17 Breaks the Back of Every Cult!

Any serious student of the Word of God will realize that in John 17 we have the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer with God the Father. And this indeed is holy ground.

In this chapter there are at least 24 ways in which Christ is equal with God the Father, which no cult will accept.

1. Verse 1 – one in purpose
2. Verse 2 – one in gift
3. Verses 3, 7 – one in knowledge
4. Verse 4 – one in work
5. Verse 5 – one in Deity and position
6. Verse 6 – one in manifestation
7. Verse 8 – one in mission
8. Verses 9, 10 – one in possession
9. Verse 10 – one in glorification
10. Verses 6, 11, 12 15 – one in keeping
11. Verse 12 – one in Scripture
12. Verse 13 – one in joy
13. Verse 14 – one in being opposed
14. Verses 15, 16 – one in separation
15. Verse 17 – one in Truth
16. Verse 18 – one in commission
17. Verse 19 – one in aim
18. Verse 20 – one in outlook
19. Verse 21 – one in end
20. Verse 22 – one in glory
21. Verse 23 – one in love
22. Verse 24 – one in place
23. Verse 25 – one in fellowship
24. Verse 26 – one in intimacy

”I and the Father are one.”

”He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

Thursday, November 16, 2000

Seven Words Which Express Christ’s Voluntary Death for Us!

1. Delight
   ”I delight to do Thy will,” Psa 40:8
   
2. I set
   The set of His determined purpose.
   ”I set My face like a flint,” Isa 50:7
   
3. I will give
   The I will give of His holy sacrifice.
   ”The bread which I give is My flesh,” John 6:51
   
4. I lay
   The “I lay” of glad surrender.
   ”I lay down My life for the sheep,” John 10:15
   
5. The led
   The led His patient submission.
   ”Led as a Lamb to the slaughter,” Acts 8:32
   
6. The shed
   The shed of His poured life.
   ”My blood, which is shed for many,” Matt 26:28
   
7. The offered
   The offered of His sufficient atonement.
   ”Offered one sacrifice for sins,” Heb 10:12-14

All this speaks of Christ’s perfection of His substitutionary work, all that will come to Him in His coming day of glory as well as the triumphs of His past achievements is because, “He hath poured out His soul unto death,” Isa 53:12.

The Oil of Gladness!

The priest was responsible to see that all the requirements of the sanctuary were met. And among them was one that we might consider. The quantity of the wine for the drink offering was always to correspond to the quantity of the oil. 

When a ram was offered, a third part of a hin of wine was specified and the same of oil. When a bullock was presented, half a hin of oil was commanded and the same of wine. Num 28:7, 14. The oil is mentioned first and then the wine. The oil is an emblem of the Holy Spirit and the wine of joy.

One aspect of the ministry of Christ is to remind us of our dependence upon God the Holy Spirit, and that there never can be the enjoyment of the joy of the Lord, but as we are governed by God the Holy Spirit.

We are reminded of this in the following verses:

”Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit,” Rom 15:13

A Spirit-filled life is always a gladdened life, which glows with the Lord’s joy.

”Gladness of heart” is the outcome of Pentecost, Acts 2:46

”Rejoicing, they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name,” is consequent upon a Spirit-indicted testimony, Acts 5:41

”The face of an angel” is the outcome of the Holy Spirit possessing Stephen, Acts 6:15

”He went on His way rejoicing” is the result of the Holy Spirit working through Philip to the eunuch, Acts 8:39

”The fruit of the Spirit is joy.” “Rejoice and again I say rejoice.”

“It Pleased the Lord to Bruise Him”

We miss much if we do not see the “pleasure,” as well as the “pain,” which the Godhead has in the mutual sacrifice of the Cross.

”It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” He knew the necessities of the case. And He met the case in all its necessities.

The Hebrew word “pleased” in Isa 53:10 means “to be inclined to” “to bend towards an object with ardent desire and delight.” The word is frequently translated “delight,” Num 14:8

The use of the word as associated with the Father and the Son in relation to atonement will illustrate the joy of fellowship They had in Calvary.

Here are some Scriptures where the same word is used:
”Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire,” Psa 40:6
”I delight to do Thy will, O God,” Psa 40:8
”It pleased the Lord to bruise Him,” Isa 53:10
”The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands,” Isa 53:10

Christ delighted to do the Father’s will. The Father delighted in His Son as He did it. He died to have us, that we might have Him.

Mixed emotions – the joy and pain that the Godhead had on the Cross.

“Poured Out”

There are certain words and phrases that are especially identified with Christ’s death, which have their reflex blessing in the experience of the believer.

One such word in the Old Testament is the word ”poured.” And once in the New Testament it is the word ”shed.” For both of them are not only identified with Christ
in the typical drink offering, but also with the blessing that flows from His death.

The Hebrew word ”poured” in Isa 53:12 means “to make bare, to empty out.” And it is rendered ”emptied” in 2 Chr 24:11 and ”made bare,” Psa 137:7.

Christ in His death emptied out Himself and was bare in His utter destruction that He might enrich us with the treasury of His Grace and the splendid robes of His glory.

In Isa 32 we have given to us the sad consequences of the curse and desolation of sin. And then there is a transformation scene, which is the result of the Spirit being from on High. Isa 32:15-18

He poured out His soul. He poured out the Holy Spirit.

“Shed”

The New Testament word “shed,” Mark 14:24, is equally associated with Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Greek word means “to pour out, or to empty out.” It is used of the Holy Spirit four times. And is rendered “poured out” and “shed forth.”
Acts 2:17, 18, 33, 10:45 – in speaking of His presence and His power.
It is also translated “shed” in speaking of His renewing Grace, Titus 3:6
And “shed abroad” in speaking of His love of God shed abroad in our hearts,” Rom 5:5

How wonderful God’ giving is! The Father emptied Himself out when He gave His Son. The Son emptied Himself out when He gave His life for us. And now the Holy Spirit waits to empty Himself out in enriching us.

Nothing is too great for the Father to give to us since the Son gave Himself for us, Rom 8:32.

The Law of Contrast!

In 2 Cor 4:7 to 2 Cor 5:9 we have a paragraph of continuous contrasts, between what is:

Seen and unseen
Temporal and eternal
Outward and inward
Visible and invisible
Material and spiritual
Earthly and heavenly
Affliction and glory
Home in the body and at home with the Lord
Faith and sight
Dying and living

Of all these 10 contrasts, the former members of each belong in one group and are akin. The latter members are equally inseparable.

What is seen, temporal, etc. belong to the realm of death. What is unseen and eternal to the realm of life.

Sight and faith are the respective organs of visions in the two realms. Only sight, which rightly sees in its own sphere, is blind to the other and cannot interpret the relation of the two. But faith not only sees its own realm, but all that sight sees besides and is a true interpretation of both realms.

Sight refuses what faith chooses and inversely knows only the present while faith foretastes the future.

”Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

“Decease and Glory”

The combination of atonement and advent is made known in the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration, which scene is a picture.

Peter declares of Christ: ”Power and coming in His majesty,” 2 Pet 1:16

Of our Lord and those who were with Him, we read, “There talketh with Him two men, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease,” Luke 9:30, 31. “His decease” refers to  His death, to His exodus, to His going out of the body in death.

The theme of these Glorified Ones was Christ’s death. The source of the glory is Jesus Christ crucified. When He said “It is finished,” two eternities met. There was revealed and accomplished the counsel of God. And there was purchased and secured the glory of His people.

Thus, the preaching of Christ crucified is central and comprehensive. The spring of the hope of Christ’s glory ever flows from the smitten rock of Calvary. Those who “appeared in glory” with Christ were there because of His decease about which they were talking. The vantage point of Calvary gives us the vital place in the glory.

From Grace to glory.

“The Wrath of the Lamb” – The Lamb Slain and Slaying!

The one predominating thought in the Book of Revelation is the Lamb – the Lamb in all the livingness of His death:

1. Puts down His foes and reigns over His enemies.
   
2. The Wounded One of Calvary is the Warrior conquering His enemies.
   
3. The book of the unveiling is the revelation that God’s little Lamb shall conquer the red dragon of hell.
   
4. He will put down the seven-headed and ten-horned beast of a Revived Roman Empire.
   
5. He will blast the false prophet of the antichrist by the brightness of His coming.
   
6. He will cause the corrupt woman of Christendom to be slaughtered by the confederates.
   
7. He will wipe out the sin-ridden and demon-possessed city of Babylon.
   
8. He will break the nations who oppose Him with a rod of His power.
   
9. And He will remove all who stand in the way of His sway as He merges the kingdoms of the world to crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords.
   
10. The Lamb that was slain is the Conqueror.
    
11. He was once trodden down in the winepress because of man’s sin.
    
12. And because of this, He shall conquer His enemies as He treads them down in the fierceness of God’s wrath.

”Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

”Behold the wrath of the Lamb.” The slain Lamb slaying.

Whatever happened to sweet Jesus?? He turned the other cheek.

Two-Fold Manifestation of Christ

Christ’s incarnation is variously described. In regard to the Father, it is a “sending,” a mission. In regard to the Son, it is a “coming” in regard to the form it is in the flesh, “Word became flesh.” In regard to men, it is a “manifestation.”

In John’s first epistle, we find Him frequently stating the fact of Christ’s manifestation in the past and its purpose. 1 John 1:2, 3:5, 8, 4:9. And reference is also made to His future manifestation when He says, “He shall be manifested,” 1 John 2:28, 3:2.

The manifestation means an unveiling, so that that which was invisible shines forth. He was manifested in the past to take away our sins and to destroy the works of the devil. And He will be manifested in the future to make His own like Himself.

The future shining forth will be the complement of the past, the one would not be perfect without the other.

The Word Became Flesh

And dwelt among us
And we beheld His glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father
Full of Grace and Truth.

I, wrapping around Me your humanity
Which, being sustained, shall neither break nor burn
Beneath the fire of Godhead, will tread Earth
And ransom you and it, and set strong peace
Betwixt you and its creatures, with My pangs.

I will confront your sins and since your sins
Have sunken to all nature’s heart from yours
The tears of my clean soul shall follow them
And set a holy passion to work clear
Absolute consecration. In My brow
Of kingly whiteness shall be crowned anew
Your discrowned human nature, look on Me.

As I shall be uplifted on the Cross
In darkness of eclipse and anguished dread
So shall I lift up in My pierced hands
Not into dark, but light, not unto death
But life. Beyond the reach of guilt and grief
The whole creation.
In My brow
Shall be crowned anew
Your discrowned human nature
Not only a crowned nature, but a body like His.

For the goal of the Lord’s purpose is that we shall not only recover that which was lost, but we shall have a body like unto His glorious body, Phil 3:20-21

It is His design to set us in His presence without spot and without wrinkle or any such thing.

Wednesday, November 15, 2000

Amazing and astonishing it is that born-again Christians can look at the Words that proceed out of the mind and mouth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and never ever stop for one minute and change our direction in life. Just look at these Words and try to figure out why they do not have the impact upon us that the Lord Jesus Christ has designed for them to have with each and everyone of us.

”The Word of God is alive and powerful.”

”I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God.”

The grass withereth and the flower of the field fadeth, but the Word abides forever.”

”I have magnified My Word above My Name.”

”Mediate in the Word day and night, neither turning to the left or to the right.”

”The Words are the Words which the Holy Spirit teacheth.”

”The Words which Christ spoke are both spirit and life.”

”The Word of the Lord is pure.”

”The Scriptures are the breath of God.”

”The incorruptible Word of God.”

”Every jot and tittle will be fulfilled.”

”The Word took on flesh.”

”Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

”To whom shall we go Lord? Thou hast the Word of life.”

And yet in spite of all this, we still insist on playing games with God.

There Are Three Other References to Prominent Men in the Old Testament

“The generations of the sons of Levi,” Ex 6:16-19
”The generations of Aaron and Moses,” Num 3:1
”The generations of Pharez,” Ruth 4:18

Now, this brings the generations up to 13, which is an imperfect number. We need one more to make a double perfection. Can we find one to complete? Yes, the New Testament begins with, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham,” Matt 1:1.

Why is Christ identified with David and Abraham? These are the two men of which the Old Testament is full. And yet we do not read of the “generations of David or Abraham.”
But they are not left out, for we find them in the holiest of all with our Lord.

Is this accidental? No, we believe it is intentional. And reveals the master Hand of the Divine builder, Who works on the plan of His will.

The Number 10 is the Number of Responsibility or Man’s Obligation to God

Ten commandments. Ten virgins. The ten words in Psalm 119.

Therefore, the ten generations unfold for us God’s recognition of man’s ways and history.

Genesis is divided into ten sections. The introduction embodies the sovereign act of God in creation. And here He stands alone and illustrates the significance of the number one, which stands for the absoluteness of God.

”The Lord our God is one Lord,” Zech 14:9.

Lessons About Generations in Light of Biblical Research

Ten Generations

Gen 5:1-6-8, “The generations of Adam.”
Gen 6:9-9:29, “The generations of Noah.”
Gen 10:1-11:9, “The generations of the sons of Noah.”
Gen 11:10-11:26, “The generations of Shem.”
Gen 11:27-25:11, “The generations of Terah.”
Gen 25:12, “The generations of Ishmael.”
Gen 25:12-25:18, “The sons of Ishmael according to their generations.”
Gen 25:19-35:29, “The generations of Isaac.”
Gen 36:1-37:1, “The generations of Esau.”
Gen 37:2 to the end of Genesis, “The generations of Jacob.”

Does it seem boring? Notice the lessons — the space covered by the references to the several individuals. And this may be determined by the number of chapters and verses found in relation to each.

In the first section, one chapter and eight verses are covered.
In the second, three chapters and 14 verses.
In the third, one chapter and nine verses.
In the fourth. 16 verses.
In the fifth, 13 chapters and 17 verses.
In the sixth, one verse.
In the seventh, six verses.
In the eighth, 10 chapters and 16 verses.
In the ninth, one chapter.
In the tenth, 13 chapters and 35 verses.

Still bored??

Two things are prominent in this fact. “The men of the flesh,” such as Ishmael and Esau, and their descendents, are summarized in 50 verses. While “the men of faith” and their seed, such as Terah, Isaac, and Jacob, cover no less than over 40 chapters.

Still bored???

From this we gather that those who are to play only a minor part in the drama of human history, while they are recognized, they and theirs are dismissed with a few statements of fact. The undercurrent that runs through the strata of Genesis is the men who are identified with the Promised Seed are to the front because of the Messiah with whom they are associated. And the others are in the formation of the human race, but the elect race is the foundation of the purpose the Lord.

Association with Christ makes all the difference whether we count or not.

Tuesday, November 14, 2000

God Has a Plan for Your Life

1. Stage One of God’s Plan is salvation.
   A. It is executed by the Lord Jesus Christ. John 17:4, “I have glorified Thee on the Earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.”
      1. The incarnation leading to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, John 14:6, 1 Pet 2:24
      2. The resurrection, 1 Cor 15
      3. Ascension and session, Heb 9:24
   B. Provision for the whole human race, 1 John 2:2
   C. It begins when a person accepts Christ as their personal Saviour, Acts 4:12
   
2. Stage Two of the Plan of God – the Christian way of life.
   A. Executed by God the Holy Spirit, John 14:26-29, 16:14, 1 Cor 3:16, 6:19, Eph 3:16, Phil 1:20-21
   B. Provision for the believer to live a supernatural way of life
   
3. Stage Three of the plan of God.
   A. Executed by God the Father, John 14:1-2, Rev 21:4
   B. Begins at death or the rapture, Phil 1:21, 1 Thes 4:13-18
   C. Provision for believer in eternity, Rev 21:4.
   

   

A. What does God want the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to think?

Here is the viewpoint will of God for our lives.

1. It is the same for all believers.
2. His viewpoint, His will, is what He wants us to think, the Divine Viewpoint of life, Isa 55:7-8, “My thoughts.”
3. Divine Viewpoint comes from knowledge of the Word of God, which is the mind of Christ.
4. This corresponds with the principle that knowledge of the Word of God leads to the will of God. You can’t know the will of God without the Word of God.
5. With the Word of God in your human spirit, there comes growth and maturity, 2 Pet 3:18

B. The geographical will of God. Where does God want me to go?

1. This is different for all believers.
2. Is there a specific area of service for this specific time?
3. The issue.

If you are in fellowship, and filled with the Spirit, and respect the authority of the communicated Word of God and comprehend the Word and believe it and accept it by faith, this will give you a frame of reference and a Divine norm and standard and you will have no problem with geography.

Crossing a body of water doesn’t make you a missionary.

The Walk of the Believer

1. Walk in Truth – 3 John 3:4

2. Walk in faith – 2 Cor 5:7 – which includes wisdom – Col 4:5

3. Walk in the Spirit – Gal 5:16 – which includes the other walks
    A. Walk in love – Eph 5:2
    B. Walk in good works – Eph 2:10
    C. Walk in newness of life – Rom 6:4
    D. Walk worthy of the Lord – Col 1:10
    E. Walk honestly as in the day – Rom 13:13
    F. Walk worthy of your vocation – Eph 4:1
    G. Walk in the light – Eph 5:8, 1 John 1:7
    H. Walk in Christ Jesus – Col 2:6
    I. Walk circumspectly – Eph 5:15-16
    J. Walk as ye ought – 1 Thes 4:1

Christology – The Study of Christ

1. The necessity for the humanity of Christ.
   A. To be a Saviour – Heb 2:9-12
   B. To be a Mediator – 1 Tim 2:5
   C. To be a High Priest, Hebrews chapters five, seven, nine
   D. To be a king – 2 Sam 7:16-19
   
2. The hypostatic union, the God-man, Phil 2:6-7, John 1:1-14, Rom 1:2-5, 9:5, Heb 2:14, 1 John 1:1-3, Gal 4:4-5
   
3. The resurrection
   A. By the Father – Acts 2:24, 13:30, Rom 6:4, Eph 1:19-20
   B. By the Son – John 2:19, 10:17-18
   C. By the Holy Spirit – Rom 8:11, 1 Pet 3:18
   
   The Father raised Him and the Holy Spirit raised Him and He raised Himself. I guess He has been resurrected.
   
4. Spheres of ministry.
   A. Law – Matt 5-7
   B. Kingdom – Matt 13
   C. Church – Matt 16, John 15-17
   

What About the Election?? And There is No Recount!

1. All members of the human race potentially elected in the plan of God by unlimited atonement. 2 Tim 2:10
   
2. Christ, as a member of the human race, is elected from eternity past. Isa 42:1, 1 Pet 2:6, God the Father elected the Son.
   
3. This election took place as a part of the Doctrine of Divine Decrees. John 15:16, Eph 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, 1 Pet 1:2
   
4. Every believer in the Church Age shares the election of Jesus Christ through positional Truth. Rom 8:28-30, 33, 1 Cor 1:2, 30, Eph 1:4
   
5. Election is the present as well as the future possession of every believer on the basis of union with Christ. Col 3:12, 2 Tim 1:9
   
6. This election takes place for you at the moment of salvation. 1 Thes 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, 2 Tim 1:9
   
7. Election is the foundation of the Church Age. No matter what kind of believer we are, we are in the plan of God. 1 Thes 1:1, 4
   
8. Election is based on Grace. Gal 1:6, 15
   
9. The regenerate Jews of the previous dispensation are included in the election. Rom 11:1-7, Isa 41:8

This election is based on the Grace of God and not any other election is so based.

Regeneration!

1. The barrier between God and man because of physical birth.
   A. Physical life is imparted through human parents.
   B. Every member of the human race is born spiritually dead, which means no fellowship with God. Eph 2:5-6, Col 2:13, “Dead in trespasses and sins.”
   
2. The work of Christ is regeneration, the new birth.
   A. Definition. The spiritual work of God whereby eternal life is imparted by faith to the individual.
       1. From the Father, James 1:18
       2. Provided by the Lord Jesus Christ, John 1:11-12, Gal 3:26
       3. By the agency of God the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5
   B. Through regeneration, the new birth, the individual is made spiritually alive. Eph 2:5-7, Col 2:13, “Hath quickened us together with Christ.”
   C. New nature. This is the new birth, the human spirit, where maturity is developed. 2 Cor 5:17, Col 2:7
      1. “Is created,” which is capable of fellowship with God.
          ”In Christ,” in union with Christ. He is the new Creature, the new Birth.
          ”Old things are passed away,” which is the self righteousness of man.
          ”All things have become new,” the righteousness of God imputed.
          2 Cor 5:21
   
   The imputation of God’s righteousness at salvation. In salvation, our volition is involved only in our decision to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.
   
       2. And is capable of a desire to do the will of God, Eph 2:10
          ”Created unto,” for the purpose of, “good works.”
          ”Good works,” all the doing of God on Earth is done by believers controlled by God the Holy Spirit.
          ”Ordained” prepared, the Divine operating assets are provided by God.
   

Monday, November 13, 2000

Thought for the Day — In Case You Missed Church Sunday

When Christ died for our sins on the Cross, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit had forsaken Him. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Notice He was aware still of a relationship, but of a broken relationship. He was separated from God and that is truly death.

The Son of God was forsaken so that the sons of God can never be forsaken. He not only took our sin away, but He also took away our forsakenness.

This is good picture of what it means to be out of fellowship.

Sunday, November 12, 2000

The Pursuit of Happiness!

“Blessed are the pure in heart,” Matt 5:8. “Happinesses to the pure in mind,” which means there is only inner happiness when you are in fellowship with God.

”For they shall see God.” This refers to being occupied with Christ in time, “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.” This is thinking Divine Viewpoint rather than human or satanic viewpoint. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, saith the Lord.” Thinking Divine Viewpoint is a result of the filling of the Spirit.

”Blessed are the peacemakers,” Matt 5:9. Peace and peacemakers are those who witness for the Lord Jesus Christ and communicate the way of peace between God and man, called reconciliation.

”Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” They are identified with God, because they carry His message of Grace and salvation as His ambassadors.

”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

”Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,” Matt 5:10-12. Inner happiness is the possession of those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, verse 10, for Christ’s sake, verse 11.

So keep on rejoicing, keep on staying in fellowship regardless, because God’s plan of Grace is greater than any pressure or persecution in life. The idea is to draw upon the Grace of God.

A Seven-Fold Salvation to Israel at the Second Advent of Christ

1. The Lord will save Israel from the desolation and disasters of their wandering state, as a scattered nation for He says, “I will take you from the nations.”
   
2. He will save Israel to Himself, for He affirms, “I will be your God.”
   
3. He will save Israel from all their uncleanness, for He declares, “I will save you from all your uncleanness.”
   
4. He will save them from their unbelief, for He pledges to, “Take away their stony heart.”
   
5. He will save Israel from their disobedience, for He assures them, “I will cause you to walk in My ways.”
   
6. He will save to the possession and power of the Holy Spirit, for He promises, “To put His Spirit within them.”
   
7. And He will save Israel to be a praise among the nations, whereas before they profaned His Holy Name among them, Ezek 23-29.
   

“Behold I Make All Things New,” Rev 21:5

When we look out on the world, it is like a cauldron of boiling metal. The fire of hell beneath it is being stirred up by the devil with the poker of hate. There is only One who can remedy matters. And that One is the One who says, “Behold I make all things new.”

The Nailed Hand of Calvary is the only hand that can arrest the hand of might. The love of Christ is the only power that fuses the mass of mankind into the common interest of brotherhood. The selfless Lord who emptied Himself, is the only One who can give the disinterestedness of mutual good.

When He begins to remake:

There is no decisive hope but a promise of Divine revelation. Three times in Rev 21:5, 6 we have the declaration of:

The Palestinian Covenant Given to Abraham is Not Given to the Palestinians

It is now given to the Jewish people. It is given to born again Jews who become the wife of God.

Isa 54:5, “For thy Maker is thine husband.”
”The Lord of hosts is His Name.”
”Thy Redeemer.”
”The Holy One of Israel.”
”The God of the whole Earth shall He be called.”

When Israel becomes the wife of JEHOVAH!

Sunday School Class — In Case You Slept In — “Another Comforter”

Christ is not impersonating anyone when He speaks of “another Comforter.” He means a distinct individuality apart from Himself.

The personal pronouns which the Lord uses about the Holy Spirit bring this out with unmistakable clearness. Take the personal pronouns of John chapter 14 and 16. There we find:

Notice the ministry here of God the Holy Spirit. And most Christians deprive themselves of Him and His ministry in their lives by grieving and quenching God the Holy Spirit.

Saturday, November 11, 2000

The Pursuit of Happiness – “Blessed,” Literally, Happinesses

“Blessed are they that mourn,” Matt 5:4

This is inner happiness that comes from the Word of God in the soul of the believer, which can handle pressure situations and any suffering situation in life. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ carries inner happiness with Him wherever He goes, because it is not dependent on circumstances in life.

The trial of your faith – you come forth rejoicing in the Lord. 

”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth,” Matt 5:5

The meek are those who are Grace oriented. This is a believer who is spiritually poised, and is the antithesis to the pride power generated by the energy of the flesh.

Inheriting the Earth refers to the Jewish believers in the Millennium, the Palestinian covenant – the promise to born-again Jews of the land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, which they have never had.

The Biblical Principle of the Divine Provision – Eph 4:1-16

Grace is the source of the Divine provision. God’s Grace is based upon His love to give.

Such expressions will illustrate the principle, “Given Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” “He gave gifts unto men,” verses 7, 8, 11.

Grace is love blessing the undeserving. Mercy is helping the needy, power lifting the down trodden, fullness filling the empty, compassion loving the hopeless, beauty clothing the naked, help saving the lost, strength empowering the weak, cleansing purifying the defiled, tenderness melting the hardened, and joy gladdening the miserable.

Grace meets the sin of the sinner and removes it. Grace answers for the sinner by dying for Him. Grace lives to empower the saint and to live in Him. Grace equips the soldier, and conquers through Him. Grace leads the child of God, and cheers him. Grace employs the servant and for service fits him. Grace undertakes for the believer and supplies all his need.

Therefore, Eph 4:6 is the keynote of Grace’s action. “Father of all,” for all come from Him. “Above all,” for He alone is in the place of authority. “Through all,” for He alone is the life of all. And “in all,” for He alone can sanctify and qualify for all things in life and labor.

”Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”

Christ is the Substance of the Divine Provision

Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory and the express image of His Person, and the Reservoir of His fullness, Heb 1:3.

God has nothing to give apart from Christ. And there is no more when He is given, Rom 8:32. As the diamond flashes forth its excellence in the gold ring of its setting, so in the ring of Scripture, Christ’s glory is revealed.

The personal pronouns and His names and His titles enshrine and illustrate:
The “Lord” in the strength of His support – Eph 4:1
The “One Lord” in the supremacy of His glory – Eph 4:5
The “Christ” in the Grace of His bestowment – Eph 4:7
The “He saith” in the authority of His Word – Eph 4:8
The “He ascended” of His acceptance – Eph 4:8
The “He led” of His splendid triumph – Eph 4:8
The “He descended” of His loving abasement – Eph 4:9
The “He might fill” of wonderful accomplishment – Eph 4:10
The “He gave” of His gracious endowments – Eph 4:11
The “Christ” of the oneness of the mystical body – Eph 4:12
The “Son of God” in the glory of His inspiring knowledge – Eph 4:13
The “Christ” in “the fullness” of His supply – Eph 4:13
The “Head” in its compacting and controlling ministry – Eph 4:15

Veterans Day – November 11, 2000

O God of Truth, whose living Word
Uphold whatever has breath.
Look down on Thy creation, Lord
Enslaved by sin and death.

Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the foe
That vex thy groaning Earth.

Ah! Would we join that blessed array
And follow in the might,
Of Him, the Faithful and the True
In raiment clean and white.

We fight for Truth. We fight for God.
Poor slaves of lies and sin,
He who would fight for Thee on Earth
Must first be true within.

Then, God of Truth, for whom we long
Thou who wilt hear our prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts
And slay the falsehood there.

Yes, come, then, tried as in the fire
From every lie set free,
Thy perfect Truth shall dwell in us
And we shall live in Thee.

Growth is the Outcome of the Divine Provision in Christ

The expressions:
”Walk worthy” – Eph 4:1
”Perfect man” – Eph 4:13
”No more children” – Eph 4:14
”Grow up” – Eph 4:15
”Maketh increase” – Eph 4:16
All indicate progress, advancement, and care.

To walk worthy of the Lord in lowliness of humility in the evenness of meekness, in the longsuffering of enduring, and in the love of forbearance, we need the worthy Lord Himself. To walk well for the Lord, we need the Lord to walk in us.

”The perfect man” of God’s ideal is consummated in the ideal of His Son. The baby state of spiritual experience is characterized of instability and inefficiency. While the man of Grace is known by the Spirit’s efficiency and steadiness, the outward growth in usefulness and the downward growth in steadfastness are the outcome of growing upward into Christ through His dominance over us.

The success of the Body’s growth is forwarded by the individual members’ advancement.

The Divine Pattern – Eph 4:17-6:9

There are many things suggested in imitating a pattern. Among them are instruction, imitation, illumination, submission, union, responsibility, and appreciation. All these are illustrated in this passage before us.

1. Instructed by Christ, Eph 4:17-31
   
   The key sentence – “You have not so learned Christ,” verse 20, instructed by Christ ...
   About the life of the walk – verse 17
   About the old man of past habit – verse 22
   About the new man of holy living – verse 24
   About the mastery of the wayward tongue – verses 25, 26
   About the obtrusiveness of the devil – verse 27
   About the commendableness of honest labor – verse 28
   About the helpfulness of helping others – verse 29
   About the sensitiveness of the Holy Spirit – verse 30
   About the blight and bitterness of unholy temper – verse 31
   

Imitation of Christ – Eph 4:32 – Eph 5:1, 2

The key sentence is ...
”As Christ loved,” verse 2, imitate Christ …
In kindness
In forgiving Grace
In holy love
In self sacrifice
In God glorifying

Illuminated in Christ – Eph 4:3-20

The key sentence is ...
”Now light in the Lord,” verse 8
Out of the darkness of sin – verses 3-8
Into the relationship of Light – verse 8
Swayed by the Spirit of Light – verses 9, 18
Acting to the God of Light – verse 10
Keeping from what is not Light – verses 11-13
Walking as children of Light – verses 11, 15
Worshipping in the Light – verses 19, 20
Submission to Christ – verses 21-28
Evidence of being Spirit filled – verse 21
Evidence of being under Christ’s authority – verse 24

All the relationships of life are to be fulfilled toward each other by recognizing our responsibility to Him.

See “Unto the Lord” in verse 22 and “ought” of verse 28.

Another Way in Which God Wants to Share His Happiness With You

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,” Matt 5:6.

This is the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who has a desire for the Word of God, and is growing in Grace by the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Righteousness is God’s brand of goodness. 

“Blessed are the merciful,” Matt 5:7. Mercy is Grace in action, and inner happiness is promised here based upon the believer thinking Grace at all times, a mental attitude of Grace, and being Grace oriented. We are saved by Grace and we treat others in Grace.

”As ye have received Christ Jesus our Lord, so walk ye in Him.”

Friday, November 10, 2000

Friday Bible Class!

Something About Your Father!

1. Our Father is made known only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
   Therefore, if we would know the Father, we must know the Son. For “no man,” he explicitly says, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me,” John 14:6.
   
2. That while all men are the “offspring of God,” Acts 17:29, by creation, they are only His creatures and not His children. For all humanity has sinned and all are under condemnation. Rom 3:23.
   Therefore, the necessity of a new birth to become members of the family of the Father, John 3:3, 5, John 1:12, 13.
   ”But as many as have received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God,” John 1:13.
   
3. That it was essential that the Son of God should taste death in a substitutionary sense for those who should become the sons of God.
   For the mystic key to open the door of Sonship, as well as salvation, is the atoning death of Calvary. Christ’s Word is, “The Son of man must be lifted up,” John 3:14.
   The Son of man on the Cross is the procuring cause to make the sons of men one with Him in the commonwealth of His Fatherhood.
   
4. That believers in Christ are the children of God in a double sense. Spiritually, by the new birth, for by the Spirit are we born into God’s family. John 1:12, 13, 3:3, 5 and receive His nature, 2 Pet 1:4.
   And adoptively we are the children of God as to place for He has given us all the privileges of sonship. Rom 8:15-17.
   
5. That the evidence that we are the children of God is not by profession, but by following two things:
   A. Negatively – separation for sin, for we read, “He that committeth sin is of the devil … In this, the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil,” 1 John 3:8-10.
   B. Positively – Love to the Lord in loving others. ”Everyone that loveth is begotten of God,” 1 John 4:7.
   
6. That it is the privilege of every child of God to experience all that is meant by God being our Father.
   A father thinks of his children.
   A father cares for his children.
   A father watches over his children.
   A father helps and keeps his children.
   
   Our Father provides for our needs, Matt 6:8, 26, 30
   Our Father answers our requests, Matt 7:11, John 14:13
   Our Father watches over our welfare, Matt 10:29-31, John 13:1
   Our Father takes pleasure in giving, Luke 12:32
   Our Father protects us in danger, John 10:29
   Our Father secures a home for us, John 14:2
   Our Father loves His own children, John 16:27
   Our Father trains His children, Heb 12:7-9
   

“PARA” – A Greek Preposition Related to God the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit in His Care

“PARA” signifies to be beside another, to be in close proximity, to proceed from the side or vicinity of one, or from one’s sphere of power, or from one’s wealth or store. It means to come from beside one. And with the dative case, it means to be at the side of a person for that person’s benefit. With the accusative case, it denotes motion towards another.

The genitive case is the illustrative case, by Christ saying, “I come from the Father.”
The dative case by Peter lodging, “With one Simon, the tanner,” Acts 10:6
And the accusative case, by Paul of Tarsus who was, “Brought up at the feet of Gamaliel,” Acts 22:3.

”PARA,” as associated with God the Holy Spirit, occurs three times. One with the dative case, and twice with the genitive, John 16:28.
”He dwelleth with,” PARA, “you,” John 14:17
”Sent from,” PARA, “the Father,” John 15:26
”Proceedeth from,” PARA, “the Father,” John 15:26

The Holy Spirit has come from the Father in response to the request of the Lord Jesus Christ to care for His children, to take the place of Christ, and to carry on His work. Therefore, the Spirit is in accord with the Father and the Son. Therefore, if we would keep in accord with them, we need to be in the concord of the Holy Spirit. There are 13 Greek prepositions associated with God the Holy Spirit.

So, do you think believers in our age are interested in the Word of God to that extent?

Dative case means it is for your benefit.

“META” – Greek Preposition Associated With God the Holy Spirit

The Spirit as the Identifier

“META” signifies to be identified with another or something, to be associated with a person, as in the apostle’s benediction, when Paul says, “The Lord Jesus Christ with thy spirit, Grace be with you,” 2 Tim 4:22.

As found in association with the Spirit, “META” is used twice with the genitive. ”That He may abide with,” META, “you for ever,” John 14:16.

”Communion of the Holy Spirit be with,” META, “you,” 2 Cor 13:14

The Spirit identifies Himself with us as the Companion for fellowship, that we, in all things, may have fellowship with the Companion.

Romans 8:28 – Fulfilled in the Life of Joseph!

1. Jacob’s favoritism was bad, but it worked for good. Gen 37:3.
2. Hatred of his brothers bad – but works for good. Gen 37:4.
3. Plot to kill Joseph bad – but works for good. Gen 37:15.
4. Reuben’s intervention bad, but works for good. Gen 37:25.
5. Coming of the caravan bad, but works for good. Gen 37:25.
6. Judah suggest to sell Jospeph bad, but works for good. Gen 37:26, 27.
7. Israelites and Midianites in the caravan bad, but works for good. Verse 28.
8. Joseph arrives in Egypt as a slave bad, but works for good. Gen 39:1.
9. Joseph is sold into the house of Potiphur bad, but works for good. Gen 37:26.
10. Potiphar’s wife lied which causes Joseph’s imprisonment bad, but works for good. Gen 39:17, 18.
11. Joseph is in charge in prison. Good works for good. Gen 39:23.
12. Joseph trusted in man bad, but works for good. Gen 40:14
13. Magicians and wise men were not able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, bad for Pharaoh, but good for Joseph. Gen 41:8.
14. Good and bad are still woven into a tapestry.

God’s Grace turns cursing into blessing. God in His omniscience works all things, bad and good, for the good of those who belong to Him.

”They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to deliver many souls alive.”

Frantic Search for Happiness – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

We all want to be happy, and we try everything and anything in order to be happy. But the result is found in one of the richest men of all times and one of the smartest. This man had the mind and the money to pursue all sorts of things, to find happiness more so than possibly anyone else could and he failed. He tried wisdom. He tried money. He tried putting up buildings to leave as a memorial to him. He had 100 girlfriends. He studied philosophy. And he even tried laughter. And the end was, as he put it, “Vanity, vanity, and vexation of spirit.” The man’s name is Solomon, and the book where this is all found in is the book of Ecclesiastes.

Happiness has been provided for every member of the human race. If you are not happy, don’t blame God. He has provided for you. I don’t know if you know it or not, but there never was a time when God was not happy. And He wants to share His happiness with you.

I have eight suggestions.

1. The Greek word “blessed” means “happiness,” but it is plural, so it should read happinesses. God can’t bless you. He can only bless you plurally, i.e., blessings.
   
   The Sermon on the Mount was taught by the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples, telling them about eight areas in their lives where they can have happiness.
   
   ”Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Matt 5:3. Literally, “Happinesses are the poor in spirit.” This is a reminder of the Grace of God in salvation. ”Poor in spirit” means someone who is destitute of a human spirit, who is void of the happiness that comes with salvation. Happiness begins at the Cross. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ carries his happiness around with him – the joy of our salvation.
   
   So, unbelievers cannot have the happiness of God in their lives.
   

Thursday, November 9, 2000

Thursday Morning Bible Class

Where is He?  “The Lord is there.”

The Old Testament question to fallen man is, “Adam, where are you?”

The first question in the New Testament is 

“Where is He?”
The reply to the question in the New Testament as given by God the Holy Spirit is in the past, present, and future is “Where was He?”

In the manger of humiliation at His incarnation.
In the wilderness of His temptation at His testing.
In the hall of judgment at His rejection.
On the Cross of atonement at His death.
In the will of His Father in His service.
Outside the tomb of death at His resurrection.
On the Mount of Triumph at His ascension.

Where is He?
On the throne of acceptance with His Father.
In the surrendered child of God by His Spirit.

Where will He be?
On the throne of glory at His coming.

JEHOVAH!

What shall we say of this wonderful name of JEHOVAH?

Let us remember that His Name is:

”Holy and reverend,” Psa 111:9
Therefore, holiness and reverence become us who bear His Name.
”Be ye holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

“ Psa 135:3
Therefore, let us gladly praise Him for He is “full of delight.”

”His Name is glorious,” Psa 72:19
Therefore, let us exult in Him forever.

”His Name is excellent,” Psa 148:13
Therefore, let us speak well of Him.

”His Name is exalted,” Isa 12:4
Therefore, let us proclaim Him as the Supreme One.

”His Name is everlasting,” Isa 63:16
Therefore, let us count upon Him for continued blessing.

”Our Redeemer from the age-time past is Thy Name.”

Christ the Son is Seen in Seven Relations to the Father

1. The willing Son – Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 12:27-28
   
2. The confident Suppliant – Matt 11:25
   
3. The satisfied Intercessor – John 11:41
   
4. The earnest Worker – John 17:1
   
5. The holy Priest – John 17:5, 21, 24
   
6. The pleading Substitute – Luke 23:34
   
7. The surrendered Spirit – Luke 23:46
   

Our Provision From Our Father!

There are three New Testament Scriptures that begin with:

”Blessed by the God and Gather of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Cor 1:3, Eph 1:3, 1 Pet 1:3, which accentuate the largeness of the Father’s provision.

”All comfort in all tribulation” is found in the first, so every circumstance in the outer life is met.

”All blessing for all need” is assured in the second, so every requirement of the inner life is bestowed.

”And all the future for all time and eternity” is provided for in the third, so the life infused is the earnest of the life to come in all its incorruptibility and purity.

Assurance in Our Father!

“Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son in your hearts crying, Abba, Father,” Gal 4:6, Rom 8:15

The Spirit by the Word assures the sinner that he is God’s own child. The act of our faith acting according to God’s Word meets the assurance of God’s voice in that Word, that the believers are God’s children.

The witness within is the entrance of the Word of God without, even as the sun-lighted and sun-warmed room is proof positive of the shining sun outside.

Loved and Preserved by God Our Father!

“Beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ,” Jude 1.

One of the fundamental principles brought out in the New Testament is the unity of the operation of the three Persons of the Godhead, and yet Their distinctive ministries.

The Father bears witness to the Son and the Son to the Father.
The Spirit reveals the Son and the Son speaks of the Spirit.
The Spirit leads to the Son that we may know the Father.
The Father keeps us for the Son that we may share His glory.

The redeemed are not only kept in Christ as the place of their safety, but they are preserved for Him as a trophy of His Grace.

A Three-Fold Way by Which Christ is Glorified in His Saints

1. In what He has done for them for the Father, hence He says, “I am glorified in them,” John 17:10.
   
2. In what the Spirit does in them as they know Christ in the effectiveness of His Grace, hence the apostle prayed, “That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you,” 2 Thes 1:11, 12.
   
3. And what the Father is yet going to do when He recompenses His own at the coming of Christ with His saints in judgment when, “In that day He shall be glorified in His saints,” 2 Thes 1:6-10.

To the time of His return, when we shall be mutually satisfied, and to the day of His manifested glory, when we shall be admired by the world, we are kept by the Father.

S.O.S. 8:7, “Many Waters Cannot Quench Love, Neither Can the Floods Drown It”

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man was loved by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man
Compare with me, ye women if you can.

I prize thy love more then whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay
The Heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere
That when we depart, our love will ever be dear.

Armistice Day – November 11, 2000

Lord while for all mankind we pray,
Of every clime and coast.
O hear us for our native land
The land we love the most.

Oh guard our shores from every foe
With peace our borders bless.
With prosperous times our cities crown
our fields with plenteousness.

Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, Truth, and Thee.
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.

Lord of all the nations, thus to Thee
Our country we commend,
Be Thou her refuge and her trust
Her ever-loving Friend.

Veterans Day – November 11, 2000

Men of America who inherit
Rights that cost your fathers their blood.
Men whose undegenerate spirit
Has proved on field and in flood.

You, remember, America, gathers
Hence but fruitless wreaths of fame.
If the freedom of your fathers
Glow not in your souls the same.

What are monuments of bravery
Where no public virtues bloom?
What avail in lands of slavery
Trophied temples arc and tomb.

We’re the sons of fathers that baffled
Crowned and mitered tyranny
They defied the field and scaffold
For their birthright, so will we.

Wednesday, November 8, 2000

Wednesday Bible Class

The contrast between John chapter 8 and John chapter 9:

Principles of Being a Mediator

1. He must be truly man – John 10:14 – equal with humanity.
   
2. He must be truly God – John 10:15a –  he is equal with the Father.
   
3. He must lay down His life – John 10:15b, Heb 9:15 – by means of death.

If His humanity dies and He is not resurrected, He does not qualify. John 10:17-18. The doctrine of being a Mediator is found in 1 Tim 2:5-6

”There is one Mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus.”

The Pharisees Come – John 10:10

1. Steal – Destroy the sheep with false doctrine.
   
2. Kill – Use of violence, pressure, and oppression.
   
3. Destroy – Eternal separation from God.

”I am come.” Aorist tense, in a point of time.

Literally, “or became” that they may have light. Present tense, always.

”That they may have it more abundantly.”

John 11:25, 26

“I am” – present tense, “the Resurrection.”

Here He is referring to His humanity, which He puts first in anticipation of His own death and resurrection three days later. He is the Firstfruits of the first resurrection. 1 Cor  15:23, “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming.”

”I am the life” refers to His Deity. He is eternal life and this relationship is entered into by faith in Him. John 11:26, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?”


Though a believer may die physically, yet he will be resurrected and live eternally.

What is the Reason the Bible Says Prayers Are Not Answered?

1. Lack of faith – Matt 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
   
2. Selfishness – James 4:2-3, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
   
3. Carnality – Psa 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
   
4. Lack of compassion – Prov 21:13, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”
   
5. Lack of domestic tranquility – 1 Pet 3:7, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the Grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
   
6. Pride – Job 35:12, 13, “There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.”
   
7. Lack of Spirit-filled life – Eph 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
   
8. Disobedience – 1 John 3:22, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
   
9. Lack of compliance with the will of God – 1 John 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:”

”My hand is not shortened that it cannot save. My ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. But your sins have separated you from your God and He will not hear you,” Isa 59:1-3.

John 14:21 – The Love Triangle!

Link one: “He that has,” present tense, “My commandments and keeps them,” present tense, “he it is that loves Me,” present tense.

Link two: “Shall be loved,” present tense, “of My Father.”

Link three: Christ “will love him,” the believer executing the Christian way of life, “and will manifest Myself to him.”

Christ is manifested only to believers who utilize His provisions – the filling of the Spirit, Eph 5:18, non-grieving Christians.

Five Bible Classes in One Chapter – John Chapter 8

1. The Light of the world Bible class, verses 12-20
   
2. The “die in your sins” Bible class, verses 21-29
   
3. A Bible class for new believers, verses 30-32
   
4. The liberation Bible class, verses 33-50
   
5. The deliver from death Bible class, verses 51-57.
   

Jesus Christ Gives the Woman at the Well Three Commands

Three imperative moods:

1. “Go” – present tense, imperative mood. Get going.
   
2. “Call” – aorist tense, imperative mood. Thy husband.
   
3. “Come” – aorist tense, imperative mood. Come once and for all.

One trip is all that is necessary. Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Seven Factors in Nathanael’s Conversion

1. He heard – John 1:45
   
2. He inquired – John 1:46
   
3. He investigated – John 1:47
   
4. He reacted – John 1:48
   
5. He accepted – John 1:49
   
6. He believed – John 1:50
   
7. He oriented himself – John 1:50, 51
   

John Chapter One Related to Dispensational Categories

1. John 1:1, 2 – Eternity past
   
2. John 1:3 – Jesus Christ created the universe including man
   
3. John 1:14 – Incarnation, virgin birth, the God-man
   
4. John 1:29 – The Cross, Jesus Christ qualified to lift the sins of the human race
   
5. John 1:35- 42 – Church Age, evangelism, and explanation of the Word of God
   
6. John 1:43-51 – The Tribulation. Nathanael, a picture of the Jewish remnant
   
7. John 2:1 – Marriage of Cana. The marriage of the Lamb when the Lord returns
   

John the Baptist Identifies Himself – John 1:20-21

1. Negative
   ”I am not Christ,” verse 20
   ”I am not Elijah,” verse 21
   ”I am not that prophet,” verse 21
   
   This was a special prophet, Deut 18:15, 18. They could stone him if he said he was this special prophet. John identifies himself, verses 22-24. They asked him again who he was so they could tell those who sent them, verse 24. John’s answer, verse 23.z
   
2. “I am a voice”
   He didn’t make an issue out of his personality. The religious crowd did that.
   
3. “The Voice”
   1. Correlate that with John 1:1, the Word, LOGOS. He expresses Himself in words.
   2. It is a medium of expression
   3. A voice is heard but not seen
   4. The Word endures after the voice is silent.
   

The Use of Water in Scripture!

1. Actual water – Matt 3:16
   
2. Eternal life – Rev 22:17
   
3. The Holy Spirit – John 7:37
   
4. Salvation – Isa 55:1
   
5. The Word of God – 1 Pet 1:23, James 1:18, Psa 119:150, Eph 4:25

”Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Water here is used for the Word of God.

Wednesday Night Bible Class

“Ye shall die in your sins,” John 8:21

”I go My way.” He refers to the fact that He was eventually going to the Cross, which was the Father’s plan for Him. It also included His resurrection, ascension, session, intercession, return, and Millennial reign.

They thought He was going to leave. But He is going to stay around. This perfect plan of redemption is based on a perfect God which includes the Doctrine of Divine Decrees.

”Ye shall seek,” in the future, “Me and shall die,” in the future, “in your sin.” “Whether I go, you cannot come,” verse 21.

There are three kinds of death in view in this passage:

   A. Spiritual death – Unbelievers separated from God in time.

   B. Physical death – Separation of the body from the soul and spirit.

   C. The second death – Eternal separation from God
       They cannot be in the Lord’s presence in eternity as unbelievers. Some have already rejected Him and this is to be their judgment.

We may experience only one of these three deaths, and then we may not. ”Behold I shew you a mystery. We shall not all sleep.”

Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Tuesday Bible Class!

The little words of the Bible are large in their claim and revelation. The magnificence, munificence, and the manifoldness of God’s Grace and love are seen in the use of the word “all” in the book of Ephesians.

”All spiritual blessings” is the totality of His bestowment in Christ, 1:3.

”All wisdom” is revealed in the giving of His love “according to the riches of His Grace,” 1:7, 8.

”All things” God will in the end gather together in Christ, 1:10.

”All things” are made subservient to the “counsel of His will,” 1:11.

”All the saints” are in the plan of His love and the purpose of His Grace, 1:15, 3:8, 18.

”All principalities, and power, and might, and dominion,” are under Christ for He is “above all and all are under His feet,” 1:21, 22.

”All in all” is the descriptive word which proclaims the compass of His fullness. 1:23.

That is only the first chapter and it goes on and on. If you add the other small word, “in,” which is repeated in Ephesians, “in Him,” “in Him,” “in Him,” and you put those two small words together, how large they become.

”In Him we have all.”

Ephesians Chapter Three and the Little Word “All”

All things were created by Jesus Christ, 3:9, which reminds us who is the Organizer and Originator and by what means they were made to be.

All the fullness of God, 3:19, is the sphere into which believers are to find themselves in being supplied.

All we ask or think, yes, exceedingly abundantly above, is the arresting word in declaring God’s Grace in bestowment, 3:20.

All ages are to witness to the glory and power of Christ, 3:21.

“All” in Ephesians Chapter Four

All lowliness, with the sisters of meekness and longsuffering and forbearance in love, are to be the characteristics of the walk of the believer, 4:1-3.

All ... All ... All ... All – Four Alls ... in one verse, one God and Father of us all who is above all and through all, and in you all, 4:6. He is sufficient for all His children under all conditions.

”All heavens” He is “above.” He went to the lowest place and now occupies the highest, 4:10.

”All things” He “fills” or “fulfills” no matter what the calls are which are made upon Him, 4:10.

”All come” into the unity of the faith, 4:13, is the goal to which He is leading.

”All things” and in them all He leads His saints to grow up into Christ, 4:15.

”All uncleanness with greediness,” 4:19, is the reminder of what was once the trend and tendency of the past life.

”All bitterness,” and “all malice,” and “all the kindred crop of ill growths” are to be put away, 4:31, 5:3-6.

We could really write a commentary on just two words in the book of Ephesians – the word “all” and the word “in” – “in all” “in you all.”

The Word “All” in Ephesians Chapter Five

All goodness and righteousness and Truth are the trinity of the Spirit’s fruit which are to be seen, 5:9.

”All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light,” 5:13. Light reveals the wrong, and points to the right.

”All things” call for the giving of thanks, 5:20.

The Word “All” in Ephesians Chapter Six

”All having done” we are called not to trust in our victories but to “stand” prepared for other assaults, 6:13.

”All above all,” Christ as the Shield of faith covers all the armor so that no part is unprotected, 6:16.

”All the fiery darts of the wicked” can be quenched by the Lord, 6:16.

”All prayer and supplication” praying at every point and in every time, 6:18.

”All perseverance and supplication for all saints,” 6:18, always with all the soul and for all the souls.

God who spared not His only Begotten Son but has given Him up “for us all” how shall He not with Him freely give us “all things.”

Thought for the Day!

What Goes Around Comes Around!

David received the men in the hold when they were in distress. And David was helped by them when he was distressed, 1 Sam 22:2, 1 Chr 11:15-19

Abigail ministered to David in his need.
And David honored her in her widowhood, 1 Sam 25:18-27, 39

Isaac gave the jewels to Rebekah.
And Rebekah gave herself to Isaac, Gen 24:22, 58

Ruth clave to Naomi in her affection.
And Naomi clave to Ruth in her service, Ruth 1:18, 4:16

The Shunammite woman entertained Elisha to his comfort.
And the prophet obtained a child for her to her consolation, 2 Kings 4:8-17

And we can go on …

But the greatest example of what goes around comes around … He who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.

And He who obtained by His love a willing and loving ministry in return, Matt 20:28, 2 Cor 12:15.

Tuesday Morning Men’s Bible Class!

Blessing found in the name, “Lord.” We have in the Lord:

1. Safety
   “A Tower of strength is the Name of the Lord thereinto runneth the righteous and is safe,” Prov 18:10.
   
2. Joy
   ”They may leap for joy in Thee who are lovers of Thy Name,” Psa 5:11.
   
3. Supply
   ”Lord a refuge for times of destitution, thus let them that know Thy Name put confidence in Thee,” Psa 9:10.
   
4. Power
   ”I will make them mighty in the Lord and in His Name shall they march to and fro, declareth the Lord,” Zech 10:12.
   
5. Inspiration
   ”I have remembered in the night Thy Name, O Lord, and have kept Thy law,” Psa 119:55.
   
6. Victory
   ”The Lord is a warlike One. The Lord is His Name. The chariots of Pharaoh and his train hath He cast into the sea,” Ex 15:3-4.
   
7. Presence
   ”In every place where I may mention My Name will I come in unto Thee and will bless Thee,” Ex 20:24.
   

There are certain things that are said to belong to our Father, which are an advantage to each and everyone of us.

”The Only Begotten of the Father,” John 1:14

Of what Christ became for us –
”The bosom of the Father,” John 1:16.

The affection in which the Son lives –
”The home of the Father,” John 2:16, John 14:2

The place in which He dwells –
”The life of the Father,” John 5:26.

The vitality of His being –
”The will of the Father,” John 5:30, 6:39.

The desire of His heart –
”The Name of the Father,” John 5:43, 10:25, Matt 28:19.

The expression of His nature or His authority –
”The hand of the Father,” John 10:29, Luke 23:46.

The keeping of His promise –
There are many other things that our Father has that are an advantage to us.

The works of the Father –
The commandments of the Father, the knowledge of the Father, the face of the Father, the pleasure of the Father, the blessings of the Father, the promises of the Father, etc., etc., etc.

The Principle of Problem Solving!

John 4:50, “Jesus say unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth and the man believed the Word that Jesus had spoken unto Him and He went His way.”

The spark of faith received fuel to become a great fire. Jesus told him to go and tend to his regular business. His son lived, present tense. The man believed and tended to his business the rest of the day. Jesus Christ gave a promise for time to this new believer. He could choose to believe or reject this promise.

This man was four hours from his son and the promise was given at 1 p.m. Jewish time and he didn’t go home and check on his son. He claimed God’s Word.

The Purpose of Miracles

The revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is found in John chapters three and four.

His omnipresence, John 3:13.
His omniscience, John 4:18.
His omnipotence, John  4:50.

The purpose of miracles was not to alleviate suffering “in time.” Jesus Christ did not heal everyone who was sick. Miracles were to gain an audience for the Gospel.

Time is only a drop in the bucket compared to eternity, John 3:18.

Miracles focused attention on Jesus Christ as the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, John 14:6. As well as His work on the Cross.

His emphasis was to alleviate suffering for all eternity, Rev 21:4.

You heal a broken arm, for example in time, and in eternity you suffer for ever.

Time is designed to stop suffering in eternity. And the means is the Gospel, not physical healing.

Monday, November 6, 2000

A Soul in Trouble!

Psa 42:2, “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.”

This whole Psalm is a song of a soul in trouble. But in the midst of the trouble, the psalmist speaks to himself in tones of determined hope. In these particular words we have at once a revelation of the uttermost experience of sorrow, and a revelation of the inspiration of hope.

Sorrow is always a sense of a lack. The sorrow of bereavement is the sense of the loss of a loved one. The sorrow of sickness is the lack of health. The ultimate sorrow is the sense of the lack of God. And this was the supreme sorrow of this singer.

All his personal sufferings were accentuated by his inability to find his way into conscious fellowship with God. That thirst for God is the most terrible thirst. Nothing can assuage it.

Thus, the cry of anguish is the expression of hope. That is the one and only hope in the hour of this suffering. To find a way back to God. To come and appear before Him is the only cure for the intolerable thirst.

Let it clearly be recognized that the value of this Psalm is the revelation of God Himself. Even though this troubled soul had lost its sense at the moment of fellowship, he knew God. And in the midst of the anguish, believed that God would appear for his deliverance. Apart from this knowledge, there would have been desire but no hope. It was his knowledge of God that touched his desire with expectation and so created hope.

See Him as He is!

Looking forward to the future bliss of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit through the apostle John says, “We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,” 1 John 3:2.

Notice carefully, meditate, “See Him as He is,” not as He was. He was a man of sorrows. And shamed on the Cross. But “as He is,” He is honored and glorified. A full description of Him as the Glorified One is given in Revelation one. 

We shall be “like Him.” This we know for we are assured it shall be so. Like Him we shall be pure in nature, spotless in character, beautiful in form, clothed with light, perfect in body, incorruptible in being, and luminous in glory.

What a prospect, what a hope, what manner of persons ought we to be with such a glory before us? We won’t see the Christ in humiliation but in glory, and only the marks on His body will identify Him as our Sacrifice for sin.

What Was it That Attracted the Wise Men to Worship Christ?

They themselves tell us. They said, “We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him,” Matt 2:1-12. ”And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him and presented unto Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

Are we too not looking for the Babe of Bethlehem? “But the bright and shining morning star.” And we will bring to Him the gold of obedience, the frankincense of a holy life, and the myrrh of a glad fellowship in His death and resurrection.

Two-Fold Knowledge!

Writing to the saints in Corinth on the incentive to Christian giving, the apostle says, “Ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich,” 2 Cor 8:9.

His Grace of underserved mercy is manifest in that He who was intrinsically rich, rich in Himself in every way, for our sakes “on behalf of us,” became a beggar. The word “poor,” is the same as used in describing Lazarus as a beggar. That we out of His beggary might be enriched.

It is not through His poverty, as a medium. For the word is “EK,” which means “out of.” “Out of” His beggary come our riches.

Wonderful statement – Out of His death comes life. Out of His curse comes blessing. Out of His ignominy comes glory. Out of His judgment comes salvation. Out of His hell comes Heaven. Out of His darkness comes light. Out of His emptying comes fullness.

Do we know Him like this? Hallowed knowledge. Life-giving knowledge. This is no knowledge of mere intellectualism, but the knowledge of soul experience and culture.

Monday Night Bible Class!

The Law of the Spirit!

Rom 8:2, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes us free from the law of sin and death.”

A Spirit-filled life is extensive in its meaning. There are several phases and phrases which have to do with a spirit-filled life.

”Filled in the Spirit,” not “with,” is the most extensive word that is used of His ministry. The preposition “EN” should read “in” and not “with.” The Spirit is in every believer as the Spirit of adoption, but it is not every believer that is in the Spirit. It is one thing to possess the Spirit, and it is another thing to be possessed by the Spirit.

When the Spirit lives in us in absolute possession, we live in Him in the many sidedness of His Grace.

Tuesday Morning Ladies’ Bible Class

How to Recognize the Man the Lord Has For You

1. Women are never told in Scripture to love their husbands.
   
2. Husbands are told to love their wives.
   Eph 5:25, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”
   Your Right-Man will be an initiator and he will be aggressive in his love for you. So, when you recognize your Right-Man from the Lord, you can relax and fulfill your function as a woman and respond to his love.
   Is it the same as with the body of Christ. “We love because He first loved us.” ”Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His life a ransom for the many.”

In marriage today, the roles are reversed. The man is passive and the woman is aggressive. It will not work because it is against all the biblical principles when it comes to marriage, which is a Divine institution. Marriage is a Divine Institution for believer and unbeliever alike, to keep a stabilized society.

Two Places!

When Christ came into the world, there was “no room.” The word “room” in other verses is given as “no place for Him in the inn,” Luke 2:7.

And as Christ was about to go out of the world, His parting message and promise was, “I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself,” not the place, John 14:2-3.

Thus the two advents are related and connected again, and yet one other place cements them and that it the “place called Calvary.”

By indissoluble and living bonds, these three places are united. There would have been no place for us in the glory of His presence if He had not been in the place of incarnate love and vicarious death. ”No room for Him” means “room for us.” The place called Calvary places us in the place of the many mansions.

Is this the place?

Sunday, November 5, 2000

“ADONAI”

This word is used of the Lord exclusively. The first time “ADONAI” occurs is in Gen.15:2, “And Abram said, ‘Lord,” ADONAI. Abram takes the place of humble inquiry when he asks how the Lord will fulfill His promise to make him the head of a great nation. The following thoughts are suggested by this title.

Authority  Power  Deity   Reverence   Ownership   Relationship   Responsibility

200 times in the Book of Ezekiel we have the expression, “Saith the Lord God.” Literally it is “ADONAI JEHOVAH.”

Study its use in Ezekiel chapter 16, where the sentence occurs 11 times. It will be found that all the authority of the Great JEHOVAH as Lord and Master is behind Ezekiel in giving the Divine message. Verses 3, 8, 14, 19, 23, 30, 36, 43, 48, 59, 63.

Authority for the Word of God – ADONAI JEHOVAH.

Power

“The Lord God,” JEHOVAH ADONAI, “is my Strength and He will make my feet like hinds feet and He will make me to walk upon mine high places,” Hab 3:19.

Here JEHOVAH is before ADONAI because it is a question of personal relationship to JEHOVAH in giving strength as Lord. “The Spirit of the Lord God,” ADONAI JEHOVAH, “is upon me,” Isa 61:1.

Here “Lord” is before JEHOVAH because it is Christ acting for God in power to others. “The Lord,” ADONAI, “hath made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise,” 2 Kings 7:6. The flap of an eagle’s wing acting for God had more power in it than the whole army of the Syrians.

”The hand of the Lord God,” ADONAI JEHOVAH, “fell upon me, then I beheld,” Ezek 8:1.

In these four Scriptures we have:
Power to walk, Power for service, Power for victory, and Power to see.

Deity

Psa 35:23, We have another combination of ADONAI. Namely, “my God,” ELOHIM, and “my Lord,” ADONAI. Psa 38:15, “O Lord,” ADONAI, “my God,” ELOHIM.

These are the very words which fell from the lips of Thomas as he recognized the Deity of Jesus Christ.

”My Lord and my God.”

Reverence

The Lord as ADONAI is appealed to in Daniel’s confession of national sin. Eleven times.

Once as “ADONAI ELOHIM,” Dan 9:3.
Once in the expression “The Lord’s sake,” verse 17.
Twice in the sentence “Lord, our God,” verses 9, 15.
Seven times in the exclamation, “O Lord,” verses 4, 7, 8, 15, 16, 19

More expressive terms are on the lips holy reverence and trustful love. Therefore, Daniel speaks of God as:

”JEHOVAH ELOHIM,” Dan 9:4, 13
”ADONAI ELOHIM,” Dan 9:15.
“EL” Dan 9:4. 
“ELOHIM” 9:17, 18, 19.
”JEHOVAH,” Dan 9:13.

Right through the prayer of confession the man of God is on his knees and in the inners of his being recognizes the Lordship of JEHOVAH, Dan 9:19.

Listen to his closing words, “O ADONAI hear, O ADONAI forgive, O ADONAI hearken and do.”

Ownership

“The Lord,” ADONAI, “God,” JEHOVAH, “hath opened mine ear,” Isa 50:5.

The prophetical reference is to Christ’s willing service see Psa 40:6-8 and Heb 10:7. The typical reference is to Exodus 21:5, 6, where the slave loves his master to such an extent that he will not avail himself of the right of freedom which the jubilee gives. And says,
”I will love my master ... I will not go out free.” The word “master” is “ADON,” which is the singular form of “ADONAI.”

When the slave gave up his freedom we read, “Then his master,” ADON, “shall bring him unto the door post and his master,“ ADON, “shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall serve him for ever.”

He, “ADON” had an absolute right of ownership to the slave even as Christ has an absolute right to us who are His bond-servants.

Relationship

The expression of faith is, “O my soul. Thou hast said unto JEHOVAH, Thou art my ADONAI,” Psa 16:2. The relationship of a servant to the Lord and the Lord to the servant is recognized.

Responsibility
After the cleansing of the prophet by JEHOVAH, he heard “The voice of ADONAI, saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” After he had responded to the call and heard the message he was to deliver, he said, “ADONAI how long?” Isa 6:8-11. The prophet was found in the attitude of responsible service, as every true servant of the Lord is.

The Lord has a right to our absolute obedience, Mal 1:6, and we have a Grace-given right to His loving protection since we are His own and we can say, “ADONAI JEHOVAH will help me,” Isa 50:7, 9.

When Jesus Christ died for our sins on the Cross, He willingly laid down His life for us. He opened not His mouth, no resistance whatsoever to being judged for the sins of the whole world.

He took the complete blow of God the Father for us without any resistance. But in His submission, He did refuse one thing. Mark 15:23, “And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh.” ”But He received it not!!!!!!”

He would not have the pain lessened in taking on the sins of the world. No pain killers ... He felt the full blow ... completely paid for it all.

TETELESTAI! One of the Greatest Words in all of the Bible!

John 19:30, “It is finished,” TETELESTAI.

Luke tells us that, “When Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit, and having said this He gave up the Spirit,” Luke 23:46. John says that “He said, It is finished and He bowed His head and gave up the Spirit.”

There can be no doubt that when He said “with a loud voice it is finished,” it was the cry of triumph.

The hour had come and He had accomplished all that was in the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. He had entered into and passed through the deep mystery of spiritual death. In that experience, He had cried “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” and in that mystic cry, revealed all that it is possible for men to know of that experience.

All was over except the physical dissolution, which was the sacramental symbol of the spiritual death. To that He passed with calm composure as He said, “Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” In that exultant cry of accomplishment, the soul of man hears the good news of emancipation from all the slavery of sin and of the possibility of realizing all the purposes of God.

While there is much for men to do in working out his own salvation with fear and trembling, there is nothing for him to do to make his salvation possible. Everything is done, and now it is possible for God to work in us to will and to work of His good pleasure.

”TETELESTAI” – finished in the past with a result it remains finished forever. Literally, it is a perfect tense.

“Why Standest Thou Afar Off, O Lord?” Psa 10:1

We have all said this or at one time or another have felt this. But at the moment you feel or say this, you know you are wrong, because you are stating a case that is impossible with the Lord.

In this Psalm the psalmist discovers why he made this statement. For the moment his eyes were fixed upon his circumstances. As the singer contemplated the condition in the midst of which he was living, he saw everywhere might triumphing over right. He watched the cruelty of evil men against the poor and the needy and it did seem as though God had withdrawn Himself, was standing a far off.

We have all lived in hours when if we saw nothing but the conditions, we were constrained to the very same question. The value of a Psalm like this is that it records that mood of the soul only to lead us on to witness this man’s recovery of faith and confidence.

It was impossible that God did not know and see, and that conviction that He not only saw but would act. Therefore, the assurance that must come, full and final victory over all the forces of unrighteousness with the ending of all oppression and cruelty and wrong. Under the rule of God, the day must come when “that man who is of the Earth may be terrible no more.” These were the concluding words of the song, and they constitute a fitting answer to the opening inquiry.

Saturday, November 4, 2000

The Word “Blessed” Means Happiness. But, it is a Plural Word ...

God can’t bless you! He blesses you! Plural, there is no such thing as a single blessing. “MAKARIOS”

Some examples:
”The assurance of the resurrection of our loved ones who have fallen asleep.”
”And the quickening of the living ones is based on Christ died,” 1 Thes 4:14

Christ’s sufferings and glory is the theme of the Scriptures.
”The prophets prophesied of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow,” 1 Pet 1:10-11

”The Church will be set before God without a spot or wrinkle.”
”Because He loved her and gave Himself for her,” Eph 5:25, 27

”We are to be looking for the Blessed Hope and glorious appearing of the glory of the great God and Saviour.”
’Who gave Himself for us,” Titus 2:13
”Who died for us” are the Spirit’s words. “As He declares the ground why we are appointed, placed in the salvation of the future,” 1 Thes 5:9-10

Rom 8:32, “how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?”

Christ’s Own Statements!

1. We are not left with any uncertainty about Christ’s first coming.
   His Word is positive, peculiar, and emphatic. In relation to the Law He says, 
   ”I am come to fulfill it,” Matt 5:17.
2. As to His mission, He declares,
   ”I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” Matt 9:13.
3. Reverting to the authority behind Him in all He said and did, He assures us,
   ”I am come in My Father’s Name,” John 5:43.
4. In calling attention to two of His blessings, He came to give, namely light and life, and His testimony is beyond all question.
   ”I am come, a Light in the world,” “And I am come that you may have life,” John 10:10,  John 12:46. Could anything be clearer??
   

In John’s Gospel 43 Times He Speaks of Christ Being Sent by His Father

And Peter, in Second Peter, mentions the two sendings of the Father. ”God sent His Son to bless you,” and that in a specific way, “By turning away everyone of you from his iniquities.” And thus, by means of One who died and rose again.

But of that same One it is declared, ”He shall send Jesus Christ.” And lest there should be any doubt that the sending is future, ”Whom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution,” Acts 3:20-26.

The Father’s first sending of Christ was that through Him, by means of Him, salvation might be provided for the whole world, John 3:17.

But His “second sending” is that the covenant with Abraham about the land of Palestine might be fulfilled. And His covenant with David might be completed and the other things of the “times of restoration” or restitution, spoken by the prophets, might be consummated.

Can’t have the crown without the Cross. The crown of thorns precedes the royal diadem.

The Race Run

The Victory Won

The Son Come

Friday Night Bible Class!

The Progressiveness of Our Lord’s Christship

1. Personally.
   The Gospels reveal the Lord Jesus Christ as ”The Christ” who came to do a work for us, therefore, it is written, ”That Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life through His Name,” John 20:31.
   
   Also it is upon His personal worth and work as The Christ that His Church is built, as Christ Himself declared when Peter confessed, ”Thou art the Christ,” Mark 8:29, Matt 16:13-16.
   
2. Positionally.
   Jesus Christ is exalted to the right hand of God in the place of authority and power as the Giver of the Holy Spirit. Hence Peter, under Divine inspiration, said on the day of Pentecost, ”God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and ‘Christ,’ literally, God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified,” Acts 2:36.
   
   The despised Man is in the place of absolute authority as ”Lord,” and as “Christ,” is the Giver of the Holy Spirit, therefore all through the Book of Acts, the testimony is to ”The Christ,” Acts 2:31, 3:20, 9:22.
   
3. Mystically.
   Christ is made known as ”The Christ,” which in a mystical sense signifies Christ and the members of the body. The Head is the complement of the members, and the members are the complement of the Head, therefore, the two are summed up as, ”The Christ,” 1 Cor 12:12. Christ is the fullness of the Church, Col 2:9-10, and the Church is the fullness of the Head, Eph 1:23.
   
4. Representatively.
   Christ is the One in whom believers are found, and with Whom they are identified. Therefore, ”We are found in Him,” Phil 3:8, 9, ”Dead with Christ,” “Risen with Christ,” Col 2:20, Col 3:1, ”Quickened together with Christ” and “seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Eph 2:6-7.

Three more progressions of ”The Christ will follow.
Potentially   Prophetically    Provisionally

The Offerer!

The offerer in some cases was different. If the offering was a beast, the bringer of the offering was the offerer. But, if the offering was a bird, the priest acted for the offerer. Lev 1:2, Lev 1:15

The offerer is typical of Christ as man’s Representative, in whom man acts. There were seven things the offerer did:

1. He brought the offering to the door of the tabernacle for presentation. Lev 1:3. Typical of Christ, who presented Himself at His baptism and was accepted in the “well pleased” of Heaven, Mark 1:11.
   
2. It was presented by His own voluntary will, as indicating there was no compulsion. Lev 1:3. “I lay it down of Myself,” John 10:18.
   
3. The offerer put his hand on the offering as identification of his identification with it. Lev 1:4. The Slain Lamb is the Sovereign Lord. Rev 5:6-9.
   
4. The offerer was to kill the offering. Lev 1:5. Christ surrendered Himself up to death. John 19:30.
   
5. The offerer had to flay the offering. Lev 1:6. Typical of Christ being stripped of all for us. 2 Cor 8:9.
   
6. The offerer cut the offering in pieces. Lev 1:6. Typical of Christ in the division of His service. Illustrated in the seven sayings on the Cross. His head of thorns, His hands of service, His heart of love, His feet of passiveness, the word “cut” means “divided.”
   
7. The offerer had to wash some parts of the offering. Lev 1:9. Illustrating the perfection of His humanity – no sin in Him. John 14:30, Heb 7:26.
   

Gospel!

The word “Gospel” does not appear in the Gospel of John. But, John’s Gospel is full of the Gospel. For it reveals to us in its genesis in “the bosom of the Father” and in its revelation unfolds to us a saved sinner in “the bosom of the Son.”

Utterly wanting are all the definitions of God.
The Apostle’s Creed leads us to God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth. The shorter catechism speaks of Him in His being as infinite, eternal, and unchanging justice and goodness. But not a word about love! These words do not occur in any of the confessions of the reformed Church.

God is Love!
This is the panacea to heal the feuds of men.
This is the power to inspire the devotion of saints.
This is the soul to move the sinner from the haunts and habits of sin.
This is the salt to preserve society from the putrefaction of lust.
This is the soil to nourish the character of the fruit with the Spirit.
This is the substance of Christianity as found in Jesus Christ.
This is the essence of God’s being and eternal life.

Eternal life is that which has to do with the being of God, and God, in the essence of His being, is love.

God is Love!

We sing “Love Moved the Mighty God.” No, God, in His mighty love moved. God is love. ”In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

”Herein,” in this, “is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us. And sent His Son to be the propitiation,” a satisfaction, “for,” concerning, “our sins,” 1 John 4:9-10. This is how God, in His love, expressed Himself, but that expression proves that He “is.”

David long ago, in his love for Absalom, when he was slain exclaimed, “Oh my son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son.”

God did die for us. God cannot die. But He who died for us is God. For God, in the eternal value of His own Son, died for us. The Cross of God’s love and the lake of His Grace reveals to us the heart of the One who sits on the throne, therefore, He must be higher than the throne itself.

”We love because He first loved us.”

What is Eternity??

Eternity is the lifetime of God.

The being of God is like a circle – without beginning or end.

His love is like Himself, eternal. Therefore, love’s givings are like Himself, eternal.

The salvation He provides is eternal in its blessing.

The life He gives is eternal in its holiness.

The joy He bestows is eternal in its gladness.

The redemption He affords is eternal in its issues.

The relationship He effects is eternal in its outcome.

The glory He brings is eternal it its satisfaction.

And the love wherewith He loves is eternal in its affection.

“He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” 2 Cor 5:21.

Powerful Verse ... Commit it to Memory ...

When the Lord would lift us up out of sin, it was essential that He should identify Himself with us in it. The Gospel reveals not only Christ acting as our substitute, but of His becoming so one with us in our sin, “that He speaks of our sin as His own.” Therefore, in Him we have answered for it.

In Psalm 38, which is a Messianic Psalm, we hear Christ speaking of “My sin,” “Mine iniquities,” “My wounds,” “My sore,”  “My sorrow,” ”My sin,” “Mine enemies,” and “My salvation.”

Such sentences could not apply to Him personally, for He had no sin and knew no sin. Therefore, they must be understood representatively. “He knew no sin” “But He was made sin for us” – identified and judged.

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me,” Psa 42:7

Jonah, in the sea monster, quotes this Psalm when he exclaims, “The floods compassed me about, all thy waves and thy billows passed over me,” Jonah 2:3

So, Christ, in His sufferings on Calvary, are exclaimed here in prophecy. Christ affirms Jonah’s incarceration was a type of His death and resurrection. Therefore, we are warranted in applying the words of the psalmist as being fulfilled in Him.

”As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days so ...”

Christ’s Five-Fold Declaration About His Life, John Chapter 10

“The Good Shepherd layeth down His life.”
”I lay it down of Myself.”
”No man taketh it from Me.”
”I have authority to lay it down.”
”And authority to take it up again.”

His death was no accident. His star of destiny was His death on the Cross.

”Deep calleth unto deep” on the Cross. Psa 42:7.
The “deep” of man’s sin and Christ’s answer for it.
The “deep” of God’s purpose and the “deep” of Christ’s fulfillment of it.
The “deep” of God’s justice and the “deep” of His mercy.
The “deep” of God’s righteous requirement and the “deep” of Christ’s satisfaction in meeting it.
The “deep” of God’s being of Light called to the “deep” of His love in mutual action.

“If I Were God,” Said Some Great Teacher, “The Sorrows of the World Would Break My Heart”

In reply, someone said, “He doesn’t know what he is saying. -.”

Physically the heart of Christ was not broken.
But, spiritually His Spirit was anguished in death.
His soul was poured out in love.
His body was pierced with suffering.
His brow was torn with thorns.
His tongue was parched with the fire of hell.
His hands were torn with the lacerating nails.
His feet were transfixed with the spikes of perdition.
His face was marred with the blast of sin’s punishment.
His body was racked on the rack of anguish.
He was identified with us and became sin for us.

But, He was so marred, He no longer looked like us – beyond recognition!

Thought for Today!

When you stand in the presence of God our Father, what is the first thing you think He will say to you????

See if my answer corresponds with yours!

“Sin” is the Greek Word HARMARTIA, Which Means “to Miss the Mark”

How does sin “miss the mark?”
Sin is a polluting thing.

1. It pollutes the mind. 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.”
   
2. Defiles the mind. Matt 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:”
   
3. Corrupts the imagination. Gen 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
   
4. Debases the will. John 5:40, “And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.”
   
5. Warps the ways. Rom 3:12-13, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:”
   
6. Injures the soul. Micah 6:7, “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
   
7. Stains the lips. Isa 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
   
8. Blinds the eyes. Mark 8:18, “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?”

”The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Friday, November 3, 2000

Friday’s Bible Class!

The Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Trumpets show how the two truths are associated. These two truths are closely allied in the Book of Zechariah.

In Zech 14:4-21 we have seven times what shall take place ”in that day,” that is the day of the Millennium when the Lord shall tabernacle among us again.

1. Arrival of the Lord with His saints at the commencement of His tabernacling.
   ”His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,” verse 4.
   
2. Darkness leading to light will be the phenomenon ”at that day.”
   ”In that day there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves, the stars, but at evening time it shall be light,” verse 6. The light of salvation shall break its way through the night of judgment, Isa 30:26.
   
3. Living waters blessing the Earth.
   ”It shall be in that day living waters shall go out of Jerusalem,” verse 8. The river described in Ezekiel 47 will bring blessing in its onward and deepening flow.
   
4. Christ’s universal reign.
   ”The Lord shall be king over all the Earth in that day,” verse 9. All the nations shall know the might and right of His reign.
   
5. Christ’s might victorious over His enemies. 
   The peoples that have warred against the Lord shall be brought under His judgment ”in that day,” verses 12-15.
   
6. “Holiness unto the Lord” shall characterize everything.
   ”In that day,” verse 20, everything shall be sacred to Him.
   
7. Exclusion of the enemy.
   ”In that day, there shall no more be the Canaanites in the house of the Lord of hosts,” verse 21. The “trafficer” for self and sin will be excluded.

All this is preceded by Judah looking upon Him whom they have pierced and in knowing Him who was smitten by the Sword of Jehovah on their behalf, Zech 12:10.

The Mount of Transfiguration

The combination of atonement and advent are made known in the transfiguration.

Peter declares of Christ, “Power and coming in His majesty,” 1 Pet 1:16.

Of our Lord and those with Him we read, “There talked with Him two men who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease,” refers to His death, to His exodus, to His going out of the body in death. Luke 9:30-31.

The theme of the glorified ones is Christ’s death.
The source of the glory is Jesus Christ crucified.
When He said, “It is finished,” two eternities met.
There was revealed and accomplished the counsel of God and there was purchased and secured the glory of His people.

Thus, the preaching of Christ crucified is central and comprehensive. The spring of the hope of Christ’s glory ever flows from the smitten rock of Calvary. Those who “appeared in glory” with Christ, were there because of His decease about which they were talking. The vantage point of Calvary gives us the vantage place in glory.

“We Evangelize (Show) the Lord’s Death Till He Come” – The Lord’s Table

The Lord’s supper not only points to the past. But to the future also. It has not only a commemorative, but also a prophetic meaning.

In it we not only show the Lord’s death till He come, but we have also to think of the time when He shall come to celebrate His holy supper with His own, new, in His kingdom of glory.

Every celebration of the supper is a foretaste and prophetic anticipation of the great marriage supper which is prepared for the body of Christ at the second appearing of Christ.

The importance of the sacrament is declared in the words of the Lord, “I will not drink henceforth the fruit of the vine until I drink it new in My Father’s kingdom.” We, therefore, see that the Lord’s supper not only shows forth His death till He comes, but when He has come, we shall still proclaim that death to which we owe everything.

Even as in the Millennium, there will be commemorative sacrifices to point back to that death of deaths, that Sacrifice of sacrifices, and that only atonement for sin. Ezekiel chapter 46.

”Do this in remembrance of Me. Do this to remember Me.”

“Expiation”

Of Christ’s atoning death in the past and His outlook in the Future it is declared,

”But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool,” Heb 10:12-13.

Expiation means to make reparation for wrong done, or to give satisfaction for an evil committed. What the seraph said to Isaiah, “Thy sin is purged,” might be rendered “Thy sin is expiated or atoned for.” Christ’s offering is said to be “for our sins,” literally, that is on behalf of our sins, in answering to them.

The offering of Christ, His perfect life crowned by a willing death in which He fulfilled the destiny of man, and bore the punishment of human sin, is that, and by, and in, which every human life finds its consummation.

There is infinite value in that death because of the value of His infinite worth, for it was in the eternal value of the eternal spirit He offered Himself without spot to God. And so brought an eternal benefit to us.

It is said that Christ perfects by His offering. It is not said the offering perfects.

His action is personal in the application of His own work. It is the Person who gives value to His work. And this is further elucidated if we omit the comma after the word “ever” and place it after the word “sins.” Then the sentence reads “After He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down.”  It was accomplished. Finished.

There Are No Commas or Periods or Exclamation Marks in the Original Text

“After He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down,” Heb 10:12-13

The work of His atoning death being finished, He will never rise up to open the question of atonement for sin again. For His one offering once for all is complete and eternal.

This text read in the ordinary way from 1611–1630. But in 1638, the comma was removed, and placed after the word “sins” and it read, ”forever sat down.” Thus going back to the punctuation of the Bishop’s Bible of 1568, this is the punctuation in the book of common prayers. The words refer to the enduring state rather than to a past act. And the words that follow confirm this. ”For by one Offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”

His perfect act brings unto a perfect state, therefore there is no need for Christ to rise again from His Father’s throne, for since sin has been remitted on the ground of a perfect sacrifice, there is no more offering for sin. Heb 10:18.

The Cross and the Throne. You Can’t Have the Crown Without the Cross

Flowing from Christ’s perfect expiation for sin is an outlook of expectancy of complete triumph over His enemies. ”Henceforth, expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.” The word for “expecting” is used only of “one waiting” for another. It is translated, “waiteth for, tarry for, look for.”

The impotent folk were “waiting for” the moving of the water by the angel, John 5:3. Paul “waited for” and was content to “look for” certain brethren. Acts 17:16, 1 Cor 15:11. Brethren were exhorted to “tarry one for another” when they remembered the Lord’s death, 1 Cor 11:33. Abraham “looked for” a city whose builder was God, Heb 11:10. The husbandman “waiteth for” the fruit of his toil, James 5:7.

God “waited” in the days of Noah for men to change their minds, 1 Pet 3:20.

And Christ is waiting till His enemies shall be subject to Him. And they will be.

Christ and His Second Coming

When Christ, in the absence of Judas, speaks of His coming again. He says, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself,” John 14:3. His “I come” is in contrast to “I go.”

And “again” cannot mean anything else than “again.” “Come again.” “PALIN” – the word for “again” means repetition. Peter not only denied his Lord once, but “again.” And Christ, in the garden, not only prayed once, but He went “away again” and prayed the same words.

The two pillars of the temple of Truth are Christ’s first coming to atone for sin and His second coming to reign.

He will set His hand a second time.

Thursday, November 2, 2000

Sons of God!

There are two words in the New Testament which are rendered “son.” One means the kinship of the same nature, and the other the position of adoption.

Believers are said to be “the children of God” because they are “begotten of Him,” John 1:12-13, 1 John 5:1-3. They are akin to Him and owe their spiritual being to Him, even as a child owes is being to its parents.

”But we are waiting for the adoption,” Rom 8:23, although “we know we are predestinated unto the adoption of children,” Eph 1:5. We are children of God now, but we have not the place of glory for which we are destined. 

Christ is called “the Son of God” and “the Son of man,” but the word TEKNON (descendent) is not used when He is so called. He is not a descendent of God. He is God. He is not a descendent of man, for His humanity was the product of God the Holy Spirit, Luke 1:35.

The word HUIOS, used of Christ as the Son of God and the Son of man, denotes adoption and therefore refers to the place He filled as the “only Begotten Son,” and to the place He assumed as the Son of man who came to seek and to save lost humanity. An adult Son.

The importance of understanding the words of God the Holy Spirit is the key to unlock their secrets.

God Is Said to Have Specifically Spoken in Jesus Christ

The Climax of Revelation is Christ Himself

”For God hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,” Heb 1;2. All those who preceded Him were but foregleams of Him and all the modes and methods by which God revealed Himself in the past, were but shadows of Him, the Living Substance.

He is said to be “the Word,” John 1:1-3. The thought of God is resident in Him, hence to see Him is to see and understand the Father.

The word “LOGOS” (word), makes known the fact that all that He is, did, said, is doing, and will do, is the living thought of God in action.

How important then to listen to Christ’s Words about His Words.

There is no doubt about the sense and substance of the following Words of our Lord.

These words about the Words that Christ uttered are prefaced by His claim to be the Light of the world. He came as the Light to illuminate the darkness.

The word “He hath spoken” is claimed to be “the One” through whom the message of God is expressed.

We, therefore, cannot reject the Words if Christ without ignoring the thought of God, and excluding the Light.

The sun of God’s being shines forth in the rays of His Son.

God Hath Spoken!

There are equivalent sentences which declare God hath spoken, such as, “Thus saith the Lord” and the fact that “He spake.”

Someone has counted them and declares they occur 2, 601 times.
680 times in the Books of Moses.
196 times in the poetic Books.
418 times in the historical Books.
1,307 times in the prophetical  Books.

Therefore, the psalmist says, “Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name,” Psa 138:2.

Therefore, we do well to glorify it above everything else.

Because God Has Magnified His Word Above His Name, We Say It is:

1. Divine in its source.
   To take but one Book, the Book of Acts, we find the Word is referred to 35 times.
   As the Word of God, 13 times,
   as the Word of the Lord, eight times,
   the Word, 13 times.
   Thy Word, once. Acts 4:29
   
2. The Word is dynamic in its operation.
   Notice what He says about His Word in the Book of Hebrews:
   Heb 1:3; 2:2; 4:12; 6:5; 11:3; 13:7

There lies in the dynamic of God’s Word all the latent possibilities of the life of the Almighty.

The Word of God is Definite in Its Claim

The Epistle to the Thessalonians illustrates the claims of the Word.

The Word, in its authority, 1:6.
The Word of the Lord, in its message, 1:8, 4:15, 2 Thess 3:1
The Word of God, in its power, 2:13
The Word claims the faith of our obedience, the loyalty of our love, and the desire of our hope.
The Word of God is distinct in its prophecy.
    The Book of Revelation may illustrate what is found in many places.

The Doctrines of the Bible Found in the Book of Thessalonians

The Doctrine of the Bible in Thessalonians

The Doctrine of Christ in Thessalonians

Thursday Night Bible Class

Is there not something unique and Divine in the order in which the books of the Bible occur? At least we can see the order of the experience in the spiritual life in the sequence of their occurrence.

First, there is Genesis, the new birth. The Spirit moving upon the chaos and darkness of our death and sin, and implanting the life of His own nature, and causing light to come and fruitfulness to be manifest.

Then there is the Exodus of redemption, the protecting of the atoning blood from deserved judgment, the deliverance from the god of this world, and the separation from the world’s doom and doings. And the red sea of Christ’s death overcoming our enemies and cutting us off from the association of the evil of the Egypt of worldliness.

Then there is the Leviticus of worship on the ground of atonement. The blood of Christ’s atonement is the ground of our blessing and the God-given right of fellowship with the Lord. He can speak to us from the blood-sprinkled mercy seat because of the voice of Christ’s completed work on the Cross.

Then there is the Numbers of the pilgrim life. The cloud of His presence and the fire of the Lord’s holiness are the shadow of His protecting love and the separating Grace of His holy power. Armed by His armory, and shod by His Grace, we walk amid the world of hostile influences, unscathed and content.

Then there is the Deuteronomy of His instruction. Being dull of hearing and slow of learning, the Lord has to call us into the school of His Grace that we may sit at His feet and hear His words. Uncircumcised ears have to be circumcised and dull senses have to be sharpened that we may learn to be wise and walk in His ways.

The first five books!

Wednesday, November 1, 2000

Full Mention Principle!

A full revelation of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and administrations is unfolded and made known in 1 Cor 12, in their nine-fold bestowments, verses 8-11, and the several particulars of those gifts in their working, verses 27-30.

In 2 Cor 8 and 9, there is unfolded the worth and wealth of Christian giving. Money as such is not mentioned, but it is described as “the riches of liberality,” verse 2
Power, verse 3
The gift and the fellowship, verse 4
This Grace, verses 6, 7
Abundance, verse 14
Ministering, 9:1
Bounty, verse 5
This ministration, verse 13, and
Liberal distribution, verse 13

Full Mention Principle

The ten commandments in their summary of man’s duty and love toward God and man, are an unrivalled unfolding of God’s requirement from His creatures, Exodus 20:1-17.

Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in its kingly and majestic “Verily I say unto you,” gives a full and glorious demand of the King upon His subjects, and where its rule operates, gives a millennium of blessing.

A Full Mention Principle!

A full revelation of the characteristics of faith is found in Hebrews chapter 11, where we are reminded of the nature of faith. It makes the unseen real. The objective of faith and the basis of faith, the Word of God and the God of the Word. The activities of faith in the several persons mentioned and what they did. And the excellencies of faith and its rewards, for faith honors God to His glory and God honors faith to its benefit and reward.

Full Mention Principle

The prophecy of Christ’s passional propitiation, as detailed in Isa 53, gives a wonderful unfolding of the suffering of the Saviour. Who can estimate such pregnant and richly laden sentences as:

”A Man of sorrow”
“Acquainted with grief”
”Borne our griefs”
“Carried our sorrows”
”Wounded for our transgressions”
”Bruised for our iniquities”
“With His stripes we are healed”
”Laid on Him the iniquity of us all”
“Cut off out of the land of the living”
”For the transgressions of My people was He stricken”
”Pleased JEHOVAH to bruise Him” 
“Put Him to grief”
”Made His soul an offering for sin”
”He shall bear iniquities”
“Poured out His soul unto death”
”Bear the sin of many”

Check your Christianity out as you study the above sentences. The above instances are but samples of what might be multiplied. Several others may be looked upon by the student of the sacred page.

Such as the sufferings of Christ described in Psa 22.
The Good Shepherd giving His life for His sheep in John 10.
The Person and the Work of God the Holy Spirit in John 14, 15, 16.
The evidence of being born of God in John’s first epistle, as found in the sentence, “born of God,” and the new birth as recorded in John 3.
And the eight rewards that come to the overcomer, as made known in the book of Revelation.

The Bible is the Mind of Christ!

A nation would truly be blessed if it were governed by no other laws than those of the Word of God. It is so complete a system that nothing can be added to it or taken from it. It contains everything needful to be known or done.

It affords a copy for a king,
A rule for a subject.
And gives instruction and counsel for the Senate,
Authority and direction for a magistrate.
It constrains a witness,
It requires an impartial verdict of a jury,
Furnishes the judge with his sentence.
It sets the husband as lord of his household
and the wife as the mistress of the table.
It tells him how to rule and her how to manage.
It entails honor to parents.
And enjoins obedience to children.
It prescribes and limits the sway of the sovereign,
The rule of the ruler,
and the authority of the master.
Commands the subjects to honor
and the servants to obey.
Promises the blessing and protection of the Almighty,
To all that walk by its rules.
It gives directions for weddings and for burials.
It promises food and raiment,
And limits the use of both.
It points out a Faithful and Eternal Guardian to the departing husband and father.
Tells him with whom to leave his fatherless children,
and to whom his widow is to trust.
And promises a father to the former
and a husband to the latter.
It teaches a man how to set his house in order.
It teaches a man how to make his will.
It appoints a dowry for his wife.
Entails the right of the firstborn.
Shows how the younger shall be left.
It defends the right of all.
Reveals vengeance to every defaulter, overreacher, and oppressor.
It is the first book, the best book, and the oldest book in the world.
It contains the choicest matter.
Gives the best instructions.
Affords the greatest pleasure and satisfaction that was ever enjoined.
It contains the best laws.
The most profound mysteries that were ever penned.
It brings the best tidings.
It affords the best of comfort to the inquiring and disconsolate.
It exhibits life and immortality from everlasting and shows the way to glory.

The Bible is Also Called “The Voice of the Holy Spirit”

You can’t see a voice. You can only hear His voice, and He does not speak of Himself, only of Christ and that which pertains to Him.

The Bible is a brief recital of all that is past.
A certain prediction of all that is to come.
It settles all matters in debate.
Resolves all doubts,
And eases the mind and conscience of all their scruples.
It reveals the only living and true God,
And shows the way to Him.
And sets aside all other gods
And describes the vanity of them
And all that trust in such.
In short, it is a book of laws,
To show right and wrong.
A book of wisdom
That condemns all folly.
And makes the foolish wise.
A book of Truth
That detects all lies
And confutes all errors.
And a book of life
That shows the way from everlasting death.
It is the most compendious book in the world.
The most authentic
And the most entertaining history that ever was published.
It contains the most ancient antiquities,
Strange events, and wonderful occurrences,
Heroic deeds, unparalleled wars.
It describes the celestial, terrestrial, and infernal worlds,
The origin of the angelic myriads,
Human tribes and devilish legions.
It will instruct the accomplished mechanic
And the most profound artist.
It teaches the best rhetorician
And exercises every power of the most skilled arithmetician.
Puzzles the wisest autonomist.
And exercises the nicest critic.
It corrects the vain philosopher
And confuses the wise astronomer.
It exposes the subtle sophist
and makes diviners mad.
It is a complete code of laws.
A perfect body of divinity.
And unequalled narrative.
A book of lives.
A book of travels,
And a book of voyages.
It is the best covenant that ever was agreed upon.
The best deed that was ever sealed.
The best evidence that was ever produced.
The best will that was ever made.
And the best testament that was ever signed.
To understand it is to be wise indeed.
To be ignorant of it is to be destitute of wisdom.
It is the king’s best copy,
The magistrate’s best rule,
The housewife’s best guide,
The servant’s best directory,
And the young man’s best companion.
It’s the schoolboy’s spelling book
And the learned man’s masterpiece.
It contains a choice grammar for a novice
And a profound mystery for a sage.
It is the ignorant man’s dictionary
And the wise man’s directory.
It affords knowledge of witty inventions for the humorous
And dark sayings for the grave.
And it is its own interpreter.
It encourages the wise, the warrior and the swift, the overcomer,
And promises an eternal reward to the excellent.
To the conqueror, the winner, and the prevalent.
And that which crowns all
Is that the Author is without partiality,
And without hypocrisy.

”In whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.”

The Full Mention Principle!

A full revelation of love’s traits is made know in 17 particulars in 1 Cor 13:4-13.

Why? Because love is not a thing, but a Person.

”God is love.”

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