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This podcast contains many bible study teachings to empower true disciples to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ.
Episodes
Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
Sunday Apr 07, 2024
Sunday Apr 07, 2024
God Grants Repentance
David Eells– 4/7/24
Repentance means to change your mind. God grants repentance and changes minds. 2Ti 2:25 in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth,
Act 5:31 Him did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 2Ti 2:25 in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth,
We think we convince people sometimes into knowing the Lord, accepting the Lord, accepting His doctrine, but it really doesn't work that way. The Bible says God grants repentance. A good scripture reference, among others is Pro 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will.
God is the only One that the Bible gives credit for being sovereign; the devil has no sovereignty. God works all things after the council of His own will; He doesn't council with us about what He wants to do. A man can receive nothing except it come from heaven, the Bible says. Pro 21:1 says the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the watercourses or as the channels, He turneth it whithersoever He will. In other words, God can turn a person's heart any way He wants to turn it; and He did that with us. We didn't choose Him, Jesus said; He chose us. Blessed is the man that thou choosest and cause to approach unto thee,… (Psa 65:4) God draws us to approach Him in any way.
God has to make the first move. (Joh 6:44) No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him. How does God draw us? He draws us by putting in us the desire to change our mind (repent) and to come to Him. Before approaching Him, we really just wanted to go our own way and do our own thing, but the Lord by His mercy and grace gave us this gift to come and we need it to keep coming. It's such an awesome gift! For instance, the Gentiles didn't come to God for thousands of years. Why did the Gentiles come to God after thousands of years? The Lord chose them. And what did God do when He did choose them?
Act 11:18 And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life. It's very important that we understand this; otherwise we'll be trusting in our own works and see an awful lot of failure. There are several reasons for this. God generally just backs up and waits as long as we are doing our works, and when we give up and put our trust in Him, His power is there.
Repentance has to be granted by God. Otherwise, people would just go their own way; because we are just what we are. It takes God from the outside to put something in us to cause us to be something that we are normally not. God's grace, which is unmerited favor, grants repentance, a change of mind. When we find lack in ourselves, or lack in our ability, or lack in our willpower, or lack in anything, we can go to God and He will take care of it for us. David prayed many prayers asking for help, such as in Psalm 119. David counted on God to turn his heart in the direction he wanted it to go. Here are just a few of those verses…
Psa 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: Oh let me not wander from thy commandments. 17-18 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live; So will I observe thy word. 18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
25-29 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: Quicken (means make alive) thou me according to thy word. 26 I declared my ways, and thou answeredst me: Teach me thy statutes. 27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: So shall I meditate on thy wondrous works. 28 My soul melteth for heaviness: Strengthen thou me according unto thy word. 29 Remove from me the way of falsehood; and grant me thy law graciously.
31-37 I cleave unto thy testimonies: O Jehovah, put me not to shame. 32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. 33 Teach me, O Jehovah, the way of thy statutes; And I shall keep it unto the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; For therein do I delight. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, And not to covetousness. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken me in thy ways. This is all recognizing the sovereignty of God over our minds and asking for favor.
David had faith in the Lord; this included the power and the sovereignty of God to change his mind and his heart and put in him the will he needed.
We're told the Lord works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). If our faith is towards the Lord to change us, instead of us picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps, as the world says, we'll have some victory. If not, we are going to fail consistently, because we have faith in ourselves. For example, Peter was sure he would not deny the Lord, but the Lord turned and told him, Before the cock crows you're going to deny me three times. Peter was self-confident; he wasn't God-confident. The Lord told him that Satan has desired to sift him as wheat, but the Lord prayed for him that his faith wouldn't fail him. Peter wasn't operating in faith, he was operating in self-confidence.
You could see David's faith in the Lord; he had faith in the Lord to draw him, keep him, deliver him from sin, and to put in him a will and desire that belonged there. His faith was in the Lord. David's faith certainly wasn't in himself. Peter's faith was in himself and that's why he fell; he needed to fall. He needed to be a failure so that he would learn that lesson.
It's amazing how we usually look at people in the Old Testament as having less light than people in the New Testament, because we know that they lived under types and shadows and really didn't know the revelation of those types/shadows that we do now. But David almost lived a New Testament life with the Lord, because he understood the sovereignty of God and depended upon God for His grace to be who he was. The following is a prayer of David concerning the offering of the temple (when they were taking up offerings to build the temple):
1Ch 29:10-14 Wherefore David blessed Jehovah before all the assembly; and David said, Blessed be thou, O Jehovah, the God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. (11) Thine, O Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: (Jesus said, All authority (authority to exercise power) in heaven and earth has been given unto me (Mat 28:18). If we need power, where do we have to get it? We don't have any power. Jesus Himself said that He was nothing without the Father; He couldn't do anything without the Father. This is certainly true about us. Our power comes from God by grace and in most cases it has to come because of our faith. We believe God has delivered us from sin through Jesus Christ; we believe God has delivered us from the curse through Jesus Christ.
God gives us a mind and desire to do what is right and a lot of times, that is in the form of repentance.) Back to (11) ..for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all. (12) Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. (We must get our strength from the Father.) (13) Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. (14) But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
Did you catch the “willingly” part in verse 14? He gave them this will. Any place we lack we can go to the Father and He will help us; He will give us grace to will His Will.
Jesus said, he who the Son sets free is free indeed. (Joh 8:36). Do you know how He really sets us free? Do you know what freedom is? Freedom is the ability or lack of restraint from doing anything you want to do. However, when you're walking in the lusts of your flesh you can't do everything you want to do; you can't get away with it and you don't have the ability. You're limited by nature; by physical circumstances; and limited by gravity. You just can't do everything you want to do. But in this process of the Lord working in you to will and to do of His good pleasure, He's able to put His Will in you. If you really want His Will, He can put it in you.
When God is done with this process (of putting His Will in you), then you get to do what you want to do, because you want to do what He wants to do. And nobody stops God from doing what He wants to do. He works all things after the council of His own Will. Daniel said nobody restrains His hand. You're free because He who the Son sets free is free indeed. So if you really want to be free you have to ask God to put His Will in you. And when you read the Word, you've got to repent, meaning change your mind. If your desire is according to the Word, you're going to have your desires, and they will all be good desires.
You know why we are not free? It's because there is a war going on in us. Between the outer man and the inner man, they both want their way. Galatians Chapter 5 talks about the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh; they are at war and are totally contrary one to another. The Bible also says that the outer man is decaying and the inner man is being renewed, while we look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen (2Co 4:16-18). In other words, if we get our eyes set on what the Word says about us, even though we don't see it in the physical, God is working to bring it to pass. And the outer man is going to be dying and the inner man is going to be renewed and free to do his will, which is God’s will.
God's plan is for the inner man to take over. He's like the Israelite who goes into the promise land and puts to death the Canaanite and takes his house. Well, we are an Israelite's house. This is a process of repenting, of reading His Word and saying, “Okay, Lord, you're right and I'm wrong. I want your thoughts to be my thoughts.” Like Jesus said, “have the faith of God.” We want God's thoughts and faith to be our thoughts and faith. If God's thoughts are your thoughts, then you are free, because nobody restrains God’s Will.
People restrain God's “wishes” sometimes as in this verse. 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. KJV says, “God is not willing that any should perish.” Willing is not in the ancient manuscripts or Numerics. The word here is “wishing” or “intending” in the Numeric. If God were not “willing” for anyone to perish, no one would perish. But He is not “wishing” that any should perish.
Notice: God “is longsuffering to you-ward”. He's talking to Christians, not the world. God wants all of His people to repent and He is not “wishing” that any of His people perish. But if He weren't “willing” for any of them to perish, none would. The fact is, the Church is in a great falling away because the Bible shows this. It's important that we understand that God has granted us repentance; it was a free gift. And it wasn't really necessary that He gave it to us; He could have given it to somebody else. Some refuse because the love the world.
We should fear the Lord. If you understand the sovereignty of God, you'll fear the Lord. If we repent, it is a gift from God, like faith. We are in God’s kingdom because of His mercy and grace. To the extent we want to progress in His kingdom, we still need His mercy and grace to repent. He wants us to acknowledge His ability in our life in all things. He wants us to seek Him for the desire to do right.
Look at Rom 2:1 Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. Notice that it mentions the plural, things. He's not saying you're doing the same thing that you are judging this person for. This is very important.
(2) And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things. (3) And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? (4) Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
This is why we shouldn't judge or be unforgiving. It's because we may not be doing the same thing we are judging someone for, but that's not the way the Law works. You break one part of the Law and you're a lawbreaker. If you're judging somebody else who has broken part of the Law and you consider them not worthy of God's forgiveness because they broke some part of the Law, God's going to judge you the same way. Now we have proof of that in James chapter 2.
I might also remind you that Paul reminded us in 1Co 5:6, that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and, put out the leaven from among you. He was talking about outward moral disobedience or willful disobedience, and he told the church that there should be at least one among them that is spiritual enough to judge between the brethren and people who were in this outward, willful, moral disobedience, and that they should be separated from the church.
Be careful that when you talk about sin, you draw a line between willful disobedience and failure. Because for failure, the blood of Jesus covers it. Rom 7:16-17 But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. So if a person wills to do good but fails he gets mercy and the blood covering. Heb 10:26 But if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remains no sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment which shall devour the adversaries.
The Lord is saying that if one of His children sins willfully, in other words, they know it is sin and they're going to do it anyway, then they are doing it with their will, then there is judgment and condemnation against that kind of a sin. But as we saw in Rom 7, the Apostle Paul himself was giving us his experience of failing the Lord and not knowing what to do because he wanted to serve the Lord and please the Lord. He was lamenting his inability to serve the Lord, and to be obedient to the Lord, and he was failing. Then he got this revelation in Rom 7:24 who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He then said, (25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He got a revelation of grace that is sorely needed!
God starts separating the sin from you when your will is against the sin. But when your will is for the sin, He judges you. And the Church should know this, but they group all sin in the same category. This is false and dangerous. It's inevitable that you will get judged when it's willful disobedience, because He's a good Father. You should do it with your children, too, if you are a good parent. You wouldn't let them get away with willful disobedience. You hate your child, the Bible says, if you do that.
So He does not let willful disobedience go by (Heb 10:26); he doesn't want us to either. Well, in the Church it's the same way. The leadership is not supposed to let willful disobedience go by. 1 Corinthians 5 and 6 is a really good example of that. But concerning other things, concerning failures in the Church, of which there are many, because we are dealing with the outer man still, he gives us some advice here:
Jas 2:8-9 Howbeit if ye fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: (9) but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. In other words, you've got to love your neighbors just as much as you love yourself. You can't judge him any differently than you would judge yourself. Do you see the point he is getting at here?
(10) For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all. (11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. (12) So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty.
In other words, you want to judge other people the way you want to be judged. Because what measure you measure it out it's going to be measured unto you again, the Bible says. That's why Jesus said be quick to get the board out of your eyes so you can get the mote out of your brother's eye. Well, here's the point. Since you are judging your brother according to the Law, you are going to be judged according to the Law. So he says be careful that you judge according to a law of liberty. You know what the liberty was? Liberty was the jubilee. Liberty was when all servants who were in bondage were set free.
And we know what Jesus did for us. Because of the blood covering He set us free, and we consider that we accept God's forgiveness. And we accept God's blood covering over our failures until He gets us where He wants us. Well, we've got to be sure that we are saying the same thing and judging the same way for our brother. James says here in Jas 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.
So we have to be careful because we'll bring ourselves under judgment. We'll bring ourselves under the Law, as a matter of fact. So that's why he says in Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? In other words, God had mercy upon you, He gave you a gift He didn't have to give you or didn't owe you. He could have given it to anybody. And yet, like Noah’s day only a small percentage of the world gets God's gift of repentance to turn around and goes His way.
So He could give this to anybody. We should consider ourselves most fortunate to get this gift from God, to change our minds and go His way. And even to the extent that we lack in an area, we can go to God and He will help us; but He won't help us if we judge other people so we need to be careful.
The Bible says, in 2Co 10:6, and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full. Notice that in the scriptures, God used the elders to do this judging. When I mean elders, I'm not talking about people that went to Bible school, I'm talking about people who are grown up in the Lord, who are mature in the Lord. What does it mean to be mature in the Lord? It means for the Lord to be mature in them. The Lord is manifesting in them; there's fruit in their life; they're overcoming sin.
The Lord only gives authority to those who overcome sin. Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: Rev 3:21 He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. The throne is the place of authority over the people.
God doesn't put people over the church that are in sin; the apostate church does that. In the Bible, He made sure that these were not novices they were laying hands on to ordain as elders, because, He said, novices were going to fall into condemnation of the devil if put in a position of authority, so these people had to be without reproach. And even to the world; (“those from without”), they had to have a clean slate. The church isn't paying attention to this nowadays. When God ordains elders, which are the 5 fold ministers, He does it according to whether they are overcomers or not, according to whether they are grown up in the Lord, not whether they pass their grades in Bible school or not. Because you know that you can pass the grades and answer the questions according to the way that they want to hear it and get your certificate, and that means nothing to God any more than the Pharisees did who were judged.
Rom 2:5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; In other words, for people that judge other people while they themselves are living in sin, there's a day coming down the road where God is going to judge these apostates, so we have to be careful.
Rom 2:1 Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. … 6 who will render to every man according to his works: 7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: 8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, 9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; 10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:
So the goodness of God has led us to repentance. And the goodness of God will continue to do that. The Bible says, By grace have you been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God (Eph 2:8). So if we'll exercise faith towards God we'll get all the grace we need to walk with Him. We should know that God's got all the ability to put in us a will to be pleasing unto Him. But we need to acknowledge to Him that it's not our own ability. We need to go to Him for this grace and this ability and He will work it in us. Like we see in the Old Testament, David prayed constantly for God to work this desire in him.
God deals with people and they sometimes just ignore Him. He even gives them a desire to do His Will and they still turn to their flesh and do their own thing. I was privileged years ago to witness to this young fellow that received the Lord and a week later he was dead. Have you ever heard of these horror stories? Witnessed to so and so and they didn't listen, they went out and that was the end of it. Well, this guy received the Lord one week and was dead the next. He got in an automobile accident and he was gone. But thank God, he knew the Lord. He was walking in the best of his understanding of the Lord when he died.
It's a deception to think you can come to the Lord when you are ready, often because you are enjoying the life you have now. That’s because no one comes unto the Son except the Father draws him or her. When you are drawn you need to go, because you don't have a guarantee later, you've got a guarantee for now. If He doesn't draw you, you will not go. God does this corporately also. We are coming to a time when He is going to turn away from the Gentiles and turn back to the Jews. So there is a time for people to wait too late.
Remember the parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. The Lord came and five weren't ready, so the Lord took the five wise virgins. There's a line drawn in the sand there, and there's a corporate time when we can wait too late. But there are also individual times that a person can wait too late and not do something with the grace God has given them. When God is dealing with you it's because He's going to give you grace to go in His direction, but if you keep turning away from that grace, He'll take it back. He does reprobate some people which means rejected or not standing the test. We all have probably known people like this that have totally turned away from God to follow after the lusts of their own flesh. That's the only thing that pleased them.
God can do that because the only reason that we have a desire to know the Lord and love His Word is because He put it in us. And to whom much is given, much is expected. If you don't do something with what God gives you, He'll take it back and give it to someone else. (Rev 3:11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.) There are many people sitting on church pews right now that are in this state. They think that they are justified because they are affiliated with a church and they have a certain revelation and a certain denomination, but they are dead.
In the Book of Jude it talks about these people who went after the way of Balaam for hire. He said they were without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Twice dead means that you must have been born-again. So God can reprobate someone who doesn't do something with the grace that God gives.
The following is a corporate example of reprobation. Luk 13:22-24 And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on unto Jerusalem. (23) And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said unto them, (24) Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.
Have you ever run across people that really wanted to go God's way, but they weren't able? They weren't able to turn away from their sins. You see, the way we come in God's direction is because He grants us repentance. It's not just the desire; it's the repentance. Repentance means to turn around and go the other way, change your mind. God grants repentance or He doesn't grant repentance. A good example is in Heb 12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord: If you're not walking in holiness (sanctification), you are in danger. Sanctification (holiness) means separated from sin unto God. 15 looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled.
You know, bitterness can destroy a person. If you don't forgive, you are not forgiven. If you are not forgiven, you are not saved. How could you possibly go to heaven if you're not forgiven? Jesus said very plainly that, if you don't forgive, you're not forgiven. Bitterness is unforgiveness; wrath is unforgiveness; anger is unforgiveness. That's why the Lord warns us to separate ourselves from these things. Be sure to forgive. Be sure to cast out any root of bitterness. He says many be defiled; they’re unclean, they are unacceptable. 16 ... lest there be any fornication, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
Now Esau was a son of Abraham and he lost his birthright. It seems Esau had bitterness and unforgiveness towards his brother Jacob. But people say they are a son of Abraham and can't possibly be lost. This is a huge error. Esau was a son of Abraham and he was lost. 17 For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears. The word rejected here means reprobated. In other words, he found no place for repentance. “In his father” wasn't in the original, this was someone's theology inserted there. Esau couldn’t repent or change his mind. Judas couldn’t repent though he knew he was wrong.
Have you ever been under bondage to something and you didn't want to be there, but you couldn't change your mind, and you were in bondage to this thing and you didn't like it? Well, Esau couldn't change his mind. Being able to change your mind or being able to repent is a gift from God. And He will grant it to any one of us by faith. Christians have a right to it because we have promises for it, but we have to exercise faith to enter into it.
Of course, the devil doesn't want us to understand that and know that. God freely has this gift to give us if we'll just exercise faith for it. However, He won't grant repentance to those judging other people, like we just read in Romans. There are other reasons too, such as self-righteousness, like Peter. Peter did not find the grace of God to be bold enough to stand and not deny the Lord. Why did he not find that grace with God? It was because he was self-righteous. He was considering his own ability and not God's ability. Jesus prayed for him that his faith wouldn’t fail him and he found repentance and became a great Apostle.
Some people say you can't overcome sin. You know why they say that? Because they only consider their own ability, they don't consider God's ability. God's ability has been given to us to overcome sin. There's no sin that you can't exercise faith in the Word of God and overcome it. The Bible says, having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2Co 7:1) So, we can cleanse ourselves from any defilement of our flesh or evil spirits by faith in these promises. That's God's Word. We've got to believe it. God has all the ability; He has no problem overcoming sin in us, but He wants us to exercise faith for it.
The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it. (Rom 1:16) The condition is for us to believe the Good News. We won't bear fruit without agreeing with the Good News. Those who fear the Lord and repent have every right to claim the sacrifice of Jesus for deliverance from the curse. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (14) that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus… The entire curse that was due us was put on Jesus. All we have to do is repent and believe.
Only God gives the gift of faith to believe and repent. We have to go to God; He grants faith and repentance. True understanding of salvation by unmerited grace causes us to fear God. Some do not value the gift of God only to have it taken away and given to ones who do value it.
If we consider ourselves able, like Peter did, then we are going to fall and we won't find grace from God. Peter didn't find it and he fell. He found it later through his stumbling. He obviously got the revelation and he got the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 and he stood up and was used to convert thousands of people. He was very bold then to everybody. So anything we need we can go to God to get it because it's all been provided through Jesus Christ. It's all been provided. Just remember, when you need it go to God.
Also remember, He said many will seek to enter in and they won't be able. Let’s start here in Luk 13:1-2 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish. Obviously, these people weren't suspecting that they were sinners.
Well, I would imagine today many Christians would say, “Oh, look at those sinners. Look what God did to them.” And just like these people were, they were expecting that the ones that God made an example of were not necessarily an example, but they were the sinners. And it's easy to look around and point the finger over there and say, “That's what sin is.” But sin is relative, isn't it? Jas 4:17 To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And in people's minds its relative. And they always like to pick somebody they think less of, and point them out, to make them feel better about themselves. Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. But our relativity is to Jesus Christ in His Word. It has nothing to do with comparing ourselves to others.
They were probably justifying themselves like a lot of people do today. They can't receive any kind of correction. Of course, the Bible says a fool hates correction, but there are a lot of fools. And 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Notice, it sounded like He was saying if you repented, you wouldn't perish. I'm sure some didn't get that out of it, but it's pretty clear, isn't it? If a person repents; “righteousness delivers from death.”
And of course, repentance is coming into agreement with the Word of God. It's not coming into agreement with your church or religion, or feeling good, because you belong to any certain group. Repentance is coming into agreement with the Word of God. (Amo 3:3) How can two walk together except they be agreed? The Lord wants us to agree with the Word.
Anyway, He went on to say in Luk 13:6 And he spake this parable; (And who is he speaking to? The same people, right?) A certain man had a fig tree (What's the fig tree represent? God's people. So He was talking to God's people among them.) a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit thereon, and found none. 7 And he said unto the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; (This is the Father commanding to cut down this fruitless tree and the vine dresser is Jesus.) why doth it also cumber the ground? 8 And he answering saith unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 and if it bear fruit thenceforth, well; but if not, thou shalt cut it down.
I'm sure you know a lot of people out there getting dunged and it doesn't bring any fruit of the life of Christ. So if this doesn’t bring any repentance or any fruit it's going to be cut down according to Jesus. Of course they say that couldn’t be me for I have gifts of the Spirit and I do this or that… We know it’s not gifts or works that insure we are in the Kingdom but the fruit of the Spirit.
Those who are lukewarm in their holiness are being spewed out of the mouth of the body of Christ, because that's what the threat is. Spewed out of the body of Christ. Well, he goes down in verse 23 And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? Well, the Lord said, many are called but few are chosen. Meaning among those that we call Christians, many are called. He didn’t say “all are called” because he doesn't call all, the Bible says. “He saved us and called us”, so all “they that are called are saved”. But if they don't walk by faith, they don't bear fruit. It is the elect “eklectos” or chosen that will ultimately bear fruit and be saved as in the parable of the sower. The fruit is chosen and the plant is plowed under.
24 Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, (Who is it that seeking to enter in? It’s not the lost people. These are people seeking to enter in through the door of the Kingdom.) and shall not be able. He said, strive to enter in by the narrow door, and this was spoken to God's people. He says, strive to enter in. What kind of striving do we need to do? The Bible tells us to strive against sin and we strive to walk by faith to enable us to “walk as Jesus walked”. We have to do warfare against the enemy, to walk by faith so that we may receive the power from God to be well pleasing unto Him. We cannot be satisfied like the Laodicean Church. They were satisfied.
Again Luk 13:24-27 Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (We think that if we seek something, we will just automatically have it, but that's not so. There is a time of reprobation when the fruit is not there. In this text it's very clear that God closed the door with the elect inside and the fruitless outside.) 25 When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; 26 then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; 27 and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Obviously there was no repentance, not enough fruit to keep them from being workers of iniquity. Now, many people believe everything that they do is covered by the blood. They can do whatever they want. And in the end, they'll not be found in the Kingdom. They're lukewarm, they don't walk under the King and therefore are not in the Kingdom. He said He doesn’t know them. They haven’t received His seed.
We must gracefully correct them as in 2Ti 2:25 in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, See, when we try to correct people, we try to bring them in-line with God's Word; the only hope is that God will grant them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth. Convincing won't really work; they'll just as easily convinced out of it. But, if God gives them the grace to repent and believe the truth, then that's the only way we are going to be successful. That's why we need to go to God first. If we think we can do it we're going to meet with much failure. We need to ask God to move in this person's heart; we need to ask God to grant this person repentance; we need to ask God to put the fear of God in them. We've got to start with God. If we don't start with God, He's rather insulted. Because obviously you think you can do it yourself. That's not the way people get grace from God.
26 and they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him unto his will. We have to go to God. Remember, just as God put in you a desire and a will to serve Him and run after Him, He can do it for the people you are praying for. God uses substance to make everything out of, doesn't He? In Hebrews chapter 11, faith is the “substance” of the things hoped for.
So we go to God by faith that He will put in this person's heart His gift of repentance and His desires. We can believe for our loved ones, we can believe for our children, because we have promises for all these things. We can pray to God. Jesus said, “All things whatsoever you pray and ask for believe you have received them and you shall have them.” God will use our faith to put His desire in that person's heart to draw them unto Jesus. And they will recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him “unto the will of him” (Numeric).
The devil doesn't have a free-will. He's bound in sin and shapen in iniquity, too, but if the devil's got somebody, that's God’s Will too. God is the only one that can, “will them” out from under the dominion of the devil. For example, the apostle Paul turned a Christian over to the devil in 1 Corinthians 5 because he was living in sin. It was the will of God that they turn this Christian “over to the devil for the destruction of his flesh so that his spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord.” For that Christian to be under the hand, or dominion of the devil was the Will of God so he would repent, because the devil is not nice to Christians and he'll make you wish you were back under the blood, where it is safe. The Lord is intent on turning us around when we go into sin.
Ever see people that go to the altar, time and time again? They are continually and constantly crying out to the Lord, but they're never getting any deliverance. Well, it's because it takes faith to receive grace from God. Many people are being put under condemnation and they don't understand that condemnation is not the way to be an overcomer; faith is. If you stay under condemnation you will not have faith. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world, the Bible says.
Paul says, 2Co 7:9-10 I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
The sorrow of the world doesn't work repentance. Godly sorrow makes you change your mind and go the other way. Sorrow of the world just works regret, meaning they go right back to sinning. We can be sorry, but it has to end up in faith, because faith is the only thing that gives us grace from God. Many people want to overcome their sin, but the only thing that they can see before their eyes is failures and they have condemnation and rejection. But when they change their mind and desire to go God's way they have got to have faith, they need faith in their heart.
Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God; without faith it's impossible to receive of His grace. So what you have to do with a person like that is you got to put faith in their heart; you've got to tell them that the Lord delivered (past tense) them from this sin and that the Lord will give them a desire to do what He wants them to do, but they need to get rid of their condemnation.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Note that it does not say “who walk not after the flesh” in the original. The KJV says that, but it's not in the ancient manuscripts or numeric pattern, because who needs this verse if you're not walking after the flesh to begin with? It doesn't make any sense; it was added in there. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus while they are still in their sin, desiring to be delivered of it like Paul was. In Romans chapter 7, Paul was failing God miserably and he hated it, he wanted to serve God; then he got this revelation in Rom 8:1.
Why did he get this revelation? Because the only way you can get out of the sin is to get rid of condemnation and get faith, else you're not going to have the victory that overcomes the world. We want a godly sorrow that works repentance, not just the sorrow of the world. The world is sorry because they got caught, or because they’re having troubles. We've got to be sorry that we are going the wrong way; we've got to be sorry that we are displeasing God; we've got to be sorry enough to turn around and go the other way. Then we know we have received grace from God.
Joh 3:27 …A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. That really does not fit with what we have been taught. Most of God’s people are absorbed in the teaching that some things are of God, and some things are not. This doctrine has been passed down through the traditions of men. We need to see God as being on the throne, always ruling over the devil as in Job 1. The circumstances in our lives motivate us to fear, respect, and to have faith in Him. We learn nothing when we blame the devil or people.
For instance, in James 5:16 the Lord says, “Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” It is common and convenient to blame the devil instead of seeing sickness as a chastening from God for our sins. Some go their whole lives and die in their sicknesses, never repenting, because they never saw a reason to since they were just being persecuted by a bad devil.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. In other words, we receive from God according to our actions. He will render to every man according to his works. We also make our own future. Through repentance and faith the sins of our former life are forgiven and washed away, but if we continue in those sins, then we will reap what we have sown. Now that makes us respect and fear God.
God has ordained the entire curse system to come against those who transgress. Whether God is using the devil, his demons, wicked people around you, sickness, or any other part of the curse, He is doing it to bring us to repentance and fruit. God will administer His gifts of healing, deliverance, and provision to the ones who are in line for God’s blessings through repentance, faith, and justification.
The Lord brings spirits against us to chasten us and to cause us to repent, then after we overcome, He has total ability to make our enemies to be at peace with us. Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Jesus showed us that enemies are for the crucifixion of our flesh. Even if we are walking in what we know the flesh resists us and must die. We see here that God has total control over our enemies and He can put peace in their heart toward us when we overcome the flesh. We should remember this when we are tempted to take care of our enemies ourselves in retaliation.
So we see, God uses our enemies when our flesh nature is still alive. God created our enemies just for that purpose. Pro 16:4 The Lord hath made everything for its own end (Some manuscripts say: for His own purpose.): Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. We see God’s sovereign hand in all of this. God can send the wicked to us, for a day of evil, because some of our ways do not please the Lord. When we overcome, God can give us total peace in the midst of our enemies. Whether they are wicked men or demon spirits, it does not make any difference.
The Bible says we can go boldly before the throne of grace to receive help. Well, if you're going boldly, you're going with faith, aren't you? We need grace and we have to get it from God. If we go by faith, we are going to receive the grace we need. The devil is really diligent in trying to turn us away and cause us to look at our past, look at our failures. If he can do that, you're just going to feel condemnation all the time. But the Bible says in (Php 3:13-14)…forgetting those things that are behind let us press forward to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We've got to forget what's back there. We've got to look ahead “reckoning ourselves to be dead unto sin.”. We've got to forget all our failures and see what the Bible says about us and hold fast to it. Heb 10:23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised.
So let’s look here in Jer 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Notice the words “turn thou me.” The power comes from God. Notice: If He turns us we’ll be turned. And after we are turned, we'll repent, and do it His way. And this repentance causes Ephraim to smite himself upon his thigh. This is grief; grief for going against God.
It's awesome how you can pray for people and God can even put the fear of the Lord in them. Think about Paul on the Damascus Road; God can save anybody He wants to save. What makes Him want to save somebody? Faith. We exercise our faith that He gives us. Now, who would be in Paul's shoes there on the road and they wouldn't say, “Yes, Lord?” God has the ability and He has the circumstances in His hand. We can be confident in the Lord.
There are promises in the Bible for our children; our children won't be in bondage to foreign dominion (Deuteronomy 28). That was part of the curse that our children would be in bondage to the enemy. So Jesus bore the curse. Even when they think they want to go the other way, God is able to put in them the desire to turn and go towards Him, like Ephraim did, or ourselves, for failing God.
It's the same way for us; “Lord, please change my heart. I invite you to change my heart and put in it Your desires to go Your way. Please put it in me, Lord, to do Your will and I'll serve You. We say with the Shulamite in Song of Solomon, “Draw me, and we will run after You”. God is pleased when we recognize that He is the only One with the power and the authority to give us abilities to do what He wants. Self-righteousness is a filthy rag before God. Our faith in our own ability will fail, like Peter. God sees to it; He makes sure you fail when you're self-confident for self is the enemy.
Now when we confess our sins and our failures to God, we are cleansed of them. 1Jn 1:9 ASV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then we can have faith and the devil can’t condemn us. But is there a right place for condemnation? Yeah, sure there is. If a person is in willful disobedience, there's the right place for condemnation. If a person desires to serve God, that's when they need to get rid of their condemnation. When do we confess God's salvation and when do we confess our sins? Think about it. You confess your sins when you are repenting of it then you turn away from it. Then you confess Jesus and His gift of righteousness. You don't look back anymore.
Some people just look at the sin over and over and over, but you'll never overcome it that way. You've got to say what the Bible says about you. You look at the sin one time, you confess it to God and then you forget about it. He will “cleanse you from all unrighteousness”. Do you believe that? You can't have it unless you believe it.
What is unrighteousness? It's the thing that makes you sin in the first place. If He takes that out of you, are you going to sin? No. That's God's promise, and He means it too. So what we do is kind of like when the Israelites were in the wilderness and were murmuring against God, they were speaking unbelief against the Lord, and God sent the fiery serpents to bite them. Many of the Israelites were dying from these fiery serpents and the Lord gave to Moses the remedy that Moses was to put this brazen serpent on a pole, and everybody that got their eyes on this serpent on the pole and off the curse would be delivered or healed of the snake bite.
We know that Jesus was that serpent on the pole, because He became sin for us (2Co 5:21). That's why He was likened unto a serpent. But if you get your eyes on Jesus, and get your eyes off the snake bite, you get healed of the snake bite. If you get your eyes on the snake bite and off of Jesus, you get nothing except more of the same curse. If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light.
Some very well-meaning but ignorant preachers like to get your eyes on your sin and keep them there all the time. With this approach, you could never overcome anything because you're always crying about your sin. The Lord doesn't want us to continue to cry about our sin, He wants us to reckon ourselves dead unto sin but alive unto God as in Rom 6. This is God's way of delivering us from sin. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes it (Rom 1:16). The Gospel is the Good News! The Good News is that Jesus took your sins away.
The Bible says let your speech always be seasoned with grace. If it's law and condemnation all the time then you're continually going to be looking inward instead of upward and you're going to be continually failing. Because you've got your eyes on yourself and the problem, you don't have your eyes on the serpent on the pole, Jesus. This is why He tells us we're dead to sin.
Romans chapter 6 is the story of you being united with the death of Christ through baptism, so that when you come up out of the water you're dead and Jesus lives. That's our faith. That's why we get baptized. We get baptized so we are united with His death, burial and resurrection. In other words, when I came up out of that water, Dave was dead and Jesus lives. He lives in me. That's what Paul said. It's no more I that live; it's Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:20).
Rom 6:11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. In other words, stop looking at the sin. Jesus is bigger. He took care of it. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: Why does he say that? Notice that verses 11 and 12 go together. If you do verse 11, then you get verse 12. He's telling you this is the way to not let sin rule over you. Reckon yourself to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God. This is the Gospel, the Good News. Jesus took care of sin. He already overcame the world. It's finished. He's taken away our sins. He was the Lamb of God that took (past tense) away the sins of the world. We are delivered. And he goes on in this chapter to tell us that we were made free from sin, in verse 22 But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.
That should give you cause to rejoice! We're free! We've got to be so confident in that because it's the Gospel that we keep our eyes on Jesus and He gives us power, if we believe it. If we don't believe it and we are continually looking at ourselves in sin, then we're going to get no power. Because the Lord doesn't want us looking at ourselves, He wants us looking at Him. Look at the promise and reckon it to be done. He said, “Reckon yourself to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God.” I am dead to sin; sin no more has power over me. If you believe that sin has power over you, then it has power over you. If you believe that it does not have power over you, because of what Jesus did, then it has no power over you.
And God will continue to do a good work in you because He's got faith coming out of you and you are speaking it. Gal 2:20…It's no more I that live, it is Christ living in me… Agree with the Word of God. I don't live, Jesus lives. David died. He died with Christ about 2000 years ago. I was spiritually united with Him at the time of my baptism.
Jesus took away every sin and put it on His cross. All we have to do is believe the Gospel and He is able to do it. Do you know that He's not able to do it unless you believe the Gospel? He's not able to deliver you from sin unless you believe the Gospel. Remember that Jesus went to His own hometown and He was not able to do many mighty works because of their unbelief (Mat 13:53-57). He was not able. And He's not able to deliver from sin with unbelief either. We have to give Him the substance of the thing hoped for (Heb 11:1-2).
Now concerning forgiving others, the correct confession is: I can forgive because of what Jesus did for me. I am dead to sin and alive unto God. Our confession has to be in line with the Word as in Rom 10:10 ... for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We need to agree with the Word and speak it.
Most of the worldly church is living in the Old Testament. Because they consider the only thing Jesus came for was to bring forgiveness of sins, which the blood of bulls and goats already brought; but the Bible says it couldn't take away sin, so God brought another Covenant, by the blood of Jesus, in order to take away sin. They don't understand that this Covenant came to take away the very nature of sin, so what do they do? They want to go back and live under the Old Covenant where they just have forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness is good, we've got that, but we also have something much greater than that.
The Bible says that God rejected that first covenant because it could not perfect. Why did He bring the New Covenant? Because what happened at the cross through Jesus Christ is that Jesus took away sin; took away the very nature of evil. He took it out of us. He nailed it on the cross. He gave us His life. See, these people are confessing something that's not New Testament. We need to confess what the Bible says about us and what the Lord did for us. Most people aren't entering into this because they are not agreeing with the New Testament.
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
1Pe 2:24 who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.
Heb 10:1-2 For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh. (2) Else would they not have ceased to be offered? because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
God fulfills this Hebrews 10:1-2 in the New Testament. Why did He reject the Old Covenant? Because it couldn't make perfect them that draw nigh. Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. It is finished! Repent and Believe!
Does God ever change His mind; does He repent? How can God change His mind when He knows and speaks the end in the beginning? Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not [yet] done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. If He sees all from the beginning, why would He ever need to change His mind? God will not change what is written in His Word. Psa 119:89 For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. His Word is likened unto a rock, immovable and unchangeable. However, God can change or delay what He speaks to you personally as a warning through prophets, dreams, visions, or His Spirit. When the Word ultimately comes to pass, it will be fulfilled as the Bible says it will.
God gave us an example of this in the book of Jonah. Jonah cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jon 3:4). God told Jonah to preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee (Jon 3:2), so he did. He was not a false prophet. God spared Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, because they repented. This angered Jonah because Assyria was the mortal enemy of Israel and the prophets had already been prophesying that Assyria would conquer rebellious Israel. He wanted them to be destroyed for what he perceived was Israel’s sake. Jonah knew that if he preached to Nineveh and they repented, God would not destroy them, so he fled.
Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil. God spared Nineveh around 752 B.C. so that Assyria could conquer the northern ten tribes of Israel around 720 B.C. and then Judah around 701 B.C. Nineveh ultimately did fall around 612 B.C. God knew before He threatened Nineveh that He was going to spare them for the purpose of using them to chasten Israel.
From Nineveh’s perspective, they changed God’s mind by repenting, but from God’s perspective, He changed Nineveh’s mind and fulfilled His plan from the beginning for them, which was to chasten Israel! Jonah’s Hebrew word for “repentest” here is nacham meaning “to sigh” and by implication “to be sorry.” In itself, nacham does not admit evil doing, or even a change of mind, only sorrow. As Father, God must do many things that He sorrows over. When the Scriptures speak of God repenting, it is for our perspective because it appears to us that He changed His mind and did not do what He threatened. As a parent five times over, I have done this many times. The difference between God and us is, He plans and sees the delays and repentances from the beginning. Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent. 1Sa 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
Wednesday Apr 03, 2024
Wednesday Apr 03, 2024
Sanctified From Wickedness (2)
Valuable Sanctified Vessels
David Eells – 4/3/24
I want to share with you about the blessings that follow sanctification. We are entering into a new time right now! A time in which we’re going to receive blessings like the Bride has never seen before.
Isaiah 59 speaks about the terrible shape that Israel was in then and the terrible shape that the Church is in now because Israel is a type for the Church. At the end of chapter 59, God shows you what He’s going to do about it and in chapter 60 He begins to raise up His Bride and bring her out of the nations. The Bride is built through sanctification, through separation from the nations, and the wicked among us.
(Isa.59:14) And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. (15) Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. (People who stand up for truth like the Bride does receive ridicule and worse from those who claim to be the Church.) And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. (16) And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. (17) And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing.... This is the Lord coming with the armor of Ephesians.
This is the Lord coming and taking on a body. Jesus said, (Heb.10:5) ... a body didst thou prepare for me. He was speaking about a body of the son of David in which He, as the Son of God, came. And we know that, as we repent, the Lord is coming in all of us as His body. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. He’s coming to be glorified in His people as the Word, Jesus manifested in us. He’s bringing a reformer to start a revival. The reformer is His firstfruits body that He has brought to maturity and will anoint with the latter rain, just as He anointed Jesus with the former rain. Jesus was the first firstfruits body in the New Testament.
So history is about to repeat and, this happens on the morning of the third day the latter rain comes. (Hos.6:2) After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. (3) And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. We’re now at the morning of the third day from the last Adam and this latter rain is about to fall. It’s going to first anoint the Man-child. That’s God’s way of saying, (Mat.17:5) ... This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. Then it’s going to be poured out after 3-1/2 years upon the Church. The latter rain anointing will cause people to pay attention to the Man-child reformers.
There’s going to be a training period, during which He’s going to restore Scriptural order among His people. We know it’s a corporate body that’s coming, but it says in Isaiah that the Lord Himself is coming. He’s the One putting on the garments of vengeance for clothing. He did this in Jesus’ time and now He’s going to do it again in our time because (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. All prophecies usually have more than one fulfillment and the last fulfillment is the greatest fulfillment.
This prophecy is going to be fulfilled in our day: (Isa.59:17) And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation (Does the Lord need the knowledge of salvation; No, His body does.) upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. (18) According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies (We are seeing this beginning.); to the islands he will repay recompense. (19) So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath (The same word for “spirit.”) of the Lord driveth.
The Lord is coming very quickly. (Hab.2:3) For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. (Rev.3:11) I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. (As the Lord says some will lose their crown.)(Rev.22:7) And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. (20) He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. He’s coming like He came in that first body, this time “as the rain, as the latter rain.” That former rain anointing from Heaven is the mantle that was upon Jesus and He’s bringing the latter rain anointing now.
The former rain anointing fell upon Jesus to empower Him to do that special work of bringing revival to a people He separated out of apostate Judaism. An anointing is coming once again, only this time it’s the latter rain upon His firstfruits. The firstfruits is a relatively small corporate body for a much larger corporate body of people who will be separated out of apostate Christianity. God’s going to repeat history on a larger scale, which is the way history always repeats.
(Isa.59:19) So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of the Lord driveth. (20) And a Redeemer will come to Zion.... The One Who lives in the body is Jesus bringing the power and the authority, and it is Jesus doing the works! A Redeemer will come to Zion, the Bride! (Rev.21:9) …and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
John was shown Jerusalem (Zion), coming down out of Heaven, born from above. There is still a Zion in the earth; there is still a King who is the son of David and there’s still a New Testament Kingdom of God, except they are in the spirit and not in the flesh. (Isa.59:20) And a Redeemer will come to Zion (the Bride), and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob (the Church), saith the Lord. Those who turn from transgression are those people who are sanctified, separated from sin, from the world, and separated from their flesh. He’s coming to these people and to build Zion, the Bride! Remember John the Baptist said, (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, speaking of Jesus and those disciples who were following Him.
Back to (Isa.59:21) And as for me, this is my covenant with them (“Them” here represents Zion, the Bride!), saith the Lord: my Spirit that is upon thee… When the Lord spoke this through Isaiah, He was referring to Jesus, but now this is referring to Jesus in the Man-child of our day. And as you read Revelation 12, you can see it’s a repetition of history, but it’s actually in the future when the Man-child raises up the Woman Church. (Rev.4:1) After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. It was a long time after Jesus that John spoke of this as still being in the future, still being something to come. Revelation 12 is for our time.
Back to (Isa.59:21) And as for me, this is my covenant with them (the Man-child of our day), saith the Lord: my Spirit (the latter rain) that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. So Jesus was the Sower and He sowed the seed in the Bride of His day, those first-fruits disciples, and that seed didn’t depart from out of their mouth. When they spoke, it was just like Jesus speaking.
They had received authority to speak in His name and He sent them out to do His works. (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. This same authority has not passed away. It will be in the mouth of the Man-child and the seed of the Man-child and will be passed on.
Isaiah 60 begins to speak of the great blessings, which come from this sanctification of the Word that the reformers are going to bring. (Isa.60:1) Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Zion) (Isa.60:2) For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon thee (The peoples are in gross darkness right now and it’s getting darker all the time and God says His light is going to arise on His Bride, His Zion.), and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isa.60:3) And nations shall come to thy light (He’s talking about the peoples of the nations who are chosen of God, those who are drawn of Him and who are given a gift of repentance and faith. They will come into the light of the Bride of Zion.), and kings to the brightness of thy rising. (Isa.60:4) Lift up thine eyes
(He’s still speaking to Zion.) round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far.... Yes because, according to type, God’s people are taken captive to the nations every time that they fall into apostasy. The Beast conquers them and scatters them among the nations. God’s people are members of the nations in which they live and to which they pledge allegiance to, rather than His one holy nation of spiritual Israel.
(1Pe.2:9) But ye are an elect (“chosen”) race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We’ve been called out of the darkness of the nations to become a part of a different Kingdom, a “peculiar” (KJV) Kingdom. Our Kingdom is the Kingdom of God and Jesus said in (Joh.18:36) ... My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Back to (Isa.60:4) Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. (5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged.... The Bride will be excited and ecstatic because God is going to do a wonderful thing in our day. People will be coming out of gross darkness and into the light of the Bride because of the gift of God.
Again, (Isa.60:5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance (“crowds” or “multitudes”) of the sea shall be turned unto thee.... In Scripture, the “sea” represents the peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. (Rev.17:15) And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. We are coming out of the world, out of Babylon, and we’re returning to Zion in these days. We’ve all been taken captive to Babylon. The word “babel” means “a confused noise, typically by a number of voices.” So we’re coming out of a confusion in the world and in religion, and we’re coming back to the Lord.
Again (Isa.60:5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. What “wealth” is this He’s talking about? Are we all going to be rich? In a way, yes, but these parables are not meant to be taken in the letter. It is the spirit. So this “wealth” we see here, is something we’re really going to need, especially the Bride to get the Gospel out quickly to the peoples.
(6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense.... Do you remember this from something that’s already happened? The same people, as a matter of fact, came to bring gifts to the young Jesus. (Mat.2:11) And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Again (6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. (7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee.... I believe Father is talking about the “flocks” of His people who are going to be gathered together unto the Bride. Esther was raised up by her uncle Mordecai, meaning little man, representing the Man-child, to be the beautiful Bride who was chosen from among all the fair virgins of the kingdom.
Then she was also used by the Lord to bring preservation and salvation to the rest of the people of God, who were being threatened by Haman, representing the heads of the Beast. God’s people today will be rescued from bondage to the Beast. Again (7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth (“Nebaioth” meaning the leadership of “husbandry”) shall minister unto thee; they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar; and I will glorify the house of my glory.
(8) Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Doves make you think of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. (9) Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. Why are the “sons” coming from afar to be under Zion? It’s because the Bride which John said were the first disciples of Jesus will be elders over a people who come from every nation into one Kingdom, a holy nation, a chosen generation. The true Church is the one nation of New Testament spiritual Israel.
These riches of “silver” and “gold” that the sons bring with them could be spiritual and literal. (Rev.3:15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. (16) So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches.... These people are very happy about having physical riches and they didn’t consider themselves to have any need in this world, but they didn’t have the riches of the Kingdom. In Acts when people came to the Lord their love of the world waned as the love of the people grew. They even sold their excess and laid it at the feet of the apostles to distribute for the needs equally.
(Rev.3:17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So they were really poor, according to the Kingdom. There is a materialistic “prosperity” doctrine that the Church has pretty much accepted and many people are quite satisfied with the things of the world but according to Jesus in the parable of the sower this causes many to fall away. But in Acts God took away the lust for worldly riches, and restored riches that are valuable in the Kingdom of God like the fruits of the Spirit..
I’m going to explain to you how these sons coming out of the nations to Zion bring their “gold and silver” with them. (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold.... Now this is the true gold. How do you “buy” true gold? Jesus tells us, (Mat.10:38) And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. (39) He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. To gain the Kingdom we have to give up our love for the high life in this world. The Kingdom of God manifested in you is “gold” and “silver” and “precious stones.” (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich....
You can tell from the language used in Isaiah, he is speaking in parables and that the “riches” of “gold” and “silver” refer to spiritual riches of the soul that come from sanctification (2 Peter 1:4-11). But when a person turns toward these spiritual riches there is a sacrificial life that wants all needs to be met. (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eye salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see… (21) He that overcometh (They need to overcome the lukewarmness, the lack of the spiritual “gold” in the life of a believer.), I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.
Jeremiah explained what “the throne of the Lord” represents. (Jer.3:17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it.... The throne is Jerusalem! It’s Zion! And Zion is the Bride! The Bride is the throne of the Lord, just as when in King David’s time, his throne was in Jerusalem, but now Jerusalem itself will be called the throne. (Jer.3:17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord (In other words, the Bride will be manifesting the name of the Lord; manifesting His nature, character and authority.), to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
This is what it is to be in the Bride. This is what it is to come out of the world and be sanctified, separated from the nations. (Jer.3:18) In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north (This represents them coming out of captivity or bondage.) to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers. Today, we’re returning to the land that was given for an inheritance to our spiritual forefathers. (1Co.4:15) For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.
The Apostle Paul called himself a “father” and we do have the apostolic fathers, but much of the Church left that Promised Land 2000 years ago. Now we are returning to that inheritance because God’s going to restore everything that’s been taken from His people. And he goes on to say, (Jer.3:19) But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. Jesus did call the Father His “Father” and He taught the disciples to also call Him “Father.” In the New Testament, that is the name we are supposed to be calling Him because it’s a different relationship altogether.
And so now we know the “gold” and “silver” coming out of the nations are these glorified people. They are the overcomers who have left the nations to go to the throne of the Lord, to gather around the Bride as they did in Acts. They are glorified in spirit and in soul, but not yet in body. They are manifesting the glory of the Lord! You know, Paul speaks of it in Timothy. Let’s read it because it will help with our understanding that there has to be a sanctification. The gold, silver and precious stones represent the nature of your life after you’ve been sanctified, after you’ve been cleansed of the wood, hay and stubble.
(2Ti.2:19) Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. Remember the name of the Lord is the throne of the Lord, which is Jerusalem. Going to Jerusalem represents this glorification of the sons and the daughters, who are coming with their gold and their silver, their born-again, resurrected nature.
(2Ti.2:20) Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. The gold and silver are vessels of honor, and the wood and the earth are vessels of dishonor. We’ve all been vessels of dishonor, but as we are sanctified, we become vessels unto honor. We become what is valuable in the Kingdom of God.
(2Ti.2:21) If a man therefore purge himself from these (Meaning purge himself from the wood and the earth, or the wood, hay and stubble of 1 Corinthians 3.), he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet (an archaic word for “able” or “fit”) for the master’s use, prepared unto every good work. (2Ti.2:22) But flee youthful lusts (the wood, hay and stubble.), and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. The sons and daughters coming out of captivity from the nations are sacrificing the gold and silver of their carnal life to have the gold and silver of their sanctification; which is valuable in the Kingdom of God. The lukewarm Laodicean Church were rich in the world, but they weren’t rich in the Kingdom because they were full of wood, hay and stubble.
Many years ago, the Lord pointed out something to me that I’d like to share with you. I asked the Lord about my ministry, flipped my Bible open and just stuck my finger down at random. Not only did He show me something about my ministry, but He showed me something about what He’s going to do in the earth. The verse I received was (Ezr.6:5) And also let the gold and silver vessels (We are the gold and silver vessels.) of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem (He took the people of God as captives to Babylon when they fell into apostasy. They were in bondage, much like the Church today is captive to Babylonish religion and politics.), and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, everyone to its place; and thou shalt put them in the house of God.
God gave this text to me many times. This is what’s going to happen, a restoration of God’s people to their Promised Land, their Kingdom that they lost when they were led away captive because of apostasy. Another time, I flipped my Bible open and received (Ezr.5:15) And he said unto him, Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in its place. The firstfruits Man-child ministry that is to come will restore the vessels of God to their position. The Bride, New Jerusalem, is going to be restored. Old Jerusalem is lost and it’s not going to be restored, but Heavenly Jerusalem, the one the Bible calls the “holy city,” will be restored. It is born from above to those seeking sanctification.
Paul said in (Gal.4:25) Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. It’s not the physical God is raising up; He’s raising up the spiritual, New Testament people of God, those who are Israelites according to the circumcision of their heart. They have been in Babylon for the last 2000 years, but now God is restoring them. Those vessels have been taken from Zion and in these days they will be returned to Zion!
We can see the same story in (Eze.37:21) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations (The Church has been taken captive to the nations, just as Israel was taken captive to the nations when they fell into apostasy. The people of God are now more patriotic toward the carnal nation in which they live than being members of the spiritual nation of the Kingdom of God.), whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land (This is a promise of revival in our time.):
(22) and I will make them one nation in the land.... Peter said that they were one holy nation. In other words, all of the people of God, no matter what nation they live in, are a part of one holy nation. Now they need to separate and come out from among the worldly nations and be a part of that one holy nation. God is going to fulfill the parable that was lived out by the Jews. (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them (the Jews) by way of example (The Greek word there means “type” or “figure.”); and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. This type and figure is going to be fulfilled in our day as the New Testament children of Israel, those who are born from above, circumcised in heart, are coming out of the nations.
Back to (Eze.37:22) And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Remember that Jesus said in (Joh.10:16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. (1Jn.2:27) And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that anyone teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.
We have an anointing from the Holy One and we don’t need men to teach us. We need the Lord to teach us. If the men are filled with the Lord, filled with the Word and submitted to Him, then they can be vessels through whom the Lord can flow. The Lord came in a vessel of the son of David 2000 years ago to deliver His people from apostate Judaism and this time He will deliver His born again people from apostate Christianity. His people will come out of the nations to their true, Heavenly Kingdom where God rules. If Babylonish religion is ruling over you, that’s the same as Babylon ruling over you.
Back to (Eze.37:23) neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. Notice that where they dwelt outside of their Promised Land represented sin. Dwelling in the nations represents sin, but dwelling in the Kingdom represents holiness. Sanctification is to come out from among the nations and become a part of the Kingdom. (2Co.6:17-18) Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, (18) And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Back to (Eze.37:24) And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances (This is a promise from God that He’s going to restore everything and the people who walk under Zion are going to walk a holy walk.), and observe my statutes, and do them. (25) And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant (Our New Testament Jacob is Jesus! Jacob raised up the 12 patriarchs and Jesus raised up the 12 patriarchs; history just repeats.), wherein your fathers dwelt (We’re going to live where our spiritual, apostolic fathers dwelt.); and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince forever. This represents Jesus in the end time corporate Man-child.
(26) Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them (God’s going to confirm the Covenant from which we have departed. He’s going to fulfill the great promises of the Covenant to His people.); it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. Praise God! What an awesome promise!
(Deu.4:27) And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord shall lead you away. (Again, this represents being taken captive to the world, to Babylon. All the nations were gathered to Babel until God divided them by the tongue and so the major type of Babylon is the whole world, but lesser types of Babylon can be America, or religion, and so on.) (28) And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. (29) But from thence ye shall seek the Lord thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
(30) When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days (Obviously, that’s where we are right now.) thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and hearken unto his voice: (31) for the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. God’s people wonder why they don’t have the benefits of the Covenant and it’s because they’re not walking by faith in it. All those benefits are ours now. The anointing is coming to restore not only the faith but wisdom and the truth to God’s people, so that they can go back under the Covenant. Then God can keep His part of the Covenant, which is the great blessings that come to those who are sanctified of unbelief.
(32) For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee.... We need to find out what it was like to walk as sons of God, to walk in the steps of Jesus, to do His works. What did the Kingdom look like? We have to look back. We have to study the Word, if we want to hear the Word. (Isa.30:20) And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; (21) and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. We are hearing a Word, our covenant from 2000 years behind us and it’s saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Back to (Deu.4:32) For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been [any such thing] as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? This is a great thing God’s about to do in the latter days! (33) Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire.... We’re going to hear because we’re going into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter. “Times” symbolizes “years” (Daniel 3:19; 7:25; Revelation 12:14) and “seven times” represents the Tribulation. We’re going into the fire, but like the three Hebrews in Daniel 3, God’s going to preserve us. He’s doing this to burn off our bonds and we will walk with the King in the fire. It’s a picture of sanctification; fire purifies, it makes holy.
Again (33) Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? (34) Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, (God’s going to use all those things to take us out of the physical nation that we’re idolizing in our patriotism and He’s going to bring us into the nation of the Kingdom of God, our Promised Land, where God can fulfill these awesome promises.), and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
He highly motivated the Israelites to come out of Egypt by bringing judgments upon Egypt. He ultimately separated the Israelites from the judgments of Egypt, but Egypt was being destroyed and the Israelites had no choice but to leave there and go into the wilderness where God commanded them to go. The “wilderness,” is the Tribulation, where people will learn to walk by faith in God, and learn to live on the promises. It’s where the gold, the silver and the precious stones will be manifested, rather than the wood, hay and stubble of our idols back in “Egypt.”
(Isa.60:10) And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. Yes! We’re coming to a time of judgment and a time of favor simultaneously. The judgment will cause God’s people to flee the world and to seek refuge in the Kingdom. Our refuge is only abiding in Jesus Christ which is the Kingdom of God. (11) Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations (The “wealth” is natural but also spiritual as these very valuable people who carry the nature and life of Jesus Christ.), and their kings led captive. (12) For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish.
(This will happen in the Tribulation period to the nations of the world who won’t serve Zion. They won’t serve Zion’s King, so judgment will fall upon them and they will perish.); yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The reason the judgments are going to fall upon the world is because of what they’re doing to God’s people. The world is going to put God’s people on their crosses, spiritually-speaking, but this is for the purpose of sanctifying them. The crucifixion of the old man, and sanctification of being delivered from the wood and earth in order to have the gold and silver.
(13) The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together, (These are evergreen trees that represent eternal life.) to beautify the place of my sanctuary (The presence of God in His people makes the place of His sanctuary beautiful.); and I will make the place of my feet glorious. (14) And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
The Beast kingdoms in times past recognized the power of the people of God. A good example is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He recognized the value of the people of God, their understanding and the power of their God. He knew how their God had wrought deliverance for them through judgments on Egypt after Egypt had brought God’s people into bondage. The whole world is going to get a demonstration of the power of God to save His people. They are going to respect the people of God. So-called “Christianity” has not been very respectable since the falling away, but the world is going to respect true Christianity in the days to come. The world is going to respect the people in whom Jesus lives, walks and does His works.
The Man-child restoration is in two stages. First the David Man-child body will fight the wars with the factions around them as David did. This will win the peace for the Soloman Man-child stage to build the spiritual temple of God’s people, which the David’s prepared for. The restoration of the “greater works” begins. The days of Jesus are back and more. He will be great until the end. Luk 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against.
Sunday Mar 31, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Forgiveness is Freedom
David Eells – 3/27/24
We need faith in order to receive God’s benefits, faith to receive His healings, deliverances, provision, salvation and so on. There is something that’s just as important as faith because unforgiveness can block you from receiving any of that. Mat 6:15 ASV But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Unforgiveness brings the curse of the Bible listed in Deuteronomy 28. It is a very big problem and a major reason why people don’t receive what they need from God.
How do we prove that we have forgiven and how do we show forgiveness? In other words, how is forgiveness manifested through us to others? And how do we show, or what do we show, to others to prove that we have forgiven them? I think we can see some pretty good signs from this verse: (Rom.12:14) Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. When you’re persecuted by someone, your doesn’t really want to forgive them. But we really don’t have any choice and it’s the right thing to do, since the Lord has forgiven us such a great debt its only right to forgive everybody else their debt according to Jesus in Mat 18. The penalty there is that Father turns the unforgiving over to tormenting demons in Mat 18:34-35.
Forgiveness is extremely important if you want to bear fruit so the Lord can walk in you. You will stumble without His grace. Forgiveness is every bit as important as the faith message because God does not give grace to people who don’t forgive, or to people who judge, or to people who are bitter, or to people who are “just hurt” as they say. (Jas.2:1) My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. Are you holding the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord with respect of persons? James goes on to give the example of having more respect for the rich man than the poor man.
Then he speaks of another form of respect of persons that’s also quite common. (Jas.2:8) Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: (9) but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. If you’re seeking to be justified by something that you are doing, but that somebody else isn’t doing, be very, very careful because there are things that you are not doing and they are doing. And so James says not to be a respecter of persons. As it was with those under the Law, it also is with us. (Jas.2:11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So if you’ve transgressed in anything, then you’ve transgressed. If you’ve sinned in anything, then you have sinned. And, of course, if you are not willing to give grace to someone else when they have sinned, just remember that God doesn’t have to give you grace when you sin.
James warns us, (Jas.2:12) So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. In other words, if you want to be judged by a law of liberty, be sure you judge other people by a law of liberty. Judging is the first thing you do when you don’t forgive someone. You are judging this person unworthy of forgiveness when Christ already forgave you and Jesus warned us about that. (Mat.6:14) For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. The Father will turn you over to the tormenters until you pay your debt to God, since you didn’t think your brother was worthy of having his debt to you cancelled by receiving forgiveness from you.
(Jas.2:12) So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. What’s the “law of liberty”? Well, he’s using the Law here by way of an example. If you demand the Law be used on someone else, instead of giving them the same grace and “liberty” that the Lord offered to you, but you don’t want to demand the Law be used to judge you, then you need to remember that the Lord will use the Law on you. (Jas.2:13) For judgment [is] without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment. What you sow, you reap, according to the universal law that the Lord has given us. (Gal.6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. If you sow mercy and forgiveness, and refuse to judge unrighteously, as Romans 14 warns against doing, then God will show grace and mercy to you.
God is the judge. When Paul turned a sinner over to Satan in 1Co 5 it was God who judged and it must be that way today. This was governmental unforgiveness. Personal judgment and personal unforgiveness is owed by us. Governmental unforgiveness coming from God through elders is important to protect others. When this happens God will confirm the judgment. But in Pro 26:2 As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, So the curse that is causeless alighteth not.
How dangerous it is, for we can actually sever our own grace and ruin our own future by not forgiving other people. (Jas.3:14) But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth. Faction, of course, is seeking to separate people from others, especially to separate followers through selfish ambition. Judgment, jealousy, faction, criticism, gossip; these are all manifestations of unforgiveness, and many forms of it, because people are tempted to “lie against the truth” when they’re attempting to cause division through jealousy or selfish ambition because they want something that God has not given to them.
But we should always wait and trust in the Lord to provide and ordain things for us, and not try to gain it ourselves. Jealousy causes people to try and obtain things through their own efforts. (Jas.3:15) This wisdom is not [a wisdom] that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. (16) For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. The reason these people are turned over to vile deeds is because of unforgiveness the Father turns them over to tormentors as Jesus said. Mat 18:34-35 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. 35 So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.
Many people have made themselves judges and think they have the right not to forgive other people but, if they are usurping this position, in other words, if they’re seizing and holding this position, office, or power, etc., instead of God giving it to them, then they’re going to bring a curse upon themselves. God guarantees it. (Jas.4:11) Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. (12) One [only] is the lawgiver and judge, [even] he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor? Do you see what I’m saying here? James is saying the exact same thing. Only One has the right to judge; only the Lord has the right and He chooses through whom He will judge and it will not be someone in sin. 2Co 10:6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full.
The apostle Paul said, (Rom.2:1) Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. If you judge others, then you judge yourself. We can’t judge, be unforgiving, bitter, factious; or be attempting to bring judgment on other people. (Eph.4:29) Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth ... (Jas.3:8) But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] full of deadly poison. Of course, God can tame the tongue and sometimes we learn obedience through the things we suffer.
The Bible said that even about Jesus. (Heb.5:8) Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. When we suffer for speaking things we shouldn’t, it motivates us to be very careful before the Lord. (Eph.4:29) Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying (or “building up”) as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear. It’s always legal to edify, to build up, to give grace; it’s not always legal to tear down and we have to be careful that it’s only the Lord Who does that. He is the Judge. It is legal to give grace but it is not always legal to judge. (Eph.4:30) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice. These are all manifestations of unforgiveness.
Paul is warning us here and he mentions railing in (1Co.5:11) But as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no not to eat. As a sin that is worthy of separating from people, he commands us to separate from any man who is called a brother, if he is reviling or railing. Reviling is from Loidoros, meaning abusive railing. The word for “railing” is blasphemia, which is the same word for “blaspheming,” and it means “to speak against.” Both reviling and railing are speaking against others. And as we just read in James, “Speak not one against another, brethren.”
(Eph.4:31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice. If you don’t put this away, you will pay for it and usually pretty quickly. Generally, your body will start going downhill, circumstances will start going downhill, the grace of God will be gone from you, etc. (Eph.4:32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. We see that so often in Scripture: if God forgave you, you have to forgive.
(Col.3:12) Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering. A person who judges other people illegally is a proud person. A person who is unforgiving is a proud person. This is a person who has put him or herself up on a pedestal and thinks they have the right to not forgive, that they have the right to judge instead of giving that right only to God. They are sitting in the place of God. He says that through lowliness, meekness and longsuffering, we suffer long with other people’s errors and problems and weaknesses, etc. (Col.3:12) Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; (13) forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye. Paul is talking about personal forgiveness here and we always have to give personal forgiveness every time.
He’s not talking about governmental unforgiveness because it would truly be a sin to forgive someone in a governmental situation. When it’s the responsibility of an elder to judge and they don’t do it, then they are sinning. For instance faction must be dealt with swiftly or it will spread and destroy many with “vile deeds”. However we always have to forgive any offense against us personally or we won’t be forgiven, which is the foundation of our salvation. In Mat 18:15 And if thy brother sin (against thee [some ancient authorities omit this and it does not have a numeric pattern]), go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. The factious always disobey the command to go to the brother they are judging “alone” which makes them backbiters or back stabbers (Rom 1:30). They do this because their slander will be refuted by the witnesses.
(Col.3:14) And above all these things [put on] love, which is the bond of perfectness. Of course, if you love your brother as yourself and you are not a respecter of persons, then you’re going to want to afford every right and every privilege to him that you want for yourself. This will bond you instead of divide you.
If you want God to judge you according to grace and mercy, then remember you have to give that same grace and mercy to others. (Col.3:15) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. (16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It’s not possible to let the Word of Christ “dwell in you richly” unless you’re going to be obedient to the golden rule. The Word will not be manifested in you if you have unforgiveness. Unforgiveness blocks so many things that God could give to you and opens up the door for so many more sins that will take over your life, so that the Word will not be manifested in you.
The Word is Jesus and He will not be manifested in you if you have unforgiveness. All of those other fruits of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, railing, and malice will be manifested instead of the Word. It doesn’t matter what God has promised you; they won’t come to pass because God’s promises are conditional upon repentance and faith.
(Col.3:16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms [and] hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. (17) And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So whatever we do, we are to do it in Jesus’ Name; in other words, as representing Him. The meaning for the Greek word for name is nature, character, and authority. To do everything in His name is to do it like He would; that’s exactly the meaning of Colossians 3:17. If we would do what Jesus would do, then the Word would be manifested in us.
What is the nature of forgiveness? I believe what Jesus is doing is He is helping us to understand those circumstances in which we find ourselves most likely to fall into unforgiveness. Those circumstances aren’t the big curses that we think they are. We need to understand that wicked people who come against us and tempt us to fall into unforgiveness or bitterness or judgment, are actually a blessing. They cleanse the body of leaven. We need to understand that the Lord is sovereign and no person can come into our life without God’s grace. We need to understand what He says about them.
(Luk.6:22) Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company,] and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for Son of man’s sake. Well, we certainly don’t think that we’re being blessed when people do such things, but from God’s point of view, we are. We shouldn’t be so near-sighted to see only the circumstance and not what God says about the circumstance behind the scenes because what is being worked in us is for eternity. (23) Rejoice in that day (We sure need to remind ourselves of this because the flesh just cries out, doesn’t it?), and leap [for joy] for behold, your reward is great in heaven (Can you imagine? This obnoxious person who is accosting you is actually creating a reward for you in heaven!); for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets. (24) But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. (25) Woe unto you, ye that are full now! for ye shall hunger. Woe [unto you,] ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. (26) Woe [unto you,] when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. So we see that if these same wicked people speak well of us it is a woe to us.
Jesus said, “Woe ye that laugh now.” Yes, sometimes you weep, you mourn because of things that you go through at the hands of other people. But He said, “Woe ye that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.” If we laugh at the judgment of others it is a woe to us. Things are going to be turned around. We are about to be treated badly by the world as a trial, but God says, “leap [for joy] for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” The reward that God is giving is not just a breath that He calls this life; the reward that God gives lasts forever and ever. If we could really understand what He’s saying here and what is happening here, I believe we would leap for joy. God is true to His Word.
And now Jesus is going to tell you what it really is to be a forgiving person and what the fruit of being a forgiving person is. (Luk.6:27) But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. If you let bitterness or unforgiveness rise up in your heart, it’s just not possible to obey this. (Luk.6:28) Bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. (29) To him that smiteth thee on the [one] cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also.
The only person who can do this is a forgiving person, a person who is not judging. They are being obedient to the Lord and they have His grace working in them. Of course, you don’t have the grace to do these things if you’re unforgiving because then God withholds His grace. He gives grace only to the humble. (Jas.4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore [the scripture] saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. (Luk.6:30) Give to everyone that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. Those with faction and witchcraft stole from us whenever there was an opportunity and we have never asked it back but God always repays it multiplied when we just give it.
In other words, He doesn’t want you to judge these people. He tells us, (1Co.5:12) For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within (meaning those within the Church)? In obedience to this, before the faction leave the Church in a rage we correct their slander, fornication, lies, lusting, etc. After they leave we have only judged them carefully when the Lord told us to. (13) But them that are without (outside of the Church or not in the Church) God judgeth. (Luk.6:31) And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Here again is that perfect law of liberty. Giving mercy when we want mercy, sowing the very seed that we need because each seed brings forth after its own kind. If you want mercy, you sow mercy; if you want forgiveness, you sow forgiveness, etc. God will bring it back to you. (Luk.6:32) And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? Oh, it’s easy to love and forgive people who love and forgive you, but what about giving love and what He is telling us to do here.
(Luk.6:32) And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. There’s no reward for us in loving those who are good to us. (33) And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. True; even sinners do the same, so we have to be above that. We have to be able to do it even for the wicked and the unworthy, and God will give us grace to do this. It all comes by grace from God but we forsake our own grace if we are unforgiving.
(Luk.6:34) And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. (35) But love your enemies, and do [them] good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. I know that you want to be a son of God, not just a child of God. The manifestation of sons is what the whole world is waiting to see. (Rom.8:19) For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. He’s telling you here how to be a son.
If you don’t want to do these things or if you give little esteem to these things that Jesus is saying, you forsake grace. And if you’re unforgiving, then, of course, you won’t have grace to do these things. And not only won’t you have grace to do them, you won’t want to do them. It will not be possible for you to do them. If we want to be sons of God, we have to be like His Son. And what did Jesus say? (Luk.23:34) Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (35) But love your enemies, and do [them] good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. (36) Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (37) And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.
Be careful that if any judgment or any condemnation is coming through you, that it’s coming from God and not from you. If you have any personal feelings, if you have personal bitterness or unforgiveness toward someone, then you’re not neutral and God can’t use you. He can’t use you as a son, as He could use His Son, because His Son was truly forgiving. (Luk.6:37) And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: release, and ye shall be released. Jesus forgave the sinners but governmentally judged the judges.
When you’re holding people captive to their sins or, in other words, holding them accountable to their sins against you, it says to “release and ye shall be released.” (Luk.6:38) Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. This is just so important for us to remember! However we give it out to others, however we sow it, that’s what is going to come back to us.
We’ve seen how unforgiveness manifests itself in our thoughts and our actions. Forgiveness also manifests in our thoughts and our actions. Here’s a good example: (Mat.5:38) Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: (39) but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil ... According to the Law, you were able to demand an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You had the right to execute vengeance under the Law. But the Law could make nothing perfect, and God decided that He needed a better Covenant with better promises, so He gave us the New Covenant. Paul in 1Co 5 told the Church to throw the fornicator and reviler out to save the Church because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Now this is definitely talking about not resisting humans because we’re told in (Jas.4:7) Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We are told to resist the devil and his demons but Matthew is talking about the person, the flesh and blood, with whom we are not supposed to fight. The elder must resist the wicked for the Church with governmental authority as we have seen. The angels go out to take down slander because it is an attempt to destroy souls and families with witchcraft. Individually we fight against our real enemy, the principalities and the powers. (2Co.10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (4) (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), (5) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
(Mat.5:39) But I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. If you forgave a person immediately, as you should do, then you would be able to resist retaliation. If you overcome unforgiveness every time someone attacks you that’s a good thing, and if you finally overcome it in your nature, you won’t have any problem obeying what Jesus commanded here. The majority of the Church doesn’t pay much attention to these Scriptures for they are self-crucifying. They would rather appease their flesh and retaliate in order to get out of this crucifixion to their flesh.
(Mat.5:40) And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. That really comes against the flesh; we are really swimming upstream here to be obedient to Jesus. Unforgiveness is common. It’s thought of as a worthy thing in the world but the Lord speaks very harshly against it. (Mat.5:41) And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. This also really goes against the flesh. The flesh is prideful and doesn’t want to do this; and God hates pride. Unforgiving people are prideful people because they think that they have the right to judge.
(Mat.5:42) Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. This is humiliating to the old man. (43) Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: (44) but I say unto you, Love your enemies ... Of course, this is the total opposite of unforgiveness, judgment, bitterness, wrath and demanding your rights. (Mat.5:44) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; (45) that ye may be sons of your Father ... Look at how many times the Lord connects sonship with this kind of humility in our lives. He connects sonship with the kind of humility that doesn’t judge, the kind of humility that forgives.
(45) That ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. We wonder why God doesn’t judge certain people around us; we wonder because He is so longsuffering with the wicked and vessels of dishonor so the elect among them will be saved as in Romans 9. But He needs and uses those vessels of dishonor to try us and crucify our flesh. (46) For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? …(48) Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Brethren, some of the worst of men can be saved, Paul and Peter were but Judas was not. Pray for your families that they forgive, repent, and be among the chosen. Here is something many leave out, God’s will.
Rom 9:2-5 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: (He had great love and great faith but few were saved. Why?) 6 But it is not as though the word of God hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: (The same is true of the recognized “Church”.) 7 neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. (The chosen lineage among Abrahams children.) 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. (Only those who have faith in the promises.)
9 For this is a word of promise, According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. (A type of the promised seed of all nations. This was after God rejected Ishmael, a type of the rejected seed of all nations.) 10 And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac-- 11 for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election (choosing) might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, (Only “many are called but few are chosen”.) 12 it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. (Two types of world-wide people.)
Many will argue with this but God says in 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, (The choice is not man’s but Gods. Religion doesn’t count.) but of God that hath mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. 18 So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? 21 Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: 23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,
24 even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved. 26 And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God. 27 And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: 28 for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. 29 And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.
Sunday Mar 24, 2024
Sunday Mar 24, 2024
Jesus Is Coming In Believers (2)
David Eells – 3/24/24
He Wants Us All In Him
Anonymous 2/12/24 (David’s notes in red)
I had been really battling with a deep-rooted fear of God rejecting me and self-rejection, self-hatred and self-condemnation. Although it was easy to see and feel God's love for others, it's been extremely difficult to accept His love for me (Jesus in me). (Your fiercest enemies are being removed. Father addresses the problem below.)
I had this experience while I was still in my physical body. I could see and was fully aware of the physical realm but my spirit and soul were in a room in Heaven where the Father was sitting down and Jesus was standing to His right. There were others all around them and I knew or recognized Enoch and Noah. (A good sign - Both were escapees) There were so many others there that my spirit knew but those two were the ones I looked at. And everyone there was filled with God's Spirit in their individual vessel or soul.
There was only purity and holiness there. It is so difficult to describe in words and physically what it looked like. The presence of His Holy Love was extremely strong and more than I felt I could bear. I was crying immensely in the natural because of His Love. I just never had experienced or accepted it although it has always been there. Being there in His presence, I had no choice but to accept His Love and it was all present. I went to look for fear, self-condemnation and self-rejection as they had been a comfort and safety mechanism my whole life. They were not there but I knew they were extremely far down, deep and low. They were deeper than underground or in a pit and their presence was so far from here.
The Holy presence was greater words than I could describe but my crying was from the unfamiliarity of this overwhelming love and I begged God to take me back to normal. It seemed too much but He said He wouldn't ever make me experience more than I could handle even though it seemed so overwhelming.
This place was up so high above everything and you could see everything not physically but spiritually. I could see all the truth and understand supernaturally what was and is going on around me.
There was nothing hidden but everything was seen spiritually and I could see all this truth relating to myself. I saw how that I had been friends with self-condemnation and fear for so long that when they are taken away it does hurt even though it's what's best for me.
Being in this wonderful place I could see the authority it had over all creation physically and spiritually and that everything in existence was under this place. It was all light and darkness was so very far away that you couldn't even feel the presence of it although you knew it existed. It literally couldn't touch you even if you wanted it to. You would have to leave this place to experience it. 1Jn 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
It was as if I had been in this place the whole time but I wasn't aware of it but I was now aware of it. Fear, condemnation, self-hatred etc. had been separating me and stopping me from realizing or acknowledging being here. (This was accomplished at the cross but it needs to be realized.) Eph 2:5-6 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
The enemy throws everything at us every day and every moment to blind us from seeing where we really are. I understood that He desires this place to manifest through us while on earth and for us to be in this place constantly on earth. It was understood that we are all in Heaven in this place all of the time but we get distracted by anything that is other than holiness and can't see clearly. (We are saved, healed and delivered at the cross.) But when the lies and fear are removed, we see this place and connect with Him clearly. We then see Him and hear Him so closely as if one’s own breath is His Spirit and He is closer than we can comprehend.
I understood that He wants all of us to be constantly communing with Him as one in this place in Heaven while we are physically on earth. We are to be in this place with Him no matter what is going on in the physical. (We are seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ.) This place was more real than anything familiar to me and more real than anything in the physical. After this experience I was able to see back to this place the rest of the day no matter what I was doing in the physical. Even though the evil spirits were and are still moving around on the earth, I was able to be in this place with Him at the exact same time.
He desires this closeness and oneness with us now and forever. We are to have this intimacy right now and for eternity. We are to accept His voice and love constantly and reject all other voices, thoughts, and spirits. We are to have His Spirit dwelling in our spirit and soul over our flesh for eternity. In this way He will manifest through our physical bodies for His Glory and praise. This will enable us to overcome while going through all our trials, the evil and judgements being poured out on earth. Our vessels are to be physically preserved by being completely aligned with His Spirit.
I heard the other day when I was asking why I am experiencing so many new, crazy, unfamiliar things and I heard this word. Luk 21:26 men fainting for fear, and expectation of the things coming on the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
I knew He is preparing all our hearts and souls so that we will have faith and peace when witnessing all the evil things about to be manifested. He is preparing us to go through it all for His Glory. He wants to live in us and keep us stable. This stability will enable us to resist and reject everything the enemy says. The fallen angels don't want us to be in this Heavenly state manifesting Christ. Jesus has already paid the price for us to live in this place constantly while on earth. He has already paid the price and given us all grace to manifest Him fully.
Jesus IS in the Mirror
Prophecy of Gary Carpenter (David’s notes in red)
Reminder Note from David: {2Co.3:18} But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. ... {4:6} Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {7} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. ... {10} always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. {11} For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. {Gal.2:20} I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. {Rom. 6:11} Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. {12} Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof.
None Diminished
Now do you perceive My wisdom in providing you with the image of Him Who is to fill your hope? (This image is only seen in “the sum of thy words”, which is truth.) Allow no image provided by religion. (Which has always been wrong. The Sanhedrin, leaders of all their religions did not recognize the Image and so it is today.) Permit no image diminished by the reasonings of man. Receive the image I have provided for it is into that likeness that My Spirit shall conform you.
"None diminished! None diminished!" is the word I am imparting to your spirit this day, says the Lord. "None diminished" is My plan. "None diminished" is My will. "None diminished" from the image I provided. That IS the plan of the Father. As you behold the glory of Him Whom I have sent, as you behold that image I have provided to fill your hope, you are changed into that same image, that same hope, that same likeness by the seed of Him Who was planted within you.
"None diminished!" I say again, "None diminished!" This is My plan. This is My purpose. Receive not the counsel, nor the religion, nor the vain speaking of men who would oppose My will. (Do the dead religions conform to the pattern and image of the Book of Acts?) I counsel you this day to incorporate hope with all your speaking. Truly I have spoken unto you, "These things only come by the saying". But where there is no vision, My people shall surely perish. The saying apart from the vision is as futile as the vision apart from the saying. Both are required, says the Lord. (So read it, say it, and believe it.)
I counsel you to step higher than religion. I counsel you to step higher than the ways of man. I counsel you to step above the darkened reasonings of those who speak as leaders of My people. I counsel you to receive the simple truth that I have sent in Jesus Christ. He IS the image provided for all men to be conformed to. I intend for them to be conformed to that image "none diminished, none diminished, none diminished" says the Spirit of your Father.
His life, the life of Christ in fullness, is the "Land of Promise" which I have given unto My children. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread to appropriate that life in its fullness as your own, I will surely give it unto you. His life, in its fullness, IS your inheritance! Receive the abundance of this grace. Receive it as your own. Possess it as your land to be inherited. Receive the abundance of this grace which I have provided for My children. Receive the abundance of His righteousness for it is truly yours.
All that I have given Him, the Holy Spirit shall show unto you as being your inheritance to possess. He will lead you step by step. He will go before you and drive your enemies out from before your face and you shall inherit the very life of Christ in fullness, says the Lord. This is My plan. For this purpose I provided the image that you are to be changed into. For this purpose I sent Him Who is the express image of Myself, that you may see the land before you and possess it as your own. For it is yours as a gift. It is yours by inheritance. It is yours to possess by My Spirit, says the Lord. By My Spirit, by My Spirit, it shall be yours! (The liars say it passed away with the Apostles.)
For I have already given you this land. The work has already been accomplished in Him. The only thing remaining is for you to possess it by faith. But as I am teaching you in this day, first you must fill your hope with the image of Him Whom I have provided. Fill your hope with that image. Think it not impossible. Think no longer these things are impossible. Think no longer this is not My plan, for it is My plan. It is My plan to repopulate the earth with sons who walk as Him, talk as Him, act as Him, who have the same results He had. This IS My will, says the Spirit of your Father.
You will learn, as did those of old, that the battle is not yours, but the Lord's. It is by My Spirit that the transformation is accomplished. For man's efforts are vain and futile to bring forth the life of Christ. The instructions I give are easy for man to do. First, son, fill your hope with the image of Him Whom I have provided. Your hope must become "possessive hope"! Hope that possesses as its own the life of Christ in its fullness. See, see that life in fullness in you. See it, son. This is My plan, it is My gift unto you. It is My gift to My children; His life imparted free by grace to you.
I say again, have possessive hope. Hope that sees His life as your own, for without Him you can do nothing. His life has been given freely by My grace. I have imparted that same life into you. See it as your own. Every attribute of His, see it as your own. (2Pe 1:3-4 seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; 4 whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.) See yourself as beholding Him in a mirror of your own life. As you behold Him as in a mirror, the mystery of Christ in you is brought forward by the power of My Spirit and not your labor. Your labor is to see Him! To behold Him! To possess Him in your hope! To hold that image and not be swayed by religion nor the doctrines of men who claim these things are not My mind.
See Him! Behold Him! Possess Him! Know Him! Love Him! Receive Him! He IS your life! His life IS your inheritance, in all of its fullness, says the Spirit of your Father.
Then partake by saying. Be as Abraham of old who spoke what I said concerning himself and would not speak contrary to it. As you speak forth the words of faith, "As He is, so am I, in this world", coupling your words with Godly Hope which possesses the image, the transformation and the change into that image is wrought by My Spirit and not by the work of man.
Enough! Enough! Enough, says the Lord. Enough of religion! Enough! It has been enough! It is past time to cast off the doctrines of men who would speak in the place of God. This very day My Spirit is circumcising from your heart the doctrine of men whose counsel has been darkened to say that the life of My Son is an image to be worshipped afar off and not to be appropriated by every believer who calls upon His name. They do not find such counsel in My Word.
They have chosen according to man's ways and man's reasonings. They have chosen the path of religion which I cannot anoint with life. They have chosen that path which will never lead to dominion. They have chosen the path of religion instead of life. Hear them no more. Hearken to them no more, for their words are not the mind of the Father.
As I have spoken unto you, wisdom is the image of Christ woven upon the tapestry of your spirit. The speaking of My word weaves that image upon your spirit. But by that method alone, the process of transformation is slow. I am instructing you this day to incorporate hope with all your speaking. (The scriptural word for hope means a firm expectation for the promises given to come to pass for us.) As you incorporate hope of the image with the speaking of My Word, the image of Him Whom I have provided is woven upon the tapestry of your spirit much more rapidly.
You cannot possess a land that you cannot see. Neither can you possess a land that you see afar off if you deem it not part of your inheritance. Understand this day and never forget, says the Lord, that His life IS your inheritance! I desire that you possess that life to the full. (When we see Him in the mirror we are saying His life, holiness, deliverance, health, immunity, love, gifts, power, etc. are all in me.)
Behold the land of His life that I have spread before you, says the Lord. Behold it with possessive hope that understands His life IS your inheritance. Possess the land by faith as you go forth seeing and beholding His life, saying "As He is, even so am I, in this world".
Incorporate hope with all your saying, says the Spirit of Grace, and I will weave the image of Him Whom the Father has provided upon the tapestry of your heart in such rapid measure it shall astound you. This is the Father's plan. For this purpose I have been sent. Few have known His mind. Few have understood His purpose in re seeding the earth with LIFE! The Father is restoring all things according to His original intent and purpose. His intent and purpose is that all who name the name of Christ should walk as He walked, possessing in fullness His life, which is their inheritance.
Why would you fill your hope with images provided by man when I have provided for you the image of life itself! He Who IS life has come in the flesh that you may behold that life. That you may receive that life into yourself and appropriate it as a land to be possessed, for I have surely given it unto you, says your Father.
Have not I said thou shalt have no graven images before thee? A graven image is that which has the mark of man upon it. I have provided the image which has the mark of God upon it. Behold the image of life, Who IS Christ come in the flesh. Behold Him! Behold the image I have provided, says the Lord. Fill your hope with that image.
Fill your mouth with My Word that says His life is yours and you shall surely possess the height and depth, the length and breadth of His life. For I have given you to have life in yourself as I gave to Him to have life in Himself. Possess the life of Christ for His life is your promised land to be inherited. His life is your land of inheritance to be possessed.
My children have become so accustomed to affliction, to mourning, and to hopelessness that on those occasions when they have received the smallest measures of joy and peace from My Spirit, they have tended to camp there and set up monument stones by writing books giving testimony ...as though they had received the fullness of My measure of grace to them. How sad. How sad. How My heart grieves over the smallness of the heart of their Father in their sight.
I intend for My children to possess continents of joy and oceans of peace. Did not My Son say that His joy was to be in you? Did not My Son say that His peace was to be your peace? The land of inheritance is vast, enormous, beyond the capacity of the carnal mind to comprehend. But I have set this life to be inherited before you in the image of My Son that you may behold His glory, and with possessive hope and words of faith, possess the land as My Spirit drives out every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
You shall possess this land, says the Lord, in a more rapid manner, as you learn to incorporate hope with all your speaking. I give you counsel and instruction this day, says the Spirit of Grace; "Slow down!" During your times of possession as you confess the Word, incorporate hope with all your speaking. I Myself, by the power resident within Myself, will move to restore the will of the Father in every realm of your life.
The life in the image of Him Whom God has sent is yours for the possessing. It is the gift of grace. His life IS the gift of grace unto you, says the Father. Receive the abundance of this grace and the gift of righteousness and you shall reign in life by Him. The very life of My Son is My gift of grace unto you. His life is yours. His anointing is yours. His joy is yours. His peace is yours. It is a vast land of promise to be enjoyed by those who will take up the Sword of the Spirit and go forth in the name of Jesus to possess all that life which is your inheritance.
Did I not say to Abram, "Lift up thine eyes", that he might see all the land that was spread before him? Did I not say, "All that you can see, I shall give unto thee and thy Seed"? I did not say, "Behold this land which thou shall not receive as an inheritance". No, I said "This land IS your inheritance".
So I say to you this day, and so I say to all My children. I have spread before you the life of My Son, Jesus Christ, as a land to be possessed by inheritance. I have given this life unto you. It is not a life to be worshipped from afar without hope that it may be possessed. No, I have sent the image of life on purpose that you may behold that image and understand that this life is your land to be inherited. All that you can see, I will give unto you as your faith possesses it. (For this reason the Apostles were called Christians because they manifested Him.)
You cannot possess that which you cannot see, says the Lord. See, behold Him, behold the glory of that life. See it as in a mirror. Possess that life as your own. By My Spirit, I will give it unto you in fullness, says the Lord your God.
Remember the Word I spoke to you saying, "Four hours spent developing godly hope is more productive than four years of mindless confession where there is no hope". That ratio is correct. Those numbers are accurate. (When you read scripture of the life of Christ begin to say, this is mine and that is mine and let your imagination take hold of these things.)
I gave them not by chance unto you, says the Spirit of Grace. That IS the measure by which the rate of transformation shall be increased as you learn to incorporate hope with all your speaking. I am able to do a quick work in those whose hope stands as an image in full measure for faith to give substance to. Learn to incorporate hope, Godly Hope, with all your speaking.
Forget not the course that He has set for you, My son. Incorporate hope with your speaking regarding the Gifts of the Spirit. You shall arrive at that clearing more rapidly than you ever thought. Let hope and faith join together that I may manifest the life of Christ in you. From glory to glory, you shall be changed into that same image. Incorporate hope with all your saying, says the Spirit of Grace.
Our Dominion Through the Last Adam
David Eells
1Co 15:22 As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Rom 5:17 For if by the trespass of the one death reigned through the one much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one even Jesus Christ.
The first Adam and his children were given dominion over the earth, but he gave it away through sin. The second Adam and His children were given dominion over the earth, too, but He didn't give it away; it is just that a lot of His children are not receiving by faith this dominion that the Lord has given us. The Lord ordained that His people would reign in life. It is not because of our great ability, or power, or wisdom, or even sinlessness, but through what Jesus did at the cross that we have this authority to reign in life. It is a wonderful thing to realize, and I don't think that any of us yet realize the extent of the dominion that God has really given us over this earth, and we never will realize it unless we reach out, stretch out our faith, and begin to exercise faith and really see things change.
We have this authority that Jesus had to exercise power. The bible says in Rev 5:10 And he madeth them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests and they reign upon the earth. This isn't in the next life, or even after the tribulation. The bible says, “...they reign upon the earth.” We have the authority to reign as Jesus reigned because He lives in us through the Word that we put in our heart. The more of His word you accept, the more He can live through you because He is the Word.
Jesus exercised dominion in His kingdom. Not the kind of dominion that some people want. Actually some people would like to have the kind of dominion that the Pharisees had. The kind that glorifies man. Jesus exercised dominion over God's creation. He didn't exercise dominion over people who wanted to put to death His flesh. We go through many things in order to put to death our flesh. That is what the world was created for, to bring us into sanctification. The world is putting to death the old man, the flesh, the carnal nature. Even while the world around us is spiritually putting us on our cross, we have to exercise dominion. Jesus exercised the dominion but He resisted not the evil, and turned the other cheek.
While the world was crucifying Him, even before He came to the cross, His spiritual man was exercising dominion and delivering this old world from the curse. He went everywhere delivering this world from the curse. So, you can get mixed upon when to exercise this dominion and when not. We don't want authority to let the old man live, we don't want to keep our old life; we want our new life. Jesus said that unless you lose your life you wouldn't gain your life, so this dominion that God has given us is the same type of dominion that Jesus had. This dominion is not to get rich in this world to live the high life, but it is to have all we need to do God’s will. God gave me my house and car free in order to do His will. “My God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phl 4:19).
Some people say that Jesus had this dominion just because He was the Son of God, but that is not what Jesus Himself said, as we shall see. It is true that Jesus was the Son of God (spiritual man) dwelling in, and empowering the Son of man (natural man - Rom.1:3). I'm going to show you why Jesus always called Himself the Son of man. They did not have the New Testament when Jesus was administering God's salvation, they had the Old Testament. Jesus always did things to fulfill the Old Testament. “...so the scripture might be fulfilled”, He called Himself “the son of man.” I'm sure the Jews caught on to what He was saying, because they heard that phrase, “the son of man” in the Old Testament. Jesus said of Himself in Joh 5:27, “and he gave him the authority to execute judgment because he is a son of man.”
Jesus didn't have authority to execute judgment because He was the son of God; He had authority to execute judgment because He is the son of man. You say, “what is he talking about?” First of all, God gave authority to execute judgment on this earth to man. The bible says so. Not only did Jesus turn to His disciples and say to them things like, “what you bind on earth is bound in heaven and what you loose on earth is loose in heaven”;
and “I give you authority over all the power of the enemy”; and “all things whatsoever you ask in prayer believing you shall receive”; and “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou taken up and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart ...he shall have it.” This is the kind of authority that Jesus passed on to His disciples. But it is not because they are sons of God that they have the authority to exercise God’s power, it was because they were the sons of man. Why is that? Because that is who God gave His authority too.
Turn to Heb 2:5 “For not unto angels did he subject the inhabited earth.” The Greek says, “the inhabited earth.” He didn't put the inhabited earth under the authority of the angels. Who did He put it under? He put it under Adam. The bible says He gave this authority unto Adam, not the angels.
I want to point out to you that Adam was given this authority, and one of the angels, the Devil tried to usurp that authority. Gen 1:26 says, “...and god said, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds in the heaves, of the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. And God blessed them and God said unto them “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it,” (that means to have dominion over it).
Adam and his children were to have dominion over all the earth. Adam lost that dominion for himself and his children. He actually gave it away. Rom 6:16 says, “...know you not that to whom you present yourself as servants unto obedience his servants you are whom you obey.” That is what happened to Adam. He obeyed the Devil through Eve and gave him his own lordship.
He obeyed and became the servant of unrighteousness, the servant of sin, and the servant of the Devil. The Devil ruled over him, the curse ruled over him, and the Devil through the curse ruled over him. So the first Adam failed but the second Adam didn't. Heb 2:6 says “...but one has somewhere testified saying “what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visiteth him?”
Now this is a quote from Psalm 8. When Jesus kept relating to the Jews that He was the son of man, I'm sure that a few of them caught on. Actually when He was saying this, He was applying Psalm 8 to Himself. 1Cor 15:45-47 tells us that He was the second man, the last Adam. Psalm 8 was spoken of both Adam and the second Adam. Notice that the Lord didn't give authority to just Adam, He gave authority to His children. Man and the son of man are mentioned here. Gen 1:26 says, ...Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. Adam lost it for himself and his children, when he fell under the dominion of the devil. The second Adam overcame and took back dominion. “...What is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou art visiteth him…” This is talking about Jesus and His children just as much as it's talking about Adam and his children.
Everybody thinks that Jesus did His great wondrous works because He was the Son of God. God gave this authority to the son of man. Jesus passed on His same authority to His disciples, who were sons of man and sons of God. They were not born sons of God, they had to be “reborn sons” of God. They were sons of men and that's why He passed it on to them, because God gave dominion over the earth to the sons of men.
“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst him with glory and honor and didst set him over the works of thy hands, “Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet,” which clearly means that man was meant to be a king on this earth and rule for God over His creation. The works of God’s hands here means the elements, not just things that occur in nature. Even the things that man makes are made of God’s elements.
By God’s grace I have commanded cars, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwaves, boat motors, lawn mowers, etc. etc. to be repaired and seen it happen. Jesus came down here and took on the likeness of sinful flesh and any angel in heaven had power and ability not limited by flesh. Jesus was limited by flesh. The bible says He got tired, He hungered, and He thirsted. He was “tempted in all points, like as we”, but didn't give into sin.
The reason Jesus had to come in the likeness of sinful flesh and become a man is because God wanted Him to have this dominion and to pass it on to His spiritual children. The bible says in 1Co 15:21 “...as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” When Adam died all the seed of mankind was in him and they died too. When Jesus died and was resurrected, all the seed of the sons of God were in Him because He was the Word of God, and the Word of God was the Seed that the Sower went forth and sowed. The word seed there in the Greek is sperma.
So the seed of all His children was in Him when He was resurrected. “...As in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Everybody who abides in Christ is resurrected above sin to die no more. What we are finding out is who it is that was chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. His children are His seed, the word. They are the word in flesh.
Heb 2:6-8 But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Notice everything was put under the feet of the sons of men, including Jesus who was a son of man. 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. Because men are ignorant of this authority. There are people of God that have learned to exercise dominion over many and various things.
What is going to happen in the end time is that God's people are going to enter into more dominion. He says, “...they reign upon the earth.” Jesus didn't give us an example of what the Son of God could do; He gave us an example of what man was sent to do with God’s word in him. He gave us an example of exercising dominion over the earth. He gave us that authority. If we don't know it and we don't believe it, we'll never stretch out our faith to enter into it.
Jesus didn't tell His disciples to “ask Me to do this”, He sent His disciples and gave them authority to do it. “...As the father sent me, so send I you.” “Go ye therefore and make disciples.” “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you have received, freely give.” He just gave them this authority. Jesus in Mat 28:19 told His disciples to teach disciples to “observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.” Notice, we have to obey all these commands that Jesus gave the first disciples. That is our authority from the Lord. The great commission has been passed on to us from the Lord.
If we understand our authority and begin to exercise it over the curse, we'll see things happen. We are not seeing this great dominion that God gave manifested except in small ways. If people begin to exercise the authority that God gave them, and exercise their dominion that they were crowned with, we are going to see this dominion exercised more and more.
Soon people will begin to take this seriously and begin to stretch their faith for things that they have never done. Down the road a wilderness experience is going to thrust many people into a position of need. Not only that but it's going to thrust them into a position where they are going to be fellowshipping with disciples with different experiences.
This is the place where God is going to destroy religion, He is going to bring people into close fellowship with people who have exercised their faith in other areas. This dominion is going to come forth because the need is going to be so great. People are going to put their trust in God, but we don't have to wait!
It said He didn't leave anything that was not subject to man. The dominion is already given. God wants you to exercise your dominion over everything. God is giving you this dominion and He wants you to use it to glorify Him. Joh 15:7,8 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and so shall ye be my disciples.”
Remember from the first verse we read in Romans chapter five, it's not because you are perfect, it is because you are a disciple of Christ. No one who begins to exercise this dominion is perfect. We are sons of God through God the Father, and we are sons of man through Adam. God gave dominion to Adam, who then gave it to the devil. Then Jesus took it from the devil and gave it to us. Begin to exercise it now for everything. We don't have any authority outside of God; our authority comes through Jesus Christ.
Psa 8:2 says “...Out of the mouths of the babes and sucklings have thou established strength. Because of thine adversaries that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” It's amazing because God can use little children to do this. Not just physical little children, but children in the Lord. This was spoken about Adam, and his children. So He put everything under the feet of Adam and his children. They lost this dominion because Adam sinned, but our sins were taken away.
Look in Rom 6:14, “for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.” And He goes on to say that you are the servants of those that you obey. In verse 17 He said that “you are made free from sin.” In Colossians chapter 1 He said that He “delivered you out of the power of darkness.”
All the things that the bible says about the curse as in Deu 28, we have been delivered of, if you believe it. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe it… (Rom 1:16) But we have to know that we have this dominion, not because we have manifested perfection, but because of what Jesus did. Exercise faith and go out and do it.
Exercise dominion over sickness, demons, and all forms of the curse. You'll be rejoicing if you stand in faith and do it because you're going to see that what God says is true. There are Christians all over the world who have exercised dominion in so many different ways. We exercise dominion not by prayer but by command as Jesus and His disciples did.
Did you ever notice that they did not ask God to heal, deliver, etc. They commanded these things because they knew these things were guaranteed by God to His covenant people. “And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phl 4:19).
You may say, “David these things only happen for people with gifts of healings or miracles or faith.” No, Mar 11:23 says, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it.” Notice that it is whosoever commands without doubt shall have it.
By the grace of God I have commanded eyes restored, broken bones mended, cancers gone, diseases gone, bleeding stopped, blood pressure normal, demons out, dead resurrected, those in comas to come out, water pumps to stop leaking, alternators to have new bearings, smoking engines to be rebuilt, hurricanes to stop or change directions, property protected, storms to stop and back up, moles to get out of my yard, mole crickets to die, gas in my tank, engines to start, etc. Yet it was not I but Christ living in me through the word.
Jesus came to restore our dominion. Jesus was promoted “...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this world but in the world that is to come” (Eph 1: 21). That's total authority, and that's what Jesus has. …All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. (Mat 28:18). Our spiritual Father has this authority and He has passed it on to His children.
Verse 22 says, “and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and he gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him which filleth all and in all.” So you know He's talking about His body here. Not His physical body, but His corporate body. God gave all things to be in subjection under the Body of Jesus and He gave Him to be the head. In this case you can see that even if you are the lowest member of the body, the feet, you have dominion.
This dominion is when you are abiding in the body. It is being in the body that gives you this dominion. Joh 15:7,8 says, “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so shall ye be my disciples.” Disciples are those who bear fruit in the area of answered prayer because the word abides in them.
Rebellious Christians and those who have not yet come into the body of the resurrected Christ, lost their dominion when the first Adam lost his. They still don't have that dominion. We have to be educated into the understanding that we have this dominion because the Word must abide in you. This dominion starts here but continues for eternity. It starts over the earth; the earth is just the training ground for this dominion. It is here where the Lord teaches us how to be kings over His creation.
In the next world or in the age to come, we are still going to have this dominion. 1Co 6:1 says, “...dare any of you having a matter against a neighbor go to law before the unrighteous and not the saints for know you not that the saints shall judge the world. And if the world is judged by you are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters, know you not that we shall judge angels?
How much more things that pertain to this life if than ye have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the church? I say this to move you to shame...” If we have authority to judge angels in the next life, how much more do we have authority to judge things in this life?
Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Lord pointed out to me one time that this is a command. Our work here is to bring God's kingdom down, to manifest His kingdom in the earth. At the last trump it says, “that the kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior.” (Rev 11:15)
Who did God do that thru? The bible gives credit to the saints. For instance, in Dan 7:26,27, “The judgment shall be set and they (the saints) shall take away his (the Beast) dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given unto the people of the saints of the most high,” God's people are going to be running around here destroying the devil's kingdom!
As the last Adam Jesus passed on His authority in promises such as Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind (forbid) on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted) in heaven. Mat 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Could God have given such authority unto men? Isn't that dangerous? Not at all. Lost men and most Christians have not put enough word in their heart to believe these promises. “Faith cometh of hearing and hearing by the word.” A person has to have a renewed mind to believe this. If he has the renewed mind of Christ he is totally dependable. Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
When I was a baby Christian I loved the word and I was convinced it was all true. Before any religious folks got to me to tell me you couldn't believe these things I started exercising them. When these people did speak to me it was too late. I had discovered the power. So you do not have to be in the Lord for years to exercise faith.
You just have to be convinced that what you read once is the Word of a totally faithful God. Also stay away from those who have “been in the Lord”, so called, for years and still don't believe these verses. 2Ti 3:5 holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof, from these also turn away. I have seen many who will not obey this verse stay double minded all their life.
That spiritual dominion that Jesus exercised and passed on to His disciples to exercise is going to become even greater at the end of time. The reason being is because we are going to come into secular dominion too. The Pharisees had dominion over the people of God. Jesus commanded the people not to do what they do, but obey them because they sit in the seat of Moses.
He gave the Pharisees secular dominion over the people. He exercised dominion over the curse, over the devil's kingdom, and He was destroying the works of the devil everywhere He went. They had no kind of authority like that. They had only physical, secular authority like in the churches today but He had spiritual authority.
In the end of time we are going to take personal authority even over the secular matters as only the government does now. They are not going to retain that authority; their kingdom is going to fall. We are going to have all authority in Christ. We are going to reign and rule with Christ for 1,000 years, just for a beginning!
The dominion that God currently permits the world to have, and the devil as the god of this world to have through the governments, we are going to get. Right now we have to be satisfied to exercise dominion over these governments by dominating principalities and powers. There is a dominion coming that is both secular and spiritual.
Remember I told you that we don't have dominion to not go to the cross. Jesus exercised dominion while He was going to the cross over His flesh when He said, “Not my will but thine be done.” He gave them authority to crucify His flesh. He had been given authority to destroy the devil's kingdom. Our flesh (the carnal man) is part of the devil’s kingdom.
In Esther, Haman had been given authority by Ahasuerus (who represents the King of kings, the Lord) to destroy the people of God. Esther, who is a type of the Bride, had been given authority to save the people of God, at the same time. One authority had not been taken away when the other had been given. They were both given that authority at the same time. The king's authority could not be annulled in anything. This of course puts us in a trial with the forces of darkness but through faith we win. We are coming to the end when all authority is going to be given to us. Authority has been restored through Jesus Christ that was lost by Adam, over all the works of God's hands. We are going to ultimately see this over everything that God created. Right now we need to start exercising that authority because all the way up to the end we are going to see it manifest more and more, until we see total dominion.
So we have been given our number one job here, to lose our life. If you don't lose your life, you don't gain your life. Well the world is in total cooperation with that. They are there to help us to lose our life. They are our enemies to nail us to our crosses. Jesus didn't resist men who took physical authority over Him, until He died.
I believe that is a sign of when we die and give our life over to God. There is going to come a time in the tribulation period when God is going to take authority and grace away from the wicked. He is going to permit Christians at that time to exercise their authority over these people like the two witnesses did.
Fire went forth from the Witnesses’ mouths destroying their enemies, smiting the Earth with every plague and stopping the rain for three and a half years are examples of that (Rev.11:5,6). They exercise dominion over people, to destroy the kingdom of the Beast. However they will not “wrestle” with the flesh and blood but it will be by the power of God.
From here to the end we are going to see the spiritual authority and the physical authority manifested more and more until this world becomes God's Kingdom and He personally takes control. Personal control is different from control by proxy. God still runs everything, but He puts somebody on that throne that is a pagan and He is going to use him to test and purify the righteous. Then his purpose is over.
God is running this world by proxy; in other words through evil vessels. We are coming to the time when He's not going to do that anymore. He is going to personally take control through His sons and daughters. He has always had control, but He is going to personally take control. That is the only difference in the authority.
Look at Mic 4:6, “...In that day, sayeth the Lord,” I will assemble that which is lame, gather that which is driven away and that which I have afflicted, and I will make that which was lame a remnant and that which was cast off a strong nation.” He is talking about a spiritual nation here. “And the Lord will reign over them in the Mount Zion and henceforth forever. (This is the mount Zion that is forever, not that one over in the Middle East)
...and thou oh tower of the flock the hill of the daughter of Zion, under these shall it come yeah the former dominion shall come the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” You see just as at one time Jerusalem ruled the known world, this New Jerusalem is going to rule the known world. The former dominion is going to come.
Paul says in Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. God is going to rule through His people that live in spiritual Zion. Mic 4:9 goes on to say, “Now why doth thou cry aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is thy counselor perished that pangs hath taken hold of thee as a woman in travail.” Obviously the people of God are not living up to their stature that's been given to them.
Verse 10 says “...Be in pain and labor to bring forth oh daughter of Zion like a woman in travail for now shalt thou go forth out of the city and shall dwell in the field and shall come even unto Babylon.” Even though dominion had been given to Zion they lost it and were taken to Babylon just like God’s apostate people of today. The Christians have been taken captive to apostate religion, that's Babylon. “There shalt thou be rescued.”
See God is going to do this, and at the point in history that we are in. God is about to rescue His people out of Babylon, out of the hands of religious apostasy. “…there will the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” See how God is going to do that? The next beast came and delivered God's people out of Babylon’s world persecution. “And now many nations are assembled against thee that say let her be defiled. let our eyes see our desire upon Zion, but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. For he hath gathered them as the sheave to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh oh daughter of Zion, for I will make thy horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples and I will devote their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”
Do you see something? God is going to gather the beast against Zion and then command the people of God to destroy the beast kingdom. That is when full dominion will be exercised. It has already been given. The Beast kingdom is not a man; the Beast kingdom is all the people on the face of the earth whose spirit doesn't confess according to 1John chapter 4, that Jesus Christ is come in the(ir) flesh. Who is going to destroy that kingdom? It is a mighty kingdom, but there are only two kingdoms in the earth. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Beast. Jesus said there are only two men in the field (world), and that is Christ and Anti-Christ. There are only two corporate men in all the earth. What the Lord is telling us is that Zion is going to exercise God's dominion and destroy all the nations that come against it. Do you believe it? We need to start exercising that dominion now!
That is what the Lord wants to teach us right now. He wants to show us that even though we aren't manifestly perfect, we have been given this right and this authority. Adam wasn't a perfect man; he was a natural man the bible says. He was very ignorant concerning many things. He walked around naked, not that it was sin in those days because he was in a dispensation of innocence and he didn't have the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. But he was innocent and God gave him this dominion over the beasts. Do you realize that you can be innocent in God if you are doing what you know to do? Even as a baby in God, not knowing a lot of knowledge of good and evil and yet this dominion is yours! Don't let the devil deceive you into thinking that you have to manifest perfection before you can exercise this dominion. That is not true! Sin always hinders this because you have no boldness toward God if you have sin in your life. So 1Jn tells us, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I think that Sampson was a really good example. Look at Judges chapter 16. Sampson had dominion. He was ignorant of a lot of things and he made big mistakes even while he was exercising his dominion? But God gave him this dominion. He ultimately lost this dominion because he lost his submission to God. What was the secret of Sampson's power? The bible tells us that the secret was his long hair, and as soon as he lost his long hair he lost his power. Sampson was not a big musclebound man.
Judges 16:17 says that if he shaved his head he would be like any other man. They wanted to know the secret of his power because it was not obvious. They were not saying, “How did you get such big muscles?” They knew that was not the reason for his power. Sampson was given dominion.
When he lost his submission to God is when he ultimately lost his dominion. In 1Corinthians chapter 11, the long hair was given unto the woman as a sign of submission. That is how we know that this is talking about submission. The long hair is given to the woman as a sign of her submission to her husband. The Lord is our Husband. He sowed the seed of the Word in the womb of our heart in Mat 13.
But Sampson had long hair as a Nazarite. One who took the Nazarite vow couldn't cut their hair. But it was a sign of power. Like I said, He used this as a type and a shadow in the Old Testament. We don't bring types and shadows over literally into the New Testament. We have to see what it's a type and shadow of. It's a parable and you have to discern the parable. The point is that this great dominion was given to Sampson from the Lord and he ultimately lost it because he lost his submission to the Lord.
What happened to Adam? The same thing. Samson laid his head or mind in the lap of the Jezebel, Delilah, and lost his submission and dominion. The moral of that story is don't let the wicked have your mind or you will have no power. The religious systems of man, or Babylon have deprived God’s people of their power. If you have been there and decide to repent God will restore your dominion. In bondage to the Philistines Samson repented and his hair began to grow. As you know his dominion returned and he smote the Philistines with a greater slaughter.
Few who exercised dominion in the earth for God were perfect including Sampson. But he refused the dominion of the Lord over himself and he ultimately lost the dominion that he had over the earth. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The baby Christian has little knowledge of good and evil, but is innocent in God's eyes if he is doing what he knows to do. That baby has this authority. All authority comes from exercising faith.
Zec 10:3 says, “...Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats, for the Lord of host hath visiteth this flock.” Did you notice that here He has a flock of sheep and there is a goat leading them? This happened in Jesus’ day and in ours.
Pharaoh's army is coming after God's people to restore them under his dominion much like the DS is. God's people under Moses, a type of Jesus became the rulers. God's people ruled at the Red Sea didn't they? Especially through Moses they ruled. Now I will grant you that some of God's people are like the northern ten tribes, they are worshiping the golden calf, they just don't realize it. They call him, the Lord but he is not for he has no power or holiness. Their submission is to a false Lord. If you come into your dominion you are His vessel but this dominion has been given to all the people of God.
It is really easy for us to just depend upon the world and the world's way of doing things, but it not discipleship, meaning learning and following in the steps of the Lord. It is necessary to reach out and exercise our faith. “The righteous shall live by faith,” which is a radical departure from the normal everyday Christian life.
We should learn to do things with our faith for no other reason than to grow in the authority of the Lord as a disciple walking in His steps doing His works. 1Jn 2: 5 but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. It is clear that Jesus walked in the power of God to save heal and deliver the people of God. According to this, If one is not doing this they do not abide in him.
Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. If we do not His works but rather those works of man and his ways of flesh we do not abide in Him who has spoken from the beginning. 1Jn 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. So if we were a disciple of Jesus “in the beginning” we would walk as His disciples did, in authority and power.
If we do not abide in Jesus’ words “from the beginning” we are not abiding in the Son and we will not bear His fruit. 2Jn 1:9 Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son.
Paul said that he would not dare to speak a powerless gospel that could not be demonstrated. Rom 15:18-19 ASV For I will not dare to speak of any things save those which Christ wrought through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ; 1Co 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Jesus didn't take away these promises of power and authority. But in the falling away from these truths through false shepherds they no longer had boldness to do His works. 1Jn 3:21 “Beloved if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness towards God, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.”
You see if you do not serve God, your own heart will condemn you so you will have no faith to exercise dominion. He is still not talking to perfect people here, but He does expect us to be disciples. Jesus said, “...He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne.” The throne is a place of dominion by authority. Spiritually speaking, a person that has authority is sitting down on that throne with Jesus, like a queen sits next to her King. We have that authority that Jesus has given us to rule, for “…they reign upon the earth.”
Where Do We Start?
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. If you have not received power you have not received the Holy Spirit. The most common evidence of when someone received the Holy Spirit in the book of acts is it is accompanied with gifts, especially tongues and prophecy,
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents (demons), and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. … 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Jesus is Coming in Believers
David Eells – 3/20/24
Jesus is coming in us. First He will come as the head because the head is born first. This is Jesus’ coming both in His day and ours. He is coming in the Man-child reformer head now in order to repeat history and give this revelation to the rest of the Body. As in the natural the brains lead the body.
In these last days, God is bringing forth a corporate first-fruits Man-child that walk after the Spirit of God into the image of Christ. There are no heroes here except the Lord. This is all grace to us. The Man-child is a corporate body within the Church which will be the first-fruits in whom the full Word and anointing will be manifested by God’s grace and power. They are reformers to lead God’s people back to the ways of righteousness from a great falling away. They will rebuild the tabernacle of David in a type of the kingdom of David.
Just as Christ was the first-fruits in His time, the end-time Man-child is the first-fruits of those who manifest Christ after this time of apostasy (falling away). Seeing this full manifestation of “Christ in you” as already accomplished at the cross brings power from God to manifest it in the natural.
(Rev 12:5) And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. (6) And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they (the Man-child company) may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Jesus in this Man-child will teach the Woman Church for 3 ½ years following the type of Jesus’ first ministry. This first-fruits Man-child company will be caught up to the throne of God to minister to the Church in the wilderness, as the types prove. Enoch, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, Gideon, David, Elijah, Ezekiel, Paul and John are all major types of different aspects of the Man-child ministry. The Man-child in whom Jesus lives by Word and Spirit is both the earthly head and a member of the body of the Bride, as David was the head of the Jerusalem Bride and was also a member of it.
The Lord through this head will lead the Bride, the chosen picked from among the Woman, who is also led up to the throne authority under the Man-child. Major Bride types are shown in Esther, the Psalm 45 bride and the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon. Since history always repeats, this will be the experience of the end-time Man-child and Bride.
(Rev3:21) He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. Overcome what? Sin, How? By the gospel which shows that this was already accomplished at the cross. Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.
Notice, not everybody who says unto the Lord, “…Lord, Lord…,” is going to have eternal life. It's those that are being made free from sin. They're bearing the fruit of their redemption that was given to them in Christ. You walk by faith in Jesus, He's going to set you free. He is going to fulfill His redemption in you. You're going to be set free. If it's not faith, it won't work. But if it is faith, it will work. Faith brings fruit in our works. Tit 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
The people that are redeemed are going to be zealous of good works. They're going to love to do the works of Jesus. This is the fruit of their redemption. This is what people who are redeemed look like. They love good works, they love to walk in the steps of Jesus.
He is coming in us as we repent and believe. (2 Th. 1:10-12) when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. (Which is this day) (11) To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and [every] work of faith, with power; (12) that the name (Greek: nature, character, authority) of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s purpose is to completely regenerate our whole being, spirit, soul and body, through His Word. In this way He is glorified in us. (1Th.5:23) And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only His Word in us is able to completely sanctify us in spirit, soul and body.
How do we receive this glory of Christ in us? (2 Cor. 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. This text shows us that if we see him as he truly is in the mirror (by faith) then we will manifest his image and glory. This image is in our renewed imagination. Christ reconciled or exchanged his life for ours on the cross. So His life is now in us by faith. We have to see Jesus in us! We have to see Him with spiritual eyes and call the things that are not as though they were, because the only way that God does His work is through our faith. (Col. 1:22,23) yet now hath he reconciled (or exchanged) in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:
(And here is an “if” we should pay attention to.) (23) if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven;) That's why we must see him in the mirror by faith in order to manifest him. Here is the gospel or good news we must hold to.
(Gal. 2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. This kind of faith is accounted as righteousness until righteousness is manifested (which means to appear in the physical realm). He who sees his natural face in the mirror will not have power to obey according to Jas 1:23.
(Col. 3:4) When Christ, [who is] our life, shall be manifested (in us), then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. Notice the life of Christ is His glory and it is manifested or come to be seen in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:11) For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Notice: He is coming in our mortal flesh now. Here on earth is where the plant is sown in the dirt and here is where the fruit is born. They have lied to us that we can only overcome sin by going to heaven.
Manifested here means to appear in the physical realm; meaning here “in our mortal flesh”. When we come to Christ we accept all of His benefits by faith. (faith is the substance of the thing hoped for while the evidence is unseen. Heb 11:1) This time of exorcising faith is until the sacrifice is manifest in our lives as fruit. According to the parable of the Sower, the seed of the Word is sown in the heart but only one out of the four is good ground who holds to the faith and brings forth fruit 30, 60, 100 fold. The fruit here is Christ, not other souls. The fruit of the Spirit. He is the seed (sperma = Greek) of the word and each seed brings forth after its own kind. A wrong Word is a wrong seed that brings forth a wrong Jesus in you.
(Rom. 8:24,25) For in hope (Greek = a firm expectation) were we saved. But hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth? (25) But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. In other words we wait in “firm expectation” for the full manifestation of our salvation. When we come to Christ, we receive a new spirit but our soul, our mind, will and emotions, needs transforming. (Rom. 12:2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
By faith we say with Paul (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. As we repent and make this confession of our faith in the exchange, it will be continually manifested in us for we are justified by faith. The Holy Spirit gives power to those who believe.
If we don't repent and believe the word, we cannot have what it says. As long as we are walking by faith in the word, we are acceptable to God for "faith is accounted as righteousness".
Jesus told his disciples in (Luk 6:40) The disciple is not above his teacher but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. Christ wants to live and be seen manifested in us. As we repent, when we see the word we permit this to happen. We give good ground to the seed and bear fruit.
(Luk 9:23,24) And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (I.e. die to self) (24) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
(2 Cor. 4:10, 11) Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested (be seen) in our body. (11) For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested (be seen) in our mortal flesh. (Notice: Jesus is coming to be seen in this earthly body.)
(2 Pet.1:19) And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. This is the manifested glory of the Word in us.
(2 Pet 1:9-11) For he that lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near, (Walking by sight instead of faith) having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins. (Your sins were washed away by faith) (10) Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election (chosen) sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never stumble: (11) For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(Jas.1:23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. If we don't see Jesus in the mirror, then that is not faith and we will not be a doer of the word. A doer of the word is manifesting Christ. 24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
So Christ is being formed or manifested in us progressively. (Gal. 4:19) My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you. We see in this context if a person is under the law this formation of “Christ in you the hope of glory” cannot happen.
(Col. 1:27,28) to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (28) whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ; Since God says in (Mat.5:48) Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, you can have faith in Him and He will do it in you.
We go through trials, troubles and tribulations, as Paul did: (2Co.4:8) We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; (9) pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; (10) always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. But you can go through trials and you will go through them for nothing, if you don’t exercise faith in the midst of the trial. Every trial, every trouble that you go through, is an opportunity to bring forth spiritual seed as you manifest more of Christ. We have to fight or we lose. (1Ti.6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. Fight the good fight of the faith; agree with what the Word says and not with what your carnal senses are telling you. If you don’t fight, you will lose but the fight is “the good fight of the faith.”
(2Co.4:16) Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. God is going to use all these things that we go through for the Glory of God to be manifested in us. How is the glory of God manifested in us?
He’s manifested as we behold the Lord in the mirror. As you do that by faith, you are going to be transformed into His image, from glory to glory, but this process of the inward man ruling over the outward man won’t come to pass, unless you pay close attention to the next verse. (2Co.4:18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Let us pray as Paul did in (Eph. 3:14-19) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, (16) that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; (17) that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. Paul would not pray an impossible prayer.
Notice that Paul prayed in in this text that we "may be strong to apprehend the fullness of God, (Notice, it is not just comprehend, it’s to apprehend the fullness of God. – The ancient manuscripts, Received Text and Nestles Text agree on “apprehend”.) ...the breadth and length and height and depth ...of Christ (Notice: apprehend all of Christ)...that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God".
According to Paul our purpose on earth is to be perfected into the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-15) And he gave some [to be] apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (Notice the five-fold ministry is for what?) (12) for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: (13) till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (14) that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; (15) but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, [even] Christ; The Bible clearly states that we’re supposed to be growing into “the fullness of Christ” and into the head, which means He will be our mind and will; we will follow Him. (1Co.2:16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. When Jesus is our head, then we have the mind of Christ in us.
Notice, the fivefold ministry is for the perfecting of the saints. That means the one-fold ministry of the Nicolaitan ministries that God hates is not where we are going. The five-fold ministry which historically sprouted from Jesus’ apostles and is about to be repeated by the Man-child’s apostles is "for the perfecting of the saints...unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ".
Through faith in the promises we are expected to perfect holiness or sanctification (which are from the same Greek word). 2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Notice we must fear God enough to repent and seek this cleansing. “Flesh” here is that part of you that has been declared in scripture as being in enmity against God, or the enemy of God. “Spirit” here speaks of the defilement of you by resident evil spirits who live in your flesh. They end up there through the blood line or sins committed by you since your birth. We are commanded here to use the word of God to separate from sins.
Look at what the following scriptures say: (1 Th. 4:3-8) For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification (Same Greek word as Holiness above), that ye abstain from fornication; (4) that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, (5) not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; (6) that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. (7) For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. (8) Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.
Maturity and sanctification are from rejecting these these sins so Christ is manifest in you. 1Jn 2:28 And now my little children, abide in him; that if he shall be manifested (Notice the “If” here is not a “when” because the three most ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, the Nestles text, the A.S.V., the R.V., and the Numeric New Testament agree to this translation. The “when” came about because the ignorant translators thought this spoke of the physical coming of the Lord and not His manifestation in you, which is not a certainty if you ignore this teaching.)
1Jn 2:28 And now my little children, abide in him; that if he shall be manifested we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. I.e. "If he shall be manifested" or made visible in us, we won't be ashamed when we see him. The reason for the “if” condition here is it all depends on this Gospel getting out and people believing it.
Here is another “If”. 1Jn 3:2 Beloved now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, ("in us" 2 Cor 4:10,11) (The three most ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, the Nestles text, the Received Text, the A.S.V., the R.V., and the Numeric New Testament agree on this translation) we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is". Notice: If we don’t see Him as He is, we can’t be like Him. We study the Scriptures so that we get a vision of the true Christ and we see Him as He is. He had a vision of His Father; that’s why He did what He did. We study the Scriptures to get a vision of who Christ is so that we can do what He did, live what He lived, be what He was!
(Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. What is salvation if it’s not salvation from being a sinner. I tell you, if you confess with your mouth, you will start believing in your heart because you’ll be writing something upon your own heart with your own words. And we believe we have received salvation in sanctification! (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them. NENT Believe you have received sanctification from sin at the cross.
The false prophet leadership has told us that we have to settle for being forgiven sinners in this life instead of overcoming sin as sons and daughters of God. (2Jn 7) For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, [even] they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. (the true believer’s flesh). Note: "is come" or "has come in the flesh" has no foundation in the ancient manuscripts, the Received Text or the Nestles Text. Notice: Those who tell you that Jesus is not coming in your flesh, so be satisfied to be a sinner are deceivers.
But we “confess Christ in us.” 1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess (Greek = homologeō, meaning to speak the same as.) that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. 16 And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. 17 Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world.
(2Th. 1:10) when he shall come to be glorified in his saints (meaning sanctified ones), and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. This is the day Jesus will be glorified in His saints for they will believe this gospel. (11) To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and [every] work of faith, with power; (12) that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be diligent in this work of faith beloved till He comes and you will have born His fruit and have great reward. I hope you will pay close attention to this revelation because as you can see it is the Word of God. We can't reject any Scripture and still say we have the truth. We cannot pick the verses we like in order to justify our fleshly religion. (Psa 119:160) "The sum of thy words is truth." All we have to do is believe what the Word says without invoking the curse at the end of the Book for adding to the word or taking from it.
How can sanctification from sin not be attainable in this life when Scriptures says, (Heb. 12:14,15) Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord: Notice, before you see the Lord you must be sanctified and while you are on the way “faith is accounted as righteousness.” (15) looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God. Holiness and sanctification are the same Greek word. A person who does not believe it is attainable will fall short of the grace needed to receive it because we receive it by faith.
(1 Cor. 15:1,2) Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, (2) by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. We are justified by faith in the sanctification given us at the cross and that faith continually brings us into manifested sanctification. Faith is accounted as righteousness until righteousness is manifested in us. In this way a person can continue under the grace of God as he bears fruit.
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. And faith is (Rom. 4:17) … "calling the things that are not as though they were". Only in this way will the life we want come to pass. We must be seeing what God promises in (2Pe 1:34) seeing that His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness... whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. We can do this because Jesus has already given us this gift of faith.
Christ made you "free from sin" (Rom. 6:18,22) so why should you "live any longer therein?"(verse 22) for you were "delivered out of the power of darkness" (Col 1:13) so "reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God" and "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey the lusts thereof "(Rom. 6:11,12). "if you live after the flesh, you must die: but if by the Spirit (God's power) you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:13,14). So believe God's promises and escape the lusts of the flesh.
(1Jn 2:1-6) My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And lf any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. (3) And hereby we know that we know him. If we keep his commandments. (4) He that saith. I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar. and the truth is not in him: (5) but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: (6) he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.
The religions of this day and their translators have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness (a license to do what you want to do). As we can see from the above verses grace delivers from sin, not just covers it up. The blood covers our ignorance until we see the light.
(Jas 4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (Heb. 10:26) For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. Some sins are done in ignorance and failure and are therefore not willful. These are covered by the Blood.
For the other sins we will obviously get chastening until we hopefully repent. (Rom.5:13) for until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. You may have sinned a sin of ignorance (not knowing the law) but under Grace God does not reckon it as sin. That is why we cannot say, "we have no sin", (1 John 1:8). We are ignorant of many things that are against His perfect will. When we get light, then we are responsible.
When does the Blood not just cover, but wash away the very nature of sin? (1 John 1:5-7) And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (6) if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie. and do not the truth: (7) but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
This is why the Gospel is the good news. Now we don't have to be content with forgiveness because Jesus is "the Lamb of God that taketh away (not just covers up) the sins of the world". Many of God's people are still trying to live with Old Testament benefits because they don't believe the Gospel.
Our blood passed to us by our parents represented their nature of Adamic sin. We needed a transfusion of Jesus’ blood. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood… When Jesus turned the water into wine at the marriage, it was a parable for us. The servants of the Lord at His command filled the six clay pots representing our natural life with water which represented His Word. The Lord then turned the Word to Wine representing His blood. (Mat.26:27) And he took a cup (of wine), and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; (28) for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.
The wine was His blood which represents His life, to be exchanged for our fallen blood and life.. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls (lives): for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. This is showing us that if we as servants of God fill our 6 clay vessels with the water of the Word as His servants did, Jesus will turn that “water” into “wine,” or the “blood,” which is the nature of Jesus Christ! God is saying, “You fill your vessel with the Word and I’ll turn it into the nature of Jesus Christ.” If you keep being faithful to put the Word in your heart, the Lord will be faithful to exchange your blood for His, which is His nature.
Sunday Mar 17, 2024
Sunday Mar 17, 2024
Sanctified From Wickedness (1)
David Eells 3/17/24
Sanctification is necessary before we receive God’s blessings. He can’t bless a body if it’s polluted by the world, whether you’re talking about the corporate body or whether you’re talking about an individual body. God first separates His people from the world and bringing His people out of Egypt is a type of that. But after He brings His people into the wilderness, He separates them again. He separates the “leaven” out of their midst, those who worship false gods, those who are in rebellion and serve their own flesh.
We see over and over in the scriptures that God wants us truly sanctified, both from the world and from those who call themselves “Christians” but who continue to walk in the world. According to the Bible, sometimes unbelievers are what we call “Christians”. Jesus is the one who is qualified to identify believers. (Mar.16:17) And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. These are Christians the way Jesus made Christians, not Christians from the Dark Ages, which is much of what we have now.
When He identifies believers, He’s talking about Spirit-filled people who walk in His steps and that’s what we need to desire earnestly. We don’t want to be yoked, as in a fellowship with, the dark age Christians but we do want to influence them to come into the light. (2Co.6:14) Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? (15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? (16) And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? (We saw that the children of God actually created idols, like the golden calf in Exodus 32, that they thought were God.) for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. That’s what Christianity is all about! It’s not about us; it’s about Him.
(17) Wherefore Come ye out from among them.... Paul is talking to Christians when he says “ye” here because Paul was addressing the Church. So he says, (17) Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate (The word “separate” is the best description for the word “sanctification” and that is “separation from the world.”), (17)…saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing.... We see that God commanded His people to separate from apostate leadership because very little fruit of Christ and no power is manifest there. (Num.16:26) And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. These people were rebellious against the Word and the true leadership. “Touching not” means “separation from”; it represents sanctification.
Back to (2Co 6:17) …And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, (18) And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Without “sanctification” or “holiness,” without hagiasmos, God doesn’t receive us and we don’t become sons of God for we stagnate as children of God. (Heb.12:14) Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.
(2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness (or “sanctification”-same Greek word ) in the fear of God. Those who are defiled need the “water for impurity” “sprinkled” upon them and the “water for impurity” is God’s Word, called “the washing with water by the Word”. We have to humble ourselves to God’s Word, letting it rule in our hearts and lives because this is what brings us out of our defilement. (Num.19:13) Whosoever toucheth (in other words, “is not separate from”) a dead person, the body of a man that hath died (The dead body, of course, represents the “old man who died in the waters of Baptism.”), and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
We need to be separate from the old man; he does not have authority in this vessel and he cannot rule our life. The cure for impurity is the Word of God. We saw in the Old Testament that God separated His people and we see in the New Testament that Jesus came to do the same thing. He came to separate His people from the apostates. Although, according to the Old Covenant, these apostates were already separated from the world, they were still full of the world. They who come out of Egypt must then get Egypt out of them. They are represented by the “mixed multitude”. They wouldn’t repent at the teaching and the preaching of the Lord, so the Lord called His people out of them, which is exactly what He’s doing today. When Jesus separated His disciples from the worldly church of that day, He came first to the Old Covenant people. (Joh.1:11) He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. It didn’t become the New Covenant until after they had rejected Him and the Covenant that He was bringing by His blood. And, if you look around, you can see that most of Christianity today is rejecting that Covenant.
Jesus said in (Joh.10:1) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (2) But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name.... Did you notice that we’ve been given a new name (Romans 6)?
The problem is that we don’t all live up to that name. (Mat.28:19) Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (The literal translation there is “into the name,” not “in the name.”) They all have the same name because the word “name” means “nature, character and authority.” So when you are baptized “into the name,” you put on the “nature, character and authority” of the Lord and in (Exo.20:7) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
In other words, don’t say you’re a Christian and don’t take His name in baptism, if you’re not going to walk in the nature and character of His name. (Joh.10:3) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name.... It’s not a title He’s talking about; what should draw us unto Christ is His name, His nature, His character. These are what we desire because sanctification is living in the name of Jesus. (Col.3:17) Whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Joh.10:3) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name (so we take His name), and leadeth them out.
(Col.3:4) When he hath put forth all his own (Jesus separated them, which is the first part of sanctification. He separated them from the apostate church of that day.), he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. Yes, we need to be able to hear the voice of the Lord and we do that by becoming familiar with His Word because He is the Word made flesh. (Joh.1:14) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. If we become familiar with His voice, we won’t follow another. (Joh.10:5) And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. These “strangers” He was talking about were the apostate leaders from whom He was delivering His people. They were the “thieves and robbers” who came before Him.
They weren’t overcomers and they had taken positions of authority that God hadn’t given them. (Rev.2:26) And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. God gives authority only to those who overcome and do His works, which the apostates refuse. (Joh.10:5) And a stranger will they not follow (Being unfamiliar with the nature and authority of the Lord makes them strangers.), but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
(6) This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. (7) Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. This is a prophecy of the end time, and we’re going to have a repetition of history. In these days leading to the time of the coming of the Man-child ministry, a lot of people with all the wrong attributes have taken over the Church. They have not overcome and they have not been placed in their position by God.
(Joh.10:8) I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. (10) The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy (Babylonish religion is guilty of the blood of the saints and of the prophets. They believed they were God’s people, but the things that they taught and the spirits they put into people made them more enemies of Christ than followers of Christ.): I came that they may have life, and may have [it] abundantly. (Joh.10:11) I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. Jesus came to separate God’s people and to make them like Himself.
That’s going to happen once again in the very near future. The Lord Jesus is going to repeat everything you see here in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. What method is God going to use to separate those who are His from those who are unrepentant apostates? (Joh.6:51) I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. So the “bread” symbolizes His flesh, but what does His “flesh” represent? (52) The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? (53) Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves. We know that Jesus was “the Word made flesh” and as His disciples are to be the Word made flesh. The Greek word for “disciple” is mathetes, meaning “a learner and a follower.” He is our example of a Christian believer.
When the Word lives through you, it will separate you from the apostate Christianity. As Jesus said in (Joh.17:16) They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them in the truth (In other words, separate them by the truth being in them.): thy word is truth. (Joh.18) As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world. (19) And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Why is that important? The only person who could speak a Word from God was someone who was sanctified, someone who was holy. (Num.19:18) And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. Meaning the defiled apostate.
(So these are people who haven’t been sanctified and notice it says only “a clean person” is the one who can sprinkle the water for impurity.): (Num.19:19) and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify him (The seventh day is the day of rest; it’s when you enter into the rest by ceasing from your own works.); and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
The “even,” or “evening,” is when the Sabbath rest starts. Only a clean person could legally sprinkle the water for impurity upon somebody who was defiled, who was not sanctified, who was not separated from the world. Jesus said ”All that came before me are thieves and robbers.” The Pharisees and Sadducees weren’t clean and they couldn’t make anybody else clean just like those of our day. In other words, they couldn’t give away what they didn’t have.
You can take a true Word and put it in front of somebody who’s unclean and when they read and then teach that Word, it will be defiled by them. It takes a clean person to teach a clean Word. If you’re sitting under somebody you know is not clean, you’re not going to get the pure Word. It’s not possible. You might get some knowledge and you might even get some wonderful revelation, but it won’t be clean and the spirit behind it won’t be clean, either. Jesus said, (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
God’s life is being manifested through the Words of Jesus; He was the Sower Who sowed the seed of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:3-23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:5-15) and it’s still that way today. The Word can only come through Him. (1Jn.2:27) And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that anyone teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him. We don’t have any need for any man to teach us; we only have a need for the Lord to teach us and a man who is sanctified can be used of the Lord to sanctify others, to “sprinkle” them with the “waters for impurity.”
So Jesus said to His disciples, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.” We need to know how the blood is manifested because we can’t “drink” the blood if we don’t know where to get the blood. Well, didn’t Jesus turn the waters to “blood”? (Joh.2:5) His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. (6) Now there were six waterpots of stone (representing the body of clay flesh) set there after the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece. (7) Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water (representing the Word). And they filled them up to the brim.
(8) And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast. And they bare it. (9) And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants that had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom, (10) and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now. (11) This beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
That was the first sign Jesus did and it was called a “sign” because it was a parable. The very first thing we need to do is to be filled with the Word and then Jesus will turn that “water” of the Word into “wine.” In the Lords supper the wine represented His blood. He will turn that “water” into His “blood,” which is His nature and character. The Word needs to be a part of us. You are what you eat and we need to partake of God’s Word.
(1Jn.1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light (What’s the “light”? The “light” is also the Word and the “light” is the “water”; they’re all the same parable.), as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. As you “walk” in the “light,” as you “walk” in God’s Word, you are “drinking” the “blood.” So here He was giving them something that some of them thought was impossible.
(Joh.6:60) Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard [this,] said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? (61) But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples (Notice that now He’s calling them “disciples.”) murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble? (62) [What] then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?
(63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (64) But there are some of you that believe not. In other words, these were disciples, but they weren’t completely believers. You know, there are a lot of people who call themselves “Christians” but there are very few “disciples,” and very few believers, according to what Jesus called a “believer.”
A believer will have signs, and His works, as Jesus said. (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. A believer has a gift from God to “do” and to “see” because faith is our access to this grace in which we stand. (Rom.5:1) Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
(2) through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So if you have real faith, you’re going to have grace to “walk as He walked”, but there are some followers who do not believe. (Joh.6:64) But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him. (65) And he said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father.
So there were a number of people there who were going to betray Him, not just Judas. Judas continued on with the disciples at this time, but these people were about to depart. (Joh.6:66)(Notice the number identifying the apostates, meaning, fallen away.” Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Notice what the Word did here: the Word separated those who were following as students of Jesus but who believed not. He didn’t separate Judas, but there were others there who probably would have been big trouble down the road. You know, God will have His Judases with us in the wilderness, but, thank God, not those we see around us now.
(Joh.6:67) Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away? (68) Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. They were hungry for the Word! They wanted the Word! The other disciples said, “No, this Word’s too hard; we can’t do this!” (Joh.6:69) And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God. (70) Jesus answered them, Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil?
(71) Now he spake of Judas [the son] of Simon Iscariot, for he it was that should betray him, [being] one of the twelve. We know believers are going to be tried, just as God took Israel into the wilderness to try them, to see who would believe and who would murmur. (Joh.8:31) Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, [then] are ye truly my disciples. The trial is to see if you abide in His Word and stay disciples.
Sure, you might be a Christian, but do you abide in His Word? Notice He was talking to “those Jews that had believed him.” They had believed that He was of God and yet some of them were going to be weeded out because they didn’t abide in His Word. We are warned, (Jas.1:22) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. There are many deluded people who don’t think it’s even possible to be obedient to God’s Word, but grace comes to those who truly believe and those people will be able to walk in the Word of God.
So “those Jews that had believed him” were deceived and in (Joh.8:33) They answered unto him, We are Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? (34) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. (35) And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever: the son abideth forever. He’s talking here about a separation of people who were considered to be Christians. Don’t pay any attention to what the world considers to be a “Christian.” Pay attention to what the Bible says a believer truly is because that’s the only thing that’s going to count in the end.
The Lord is coming for those in whom the Word is manifested, those in whom the Word is made “flesh,” so there has to be a separation now because we have a lot of people who are claiming Christianity but they’re not Christians. (Rev.3:15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
This means spewed out of the body of Christ. You need to either come in or get out; you either have to be hot or cold and the Lord is going to force the issue in the days to come. Paul speaks about separating these people from the body. They had already been separated from the world because his letter is addressed to the Christians. (1Co.5:1) It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one [of you] hath his father’s wife. Did you notice he said, “It is actually reported”? Somebody reported this!
The overwhelming majority of Christians won’t report this. But elders who are truly interested in obeying the Word of God will do something about this and it should be reported. Some people think, “Well, I don’t believe in ‘ratting’ on people.” Well, then you don’t believe in sanctifying the body! Don’t you remember what the Levites did in the wilderness? (Exo.32:27) And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. (28) And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (29) And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
They took up the sword and put to death those people who worshipped the golden calf, and the Lord said, “You have to do this to get to the blessing.” The “sword,” of course, is the Word of God. You have to use and submit and stand upon the Word of God. So somebody who was more interested in the sanctification of the body than “honor among thieves” reported this. There are people who think, “Well, this is my friend,” but the Levites picked up the sword even against their friends and even against their brothers.
The body has to be sanctified. We are not to be with idolaters. There’s nobody more important than the Lord and His body, and the body has to be sanctified. It’s everybody’s job to report willful sin to the elders because we see here that someone reported this to the apostle. We’ve been learning a lot about how to minister to people online, over the airwaves, and so on, but what do you do when people come into your midst and they’re “dirty”? They’re “leaven” and God says in (Gal.5:9) A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Well, what you do is obey the Word: (Mat.18:15) And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
(16) But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. (17) And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. If someone comes to you with gossip or slander or to backbite against another person, instead of going to that person privately first, then you tell that someone to go and speak with the person. And if they say, “No, I don’t think I’ll do that,” then you go and you tell the person to see if it is a lie or truth! If it is a lie, you bring that gossip, or slander, or backbiting, or whatever the grievance may be out into the light and that will put an end to it.
(1Co.5:1) It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one [of you] hath his father’s wife. This fornicator, who was defiling the body of Christ, was reported because somebody didn’t want the body of Christ to be defiled. I certainly don’t, the Lord doesn’t and I don’t think we should put up with it for the body’s sake. The Bible says that the man who touched the dead body defiled the tabernacle. As we saw, the dead body represents our old man and his sin that we are to be separate from in (Num.19:13) Whosoever toucheth a dead person, the body of a man that hath died, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. The “tabernacle” is God’s body in the wilderness, His portable temple in the wilderness. We need to be zealous and jealous for God.
(1Co.11:18) For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear (notice, somebody told him) that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it. (19) For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. So factious people will come to make divisions. They want to build their own little kingdom by getting people to agree with them and they use slander and backbiting and so on to accomplish that. But notice he said that this test is to show who are are approved. Factions can come in order to test the body because God wants to separate the wicked from among the righteous. Factions show who is approved of God and take away the people who are not approved of God. He doesn’t want a little leaven to leaven the whole lump.
The Greek word there for “factions” is hairesis and it means “heresies.” According to Strong’s, this is “a self-willed opinion, which is substituted for submission to the power of truth, and which leads to division and the formation of sects.... Such erroneous opinions are frequently the outcome of personal preference or the prospect of advantage.” Obviously, these are opinionated persons who, quite often, use Scripture as well as slander, backbiting and so on, to separate people unto themselves. (Tit.3:10) A factious man after a first and second admonition refuse; (11) knowing that such a one is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned. In other words, separate from them.
If you have a factious person, somebody who is trying to divide the body, and they’re gossiping and slandering behind people’s backs, “refuse” them. Separate from them; don’t have anything to do with them. Your friendship with a man cannot be more than your friendship with the Lord. Notice that again we see, “when ye come together in the church, I hear....” Somebody told him; somebody brought it to the attention of the elders that these people were causing divisions. And he says, (1Co.1:10) Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfected together in the same mind....
Of course, we should not let anybody come in with faction to divide you from somebody else by saying one thing to you and another thing to another. If they do that, they are going to separate the tares from the wheat and they are going to be one of the tares. But the people who are approved of God will not be separated by these sinners.
Only the wicked will be separated by the sly ways of the factious because only the wicked will break the rules and listen to gossip and slander contrary to God’s Word. Pro 17:4 An evil-doer giveth heed to wicked lips; And a liar giveth ear to a mischievous tongue. God will let these be taken out, but that’s okay because the factious can get only that which is their own and the body will be cleansed. (Joh.14:30) ... for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me.... That’s what Jesus said.
(1Co.1:10) Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (11) For it hath been signified unto me (Notice that somebody told them! Somebody here had an interest in not letting this go on in the body.) concerning you, my brethren, by them [that are of the household] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. (12) Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos: and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? They were beginning to divide up, you see. They were having favorites and possibly holding grudges against each other, probably magnifying somebody else’s problem while they didn’t have the beam out of their own eye.
(Mat.7:1) Judge not, that ye be not judged. (2) For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. (3) And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (4) Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? (5) Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. If you want to be forgiven, you have to forgive, but that doesn’t apply to outward moral rebellion. It doesn’t apply to willful sin, like that of the man who was in fornication with his father’s wife (his stepmother).
You don’t forgive people who are willfully defiling the body, which is what this is talking about. Luk 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. People who are causing the divisions are in moral rebellion. (1Co.1:18) Is Christ divided? No, Christ is not divided. Criminals divide criminals out of the body. Jesus said, (Joh.17:20) Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; (21) that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. (22) And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
(23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me. We want that kind of oneness, that kind of unity, but there will be people who are spots and blemishes who need to be separated. So God will permit a person with a factious spirit, or with unforgiveness, or with a critical spirit, and even with paranoia, and so on, come into the body and carry away the people who will listen to them. The ones who aren’t carried away will be the ones whom God has approved of, and this is a good thing in God’s eyes. We may wonder, “Why would You let that happen, Lord?” Well, He’s a sovereign God and He knows what He’s doing. He tests His people and removes the tares.
Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder 2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah your God proveth you, to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after Jehovah your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death…
(1Co.5:1) It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one [of you] hath his father’s wife. (2) And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. This is a Scripturally legal separation. God sends people to try us, to see if we’re going to permit them to stay and defile the body, or if we’re going to separate them from the body. Is it more important to us to be friends with these people and have some kind of a “greasy grace” for them or is it more important to us to have the sanctified body? It should be more important to us that we be holy individually and holy corporately; when these people come along, we should deal with them according to the Scriptures.
It’s not necessarily the elders who see this. Anyone who catches these people doing these things needs to speak up because notice again that Paul said, “It is actually reported that there is fornication.” (1Co.5:3) For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing (In other words, there is judgment and God does put it in the hand of His elders to come against people who do these kind of things to the body.), (4) in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, (5) to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. There has to be a penalty, a cost involved. Just as with a rebellious child, you have to give them a reason to repent.
This is mercy because, if you permit people to continue on with their sinful, evil ways in your midst, they have no reason to repent and others will think it is acceptable. (2Th.3:6) Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us. They have to feel ashamed for what they’re doing and they need to be reported, if they continue to do it. (1Co.5:6) Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? You’ll have a leavened body and the individuals in that body will be leavened because of this poison in their midst.
(1Co.5:7) Purge out the old leaven (Separate from them! Be sanctified! Sanctify the local body as well as your own personal body.), that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacrificed, [even] Christ: (8) wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Some people don’t know truth! Jesus said they are liars and they are of their father the devil.
(Joh.8:44) Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. They don’t have a love for truth and, if you correct them, you are almost wasting your breath, so there has to be somebody with authority to make this separation. Those who permit this are puffed up and leavened through their acceptance of somebody who’s defiling the body of Christ.
(1Co.5:9) I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators (I.e. separate from them if you want God’s blessings.); (10) not at all [meaning] with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners (Extortioners are people who use their position with you as a Christian to plunder you.), or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world:
(11) but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler (A reviler is somebody who is abusive, a railer; they speak against other people, usually behind their back.), or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. What does he mean, “no, not to eat”? He’s talking about not partaking of the spiritual Passover with them. The spiritual Passover is when you eat the body and blood of Christ, and now we’re back to John again!
(Joh.6:53) Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh (Word) of the Son of man and drink his blood (The life and nature of Christ.), ye have not life in yourselves. (54) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (56) He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. (57) As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. (58) This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers ate, and died; he that eateth this bread shall live forever.
We are partaking of the body and blood of Christ, but as we have seen we are not to eat with people who are defiled. In the Old Testament, there was the symbolism of eating with “defiled” hands, meaning their works were filthy. You don’t fellowship with these people, “with such a one no, not to eat.” You don’t break the bread of the Lord with somebody who is defiled; you separate from them. And the Lord’s Supper is, of course, a parable, too. We are constantly “breaking the bread” and partaking of the “blood” as we study the Word and share our revelations with one another. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood.... The “blood” represents the blood of Christ, which we manifest through partaking of His life and nature through the Word.
(1Co.5:12) For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? (13) But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves. How many times does he have to say this? If you want a holy body, if you want the Spirit of God, the presence of God to be there, then “put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” If you don’t want the whole atmosphere defiled with demon-possessed people who refuse to repent, then “put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” Are we speaking of the lost who may come to be saved? No, as we just saw we don’t judge those that are without but those within the house. Show them the truth and if they don’t want it, show them the door. These people are not saved; it matters not what they once had.
For instance, the factious person is not saved because, if you don’t forgive, you are not forgiven (Matthew 18:23-35). They are slanderers and fornicators without conscience. You’re not walking in God’s salvation, if you walk in these sins, and something has to be done to shock you to deal with this. You can’t be lukewarm anymore. So God gives us these rules in order to force people to come to a decision before it’s too late.
(1Co.6:9) Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, (10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (11) And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified (That means you were “separated” from these sins.), but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. We have to do what the Word says is necessary to cleanse the body.
Many local bodies are totally defiled. They are just religion, that’s all they are, because they don’t have elders with the wisdom to separate from people who are defiled and won’t repent. (2Th.3:6) Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us. Jesus taught His disciples to sanctify the body, to separate from the body those who are not willing to repent.
(2Th.3:7) For yourselves know how ye ought to imitate us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; (8) neither did we eat bread for nought at any man’s hand, but in labor and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you: (9) not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you, that ye should imitate us.
(10) For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat. (11) For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies. (12) Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (13) But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing.
(14) And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, that ye have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. (15) And [yet] count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Another good example of sanctifying or separating the body. (2Jn.8) Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward.
There are many people who start out with us, but go astray as 3 out of 4 in the parable of the sower did. (9) Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son. (10) If any one cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into [your] house, and give him no greeting (In other words, separate!): (11) for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works. Jesus said to those who believed Him in (Joh.8:31) ... If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples, and
The Church is not the place for evangelism; the Church is the ekklesia, the “called-out ones.” The Church is the place for the gathering of the brethren to study and pray. Evangelism is when you go outside the body to reach the lost which should be common. You tell them the Gospel and, if they repent and if they desire sanctification, then they become a part of the body. In the days of the apostles, people were afraid to join themselves to the Church because God protected it from sin. (Act.5:1) But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, (2) and kept back [part] of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles feet. (3) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land?
(4) While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou has not lied unto men, but unto God. (5) And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it. (6) And the young men arose and wrapped him round, and they carried him out and buried him. (7) And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. (8) And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. And she said, Yea, for so much.
(9) But Peter [said] unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out. (10) And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost: and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband. (11) And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. You know, that’s coming again! There are people who die today because they’re trying to join themselves to a body, but they are being deceitful. They’re not really there to submit to the Lord.
(Gal.1:8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. That means “devoted to God for destruction.” (Gal.1:9) As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema. In other words, give him no greeting! Invite him not into your house! Be separate from him! Cling to the pure and holy Word!
Sanctification has to come before blessing. God first separates us from the world and then He separates us from those who are leavened and those who are carnal. He is making a spotless, blemishless body. The “spots and blemishes” in our midst are people who refuse to walk after the Lord. (2Pe.2:10) But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at dignities:
(11) whereas angels, though greater in might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them before the Lord. (12) But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their destroying surely be destroyed, (That identifies the faction, Jezebels, witchcraft, and what is happening to them.)
(13) suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, revelling in their deceivings while they feast with you; (14) having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing; (15) forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the [son] of Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing.
(Jud.12) These are they who are hidden rocks (“spots”) in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds (No Numeric pattern) that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; (13) Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever. (16) These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words]), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage. So correct them or separate from them.
In the Old Testament, how did God deal with the Korah, Dathan and Abiram rebellion? (Num.16:20) And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, (21) Separate yourselves (This is the word that means to “sanctify,” “sanctify yourselves.”) from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. God was again condemning the whole congregation because, as a body, they were polluted. So what does God have to do? He has to make a smaller body that is not polluted. When you do that, you have to separate the wicked from among them and in this case it was those people who were bound and determined to follow false prophets, false pastors, false leadership. We are coming to a great division, and those who won’t “come out from among them” will be reprobated.
(Num.16:22) And they (Moses and Aaron) fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? (23) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (24) Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. That’s what Jesus did. He went into the sheepfold and called His sheep by name, and they followed him. He separated them from those apostate leaders.
(Num.16:26) And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. In other words, the Lord demanded, “If you want to live, this is what you must do. Separate yourselves, get away from their tents, their tabernacles, their churches and don’t touch anything of theirs.” So the people did that and God opened the earth and it swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram, along with their families and all their possessions. Then the Lord sent out a plague that killed another 14,700 people because they murmured about it. In other words they sided with the sinners against God and Moses. And when they murmured about it once more, He separated them again.
Is God going to do that in these days? That is exactly what He is going to do in these days. He is going to have a spotless, blemishless Bride. He is also going to get rid of the corrupt people in the midst of the corporate body of Christ who do not repent. Of course, individually, He wants to clean us up, too. We’re talking about two kinds of separation here: sanctification for the individual and sanctification for the body. This separation is necessary for the blessing and the blessing in this case was that those who separated themselves from the rebellious weren’t destroyed along with them.
Why does He say, “touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins”? It’s because these people are corrupt; they are dead men. You know, the Lord said in (1Ti.5:6) But she that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth. There are people who are dead because they walk after the lusts of the flesh, they walk after the works of the flesh instead of becoming transformed by the renewing of their mind; that is, the mind of the spirit.
Let me share a little parable with you here that implies “not touching” is necessary in order to be sanctified and in order to receive blessing. (Num.19:11) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. Remember, you are not to touch anything of these corrupt people and that means don’t be influenced by anything that they have, do and think. Sanctification represents being separate from them. (2Co.6:17) Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you. “Touching” is the opposite of “separate.”
Touching is when you are not sanctified; you’re too close to this dead person. The dead people are the ones we have to separate from. They have no business in the body. They’re “spots and blemishes,” darkness in a light body. They have to come out of the body and, if you do what the Bible tells you to do, they will either submit to the Word of God, repent and obey, or they will leave. If you preach the Word of God, they can’t stand it for very long. I’ve seen people come and go.
I’ve seen some people become sanctified, holy and walk in the steps of Jesus. And I’ve seen others who don’t fit in. They do all kinds of deceitful things and live in sin behind the scenes, and after a while they become offended. Then, finally, they leave because they can’t stand the Word. The Word is the sword. It will drive them out. If you love and submit to the Word, there will be people who don’t want to be around you. That sword will separate you from them, which is a good thing because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. In other words, if you are not sanctified, then you are unclean.
(Num.19:11) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. So what is this “touching the dead body”? What is this parable trying to tell us? Well, a good explanation can be found here: (Eph.2:1) And you did he make alive, when ye were dead (spiritually) through your trespasses and sins.... That means people who are walking in trespasses and sins are walking in death, aren’t they? And when you aren’t separated from them, that means you are not sanctified from their trespasses and sins. It means “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,” and the Lord doesn’t want you to have anything to do with that.
(Eph.2:1) And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, (2) wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world (Christians who walk according to this world are dead while they live, just as Timothy says. They’re not alive because they are not sanctified. They’re “touching” the old man, the dead man.), according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; (So there are people who call themselves Christians but they are following the devil. You can’t get them to submit to the Word. You can correct them over and over, but they won’t and can’t submit to the Word because their nature is contrary to that.)
(Eph.2:3) among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.... (Rom.8:13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. People who walk after the flesh are dead people. You’re not walking in the light, walking in the Kingdom. If you’re not abiding in the life of Christ, which is partaking of His body and blood, you’re a dead man. You need to be separate from the old man; he is dead and gone. (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. That old man was crucified with Christ and he’s dead. If you go back and touch him, if you aren’t separate from him and he rules in your life, then that is where this destruction comes from.
(Eph.2:3) Among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. There are a lot of Christians who are “children of wrath” because they are not separate from the old man. The old man isn’t dead and they’re “touching” him; they’re not separate from him. There are apostate churches where they don’t teach that when a person walks in outward immorality, it has to be dealt with so that the body is not corrupted.
They teach some kind of “greasy grace” where everybody is accepted, so individually and corporately, the whole body is totally corrupt. (Eph.2:4) But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved).
Of course, there are still people who are dead in their trespasses because they don’t believe in separating from sin. They believe that they are a sinner saved by grace and don’t understand that they were a sinner who has been saved by grace. Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So they think they can continue to live as a sinner the rest of their life but still go to Heaven. These people are dead. This is not a step-over-the-line type of thing. If you are not walking by faith now, you don’t have grace and you don’t have salvation now. Are you being saved now from your sins and the curse? Are you saved now, are you bearing fruit? Or are you “touching” the old man? Are you living in the works of the old man?
Well, Paul says here that you’re dead, if you’re doing that. If you walk after the flesh, remember that the soul that sins must die. Either you are walking in life or you are walking in death. He is telling you that there are people in the midst of the body who are dead and you are not to “touch” them. The flesh is dead; don’t have anything to do with it. We were crucified with Christ; it is no longer you who lives but Christ Who lives in you. Separate yourself from the old man and his works, both as an individual and as a body.
Let’s read it again. (Num.19:11) He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days (meaning until you enter the “rest” on the seventh day.). The “rest” is when you cease from your works. We just read that the people who live in the works of the flesh are dead. The Sabbath represents when you cease from your works and you enter into the rest through faith in God’s promises. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. That is the Sabbath according to the New Testament. So we have to separate, we have to come out from among them and be separate.
The Sabbath is no longer a physical day but we have entered the seventh thousand year day of God. Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. (This is the only place Christians are commanded to keep the sabbath and this word is only used once - Sabbatismos – meaning a continual rest.) As we have seen we are commanded to cease from the works of the flesh every day not one of seven.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works (of the flesh), as God did from his.
(2Co.6:14) Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? A yoke couples two creatures together and you don’t want to be yoked to the old man; the old man is dead. You aren’t pulling alongside the old man, you aren’t giving the old man equal time, are you?
He’s dead and now you’re in control; you’re not supposed to let him lead at all. This is like those two stages of separation. The first separation was to come out of “Egypt” or, in other words, separate yourself from the wicked world. The second was to come out from among those who proclaim to be “Israelites,” yet they walk after the flesh, they walk after false prophets and false leaders.
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
Transcription
Thank you, Father, for blessing us today, giving us wisdom, especially in the matter of warfare against enemies. Thank you, Father, for giving us the victory. It's already done in Jesus Name. We praise you for it and we thank you for wisdom today to help us to agree with You in this battle and win and be overcomers! Amen.
You know, the first thing you have to do in this warfare is to sanctify yourselves for the battle. We're told in 1Jn 3:21-22 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; 22 and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
So you need this boldness of heart or otherwise the devil will come and accuse you and you'll lose faith. We are told in 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So then you can have boldness towards God if you do that honestly and believe the promise that He will cleanse you of all unrighteousness, then you can have that boldness towards God.
And we're told in Rom 6:11-14 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. This is where justification by faith comes from. Jesus took away your sins and so you can believe it and stand on it. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, If you don't believe it, you will not have victory over it. That you should obey the lust thereof. 13 Neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves unto God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. In other words, don't put yourself in a position to sin, don't willfully do that. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.
I'm sure you can do a lot more studying on this and especially justification by faith. The devil always comes to condemn you for things from your past, or he comes to condemn you for something he spoke into your mind. There's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).
You put it under the blood by confessing it and being cleansed from all unrighteousness. And if he comes back, you have to do warfare against condemnation. Lots of people are dealing with this. The devil knows how to do this; he’s been doing it for a long, long time. My suggestion to you is that when he comes and it's something you've already confessed and already put under the blood, go on the attack against him, and run off condemnation, run off fear, run off doubt.
And one of your best weapons against him is to know that the victory is already accomplished. It says in Col 1:13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of the son of his love. We are not under the power of darkness. If you're walking according to your conscience, or even if you failed and confessed your sin and got back on track, you are not under the power of darkness, and you should act that way and speak that way and think that way or you'll lose the battle.
Joh 16:33 These things have I spoken unto you that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Well notice, we're to be happy because he's already overcome the world for us. We're entering into His works through faith, Paul said. So if you want to do His works, you must believe that your sins were taken away and that you've been given the victory. Also, Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Well, was he cast out? He was cast out by faith. Faith at what happened at the cross. And we still claim it. He has no authority and no power. He's here to deceive people who don't believe the Gospel. They don't believe the Good News. He has no authority and no power. You need to exercise your authority over him. The promises are put there so we can use them as a two-edged sword.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. It is finished. He knew that He had overcome the world. He had conquered the enemy by that sacrifice and everybody who has faith in that sacrifice will have that victory. And also Luk 1:68-75 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.
For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people. It's done, 69 and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the House of his servant David 70 (And as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),
71 Salvation, from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant. Yes, He made that covenant with Abraham and this covenant is still with us. The law did not supersede that covenant. It was a meantime thing until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and that was Christ. And of course, everybody who is in Christ has this, if you abide in Him. 73 The oath which he swear unto Abraham, our father, 74 To grant unto us that we being delivered out of thy hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear,… Notice this is a promise from a long time ago, and it's still true today. 75 In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. It's our right to walk in holiness and righteousness and overcome the enemies. It's already been accomplished for us. We're simply stepping into the works of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and His word.
Another thing you're going to want to do the whole time you're doing warfare against an enemy or want your victory over an enemy, and that is to pray always at all times. Ask for everything. God knows you're depending upon Him when you're asking Him. You're not depending upon yourself, your ingenuity, your strength, your money, whatever, and on and on.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing. Heb 4:16 And Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need. Go boldly before the throne and do it all the time. You can go boldly, you don't have to be ashamed to go and ask God. You shouldn't come up with cliches, “that God's too busy for this,” or whatever.
This is what He says, and we have to honor Him by what He says. He wants us to go boldly before the throne of grace so that we can receive mercy and find that grace and help in any time of need against an enemy that's already been conquered. It's good to remember the Good News, the Gospel! The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it. (Rom 1:16) So that's what we're talking about today.
And of course, we always talk a lot about exercising your authority. If you don't, the devil will exercise his. Luk 10:17-19 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. So we have this authority. If we exercise it, will it automatically come to pass? Why no, it won't. We have this authority, we are to exercise it over Satan and over all of his angels; all of his demons.
The demons are subject unto us, and Jesus said, I saw Satan falling from heaven; well, who was doing that? They were, and the Saints ultimately will figure this out, and they will do it. But we can do this anytime and should be all the time. It's our authority to cast down Satan and his angels. That means cast down their authority over us, their power. He's the prince of the power of the air, but he has no authority or power over us. So we should be exercising our authority over him.
And then and also says Rev 12:7-11, which is a principle that is true for now, but what he's talking about is this being manifested in the time when God's people get the revelation and start acting upon it. So since it's good for now, I'm going to share it with you. Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
Remember, even before this the dragon was seeking to destroy the Man-child and failed. The Man-child was caught up to the throne, which is authority. He does not want that to happen. He doesn't want you to be caught up to the throne of authority. He doesn't mind lukewarm Christians because they are no problem to him. They are no threat to him. When you find out you have been sanctified through the work of Jesus Christ, delivered from sin, and capable of throwing him down, that's when he worries.
…Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon and the dragon warred with his angels. Notice the dragon who is said to be the devil, has angels. Some people say they're not angels; they are angels; the Bible says so. 8 and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; Everybody is deceived by him, except for those who get these revelations. he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. 10 And I heard a great voice in heaven saying now has come the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
He's the Accuser of our brethren. You know, there's a lot of little accusers out there that work for him and that's all they do is accuse others. I know you've seen this in the political realm, how the very left wing is accusing the people on the right, including Trump, of doing the very thing that they are doing. And they do it all the time. That's the devil in them, that is demon possession. That is what the devil does. He's always accusing the brethren.
Always! These are not like people that get offended with you and go away. No, they are demon possessed and that demon in them is wanting very badly to accuse you and to lie and to slander you and to bring you down. Don't you accept it in your mind. You're not supposed to accept his accusations against you. Don’t accept his slander against you in your mind, nor through other people. Don't accept it.
And he said …the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him... (Now this is the same way we're going to overcome.) because of the blood of the Lamb... (You see, Jesus took away our sins. We're delivered by the blood, we're washed and cleansed by the blood.) And because of the word of their testimony, (because they held fast their confession. We have to “hold fast the confession of our hope firm until the end.”) Hold fast, the word of their testimony and they love not their life, even unto death.
In other words, they were willing to give up the old life, the old man. Those that are not willing to give this up, they will be your enemy; they will fight against you. They will be on the side of the dragon. They will seek to devour you, so pity them. Don't worry about them but pity them and pray for them, that they will see through it and come through it but resist them and be honest with them just the way Paul and Peter and Jesus were. Tell them who they are so that they can repent; tell them where they are going to go if they don't repent.
That brings to mind that we're to wrestle with the demons and not the people. Eph 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (Well, that's what we need right there. Now, how do you get that? Where is it?) 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. He's a deceiver and his people are deceivers. Notice the people who persecuted the Saints all the way through the Bible were people who called themselves Christians, but they were not. They were the devil's little accusers.
12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. So we're dealing with demons; these enemies that come against us. These are demon possessed people and that's what we deal with, it is the demons. They don't have the power to overcome them anymore because they lost their authority over them; they lost the knowledge of the Gospel. They lost everything they were taught and so they're totally given over to this and they think it's righteous and true.
Notice the left wing in the political side. We've noticed and been told by the Lord that the same thing is going on in the political side is going on in the spiritual side. There is a parallel, a perfect parallel.
So the demons through the left are constantly trying to drag Trump down. And the demons in the church are constantly trying to, first of all, drag the Man-child down, like the dragon in Revelation 12. But we know they fail. They failed because the Man-child is caught up to the throne. He exercises this authority, in other words, and we do too. We always have to exercise our authority over the wicked demons; we have authority over the demons in the people, that's how you deal with it.
So, he says, 13 Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, Hold on to the truth. See, the truth that we're talking about here will give you authority over the demons, and will give you authority over the wicked who are ruled by the demons. …and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.
So your heart, your innards are protected from the enemy’s arrows, spears, whatever, if you're walking righteously. How do you get there? We already spoke about that; you confess your sins and then confess your Savior. Once you've confessed your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you. And then you confess your Savior.
And of course the devil is coming to condemn you. He does it through people. He does it through spirits. He speaks it in your ear. But don’t let him deceive you.
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; The Good News of peace. Where do we find that? We just spoke about it; how that it was given to us by Jesus. He gave us peace from our enemies. He gave us deliverance from our enemies. Praise be to God! They'll never have peace. There is no peace to the wicked, says the Lord. They'll never have peace until they repent, but you can have peace.
16 withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one… Yes, you know the way to protect yourself is, don't let any of the fiery darts of the wicked one come into your heart or come into your mind. Because you have this shield of the knowledge that you were delivered; that you have authority over them; that you were saved, healed, whatever. Whatever it is you want from God, you know the promises are there.…Take up your shield of faith. He kills many people because they don't hold on to the faith in the promises of God. Many people's lives are shortened and they die before their time because they don't have the shield of faith.
…wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one; Yes, he's coming against you and making war against you. He speaks against the Word. If you need a healing, he speaks against it, constantly. If you need a resurrection, he speaks against it, constantly. And yes, well-meaning Christians around you will try to talk you out of it too. We were healed by His stripes, so we are healed.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, which is to protect your mind, because he comes against your mind. He wants to tell you that you are not sozo which is saved, or Soteria, which is salvation. Jesus saved you, but the devil wants to tell you don't have that. And he wants to put fear in you that you aren't saved from sin, sickness, the curse, etc. That you don't have any salvation from these things. But you have this helmet on, so cast it down. …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: And you’ve got to swing it against the devil. He is a real enemy, but he can't do anything against the Sword of the Spirit.
18 with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons… There it is again praying at all seasons in the Spirit. You know, praying in the Spirit is so powerful, you will cast down the works of Satan by praying in the spirit. Keep it up. Don't give it up. Keep it up.
…Praying at all seasons in the spirit… You know, I will pray with the spirit and with my understanding also, Paul said. So praying with the Spirit is not praying with your understanding. It's praying in tongues. If you don't have that gift so that the Holy Spirit can pray through you according to the will of God and with faith, you're missing something very important. Go and ask God for this gift and receive it. Receive it by faith. Have people pray over you, whatever, but receive this gift; you need this when you're in war against the enemy.
…and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints… In other words, pray for you your brothers and sisters’ back; pray for your brother and sister in the Lord because God will bless you. Remember when Job prayed for his persecutors; the faction that was against him? God delivered him and gave him grace because he was giving grace. And while you're doing all this, be sure and do not trust in the strength of man because God's offended about that. His power is made perfect in our weakness.
Psa 44:3-7 For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword,… Now if you know and understand, and you've been studying with us a while, you know that the land is us, who drink the rain from heaven. We are God's tilled land, the Bible says. And if we bring forth thorns and thistles, we're nigh unto a curse. We are not to be bringing forth the curse. We're to be bringing forth the fruit of Jesus.
For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them. We want the favor of God. There's the grace that you can go boldly with to the throne for favor.
4 Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverance for Jacob. 5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries: Notice there's lots of adversaries, not just the adversary called the devil. He's got lots of children out there to do his work. …Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me. 7 But thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And hast put them to shame that hate us. There it is. It's already done. Thou hast saved us from our adversaries. You have to have this knowledge. That's part of the Sword of the Spirit, …and hast put them to shame that hate us.
Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. God has a vessel; President Trump is a vessel for instance. But you're not to put your trust in him or what he can do or what he can't do. You're to pray for him. Your trust is not in him. People can think that he is a very wise and very smart man. I'm not taking anything from him. He is all these things, but this does not give you victory over a spiritual enemy. It does not; it cannot. No amount of natural wisdom will conquer any of these spiritual enemies. It has to be God's wisdom and God's wisdom given to him and God's wisdom given to us who pray for him and others.
So, put not your trust in Princess, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. God is offended about this. He doesn't want this. If you want to see somebody fail, trust in them. God's not going to permit you to do that. And by the way, in the battle, fear not, as Jesus said.
Deu 20:1-4 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shalt not be afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble,…
You remember Gideon's army? Anybody that was fearful was to go home because they weren't going to be anything but a weight for everybody else and could cause you to lose the battle. Notice when Jesus went to resurrect the dead, He took three of the most faithful disciples with Him in there. He didn't want any of the people that were crying, moaning and groaning. He only wanted faith in the room. Not saying that God can't do it; He does do it in front of people like the widow's son. But in general, He does it quite often when the fear and the unbelief are not in the room. …neither be ye affrighted at them; 4 for Jehovah your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
If He spoke it to them, He spoke it to us, we who are born from above. And you know, a great battle was fought. And God gave the victory to those that just praised Him.
2Ch 20:1-24 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;
6 and he said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thy hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. Remember this, God is sovereign; He is over the enemy. When the enemy came against God's people, especially when they were in sin, God said that He sent them over and over, all through the scriptures. He is an authority. He can send them and He can send them against you so you can clobber them.
7 Didst not thou, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? (He gave you your land, for your spiritual man to live in and rule in. You need to conquer the old man, the Canaanite, to take away that land from him and live in his house!)
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If evil come upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, (like the DS will bring against Apostate Christianity, and you will have to stand against this.) we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save. Call upon the name of the Lord, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not; That's the Edomites, who are coming against their brother. These are factious people who are coming against Jacob.
11 behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 13 And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Jehovah in the midst of the assembly; 15 and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat: Thus saith Jehovah unto you, Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
It is God's battle. He's already told you what He's done. And you want to see Him move, so continue to believe what He has done concerning your enemies. 16 To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them: for Jehovah is with you.
So you have to know that you have to believe that the Lord is with you, you're justified by faith. That means you're counted righteous by your faith that the Lord has taken away your sins. And of course, if you forgive, you're forgiven. So you can't take part in that unless you forgive.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah. 19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness endureth for ever. 22 And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 24 And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.
So Praise means bragging on God and this will give you victory over enemies, like in Psa 149:1-9 Praise ye Jehovah. Sing unto Jehovah a new song, And his praise in the assembly of the saints. 2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. (Lord, we praise You! We thank You for the absolute victory You've given us over the enemy, Lord in Jesus name. Hallelujah!) 3 Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with timbrel and harp.
4 For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people: He will beautify the meek with salvation. Notice salvation is salvation from enemies too. Some people narrow salvation down a lot. They don't see what it covers. It covers everything you need. Soteria means salvation from our enemies in every form and fashion, all our needs provided.
5 Let the saints exult in glory: Let them sing for joy upon their beds. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the nations, And punishments upon the peoples; So they're executing this by coming against the very demons that are upholding these people; that's what we're doing, that is what we're told to do. You know in the Old Testament they did wrestle with flesh and blood, but it was a type of wrestling with principalities and powers and rulers of darkness. 8 To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written: This honor have all his saints. Praise ye Jehovah.
Why does He say, Praise ye the Lord? Because that's what you're doing. Praising God is binding their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. You're scattering the enemy. You're turning what they sow back on top of them, so that they reap what they have sown.
2Co 2:14 But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, (What is triumph? Triumph is the celebration of the victory. You do this before you get in the battle.) …and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place. So, believe and speak the end from the beginning. And of course, while you're doing it, be sure and forgive any who are against you.
Mar 11:23-25 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, (I believe He was talking about the Mount of Olives, or the “Mount of Corruption.” It represents a mountain by Jerusalem that is corrupt in its doctrine, and in its people. It represents corruption,) …say unto this mountain, be thou taken up and cast into the sea.
(A mountain is a kingdom.) …cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. 24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Let me say something about forgiveness. Personal forgiveness, you always owe to everybody, no matter what they've done. Governmental forgiveness is a different thing. The Bible says if he repent forgive him. That's talking about people in the body, people who are wanting to come back into the body like 1 Corinthians 5, Paul talked about casting somebody out of the body.
Later he asked him to bring him back because he had repented. He was exercising dominion over the wickedness in the body; this is necessary. Forgiveness can be governmental, or it can be personal. When it is personal, we always owe it. When it is governmental, we only owe it when a person repents; if he repents forgive him, that's what he said.
And Joseph said in Gen 50:20 And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,… He believed in a sovereign God, so he was able to forgive his factious brothers who sent him into captivity and lied about him and the harlot also lied about him it represents the same parable. And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Notice you are to speak to the mountain. You are to believe you have received. We're supposed to speak the victory first. Which is what David did here in, 1Sa 17:44-47 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46 This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that Jehovah saveth not with sword and spear: (He saved with a little boy! LOL) for the battle is Jehovah's, and he will give you into our hand.
He was showing them how to do it, I mean, they were all running away from the giant, but he was very bold and he spoke it ahead of time and it came to pass. I have this little saying I heard from many, many, many years ago, “Right song, wrong side.” The Israelites, celebrated after the Red Sea destruction of their enemies. And before they were anxious and troubled and fearful and spoke against God. But He saved them for His namesake. So I call it “Right song, Wrong side.” Exo 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto Jehovah, and spake, saying, I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Well, shouldn't they have been doing that on the other side? That's what the Lord has taught us. You're the mouthpiece of God. You speak for Him. He will bring down your enemies. You speak it, He will bring them down. And of course, the thing about bringing down enemies is if you bring down the demons that control them, they are then free. That is if God decides that these are the elect. Sometimes they're not the elect and they're going to their disaster. I mean it's forever; Hell is forever, as I told somebody just yesterday. We want to be sure that everyone makes it; that is, the elect of God. And otherwise, at least their demons are conquered, and they can do nothing to you.
Rev 19:1-2 After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: 2 for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
They're celebrating, but I want to tell you we are always being led in triumph, which is the celebration of the victory, we're doing that now. Notice the verse I just shared Exodus 15:1, notice, triumphed gloriously. So again right song, wrong side. Let's do it now. And another thing, while you're in the battle, you must be sure to obey your King and General.
Exo 23:20-23 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Take ye heed before him, and hearken unto his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him. (In other words, He won't permit it. You can repent of anything and get forgiven. But he's not going to pardon you while you're in the midst of it. And that's why people got left in the hands of the devil.)
22 But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, (Notice, He said, “If thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice,” that's the Angel, “and do what I speak.” God speaks through angels. They are perfect prophets, because when they speak in the name of the Lord, they are speaking the Lord's word.) and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23 For mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: and I will cut them off.
Those in the land that are the old man, and they are not the new man, they don't belong there. They were to continue walking through the whole land destroying these enemies. You are to do that too. We are doing it on a larger scale in the government we are doing it on a smaller scale in our individual lives because this land like Hebrew 6 says is us. The old man is not to rule this house; the spiritual man is to rule this house.
Num 14:41-43 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah, seeing it shall not prosper? (You won't prosper if you're breaking the word of the Lord.) 42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies. (Some people go up against their enemies and they're smitten down because they've sinned, and in this case they had.) 43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned back from following Jehovah, therefore Jehovah will not be with you. (So if you're not following the Lord, don't think you're going to go up against the enemy and win against the enemy. You can go boldly before the enemy if your conscience is clear.)
2Ch 24:20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath also forsaken you.
So we can't win against our enemies if we’ve forsaken the Lord. But if you confess your sins and you turn to the Lord and repent and then He delivers you of all unrighteousness, and then you're able to conquer the enemy.
Jos 6:2-5 And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, (That's the beginning of their promised land. It was defended by the old man.) and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. 3 And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. (See remember it may not sound correct to you in your natural mind, but obey your General. Whatever He tells you to do. He told me today to talk on this. I asked Him very plainly and He told me very plainly. So I'm just obeying.) 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And it shall be, that, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him.
And why a trumpet? You know, breath can be turned to intelligible, something heard. And a trumpet represents that, turning breath into something that is heard, something righteous that is heard. Like Gideon's army, they blew the trumpet and the enemy went all out to kill each other. So it's the voice of the Spirit because breath and spirit is the same word. The voice of Spirit spoken through the trumpet brought down the enemy. How awesome!
So thank you, Father, for this in Jesus name…
Sunday Mar 10, 2024