The first beast set out to be a theocratic nation and as Patriarch Jacob inspired by God refers to Israel as lion, Judah was foreknown as a lion's whelp, Jesus being qualified as the Lion of Judah. He was the Son of man with a man's heart given to him. In rejecting him the nation showed as Jesus rightly castigates the nation as children of the devil, the father of lies. In driving out does the unclean disappear ? Oh no. It is thus with other two beasts. The third beast signifies mercantile spirit and nations seeking wealth from faraway places."he beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Colonialism/ imperialism casts its net far and wide so north south west east alike come under its sway. Is world empire meant to raise the quality of life of natives? So have the nations in imposing as master became servants to sin. The beast "which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl" are the four ideologies created by socio-economic forces stirring up cultural and national divides.
The fourth beast is soul-less high tech. "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;" This shall give nations 'horns' which refer to the wherewithal to tread over the subjects with impunity. The little horn is a world leader who shall dazzle his subjects, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed./And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,/And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles"(Re.11:13-14)
"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."
The Word in order to indicate the bear as distinct from the land 'like to a bear' instructs us to keep in mind that it is not the animal itself but certain characteristics of the animal is applied to man and a nation, having similar propensities. It can live on anything, carrion, nuts, berries fish and what not. So nations that can turn a dollar from any thing, by exploiting natural resources or man fit the label. The three ribs in the mouth of it, are the real driver so glory of wealth, of power and of religion carry an insatiable hunger for more. This addiction is imposed from elsewhere and so the war in heaven is crucial to understand where it comes from.
There was war in heaven and Satan loses his place. Michael is one name. So driven out the unclean spirit become prince of the air. He presents before God. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."( Job 1:7) All the four beasts mentioned are under the same spiritual uncleanness. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none./Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished./Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. "(Matt.12:43-45)
God sent his Son as the true Light to the world and the Word had set his ministry according as the scripture may be fulfilled. "Recovering of sight to the blind" ( Luke 4:18) was one among them. Before him stood the blind. "When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man's eyes." (John9:6) Like chaff what is dust? Insignificant is it not? But Jesus told his disciples,"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet."(Matt.10:16). Whosoever and the dust of the house or the city and intrinsically bound. In geology dust is the result of the weathering process, but no matter, it represent the ungodly society of men. Similarly what is a shoe lace? Abraham would not even receive a shoe latchet,"And that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich." Wealth of the king of Sodom was of Satan who in according him pomp and privileges, made him a servant to sin. Abraham in trusting God for his blessings placed himself under the Law of the Spirit. The same Law governing the everlasting covenant made him observe a life of separation. The disciples were to shake off the dust of their feet for a witness.
Jesus spat on the ground, a sign even as his blood is, that his life was on the line. Death and resurrection would come later. By the same token we have the miry clay mentioned in the king's dream. "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."(Dan.2:43) Iron is the brute force, a quality of the beast and other sons of perdition..("But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces,". Imposter churches are covenant breakers to compromise with Satan. They are servants to sin for praise of men. They shall be smashed and thrown to winds as was in the king's dream.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.(v.9)
Meaning of this verse is simple: the house of Israel is like as corn is sifted. Similar as God, touching his vineyard,- he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. He asks,"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?"(Is.5:1-4)Corn is blighted and mildewed since among all nations where they went they were corrupted all the more. Sifting for corn is a vain exercise. Not a corn shall be found. They have become like chaff, mentioned in the Book of Daniel,"and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them."(Dan.2:35)
V.8 however hints of a remnant, " Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord." They were among those called predestined, justified and glorified. Why? God or rather the Law of the Spirit saw them as such. Before the Law the word has set space and time as zero. It explains Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever" (He.13:8) If God is for them they are called for Zion, above and not for the earth.
In v.11 we read of it, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" Notice the expression 'in that day' and it refers to heavenly Jerusalem, New Jerusalem to be precise. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." Joel also refers 3:17 "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain."
God is a Spirit who has a visible image:Jesus Christ.(Col.1:15). It is thus we designate the unseen aspect of His will as heaven and the seen aspects of it as the earth. The Psalmist praises this slow maturation of His will as His works. His creation, can follow so the moon is a cue for the beasts of prey 'creep forth' for their feed while man stops with his labor."Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth."(vv.20-23).When St Paul refers to his works as well as riches as spiritual blessings, (" O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches"-v.24) So the earth is a blessing we have received in Jesus Christ.(Ep.1:3) Now what are the works of God but to make their glory in terms of his Son? He is the "Brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power." The word is the Law of the Spirit.
The Ancient of days is a visual representation of the Law so seven days establishes faith holding the seen unseen worlds as one."Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."(He.11:3). The everlasting covenant accordingly gives us the first day in which creating of heaven divides light from darkness which the Psalmist compares to a garment, 'robes of righteousness' and he "who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" sets out foundations so His creation shall understand when He creates man 'after our image and after our likeness'. "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament' Ge.1:7 explains the seven pillars or beams, "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters". Heaven is stretched Up and down as storied ( Amos 9:6) or across. For as many pillars there are "foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever."(v.5)
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
SALVATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO, "SAVED--HEAVENBOUND" LOST--"HELLBOUND FOR ALL ETERNITY".
GOD WOULD RATHER SAVE A SOUL FOR HEAVEN. THEN SEND A LOST SOUL TO HELL.
"GOD" LOVES US SO MUCH THAT "HE" SENT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON "JESUS" TO TAKE AWAY SIN THROUGH HIS RIGHTEOUS
"And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."
Jesus Christ compares nations not subject to the Law of the Spirit as unfit to his purpose. In his woe to ye discourse he tells the nation of Israel, "Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets./ Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers./ Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Against the generation of Jesus we have several generations each under the law of sin fulfilling the measure of their fathers. So much so God asks,"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord,"(Is.1:11) God well knew their heart was astray and when He made Ezekiel his watchman he forewarned him,"But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted." (Ez.3:7) Yet his role was to warn them, "And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear."(v.11). God sent His only begotten Son and he was rejected for the simple reason there was no place for the word of God in their heart. They belonged to the devil, which was a murderer. They represented darkness so the Gospel says, " In him was life; and the life was the light of men./And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."( John 1:4-5) God is just and merciful."If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ( 1 John 1:9).
God instituted animal sacrifices "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Without true repentance what was it but mere outward observance? "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.:(He.10:3-4)
In the night visions what Daniel saw one aspect of the Word of God which the Spirit presents before John as the risen Christ, the Law of the Spirit given a face. He heard him say,"I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." So the vision is altered accordingly. The Spirit qualifies him as "One like unto the Son of man." He is the Law of the Spirit as its fulfilment. This fact clothes him with same as the Ancient of days, Alpha and Omega literally explains it. All seven days in the covenant meet him as, "His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow." In the vision of Daniel 'one like unto the Son of man' was brought before the Ancient and here he is the Ancient of days. The aspect of the Word become flesh is attested by the sword. "and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword:and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."(Re.1:10-16). His voice evokes the Gospel of Christ, " a great voice, as of a trumpet,". It is magisterial in tone. Instead of cloud of witnesses we have him 'in the midst of the seven candlesticks', all golden to match with the girdle, the regal sash of his authority. True and Faithful his authority is signified by seven stars in his right hand.
Who are these seven candle sticks signify? They are those whom he bought with his blood so he informs all seven church is various state, from spiritual stupor to vivacity what he is: he is an overcomer. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."(2:11). To another he promises, a part in the coming battle, so the time is at hand. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:/...as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father./And I will give him the morning star."(2:26-28) These two visions are reconciled over the ungodly nations yet under the law of sin.
In the night visions, the judgment of nations are presented, and iconography of the kings image in Ch.2 is replaced. Instead of the stone becoming a great mountain("And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth,"-2:35) we have the books, and the Word is the focus. Nations of the world representing four beasts " they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." Their judgment is on the basis of the Law of the Spirit. The dominion instead is given to the rightful heir whose dominion "is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed".
"and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him." Who are they? "Clouds of heaven escorting 'the one like the Son of man" refers to the divine Will who shall sent him as the only begotten Son" So it is Jesus christ the Word become flesh is the man referred here. God "who maketh the clouds his chariot" explains thereby the verse The Word was with God"(Ps.104:3) Hence in the vision we have the expression,"One like the Son of man." Who accompanied him are the witnesses (He.12:1) and heavenly host. "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all./ Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word./Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure."(Ps.103:18-21)
The unseen world in heaven is seeded with the word of God so we may explain when Moses raises his rod over the land of Egypt, "the east wind brought the locusts."(Ex.10:13). We have them in the bottomless pit, under lock and key,"And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power."(Re.9:3) They obey the Word.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
The spirit of iniquity is presented as a mystery. Mystery of the divine Will was in the fulness of God and dwelt in his Son. It explained "After our image" while "After our likeness" we have in the expression, "And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,"Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. So how the Spirit has arranged the Word become flesh explains the mystery. The Law delineates the Ancient of days and the Law of the Spirit is visually put together as a collage as it were, and with more explicitly in the inaugural vision of St John. Similarly we find the mystic union of Christ with his bride the Church in the Song of the Songs, For example, "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon."(The Song.4:11) Each part of the body carry aspects that can be spiritually understood. The sum of parts do not make up the sum which is the mystery of Love, a facet of divine Holiness. Similarly we can deconstruct the Wicked or the beast in terms of his body parts, "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."(Re.13:2). But sum of parts do not explain the law of sin without the Law which is the Word.The law of sin is the tares in the Parable that is entirely a world apart.
Coming back to the Ancient of days, " and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool", and what does his hair tell us? In the beginning was the Word. Judgment aspect of the Word explains," his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire."(v.9)
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"
Everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels in form us that the law of sin is invented by Satan, the father of lies. Who are the cursed but who has despised the word of God? "Jesus explains with emphasis, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."( John 8:34)
The Law with which God runs his kingdom knows no other law than that of the Spirit. He framed the worlds by the word of God so the world made to appear shall be founded on the Law of the Spirit. Consequently those who are blessed under the everlasting covenant do so by faith. Faith is one. The parallel world of the law of sin is a make-believe world is under judgment. "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."(2 Pe.3:7;Is.66:15)
The Spirit of God presents us the God document where the everlasting covenant is stated in plain terms. How is that the blessing mentioned in Ge.1:28 fas been totally missed? Where did this spiritual amnesia occur so blessing whenever is mentioned is associated with Abraham rather than tJesus Christ? In the manner the imposter churches have supplanted the truth to establish Israel as a blessed nation proves the condemnation of Jesus. It is done in bad faith "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me./Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word./Ye are of your father the devil,"(8:42-44)
The Law does not recognise nations per se but children of light or children of disobedience. Eternal fire is reserved for them. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."(25:46)
Finding an Attribute of God for the Letter X is difficult using and English word, but the Greek word "Xristos" but I am not sure if this is how it is spelled. Even so, I will go with this.
God is XRISTOS
This is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Mashiach (Messiah in English)
The XRISTOS is Jesus, the divine Father's divine Son incarnated to fulfill the promises made in the OT of a coming Messiah, one who is anointed and is the foretold prophet, priest and king. The Messiah was to conquer and free Israel from their bondage. The Jews believed that the Messiah would release them from the rule of the Romans as their Redeemer and proceed to rule the whole world with righteousness and justice.
The Bible also describes the Messiah as " the Holy One of Israel" The demons called Jesus this when encountering Jesus. Only God is the: "Holy One" of Israel, which, in the OT was a title for God alone.
At the temple when Jesus read from the scroll from Isaiah 61 He identified Himself as the promised Messiah saying, today this is fulfilled in your hearing" to the scribes and teachers.( luke 4:17-21)
Peter Identified Jesus as the Xristos, ( Mt. 16:16( when Jesus asked "Who do you say that I am?"
Jesus the Xristos, being God in the flesh is the long awaited "Seed" of the woman promised to Adam and Eve to "crush the head of the serpent, meaning, He will conquer the devil, his works, and sin. He did this on the cross.
The Jews are still looking for the coming of their Messiah, rejecting that Jesus is He and has already come to save them from their sins and will come again to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords on the earth as He is reigning in heaven now.
Jesus is our Messiah in all the ways He has been prophesized to be according to what God meant when He promised His coming. The Jews got it wrong in the way they interpreted what the Messiah would be like and what He would do. Many people in the world today get it wrong when they see Jesus as only a great human person.
In all that God does, He seeks His own glory, which is right and just to do so because He is the best Being we could ever be in right relationship with. God, seeking to be glorified in His grace and mercy in the saints is what benefits us fully. We receive the riches of God in Christ when we are elected and are recipients of His mercy and grace.
At the end of Romans 11 Paul waxes into adoration and praise to God. Perhaps He stopped in his writing of these inspired words to reread and was overwhelmed as He realized that these words show forth the great measureless wisdom of God in saving sinners and keeping His covenant with Israel.
We find this exquisite doxology in verse 33-36
" Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments; and His ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord; or who hath been His counsellor?
Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to whom be the glory forever. Amen."
Romans 16:27
"To God only wise, be through Jesus Christ glory forever and ever. Amen."
It is in Jesus Christ that we come to know the wisdom of God. When we are saved and in Christ, we glory in His grace and mercy, for saving a sinner, like me and all the saints. We have nothing to boast about in ourselves. Only we boast in Jesus Christ alone, who saved us for Himself, a holy people, for the praise of His glorious grace and power. He is our wisdom, power, and redemption. He is our greatest treasure. We would know nothing of God's wisdom in creating humanity as He did as vessels of wrath and in His mercy, causing the elect to become vessels of mercy in Jesus Christ. ( Rom. 9:25-29).
Romans chapters 1-8 speaks to how God savs sinners. Chapters 9-11 speaks of the widsom of God in how He keeps His covenant with Israel
Romans 9:4-7
"Who are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
The issue as this chapter begins is whether or not God has failed to keep His covenant with Israel. Has the word and promise God made to Abraham failed? If the Gentiles are being saved by Israel's Messiah yet, as for the Jews, they have turned away from Jesus and rejected Him and the Way God in His infinite wisdom chose for them to be saved in Christ. If Gentiles are becoming children of Abraham by faith alone ( Gal. 3:7; Rom2 :24-29) and Jews rejecting Jesus are cast into outer darkness ( Mt. 8-11-12), then has the covenant God made with Abraham and reconfirmed over and over again in the OT amidst horrendous disobedience of the Israelites, fallen?
Paul affirms that" NO!", it has not failed. God does not reneg on His promises. God's way of staying faithful to His covenant with Israel while saving the Gentiles is so counterintuitive and so extraordinary that at the end of chapter 11, Paul breaks out in his doxology concerning the unfathomable wisdom of God.
Like the way of saving Gentiles through Christ, God's way keeping and fulfilling the covenant with Israel is infinitely wise, too. The end of chapter 11 sums up God's wisdom in both saving Gentiles and in keeping the covenant with Israel.
" I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour
In the post under estranged from the womb was the statement, quote,
"We benefit from divine revelation. When we received the good news we fulfilled one part of the Law which called forth a world unseen," unquote. This unseen world relates to heaven. So the covenant between God and Man has under day one spiritual underpinning is set up, and this verse refers to it. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Ge.1:2-5) The Law of the Spirit determines where to work first and there is no cardinal direction as we know in terms of geography. But The Law recognises Time and Space but the holiness of God. This is given a concrete imagery in the slain Lamb " stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." In order to explain this we need our own body for analogy. Gut microbes as parasites thrive within us, for instance impact specific function in host nutrient metabolism and protects from harmful pathogens that to all intent and purpose can be called our fifth organ. In short we live in parallel worlds. God created man on the sixth day, and what does it tell us? "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."(Pr.16:4)
The Holy Spirit does not have to spell out the fall of Lucifer or when the Spirit refers to the covering cherub, when iniquity was found in him. Neither do we know how Prince of Tyrus became manifest as the body of the unclean spirit.The wicked world under the law of sin is a parallel world that we have to resist. As long as the flesh rules us it is there. "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."(Re.6:8; Ez.28:18)
"The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies".
We benefit from divine revelation. When we received the good news we fulfilled one part of the Law which called forth a world unseen. The World made to appear shall be on the eternal will of God, the template of Truth and righteousness. The Law of the Spirit does not accept the law of sin. So we can safely say the wicked are estranged from the womb of Time. So you and you did not simply lurch into this world by some happy coincidence. When we received the truth we accepted the path of righteousness
" And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose./For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son."(Ro.8:28-29)
The Law of the Spirit is to establish the holiness of the Lord. So there is a purpose when the word of God says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." It is the Law so nowhere in his kingdom the wicked who tells lies may hide, as Jonah tried to hide among the sailors of the ship bound for Tarshish.Can anyone escape from God? The wicked follow the law of sin and they are judged as unfit for the purpose even before they were born. It is what the story of Jacob and Esau teaches.""Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."(Mal.1:3)
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:/According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love"
Who is the father of lies? Satan of course. There is no truth in him.( John 8:44)Jesus faulted the Jews who rejected him. They were a wicked lot. ": yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil ."
God always knows the greatest goal in any situation and the perfect way to achieve it. Therefore, His way to save sinners is perfect in every way. This way is through the incarnation of God the Son, Jesus, in His perfectly lived human life, in His terrible suffering and death on the cross, and in His glorious and triumphant resurrection from the dead. In this way, sinners are made humble and God is glorified. It is the perfect plan and there can be no other way that is better tha what God in His wisdom decided before creation in the covenant to save sinners. If there was a better way, then God would have done that, but there is no other way to accomplish God's greatest goal in saving sinners that through Jesus Christ and His work.
In this post on GOD IS WISE I will draw from John Piper's article mentioned above: "The Great Work of the Only Wise God"
because it is really an excellent one in addressing God's wisdom in saving sinners and in keeping His covenant with Israel.
The Work of Christ and the Wisdom of God
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe" where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jew a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
God alone has infinite wisdom. This includes reason, logic, knowledge, and judgment.
He is the only Wise God ( Rom 16:27; Job 12:37; Pr. 3:19; Jude 25)
Rom. 16:25-27 is Paul's doxology to God, summing up this book of Scripture, proclaiming the infinite wisdom of God.
Jude 25 reiterates what Paul says in the above verse: to the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen
There are many aspects to God's wisdom: Job 12:37 tells us that with God are wisdom and might, to Him belong counsel and understanding. Pr. 3:19 says that God in wisdom founded the earth and in understanding He established the heavens.
John Piper in "The Great Work of the only Wise God" defines wisdom as "knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation and knowing the best way to achieve it. It is different than knowledge, but it assumes knowledge. They overlap. you cannot exercise wisdom without knowledge...On the other hand, you can have a lot of knowledge but not have wisdom."
But God is perfect in knowledge and uses this perfect, infinite knowledge to make will and execute the wisest actions.
In this post I want to focus on two aspects of God's wisdom: 1) in the way He saves sinners and 2) the way He keeps His covenant with Israel.
so, let's look at Rom. 11:33-36
Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? and who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen."
This is a phenomenal statement! Unless God reveals it to us, we cannot know His wisdom in what He has done in history. We are dependent upon His revelation to us to know God's wisdom. We do not have the capacity to just know it with our own faculties. cont. to Pt. 2
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Spirit of uncleanness has no body to disintegrate it like the eternal liver of Prometheus eaten alive by an eagle only to grow back by night to be eaten by day and it goes on forever. Satan may speak,"and my sin is ever before me," but there is no remedy there.
In the lament on the king of Tyrus we have this prophesy, "Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." The same punishment meted out to the body and spirit under the law of sin. The very pride of the cherub becomes his destruction. In the midst of the fire is given a place, a lake self-contained. "Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,"(28:16,18). This shall explain law of sin in terms of the body. The fable of Jotham, refers to the fire and it comes from the midst of the bramble. "And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon."(Ju.9:15). Who set fire in the world so the wickedness rampant in the old world is as fierce as was then? The law of sin of course. God is a righteous Judge. Satan works from the beginning and it shows the heart without God is like bramble. All the isms the seven heads of the beast for instance keep on rolling one after the other. What see in Gaza the genocide, rules of engagement are penned by the devil himself. Nations that aid and abet sons of perdition, to which the false prophet with two horns like the lamb are as much accomplices as the man who wields the sceptre. Every heart that is not set right before God shall share some blame.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
God has set his throne in heaven (Ps.103:17-20)which in John's vision was on the sea of glass. Further along we see it is a sea of glass mixed with fire. The same throne we see in the night visions as a fiery theone. The Holy Spirit sets the world unseen in concrete imagery so we are to look at them as manifestations of his holiness. After our likeness, the Law of the Spirit presented the Lamb slain, the Lamb of God and a throne of God and of the Lamb. The firmament is the face so the Psalmist considers it as a glass.
This glory is set in our hearts. When we love God with our whole heart and whole mind we are changing from glory to glory. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Co.3:18) How shall we explain 'with open face' but our works? James explains the purpose of this glass and says," But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." Faith that bonds the worlds framed by the word of God shall always sets this glass. When you adjust your lives accordingly it is an open face. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."( John 3:19-21) With open face we prove our inner lives," that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Satan hates this light so he has to work with subtility and serpent fitted his purpose similarly with men. "And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed." The beast is yet another example. They who prosper Satan's lies are sons of perdition. Then as now.
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."
The Law of the Spirit has a body, which is enshrined in the everlasting covenant as the man created 'after our image' and after our likeness." The Law of Moses was merely a shadow of good things to come, signifying Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of the Law. In the Beatitudes he made it clear. "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."(Matt.5:17)
The worlds framed by the word of God the slain Lamb was an emblem but would be made to appear 'in the fulness of time.' So the Law of Mose in which animal sacrifices were instituted only pointed to the world made to appear where the earth abides for ever for the reason Jesus Christ was the embodiment of the Law of the Spirit.(Ec.1:4) John the Baptist pointing out the Lamb of God because the Holy Spirit stepped in to identify signalled the coming of the world made to appear. By the same token the throne of the Lamb is a world the new creation shall be glorifed fulfilling the Pauline dictum,"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."(Ro.8:20) Glory of the light of the Lamb is the name which is glory of the Law. It is a spiritual body and nothing of the flesh shall be there. This body of evidence is what the world made to appear shall establish. Till such time the law of Moses was the device , a shadow of good things to come.
The Lamb, the body as an emblem in the divine Will connects with the Throne of God so what is the role of faith? It closes the gape between the two thrones so the Word or the voice from heaven announces,"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people."(Re.21:3)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Romans 10:9
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
NOTE: Nowhere in the word of "God" says you have to join a church, to get Saved ! Or join a certain denominations.
Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It does not say, if, maybe, could be. It says "Shall" be "Saved".
"PRAISE THE LORD" Question: If you would pass away tonight/today. Do you know you are saved?
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:/Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." ( John 1:12-13)
Mode of inversion sets their salvation according to the Law of the Spirit. This unseen world made to appear in a believer can only be settled by his faith. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." How did a believer bridged the gap? They died to the flesh and to the law of sin."For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live./For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God./For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father./The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."(Ro.8:13-16)
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".
Jesus meant the Law of the Spirit, which given that the Word was God with can be written in terms of God, the Son. This is implied in the covenant so the Father Son relationship has its bearing upon it; The Law is also delineated on the basis that the Word was with God. Here it is 'after our likeness" and it signifies the Word become flesh.
All the law mentioned in the key verse refers to the Law of Moses and laws of nature. We shall mention that the withering of the fig tree pertains to the law of nature being subservient to the Law that Jesus signified. The Law of Moses specify that cursed is anyone who hangs upon a tree but Jesus Christ was not just any man but represented the fulfilment of the Law. He was the Man component in the everlasting covenant. (Matt.21:18-20)
Now what does the first commandment refer to? "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." The Law of the Spirit honoured God which was what we saw the four beasts as doing. "( "and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy,LordGod Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come./And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever," Re.6:8-9)
Without the whole heart the law observed by the nation of Israel was inadequate.
The second commandment applied to himself. No greater love has anyone than one who give his life for his friends. It is what Jesus demonstrated with his life. "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The second is like unto it. It connects with the Law 'after our likeness." Israel kept Us vs. Them but Jesus spares no effort to show such division showed their blindness. The Parable of the Good Samaritan for instance. (Matt.23:15)
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word./With my whole heart have I sought thee"
Whatever you do do it with whole heart is a very simple and powerful principle, in secular as well as in our spiritual context. Of the latter is our focus here. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;/ Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."(Col.3:23-24) St Paul wrote these in a pagan world in which the early church was made up of the oppressed class and proselytes from the Jews or the Gentiles. The question of slavery has been present where the Law of sin made those who lived after the flesh were servants while the Law made man free. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."(Ro.8:13). So slavery is actually a question of perspective. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."( John 8:32). In the same time there were Judaizers among the early church who sowed heresy, "And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage."(Gal.2:4;Ac.15:1,24). These are the sons of Belial who serves Satan to trouble the pure conscience of those who follow Law of the Spirit. "Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known."(De.13:13) In the modern context slavery is abolished by laws of nations but do we not see it yet very much encouraged when false ministers invoke Christian nationalism? Christian parents who ought to inculcate their children to follow this freedom should first set the example:"With my whole heart have I sought thee"" Will all those who have, please take a bow.
These were underhand swipes at the Law, and now it is full blown frontal assault so Apostle John is referring to the apostate church. Recently there was a statement in a Christian journal, "We take orders from Mt. Zion and not from Mar-a-Lago." Who are the ungodly but the lawbreakers? Instead of the Spirit they follow the flesh. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."(Ro.8:5)
Blessed are those who are led by the Spirit. As with Paul we must well knowas to what is the purpose of the Law? It is the same as the everlasting covenant for which the Law holds an emblem, the slain Lamb and our fellowship with God in following the word of God entrusted with us. When God fashioned all hearts alike it ought to tell us that everyone of us is equal befor God and his Law of the Spirit."Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,/I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."(Phi.3:13-14)
"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord./ Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart."
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful./But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."The first Psalm more or less tells us the same. "Undefiled in the way" are those who follow the Law. God a Spirit has his Law which is the Law of the Spirit. Elymas the sorcerer seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith counselled in a way which fits exactly what the ungodly does. So Paul filled with the Holy Ghost calls him out," thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?"(Ac.13:8-10). Instantly as he had warned the fellow was struck blind. "Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."(v.12) This doctrine is what the word of God and it is given to every man profit withal. Heart is not an anatomical part but a spiritual space so when you follow God with your whole heart it is as though you are led by the Spirit. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."(Matt.6:21)Those who do that shall know time is not to be be wasted running after the fads of the day or engage in the trivial pursuits of the ungodly. They may argue with verve what they have read in the web but they cannot distinguish the good from bad so why get saddled with disinformation of the sons of Belial? We have a definition of them "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us".( 1 John 2:19) Heresies were in the time of the Apostles.
"The first was like a lion,"-v.4
The first beast set out to be a theocratic nation and as Patriarch Jacob inspired by God refers to Israel as lion, Judah was foreknown as a lion's whelp, Jesus being qualified as the Lion of Judah. He was the Son of man with a man's heart given to him. In rejecting him the nation showed as Jesus rightly castigates the nation as children of the devil, the father of lies. In driving out does the unclean disappear ? Oh no. It is thus with other two beasts. The third beast signifies mercantile spirit and nations seeking wealth from faraway places."he beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Colonialism/ imperialism casts its net far and wide so north south west east alike come under its sway. Is world empire meant to raise the quality of life of natives? So have the nations in imposing as master became servants to sin. The beast "which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl" are the four ideologies created by socio-economic forces stirring up cultural and national divides.
The fourth beast is soul-less high tech. "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;" This shall give nations 'horns' which refer to the wherewithal to tread over the subjects with impunity. The little horn is a world leader who shall dazzle his subjects, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed./And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,/And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles"(Re.11:13-14)
"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh."
The Word in order to indicate the bear as distinct from the land 'like to a bear' instructs us to keep in mind that it is not the animal itself but certain characteristics of the animal is applied to man and a nation, having similar propensities. It can live on anything, carrion, nuts, berries fish and what not. So nations that can turn a dollar from any thing, by exploiting natural resources or man fit the label. The three ribs in the mouth of it, are the real driver so glory of wealth, of power and of religion carry an insatiable hunger for more. This addiction is imposed from elsewhere and so the war in heaven is crucial to understand where it comes from.
There was war in heaven and Satan loses his place. Michael is one name. So driven out the unclean spirit become prince of the air. He presents before God. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."( Job 1:7) All the four beasts mentioned are under the same spiritual uncleanness. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none./Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished./Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. "(Matt.12:43-45)
God sent his Son as the true Light to the world and the Word had set his ministry according as the scripture may be fulfilled. "Recovering of sight to the blind" ( Luke 4:18) was one among them. Before him stood the blind. "When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man's eyes." (John9:6) Like chaff what is dust? Insignificant is it not? But Jesus told his disciples,"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet."(Matt.10:16). Whosoever and the dust of the house or the city and intrinsically bound. In geology dust is the result of the weathering process, but no matter, it represent the ungodly society of men. Similarly what is a shoe lace? Abraham would not even receive a shoe latchet,"And that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich." Wealth of the king of Sodom was of Satan who in according him pomp and privileges, made him a servant to sin. Abraham in trusting God for his blessings placed himself under the Law of the Spirit. The same Law governing the everlasting covenant made him observe a life of separation. The disciples were to shake off the dust of their feet for a witness.
Jesus spat on the ground, a sign even as his blood is, that his life was on the line. Death and resurrection would come later. By the same token we have the miry clay mentioned in the king's dream. "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."(Dan.2:43) Iron is the brute force, a quality of the beast and other sons of perdition..("But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces,". Imposter churches are covenant breakers to compromise with Satan. They are servants to sin for praise of men. They shall be smashed and thrown to winds as was in the king's dream.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.(v.9)
Meaning of this verse is simple: the house of Israel is like as corn is sifted. Similar as God, touching his vineyard,- he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. He asks,"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?"(Is.5:1-4)Corn is blighted and mildewed since among all nations where they went they were corrupted all the more. Sifting for corn is a vain exercise. Not a corn shall be found. They have become like chaff, mentioned in the Book of Daniel,"and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them."(Dan.2:35)
V.8 however hints of a remnant, " Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord." They were among those called predestined, justified and glorified. Why? God or rather the Law of the Spirit saw them as such. Before the Law the word has set space and time as zero. It explains Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever" (He.13:8) If God is for them they are called for Zion, above and not for the earth.
In v.11 we read of it, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" Notice the expression 'in that day' and it refers to heavenly Jerusalem, New Jerusalem to be precise. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." Joel also refers 3:17 "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain."
God is a Spirit who has a visible image:Jesus Christ.(Col.1:15). It is thus we designate the unseen aspect of His will as heaven and the seen aspects of it as the earth. The Psalmist praises this slow maturation of His will as His works. His creation, can follow so the moon is a cue for the beasts of prey 'creep forth' for their feed while man stops with his labor."Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth."(vv.20-23).When St Paul refers to his works as well as riches as spiritual blessings, (" O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches"-v.24) So the earth is a blessing we have received in Jesus Christ.(Ep.1:3) Now what are the works of God but to make their glory in terms of his Son? He is the "Brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power." The word is the Law of the Spirit.
The Ancient of days is a visual representation of the Law so seven days establishes faith holding the seen unseen worlds as one."Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."(He.11:3). The everlasting covenant accordingly gives us the first day in which creating of heaven divides light from darkness which the Psalmist compares to a garment, 'robes of righteousness' and he "who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" sets out foundations so His creation shall understand when He creates man 'after our image and after our likeness'. "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament' Ge.1:7 explains the seven pillars or beams, "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters". Heaven is stretched Up and down as storied ( Amos 9:6) or across. For as many pillars there are "foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever."(v.5)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
SALVATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO, "SAVED--HEAVENBOUND" LOST--"HELLBOUND FOR ALL ETERNITY".
GOD WOULD RATHER SAVE A SOUL FOR HEAVEN. THEN SEND A LOST SOUL TO HELL.
"GOD" LOVES US SO MUCH THAT "HE" SENT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON "JESUS" TO TAKE AWAY SIN THROUGH HIS RIGHTEOUS
BLOOD THAT COVERS A MULTILUDE OF SINS....
COME LORD JESUS
'
"And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."
Jesus Christ compares nations not subject to the Law of the Spirit as unfit to his purpose. In his woe to ye discourse he tells the nation of Israel, "Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets./ Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers./ Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Against the generation of Jesus we have several generations each under the law of sin fulfilling the measure of their fathers. So much so God asks,"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord,"(Is.1:11) God well knew their heart was astray and when He made Ezekiel his watchman he forewarned him,"But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted." (Ez.3:7) Yet his role was to warn them, "And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear."(v.11). God sent His only begotten Son and he was rejected for the simple reason there was no place for the word of God in their heart. They belonged to the devil, which was a murderer. They represented darkness so the Gospel says, " In him was life; and the life was the light of men./And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."( John 1:4-5) God is just and merciful."If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ( 1 John 1:9).
God instituted animal sacrifices "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Without true repentance what was it but mere outward observance? "But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.:(He.10:3-4)
"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword."
In the night visions what Daniel saw one aspect of the Word of God which the Spirit presents before John as the risen Christ, the Law of the Spirit given a face. He heard him say,"I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." So the vision is altered accordingly. The Spirit qualifies him as "One like unto the Son of man." He is the Law of the Spirit as its fulfilment. This fact clothes him with same as the Ancient of days, Alpha and Omega literally explains it. All seven days in the covenant meet him as, "His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow." In the vision of Daniel 'one like unto the Son of man' was brought before the Ancient and here he is the Ancient of days. The aspect of the Word become flesh is attested by the sword. "and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword:and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."(Re.1:10-16). His voice evokes the Gospel of Christ, " a great voice, as of a trumpet,". It is magisterial in tone. Instead of cloud of witnesses we have him 'in the midst of the seven candlesticks', all golden to match with the girdle, the regal sash of his authority. True and Faithful his authority is signified by seven stars in his right hand.
Who are these seven candle sticks signify? They are those whom he bought with his blood so he informs all seven church is various state, from spiritual stupor to vivacity what he is: he is an overcomer. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."(2:11). To another he promises, a part in the coming battle, so the time is at hand. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:/...as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father./And I will give him the morning star."(2:26-28) These two visions are reconciled over the ungodly nations yet under the law of sin.
In the night visions, the judgment of nations are presented, and iconography of the kings image in Ch.2 is replaced. Instead of the stone becoming a great mountain("And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth,"-2:35) we have the books, and the Word is the focus. Nations of the world representing four beasts " they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." Their judgment is on the basis of the Law of the Spirit. The dominion instead is given to the rightful heir whose dominion "is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed".
"and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him." Who are they? "Clouds of heaven escorting 'the one like the Son of man" refers to the divine Will who shall sent him as the only begotten Son" So it is Jesus christ the Word become flesh is the man referred here. God "who maketh the clouds his chariot" explains thereby the verse The Word was with God"(Ps.104:3) Hence in the vision we have the expression,"One like the Son of man." Who accompanied him are the witnesses (He.12:1) and heavenly host. "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all./ Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word./Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure."(Ps.103:18-21)
The unseen world in heaven is seeded with the word of God so we may explain when Moses raises his rod over the land of Egypt, "the east wind brought the locusts."(Ex.10:13). We have them in the bottomless pit, under lock and key,"And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power."(Re.9:3) They obey the Word.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
The spirit of iniquity is presented as a mystery. Mystery of the divine Will was in the fulness of God and dwelt in his Son. It explained "After our image" while "After our likeness" we have in the expression, "And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,"Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. So how the Spirit has arranged the Word become flesh explains the mystery. The Law delineates the Ancient of days and the Law of the Spirit is visually put together as a collage as it were, and with more explicitly in the inaugural vision of St John. Similarly we find the mystic union of Christ with his bride the Church in the Song of the Songs, For example, "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon."(The Song.4:11) Each part of the body carry aspects that can be spiritually understood. The sum of parts do not make up the sum which is the mystery of Love, a facet of divine Holiness. Similarly we can deconstruct the Wicked or the beast in terms of his body parts, "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."(Re.13:2). But sum of parts do not explain the law of sin without the Law which is the Word.The law of sin is the tares in the Parable that is entirely a world apart.
Coming back to the Ancient of days, " and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool", and what does his hair tell us? In the beginning was the Word. Judgment aspect of the Word explains," his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire."(v.9)
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"
Everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels in form us that the law of sin is invented by Satan, the father of lies. Who are the cursed but who has despised the word of God? "Jesus explains with emphasis, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."( John 8:34)
The Law with which God runs his kingdom knows no other law than that of the Spirit. He framed the worlds by the word of God so the world made to appear shall be founded on the Law of the Spirit. Consequently those who are blessed under the everlasting covenant do so by faith. Faith is one. The parallel world of the law of sin is a make-believe world is under judgment. "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."(2 Pe.3:7;Is.66:15)
The Spirit of God presents us the God document where the everlasting covenant is stated in plain terms. How is that the blessing mentioned in Ge.1:28 fas been totally missed? Where did this spiritual amnesia occur so blessing whenever is mentioned is associated with Abraham rather than tJesus Christ? In the manner the imposter churches have supplanted the truth to establish Israel as a blessed nation proves the condemnation of Jesus. It is done in bad faith "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me./Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word./Ye are of your father the devil,"(8:42-44)
The Law does not recognise nations per se but children of light or children of disobedience. Eternal fire is reserved for them. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."(25:46)
God is XRISTOS
This is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Mashiach (Messiah in English)
The XRISTOS is Jesus, the divine Father's divine Son incarnated to fulfill the promises made in the OT of a coming Messiah, one who is anointed and is the foretold prophet, priest and king. The Messiah was to conquer and free Israel from their bondage. The Jews believed that the Messiah would release them from the rule of the Romans as their Redeemer and proceed to rule the whole world with righteousness and justice.
The Bible also describes the Messiah as " the Holy One of Israel" The demons called Jesus this when encountering Jesus. Only God is the: "Holy One" of Israel, which, in the OT was a title for God alone.
At the temple when Jesus read from the scroll from Isaiah 61 He identified Himself as the promised Messiah saying, today this is fulfilled in your hearing" to the scribes and teachers.( luke 4:17-21)
Peter Identified Jesus as the Xristos, ( Mt. 16:16( when Jesus asked "Who do you say that I am?"
Jesus the Xristos, being God in the flesh is the long awaited "Seed" of the woman promised to Adam and Eve to "crush the head of the serpent, meaning, He will conquer the devil, his works, and sin. He did this on the cross.
The Jews are still looking for the coming of their Messiah, rejecting that Jesus is He and has already come to save them from their sins and will come again to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords on the earth as He is reigning in heaven now.
Jesus is our Messiah in all the ways He has been prophesized to be according to what God meant when He promised His coming. The Jews got it wrong in the way they interpreted what the Messiah would be like and what He would do. Many people in the world today get it wrong when they see Jesus as only a great human person.
Pt. 9
In all that God does, He seeks His own glory, which is right and just to do so because He is the best Being we could ever be in right relationship with. God, seeking to be glorified in His grace and mercy in the saints is what benefits us fully. We receive the riches of God in Christ when we are elected and are recipients of His mercy and grace.
At the end of Romans 11 Paul waxes into adoration and praise to God. Perhaps He stopped in his writing of these inspired words to reread and was overwhelmed as He realized that these words show forth the great measureless wisdom of God in saving sinners and keeping His covenant with Israel.
We find this exquisite doxology in verse 33-36
" Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments; and His ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord; or who hath been His counsellor?
Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to whom be the glory forever. Amen."
Romans 16:27
"To God only wise, be through Jesus Christ glory forever and ever. Amen."
It is in Jesus Christ that we come to know the wisdom of God. When we are saved and in Christ, we glory in His grace and mercy, for saving a sinner, like me and all the saints. We have nothing to boast about in ourselves. Only we boast in Jesus Christ alone, who saved us for Himself, a holy people, for the praise of His glorious grace and power. He is our wisdom, power, and redemption. He is our greatest treasure. We would know nothing of God's wisdom in creating humanity as He did as vessels of wrath and in His mercy, causing the elect to become vessels of mercy in Jesus Christ. ( Rom. 9:25-29).
See Pt. 10
Pt. 5
God's Wisdom in Keeping Covenant Wtih Israel
Romans chapters 1-8 speaks to how God savs sinners. Chapters 9-11 speaks of the widsom of God in how He keeps His covenant with Israel
Romans 9:4-7
"Who are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
The issue as this chapter begins is whether or not God has failed to keep His covenant with Israel. Has the word and promise God made to Abraham failed? If the Gentiles are being saved by Israel's Messiah yet, as for the Jews, they have turned away from Jesus and rejected Him and the Way God in His infinite wisdom chose for them to be saved in Christ. If Gentiles are becoming children of Abraham by faith alone ( Gal. 3:7; Rom2 :24-29) and Jews rejecting Jesus are cast into outer darkness ( Mt. 8-11-12), then has the covenant God made with Abraham and reconfirmed over and over again in the OT amidst horrendous disobedience of the Israelites, fallen?
Paul affirms that" NO!", it has not failed. God does not reneg on His promises. God's way of staying faithful to His covenant with Israel while saving the Gentiles is so counterintuitive and so extraordinary that at the end of chapter 11, Paul breaks out in his doxology concerning the unfathomable wisdom of God.
Like the way of saving Gentiles through Christ, God's way keeping and fulfilling the covenant with Israel is infinitely wise, too. The end of chapter 11 sums up God's wisdom in both saving Gentiles and in keeping the covenant with Israel.
Continue to Pt. 6
" I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour
In the post under estranged from the womb was the statement, quote,
"We benefit from divine revelation. When we received the good news we fulfilled one part of the Law which called forth a world unseen," unquote. This unseen world relates to heaven. So the covenant between God and Man has under day one spiritual underpinning is set up, and this verse refers to it. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Ge.1:2-5) The Law of the Spirit determines where to work first and there is no cardinal direction as we know in terms of geography. But The Law recognises Time and Space but the holiness of God. This is given a concrete imagery in the slain Lamb " stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." In order to explain this we need our own body for analogy. Gut microbes as parasites thrive within us, for instance impact specific function in host nutrient metabolism and protects from harmful pathogens that to all intent and purpose can be called our fifth organ. In short we live in parallel worlds. God created man on the sixth day, and what does it tell us? "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."(Pr.16:4)
The Holy Spirit does not have to spell out the fall of Lucifer or when the Spirit refers to the covering cherub, when iniquity was found in him. Neither do we know how Prince of Tyrus became manifest as the body of the unclean spirit.The wicked world under the law of sin is a parallel world that we have to resist. As long as the flesh rules us it is there. "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."(Re.6:8; Ez.28:18)
"The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies".
We benefit from divine revelation. When we received the good news we fulfilled one part of the Law which called forth a world unseen. The World made to appear shall be on the eternal will of God, the template of Truth and righteousness. The Law of the Spirit does not accept the law of sin. So we can safely say the wicked are estranged from the womb of Time. So you and you did not simply lurch into this world by some happy coincidence. When we received the truth we accepted the path of righteousness
" And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose./For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son."(Ro.8:28-29)
The Law of the Spirit is to establish the holiness of the Lord. So there is a purpose when the word of God says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." It is the Law so nowhere in his kingdom the wicked who tells lies may hide, as Jonah tried to hide among the sailors of the ship bound for Tarshish.Can anyone escape from God? The wicked follow the law of sin and they are judged as unfit for the purpose even before they were born. It is what the story of Jacob and Esau teaches.""Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."(Mal.1:3)
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:/According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love"
Who is the father of lies? Satan of course. There is no truth in him.( John 8:44)Jesus faulted the Jews who rejected him. They were a wicked lot. ": yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil ."
PT. 2
God always knows the greatest goal in any situation and the perfect way to achieve it. Therefore, His way to save sinners is perfect in every way. This way is through the incarnation of God the Son, Jesus, in His perfectly lived human life, in His terrible suffering and death on the cross, and in His glorious and triumphant resurrection from the dead. In this way, sinners are made humble and God is glorified. It is the perfect plan and there can be no other way that is better tha what God in His wisdom decided before creation in the covenant to save sinners. If there was a better way, then God would have done that, but there is no other way to accomplish God's greatest goal in saving sinners that through Jesus Christ and His work.
In this post on GOD IS WISE I will draw from John Piper's article mentioned above: "The Great Work of the Only Wise God"
because it is really an excellent one in addressing God's wisdom in saving sinners and in keeping His covenant with Israel.
The Work of Christ and the Wisdom of God
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe" where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jew a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Continue to Part 3
God alone has infinite wisdom. This includes reason, logic, knowledge, and judgment.
He is the only Wise God ( Rom 16:27; Job 12:37; Pr. 3:19; Jude 25)
Rom. 16:25-27 is Paul's doxology to God, summing up this book of Scripture, proclaiming the infinite wisdom of God.
Jude 25 reiterates what Paul says in the above verse: to the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen
There are many aspects to God's wisdom: Job 12:37 tells us that with God are wisdom and might, to Him belong counsel and understanding. Pr. 3:19 says that God in wisdom founded the earth and in understanding He established the heavens.
John Piper in "The Great Work of the only Wise God" defines wisdom as "knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation and knowing the best way to achieve it. It is different than knowledge, but it assumes knowledge. They overlap. you cannot exercise wisdom without knowledge...On the other hand, you can have a lot of knowledge but not have wisdom."
But God is perfect in knowledge and uses this perfect, infinite knowledge to make will and execute the wisest actions.
In this post I want to focus on two aspects of God's wisdom: 1) in the way He saves sinners and 2) the way He keeps His covenant with Israel.
so, let's look at Rom. 11:33-36
Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? and who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen."
This is a phenomenal statement! Unless God reveals it to us, we cannot know His wisdom in what He has done in history. We are dependent upon His revelation to us to know God's wisdom. We do not have the capacity to just know it with our own faculties. cont. to Pt. 2
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Spirit of uncleanness has no body to disintegrate it like the eternal liver of Prometheus eaten alive by an eagle only to grow back by night to be eaten by day and it goes on forever. Satan may speak,"and my sin is ever before me," but there is no remedy there.
In the lament on the king of Tyrus we have this prophesy, "Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." The same punishment meted out to the body and spirit under the law of sin. The very pride of the cherub becomes his destruction. In the midst of the fire is given a place, a lake self-contained. "Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,"(28:16,18). This shall explain law of sin in terms of the body. The fable of Jotham, refers to the fire and it comes from the midst of the bramble. "And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon."(Ju.9:15). Who set fire in the world so the wickedness rampant in the old world is as fierce as was then? The law of sin of course. God is a righteous Judge. Satan works from the beginning and it shows the heart without God is like bramble. All the isms the seven heads of the beast for instance keep on rolling one after the other. What see in Gaza the genocide, rules of engagement are penned by the devil himself. Nations that aid and abet sons of perdition, to which the false prophet with two horns like the lamb are as much accomplices as the man who wields the sceptre. Every heart that is not set right before God shall share some blame.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
God has set his throne in heaven (Ps.103:17-20)which in John's vision was on the sea of glass. Further along we see it is a sea of glass mixed with fire. The same throne we see in the night visions as a fiery theone. The Holy Spirit sets the world unseen in concrete imagery so we are to look at them as manifestations of his holiness. After our likeness, the Law of the Spirit presented the Lamb slain, the Lamb of God and a throne of God and of the Lamb. The firmament is the face so the Psalmist considers it as a glass.
This glory is set in our hearts. When we love God with our whole heart and whole mind we are changing from glory to glory. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Co.3:18) How shall we explain 'with open face' but our works? James explains the purpose of this glass and says," But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." Faith that bonds the worlds framed by the word of God shall always sets this glass. When you adjust your lives accordingly it is an open face. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."( John 3:19-21) With open face we prove our inner lives," that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Satan hates this light so he has to work with subtility and serpent fitted his purpose similarly with men. "And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed." The beast is yet another example. They who prosper Satan's lies are sons of perdition. Then as now.
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect."
The Law of the Spirit has a body, which is enshrined in the everlasting covenant as the man created 'after our image' and after our likeness." The Law of Moses was merely a shadow of good things to come, signifying Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of the Law. In the Beatitudes he made it clear. "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."(Matt.5:17)
The worlds framed by the word of God the slain Lamb was an emblem but would be made to appear 'in the fulness of time.' So the Law of Mose in which animal sacrifices were instituted only pointed to the world made to appear where the earth abides for ever for the reason Jesus Christ was the embodiment of the Law of the Spirit.(Ec.1:4) John the Baptist pointing out the Lamb of God because the Holy Spirit stepped in to identify signalled the coming of the world made to appear. By the same token the throne of the Lamb is a world the new creation shall be glorifed fulfilling the Pauline dictum,"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."(Ro.8:20) Glory of the light of the Lamb is the name which is glory of the Law. It is a spiritual body and nothing of the flesh shall be there. This body of evidence is what the world made to appear shall establish. Till such time the law of Moses was the device , a shadow of good things to come.
The Lamb, the body as an emblem in the divine Will connects with the Throne of God so what is the role of faith? It closes the gape between the two thrones so the Word or the voice from heaven announces,"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people."(Re.21:3)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Romans 10:9
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
NOTE: Nowhere in the word of "God" says you have to join a church, to get Saved ! Or join a certain denominations.
Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It does not say, if, maybe, could be. It says "Shall" be "Saved".
"PRAISE THE LORD" Question: If you would pass away tonight/today. Do you know you are saved?
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:/Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." ( John 1:12-13)
Mode of inversion sets their salvation according to the Law of the Spirit. This unseen world made to appear in a believer can only be settled by his faith. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." How did a believer bridged the gap? They died to the flesh and to the law of sin."For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live./For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God./For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father./The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."(Ro.8:13-16)
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".
Jesus meant the Law of the Spirit, which given that the Word was God with can be written in terms of God, the Son. This is implied in the covenant so the Father Son relationship has its bearing upon it; The Law is also delineated on the basis that the Word was with God. Here it is 'after our likeness" and it signifies the Word become flesh.
All the law mentioned in the key verse refers to the Law of Moses and laws of nature. We shall mention that the withering of the fig tree pertains to the law of nature being subservient to the Law that Jesus signified. The Law of Moses specify that cursed is anyone who hangs upon a tree but Jesus Christ was not just any man but represented the fulfilment of the Law. He was the Man component in the everlasting covenant. (Matt.21:18-20)
Now what does the first commandment refer to? "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." The Law of the Spirit honoured God which was what we saw the four beasts as doing. "( "and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy,LordGod Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come./And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever," Re.6:8-9)
Without the whole heart the law observed by the nation of Israel was inadequate.
The second commandment applied to himself. No greater love has anyone than one who give his life for his friends. It is what Jesus demonstrated with his life. "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The second is like unto it. It connects with the Law 'after our likeness." Israel kept Us vs. Them but Jesus spares no effort to show such division showed their blindness. The Parable of the Good Samaritan for instance. (Matt.23:15)
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word./With my whole heart have I sought thee"
Whatever you do do it with whole heart is a very simple and powerful principle, in secular as well as in our spiritual context. Of the latter is our focus here. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;/ Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."(Col.3:23-24) St Paul wrote these in a pagan world in which the early church was made up of the oppressed class and proselytes from the Jews or the Gentiles. The question of slavery has been present where the Law of sin made those who lived after the flesh were servants while the Law made man free. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."(Ro.8:13). So slavery is actually a question of perspective. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."( John 8:32). In the same time there were Judaizers among the early church who sowed heresy, "And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage."(Gal.2:4;Ac.15:1,24). These are the sons of Belial who serves Satan to trouble the pure conscience of those who follow Law of the Spirit. "Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known."(De.13:13) In the modern context slavery is abolished by laws of nations but do we not see it yet very much encouraged when false ministers invoke Christian nationalism? Christian parents who ought to inculcate their children to follow this freedom should first set the example:"With my whole heart have I sought thee"" Will all those who have, please take a bow.
These were underhand swipes at the Law, and now it is full blown frontal assault so Apostle John is referring to the apostate church. Recently there was a statement in a Christian journal, "We take orders from Mt. Zion and not from Mar-a-Lago." Who are the ungodly but the lawbreakers? Instead of the Spirit they follow the flesh. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."(Ro.8:5)
Blessed are those who are led by the Spirit. As with Paul we must well knowas to what is the purpose of the Law? It is the same as the everlasting covenant for which the Law holds an emblem, the slain Lamb and our fellowship with God in following the word of God entrusted with us. When God fashioned all hearts alike it ought to tell us that everyone of us is equal befor God and his Law of the Spirit."Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,/I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."(Phi.3:13-14)
"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord./ Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart."
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful./But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."The first Psalm more or less tells us the same. "Undefiled in the way" are those who follow the Law. God a Spirit has his Law which is the Law of the Spirit. Elymas the sorcerer seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith counselled in a way which fits exactly what the ungodly does. So Paul filled with the Holy Ghost calls him out," thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?"(Ac.13:8-10). Instantly as he had warned the fellow was struck blind. "Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."(v.12) This doctrine is what the word of God and it is given to every man profit withal. Heart is not an anatomical part but a spiritual space so when you follow God with your whole heart it is as though you are led by the Spirit. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."(Matt.6:21)Those who do that shall know time is not to be be wasted running after the fads of the day or engage in the trivial pursuits of the ungodly. They may argue with verve what they have read in the web but they cannot distinguish the good from bad so why get saddled with disinformation of the sons of Belial? We have a definition of them "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us".( 1 John 2:19) Heresies were in the time of the Apostles.